Back and Forth

Since I've been looking back at the past year and preparing for the one on the horizon, I thought it was high time to post something proper about Janus!


He is an Italic deity with no syncretic counterpart to be found in other cultures. Latin or specifically Etruscan in origin, He shares the Etruscan name for door, janua.

The earliest representations, however, appear to have been the two-faced heads, which are frequently seen on Etruscan medals found at Volaterrae. A statue with four faces was brought to Rome after the conquest of the Etruscan town of Falerii (Serv. ad Aen. vi. 607; Macrob. l. c.)

I was recently reading Macrobius, the second book cited above and it has been very helpful in understanding Janus and Saturn and their relationship and positions within the pantheon of Rome.

While He might be considered a "minor" deity these days, He was a pretty big deal in ancient Italy. Not only was He the one invoked at the new year, He was invoked at the start of the new day and the new month and the new season for sowing seed. Why sowing seed? Wasn't Saturn credited with that? Glad you asked! Legend has it that Janus was King of Italia and when Saturn fled Jupiter, He was welcomed by Janus in exchange for sharing the secrets of sowing seed. Janus has his own city! The Janiculum, or as it's also known: Gianicolo! For those who have been following for a while, this past September I went to the Feast of San Gennaro, aka Saint Januarius. Just sayin... thought it would be appropriate to include that here in a post about Janus ;) From the holy wiki:

The Janiculum was a center for the cult of the god Janus, and the fact that it overlooked the city made it a good place for augurs to observe the auspices.
In Roman mythology, Janiculum is the name of an ancient town founded by the god Janus

I've wondered too, is Janus an epithet? Janus, God of new beginnings, doorways, choices, keys... Is He an aspect of another deity? He feels similar to Mercury and Hermes and Terminus, but something about him is vastly different. He has also been identified with Sol and with Apollo:

The identity of Janus with the Sun was commonly expressed by his indicating with the fingers of the right hand, and in later times by his counting in his right hand 300 pebbles, and in his left. In some representations he held in his right hand a staff or sceptre, and in his left a key by which he is symbolically described as the god who had power over the entrance of heaven; hence he had the surnames of Patulcus or Patulcius, and Clusius or Clusiviuns. 

While the others travel past, give rise to, or mark boundaries, Janus is the God of that moment when you are neither here nor there- on the lintel, neither inside or out; Potential energy itself.

Here is the perfect poem for Janus and so tonight I dedicate it to Him!

Dear, Limnal God of beginnings and endings, May my choices be wise, my transitions be easy! Hail Janus!

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

The best real estate in Brooklyn

Today I took a stroll through Green-Wood Cemetery. It contains the highest land in Brooklyn with amazing views. It's the cite of a Revolutionary War battle, and resting place for thousands. Edward Ferrero, founder of The Apollo rests there, as do many other famous folks. 

There are hundreds of mausoleums, tombs, obelisks, pyramids, and all manner of memorials and monuments.The rolling hills, the hillside mausoleums, so many with Roman or Greek architecture, made me wonder if this is what cemeteries looked like in ancient times. The mausoleums reminded me of the Etruscan houses of the dead, but with stained glass instead of frescoes and pictures of the afterlife instead of scenes from daily life. 


My first stop was to the top of a hill where there where three incredibly tall obelisks, which from afar looked like the left, right and middle pillars.




From Hermes Guide of Souls by Karl Kerényi:

He guards not only gardens but graves. Wherever he is
placed is mortis et vitai locus, the place of life and death.
This epigram, which so succinctly and precisely describes his
vital place in the realm of death, derives from the time of the
first Caesars (CIL, VI, 3708); it agrees, however, with the
Phrygian usage of placing phalli on graves as markers.

Green-wood was the model on which Central Park was designed. There was a lack of public green spaces, so the cemetery also served as a park. It was finally named a landmark and hosts tours of the cemetery as well as letting people into the mausoleums. There are also performances and movie screenings and other events. I find this funny because about 10 years ago someone tried to do this very thing, specifically the movie screenings and music performances in the chapel, pictured above, and they were vilified as if they were personally desecrating graves. How times change. He had it right- it was intended to be a place for the living as well as the dead.




I also stopped to pay my respects to Minerva and The Altar of Liberty, set atop the highest point in Brooklyn, and, appropriately, hailing the Statue of Liberty.This was done intentionally. Minerva's raised hand is exactly in line with Liberty's raised torch. There was a big dust-up about a proposed condo building which would have come between the two. The Goddesses prevailed and the building was redesigned with a cut out so the two would remain within hailing sight of each other. 


Take your own tour:

Saffron (Mercury and Minoans)

“ Your lips drop sweetness like honeycomb, my bride, syrup and milk are under your tongue, and your dress had the scent of Lebanon.
Your cheeks are an orchard of pomegranates,
an orchard full of rare fruits, spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon.”

—Song of Solomon

I've been on another chase tonight- watching a show about Crete, Knossos, Thira, and what happened to the Minoans- how and why did they disappear? I've discussed this on the blog previously. I've also posted about sacred bees and their role at Knossos.

While watching this documentary, they showed frescoes from Knossos which depict women harvesting saffron. It's something I remember seeing and later reading about, but I never really thought about it. Saffron is harvested from the stamen of the crocus. It's also sacred to Mercury.

According to Ovid, Krokos was a boy loved by the god Hermes. After his accidental death the god transformed him into the saffron flower. Its red stems were described as his spilt blood.

In the book Plant lore, legends, and lyrics: Embracing the myths, traditions, superstitions and folklore of the plant kingdom  By Richard Folkard, there are many references to saffron and its uses in Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Jewish and Indian cultures. This link takes you to to the precise page with the entry for crocus. It's well worth the brief read, especially since I can't cut and paste the highlights here!

It takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound of saffron. No wonder it's the world's most expensive spice! During the Renaissance, Venice stood out as the most important commercial center for saffron. In that period saffron was worth its weight in gold. Saffron was used to scent the baths and public halls of Imperial Rome. It is an important component of many an ayurvedic recipes. From an ayurvedic text:

Saffron is bitter, greasy and it cures head ailments and heals wounds. It is pungent, stops vomiting and gives brightness to the body as well as cures the three ailments. Saffron is bitter, pungent and heaty. It stops phlegm and cures gastric problems. It heals wounds, eye and head ailments. It serves as an anti-venom. It also gives brightness to the body.

This matches up with how Pliny describes the herb. There are still recipes describing the use of saffron, especially for wounds, eye cures, and gastric issues. It's fatal in high doses, so I'd recommend sticking with your favorite Indian restaurant as your primary intake source ;) However, some saffron rice would make a nice offering to Mercury!

From Alchemical Properties of Foods:

Saffron is considered the most perfect of all spices. It comes from the stigma of the stunningly beautiful violet crocus flower. During a two-week period in autumn, three stigmas from each flower are handpicked and dried. It takes 225,000 stigmas from 75,000 flowers to produce just a pound of the herb. Eating saffron dispels depression and eliminates psychological inertia, and it was once thought that you could die of "excessive joy" by eating too much of it. Drinking the tea is said to bestow the gift of clairvoyance and greatly enhance the body’s healing powers. Yellow safflower is often used as a cheaper substitute for saffron, but true saffron has a deep red color and imparts a golden yellow hue to the food to which it is added. The alchemists considered saffron the gold of the plant kingdom and believed it carried the "signature" of the great transmuting agent for which the alchemists spent their lives searching. According to legend, Hermes created saffron when he accidentally wounded his friend Crocus, whose blood dripped to earth and sprouted as the flower that bears his name. Saffron was sacred to the Egyptian supreme god, Amen, and the Egyptians grew it in their sacred gardens at Luxor. Persian priests were said to have controlled the winds with saffron, and Persian women attached balls of saffron to their bellies to facilitate safe pregnancies. Saffron was also sacred to Eos, the Greek god of the morning light, and the spice has been described as the dawn’s light solidified. In the Middle Ages, it was sprinkled over the beds of newlywed nobility to ensure a fruitful marriage. Alchemist Roger Bacon believed that saffron delayed the aging process, and some modern psychics believe its odor and taste release the transcendent essences of childhood.

Saffron-as-medicine is also mentioned in an Assyrian text from around 700 BCE. It was part of the collection of Ashurbanipal's Library (which was long before the one at Alexandria). This is the same collection we have to thank for the Epic of Gilgamesh. Here is a recipe for a salve allegedly made by the royal perfumer for Gilgamesh himself (ancient massage oil?):

"At first light, I gather balsam from the forest, saffron hidden in the dusty grass, flowers from the river's left bank, essential oils of the fir cone, oil from the calamus root, and a young turtle's shell ground up fine. Blessed with balsam's heat, on the altar do the flowers burn, until the heavens hear our plea, then they are crushed and stirred: For seven sunrises and seven sunsets does the mixture purify, and then it is rubbed upon the limbs and while singing praise, as this is proper toward the God."

Speaking of Alexandria, this ties in nicely with last night's post which included Alexander the Great. From the holy wiki:

Persian saffron was heavily used by Alexander the Great and his forces during their Asian campaigns. They mixed saffron into teas and dined on saffron rice. Alexander personally used saffron sprinkled in warm bath water. He believed it would heal his many wounds, and his faith in saffron grew with each treatment. He even recommended saffron baths for the ordinary men under him. The Greek soldiers, taken with saffron's perceived curative properties, continued the practice after they returned to Macedonia

Let's bring it back around tonight with an article from a 2004 published in the New York Times:

Until now, the earliest known use was around 1000 B.C., with visual and written evidence for the myrtle, the lily, the poppy and others. Now, scholars say, the dating of a volcanic eruption and botanically accurate wall paintings indicate that saffron has been a versatile medicine since 3,500 years ago.They base their case on frescoes at Thera, a Greek island in the Aegean, that have been thought to depict a goddess overseeing the production of perfume or spice. Instead, the scholars say, the frescos, from 1500 or 1600 B.C. -- the exact date is a topic of debate -- show the goddess presiding over the manufacture and use of a drug from the saffron flower.

It's believed this flower originated in Crete. I've posted before about Knossos being a city of the dead, where mummification took place and where sacred rites were held. It just occured to me that Hermes is associated with the bee nymphs which are associated with Crete, and with the crocus/saffron, and is a guide of souls. The information tonight might not be new, but my perspective is. I'm off to dream about this!

Pantastic!

This is part two from last night! Srsly, a part two when I said? Shocker!

Last night I posted about Pan and his associations, but I didn't post about how panic got its name. Legend has it that Pan's mother saw him when he was born and, well, panicked. She ran off, never to be heard from again. Hmmm, ok. Didn't she know she was getting involved with a deity associated with rams?

I've come across some nifty articles on the web, including this one which gives a basic background and literal dictionary definitions, but it amuses me! and this other one which is really in depth and journeys to Egyptian associations as well.

Panic, it is said, came from Pan's music. His dad did invent the lyre (and gave it to Apollo later!). However, I take it as a metaphor: His music is the sounds of the forest, those sounds you never quite recognize or know from whence they came. This music can also inspire other emotions, such as lust. There is a later legend, most famously provided by Ovid,  about Pan and Apollo throwing down in the first ever battle of the bands:

While Pan was boasting there to mountain nymphs
of his great skill in music, and while he
was warbling a gay tune upon the reeds,
cemented with soft wax, in his conceit
he dared to boast to them how he despised
Apollo's music when compared with his--.
At last to prove it, he agreed to stand
against Apollo in a contest which
it was agreed should be decided by
Tmolus as their umpire.

This old god
sat down on his own mountain, and first eased
his ears of many mountain growing trees,
oak leaves were wreathed upon his azure hair
and acorns from his hollow temples hung.

First to the Shepherd-god Tmolus spoke:
"My judgment shall be yours with no delay.
Pan made some rustic sounds on his rough reeds,
delighting Midas with his uncouth notes;
for Midas chanced to be there when he played.
When Pan had ceased, divine Tmolus turned
to Phoebus, and the forest likewise turned
just as he moved. Apollo's golden locks
were richly wreathed with fresh Parnassian laurel;
his robe of Tyrian purple swept the ground;
his left hand held his lyre, adorned with gems
and Indian ivory. His right hand held
the plectrum--as an artist he stood there
before Tmolus, while his skilful thumb
touching the strings made charming melody.

Delighted with Apollo's artful touch,
Tmolus ordered Pan to hold his reeds
excelled by beauty of Apollo's lyre.
That judgment of the sacred mountain god
pleased all those present, all but Midas, who
blaming Tmolus called the award unjust."
-Ovid Metamorphoses

Pan wasn't just a lusty, frolicking goat-god. His sexual prowess inspires fearful stories as well:
Echo was a beautiful and musical nymph who could sing and play many instruments. She lived in the woods and denied the love of any man or God. Pan fell in love with Echo, but she ran away from him. He became so angry when she refused him, he created such a "panic" causing a group of  shepherds to kill her. And poor Syrinx! To escape Pan's pursuit, she was turned into reeds. Even then there was no escape as she was turned into his eponymous flute. Pan kept company with Dionysus and as such, are we surprised about the sex and music associations? Sounds like a party. Pan is also said to have been with every Maenad.

Why then, his is name the inspiration for a word which means "Sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior?" He isn't just fear itself, he is nature itself: The uncertainty of finding food and drink and shelter and sex out in the wild, of continued existence, or the sun rising the next day. He is a primal deity, I believe, one which attests to our evolution. When we look to his Roman counterpart, Faunus, we find an indigenous deity who was present well before any capitoline triad. Pan is the wild. We came from the caves and the woods, the very place where he dwells and we no longer live there. Most of us barely know how to function without a cell phone, let alone make our way out in the wild. Now that is some scary stuff. Perhaps enough to cause a panic.

Manic Panic (adult content)

Everyone has panicked at one time or another; "Oh no! I think I left my homework in my room!" or "I forgot the files for that presentation!" But panic attacks are an entirely different thing. They can come on without warning and without an obvious reason. I've been to the hospital for what was determined to be a panic attack. Thankfully, I have been able to use EFT (emotional freedom technique) to relieve panic when it does happen and to preempt them entirely. I like EFT, it's one size fits all acupressure and it's a good focus. If nothing else, you're directing healing energy to yourself and being positive.

Is there an Italian remedy for panic? Italians don't have panic disorders. That's why it was such a big deal on The Sopranos lol kidding. Anyone can have a panic disorder, doesn't matter what your cultural background it. Herbs help: Chamomile, lavender, wine, garlic. But when faced with Panic, it's not a bad idea to have a relationship established with the God of fear itself, Pan. The word panic comes from his name. The word "pan" might mean "all" now, but at some point, the word meant something more like "rustic."

Who's your daddy?

Pan's father is none other than Hermes. The identity of Pan's mother changes with the folklore. A Dryad? a Naiad? Is this a metaphor? Hermes + woodland = rustic ram deity? Does Pan = Hermes? Is Pan the "pagan" version of Him? Pan is a deity of the fertility of the flocks and herds and of the woods. We've talked here before about Mercury, Hermes, et al as fertility deities (and it is said He is also a deity of herds and herders). Pan and Dionysus are pals, according to the mythology. In the same body of lore, Hermes carries Dionysus to hide him from Hera.

I find it fascinating that Pan is also associated with Priapus, who we have talked about before, specifically as the sexual side of Mercury. 

We like to go back and forth here on the blog between Italic, Roman, and Greek deities and lore, so let's add to the fun (or confusion, whichever you'd like to call it) and talk about the Italian and Roman syncretic versions of Pan: There is Inuus and Faunus and Silvanus. Faunus is most often associated directly with Pan. Inuus might very well be an epithet of Faunus:

...named from his habit of intercourse with animals, based on the etymology of ineundum, "a going in, penetration," from inire, "to enter" in the sexual sense...

 There's actually a pretty nifty article on wiki about how Inuus is the inspiration for Lupercalia!

Faunus is said to be one of the indigenous deities of Italy, as is his counterpart Fauna. She is also said to be Bona Dea. He is thought to have once been a mortal who was consulted as an oracle after he passed. For his continued service, he was apotheosized. Funny, Pan is thought to be a deity of Prophecy too.

I'm going to leave off here as it's getting late. There is more to come! I haven't even gotten to the part about actual panic! Pantastic!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

I've mentioned here, once o twice, that I was Hindu in a very recent, perhaps immediate, past life. It has definitely carried over. I don't celebrate all of the holidays, but I do observe Diwalli, usually in October, and Ganesh's birthday specifically- Especially this year. Part of working with Mercury, aside from the daily blogging, has been to get to know him in his many forms. I have gotten to know Hermes and Priapus and Papa Legba and Thoth and Ganesh a bit better.

Ganesh is the Lord of obstacles, the one to hail at the beginning of endeavors, who gives knowledge and wisdom, and who protects (averter of evil!).

For the celebration itself, we turn to the holy wiki:

Ganesh Chaturthi starts with the installation of these Ganesh statues in colorfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary structures mandapas (pandals) in every locality. The pandals are erected by the people or a specific society or locality or group by collecting monetary contributions. The pandals are decorated specially for the festival, either by using decorative items like flower garlands, lights, etc. or are theme based decorations, which depict religious themes or current events.

The priest, usually clad in red silk dhoti and shawl, then symbolically invokes life into the statue by chanting mantras. This ritual is the Pranapratishhtha. After this the ritual called as Shhodashopachara (16 ways of paying tribute) follows. Coconut, jaggery, 21 modakas, 21 durva (trefoil) blades of grass and red flowers are offered. The statue is anointed with red unguent, typically made of Kumkum & Sandalwood paste . Throughout the ceremony, Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda, the Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad, and the Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are chanted.

Speaking of chants, here are a few favorites:

"Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakotee Sama Prabha Nirvighnam kuru mey Deva, Sarva kaaryeshu Sarvadaa"

O Lord Ganesha of Large body, curved trunk, with the brilliance of a million suns, please make all my work free of obstacles, always.

"Aum gam ganapataye namah"

Om Salutations and Prostrations to Lord Ganesha


Here's a nifty web page with more chants, their meaning and how to use them, along with advice on ritual cleanliness, repetitions, etc.

I really like this video. It reminds me of the video I posted for the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel! (the sound on the video isn't good, I suggest watching it on mute)


Ganesh Chaturthi by WildFilmsIndia

Ganapati Bappa Moryaa!

Teramo!

Another name! Ack! Yeah. This one comes to us from, allegedly, the Etruscans, as recorded by Leland. It's another name for our favorite information dealing, thief aiding, merchant loving deity, Mercury! Hermes! Turms! It seems to be a regional name. The same exact lore was attached regarding stealing the cattle of Apollo. Here is a spell Leland recorded in Etruscan Magic and Occult Remedies:

"Teramo, Teramo, as it is true,
That you are my friend I pray to you,
And may this message which I send,
Quickly and safely reach its end!"
Then the one praying takes a pigeon, and fastens his note to its wing, or neck, and says:
"Go fly afar for me ! And Teramo keep you company !"

This brought to mind a picture of a rooftop pigeon coop in Brooklyn and an old Italian man shuffling over to the coop to take care of business. Ever hear about the Brooklyn pigeon wars?

In other news tonight, a friend jollied me out of a foul mood by reminding me of an old Italian saying straight outta Brooklyn: What do you you do when the haters start hatin'?

"Tell em to go scratch their ass in Macy's window!"

If you don't understand what that means, I can't really explain it. Don't think about it too long, just enjoy it. Unless you're one of the haters then, well, see you on 34th street.

Early bird special - Hermes & Hecate

Thanks to Angela at The Pagan Mom Blog for posting my article on Hermes a& Hekate. It's a brief look at the possible associations of the pair.


I wrote it as a food-for-thought piece and hope to follow it up here with more information and more research. However, I'm concentrating on Diana at the moment and have no idea where my daily devotions will lead and how it will appear here on this blog!

Here's the link to the article. Have a great day!

Bunnies! (Not the fluffy kind. Well, fluffy, but not the mcwiccan kind!)

When I told Dusio that I was at a loss for post topic, he suggested I post about one of my "totem" animals. After some debate, I decided to share: I've always felt a connection to the hare, even as a young child, including making them my kindergarten project and learning to draw and create them out of clay. Always loved em. And wen I moved out here, saw them all the time. I still do, when I'm quietly walking my land and in the moment.

I remember looking them up in Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews a few years ago and just shaking my head, laughing at how I had more in common with them than not. I'm a herbivore, as are our rabbit friends, was born in the year of the rabbit, and my patrons are linked to the hare, all of which are linked to the moon: baby bunnies are ready to be on their own after 28 days.

According to Stories rabbits tell: a natural and cultural history of a misunderstood creature by By Susan E. Davis and Margo DeMello:

The Egyptian word for hare is "Un" or "open/open to/the opener." Hares were considered sacred to the Goddess Diana in her aspect as Lucina. In Sanskrit, the word for moon "cacadharas" means "one who carries the hare.

Mercury is added to the rabbit lore mix by virtue of his virility: A legend I've remarked on in the past: Both Apollo and Mercury wanted Khione. Apollo seduced her and she became pregnant. Later that night, Mercury did the same. And also impregnated her. The rabbit has the wonderful distinction of being able to become pregnant when it's already in the middle of a pregnancy!

Thanks to theoi.com:

Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 33 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Hare [constellation Lepus]. Some say that it was put there by Mercurius, and that it had been given the faculty, beyond other kinds of quadrapeds, of being pregnant with new offspring when giving birth to others."

Rabbits aren't nocturnal, but crepuscular: they're out and about during twilight. Because of this and their ability to create tunnels underground, they're associated with Fairies and the Underworld. Down the rabbit hole, anyone? ;)

The rabbit is also known as a trickster, like some God we know? ;) Back to our friends with the bunny book. They talk about how women and rabbits are closely linked, and not just in Goddess imagery:


The word "cunning" is derived from the Latin for the word "to know," cunnan, which is related to the word for rabbit, or cuniculus. From here we can leap to the english "coney" or "dupe/one who is fooled." The When the pronunciation rhymes with "honey" it becomes slang for vulva. They way they tell it, the pronunciation of "Coney Island" was changed to suit Victorian sensibilities.

The rabbit is still linked to fertility. Here's a link to the Snopes article on the origin of the phrase "the rabbit died." Oh great, now I've got Aerosmith stuck in my head!

I'm behind a night on posting. Tonight starts the Feast of Demeter, translated into the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Over the next few days I hope to post info on both the ancient and modern feast!

The Gates of Horn and Ivory

I was in the middle of blogging when my computer crashed. It hadn't auto saved yet and I haven't gotten to the end of a paragraph yet, so not too much lost. Looks like it wasn't time for me to post that post yet! Funny how that happens.

I've been going back and forth tonight about which topic to pursue: The name Mary as an epithet of the Sea Goddess? Workshop I'm working on with my Evil Twin? Revisiting previous posts and expanding? Aeneas? Cybele? You can tell I'm a bit out of sorts tonight. I'm being called to dream. I'm unusually tired even after sleeping in this morning.

I've rewritten this several times. I'm going back and forth with Mercury as one who guides through dreams and The Aeneid. Perhaps I should marry the two topics?

From The Odyssey:

He (Hermes) led them down dank ways, over gray
Ocean tides, the Snowy Rock past shores
of Dream and narrows of the sunset, 

From Karl Krenyi's Hermes: Guide of Souls:

Here Hermes is... the "ruler of dreams" (hegetor oneiron), not the
"leader of souls." To this we could perhaps compare the Homeric
passage in which the dream-like people of Phaiakia-a Hermetic
people, worthy of the world of the Odyssey-sacrifice to Hermes
before going to sleep (Odyssey, Book VII, 138); yet the last book
of the Odyssey, with the epiphany of the psycho-pomp, is again
removed into the distance of another world. Missing here, too, is
any hint of Phalakian mildness; we must think rather of the
deceit-fulness of misleading dreams. 

Moving back to the Odyssey for a moment, which Virgil used as a model for The Aeneid, we have Homer's famous metaphor, "the Gates of horn and ivory." It's a passage back from The Underworld which both Odysseus and Aeneas must travel to return from their sojourn with the dead. The "gates of horn and ivory" is a pun, a play on Greek words: the Greek word for "horn" sounds like the word "fulfil" and the word for "ivory" sounds like "deceive." Hence false dreams are ivory and true are horn. In The Odyssey, Penelope has a dream which signals Odysseus' return, but she doesn't believe it, calling it a false dream, passing through the gate of ivory. False dreams were thought to occur before midnight and so when Aeneas returns from the Underworld, it's allegedly before midnight, and therefore he goes through that gate. There are Inception-like discussions about whether or not the rest of the book is "true" but I'm not following that thread tonight.

I find it very interesting that the gates to the Underworld are the ones through which dreams pass as well. Dreams can deceive, they can say one thing and mean another. Sounds like our man, eh?

Off to sleep. It's after midnight; time to get some true dreaming underway.


Sogni d'oro!

Busy Bee

That's what I am tonight! I'm writing up new classes, workshop proposals, details for a Datura Press fundraiser, updating NYC Pagan Pride info and reaching out to vendors, workshops, musicians and volunteers. I'm also working on the dedication of the labyrinth, and a New Moon ritual. Also working on  guest blog posts for other fabutastic blogs.


This link will download a pdf regarding the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Bee/honey. Interesting, basic article which sheds light on how closely related Demeter and her priestesses were to bees and honey. Marguerite Rigoglioso discusses how bees were a major symbol of all parthenogenic Goddesses including Diana. Speaking of MR... There is a podcast coming up next month with Marguerite Rigoglioso on Virgin Mother goddesses of Antiquity and specifically about Bees and their symbolism. I've just set a reminder for it! Can't wait!

Ancient historian, Pausanias, writes about the connection of Hermes and Honey in his Description of Greece :

"Each month the Eleans sacrifice once on all the altars I have enumerated. They sacrifice in an ancient manner; for they burn on the altars incense with wheat which has been kneaded with honey, placing also on the altars twigs of olive, and using wine for a libation . . . The traditional words spoken by them in the Town Hall at the libations, and the hymns which they sing, it were not right for me to introduce into my narrative. They pour libations, not only to the Greek gods, but also to the god [Zeus Ammon] in Libya, to Hera Ammonia and to Parammon (from Ammon), which is a surname of Hermes."

In the Homeric hymn, Hermes and Apollo are involved with the Thraiae or Bee Nymphs, pictured here, who have a connection to the Delphic Oracle. I started talking about this in my review of Cult of Divine Birth.

I've also been reading about how bees were treated and revered in ancient Sicily: They were considered members of the family! They were told the family news of the day, and offerings of cakes or food were left whenever there was a celebration... the same that is done for the Lare.

ok, busy bees, I'm off for the night!

The Center.

Aw man, I want another "pretty" post, don't you? Feh! Tonight is about the crossroads instead. Pretty or not, take it for what it is.

Hekate and Hermes (what can I say, I love alliteration) are paired as both crossroads and underworld deities. What is it about crossroads that relates to the dead? Why are they drawn to it? Why is that the place to leave offerings for The Opener(s)? Why is that an opening? I've pondered these questions over the years and am never satisfied, tho I do have an answer that lets me sleep at night.

When a circle is cast, we are creating crossroads. There is a North-South axis and an East-West axis. In the Center is (typically) the altar. We are working at the center of a magickal crossroads. We're not just picking points on a circle, tho that symbolism has its place. Let's remember that we are at the center of magic when we cast that circle because we are using the crossroads. Have you ever cast a circle at the center of a natural crossroads in the woods? The power is certainly amped up. At that center point you are between the worlds- neither here nor there, and all possibilities are laid out before you in all directions.

All of that possibility can be daunting, especially when there is no focus, no clear goal, no priorities. I like doing devotional work, but I really like doing practical work, creating that magickal space which gives me access to all possibilities. I can reset. I can go down a new path. I can make changes. It's the blank slate, so to speak. It's not blank at all, it contains all possibility and if the work is done right, it can affect reality.

More pretty tomorrow!

How do you say "retcon" in Latin?

I swear, I was going to do a post purely about actual, practical magickal work. Yeah, well, that was until I started researching tonight. I read/research every day. It's a habit I like to cultivate. I don't sit in a library, surrounded by dusty tomes for 8 hours, but I do take the time to read and to look up books and authors and information on the daily.

My views on the Catholic Church are no secret: Catholicism is genetically modified Paganism and was institutionalized to consolidate secular power over a vast empire with many diverse sects. Why not the other popular religion of the time, Mithrasism? Because "Mithranity" sounds stupid. Besides, they used the mythos of Mythras anyway.

My mission, since one of the lines of my Family tradition was very influenced by Catholicism, is to strip away the christian veneer and get down to the Pagan origins of our Magick. Tonight's example: The Novena.

For Catholics, a Novena is a prayer said every day at the same time for 9 days, or a prayer said every hour for 9 hours in a single day. Novenas are typically addressed to saints, tho you will find several for the various forms of Mary and of Jesus, including Baby Jesus (who apparently cries every time I get a hit on this blog). Since there is a saint for everyone and everything, there is a novena for it too.

What is "retcon" anyway? Retcon stands for retroactive continuity.

What's the deal with the number 9? The numbers of Mars and action? Somehow related to Pythagorean or Chaldean numerology? Our old pal, Livy, spoke several times about "the nine-days festival" on the last day of which there was a celebration for a specific deity and in the days preceding, a daily sacrifice made. I've read an account of Ceres and Mars. An oracle was consulted whenever something funky happened (like when a swarm of moths all gathered on the statue of Mars in the Colosseum). It seems to be an off hand account, as in these things were well known, even in the time the Ancient Romans would call "antiquity."

In The Iliad and The Aeneid there are references to 9 days of mourning after a death with a feast held on the 9th day.

Then there are Catholics who have claimed that it is done for 9 days because it's one day for each month Mary was pregnant with Jesus... er... seriously? When it was already commonly known before the start of christianity? That's what inspired tonight's post title. Retcon! Even the Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the practice likely came from the above examples as well as the Parentalia Novendialia. The wha? The Parentalia was a 9 day festival from February 13 - 21 where "Romans remembered their dead, especially parents, including in the process some heavy drinking. On the 21st, they visited cemeteries outside the city and placed flowers, milk and wine on the graves of their parents. By doing this, they hoped to stop the dead from feeling hungry and returning to plague the living." Sound a bit like an October holiday we know? Don't get me started on the business of moving the festivals of the dead to October. I'll start on that in September.


So back to the novena business, and to the Saints for that matter. Many early saints were christianized pagan deities. Many local saint festivals were just a cover for local rites of antiquity. Google "Saint Domenic Snake festival." Domenica, in Italian, means Sunday. Day of the sun. Pagan sun god? Apollo. Whose snake handling cult resided in the area where Domenic's festival is now held? You guessed it. Domenic, whether he was a real person or not, was used as a cover for a festival that started over a thousand years before Domenic existed.


Novenas are a perfectly valid pre-christian magickal practice for a Pagan to use. The prayer is typically accompanied by lighting incense and a candle. Novena candles are readily available, especially thanks to the internet, or, light any size candle to begin and blow it out after. You can use the Catholic novenas: A book of these read like a well organized spell book (which it is), or use your own prayer to your own deity. There is something to be said for repetition- it reinforces your magickal intent, it helps you focus more clearly, and you are sacrificing your time and energy in exchange for something. Especially these days, time set aside, rearranging a schedule, is a sacrifice. And, as the ancient Greeks said, time is money. The candle and incense won't hurt either. The ancients knew the advantage of the number 9. (I've said it before: There's a reason why prices are $x.99 -to move you to action.)  A novena is typically: praise, petition, more praise, thanks. This can be done using an Orphic hymn written to a deity.

Orphic novenas? Here's one to Hermes:

Hermes, draw near, and to my pray'r incline, angel of Jove, and Maia's son divine;
Studious of contests, ruler of mankind, with heart almighty, and a prudent mind.
Celestial messenger, of various skill, whose pow'rful arts could watchful Argus kill:
With winged feet, 'tis thine thro' air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse:
Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine, in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:
With pow'r endu'd all language to explain, of care the loos'ner, and the source of gain.
Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod, Corucian, blessed, profitable God;
Of various speech, whose aid in works we find, and in necessities to mortals kind:
(make your petition here)
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.

Do you use catholic novenas? Pre christian ones? Your own version? Do you vary devotionals based on the petition or deity petitioned? My answer: Yes. Yours?