The Soul is a Dark Forest

The right to blaspheme

2011-08-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

As an update to a post I did a while back regarding the introduction of Blasphemy Laws in Europe, I received an update on the band Behemoth's case:

Nergal has just been acquitted of insulting religious beliefs by tearing bible during the gig in "Ucho", Poland, 2007. As the justification of the verdict, the Court has stated that they will not define boundaries and limitations for artistic activities.

Nergal comments: "Im so glad to see that intelligence won over religious fanatics in my home country. Tho there's still so much work to be done to make things right...

But I'm sure that I'm on the right path to ultimate freedom! The battle is won, but the war ain't over. Heil Satan!"

This leads up to what is happening in the U.S., where Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has passed a law that criminalizes transmitting or displaying online images that could “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress.” Violators could spend up to a year in jail or pay $2,500 in fines. Of course, I read this on my Rue Morgue magazine, which is chock-full of gore, blood and horror. Careful, the website could offend you. How do you enforce such laws on a place as large as the internet, and keep it within the boundaries of the State? What will be the defining law of offensive, when its so variable and subjective? Why do we need such people being our nannies?

While for many one should never use religious symbols for any political or artistic purposes that denigrates the image, or uses it contrary to its meaning I feel that freedom of expression should never be limited. It causes you to think, to grow, or at least creates some sort of reaction that will illicit it. While I do not condone the destruction of religious sites (like the burning of Churches in Norway or the destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan) I am not one to be offended, not even when my imagery gets used even though I seem to be in the minority, even within the Pagan community. I cannot claim to be offended by it when I have many CDs and band shirts that blasphemes a particular mainstream religion - I just can't be hypocritical, or easily offended when it comes to mine.

What can the Ancient Greeks do for us?

2011-08-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was going through my Sparks feature on Google+ with my various interests, some of them regarding Greece and ancient Greece when I came upon this series of articles from The Guardian, where they have a section that follows the current social and political climate in Greece, titled: Greece in Crisis. However, they have also added small tidbits of information regarding ancient Greece, which are entertaining for their historical tidbits, but also as to how the author tries to tie parts of the past with its current situation.

Lesson 1: Tactics for engaging in civil disobedience, from Antigone to Aristophanes

Lesson 2: The first mention of money in classical Greece

Lesson 3: family can be murder as well as a dream for a Viennese psychoanalyst

Lesson 4: As Socrates found out to his cost, teaching brilliant and ambitious youths can be dangerous

Lesson 5: Greeks and others

The old is always alive, in many ways.

Lares Familiares

2011-07-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

As I make the focus of my work that of my ancestors, I am now looking at the thought of also working with the Lares, in particular the Lares Familiares / Domestici. I have two Lares statues, which I got immediately when I decided to set my ancestor altar, containing family portraits along with the names of known ancestors that I was able to discover through ancestry websites before it met a dead halt in Genoa, Italy in 1765.

From my understanding, the Lares are sometimes regional and local minor gods, or spirits tied to a specific place or home, or family, as is maybe similar to the Norse Dís. The idea of a household deity isn't new, as many cultures have some sort of variation and alongside Hestia/Vesta, the goddess of the Hearth, to which in modern times I associate with the kitchen/stove. Many homes had some sort of Lararium, and some where obviously more impressive than others, as the one below from Pompeii.

I have been looking for resources (first online) in ways to honor and/or work with the Lares, not dissimilar I guess to ones own work with ones Agathos Daimon, in ways to better serve the home, family and livelihood. I have come across this academic research paper regarding the Lares by Mariah Elaine Smith from the University of Kansas that might bring up some interesting information. As with long-lost ancestors and workings with any dead or spirit guides, one must perhaps begin with arrangement of reciprocity.

Thus, I tell myself, one must first set some sort of relationship especially when perhaps decades have passed with no mention, notice or work with a familial Lares. I cannot just suddenly call a lost uncle and request a favor when I have never spoken to him prior, regardless of the good intentions to meet for the first time (as my half-sister discovered when she wanted to reconnect family ties). As the pessimist that I am, I will first assume the ties were damaged through generations that first need mending and then learn the appropriate methods of veneration and offerings. Most of my books pertain to the ancient Greek religion, so I currently find myself lost on where to begin, but as a bookworm and psuedo-historian, happy to begin the journey.

Krónos

2011-07-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I once dreamt that I went into the Underworld. I was to be paired with - married to - a god. To my surprise and at the moment, horror, it was to be with the Titan Cronus. Maybe I'm too quick to judge, honestly.

In the Attic calendar he is celebrated during the month of Hekatombaion, in the ancient festival called Kronia (this year it falls on July 21st) though I feel I should honor him is confusing - I've debated adding his name to honourings during the noumenia as a Khthonic deity. Some accounts place him in Tartarus with other Titans while others name him as King of Elysium.

The Romans had a different view of him, he was essentially Saturn and the merry December festivals were named after him, along with the day of the week - Saturday.

Orphic Hymn to Saturn
Fumigation from Storax

Etherial father, mighty Titan, hear, great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu’d with various council, pure and strong, to whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die, by thee restor’d, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains, strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine, O mighty Saturn [Kronos], various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies, husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root, from which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose, diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind, propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;
The sacred rites benevolent attend, and grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

Under the heavy weight of shadows

2011-06-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

A century later and moments of staleness and lack of religiosity have entered my life, and gone. Once spring hit I felt a resurgence of life, as Apollo shone stronger and brighter. But my day to day life doesn’t shine as brightly as I have worked for it. I still trudge along, trying every day to get out of bed, one more day, another, just to do what is necessary. And yet, uncertainty looms. It’s been over a year now and still…

The economy being in a steep downpour has affected the most important desire in my life, and yet I still cannot find myself to make it work. What am I doing wrong? Not enough meditation? Intent? Will? Wrong prayers? Tears and emotions and vocalized intent and petitions do nothing. I am still in the same place – the situation has not changed. I am at my wits ends. Reading about the successes of others, the divine presence, intervention, response to their Work, does nothing but question my process – and my beliefs.

It’s difficult to find a pattern and stick to it when you look at the past, and see that it has not worked. Daily prayers, offerings and requests go unheard. Ignored. What happens when you patron doesn’t answer? Any of them? My altar sits with various figures I honor regularly and yet I feel like a tree that has fallen in a forest and no one was around to hear me. I have bought Jason Miller’s book and watched his videos – thinking I should’ve maybe signed up for his classes. I’ve listened to various podcasts and skimmed through my books and nothing has seemed to change. My wording may be wrong, my Will might be muddied or a wall is in the way. A thick fog surely surrounds me, but I will not let it choke me yet.

Sigh...

Heavy metal and Christians

2010-08-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

While this could easily lay itself unto a discussion about lyrics, instead I wanted to share this fascinating article from the Telegraph:

Christians could learn a lot about life from heavy metal, says cleric'

The Rev Rachel Mann claims that the much-maligned form of music demonstrates the “liberative theology of darkness”, allowing its tattooed and pierced fans to be more “relaxed and fun” by acknowledging the worst in human nature.

She says that by contrast, churchgoers can appear too sincere and take themselves too seriously.

The priest admits that many will be “concerned” about metal lyrics praising Satan and mocking Christianity, but insists it is just a form of “play-acting”.

Miss Mann, priest-in-charge of St Nicholas’s, Burnage, writes in this week’s Church Times: “Since Black Sabbath effectively created it in 1969 by using the dissonant sound of the medieval ‘Devil’s chord’, heavy metal has been cast as dumb, crass, and on, occasions satanic; music hardly fit for intelligent debate, led alone theological reflection.

“And yet, as both priest and metal musician and fan, it strikes me that the Church, especially at this agonized time, has a serious gospel lesson to learn from this darkest and heaviest music.”

Miss Mann says that heavy metal songs, characterized by distorted guitar sounds, “intense” beats and “muscular” vocals, are “unafraid to deal with death, violence and destruction”.

Its “predominantly male and white” fans “generally like tattoos and piercings” but are “graceful, welcoming and gentle”.

“The music’s willingness to deal with nihilistic and, on occasion, extremely unpleasant subjects seems to offer its fans a space to accept others in a way that shames many Christians.

“Metal’s refusal to repress the bleak and violent truths of human nature liberates its fans to be more relaxed and fun people”.

She goes on to claim that “metal has no fear of human darkness” and while some Christians are similarly unafraid, “many are yet to discover its potential as a place of integration”.

The King himself

Silly Americans...

2010-08-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

From Newsweek's Dumb Things American's Believe:

It seems obvious that it's not a good idea to put too much stock in witchcraft. But it turns out that 21 percent of Americans believe there are real sorcerors, conjurers, and warlocks out there. And that's just one of the several paranormal beliefs common among Americans, according to Gallup: 41 percent believe in ESP, 32 percent in ghosts, and a quarter in astrology. In fairness, the numbers in this poll are a little old—they date back to 2005. But then again, if people haven't changed their mind since the Enlightenment, it's not clear another half decade would make much difference.

Discussing and believing in such silly things! I'm right in line with evolution-theory deniers, Obama's-a-muslim, Heliocentrism and not knowing the branches of the government. Well, shit...

The lost colors rediscovered

2010-08-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ultraviolet light reveals how ancient Greek statues really looked

--courtesy of io9.

Birds of a feather

2010-08-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening after coming home from my run, I was enjoying the loud vociferous caws from the murder of crows that reside around my block. They are my favorite songbird, even though many people find it ridiculous that crows and ravens are even considered songbirds because of its voicebox structure, when all they do is emit a loud, annoying, ugly sound that has no melody. And it hit me – ravens and crows are the death and black metal singers of the bird world.

Crows I would consider more black metal because of their higher shrill in tone...

While ravens I would consider death metal for their lower resonance.

Owls are totally doom metal.

Eagles and hawks are heavy & power metal – they are just, you know, epic.

I can’t think which bird would represent thrash metal, and I won’t even bother with metalcore, but after talking to my S.O. about this last night, we both agree who Metallica would be…

Yea, I amuse myself.

Apopheniaphilia

2010-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

I have an odd habit of questioning things I do, believe or see. Or hear. Or taste. It’s a sense of wonderment that most children have and many of them who never let go of this turn into scientists, historians or magicians. I have a bad habit of relying on my ‘gut instinct’ to figure if something feels odd or doesn’t make sense. But I’ve come to realize very early that such things as “common sense” aren’t really common in any sense (read: Not Always Right and it will grate your gears).

Common sense is dictated by education, experience, beliefs and expectation of things and what may seem common sense to me is not so for someone else. But more importantly, we view and analyze things based on one’s Ego.

I have been told plainly that reading too many books have made me ignorant. I fail to see the truth – whether religious or conspiracy related - because I just need to “research” it more. But it is flawed and biased research (unscholarly) to justify the developed Ego, the worldly Self. I discovered that not only do they live in a world ignorant of simple fallacies to their arguments, but is driven by Apophenia.

To my delight, Chris at the Infinite and the Beyond podcast interviewed the fantastic Lon Milo DuQuette on this very subject. My Ego tells me a Socratic quote over and over – The only thing you know is that you know nothing at all. My fear when I was younger was to be ignorant – to not know – and this is why I want to enter the field of Library Science. The more I read, research the more I discover how little I understand of the world, or the myriad of cultures - of their customs and symbology that I am unaware of. To claim to know the inner workings of a secret world or universe with concrete assurance when some can barely solve calculus or complete basic tax forms seems hubristic. Seems very human.

We are beings that love order; structure. We love finding clues and hints that give in to our preconceived notions of things, to prove to us that we are right - in the right path - whichever that may be. We associate with others that hold the same view and reinforce it – whether political or even music-wise (“The new Burzum album is for fags.”) Scientists use these clues in a very strict methodology, while in occult and pagan areas, we have our own version. This is true for those in conspiracy circles or right-winged religious zealots (like my apocalyptic grandmother). When the earthquake hit Haiti everyone began putting attention to the amount of seismic activity happening – therefore the end of the world was nigh, again. Confirmation bias, in essence. Ignoring the fact that tectonic movement happens daily, every minute... they didn’t want to hear it, because it reaffirms their belief; it matches up to their Ego. To be wrong is anathema to their existence: it discredits who they think they Are. I hold a strong sense of wonder and skepticality in my life, which has affected all areas of my life. However when the universe throws at you some sign, how can I differentiate it from something my Ego wants in order to keep appearances? My own biases have sullied certain paths I could have taken earlier, to my chagrin.

So I shed, I remove. Analyzing the subjective from the objective. Years ago I would view certain situations in my life with different colored glasses – I would sit down and switch my brain within specific belief systems I had studied or been part of, and the decisions, meaning and vibrations of it would change. Now it’s relearning that while it is well for it to serve as a method of understanding, it is not a method of being. Shedding it – clear lenses to not have a myopic view on what is before me. Not saying that this will be easy, especially when dealing with the Thoth and Liber 777, but I’m giving it a try.

Who put Bella in the Witch Elm?

2010-08-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Black magic was blamed in 1943 four teenagers found the skeleton remains of a woman within a tree. Fifty years the crime remains unsolved and the reasons behind it stir a dark and sinister reason within the locals' imagination.

It begins on a sunny April Sunday in 1943, when four teenage boys from nearby Stourbridge went birds'–nesting in Hagley Wood. Their quest took them to an old, hollow wych–hazel – also known as a wych–elm, on account of its size and age. For a minute or two they climbed and searched. Then one of them, Bob Farmer, gave a cry: from out of the tree, a white skull was grinning at him. "There was a small patch of rotting flesh on the forehead with lank hair attaching to it, and the two front teeth were crooked," he later stated.

Read more...

The frightened boys ran away and – unsure if the skull was human or animal but certain that they should not have been in the woods in the first place – at first told no one about their find. Then Tommy Willetts, the youngest, told his father, who told the police. Their investigation uncovered the more–or–less entire skeleton of a young woman within the tree. Her mouth was stuffed with taffeta, and a gold wedding ring and some crepe shoes were found nearby – but perhaps most chillingly of all, one of her hands was missing. This, it was suggested, was a classic sign of a black–magic execution.

The general use of the name Bella, a common Black Country name, to describe the unknown victim gained currency when Professor Margaret Murray, of University College, London, made the suggestion that the severed hand was a sign of a black–magic execution. Belladonna is associated with witchcraft, as is wych–hazel, and as was, according to local legend, Hagley Wood. The "witch" theory – that Bella had been executed for unspecified crimes against a coven – quickly became popular."

But in 1953, a rival theory – this one involving spying – arose to challenge it. Wilfred Byford–Jones, a columnist on the Wolverhampton Express & Star, wrote about the 10–year–old case and was contacted by a woman who called herself "Anna" and claimed that Bella had been murdered for knowing too much about a pro–German spy ring which included a Dutchman, a foreign trapeze artist, and a British officer who died insane in 1942.

But no one I asked in Hagley – from a self–professed paranormalist to a respected local historian – could tell me anything of a current occult tradition involving Hagley Wood. "If it was witchcraft, it's the only incident of its kind that I've heard of round here," says Geoff Pardoe, Hagley representative of the Worcestershire Local History Forum. "I've never come across any of it," says Harry Tromans, a former Daily Mirror journalist who wrote about the Bella case as a cub–reporter in 1943.

Later, in the archives of the Black Country Bugle, I found old letters suggesting that, before the war, witches' sabbaths were regularly held in Hagley Wood, while the pub opposite, The Gypsies' Tent, was associated with hauntings and other occult goings on. But The Gypsies' Tent has long since made way for a Travel Inn, and the authors of those letters are dead, as, indeed, are all who were directly associated with the mystery.

"It's a thorny old chestnut," says Tromans, stirring the arboreal metaphor with the conscious panache of an old hack. "There are all these theories, but no one actually knows anything. We'll probably never know. Anyone who might have known anything is dead, anyone who might have done it is dead. It's lost – we should let it go."

Yet visiting vandals from nearby Birmingham are unlikely to have been responsible for a message whose full resonance is appreciated only by that dwindling number of elderly Hagley–dwellers who have lived there since the Second World War. And, as long as the message remains for all to see, people will wonder what dark thoughts animated the elderly hand that wrote it.

Source: 1&2

To Dream...

2010-08-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

I am a dreamer. Clichéd, absurd and maybe even ridiculous, but I can’t think of any other way of explaining my personality. By which I mean I truly do not live here, but in my head. I guess it’s not surprising that an introvert like myself would see it as such, retrieve and become a recluse there. Then, of course, comes Inception and it puts its hold on me. The more I read about it, the more I listen to Hans Zimmer’s brilliant soundtrack – the more I connect with myself.

Christopher Nolan took ten years writing the script. But like the layers of dreams he presented us in the movie, the meanings seem to go much deeper as well. Two fascinating looks at other people trying to decipher it are found here and here (spoilers within).

I find that my dreams is where I really belong, and life is just the time lost between sleep that I dredge through day in-day out. Like Nightmare on Elm’s Street “Dream Warriors,” the dream state is where I get to explore my subconscious freely without any limitations. I have been wolf, part animal, in other lands and planes of existence, unafraid of demons, conversed with beings while walking miles above Earth and watched mountains fall to hollow crevices. I have dreamt, gruesomely, of my mother’s disease that she kept secret from me. I've met Gods. It is only limited by the time given to sleep – and once the alarm clock rings sometimes the sudden jolt erases the memory of what had transpired. I have woken up in tears realizing what I’ve lost. I have cried for persons I’ve known forever which I love, deeply, that are lost within. Escapism? Perhaps. Repressed thoughts or just sputtering synapses, maybe. Even though my dreams may at times be depictions of visions from Barlowe or Beksinski, sometimes I rather experience the possibilities there than what is given here.

I’ve been told in the past that I put too much weight in the significance of my dreams. Maybe it’s true, but it’s the key to your subconscious (a key to something) – and while it may just be trying to dump excess data out or trying to defrag your mind – I find that within its self-created encyclopedia of symbolism it is trying to tell you something. Dreams have been known to be the medium in which the Gods spoke to men, as Asklepios would in order to heal illness. I feel that my subconscious is Nostradamus and my dreams are his quadrants – if I could only decipher them, I would learn so much more. When Cobb tells Ariadne in the film that he spent 50 years with his wife Mal within their own self-created dream world, Ariadne looks shocked. But if we think about it – it was only a dream… and yet within the film we understand the gravity of it. Within life, we would dismiss it as something silly. Childish. Nothing more than imagination gone awry...

In dreams there is no time, no structure. It is limitless and boundless. It is as if the reality of the infinite that we attempt to connect with is experienced in our dreams. It has its own logic. It is where the ridiculous meets the Divine. In our living state we our conformed by laws, rules and time within our three-dimensional state. We’re made of meat. We do not have to focus to keep our physical reality rotating and existing and we understand it, by reason or logic.

Hans Zimmer, like always in my opinion, had a touch of brilliance and beauty with the soundtrack. The song within the movie telling the inhabitants of the dream that it is time to “kick” back is Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne Regrette Rien” slowed down. (link) And as we listen to it, it essentially tells us, the viewer: wake up.

You’re waiting for a train – a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don’t know for sure. But it doesn’t matter.

With this chasing of dreams I find myself dreamless - sleepless even - for the past few days. To sleep, perchance to dream, ay...

Asunder

2010-08-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

After coming back from vacation two weeks ago I find myself in a hollow hole of my own emotional making. I was out of state visiting my Love and found that time was not on my side - it felt shorter than it was and before I knew it I had to get back on the plane. Coming back I've just been readjusting to work - a new position - and immersing myself with catching up on podcasts and music. I'm all strewn all over the place, particularly within, to busy-myself in order to not get too caught up in my oh-so-familiar depression.

I've been amassing a few more books (and I seriously do not need anymore) but I want to jump head-first into active practice instead of my usual armchair study, limited space nonwithstanding. So these feel slightly more future practical, and it's in a subject I've struggled with in the past to which now I feel more comfortable. To start it I have re-purchased the Thoth deck and getting acquainted with it. Today, the card I pulled was The Hanged Man. Upon further study, seems fitting.

Initiation.

At the moment I need to clear my thoughts, organize some documents I look forward to writing about (I miss writing academic, historic papers honestly) and clean the room - the physical clutter is just a reminder of the mental one - before it distracts the emotional.

Tetelesmenoi Hermei

2010-07-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hermes, simplistically known as the "Messenger of Gods" becomes more complex the more you delve into him, follow him around and learn from the wisdom of the messages he carries and dispatches. It is no wonder why this enigmatic and warm god became the one deity Karl Kerenyi was fondest of, in his life and journey.

The more I dig beyond the surface of the Messenger, the more in depth the road becomes. Among a few past Hellenistic forum discussions the question arouse as to why certain divinities seemed more popular than others, and in particular Hermes was one mentioned. But when it is of his divine nature in traveling from the world of man to that of gods, to the heavens and to the underworld it doesn't surprise me that more of us are responsive to his inquiries, noticing and welcoming him into our lives. I am still learning of all the titles Hermes carries, along with many areas he is keen with: pompos or diaktoros ("guide"), angelos ("messenger"), eriounios ("luck-bringer") akaketa ("benignant," "gracious," witness of a gentle death-god), enodios ("by the road") and hodios ("belonging to a journey"). An Etruscan inscription has turms aitas meaning "Hermes of Hades" as his chthonic aspect.

He is the god of travelers, of journeymen. But isn't our lives a journey in itself? Having a guide not only in the literal sense of the act, but in the allegorical as well would seem helpful. Inciting ideas, dreams and epiphanies - the trickster god taking and giving: to his amusement, to our bereavement. Hermes is hegetor oneiron ("ruler of dreams") and with his Caduceus his brings sleep and wakefulness to men. The offerings left on the roadside were called hermaion, but it was also the word for windfall, as things that are of accidental discovery for gain. The residue of the chaotic windfall, Kerenyi wrote, which is shaped to the meaning of the god.

"In every cosmos accident remains fundamental, a residue of the chaotic condition, and this is true also of the Hermetic cosmos."

Of the crossroads and of the night - polythropos ("gate-watcher"), nuktos opoetera ("nocturnal scout") and Kerenyi and Walter F. Otto both felt that they understood Hermes as the Greeks understood Night.

But the darkness of night which so sweetly
invites to slumber also bestows new vigilance
and illumination of the spirit. It makes
it more perceptive, more acute, more enter-
prising. Knowledge flares up, or descends like
a shooting star -- rare, precious, even magical
knowledge.

And so night, which can terrify the solitary
man and lead him astray, can also be his friend,
his helper, his counselor.
-- Otto

The image of Hermes started out as his namesake originates from, as a herm, a pile of stones at entrances of homes and roadways. This image was seen as a mediator, but also connected him to the home. Guiding souls (psychopompos) from the realms - paths, underworld, roads - back to the life and warmth of the home. Mediator of the between, night and of day, men and spirits, gods and mortals: propylaios ("before the gate"), pylaios ("the one at the entrance"), storphaios ("cunning," "versatile"), psithyristes ("whisperer") and hermeneus ("interpreter"). As a god I feel the closest to, one I keep in my thoughts daily and carry his symbols not only on my person but at work as well, I feel that I am part of tetelesmenoi hermei "initiated into the Mysteries of Hermes" as Kerenyi himself had inscribed onto his grave. However, I feel (that like all mysteries) much will remain enigmatic and will require a lifetime of contemplation in order to truly learn and comprehend the experience. Kerenyi quite well described it in his book:

The reality of Hermes world proves at least the presence of a standpoint from which it is revealed; more than that, it testifies to something active that is not merely revealing itself from that standpoint, but that is ever again suddenly present and drives the world to give concrete expression to the Hermetic works of art and illusion. The source of this experience and configuration of the world, which at the mention of Hermes' name breaks into the light of day (and broke forth also without mentioning his name, only less clearly), is Hermes himself. It must possess the complete Hermetic breadth, from the phallic to ... From here we are as yet unable to move on with any perspicacity, for on the basis of the classical tradition we have to complete the foregoing sentence with: ... to the guidance of souls, an activity that stretches beyond life. Here Hermes remained completely enigmatic to us.

Qui animas ducere et reducere solet ("the one who leads souls away and leads them back again")

Unknown Father Unknown Soldier

2010-06-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

June 18th, Friday. A day I always celebrate in a dismal sort of way. It falls five days before my birthday - it is the day my father died. This year, it also happened that the day before I finally met my sister, from his side, for the first time. We went to Rose Hills Cemetery and we tended our father's, grandfather's and grandmother's graves by cleaning them up and putting flowers. We sat there and talked, took photos and offered a libation of beer to them (well the bottle kept tipping over dad's grave so he got what was left). Because of this new found and incredibly powerful relationship I have found, I want to share the little of what I have. I gave my sister copies of the pictures I had of my father along with copies of his birth and death certificate.
I look forward to obtaining copies of the investigation that was done years after his death for both us. Copies of my grandfather's WWII military record.

This time of year I keep my ancestors, and my father particularly, close in my thoughts and heart. I don't carry any memories of him even though I carry pictures and I always wondered of his character. Of that which others say. I wonder what influence he had in me, indirectly. I wonder of the influence my ancestors have within my family, and what of it still lingers on in the blood, in the daily interactions with each other and what sort of luck or fortune has been passed through the lineage. The Norse called this Hamingja.

I've never been one to directly experience the dead. My mom is, however. Now it seems, she sees them on constant basis in her new home. She even saw my father on the day he died while she was overseas, in her house - and she knew. No, I have never felt my father, or my grandfathers, or great-great grandfather nearby even though I honor and think of them. Makes me feel lonely during these times.

On Wednesday - a day before I would meet my sister - I was walking home listening to my podcasts, when I came upon a section of this one episode. It's an an old episode of This American Life, to which I have filled my iPod with. It is moving, heartbreaking and in such a peculiar moment of my life that it hurt - What was the last thing he saw?

Unknown Solider

[...]
So give my eyes to the eye bank,
give my blood to the blood bank.
Make my hair into switches,
put my teeth into rattles,
sell my heart to the junkman.
Give my spleen to the mayor.
Hook my lungs to an engine.
Stretch my guts down the avenue.
Stick my head on a pike,
plug my spine to the third rail,
throw my liver and lights to the winner.
Grind my nails up with sage and camphor
and sell it under the counter.
Set my hands in the window as a reminder.
Take my name from me and make it a verb.
Think of me when you run out of money.
Remember me when you fall on the sidewalk.
Mention me when they ask you what happened.
I am everywhere under your feet.

-Luc Santé

Happy Father's day, Dad.

Reflections on the goat-legged divine

2010-06-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

When Guillermo del Toro was creating his creature for the movie Pan’s Labyrinth, he decided he would use a faun instead of the movie’s namesake being, Pan. He said that having Pan on screen would’ve been too dark and dangerous from what he wanted the character to be. The moment I saw the trailer for the film I was ecstatic. When the Faun appeared on screen I was mesmerized – he was so beautiful, haunting and strong. When I was a child and the figure of Darkness appeared on screen from the film Legend, I was also mesmerized. His legs! His horns! “He is beautiful and misunderstood” I thought long through my teens. I thought to myself “Clearly, you’re a weirdo.” However as I grew up I understood where the image of Darkness had come from, and how it had been distorted. Perhaps I thought, deep down it had struck an instinctual chord for that reason. Fauns, satyrs and Pan himself have always had some attraction for me, stirring sometimes some weird sexual energy I’ve had trouble explaining, or even bringing up. I used to be perplexed by this – they have animal features – along with the usual cultural indoctrination of the Christian idea of the personification of Evil, as shown in the movie Legend with the characterization of the Light vs. Darkness. What is the allure?

Pan is known as a god of the wild. His nature so intrinsic in his divinity, appearance he is half-human. His name is the root for the word panic. Satyrs are extremely sexual creatures who cannot be satiated, unless of course he is taken by nymphets, as the multiple paintings throughout the century have depicted them.

In Rome, fauns are spirits of place (genius) and were considered the Greek counterpart of the hyper-sexualized satyrs. However the Greek Satyr is much more sexualized, and did not have goat legs – only later did the mixing of the two happened since they became to be regarded as one and the same. Guillermo del Toro does well to distinguish them in the movie. The game company White Wolf also used the hyper-sexualization of the satyr into their game characters for the role-playing Changeling: the Dreaming; the satyrs being the lovers, the sensual and sexual creatures of the Fae-folk.

Pan is the wild, the uninhibited. The idea of being alone in the forest, in the dark and being stricken with fear and panic. Of the wild rushing up at you, enveloping you in raging emotions, ecstatic fear - even wanton abandon. It is his domain after all. Perhaps it is no surprise that this divine force has been trans-mutated into the evil that brings out the worst, particularly in women, making them frolic naked in the dark woods while leaving all cares behind in want of the phallic wild divinity. Satyrs were smaller manifestations of this and were followers of Dionysus, known for his festivities in which imbibing on his gift of wine to rejoice in freedom would unshackled our inhibitions: social, mental, emotional and sexual. Perhaps this whole amalgamation of what satyrs and Pan is, has been muddled in my head and their attraction is more than an emotional or even physical level - but an instinctual one. Curious of course, that Pan being a god of the rustic, of hunting and the wild is perceived as half-animal, something that is rare in the Greek pantheon. While there are deities that have their animal equivalents as representations they inevitably are shown to us humans as best as we interpret them: like ourselves.

The images of a Horned God, phallic and fertile that brings forth life with aid of his Goddess in Wicca seems the same, sometimes attributed as Cernnunos. Horns are known in nature as a sign of virility – the larger and more intricate, the stronger the offspring and the chances of survival not only reproductively but in safety and longevity of the species, and in the aspect of the God, it is the same.

Pan is also the only god that was proclaimed by Plutarch to be dead. In our modern age and with our technology it is rare that people venture out to the wild alone, in the dark. Few places are left, that haven’t been paved over and lit with harsh bright lights. I live in a city that the few places of nature are man-made and have been rigorously planned out. Even the bodies of water are man-made, with no soul. In my city at least, Plutarch’s words stands as true.

Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India

2010-05-10T01:19:00.000-07:00

"In 1942 a British forest guard in Roopkund, India made an alarming discovery. Some 5000 meters above sea level at the bottom of a small valley, was a lake absolutely full of skeletons. As the glacier melted in the summer it revealed ever more skeletal remains, both floating in the water and lying haphazardly around the edges. Something horrible had happened here.

The immediate assumption, it being war time, was that these were Japanese soldiers who had been sneaking through India and died of exposure, and the British government terrified of a Japanese land invasion sent a team of investigators. However upon examination the quickly realized these bones could not be Japanese soldiers, in fact they were much much older than that."

All the bodies had died in a similar way, from blows to the head. However, the short deep cracks in the skulls appeared to be the result not of weapons but of something rounded. The bodies also only had wounds on their heads, and shoulders as if the blows had all come from directly above...

Among Himalayan women there is an ancient and traditional folk song. The lyrics describe a goddess "so enraged at outsiders who defiled her mountain sanctuary that she rained death upon them by flinging hailstones “hard as iron.”

After much research and consideration the 2004 expedition came to the same conclusion. All 300 people died from a sudden and severe hailstorm. Trapped in the valley with nowhere to hide or seek shelter, the cricket ball sized hailstones "hard as iron” came by the thousands and killed the travelers in a sudden and bizarre death. The bodies would lay there for some 1200 years before the astonishing tale of what happened to them would be revealed to the world.
(link)

Aphrodite Sosandra

2010-04-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Aphrodite Sosandra, carved during the 2nd century C.E., or known as the Hadrian period. When I first saw this image of Aphrodite in a Greek Mythology book I was first floored by how different it is compared to all other depictions of Her. That was months ago and having forgotten the image due to school and life, I was finally able to find it again.

Sosandra means "Savior of Men" from what I gathered, and was presumably in Athens. An unfinished Roman copy of the Sosandra (c. 460 BCE), found at Baiae in 1954 and now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy.

The possible attribution of this statue to Kalamis is due to the austere, early Classical style of this statue: a Sosandra, 'Savior of Men,' by Kalamis was admired by Lucian for its simplicity; this may have been the statue dedicated by Kallias (brother-in-law of Kimon) on the Acropolis at Athens. (link)

The same style has been used to depict Aspasia (470 BCE) or Europa, with a meditative expression.

Gods of the past returning

2010-04-03T12:13:00.001-07:00

I grew up in a Puerto Rico from a very young age to graduating high school. The influence the island has held on me pretty much set up my belief system as it is now. I never went through a Wiccan-phase, as most pagans do, because I couldn’t get my head around the concept of a dual god-form, one male and one female when I had experienced the Orishas myself. My mom had espiritismo and Santería friends, and my great-grandmother was a well-known Santera in the town I grew up in. She wanted to initiate my mother into the “work” but my grandmother was very religious - and very Baptist - so this never happened. I dabbled here and there, but was never fully immersed in the culture so by the time I hit 19 I had married and left the island to reside north in the cold, snowy land of Alaska.

It’s been years since I’ve been in a Botánica, a Latin shop full of candles, statues and other occult and Christian paraphernalia, and it’s something I’ve purposely avoided. While I’ve entered many new age and pagan shops, there’s something inherently darker and viscous about a botánica for me. So this week, I decided to go to one. It’s very basic, honestly, not as flashy or well-stocked as a pagan-flavoured shop usually is. And two of the things that first greeted me when I walked in were two four-foot statues of a bleeding Jesus on crutches and the other of Santa Muerte. They had many statues of Santa Muerte, sickle and all with oils, powders and images of the Virgin and saints. I talked with the owner of the store, a Santero and he quickly recognized my Caduceus necklace. I got a few items, incense and a candle for Eleggua. There’s something about the Orishas that always meant home for me, a very scary and reverent home, that is. Perhaps that is why I always pursue the Gods that walk the edges, the darker roads, like Hekate, Hermes, Set and Odin. Yes, this is quite a mix of pantheons, but as I’ve gone through my life studying and exploring and trying to find my way. If I had a spiritual passport, it’ll show some interesting stamps of the places I’ve wandered.

I got a Spanish book from the Santero on my way out that I found useful since I’ve had trouble finding something I could work with without working one-on-one with someone. While I won’t leave my home within the Theoi, nor the weekly practices I do, sometimes the ties you’ve done in the past return and I have to make space for them.

There’s an interesting podcast called A Year in White that I’ve subscribed to. I’ve discovered his blog a while back when he was interviewed in another podcast I listen to. It feels familiar, of course, to be doing these things while at the same time I feel somewhat out of place. It’s like long lost uncles and aunts have been meaning to visit and I’ve been putting it off, and forgotten everything. They want to see how my life is going and are expecting some hospitality. I guess I should start brewing some strong coffee for them.

Alcest - Écailles De Lune (part I)

2010-03-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Alcest @ MS

Library Additions

2010-03-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

I am excited to have received in the mail two books that have been on my wishlist for quite some time - Did the Greeks Believe in their Myths? by Paul Veyne and Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden. I got these used so money wasn't an issue, instead it's my habit of amassing large numbers of books and never finishing them. And yes, I get chastised for this a bit, thank you very much.

I am looking forward to reading them this weekend, and having perused the Ogden book today I will definitely be posting and giving some thought on some of the stories that are presented.

Vîrstele pămîntului

2010-03-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

I received an email regarding Negură Bunget’s new album in the works, since I am on their email newsletter. I assume I got myself on it since I created their myspace page a long time ago and then handled the reigns over to Negru. The original band members split up, but after some disagreements, Negru decided to keep the band going against his ex-bandmates wishes. While I adore this band to no end, I wish they would have kept their words but that is none of my business.

I own all of their work, including reissues and copies of Negură Magazine. So in regards to the new album, I am of course very interested and very much looking forward to it, despite past/personal issues within the group.

Vîrstele pămîntului is an album about places of the earth and places of the spirit, about bounds transcending worlds. Symbolically the album is based on the principle of 9. 9 is the triad of the triads, symbol of fulfillment of the creative effect. It symbolizes the return of the multiplicity to unity (like the snake biting his tail). 9 is the number of patience, of meditation and harmony. Symbolize the plenitude of talents, the reward of the tests. It is a symbol of creation and life as rhythm and development. The earth is where we came from and where go back into, athe one from above and beyond us. Understanding and respecting it means to understand yourself, your purpose and destiny. Vîrstele pămîntului is an album about embracing your destiny, about choosing and consciously assuming a way of life.

The work on the album was done on a seclusion Negură Bunget took into the wilderness of the mountains, concentrating solely on the work for the album. The album will be released by code666 Records in a special limited edition - handmade woodbox, roped and filled with the very earth of the place it comes from (Romania). Release date is: worldwide - March 31, Germany and Italy - April 2.

They never disappoint with the style of their newsletter, but the beauty and simplicity of this new email completely blew me away. The description of the new album is also very interesting and I look forward to listening to it – I’m sure (but hope) it is no different than their amazing masterpiece releases in the past - ‘N Crugu Bradului being my top favorite album ever, followed by OM.

Negură Bunget translates to “Dark Foggy Forest” in Romanian and the album ‘N Crugu Bradului means “Through the Deepness of the Fir Tree Heights” according to an interview I once read (early editions of this disc contained a sprig of a Fir tree within). I loved the album so much that I had originally named my newly adopted Norwegian Forest cat that, but seeing people struggle with the pronunciation, I changed her name to something more normal, like Camila. Yes, I am weird, but at least I didn’t name her Beelzebub or Shehamforash (tho no offense who do; just sayin’).

Ancient Greek Podcast

2010-03-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

A quick post - I found series of video lectures titled Introduction to Ancient Greek History by Yale professor, author and foremost Greek historian Donald Kagan.

Failure in mnemonics

2010-02-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

I am one for having really bad memory. Now for some people this is a non-issue, but I'm an avid fan of books and history, and other tidbits of information deemed 'useless' - but it has come to a point where reading becomes a chore unless I actively use it immediately in some sort of activity. But isn't something new. For the minor stuff I suffer from the "tip of my tongue" moments, while there are people in my Facebook that I went to highschool with that I have no recollection of who they are. Worst of all, there are years of my childhood that I do not recall, including those I spent with my deceased father.

During prayers to Hermes I always highlight his aspect of helping one's memory--

Of various speech, whose aid in works we find, and in necessities to mortals kind:
Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere, be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear; Assist my works, conclude my life with peace, give graceful speech, and me memory's increase.

However, I guess one should directly seek assistance to the source, the Titan Mnemosyne.

Image by Lord Frederick Leighton

Orphic Hymn

The consort I invoke of Jove [Zeus] divine, source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine;
Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, by whom the soul with intellect is join'd:
Reason's increase, and thought to thee belong, all-powerful, pleasant, vigilant, and strong:
'Tis thine, to waken from lethargic rest all thoughts deposited within the breast;
And nought neglecting, vigorous to excite the mental eye from dark oblivion's night.
Come, blessed power, thy mystic's mem'ry wake to holy rites, and Lethe's fetters break.

Daughter of Ouranus, she was said to lay with Zeus for nine nights in order to create the Nine Muses. The Orphic tablet instructs us to forgo drinking from Lethe and instead drink from the lake of Mnemosyne.

Thou shalt find to the left of the House of Hades a Well-spring,
And by the side thereof standing a white cypress.
To this Well-spring approach not near.
But thou shalt find another by the Lake of Memory,
Cold water flowing forth, and there are Guardians before it.
Say: "I am a child of Earth and of Starry Heaven;
But my race is of Heaven (alone). This ye know yourselves.
And lo, I am parched with thirst and I perish. Give me quickly
The cold water flowing forth from the Lake of Memory."
And of themselves they will give thee to drink from the holy Well-spring, And thereafter among the other Heroes thou shalt have lordship. . . .
Prof. Gilbert Murray / Critical Appendix on the Orphic Tablets

Of course there are ways to strengthen memory, which I've tried (along with my attempts to kill insomnia - Hypnus, where are you?) along with suggestions of hypnotherapy. I'll try the former first.

In Gowan Ring - Hazel Steps

2010-02-27T23:29:00.001-08:00

This song has more meaning to me than words could ever express. My heart syncs with the percussion beats immediately upon hearing. For him, with love and adoration.

Daimonos

2009-11-30T01:07:00.000-08:00

I am too involved with school, work and attempting to clear debts owed in order to prepare for the upcoming months so I haven't had time to delve into personal matters as much as I wished. However, I will do a small post in regards to an album I purchased a while back and while looking at the lyrics I was excited to see its content : Behemoth's song Daimonos:

Honour me!
Chaldean priests
Bow to me, in adoration
Evangelize
Prophets ov the boundless joy
Sanctify the sin ov indulgence

We worship the sun
We worship the moon
Spreading like rats
Exalted above the stars ov god

All hail slain and risen god!
All hail Dionysus!

"Come, blessed Dionysius, various nam'd, bull-fac'd
Begot from Thunder, Bacchus fam'd
Bassarian God, of universal might
Whom swords, and blood, and sacred rage delight"

War be sustained!
My godless phoenix rise
Ne'er to lifeless shall I submit
Offering solely the sword not peace
Mercy and cowardice extinct within

We worship the sun
We worship the moon
Spreading like rats
Exalted above the stars ov god

All hail slain and risen god!
All hail Dionysus!

Lyrics by Nergal.
"We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond." [Marcel Proust]

Podcast highlight

2009-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I discovered a new podcast, entitled Right Where You Are Sitting Now and in their latest episode we get an interview with Isaac Bonewits.

They discuss his role in creating the Ár nDraíocht Féin, being found (hysterically) heretical within the Church of Satan and the OTO, getting a BA in Magic and Thaumaturgy from Berkeley University, why Neo-paganism appears to be changing and his thoughts on the Reconstructionist movement.

Character is for man his daimon

2009-08-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Hellenion calendar provides monthly libation to the Agathos Daimon at the end of the modern month, or the 2nd of the Athenian calendar, but not really knowing much of this, I decided to see what I could find in my books instead of the usual usage of my GoogleFu. Walter Burkert in Greek Religion mentions only lightly the Agathos Daimon, or the good spirit, while going on more in length to the daimon in general.

"The etymological meaning of the thoroughly Greek-looking word daimon is once again impossible to discover with certainty. Nevertheless it is clear that the early uses of the word neither the status of a daimon in relation to the gods nor its character is defined, to say nothing of its conception as spirit. In the Iliad, the gods assembled on Mount Olympus can be called daimones, and Aphrodite leads the way ahead of Helen as daimon. A hero may rush headlong 'like a daimon' and still be called god-like, isotheos. Conversely, the demons that fly from Pandora's jar are personified as 'illness', nousoi, but are not called daimones; the death-bringing spirits of destruction, keres, are called theoi, as are Erinyes in Aeschylus. Possession, too, is the work of a god. Daimon does not designate a specific class of divine beings, but a peculiar mode of activity (Burkert 180).

This I found interesting, because the Good Daimon, the Agathos Daimon appears to have cult practices attributed to it. The first wine libation is done in its name. An interesting passage mentons that "Plutarch uses the word proper to burn sacrifice, but this is no offering to an Olympian, it is simply the solemn pouring out of a little of the new wine, that so the whole may be released from tabu. This 'sacrifice' of the new wine, is to begin with, made to nothing and nobody, but bit by bit a daimon of the act emerges, and he is the Agathos Daimon." (Harrison 277)

It is known for taking the shape of a serpent, at times a winged serpent.

Burkert later continous to assert that daimon is more akin to a force, a power that drives man forward where no agent can be named. We probably call this in modern terms the Will, Desire, Drive, Passion or Stubbornness, depending on the qualities. If you feel that it is acting in accordance with you, it is called syn daimon, and when the tides turn the other way it is pros daimona. Perhaps it is too much on my part to think it resembles what Thelemites call "achieving your true Will."

From what I gather, the Agathos Daimon is formed after the application of mindful actions, perhaps even pious ones. From that, the good daimon is borne forth. I had originally began to think that the Agathos Daimon was something akin to a "spirit guide" or a "guardian" of some sort, now I find that this is incorrect. However it is also noted that Pythagoreans were able to hear and see the daimones (Burkert 180).

Burkert makes the distinction that the daimon is not, in essence, a spirit as we define it, but a force. Harrison, in her book Epilogemena, mentions that it is a fertility spirit whose cult predates the Olympians. The Agathos Daimon are the snakes appearing on the kerykeion, or caduceus of Hermes, "had the power to compel fertility" (279). I have never seen the association of fertility with the caduceus, much less with Hermes.

I find that the following two quotations sums up quite nicely what I have begun to understand on the nature of the daimon. "The ordinary man sees only what happens to him, unpredictable and not of his own enacting, and he calls the diving power daimon, something like fate, but without any person who plants and ordains being visible. One must be on good terms with it: "The daimon active about me I will always consciously put to rights with me by cultivating him according to my means. (181)"

"Man's daimon is his destiny." Thus strikingly does Heraclitus make reference to this fact. He extends man's vital essence far beyond the personal. The personality is the vehicle of the daimon, which is not confined within the limit of the personality, and for which the birth and death of the personality are of no importance. What is the relation of the daimonic element to the personality which comes and goes? The personality is only a form for the manifestation of the daimon. **

Project MUSE

2009-08-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

I came across a fantastic online resource that is invaluable to me. It is the American Journal of Philology, and it has all of their publications available online.

About the Journal:

Since its founding in 1880 by Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, the American Journal of Philology has helped to shape American classical scholarship. Today the Journal has achieved worldwide recognition as a forum for international exchange among classicists and philologists by publishing original research in Greek and Roman literature; classical linguistics; and Greek and Roman history, society, religion, and philosophy. In-depth coverage and a substantial book review section are featured in every issue. AJP is open to a wide variety of contemporary approaches including literary interpretation and history, textual criticism, historical investigation, and epigraphy.

Issue number 513, vol. 129 num. 1 contains A Trickster's Oaths in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes and The Legacy of Aphrodite: Anchises' Offspring in the Homeric Hymn.

Note: Some articles are not available, even when clicking on the PDF or HTML link, while others are. If you are interested in seeing the rest of the articles, you may want to contact your local public or University library to see if they have a subscription.

Time as sacrifice

2009-08-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

Sacrifice, for most pagans and polytheists, means something different when compared to what most people define it as. During the season of Lent, many of my Catholic coworkers let go of something during this time as required by their faith - most of them decided to give up things that were bad for them, like Diet Coke or coffee. I found that to be odd personally, for sacrifice means to "make holy, or sacred." I really don't view Coca Cola to be particularly spiritual, nor do I offer it as a libation, unless I discover that Hermes has a weird particular taste for it.

I have had to curb some habits in my life due to some large changes I had to do, and in regards to ritual and daily practice, I found myself doing less and less due to the lack of time, or just lack of convenience. Convenience being the key [bad] word. Looking in my life I found that I needed to learn to better manage the time I did have: saying I was tired, or I had no time meant I was more than likely spending it doing unimportant things with it when it didn't pertain to work or school. So I reformed myself. I sold my car a year ago in order to save for future out-of-state tuition and living costs for next year, so I've been taking public transportation or walking, to get to work, school and home. Living in southern California made this something to get used to, and it also meant that the hours became something I could not waste - they became invaluable. If I need to do something simple like go to the pharmacy or the bookstore, it meant rerouting my entire commute and scheduling ahead of time to avoid missing a bus. With the current financial crisis in California, many of the routes have been cut or removed. While I find time for work, school, volunteer work, leisure and exercise, I needed to make daily practice higher up in the scale regardless of how late or how early it was.

Today, as I walked home from the market with my green reusable bag full of peaches, bread, soup and Merlot wine, I couldn't help but think that this long walk back to my home was in part, not only preparation for my libation to Hermes, but in essence part of it. It is perhaps no different than those that would peregrinate, with offerings and prayers, to the temple of Hermes in Samos. Every step, every drop of perspiration and each thought full of love and anticipation.

We give much of our time, effort, intellect and sweat in order to reap rewards in the form of monetary currency, to obtain things that support and provide enjoyment in our lives. In the same vein, I find that using my time, effort, intellect and sweat in preparation, service and ritual to my gods to be itself another sacrifice to harvest the joys of life.

Vampires and Dionysus

2009-08-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

While I don't expect the gods to be portrayed in a positive light within mainstream media, I was not expecting the turn that HBO's show True Blood took, since it follows a series of novels. Yes, I will openly admit here - I am a fan of cheesy vampire fiction - I can't help it. I should know better. I have read of all Charlaine Harris's books on the Sookie / Southern Vampire stories, and I was looking forward to how they dealt with the storyline of the Maenad. While the stories themselves have deviated considerably to allow more time between characters and plots, this means that the Maenad has ended up with a larger role and characterization in the tv show than in the books. One that is just trite in errors.

I was actually quite excited to hear Dionysos' epithets mentioned in tv - I can only recall a few like Bromios, Bakkhos and 'Hekos, o hekas, este bebeloi' Unfortunately they butcher it because instead of Io! Io! Bromios! it is written out as Lo Lo Bromios!

When the character of Maryann is finally revealed to be a Maenad in a discussion between two characters: Daphne making the reveal to Sam, telling him that according to the Greeks, they are handmaidens of Dionysus, the god of wine. After a few dialogue sentences we get the full meaning of what really is going on -

"Guess what else they call him? The Horned God. Sound familiar?"

"Satan?"

"Dionysus, Satan - it's really just a kind of energy; wild energy. Lust, anger, excess, violence. Basically all the fun stuff."

And there we have it folks. While the book did not venture into some correlation between Dionysus and Satan, the producers and Alan Ball felt that it had to, for spookier plot.

While in the book the Maenad would travel seeking tribute in the shape of some sort of sacrifice, it does not seem as such within the show as she seems to take as she pleases, which I guess is the way of honoring Him, while portraying her to be a vile, manipulating, two-faced demon woman. Makes me feel warm inside.

Blasphemous Blasphemy Laws

2009-07-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

With a weird turn of events, it seems that Ireland has step back in time without the help of a DeLorean and its 1.21 gigawatts of power^[**] towards the medieval era - they have implemented Blasphemy Laws.

Blasphemy is defined as the usage of one or more gods or religious system to be used in a manner that is considered objectionable by its members. That in itself is extremely subjective and broad, and I think will bring more trouble than its worth in the courts in Ireland. I do not live in said country, I wondered what sort of freedom of speech laws they had:

Freedom of speech is protected by Article 40.6.1 of the Irish constitution. However the article qualifies this right, providing that it may not be used to undermine "public order or morality or the authority of the State". Furthermore, the constitution explicitly requires that the publication of "blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter" be a criminal offence, leading the government to pass a new blasphemy law on 8th July, 2009. (wiki)

Under the Irish constitution, the state is obliged to have blasphemy laws. The bill going through the Dáil would amend the Defamation Act of 1961, which includes blasphemy as a crime. To abolish blasphemy laws, the government would have to hold a referendum to amend the constitution. (link)

According to Pharyngula it could cover the authority to seize blasphemous material from your home if they see it necessary. How is this morally and lawfully allowable? What is religiously blasphemous to someone may not be for me, or others. Is owning books by Anton Szandor LaVey and Richard Dawkins blasphemous to the Church? Of course! Yet does one not have the right to own them? "It also exempts works in which a “reasonable person” would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value." So they will obviously object to much of the metal music being sold and distributed within the country as they have very blasphemous art, themes and concerts, as seen by the likes of Gorgoroth, Cannibal Corpse and Impaled Nazarene.

Interesting, comments made by a local Catholic church in England in regards of a tree stump that resembles the Virgin Mary as "superstition" go by unnoticed

Local Parish Priest Fr Willie Russell said on Radio station Limerick Live 95FM yesterday that people should not worship the tree. "There's nothing there... it's just a tree ... you can't worship a tree."

With PZ Myers commenting "I hope the Irish druids are going to be rightfully upset at this horribly offensive slur against their faith." Could the local Druids file a suit against Mr. Russell?

Or is this just a case where blasphemy laws are only applied to the Christian groups, whilst not applying to others because of the edict in the Ten Commandments? Some are trying to figure out what is covered under these laws and what isn't, since obviously it is so goddamn (oops!) subjective. Graham Linehan in an interview asked that justice minister Dermot Ahern, who introduced the bill, should be challenged to define what he meant by blasphemy.

"This is insanity. Please, Mr Ahern, define the things we can't say, please! Can we say, 'Jesus is gay'? Or can we ask, 'Is God in a biscuit?' Could he tell us what it means? It is just insanity. After all, there are things contained in the holy books of one religion that are blasphemy to another religion. The logic behind this comes from Alice in Wonderland." He said the Irish blasphemy law was part of a trend in the west where freedom of expression was being attacked "to placate the craziest people on earth".

While paganism and polytheism is a relatively small slice of the religion pie, we have obviously received many smears and attacks in the past as being nothing more than a silly sect or belief system by the detractors. In the last election term Islam was widely maligned, and Jerome Corsi decided to use his position to ridicule more with his comment: "May Islam join the garbage heap of worthless religions we have grown beyond. Any believers of Hermes out there?"

Why yes, Mr. Corsi, I do.

It's hard to say that we would pass such outdated laws, but I hope we don't see the puritans in this country decide to follow suit like what progressive countries like Britain has done in installing Sharia Law alongside Ireland's brilliant Blasphemy Law.

To all the Irish, make sure you delete all the copies of Raptor Jesus or any LOLJesus you may have on your harddrive.

My Universalism

2009-07-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

Among a few Reconstructionist circles this term has been used with a darker tinge to slap those who do not follow the more conventional road. It 's almost as meant to be a synonym for another that could be in its place: eclectic. While I do not and never have claimed to be a Recon I admire their application since I find scholarly work to be tantamount to truth. I have naturally added attributes of reconstructionism into my studies since by my own nature I am fanatic about history. I sedulously devour many books and tidbits from various themes in various subjects, and yet this is where my crux lies - I am all over the place, and could never just sit and nest myself among one area or culture.

While it is never fair to judge a whole group based a few sole words by some members, I find when they attempt to represent the larger community as a whole to steer and enlighten on the workings and discussions of said growing group, I rather not belong. Certain concepts make me feel like the previous questions others have had in regard to the community seem to border among fundamentalism might hold some truth and eventually people automatically take sides. Example, if I do not acquire - to what I find to be xenophobic ideas - I am seen as someone who is too preoccupied with foreign curiosities and therefore does not understand said culture's view of Divinity as being the most perfect one. Therefore, I am a Universalist.

Then again, I don't find that disparaging the more I think about it. I love science, and astronomy, cosmology and quantum physics. Though my understanding is poor compared to actual people in the field, and I being a casual observer, I tend to view the world in large abstracts of nature and forces of energy - that of dark matter, of exploding stars and cosmic sombreros. Our galaxy containing a large black hole in the center could only be perceived as just a humorous joke being played out by Loki. The marriage consummation between siblings Zeus and Hera does not elicit revulsion because divinity is not biological - never mind our image of Uatu or Galactus in his violet and blue armor. We see them in the only way our finite minds could interpret.

Galactus perceived by other sentient beings

When I think of God the creator I think of a Force too outside of our reach to care of a small, single-stared solar system hovering over the tip of our spiraling Milky Way galaxy - which at this point probably defines me as a pandeist. Geology and biological archeology provides glimpses on how I can understand my polytheism, and better understand this miniscule rock. The more I mingle with the Homo species, the more I feel attracted to the inanimate objects whose age spans millions of years.

Sombrero Galaxy M104, taken with Hubble.

Hairy situation

2009-07-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

I understand that sometimes, dreams are just dreams. Every now and them dreams become so weird for me that they are either acidic regurgitation that my mind feels can throw at me or some obscure language I have yet to decrypt and I'm left thinking "Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot?!" Can't recall most of it, so I tend to write them to myself via email once I get to work, because as I commute they keep distracting me and my mood for the day is tarnished. This was dated back in March 20th (quite old) but it's one I can't decipher. Perhaps a call to my grandmother might give some clues.

It begins with vagueness. A girl, which I semi-knew somehow-somewhere, comes up to me and puts her hand over my stomach and tells me "You have... hair."

Confused, she takes me to a hospital, where her "mom" will help me. Not even sure if she's really a nurse, as she isn't wearing the usual attire. They begin take x-rays as I am laid on a gurney, and eventually open up my stomach - lifting skin and muscle tissue revealing my internal organs - which are covered in thick black hair. It's wrapping itself over organs. The thickest is going over my stomach. X-rays showed strands of hair going all over my body as far up to my arms. However they don't know if they should tug at them or start cutting, as they don't know where the "root" of the hair comes from. I woke up after that.

Orbs of Light

2009-07-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

My mother has been having some pretty interesting occurrences at her home in Wisconsin. She lives relatively in the middle of nowhere with scarce neighbors, however she has been getting visits from the non-physical kind. She has told me that she sees orbs often floating around, people, or she assumes are people walking about only to find out that the person roaming the kitchen had deceased 15 years ago.

I recently emailed a favorite podcast of mine retelling one of her many experiences and I was reminded of the Piezoelectricity effect that is able to explain these occurrences. They are natural phenomena that usually happen when there's a charge of electricity in the air (there have been recent storms, as well). When combined with the quartz or other crystals in the ground that expand or are stressed, sometimes due to variation in temperature, causes orbs of light and energy to be seen floating in the air. This has been used to explain the Marfa Lights, the Min Min, the Paulding Lights and many more. One group first conducted a study to investigate this phenomena in the New Jersey area, dubbed the Hookerman Lights, was a group called Vestigia. Local legend said a man had died there when a train had passed, and was seen trailing the tracks with his lantern, trying to keep others safe from a demise similar to his own. Their findings can be found in a section of this book.

I know there are tons of quartz crystals where my mom lives and they are easily found by just going into the river. They are quite beautiful and large, because my mom sent me a few as a gift a few months ago.

While I have found that I can explain now the light orbs she sees, I want to see if the rest of it can. Hearing the chanting and howling of Native American songs at night? The opening and closing of drawers? Voices from the basement? People walking about that are not there - only to verify, via pictures, of who this person is? Perhaps the reason I never have such an intense collection of happenings around me is because I doubt, question and pick at them. In the end, dismissing them. Only the truly odd do I stash away in my "hmmm" file. Due to the podcast and the intensely skeptic form of analyzing they have, I have a curiosity to go after invisible things in the dark.

Now if I can find a reputable group I can go and do these things, without endangering myself by being alone by myself with nothing but a voice recorder and an EMF reader, it would be fantastic.

Inner transformations

2009-07-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

I feel that it is necessary for me to follow some simple procedures to redo myself. This is usually nothing new as I do this every few years, but I feel the methodology is quite different. Being a follower and devotee to the winged-footed one Himself, I want to do it via the alchemical process of the Emerald tablet.

The first three are the steps I will look into as I go, but right now I am focusing on the first two.

I. Calcination
This is the first level; it is fire. It is the fire that burns away, the prepares for purification, to ready the canvas and make it anew for any processes that awaits it. It is where I destroy the Ego, the false assumptions; that which I have made myself to believe. Questioning everything, once more, to bring forth a keen eye. Time to destroy. Time to shackle the comfortable confines of the body and mind; burn away the excesses brought about to it, the overindulgence that I let myself savor in lieu of what was truly essential.

It is a painful, fiery discipline. The combustion the unnecessary. A holocaust for bodily and spiritual renewal.

Emerald Tablet Correspondence: Its father is the Sun

II. Dissolution

While Calcination process is fiery, gold and the sun, Dissolution is the silver, the cold, the watery. It is the realm of the goddess, and under her waters I will submerge to cleanse away the destroyed remains, the ashes of the gross and the rough to be diluted and rendering them apart from the properties that bind each to the other.

Emerald Tablet Correspondence: Its mother is the Moon

III. Separation

It is the isolation of the components of Dissolution by filtration and then discarding any ungenuine or unworthy material. The rediscovery of our essence and the reclaiming of dream that was rejected by the rational part of our minds. It is, for the most part, a conscious process in which we review formerly hidden material and decide what to discard and what to reintegrate into our refined personality. Much of this shadowy material is things we are ashamed of or were taught to hide away by our parents, churches, and schooling. Separation is letting go of the self-inflicted restraints to our true nature, so we can shine through.

Emerald Tablet Correspondence: The Wind carries it in its belly.

○ ○ ○

"Then out of the imprisoned Light a mysterious and Holy Word came forth and took its stand upon the smoking waters. This Word -- the Voice of the Light -- rose out of the darkness as a great pillar, and the fire and the air followed after it, but the earth and the water remained unmoved below. Thus the waters of Light were divided from the waters of darkness, and from the waters of Light were formed the worlds above and from the waters of darkness were formed the worlds below. The earth and the water next mingled, becoming inseparable, and the Spiritual Word which is called Reason moved upon their surface, causing endless turmoil. -- The Vision of Hermes.

Sallustius On The Gods And The Cosmos

2009-06-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

I just recently found that the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, or YSEE have a translated version online, and can be read here.

Junio

2009-06-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Once classes ended, it felt like the mess after the storm. I was now left to pick up the pieces, try to reorganize, and attempt to rest after so much forced movement, energy and expectations.

Now, I sit with all the free-time, and I have nothing to say. Perhaps I work best during constricting schedules, and my mind creates patterns better when set under fire. To distract myself, other than catching up with faux-fiction, I have set to read on the basics - Pythagoras, some Herodotus and even draw a bit. The latter requires me to look into my Tarot books for definitions of cards that I will add to the art piece of a coworker, hoping that the images she burns onto her skin are filled with positive symbolisms. I will primarily use the Spanish Naipes style cards - one that I was so fond of during my high school years.

The fascinating thing for me of Pythagoras is his view of the Pentagram - the most harmonious symbol, according to his mathematical equations. It was called ὑγιεία Hygieia, after the goddess, with each letter corresponding to each element: ὕδωρ water; γαῖα earth; εἱλή heat (fire); ἰδέα idea or ἱερόν, Hieron "a divine thing"; ἀήρ air. We also see Venus create a pentagramic shape on its inferior conjunctions on its successive movement.

I have in turned, purchased a pentagram to wear. But why? While the symbols appears in Taoism, Freemasonry, Aristotelian philosophies it is mostly seen a Wiccan/Neopagan/Witchcraft symbol, none of which I subscribe to personally. So why? Because of the Pythagorean and Sumerian view of it, and because as I usually do, I like to create my own personal symbolism based on viewing things at different perspectives.

If there were a mutually agreed upon symbol I could associate with Hellenic worship, the way the Mjølnir is to Ásatru, I would use it. While I wear a Caduceus, it gets (to my displeasure) confused more with Nursing and Health, than Wisdom and Transcendence. I would expect no different with the pentagram. However, since I began wearing it, albeit a bit worried of the commenting of coworkers and because of my own prior preconceptions of it, I found that it has been quite an interesting week. Even with the deluge of bad news in regards to family, it has kept me with a calm disposition regarding all of it.

In the next few days I will celebrate my birthday. I am not looking forward to it. As the days roll by I find myself wondering if what I do is worthwhile, if what I name is worth applying to, if what I believe thus far is what I should do. I constantly change, I am the essence of a Mercurial personality. The things around me will act as a catalyst to change me internally, changing my properties, changing my set paths. The more I dig a hole, the more I wonder how deep am I willing to go.

That day is also Hekate's Deipnon.

May her torches light the way for me,
may her steps beside me guide me,
and may her hounds keep me company.

Cult of the Dead in Memorial Day

2009-05-25T16:58:00.001-07:00

As memorial weekend rolled by, I wanted to find some way of honoring the veterans in a more traditional manner. To those few who know me, find out very quickly that I have an interest in war history, particular that of WWII. Most people seem perplexed at this, but the level of heroism in contrast with the amount of inhumanity is outstanding. The are also other wars - the Fall of Nineveh, the Thirty Years War, Civil War, WWI, Vietnam, the Punic Wars - that are just as compelling.

When he was small, when he would fall,
on sand or carpet he would lie
quite flat and still until he knew
what he would do: get up or cry

After the battle, flat and still
upon a hillside now he lies --
but there is nothing to decide
for can neither cry nor rise

Vladimir Nabokov
(1899-1977)
Now I am accustomed to lighting candles, offering fragrant incense and keeping mindful of the soldiers who have perished, whether they are Americans, Europeans or from late antiquity; whether Generals, foot soldiers, forgotten in the dirt or forever remembered by epic songs. The pouring of liquids, primarily alcohol, into the ground as a form of offering for the dead is nothing new to me. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I experienced this often at parties, and at a young aged I asked my mother what people were doing (as it happened every time someone opened a drink) and I was told it was for the dead. Where this tradition came from I am unsure, but it probably has something to do with the island's deep Catholic roots knotted by ones of Santeria.

From Burket (p. 194)

Thereafter the honouring of the deceased is incorporated into the general celebrations with which the city honours its dead every year: days of the dead, nekysia, or days of the forefathers, genesia. On such days the graves are adorned, offerings are made, special food is eaten, and it is said that the dead come up and go about in the city. The offerings for the dead are pourings, choai: barley broth, milk, honey, frequently wine, and especially oil, as well as the blood of sacrificed animals, there are simple libations of water, which is why there is talk of the bath of the dead.

The pouring of these libations is thought to go down through the soil and reach the dead, feeding them. I find that adding poetry, or songs to remember the fallen is important to keep alive their sacrifices - whether we agree with them or not politically. Essentially, it is just as important to keep in mind those that are still alive; I have family and friends in the service, and we must remember those who have survived. I am an avid admirer of the hardships and heroism found in WWII, as well as modern wars - my grandfather serving in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War.

"The cult of the dead remains the foundation and expression of family identity: the honour accorded to forebears is expected from descendants: from the remembrance of the dead grows the will to continue." (194)

Praise the fallen; remember them.

Hellenic Household Worship

2009-05-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Labrys; link here.
Created by Christos Pandion Panopoulos for Labrys
Edited and translated by Lesley Madytinou & Rathamanthys Madytinos

Myth and Music

2009-05-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Since my main interest of music is of the obscure variety, I will limit my thoughts on Neofolk and Martial, since the themes of heathenry and paganism has been widely covered before in the realms of metal - as we can see a whole genre evolve from this naming itself Folk, Viking and Pagan Metal.

The most prevalent theme within Neofolk is the Northern Germanic one, with aspects of heathenry like honor, myth, spirituality and the symbolism of runes found in bands like Forseti, Sonne Hagal and :Of the Wand and the Moon:. While some of the bands may not espouse the belief system of polytheism, instead following ideals of Secularism, Freethought and even Satanism - as is with Boyd Rice - the influence is still prevalent throughout the genre. Unfortunately, a lot of Neofolk and Martial bands tend to be labeled as racist or Neo-Nazi due to their fascist or totalitarian imagery, particularly the sculptures of Arno Breker, causing a lot of potential listeners to steer away from them. The bigger controversies tend to center around the band Death in June and Blood Axis. Similar things have happened in the metal sphere when the anti-christian or violent imagery cannot be overlooked by the viewer.

While many bands do not necessarily sing about the gods, I still find their music inspiring and complementary to my devotion and inquiring nature accentuated with the likes of Corde Oblique, Irfan, Pantheon Legio Musica, and my utmost favorite band, Rome. Bands like Sagentoeter, however, explicitly sing about the Northern Gods in their album "Prayers to Othinn" with song titles to "Bring back the Old Gods" and "The Raven's Song."

A Good introduction to Neofolk and Martial Industrial is the 4 CD set "Looking For Europe," containing a total of 53 songs, with a small book that covers the history of the genre and introductions to many of the bands.

For more information, visit:
Heathen Harvest
Neofolk.it
last.fm/tag/neofolk

We Call Your Wolves
Friedrich Hielscher (1979)

We call your wolves
And call your spear
We call all twelve
Down from heaven to us here.

Above all we call You.
Now comes the wild hunt,
Now let the horn resound,
No lament for the dead.

The enemy has already fallen
Before the morning breaks.

The prey has no name,
The enemy no face,
The carcass has no seed,
Righteous is the court of justice.

The harvest is past,
The chaff is daily sold,
The ravens now demand
The portion they are due.

The hunt has begun:
Now, Lord, your salvation
sustains us!

Translation by Michael Moynihan
VA - Wir Rufen Deine Wolfe

Quantum physics and the questions of our reality

2009-05-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Below is a snippet of a fascinating article I found about quantum physics from Foundational Questions Institute, or FQXi.

Alex Vilenkin and Jaume Garriga ponder how unusual our universe is and whether this is all just a quantum dream.

[...] Other measures had downright bizarre implications, predicting that “normal,” biologically–evolved human brains should be outnumbered by so–called Boltzmann brains—disembodied minds that float in space. Boltzmann brains could be complete human beings, just brains, or maybe even silicon chips—material objects with the thinking power to “hallucinate” the universe we think of as real. Pick the wrong measure, and poof: You’re a Boltzmann brain!

It might sound like crackpot cosmology, but Boltzmann brains are a serious sticking point for some measures. Quantum mechanics tells us that things can pop up from the fluctuating vacuum. These “things” could be as trivial as an electron–positron pair that blinks into existence and then disappears again a split–second later. Particle physicists are well aware of this phenomenon; it happens all the time. Less likely, a whole atom could perform this magic trick. Even more improbably, a whole human being—or Windsor Castle, or a Honus Wagner baseball card, or a fully–formed brain thinking exactly your thoughts—could spontaneously materialize.

“It’s ridiculously improbable!” says Vilenkin. But given an infinite amount of time, even things that are ridiculously improbable are bound to happen. “So how do I know whether I’m a normal person…or a vacuum fluctuation?”

Don’t have an identity crisis just yet. Theorists agree that our universe must contain more “normal” brains than it does Boltzmann brains. “The world around a typical Boltzmann brain looks very different from the world around us,” says Garriga. Plus, a Boltzmann brain likely wouldn’t stick around for long, so the mere fact that we all continue to think coherent thoughts from one moment to the next should be some assurance that we’re real.

Apollo

2009-05-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day. My face is reddened due to the over-exposure to the sun, and I wish I had used some cream before I had gone out. Perhaps it was appropriate.

I went along and bought some items I needed today to perform my libation, like incense, a charcoal burner and candles - which I purchased at Ikea, snagging also some delicious lindonberry jam, oat cookies and a small hanging ivy for my Dionysos Kissos. I take public transit, so it took me a good four hours and long walks between destinations. I cleaned the house, sweeped, dusted and threw away boxes and bags of unnecessary junk.

After my libation my brother called with unpleasant news about the car (nothing new, at this point) with the engine going caput. Ah, Hephaestus' blessed hand was missing the day the installed that darn engine.

This is set atop an small podium; I never thought I'd actually find a use for it.

The Metal-Smith

2009-05-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

I dreamt last night with Hephaestus. I had an old car shop that I was attending, though I really had no skills to call my own (perhaps all the car-talk that my brother fills me in on a daily basis has something to do with this). I wasn't surprised to see him, and he stood before me. I found him to be beyond beautiful, and nowhere near the lame or cripple that he is often called by the other Theoi. Perhaps it means something, and I will look further into him.

[65] LXV. TO VULCAN [HEPHAISTOS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense and Manna.
Strong, mighty Vulcan [Hephaistos], bearing splendid light, unweary'd fire, with flaming torrents bright:
Strong-handed, deathless, and of art divine, pure element, a portion of the world is thine:
All-taming artist, all-diffusive pow'r, 'tis thine supreme, all substance to devour:
Æther, Sun, Moon, and Stars, light pure and clear, for these thy lucid parts to men appear.
To thee, all dwellings, cities, tribes belong, diffus'd thro' mortal bodies bright and strong.
Hear, blessed power, to holy rites incline, and all propitious on the incense shine:
Suppress the rage of fires unweary'd frame, and still preserve our nature's vital flame.

According to Neokoroi, he is the god of honesty, hard work, dependability and loyalty. He is not concerned with getting the glory, but with getting the job done, and doing it well. He encourages his followers to tackle their problems with vigor and persistence, and shows them how to take rough and unpleasant things and turn them into works of beauty. He is a peacemaker, capable of seeing the many different sides of an argument. He doesn't jump into a fray until he has carefully weighed all sides of the dilemma. But when he does, his actions are swift, decisive, and efficient. He is the patron of all civilized arts, though smiths and metalworkers are his special charges.

His festival months are
Apaturia: 3 days in Puanepsion (October-November)
Hephaestia (celebrated on different dates) and
Khalkeia: 30 Puanepsion (October-November)

And a little synchronicity occurred wile talking to my Love, discussing suddenly the appearance of quails for him, while I finished this entry on this side of the line.

Golden Verses of Pythagoras

2009-04-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

selected and arranged by Florence M. Firth (1904)

1. First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law.
2. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light.
3. Honour likewise the Terrestrial Dæmons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them.
4. Honour likewise thy parents, and those most nearly related to thee.
5. Of all the rest of mankind, make him thy friend who distinguishes himself by his virtue.
6. Always give ear to his mild exhortations, and take example from his virtuous and useful actions.
7. Avoid as much as possible hating thy friend for a slight fault.
8. [And understand that] power is a near neighbour to necessity.
9. Know that all these things are as I have told thee; and accustom thyself to overcome and vanquish these passions:
10. First gluttony, sloth, sensuality, and anger.
11. Do nothing evil, neither in the presence of others, nor privately;
12. But above all things respect thyself.
13. In the next place, observe justice in thy actions and in thy words.
14. And accustom not thyself to behave thyself in any thing without rule, and without reason.
15. But always make this reflection, that it is ordained by destiny that all men shall die.
16. And that the goods of fortune are uncertain; and that as they may be acquired, so may they likewise be lost.
17. Concerning all the calamities that men suffer by divine fortune,
18. Support with patience thy lot, be it what it may, and never repine at it.
19. But endeavour what thou canst to remedy it.
20. And consider that fate does not send the greatest portion of these misfortunes to good men.
21. There are among men many sorts of reasonings, good and bad;
22. Admire them not too easily, nor reject them.
23. But if falsehoods be advanced, hear them with mildness, and arm thyself with patience.
24. Observe well, on every occasion, what I am going to tell thee:--
25. Let no man either by his words, or by his deeds, ever seduce thee.
26. Nor entice thee to say or to do what is not profitable for thyself.
27. Consult and deliberate before thou act, that thou mayest not commit foolish actions.
28. For it is the part of a miserable man to speak and to act without reflection.
29. But do that which will not afflict thee afterwards, nor oblige thee to repentance.
30. Never do anything which thou dost not understand.
31. But learn all thou ought'st to know, and by that means thou wilt lead a very pleasant life.
32. in no wise neglect the health of thy body;
33. But give it drink and meat in due measure, and also the exercise of which it has need.
34. Now by measure I mean what will not incommode thee.
35. Accustom thyself to a way of living that is neat and decent without luxury.
36. Avoid all things that will occasion envy.
37. And be not prodigal out of season, like one who knows not what is decent and honourable.
38. Neither be covetous nor niggardly; a due measure is excellent in these things.
39. Do only the things that cannot hurt thee, and deliberate before thou dost them.
40. Never suffer sleep to close thy eyelids, after thy going to bed,
41. Till thou hast examined by thy reason all thy actions of the day.
42. Wherein have I done amiss? What have I done? What have I omitted that I ought to have done?
43. If in this examination thou find that thou hast done amiss, reprimand thyself severely for it;
44. And if thou hast done any good, rejoice.
45. Practise thoroughly all these things; meditate on them well; thou oughtest to love them with all thy heart.
46. 'Tis they that will put thee in the way of divine virtue.
47. I swear it by him who has transmitted into our souls the Sacred Quaternion, the source of nature, whose cause is eternal.
48. But never begin to set thy hand to any work, till thou hast first prayed the gods to accomplish what thou art going to begin.
49. When thou hast made this habit familiar to thee,
50. Thou wilt know the constitution of the Immortal Gods and of men.
51. Even how far the different beings extend, and what contains and binds them together.
52. Thou shalt likewise know that according to Law, the nature of this universe is in all things alike,
53. So that thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope; and nothing in this world shall be hid from thee.
54. Thou wilt likewise know, that men draw upon themselves their own misfortunes voluntarily, and of their own free choice.
55. Unhappy that they are! They neither see nor understand that their good is near them.
56. Few know how to deliver themselves out of their misfortunes.
57. Such is the fate that blinds mankind, and takes away his senses.
58. Like huge cylinders they roll to and fro, and always oppressed with ills innumerable.
59. For fatal strife, innate, pursues them everywhere, tossing them up and down; nor do they perceive it.
60. Instead of provoking and stirring it up, they ought, by yielding, to avoid it.
61. Oh! Jupiter, our Father! if Thou would'st deliver men from all the evils that oppress them,
62. Show them of what dæmon they make use.
63. But take courage; the race of man is divine.
64. Sacred nature reveals to them the most hidden mysteries.
65. If she impart to thee her secrets, thou wilt easily perform all the things which I have ordained thee.
66. And by the healing of thy soul, thou wilt deliver it from all evils, from all afflictions.
67. But abstain thou from the meats, which we have forbidden in the purifications and in the deliverance of the soul;
68. Make a just distinction of them, and examine all things well.
69. Leaving thyself always to be guided and directed by the understanding that comes from above, and that ought to hold the reins.
70. And when, after having divested thyself of thy mortal body, thou arrivest at the most pure Æther,
71. Thou shalt be a God, immortal, incorruptible, and Death shall have no more dominion over thee.

Nineveh

2009-04-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Every now and then Google Books provides full view of something I really want to read. Considering I do not have JSTOR account (my college provides no such thing for us, unfortunately) I have, for once, found that the document I wanted to read is available to the public: The Journal of the American Oriental Society, published in 1907. Available here and printable, as well. It has an article in regards to Xenophon's writing on his coming across the ruins of Nineveh (pdf page 110), the ancient Assyrian kingdom.

I am finding that the ancient Mesopotamia provides a large amount of fascination for me, and Assyria and Babylon and its' kings. I look forward to taking courses in the approximating semesters in regards to this region.

Faces of the Gods

2009-02-16T14:49:00.000-08:00

In some studies, Odin is aligned with Hermes. While I feel that Mercury/Hermes could be the same deity, Odin is more tricky for me, no pun intended. If we go by the etymology and reasoning behind the days of the week, we see that the latin form of Mercury's name falls into what we know as Wednesday, or as in Spanish, Miercoles. Wednesday comes from Wōdnesdæg, meaning day of Woden, or Odin. This is of course, as far as I can go in regards to finding any similarity. Odin has been marked as Hermes due to their roles as retrieving the dead. Now, how can I assimilate Hermes, a god of trickery, thieves and divination to the God of the Slain, the Allfather who received hanged men as a sacrifice, the God who Sacrificed his Eye at the Well of Mimir for enlightenment? Though in Book of Lies, they attribute their similarities as well as being Gods of Communication and Speed, and this source strengthens it course due to their origin of their name stemming from wind. I find that Hermes and Enki retain as well many characteristics of Loki, due to their mischief and trickery.

This is something that I will definitely explore further. I've always felt a deep connection with Odin, with deep respect and fear of said personality while at the current moment I find myself fostering a close relationship with Hermes, however the feelings seem completely different than those I hold for the Allfather. While I hold that all Gods can change their respective shapes for us to experience them, Odin is widely known to the shapechanger of the pantheon (next to Loki), I have not found this to be the same for Hermes.

Following I have found that some equate Ereshkigal with Hekate, and while Ereshkigal is the Goddess of the Underworld, her Greek equivalent would be Persephone due to similarities of their stories and not Hekate. Ereshkigal represents the seasons and was abducted and taken into the Underwrold to where she was made queen, unwillingly. One of the most beautiful statues represents this in regards to Persephone's abduction by Hades, by Bernini.

The following work of art is titled "The Rape of Proserpina" and we should note that the root of the word rape means "seize, carry off by force, abduct."
Hekate is not an original Olympian as Hesiod writes that she is the daughter of two Titans and relics of her have been found in Phrygia (modern day Turkey) and Mycenea. However, some sources claim that she is the daughter of Demeter (one and two).

To end, the easiest one for me: the goddesses of love, sex, fertility and war Freyja, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite, Venus. Perhaps not the latter, as all the information regarding pre-Graeco influence of Venus at the moment seems very sparse. Many of these goddesses have war-attributes, and Aphrodite is no exception: one of her epithets was Aphrodite Areia, the warlike. A surname of Aphrodite, when represented in full armor like Ares, as was the case at Sparta. (Paus. iii. 17. § 5.)

Inanna, Astarte and Ishtar are all Queens of Heaven, while Aphrodite Ourania carries the same title.

Aphrodite

2009-02-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

I am trying to bring in as much detail as I can in regards to the findings of gold artifacts of the Goddess Άφροδίτη in the now modern region known as Afghanistan.

This is an image of Aphrodite Bactria, named after the region in which she was found. Her pose is very much in the Grecian style, while having hindi jewelry and a dot (third eye) to show that she is married, while the wings are more of a Near Eastern style placing her as a local deity.

This area, strategically placed within the silk road route, has been trove of treasures for archeologists. Some of their findings include depictions of Buddha with a Greco art-style and images of Herakles, Cybele and Eros.

Some information regarding the region of Bactria can be found here,

While Afghanistan is a relatively new nation—a committee fashioned its borders in the late nineteenth century—the regions bound together include some of the world’s oldest cultures. By 2000 B.C.E. , when the manmade oases flourishing in northern Afghanistan attracted invaders as well as traders, there rose up fortified towns with urban centers. During that era, the renowned city of Balkh became Bactria’s capital city. Described in antiquity as “the mother of all cities,” Balkh was the birthplace of the ancient poet and religious prophet Zoroaster, who may be buried there.

It was Cyrus the Great of Persia who named this area “Bactria” around 530 B.C.E. Darius ruled there shortly thereafter, and Alexander the Great came through around 328 B.C.E. on his way to India. In Balkh, Alexander took Darius III’s daughter as his bride.

Thus, Bactria became an outpost of Greek culture. Aï Khanum, meaning “Lady Moon,” was established by one of Alexander’s commanders, Seleucus, in 300 B.C.E. and unearthed by French archaeologists in 1964, the first evidence of an ancient Greco-Bactrian city. The city flourished until 145 B.C.E., when it was brought down by Eurasian nomads, possibly a tribe related to the nomads buried at Tillya Tepe.

The worship of Aphrodite is far more reaching than I had thought. She is known to be equated with the Sumerian Inanna, Phoenician Astarte, and Etruscan Turan. I am aware however that the Roman Venus was originally a Latin vegetation and vineyard goddess that under Greek influenced became equated with the Goddess risen from the foam.