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talonabraxas · 5 days

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God Pan: Prayers, Symbols Talon Abraxas

The myth of Pan: myth and origins

In the myth, he was born from the union of the God Hermes with Dryope, the “Nymph of the Oak”.

Hermes was grazing sheep in Arcadia when, seeing that he had it, he fell in love with Dyrope and possessed it: from their meeting the little god was born, half-animal and half-human, with a bristly and bearded face, full of precocious wisdom, but also of a wild cheerfulness.

His mother fled upon seeing him, leaving him to Hermes, who wrapped him in hare skins and took him to Olympus, where everyone liked him, especially Dionysus. He was called “Pan” because “everyone” liked him. Occultly, Hermes, or Mercury, the “messenger of the gods”, is a symbol for the consciousness of the Adept who, by moving to the various Locations or Divinities of the body, realizes different forms of subtle experience of reality.

From the contact of the spiritual conscience with the fluid, “feminine”, and an impersonal entity that has the name of Nymph (from “nympha” or “lympha”, the vital energy of plants that is placed under the sign of the Moon), desire is born, which is precisely Pan.

Birth itself, depriving him of his mother, who “flees” because the fluid, unconscious elements of the personality are “fixed” by the consciousness that destroys them, incorporating them all into itself (Pan).

In fact, Pan was androgynous, bringing together consciousness, wisdom—the being of man (the old man)—and the unconsciousness, the naivety—the nature of the woman (the child).

The animal and divine side of creation, the synthesis of opposites, with dual forms of consciousness unknown to individuals. Hermes, the conscience, recognizes him and makes him his own, wrapping him in hare skins (a symbol for the hermaphrodite) and bringing him “up”, among the Olympic gods, because the enlightened desire always tends upwards, giving life to all higher spiritual forms, which exist only in him and through him.

The natural seat of the god was the deserted and solitary places where a silent and powerful presence was hidden, fearful, sensual, which caused desire (the man), but also subtle, melodious and irresistible, which was attracted as if by magic (the woman).

The old belief

A representation of nature in all its wild strength, the god Pan has always been seen as the generating force in male form and is still recognized today by the Wiccan religion as the beneficial father, as opposed to the Goddess, the Earth, Gaea, who is the primary force.

As a fertilizer, he had a great sexual connotation from the beginning, which together with his repellent aspect have made him the symbol of male supremacy.

The large horns, the shaggy legs, hooves, the tail, the thick beard, the strong sexual charge, the ability to generate panic only with his appearance and his scream, made it inevitable that with the advent of Christianity he was identified with the devil. Or, as some scholars declare, that he has been assimilated to the Christian religion with this name.

Nymphs have always been associated with Pan and his satyrs, primordial creatures, spirits of nature themselves, which were generated by it. Beautiful girls, also custodians of a strong sexual charge, to the point that the word nymphomaniac derives from their name.

The nymphs and satyrs have always mated in the thick of the forests, under the branches of thousand-year-old oaks, in an ancient sexual game. That was the primary occupation of such creatures, beings created by nature itself and dominated by it.

Generate. Generate life, crops, every plant species, herds, and wild animals. Protectors of the woods and fields, they led a simple and bucolic life, played their flutes, slept in the shade of old trees, tasted all the pleasures of sex.

Christianity changed everything, assimilated the old religions by adapting them, and since there was no place for them in Heaven, they were thrown into Hell.

Pan became Satan, and his satyrs the devils. The lascivious nymphs became wicked witches, and the pleasant amusements of satyrs and nymphs in the heart of the forest became infernal sabbaths where witches mated with goats and deformed devils.

The statues and paintings depicting these unnatural and blasphemous unions all too resembled the more festive ones of the pairing between satyrs and nymphs.

The god Pan playing the flute—Pan, the undisputed god of nature—was transformed into the lord of the Underworld, a title that would certainly have been more appropriate for Hades. Once again, poor Pan had been betrayed by his bestial aspect. The god of nature, growth, life itself, the generator, the one who gave sustenance to men, was now portrayed as the destroyer, a symbol of all evil and corruption.

How did this come about? Why had the shy and ethereal nymphs turned into wicked witches? Why had their earthly joys become abominable sabbaths?

Obviously, a religion that repressed sex and considered it the cause of all misfortune could not accept mythology that had made sex its very reason for being. It could not simply forget them and consign them to oblivion, but it was necessary to demonize them, so that they were always a warning to men.

In their eyes, the very union of apparently human girls with beings of animal descent was an abomination, which they tried to erase through centuries of oppression and inquisition.

The coupling between the satyrs and the nymphs, of the woman with the beast, had entered the collective imagination.

The very foundation of the forbidden, which attracted and caused repulsion alike. A spontaneous, primitive, wild union, disconnected from the Christian concept of love, but dominated only by lust and pleasure. An irrepressible desire of these fragile girls for the pure sexual act, accompanied by the very high sexual charge of these humanoid beings, extremely gifted to the point that a normal woman would have run away just by seeing them.

In the faded memory of Pan and his nymphs, thousands and thousands of women faced the stake, some guilty of having met him only in their dreams, some of having loved nature and accepted her gifts, some innocent victims of circumstances.

This assimilation was very strange because Pan is the only Hellenic divinity of which there is a myth about his death.

Therefore he is the only god, and therefore immortal, who is still dead. Indeed, the death of that being who loved the woods, meadows, and mountains, who grazed his flocks and raised bees, a perennially cheerful god, so viscerally linked to nature and the pleasures of the flesh, threw the whole world into anguish when news of his disappearance was given.

With him, the wild nature disappeared, the impenetrable woods were now violated by man, the free animals increasingly decimated, the very equilibrium on which existence was founded was destroyed.

The myth, that of being a goat, had its roots in a very distant past and traces could be found in many of the most disparate mythologies. In Italy, his name was Faun, and his species was called by the names of fauns and sylvanians, long before they were identified with satyrs. Magical beings who always, in pre-Christian times, were everywhere considered benevolent deities, bearers of life.

Almost two millennia had to pass before Pan was given back his primordial role as a pagan deity.

Alongside mythology, a certainly more medical and well-founded idea was born. It would seem precisely the etymology of the word Pan to suggest the word panic. Why does Pan appear in our head? There is no single precise cause to understand from what the panic attack arises, but it is certain that there is basic non-listening. In the presence of alexithymia (the inability to feel and express emotions), a great accumulation of fears, impulses, and questions will inevitably cause an uncontrollable and sudden explosion.

Sometimes, we look at these symptoms and reactions with suspicion, taking lightly the fact that Pan is nothing more than a message not received previously, that if it had been listened to carefully, it would have been resolved in the bud.

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echthr0s · 8 months

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Though his is the domain of decadence and excess, only a fool believes that Slaanesh is concerned solely with the idle pleasures of the flesh. Rather, Slaanesh is fuelled by extremes of mortal sensation, experience, and emotion. The Dark Prince of Chaos grants the power to excel in all things, pushing those who serve him far beyond the normal limits of Human passion, desire, and obsession. None have dreamed until they have dreamed of the power Slaanesh can grant, their horizons expanding infinitely in the very instant their soul is forfeited. While the Dark Prince is as yet the least in power of the four major Chaos Gods, his potential is limitless, for it is defined only by the evils mortals can dream of inflicting upon one another.[4a] Slaanesh is master of cruel passions and hidden vices, and of terrible temptations. Of all the Dark Gods, Slaanesh alone is divinely glamorous: long-limbed and elegant, with a haunting, androgynous beauty. It is impossible for a mortal to look upon that divine face without losing their soul to his service, for all who see Slaanesh become slaves to his slightest whim. Slaanesh can assume male, female or hermaphrodite form at will, though he mostly manifests himself as a young man -- clean limbed and fresh with the vigour of youth. Slaanesh is seductive as only an immortal can be, disarming in his innocence, utterly beguiling in his manner. Known widely as the Lord of Pleasure, Slaanesh is truly dedicated to the pursuit of excess -- the overthrow of all moderate and decent behaviour.

#my feelings about this are very much Decidedly Un-Normal #i need to get up and walk around or something i'm about to FUCKING SUPERNOVA #[leviathan.]

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lordelmelloi2 · 1 year

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[AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE DON'T BE WEIRD ABOUT THIS IM LITERALLY AN INTERSEX MANWOMAN NO THIS IS NOT PROJECTION SIMPLY INTERPRETATION AND SUGGESTION]

I think for Waver being a woman is like. It really is just something he can't help and he can't live without. He had so much pain being treated like a girl for a long time but as he grew older he had this sitting feeling that he can't just throw it away, and while he doesn't want to be a Girl he still feels like a Woman, he finds himself in that group sometimes bitching about men and reading books about feminist theory and living in the modern world musing upon how there really isn't much difference between men and women in the end is there? And for him while he knows he is a man, he takes the damn testosterone to fix his hypogonadism for god's sake so he could finish puberty and live with normal hormone levels, he feels also that for some reason he just doesn't want to give it up. The woman thing. He doesn't hate that part of himself who feels like a woman in some regards. Some people in media, he finds while searching the web, talk about embracing your femimine side, remarking that although they are men they feel like women at times too, and tuning in to that part of yourself and being in touch with it is healthy and makes them feel more Whole rather than suppressing it for the sake of overperforming Manhood.

And what is manhood to Waver anyways? The person who best represents manhood to him was also the man reknowned for his relationships with men, which Waver acutely realizes to some people means you're not a man at all (it is 2004) but to many others means nothing -- your sexuality can inform your gender but it doesn't always, but it's also that loving men can be both the manliest thing for some but the most feminine thing to others. It all crumbles because everyone's interpretation and sociocultural understandings of gender are so massively different. You just can't acknowledge the borders firmly anymore. They're malleable. Of course Waver is fond of those performances of masculinity -- leathermen, bears, bikers, etc. all reminding him of a kind of comfort he felt when he was younger, but he also can't ignore his fellow androgynes. Waver is aware he doesn't have the genetics to look as Hunky and Masculine as other men. he's aware that he's androgynous. He could shave his hair off and go for something different. But all these years have passed and he never has. Of course he has a legitimate reason too - storing mana in his hair is a utilitarian reason - but even then there are ways he could style himself to look more masculine, and yet he still... shaves daily and doesn't change his hairstyle. From behind, or passing by quickly, people often mistake him at a distance. In a way he never escaped that feminine gendering. He almost doesn't care to anymore. It makes him angry, but he doesn't feel defeat -- could it be because he doesn't want his manhood to be forgotten, or eclipsed, by his feminine aspects?

As an alchemist he is firmly aware of the concept of Rebis. The Rebis, the divine hermaphrodite, is the closest an alchemist can get to the Truth of the universe. It is the harmony of man and woman. Waver knows this well when he looks in the mirror in the mornings and lets the blade glide over his chin, brushing his hair out of the way, tidying himself up, putting on an undershirt and still thinking to himself. Everything is everything, isn't it. Is it?, He knows he's a man, he sees the boniness of his shoulders and the Adam's apple and the sleek jawline and the arch of his eyebrows and he Knows he is a man. He worked so hard for this. And it ached the entire time, and his fingers grip the sides of the sink. Imagine if you were still getting called a girl after all that. How far he's come. There's something intangible throbbing inside of him. Maybe it's the loneliness finally coming to a head, or maybe it's the depression, or his heartburn acting up.

But it could also be that he never explores. He never lets himself think about The Other Side, because he's scared of what he'll find out about himself. Maybe he's scared to throw all that hard work away. He spent years working to be a man, and the idea of trying to be a woman too could throw all of that into disarray, he thinks. Even though he already knows so much. Even though he's thought about and researched makeup and other things already, styles of fashion, the woman's perspective, finding himself nodding while reading because he has felt these things also. So what is he? What's inside him? He knows he's a man. Is there something else inside him too? Does he want to look at it? Does he even want to think about it? When he looks up in the mirror and sees the softness and weakness in his own expression, does he berate himself for being weak, like a man should never be? Or can he cradle that part of him and apologize and accept it?

#waver gender party #I just went crazy on this post SORRY

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fierysword · 2 years

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In Deuteronomy 32:6 Moses explicitly refers to God as “your father”... yet the Hebrew Bible tells us this same God “convulsed in labor for you,” “gave birth to you,” and “suckled you” (Deuteronomy 32:13 and 18). Such contrasting images—of Divine Father and Divine Mother, just a few lines apart—suggest a dual-gendered deity...

In Hebrew, Moses addresses God in the second person masculine singular (attah) and the second person feminine singular (at). The original human being, the adam—created in God’s own image—is referred to as “them” (otam), which the rabbis took to mean an androgynous being later separated by God into the male and female Adam and Eve...

Before 1566 [Guillaume Postel] had written “The Treasure” in which he wrote that the four-Hebrew-letter name of God was composed of the Hebrew pronouns “he” and "she"... Fast forward to the nineteenth century. An Italian scholar by the name of Michelangelo Lanci [claimed] that the four-letter Hebrew name of God was composed of the Hebrew pronouns “he” and “she,” signifying a dual-gendered deity.

#names of god #El Shaddai #divine feminine in the bible #God as Mother #hermaphroditic adam #divine feminine in christianity #divine androgyne #name of God

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lailoken · 3 years

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Hey I’m interested in the ins and outs of the Bucca but to be entirely honest I can’t make heads or tails of much of the literature around them. Is Bucca Dhu the same as Odin and is the Grand Bucca the same as Baphomet? Sorry if I sound a little rude.

Hello there.

You don’t sound rude, however, that is more complex of a question to answer than it may initially seem. For, you see, much of the information out there on Bucca is, in fact, quite varied. As such, it can be confusing to sift through for many people.

It would seem, from what I can tell, that your main points of reference when it comes to the figure of Bucca are the writings of Gemma Gary, so I’m going to start by trying to answer your question, framed in the context of the Craft as practiced by Gary and the coven of ‘Ros an Bucca.’ However, I feel compelled to follow that up with some broader historical/folkloric information on this mysterious spirit since, as I mentioned before, it seems like a lot of people are curious and confused when it comes to him. So without further ado, here is my impromptu essay…

Bucca and his Syncretic Roles within the Context of Modern Traditional Witchcraft

In many iterations and interpretations of the occultic arts, often categorized loosely as ‘modern traditional witchcraft,’ a deific figure frequently called 'The Horned One'—amongst innumerable similar titles—is regarded as the principal Witching God of a given tradition, as well as the chief initiator of the Cunning Flame itself. It is a commonly embraced belief within most currents of practice that tend to fall under this banner of ‘traditional witchcraft,’ that in Old Britain, the god of rural witches was often referred to as 'Devil'. It is ostensibly for this reason that this is still the case for many traditionally based practitioners in the surrounding areas, including the Crafters of Cornwall.

The Devil of the modern traditional witchcraft is, of course, rarely equated directly with Satan as he is depicted in Abrahamic faiths, but is instead regarded, as Gemma Gary puts it,

“an old chthonic folk-god of the land mysteries and seasonal changes (particularly the Autumn and Winter months), weather (particularly storms), death mysteries and the unseen forces and gnosis of use to witchcraft.” She likewise states that “To traditional witches and Cunning folk in Cornwall, in particular the Penwith region, the old Horned One is known as Bucca, and in West Devon as Buckie.” (‘Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways’, pg. 77, by Gemma Gary)

One aspect of the Bucca found in Cornish lore, and embraced within the paradigm of Gary’s practice, is that he emanates into the dichotomy of ‘Bucca Gwidder’ and ‘Bucca Dhu’—otherwise known the ‘White God’ and the ‘Black God.’ Bucca Dhu is generally seen as the Devil of the previously discussed rural British folk-belief, and is associated with storms, darkness, and the winter months. Conversely, Bucca Gwidder is generally associated with fair weather, light, and the summer months. As is the case in many other, similar spiritual paradigms, Bucca Gwidder and Bucca Dhu dualistically embody the opposing forces of nature. They are intimately tied to one another, with one always giving rise to the other in an infinite cycle of death and rebirth. What’s more, while I can’t seem to find historical evidence for it at this point, Gemma Gary and the coven of Ros an Bucca venerate a mystic triplicity as well, in the form of a ‘conjoined’ Bucca, known as ‘Bucca Gam’, or the ‘Grand Bucca’. This union of opposing forces is said to result in the embodiment of an ‘Androgyne of the Wise’, a concept which mirrors the attainment of the Alchemical Magnum Opus—also called the Rebis (‘Double Matter’), or ‘Divine Hermaphrodite’—which was frequently identified with the attainment of complete wisdom. According to Gary,

“The Grand Bucca and the great Horned Androgyne, the Sabbatic Goat and Goddess-God of the witch-way. For some the Grand Bucca is simply referred to as Bucca, being the whole, with the two opposing aspects of that whole being given the distinction of Bucca Gwidder and Bucca Dhu. In Bucca we find the resolving of all opposites, the traditional candle betwixt the horns symbolising the light of All-Wisdom', and the mystic state of "One-pointedness' which is the ultimate goal of the witch and is the light that illumines the Cunning Path.” (‘Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways’, pg. 84, by Gemma Gary)

Regarding the connections between Bucca Gam and Baphomet, I think it largely comes down to the fact that it’s relatively rare for modern occult practices to acknowledge deities who are explicitly intersex, with the best-known example of the Divine Androgyne being Baphomet—a being invented by Crusaders in order to demonize the Knights Templar, and then eventually taken up and popularized by occultist Eliphas Levi.

Now, when it comes to the question of syncretic connections between Bucca and Odin/Woden, it primarily comes down to their roles within the concept of the Wild Hunt. As many people know, the Wild Hunt is an important folkloric motif, which describes the shepherding of a ghostly procession across the sky by a powerful mythic figure; in the Germanic world, the leader of this convoy was commonly identified with Odin. Within much of the known Celtic lore, this phantom band was attended and directed by great spectral hounds, known by a wide variety of names. In Cornwall, the Wild Hunt is generally associated with folkloric figures known as the ‘Devil’s Dandy Dogs,’ also called ‘Dando’s Dogs,’ however, it may also be associated with Bucca. As Gary put it,

“On dark and cold nights of winter, Bucca Dhu is also described as riding a great black horse with blazing red eyes and smoky breath. Such lore surrounding Bucca Dhu is cognate with the widespread folk traditions of the Devil and Odin/Woden, as leaders of the Wild Hunt, which in British tradition runs along the Abbot's Way towards Cornwall; the last stop en route to the Otherworld.”

I am yet to come across anything in the folkloric record that matches these particular details, however, it would seem that there is some traditional connection there. For instance, Bucca does demonstrate characteristics of the Wild Hunt in certain versions of the classic Cornish play “Duffy and the Devil” (sometimes called “Duffy and the Bucca”.) This link to Odin is further cemented by the fact that Bucca Dhu is demonstrably connected to the Devil in Cornwall, and the Devil is sometimes said to lead the Wild Hunt, creating an archetypal framework within which both Odin and Bucca fit.

Now for the historical/folkloric background I promised…

According to most relevant sources, Bucca was traditionally described as a form of male Sea Spirit who inhabited coastal communities and their mines during storms—often in the form of a sort of hobgoblin. Many agree that the origins of the Bucca likely relate to faery beings such as the Pwca, Púca, and Puck of Welsh, Irish, and English folklore, respectively, though he also seems to share characteristics with the mermaids of Welsh and Breton mythology—known variably as Morgens, Morgans, or Mari-Morgans.

In one folktale, loosely known as ‘The Sea Bucca of Lamorna’, Bucca was a lonely creature who had once been a human prince, before being cursed by a witch. He was described as having the dark brown skin of a conger eel and a mass of seaweed for hair, as well as a penchant for swimming in the open waves, sitting among the rocks, and/or resting in hidden sea caverns. He was fond of children and assisted the Lamorna fishermen by driving fish and crabs into their nets and pots, but he was capable of terrible retribution, so they generally kept their distance, but left a part of their catch on the beach in order to mollify him.

However, it’s clear that many accounts on the matter clearly speak of the Bucca as more than simply a faery, or sea creature. As Cornish folklorist William Bottrell put it in his 1870 work ‘Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall’

“It is uncertain whether Bucka can be regarded as one of the fairy tribe; Old people, within my remembrance, spoke of a Bucka Gwidden and a Bucka Dhu – by the former they meant good spirit, and by the latter an evil one, now known as Bucka boo.”

In keeping with Bottrell's account of the Bucca , a number of folkloric sources make note of Bucca’s manifold nature, referencing the existence of a ‘Bucca Gwydden/Gwydder’ (White Bucca) and ‘Bucca Dhu’ (Black Bucca). Each of these accounts agrees upon the respective benevolent and malevolent natures of these incarnations, though it’s interesting to note that there are considerably more reports of Bucca Dhu, or ‘Bucca Boo,’ than there are of Bucca Gwydder.

A 19th Century author on Cornish antiquities, named Rev W. S. Lach-Szyrma, proposed Bucca to be the cultural remnant of an ancient pagan Marine Deity once worshiped in the area, such as the British Nodens or the Irish Nechtans. While claims such as these are primarily conjecture, folkloric records do make note of food being left out on the beaches of the region as votive offerings. In the 19th century, for instance, there were reports of fishermen venerating Bucca with offerings of fish, which were left for the enigmatic Wight upon the shores of multiple local beaches. One of these beaches, particularly well known for its use as a site of propitiation, was located near the Cornish town of Newlyn, known formerly as Park an Grouse (Cornish for 'the field of the cross',) where a stone cross was said to once have stood.

These accounts, in turn, bear a certain resemblance to reports of offerings provided to the subterranean Knockers of the region, and as such, may signify some form of cultural continuity of pre-Christian Brythonic traditions. In keeping with this theme of the ‘Mine Faery’, it’s also worth noting that Bucca was sometimes described as a tin-mining spirit as well.

However, Bucca has additionally been historically associated with storms, and in particular, with the wind, which was said to carry his voice across the sea in parts of the West Country. In fact, in Penzance, it was once considered normal to refer to storms that came out of the Southwest as 'Bucca Calling.' For this reason, among others, it is possible that Bucca would have been more properly labeled a weather deity, as opposed to a deity of the sea itself—a distinction that Gemma Gary endorses enthusiastically in ‘A Cornish Book of Ways.’

In Jaqueline Simpson’s ‘A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology’, these marine, tempestuous, subterranean, and pastoral themes are tied together when it’s stated that

“In Cornwall, [Bucca] was ‘a spirit it was once thought necessary to propitiate’; fishermen, tin-miners, and harvesters would deliberately leave a few scraps of their food for him, and spill a few drops of beer.

Children were told to stop crying, or the bucca-boo would come and carry them off.

Some said there were two buccas, one white and kindly, the other black and dangerous.

Fishermen applied the name to a sea goblin of some sort, causing a 19th-century vicar [Lach-Szyrma] to refer to the bucca-boo as ‘the storm-god of the old Cornish’.”

The origins of Bucca’s association with the devil are murky, but they probably have something to do with the widespread equation of faeries with devils in early modern Britain. This doesn’t exactly account for the Bucca’s role as Witch-Father in traditionalist Cornish witchcraft, but those origins are also somewhat murky. It would seem that, at least on the historical record, this particular role was only truly appointed to Bucca around the time of Ros an Bucca’s formation. This isn’t to say, of course, that there weren’t a quiet few who venerated Bucca ongoingly in Cornwall, but given the inherently cultic nature of most covens, this simply isn’t verifiable. However, W.S. Lach-Szyrma’s assertions regarding Bucca as “storm god of the old Cornish” do make explicit reference to the ties between Bucca and the Devil, such as in his 1884 ‘Newlyn and its Piers,’ where he wrote that in the Middle Ages, Bucca was “represented as the Devil.” This syncretism is also briefly highlighted in Margaret Ann Courtney’s 1890 book ‘Cornish Feasts and Folk-lore’, when it’s explained that

“In the adjacent parish of Newlyn, a fishing village, the favourite resort of artists, a great deal of gossiping on summer evenings goes on around the small wells (here called peeths) [. . .] Opposite one of these wells, towering over St. Peter’s church, is a striking pile of rocks, “Tolcarn.” On the summit are some curious markings in the stones, which, when a child, I was told were the devil’s footprints; but the following legend, which I give on the authority of the Rev.W. S. Lach-Szyrma, Vicar of St. Peter’s, is quite new to me:—

‘The summit of the rock is reticulated with curious veins of elvan [quartz-porphyry], about which a quaint Cornish legend relates that the Bucca-boo, or storm-god of the old Cornish, once stole the fishermens’ net. Being pursued by Paul choir, who sang the Creed, he flew to the top of Paul hill and thence over the Coombe to Tolcarn, where he turned the nets into stone.’”

With all of these variable, sometimes even conflicting, accounts of who and what the Bucca is, it's really not a shock that many people find themselves feeling lost when it comes to understanding him, but I hope that this can help to elucidate the subject for some. Resources on the subject are sparse, but they do exist, and a fascinating patchwork of historical and modern perspectives begins to reveal itself if you look for it. Yet, like most things in life, his identity will continue to unfold, shift, and evolve over the years to come.

—

Art Credits (In Order of Appearance):

‘Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways’ —Gemma Gary

‘Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie’ — Éliphas Lévi

Odin Woodcut by Gerhard Munthe (1849-1929)

‘Faeries’ — Brian Froud and Alan Lee

Internet Clipart — Unknown Artist

‘The History of Witches and Wizards’ (1720)

‘Robin Good-Fellow, His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests.’ (1639)

#anonymous #ask #bucca #Wilding Lord #bucca dhu #bucca gwydder #bucca gam #cornish lore #cornish magic #cornish witchcraft #gemma gary #ros an bucca #traditional witchcraft #Odin #woden

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snekdood · 2 years

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Ardhanarishvara

Ardhanarishvara is the divine union between Shiva and his consort Parvati, together they make a whole, unified androgynous being. This is the form Shiva took in the beginning of creation and gave divine inspiration to Brahma for a different kind of being that would help his own creatures procreate. she is the other half of Shiva, thus this form is an undeniable part of him.

In this form, Shiva clearly bends the gender binary, and shows that true unity is found within the balance of the divine masculine and feminine within.

“Ardhanarishvara represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe (Purusha and Prakriti) and illustrates how Shakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or the same as, according to some interpretations) Shiva, the male principle of God, and vice versa. The union of these principles is exalted as the root and womb of all creation. Another view is that Ardhanarishvara is a symbol of Shiva's all-pervasive nature...

Ardhanarishvara symbolizes that the male and female principles are inseparable.[32] The composite form conveys the unity of opposites (coniunctio oppositorum) in the universe.[3][12][55][56] The male half of Ardhanarishvara stands for Purusha and female half is Prakriti. Purusha is the male principle and passive force of the universe, while Prakriti is the female active force; both are "constantly drawn to embrace and fuse with each other, though... separated by the intervening axis". The union of Purusha (Shiva) and Prikriti (Shiva's energy, Shakti) generates the universe, an idea also manifested in the union of the Linga of Shiva and Yoni of Devi creating the cosmos.[57][58][59] The Mahabharata lauds this form as the source of creation.[46] Ardhanarishvara also suggests the element of Kama or Lust, which leads to creation.[59]

Ardhanarishvara signifies "totality that lies beyond duality", "bi-unity of male and female in God" and "the bisexuality and therefore the non-duality" of the Supreme Being.[20][60] It conveys that God is both Shiva and Parvati, "both male and female, both father and mother, both aloof and active, both fearsome and gentle, both destructive and constructive" and unifies all other dichotomies of the universe.[55] While Shiva's rosary in the Ardhanarishvara iconography associates him with asceticism and spirituality, Parvati's mirror associates her to the material illusory world.[61] Ardhanarishvara reconciles and harmonizes the two conflicting ways of life: the spiritual way of the ascetic as represented by Shiva, and the materialistic way of the householder as symbolized by Parvati, who invites the ascetic Shiva into marriage and the wider circle of worldly affairs. The interdependence of Shiva on his power (Shakti) as embodied in Parvati is also manifested in this form.[55] Ardhanarishvara conveys that Shiva and Shakti are one and the same, an interpretation also declared in inscriptions found along with Ardhanarishvara images in Java and the eastern Malay Archipelago.[3][9] The Vishnudharmottara Purana also emphasizes the identity and sameness of the male Purusha and female Prakriti, manifested in the image of Ardhanarishvara.[62] According to Shaiva guru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927–2001), Ardhanarishvara signifies that the great Shiva is "All, inseparable from His energy" (i.e. his Shakti) and is beyond gender.[63]

Across cultures, hermaphrodite figures like Ardhanarishvara have traditionally been associated with fertility and abundant growth. In this form, Shiva in his eternal embrace with Prakriti represents the eternal reproductive power of Nature, whom he regenerates after she loses her fertility. "It is a duality in unity, the underlying principle being a sexual dualism".[58] Art historian Sivaramamurti calls it "a unique connection of the closely knit ideal of man and woman rising above the craving of the flesh and serving as a symbol of hospitality and parenthood".[20] The dual unity of Ardhanarishvara is considered "a model of conjugal inseparability". Padma Upadhyaya comments, "The idea of ... Ardhanārīśvara is to locate the man in the woman as also the woman in the man and to create perfect homogeneity in domestic affairs".[19]

Often, the right half of Ardhanarishvara is male and the left is female. The left side is the location of the heart and is associated with feminine characteristics like intuition and creativity, while the right is associated with the brain and masculine traits – logic, valour and systematic thought.[12][64] The female is often not equal in the Ardhanarishvara, the male god who is half female; she remains a dependent entity.[65] Ardhanarishvara "is in essence Shiva, not Parvati". This is also reflected in mythology, where Parvati becomes a part of Shiva. It is likewise reflected in iconography: Shiva often has two supernatural arms and Parvati has just one earthly arm, and his bull vahana – not her lion vahana – typically accompanies them.[66] “

[-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhanarishvara]

“Ardhanarishvara is an androgynous form of Lord Shiva, the composite of Shiva and Parvati, the half-male and half-female fusion from the center. The right half is that of Shiva, and the left half expounds Parvati. Symbolizing the all-pervasive, all-enduring nature of Lord Shiva, Ardhanarishwar portrays a perfect balance of male and female as equal, as “Purusha” and “Prakriti,” the feminine and masculine energies of the cosmos as well as Shiva, the male principle of God, as the essence of Shakti, the Sacred Feminine.“

[-https://vedicfeed.com/ardhanarishvara-shiva-shakti/]

“Ardhanarishvara is a composite androgynous form of Shiva and his consort Parvati. This form is shown as a fusion of half-male and half-female forms, split down in the center. The right half is depicted as Shiva, while the left half shows the female form of Parvati. The very name Ardhanarishvara implies "the Lord who is half-woman". This form of Shiva is also referred to as Ardhanarisha, Ardhanarinateshwara, Ardhayuvateeshwara, Ardhagaureeshwara, Gaureeshwara, Naranaari, Parangada and Ammiappan. Since Ardhanarishvara represents the perfect synthesis of male and female forms, it also embodies the Prakriti and the Purusha, the feminine and masculine energies of the cosmos and also illustrates how Shakti, the Sacred Feminine, is inseparable from Shiva, the male principle of God. This form also symbolizes the all-pervasive, all-enduring nature of Lord Shiva.“

-[https://www.dollsofindia.com/library/ardhanarishvara-symbolism/]

“According to the philosophy of Tantra, the entire universe is a manifestation of pure consciousness. In manifesting the universe, this pure consciousness seems to become divided into two poles or aspects, neither of which can exist without the other. Each requires the other in order to manifest its total nature.One aspect, Shiva, is masculine, retains a static quality and remains identified with unmanifested consciousness. Shiva has the power to be but not the power to become or change.The other aspect, Shakti, is feminine, dynamic, energetic and creative. Shakti is the Great Mother of the universe, for it is from her that all form is born.According to Tantra, the human being is a miniature universe. All that is found in the cosmos can be found within each individual, and the same principles that apply to the universe apply in the case of the individual being.In human beings, Shakti, the feminine aspect is called Kundalini. This potential energy is said to rest at the base of the spinal cord. The object of the Tantric practice of Kundalini-yoga is to awaken this cosmic energy and make it ascend through the psychic centers, the chakras, that lie along the axis of the spine as consciousness potentials. She will then unite above the crown of the head with Shiva the pure consciousness. This union is the aim of Kundalini-yoga: a resolution of duality into unity again, a fusion with the Absolute. By this union the adept attains liberation while living which is considered in Indian life to be the highest experience: an union of the individual with the universe. Once Kundalini Shakti has ascended to above the crown of the head and merged with Shiva, it is made to reverse its course and return to rest at the base of the spine.In Tantrism the state of ultimate bliss is a transcendence of dualities male-female, energy-consciousness, Shiva-Shakti…“

[-https://www.tantra-kundalini.com]

“Ajna chakra is the location of the third eye which is the conscience. The two physical eyes see the past and the present, while the third eye reveals the insight of the future. The seed syllable is Aum, or “Pranava Om”, the supreme sound. When one establishes himself in the place between the eyebrows he goes beyond all the kinds of desires that motivate life and impel one to move in many directions. All experience and ideas serve only to clarify one’s perceptions in Ajna Chakra. The plane of neutrality (Sarasvati) appears as a balance between solar and lunar energy within the body...

The presiding deity is Ardhanarishvara, the half-male, half-female Shiva-Shakti, symbolic of basic polarity; the right side is male and the left side, female. Ardhanarishvara stands in a lingam known as Itara Lingam. The lingam is shining white, like the color of light. The male half of Ardhanarishvara has camphor-blue skin. He holds a trident in his right hand, representing the three aspects of consciousness: cognition, conation, and affection. The female side of Ardhanarishvara is pink. She wears a red sari, and about her neck and arms are wound shining golden ornaments. She holds a pink lotus, a symbol of purity. All duality has ceased. Shiva has total command over all aspects of the self in this plane of liberation, or moksha. The third eye of Shiva is called sva-netra, the organ of clairvoyance. Becoming Sada-Shiva, the eternal one, Shiva is no longer separate from Shakti as a separate male entity. Devata Shiva is the granter of knowledge. This knowledge brings the breath (prana) and the mind under control of Ardhanarishvara.”

[-https://www.tantra-kundalini.com/ajna/]

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xaoswych · 2 years

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Since embracing genderfluidity, I’ve turned my focus to female representations of the divine. After all, it was the acceptance from a Goddess figure that got me reconsidering my gender identity.

Recently, I thought I’d look into androgynous god figures, as that might be more appropriate. A short bit of inquiry and I am reminded that Baphomet is often shown as a hermaphrodite, as a symbol of unity of opposites.

This could prove an easy current to explore, since I’ve worked with Baphomet before.

#genderfluid #witch #magick #baphomet #witchy shit

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occultwhores · 4 years

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This final stage of transformation brings a kind of cosmic consciousness, perhaps Nirvana. You experience the Self as the center of the World, around which the Cosmos rotates. So, in the Pythagorean Tarot, the dancer is surrounded by the zodiac and the four figures representing the four elements and the four kingdoms (mineral, plant, animal and human). Therefore the motto declares Unus mundus sum, "I am the One World." (It is interesting that Latin mundus and Greek kosmos both originally referred to female neatness and cleanliness, and only later to the ordered universe.)

This seeing of yourself at the center of the world is not ego inflation, however, for you also realize that this Self is transpersonal; rather, inflation was characteristic of Fool: recall that "fool" derives from follis, wind bag (Johnson, 48-52, explains the distinction clearly). Indeed, Jung observes that the transfigured ego can influence the world only to the extent that the effort is unintentional (hence the spontaneity of the dancer). The dancer knows her illumination is more a gift of the gods than a personal accomplishment. (Nichols 357, 364)

Since the circle represents the Anima (soul) and the square the Mundus (world), together they are the Anima Mundi. The Anima with which you unite is the Anima Mundi, the World Soul, Una quae est Omnia (She, the One who is All). As a consequence, the concerns of the individual tend to be coextensive with the concerns of the world, and so the individual appears egoless; in fact, the ego has expanded to encompass the world, not by inflating, but by dissolving into it. Such a person is assuredly still human, imperfect but completed. (Case 208; Gad 303; Nichols 350, 353, 356; O'Neill 287; SB&G 82; Williams 132)

The dancer is androgynous because she represents the reconciliation of all opposites, but especially the unification of the conscious and the unconscious in the integrated Self. According to Gnostic mythology she is a return to the primal being, who was, as in many mythologies, hermaphroditic. In particular, the androgyne and Janus are symbols of the union of all the opposites of the psyche: mind and feeling, spirit and body, conflict and harmony, solitude and relationship, action and intuition, paternal ethics and maternal care. This is a divine ecstasy resulting from a union with inner divinity, for "Enthusiasm annuls the distance between pairs of opposites, and this brings ecstatic joy" (Johnson 52). (Case 208; Cirlot s.v. Janus; Nichols 349-50, 391; SB&G 82)

Nevertheless, the overall character of the androgyne is feminine since, as Nichols (356) observes, it is a psychological fact that women and the Animae in men have a stronger connection with the experienced Self than the masculine aspects of the personality. This fact may have a cultural - rather than a biological - source, causing the symbol of the androgyne to manifest the suppressed aspects of the personality. (Nichols 356) (We have also seen that in ancient Latin the female Anima corresponded the unconscious mind, whereas the masculine Animus corresponded the conscious mind; so also in Greek, feminine Psukhe versus masculine Thumos.)

The dancer thus corresponds to Isis, Shakti and the Ewig Weibliche (the Eternal Feminine) of Goethe. Most significantly, however, she is the new incarnation of Rhea, who presided over the Wheel of Fortune, but now dances a freer dance. Since she transcends the individual, she corresponds to the Anima Mundi, whose liberation is the goal of the alchemical Magnum Opus (and in alchemical manuscripts we see her radiant in a mandorla like that in World; see below). Thus, as Jung said, she is the collective unconscious, in the center of which the Self resides. (Nichols 356-7; Walker 131-3; Williams 130, 132)

In the dancer, spirit and instinct flow together; there is no opposition between them. This is why she is nude, to show that she is in her natural state and is truly following her inner nature. Nudity represents the absence of shame in the natural state, but is especially a symbol of truth ("the truth unveiled," cf. "Isis unveiled"), which manifests in World. (Guiley & Place 124; Nichols 350)

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bagoastheeunuch · 4 years

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Arcane Idol Yardan by Develv Even though I might be a little late, yet I decided to draw something for the Deviantart original character challenge. Just wanted to participate in the challenge. My character’s name is Yardan - he is a Roman galli and born prince of Anatolia. I drew him in the appearance of god Attis, the ancient Phrygian god of vegetation. Seeing that most characters are cis males or female I wanted to make a tribute to non-binary gender people, and in ancient times they were considered hermaphrodites and androgynous.

I used soft pastel colors like pink, gold and white and choose the green for background to display the peacefulness of nature, as the resurrected sun-god Attis is also the god of spring and fertility. Ancient mythology serves as the main source of my inspiration for creating Yardan and his backstory. There are many references on this matter in antique myths (ancient Greek myths), philosophy (Plato), and Hindu Vedic literature (where most gods are gender-fluid), and of course history of ancient cultures such as of Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Here are three elements of my Arcane Idol: 1. Talisman – Yardan’s crown shaped like sun-rays. His teacher saw Attis reborn in him and therefore crowned him as his chosen disciple and the next Archigallus of the galli community. The crown has special secret power that no one knew, as the legends tell anyone who owned this crown could rule the Rome. In fact, this crown was the symbol of freedom. 2. Equipment – his ceremonial weapon is an axe, also an attribute of Attis, in ancient times, it was not only a weapon of Zeus (lightning), but it symbolized the severing of ties to the material world: sex, gender, body, views and values, thus, the divine androgyne becomes a creature beyond material norms, a being from spiritual dimension. 3. Logo – the symbol of my Arcane Idol is a pomegranate, an ancient “apple” from the legend about Attis, according to which his mother nymph Nana has put the fruit to her belly and became pregnant with Attis. ___ And my reply to three questions: 1. Do you have a backstory when you create an original character? Always. When I create an original character concept, I already have in mind its story, so either I write it first or after the concepts, but the backstory is born first, in my head. 2. How do you think you would handle a meteoric rise to fame? Surely. I’m calm about it. Popularity is never my goal, yet it is a chance to show artist’s world to more people, so I welcome the fame as a very good opportunity. 3. What are your favorite tools to use in the creative process? Definitely the information I read: books, articles, literature. If some facts seem very interesting but they lack depiction and illustration, I want to ‘bring out’ what has been formed in my imagination. I always choose something rare and what is “ignored” by the majority. Secondly, other tools that help me to be motivated is beautiful photography or old paintings.

#androgynous #feminine boy #androgynous male #eunuch #history #OC #digital art #digital #magic #original character #gods #ancient #attis #fantasy #non gender binari #blonde #beauty #beautiful eunuch

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feyariel · 5 years

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Something’s been bothering me for a bit about D&D pantheons.

In 3.5, the “core” pantheon has 18, 23, or 25 deities, depending on if you include the four (Bahamut, Kurtulmak, Lolth, and Tiamat) appended to it in Deities & Demigods and Complete Divine and the two from the Expanded Psionics Handbook (Ilsensine and Zuoken). I tend to include all but Ilsensine because...:

All of those sources (except Complete Divine, natch) are OGC, so I figure if it’s on the SRD, draw from the source.

I also use the Completes, but eh.

Lolth and Kurtulmak have important and semi-important mythological ties (respectively) and are the only two deities mentioned in the Monster Manual to get added to the pantheon.

Lolth also gets a reference in the DMG.

Drow and Kobolds are practically PC races anyway.

By this logic and going off of point #2, Maglubiyet (Goblins) should be the 26th member of the core pantheon.

We’re talking Bahamut and Tiamat here.

Not only do Illithids not need a deity, but the overlap Ilsensine has with Vecna - or any other cult of forbidden knowledge, for that matter - is a little too much for me to want to include it in the main pantheon.

Besides, literally every evil god of an evil race wants to destroy/conquer/enslave every other race, so this isn’t anything novel functionally.

I mean, you could use it as the Infosphere from Futurama, I guess, but really, that doesn’t work, either.

Out of those 23 to 25 deities, only five are female: Ehlonna, Lolth, Tiamat, Wee Jas, and Yondalla - and only one of those is definitely a human deity (Ehlonna probably originated amongst the elves and is effectively a half-elven goddess). That’s 22% - much too low. If you use only the gods detailed in the PHB, you’re down to 3 of 18 (16 2/3%). In either case, you’ve got more than the probable proportion of non-binary people in this group (Corellon’s canonically androgynous, at least sexually fluid and possibly genderfluid, and sometimes hermaphroditic, though most material misgenders “him”; Ilsensine is agender), but that’s because there’s representation at all.

5e’s version of the Greyhawk pantheon adds Beory (F), Celestian (M), Incabulos (M), Istus (F), Iuz (M), Pholtus (M), Ralishaz (constantly changing), Rao (M), Tharizdun (usually male pronouns, form doesn’t bespeak gender [usually]), Trithereon (M), and Ulaa (F), but lists the nonhuman deities separately. (It’s not quite the same as those mentioned in the Monster Manual 3.5, but it’s close.) This is kinda the same list that gets thrown around of the more likely additions to the pantheon - Beory, Incabulos, Istus, Pholtus, Rao, and Tharizdun are all fairly common, followed by Celestian and Trithereon - but it still adds a net two men. Going through the list of Greyhawk gods, there simply aren’t that many Intermediate or Greater goddesses (and there are plenty of Intermediate gods who didn’t get included).

Basically, if you want to have the sexes somewhat balanced, you either have to add gods from non-Greyhawk sources (as 3.5 did - see the Complete books, Book of Exalted Deeds, etc.) or you need to genderswap (as basically happened with the Inner Sea pantheon in Pathfinder).

For a while, I thought the Realms were better - basically spot on. However, I checked tonight: if you include Eilistraee and Lolth as part of the Faerunian pantheon (as the books both do and don’t, depending on where you look), you have 22 of 53 (42%); if you don’t, it’s 20 of 51 (39.2%). Either way, while Corellon’s still canonically androgynous, FR misgenders “him” even more often than other sources, to the point that "he” becomes a patriarch.

Eberron is not any better: if you count Erathis Vol (who isn’t a deity, but may as well be that setting’s Vecna), The Becoming God (which hasn’t even been fully created yet), and Vulkoor but not any of the Khyber cult deities (who aren’t really explored), you only get 33.3...%. Granted, that’s of 18 gods and we’re doing better than Core, but still.

Krynn is also a sausagefest: fifteen gods, six goddesses (only one of which is good), 28.6%.

I mean, seriously? Even the Greeks, who were noted misogynists, had a 50/50 ratio amongst their major god groups (Olympians, Titans, and Protogenoi). Whole sections of the Egyptian pantheon were split between male and female personifications of the same ideas, but the (greatly reduced) version appearing in Pathfinder only has two more males than females (of a total of 22 gods). I almost want to go through every real-world pantheon I can find, but that’s unnecessary for my point.

(Grumbles about representation.)

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brightgnosis · 4 months

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Do you just worship deities, or do you worship heroes, spirits, etc. as well?

19. Do you just worship deities, or do you worship heroes, spirits, etc. as well? (from here)

I worship exactly one God- no more, and no less (Sh'ma yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad). Everything else that you've ever heard me talking about on my blog are either Plant Spirit Allies, Animal Spirit Allies, Land Spirits of various forms, or Ancestor Spirits- the later including Chava and Adam, who I view as the first Ancestors of Humanity. And I don't worship any of them in any form, though I do venerate certain ones.

#justletmebeokay #Answered Asks #2023 Asks #Ask Games #Polytheism Ask Game #A Direct Look At My Practice #2023 #HaShem / Divine Androgyne / Divine Hermaphrodite #Chava / God the Mother / Lady #Adam / God the Father / Lord #Verdant Host / Rustic Host / Elemental Kings

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cosmic-elementalist · 6 years

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0. The Fool

The Spirit of Ether

Creative Light

The root of Moral Responsability is Restriction, which is the Word of Sin. To regain Innocence is to regain Eden.

We must cast out Fear by Love; seeing that every Act is an orgasm. Love is the law; thus every act must be Righteousness and Truth. By certain Meditations this may be understood and established; and this ought to be done so thoroughly that we become unconscious of our Sanctification, for only then is innocence made perfect. This state is a necessary condition to the contemplation of the question "What is my True Will" for until we become innocent, we are certain to try to judge our Will from the outside, whereas True Will should spring, a fountain of Light, from within, and flow unchecked, seething with Love into the Ocean of Life.

Archetypes:

The condition which precedes creativity in all it's forms;

Creation Myths;

Silence;

Innocence as freedom from morality

Contradiction as Unity

Symbols:

0 = +1 -1: male and female; mother and father. Fertilized ovum is sexless. Identification of the Opposites.

Below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss, contradiction is Unity.

The "Green Man" of the Spring festival. "April Fool". The Holy Ghost: personification of the mysterious influence that produces the phenomena of spring.

The fool stirs within all of us the return of spring.

The Dove: bird of Venus (Isis, Mary) and symbol of the Holy Ghost (Phallus in most sublimated form)

When ideas so sublime become vulgarized they fail to exhibit the symbol with lucidity

Formula of the Tetragrammaton: (name of God) represents God producing Something from Nothing. God Himself is referred to as "Ain", which is Hebrew for "Not", or "Nothing".

The Yod represents the emanation of a general, all-encompassing spiritual Substance out of Divine Nothingness.

Second, the first Heh represents the definition of particular qualities within this general Substance.

Vav represents the separation and recombination of these qualities to form basic compounds and ideal Forms according to which material existence is ultimately manifested.

Manifestation itself is represented by the final Heh.

Crowley sees this pattern in traditions of succession of the King through his daughter and King by right of conquest. Tales which reflect this pattern: Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Enchanted Princess, and Aladdin. (Also biblical representation of the Holy Ghost, Mary the Virgin, The Son, and Mary Magdalena)

He is the All-Wandering Spirit, the Pure and Perfect Knight-Errant, who answers all Enigmas, and opens the closed Portal of the King's Daughter.

Ogdoad: Ancient Egyptian creation myth; system of eight dieties (four represented completeness). Each pair of male and female represents a greater whole unto itself:

Nun and Naunet; primeval waters (Nun, the sometimes hermaphroditic god of the waters, and Naunet the seldomly personified goddess of the sky above it)

Heh and Hauhet; eternity, infinity, unendingness, time (sometimes forces of chaos, possibly representing the currents of the primeval waters)

Kuk and Kuaket (sometimes Gereh and Gerehet); darkness

Amun and Amunet (later replaced by Nia and Niat); air, and that which is unseen, nothingness and invisibility, gods of the void

The gods were depicted with frog's heads, and the goddess' with serpent's.

These elements interacted to create the Isle of Flame

World was born from a cosmic egg, sometimes created by the Ogdoad, sometimes layed by one of the creation/sun gods in guise of a sacred bird. The egg was invisible as there was no light, and from this egg one of various sun gods is born. In some legends it is a lotus flower (represents Yoni), not an egg.

Sebek, the crocodile: creator god who rose from the "Dark Waters", or primeval waters of Nun. Layed eggs on the bank of the Nile (which he made from his sweat) to create the worlds.

Unprovided with the means of perpetuating his species, thus a symbol of the maximum of creative energy.

Considered an aspect of Horus (who turned into a crocodile to retrieve Osiris's body parts from the Nile), and yet it was told Sebek was present with Isis his birth.

Also worshipped as a manifestation of Amun-Re (headdress of Amun or solar disk of Ra). Carried Was septre (power) and Ankh (breath of life)

Hoor-Pa-Kraat: ( har-par-khered ) Horus the Child. Harpocrates is the God of Silence. In his manifestation, he is not One, but Two; he is only One because he is 0. Eheieh, his divine name, which signifies 'I Shall Be' is a way of saying he is not; One leads to nowhere, where it came from. There is as yet no more than the impulse, which is unformulated; only through interpretation does it become the Word (Atu I.) He is a babe, innocent and not yet arrived at puberty. It is dawn - the hint of light about to come, but not by any means that light.

The babe is in an egg of blue (celestial mother). This babe has, in a way, not yet been born. The egg sits upon a lotus (Yoni), which grows upon the Nile (father), which fertilizes Egypt (mother). But the Nile is also home to the crocodile, who threatens Harpocrates. (Dualist symbol of the crocodile).

Etimology: le mat from Italian Matto (madman or fool) or Mat for Maut, Ancient Egyptian vulture goddess.

Fool derived from 'follis' = wind bag.

Silly = empty from German 'selig' = holy.

Maut: Egyptians believed vultures to be nurturing; the word for mother and vulture are both Mwt. It was believed that there were no male griffon vultures, except sometimes Maut.

"Mut, Who Givith Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any"

Mut replaced Amun's earlier wife, Amunet (the invisible goddess) during the middle kingdom.

"Mother of the Sun in Whom He Rises"

When Amun merged with Ra, she became "Eye of Ra", daughter of Ra (Mother, Daughter, sometimes Father)

Spiral neck, spiral universe.

Represents the same ideas as Nuith.

Reproduces by intervention of wind.

The "Great Fool" of the Celts (Dalua): Salvation, whatever salvation means, is not to be obtained on any reasonable terms. Reason is damnation; only divine madness offers an issue.

A mad stranger as an angel in disguise.

A saviour is needed, and he must not be an ordinary man.

Preferably disguised in non human form.

"The Rich Fisherman" Percivale: Crowley's interpretation of Parsifal is intended to illustrate the sacred nature of sex. He makes a reference to the Gnosis of the ninth degree of the O.T.O., which he also makes painfully clear is a secret to those not initiated.

To redeem the whole situation, to destroy death, he has only to plunge the Lance into the Holy Grail; he redeems not only Kundry, but himself.

In Liber DCCXI Crowley writes: It may be undertaken for the direct object of continuing the race. It may be undertaken in obedience to real passion; for passion is inspired by a force of divine strength and beauty without the will of the individual, often even against it. It is the "idle" use, or rather abuse, of these forces which constitutes their profanation.

Zeus Arrhenothelus: Images of this god recure in alchemy. It is hardly possible to describe this lucidly; the idea pertains to a faculty of mind which is "above the abyss"; all two-headed eagles with symbols clustered over them indicate this idea. The original sense seems to be that the original God is both male and female.

Dionysus Zagreus. Bacchus Diphues: In this case it is convenient to treat them as one. Zagreus is the horned god, torn to pieces by the Titans. His father Zeus, and mother Demeter, made him fruit of the union of heaven and earth, and identifies him with Vau of the Tetragrammaton. Bacchus Diphues, characteristic of ecstatic worship, wine, surrounded by companions insane with enthusiasm. Born of the union between Semele and Zeus in the form of a lightning strike which destroyed the mortal woman. The boy was saved, and kept in Zeus' thigh (phallus) until puberty, and Hera drove the boy mad for her husband's infidelity.

He is depicted with a drunken face and languid penis which connects him to the myth of the crocodile.

He is depicted with the tiger leaping at him from behind, and the crocodile with it's mouth open, waiting in front. He is said to have ridden an ass, which connects him with Priapus, who is said to have been his son by Aphrodite.

Over time, worship of Bacchus (partially for being orgiastic) melded with that of the Fool. He came to be represented with a fool's cap, phallic in nature, and clad in motley (as were Jesus, and Joseph before him). This symbolism is not only Mercurial, but Zodiacal.

Hebrew Letter: Aleph (א), Ox, ploughshare. Attributed to the constellation Orion.

It is curious that at the fabled birth of Jesus, the Virgin Mother is represented between an Ox and an ass.

Baphomet: Bull god, or rather Bull-Slaying god, Mithras.

Crowley described Baphomet as a divine androgyne, representative of mystical perfection through a union of opposites.

The early christians were also accused of worshipping an ass or ass-headed god, and this again is connected with the wild ass of the wilderness, the god Set, identified with Saturn and Satan (Atu XV.) He is the South, as Nuit is the North.

The Fool is also an aspect of Pan, but this idea is developed by Atu XV, whose letter is the semi-vowel A'ain, cognate with Aleph.

N: the fish is a symbol of fatherhood, motherhood, of the perpetuation of life generally. The letter N (Nun, N, in Hebrew means fish) is one of the original hieroglyphs standing for this idea, apparently because of the mental reactions excited by the continual repetition of this letter (Atu XIII).

Divinatory Interpretations:

In spiritual matters; idea, thought, spirituality, that which endeavours to transcend earth.

In material matters, it may, if badly dignified, mean folly, eccentricity, or even mania.

The essential of this card is that it represents an original, subtle, sudden impulse or impact, coming from a completely strange quarter.

All such impulses are right, if rightly received; and the good or ill interpretation of the card depends entirely on the right attitude of the Querent

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goletsbeperfect · 7 years

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'You may notice,' Langdon told them, walking up to the projected image of the Mona Lisa on the library wall, 'that the background behind her face is uneven.' Langdon motioned to the glaring discrepancy. 'Da Vinci painted the horizon line on the left significantly lower than the right.' 'He screwed it up?' one of the inmates asked. Langdon chuckled. 'No. Da Vinci didn't do that too often. Actually, this is a little trick Da Vinci played. By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger from the left side than from the right side. A little Da Vinci inside joke. Historically, the concepts of male and female have assigned sides - left is female, and right is male. Because Da Vinci was a big fan of feminine principles, he made Mona Lisa look more majestic from the left than the right.' 'I heard he was a fag,' said a small man with a goatee. Langdon winced. 'Historians don't generally put it quite that way, but yes, Da Vinci was a homosexual.' 'Is that why he was into that whole feminine thing?' 'Actually, Da Vinci was in tune with the balance between male and female. He believed that a human soul could not be enlightened unless it had both male and female elements.' 'You mean like chicks with dicks?' someone called. This elicited a hearty round of laughs. Langdon considered offering an etymological sidebar about the word hermaphrodite and its ties to Hermes and Aphrodite, but something told him it would be lost on this crowd. 'Hey, Mr. Langford,' a muscle-bound man said. 'Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of Da Vinci in drag? I heard that was true .' 'It's quite possible,' Langdon said. 'Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's self-portraits confirm some startling points of congruency in their faces. Whatever Da Vinci was up to,' Langdon said, 'his Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both.' 'You sure that's not just some Harvard bullshit way of saying Mona Lisa is one ugly chick.' Now Langdon laughed. 'You may be right. But actually Da Vinci left a big clue that the painting was supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?' 'Hell yes!' the big guy said. 'God of masculine fertility!' Langdon was stunned. 'It says so on every box of Amon condoms.' The mascular man gave a wide grin. 'It's got a guy with a ram's head on the front and says he's the Egyptian god of fertility.' Langdon was not familiar with the brand name, but he was glad to hear the prophylactic manufacturers had got their hieroglyphs right. 'Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a man with a ram's head, and his promiscuity and curved horns are related to our modern sexual slang "horny".' 'No shit!' 'No shit,' Langdon said. 'And do you know who Amon's counterpart was? The Egyptian goddess of fertility?' The question met with several seconds of silence. 'It was Isis,' Langdon told them, grabbing a grease pen. 'So we have the male god, Amon.' He wrote it down. 'And the female goddess, Isis, whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA.' Langdon finished writing and stepped back from the projector. AMON L'ISA 'Ring any bells?' he asked. 'Mona Lisa... holy crap,' somebody gasped. Langdon nodded. 'Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but her name is an anagram of the divine union of male and female. And that, my friends, is Da Vinci's little secret, and the reason for Mona Lisa's knowing smile.'

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

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