I saw HP 7.5 today. It should have been called: Harry Potter: The Initiation. Best line of the entire series, courtesy of Dumbledore: "Of course it's all in your head, Harry, but why should that mean it isn't real?"
Cornucopia reading led me to the legend of Amalthea, who is said to have been the foster-mother of Zeus while he was an infant and hiding from Cronus. I love the wiki quote on this one:
In Greek mythology, Amalthea or Amaltheia is the most-frequently mentioned foster-mother of Zeus. Her name in Greek ("tender goddess") is clearly an epithet, signifying the presence of an earlier nurturing goddess, whom the Hellenes, whose myths we know, knew to be located in Crete, where Minoans may have called her a version of "Dikte"
Amalthea's skin, or that of her goat, killed and skinned by the grown Zeus, became the protective aegis in some traditions, a vivid enough metaphor for the transfer of power to this Olympian god from that of the goddess who preceded his cult.
That's been a theme here, hasn't it? Digging back to see where the ancient patriarchy usurped the matriarchy... Is this another reason why Isis is so adored? Because she took power from Ra and placed Osiris and Horus on the throne? Here again we have Goddess as King-Maker in the realm of the living and of the dead.
I also find it interesting that today is the "Birthday of Isis" and in 2 weeks it is the Feast of Diana (Nemoralia) and the Greek Feast of Hecate and the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Coincidence? Not so much.
Abundantia is depicted as carrying the horn of plenty, as were other Goddesses, but she is the one many picture. This point in the year is indeed the time of plenty: fruits and veggies are ripe, the fields are about ready to harvest and as Gershwin put it: "Summertime and the living is easy."
To close, here's funny to share with readers who aren't on my Facebook: A friend waxed snarky about the perils of being a bystander to the Feast of Cybele amongst other Mystery/Initiate undertakings and lamented that "those were the days." That phrase happened to get a song stuck in my head, so here it is, the Ancient Ways Lament:
Boy the way Apollo plagued,
Goddess Feasts and Cult Parades,
Vestal Virgins had it made,
Those were the days.
Goddess Feasts and Cult Parades,
Vestal Virgins had it made,
Those were the days.
And you knew the Mysteries then,
Some for Women some for Men,
Goddess, we could use an Emperor like Hadrian again.
Rome had the largest Cult of State,
Overflowed libation plates,
Triple Goddess cakes taste great,
Those were the days!
(If you don't know which tv show theme song that was from, you might be too young to read this blog. But only slightly ;)
And welcome to our newest team member, Word, who will hopefully provide us with a few to muse about.
And welcome to our newest team member, Word, who will hopefully provide us with a few to muse about.
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