I'm still on His side!

In one of the "warm up" blog entries I wrote last December, I made a practical analogy for Mercury retrograde. Here is an updated version:

So this guy, who is in charge of several major departments and never gets a break, finally pushed away from his desk, stretched a bit, spun his chair around, maybe cricked his neck, maybe even went for coffee...

No work got done for a while, calls weren't returned, messages didn't get through, and in general, everything went wonky without his constant attention. Now, he's finally spun the chair back to the desk and papers are all out of place from the breeze kicked up. He takes a moment to sigh and get back to work. Constant work, except for maybe 3 or 4 times a year when he needs to slow down and catch his breath.

Mercury haz a sad thanks to your bullshit. Nice Going.

I have better analogies, but that's not the point. The point is: Mercury is not deliberately fucking with you! It's not malicious or malevolent on His part. He is doing His job, or at most, taking a break from it. You are feeling the lack of His influence. He is not there taking care of things and that's when shit goes wrong.

So what do many people do? Make offerings to Him? Sing His praises until he returns to right things? No, they complain and talk smack! You want Him to set things right but you trash talk? Are you going to help the people who talk smack about you? Didn't think so.

Yes, Mercury has a reputation as a trickster. He also has the reputation for wisdom and in addition to being called Trickster, He is also called Father.

The next time there's a retrograde and your cell phone goes awry or the important email you're waiting on went into your spam folder, don't whine about or curse Mercury. Stop laying blame and start asking for His help. You'll get much further!

On a related note: Just because Mercury went direct today doesn't mean things are back to normal. When you get home from a vacation, do you jump right back into life right after your plane lands or your car pulls into the parking spot? Not so much. Jet lag, or car lag, or you're generally travel-weary, then you have to unpack and do laundry. It takes a few days to get back into the swing! So back off!

The Road Ahead

During my New Moon ritual (which is when the crescent appears. When nothing is visible it's the Dark moon), I asked a question and received an answer I wasn't entirely expecting. I felt a little silly because I should have been expecting it. It was more the form the answer took was unexpected:

The question was related to obstacles to my various goals. I received an image of a thought form of Ganesha stomp-kicking cinder blocks into dust! Right on the heels of that Was Papa Legba at the center of the crossroads, opening the way. On the heels of that was Mercury blowing past, clearing the air. The vision went on, showing many of the forms of my Patron from around the world and across the ages. Some of them I didn't recognize. That just means I have more research to do.

It was an interesting experience to see all of these different deities. Are they all avatars of the same archetypal energy? Are they like siblings- they look alike and are all in the family business, but are separate, independent individuals? Always interesting to contemplate that mystery, but sometimes you just have to get into the water instead of watching the tide roll in.

Tomorrow I plan to walk my labyrinth, meditating on how to open my own way. Part of that vision was meant to convey the idea that each of us has this power- to remove obstacles, to open the way, to guide through the darkness. We first need to remove the obstacles we have placed for ourselves.


I was contemplating all of this as I drove home today. It was a long drive. During one slow part of the trip with some traffic build up on the highway, a red tailed hawk did a slow glide across the road right in fromt of my windshield, eye level with me, and slow enough that I could count the red feathers on the tail. Wow! I took that as a sign that I'm on the right track, er= road. ;)

One obstacle I keep putting in my own way is a lack of sleep. Time to change that!

The Festival of Juno at Falisci -Ovid

I have a headache tonight, so I am indulging in tea, poetry and pretty things to look at. Won't you join me for a quick trip to Etruria with our friend Ovid?

The Festival of Juno at Falisci -Ovid

As my wife was born at fruitful Falisci, we went to visit those walls which long ago were conquered, Camillus, by thee. The priestesses were making ready to celebrate the festival of the chaste Juno by holding solemn games and by the sacrifice of a heifer native to the place. It was a strong motive for lingering there awhile, to witness the rite, though full steep is the path that leads to the scene of its performance.

It is an immemorial grove, and so dense is the foliage there that the daylight cannot penetrate the gloom. One needs but to behold it, to realize that it is the abode of a divinity. An altar receives the prayers and incense offered by the faithful, a rough-hewn altar made by the artless folk of olden days.

From this spot, once a year, as soon as the trumpet has given forth its solemn note, the procession sets out and makes its way along the carpeted paths. Snow-white heifers are led along amid the plaudits of the throng, heifers nourished by the grass of their native fields, and calves whose brows are not yet armed with threatening horns, and the humble pig, a lowlier victim, and the leader of the herd with horns curved back over his stubborn head. The goat alone is hateful to the Lady Goddess, ever since the day when by a goat her presence was betrayed in a deep wood and she was forced to abandon her flight. And so, even now, the boys pursue her with their darts and she is given as a prize to the one that brings her low.

All along the way the Goddess is to pass, boys and shy maidens strew the paths with carpets. Gold and gems sparkle in their virgin hair and the proud mantle hides their gold-decked feet. In the Grecian manner of their ancestors they pass on, Clad in white, and on their head they bear the sacred vessels entrusted to their care. Peep silence holds the people while the stately procession is passing by, and after her priestesses, follows the Goddess herself.

The whole procession tells of Greece. After the murder of Agamemnon, Halesus fled the scene of his crime and the rich lands of his forefathers. It was only after many adventures, both by land and sea, that with auspicious hands he reared a high-walled city. ’Twas he that taught the Falisci to celebrate the rites of Juno. May they to me, and to her own people, ever be propitious.

 ~~~

I couldn't resist a bit o history:

Falerii Veteres reached its zenith in the fifth century BC, confirming undisputed political and cultural capital of Faliscan. Several findings attest to the importance of the city, as the temple of Juno Curite and the temple of Mercury whose remains are on display in Rome.

 The temples actually go back to Uni and Turms!

Another Mercury Storm

Yep, retrograde is a few days away- on Thanksgiving, no less! The three most traveled days of the year (day before, of and after Thanksgiving), not to mention "black Friday," the busiest shopping day of the year, will be under the auspices of a Mercury storm and a new moon solar eclipse! And a near exact square between Uranus and Pluto. Wow. Yeah, I won't be traveling or shopping at all.  I had been planning to decorate on Thanksgiving, but maybe I should do that tomorrow!

The Loyal Horde knows I appreciate this time as Mercury slows down, but especially the stormy time when He once again turns direct. Those of us born under this energy signature get a boost from it! As do endeavors started under these energetic circumstances. I have many projects calling for my attention, am rethinking old ways, have way too many new ideas to implement on my own and am going mad in that fun mad scientist kinda way when you're on the edge of discovery!

I posted a mini reading list last night and today... Bam! I have discovered two dozen books that I HAVE TO read! It's a fun but frustrating feeling. I've been dancing around Mesopotamia for months now and haven't forgotten that I promised a proper post on the region. It's just not time yet. I find that as I go further in my meditations and dig deeper into my research that it feels familiar. Most Pagans (or whichever word you choose to identify with) understand the feeling  of "coming home," of realizing that you aren't crazy that what you've felt in your heart and known to be true is also believed by others to be true. I've avoided the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, etc because it made my head ache- I'm not the best with names and when the same stories have different names for the same deities, well, it makes me cranky!

Tonight I have been drawn to reading about Sumerian astrology, planetary assignments, the concept of Mercury as a ruler of water, which moves everything, the Sumerian origins of the Caduceus, and the whole pantheon in general. Earlier tonight, when looking at a cuneiform tablet, something nearly clicked- something like the feeling I mentioned above. My studies are making my head hurt, and I don't mind. I'm never happy brain dumping here, but I feel the need to share where I am right now; It's a strange feeling (I feel exposed!) and I'm breathing through it lol My charge from Mercury has been to discover all of Him, in all of His forms. I have embarked on an adventure that I barely understand and am starting to enjoy the journey of discovery rather than the hectic rush to get to the discovery itself.

Thank You, my Patron, for posing the question, and pointing me towards the answer. And for burying it in  dozen more books ;) Thank You especially for bringing people into my life to guide and support me on my quest.

I'm off to burn incense for my Patron, sit in meditation, and gratitude.

Hekate's Night

Goddess Hecate of the triple road

Protect my family and abode

Lead me through darkest night

Grace my journey with your light

Saffron clad with serpent coils

Bring fruition to my toils

As canines bark and silence rend

Your holy feast I will attend

Garlic, poppies, sweets and grain

Tonight with you I'll dance again. 

-SoD original

A few words I was inspired to write now for Hecate's night. She is described as "saffron cloaked" which always made me think of the sun and how She is seen with Apollo in the typical tale of the Eleusinian Mysteries. I nearly smacked my head and said "duh!" when I realized that saffron is sacred to Mercury, with whom I believe She is a divine pair. He is the essence of Saffron and She is Saffron cloaked? Sounds like a euphemism! Also, the two appear together in the same tale as the Psychopomps who return Persephone to Demeter.

I'm off to celebrate Her tonight!

Now it is the time of night
That the graves all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide:
And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate's team,
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic: not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallow'd house:
I am sent with broom before,
To sweep the dust behind the door.

- A Midsummer Night's Dream

Knot so fast

Tonight is a quickie about the Gordian knot. What was it? The Phrygians (now modern Turkey) had no King. The prophecy, or Oracle of Sabazios (syncretized to Zeus) decreed taht the first to show up to the temple in a cart would be the next King. Gordias, a local farmer, is the first one to show up in a cart. He ties it to the temple and poof- King. There it remained, tied securely. Apparently no one could undo the knot Gordias had tied. It was allegedly prophesied that the one to undo the knot would be "King of Asia" hence its fame as "The Gordian knot." It;s the Mesopotamian version of the sword in the stone. Nowadays it's defined as an extremely difficult problem or mystery.

If you don't know who the "King of Asia" eventually was, it happened to be Alexander the Great. He's the one who figured out how to undo the infamous Gordian knot. Know how? He cut the knot to pieces with his sword. For ages people tried to figure out how to untie the thing, and this kid comes along and slashes the fucker! This is why he was Alexander the Great, and not Alex, that dumb fuck. Of course, the actual story is disputed, but as the saying goes: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"

I've often wonder which godly hand was on Alexander's back as he conquered the known world. I've wondered if it was Zeus, with whom he claimed lineage. I thought perhaps it was Mercury for all of the fine words and travel and communication and commerce involved in Alexander's triumphs. Now I wonder, perhaps it was Mars. Alexander, man of action. Slashed through the problem. Maybe it was none of the above, maybe it was all of them. It's fun to speculate. It also reminds me of this, the perfect "Alexandrian Solution" to a Gordian Knot:

Technology!

Many practitioners decry the idea of anything technological in their workspace or ritual space. Even watched have to go. How can you be in a time that is not a time when you can look down and see the time? No light but candles or oil lamps, no electricity whatsoever.

Why not? There are various theories on it ranging from how it's not "historical" to how the electricity being conducted can interfere with the work. I think that electricity and fire are very similar and can both be classed the same way in ritual context. Electricity can be thought of as harnessed lightning- Just look at the work of Tesla who was able to screw lightbulbs directly into the ground after a lightning storm.

"Tesla confirmed that the Earth itself could be used as an electrical conductor, and verified some of his suspicions regarding the conductivity of the ionosphere."

Various waves and frequencies might interfere with the energy raised or how it is directed, or perhaps even scatter it. However, we live in the cellular world now. Satellites are beaming everywhere at all times. The magic adapts. We adapt. If technology is the great anathema of magic, it wouldn't be possible to perform magic in any city (Pssst... It is!).

Some embrace technology. I've been part of on line rituals. I've used my ipod to read from in a dark ritual when a script was called for (the wifi wasnt on :P). I've seen magical people harness electricity and technology to aid their magical purpose. I can feel my people just with a thought. Hearing their voice (via phone or computer) gives me greater contact. Seeing them via video is even greater and seeing them in person is ideal. However, we don't always have ideal situations. That's when you have to know how to make technology work.

Let's take a moment to remember that magic works through the boundaries of space and time. Some of the theories Tesla came up with about time travel are also applicable to cell phones and to remote controls. He actually predicted the advent of cell phones:

Depending on the work, I'll use whatever technology feels appropriate, or none at all. After all, being able to reach into my pocket, flip open something the size of a credit card and talk to my family and friends thousands of miles away as if they're next to me? That's magic.

Mercury magic at that- technology and communication. Maybe The Opener doesn't mind so much if you have an open line.

Won't somebody please think of the children!

We went to our Spiral Scouts meeting today. It was fun! No, this isn't a rantastic post on building Pagan community and support for our children. Another time. I'm actually feeling pretty chill tonight (uh oh, someone knock on wood before I go off on something!).

In pondering this fun group, and thinking about the upcoming Mercury retrograde (Please don't cry. Yet. I haven't mentioned that Mercury goes retrograde during a Solar eclipse. Hmmm, now you can cry!) , I came across one of the fables attributed to Aesop.

Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Many of the stories, such as The Fox and the Grapes (from which the idiom "sour grapes" derives), The Tortoise and the Hare, The North Wind and the Sun, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Ant and the Grasshopper are well-known throughout the world.

Tonight's tale which brings this all together: Mercury and the Woodcutter.

A woodcutter accidentally dropped his old, battered ax, dull and chipped by wear, in a river. The ax sank straight to the bottom, depriving the poor man of the one tool of his trade. With his livelihood lost, the woodcutter sat on the riverbank and began to cry. At that moment, the god Mercury broke through the surface of the water, holding up a splendid golden ax. "Could this be yours, old man?" "Oh, I wish that it were," sighed the woodcutter. Mercury dove back into the icy-cold water and this time brought up a magnificent silver ax. "So this is yours," said the god, offering the man the wonderful ax. "If only it were," lamented the woodcutter. "But my ax is old, and rusted, and chipped on the head." Mercury, pleased with the man's honesty, plunged into the river a third time and surfaced with the woodsman's used ax. "You are an honest man. I want you to take the golden ax and the silver ax as rewards for telling the truth." Thanking his benefactor, the woodsman ran home to tell his wife of his good fortune. As the story spread, a neighbor, who was also a woodcutter, rushed to the same spot on the riverbank and tossed his only ax into the deep water. Suddenly Mercury broke through the water's surface bearing a golden ax. "Is this the ax you lost, my friend?"

"Yes, yes, it is," lied the man, greedily reaching for the magnificent tool. Mercury tossed the golden ax into the water. "I deny you that one," said the god, "and your own ax." "Please, just get me my old ax," pleaded the man. "I won't be able to support my wife and children."

Mercury departed, and the woodsman cried to himself, "Honesty is the best policy."

In other versions, many others in the town do the same deceitful thing. In yet other versions the ones who are dishonest have their head cut off. Interesting. I mostly agree that honesty is the best policy. Am I being honest about that? ;) heh heh heh I find it interesting that in this tale The Trickster Himself is punishing dishonesty. Wouldn't he reward a clever thief? Maybe that's what it is... He didn't mind the dishonesty, he just didn't like that their trick lacked wit and cleverness. Maybe you just can't bullshit a bullshitter! Maybe He tells the truth, just in a way to make it imply what He wants you to believe? Ah, more meditations!

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:

Full moon in Aries

I was going to post this yesterday, but was asked to post The Halloween Witch, so here it is!

I was born as the moon waxed full in Aries. This is my favorite moon of the year! This year the full moon is within a few degrees of my natal full moon which makes it conjunct, so double yay! This is a tiny bit of a brain dump because I am high on energy and haven't properly grounded yet.

I was typing out a prayer I used as a toast during ritual tonight and three things happened at the same time: As I typed Diana's name, the clock struck midnight and a dog outside somewhere started barking! I'm still giggling about that.

Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail! Deck'd with a graceful robe and shining veil; Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,
Shine on these sacred rites with prosp'rous rays, and pleas'd accept thy suppliant's mystic praise.

 –Orphic Hymn to Diana.

Speaking of giggling... Ever since I began working with Mercury in earnest, my flow in ritual has changed, especially when I'm working with others, and especially when I'm working with others who are being too serious. It's like my goofball factor is proportionally inverse to the others' stick-in-the-mud factor.

This is not to say I can't be serious. When the work is important, the work gets done. But quite often, people need to lighten the fuck up. When I'm working on my own, there's no goofing around. Laughing at myself, perhaps, but it's not quite so mischievous. That is one aspect of Mercury which isn't routinely called upon: The Trickster!

Those who resist will be pursued! Can't find the funny? It will find you! Best to embrace it, to have a release for it. I was recently reminded of the old axiom "be careful what you wish for:" I was musing that I want to work on a show. I used to work in theatre but I left it many years ago for several reasons. However, it's not something you can really get over- it's like that ex boyfriend you hook up with occasionally long after you've broken up. I had really only mused that I'm in the mood to do a show. I didn't really refine that idea out loud. I talked about this with a friend, wondering where the feeling was coming from and how I could scratch this itch. I received an email the next day offering me a job on a show. Which show? Hansel and Gretel! Ummmmm erf... headdesk. Do I really want to do a show about a Witch who tries to eat children? Especially when it was changed from the original version where the parents were the real bad guys? At least the libretto includes fairies who protect the children. I suppose it all depends on the concept of the production. So I get something I wanted... kinda... Love you, Mercury. You are full of awesome ;)

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!

Travel

Here's an aspect of Mercury I don't think I've really discussed before (other than drooling over the statue of Him). Then again, I'm almost at the 300 post mark, so really, I don't recall everything I've posted about in the past 9 months. As the ruler of communication and commerce it only makes sense that travel is also within his domain: Messages travel from one person and/or place to another, goods must travel to get from farm to market or workshop abroad.

Here is a spell I was given. A friend and I parted ways in the city today. For me it was a quick jaunt to my abode, but he had a long trip ahead so this came to mind. It can be done for yourself or another, using me/my or person's name/their.

Mercury, Lord of Air and Sky
make my long trip hurry by.
Make my travel smooth and sweet.
As swiftly as your winged feet
Carry you from throne to land,
Over sea, across the sand
to destinations fair and bright,
Mercury, gently alight
me safe and sound
back to my home where I am bound.
Mercury, as I am true
Do now what I ask of you
My word you have,
to honor you.

When you get home, tip an offering. Coins, incense, food, etc.

Of related Mercurial interest: I was just looking up something Ovid had written and came across a picture of a vase where Mercury is wearing the cap  of Adoneus (aka Hades). I haven't found other references to the helm of invisibility being part of His travel retinue. Some say it's the same as his messenger cap, other sources say it's different, ie: Perseus returns all of the things he was loaned by the Gods to Mercury, including the Black Helm. Interesting point of conflicting lore. It seems minor, but nothing about Mercury is minor. ;)

Thanks :)

Thank you to Diana. Thank you to Apollo. Thank you to Mercury. Thank you to Hecate. Thank you to Ganesh. Thank you to My Ancestors. Thank you to The Spirits of the Land. Thank you to Ra. Thank you to everyone who worked weather magic to make NYC Pagan Pride Day happen.

It went by so fast! Almost a year of planning and now it's done. Tonight is partly a brain dump and that's because my brain is fried. I was up at 6 am and at the park before 8 to get everything set up. The vendors and info groups were amazing- the old hands knew just what to do and the new folks were pretty on the ball as well. The belly dancers were SO AWESOME! I need to find video of the Isis snake dance they did. Jihan Arts and the Belly Dance Raks Stars.. Wow... I need to post about belly dance and Middle Eastern Goddesses at some point. There were raves about the workshops and the opening ritual and the closing ritual that Society of Diana hosted with our sister group, Hounds of Artemis. We invoked the Statue of Liberty and reclaimed her as a talisman for, well, liberty lol And protection.

I made an offering to my Patrons for their help and I'm gonna get to that now then go pass out. Back to our regularly scheduled epic posts tomorrow!

Happy Autumnalia!

I don't know if "autumnalia" is an actual word or if I just made it up. Who cares? "Mabon" is a made up name too, so let's just roll with it.

Tonight I did a simple ritual, nothing pre planned, all from the heart. I made offerings and petitions, and told the story of this time of the year. However, tonight's rendition was a bit different than in times past. I used to romanticize the abduction of Persephone and Demeter's lament, and the wine and grain festivals and a young girl becoming Woman and Queen. Then I grew up, gained some perspective, and did some research.

Also, with what I now understand of this holiday as a time of parthenogenetic Goddess worship and the passing of knowledge, lore and magic from mother to daughter, woman to woman in a community of women, I just get angry. Now I see my once romanticized mystery for what it is- not just an abduction of a daughter, but the abduction of a way of life and a culture. These Mysteries were taken from Sicily to male dominated Athens exactly the same way Persephone was taken from Demeter, and that just frosts my cookies. On top of that, so many people go around calling it "Mabon" that if I rolled my eyes any harder they'd shoot laser beams. Why the rolling?

Well, let's stick some more Male mythology on top of it all, shall we?

For some, this is about a son, Mabon, being taken from his Mother and rescued by King Arthur. So why is it about the son and not the Mother? It's Her lament! And she is given back what she lost by a man. Just sayin. Modron is typically syncretized with Demeter too. Interesting.

Then we have the perpetual battle of the Holly King and Oak King, with one vanquishing the other through the year. All male all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I adore men and am having a red hot love affair with Mercury. But as this is the supposed to be the time of balance (the sun is even in Libra now- the literal sign of balance!), I have to ask: Where is the balance in all of these celebrations?

There is the matriarchal focus which I mentioned earlier, and others who unwittingly celebrate this holiday from an entirely patriarchal point of view. Is there ever any actual balance involved here?

After the Eleusinian Mysteries had concluded, there was a festival of Demeter and Apollo. These two are not often associated with each other. Don't you think they would be? In aspect as Mother Earth and Father Sky? If there is no sun, there is no grain. Apollo is mentioned along with Hekate in the lore of Eleusis, but only in passing (Hekate was hanging out with Apollo in the sky and they saw what had happened to Persephone). So how were Demeter and Apollo celebrated together? Were they? Anything about Demeter having a connection with male deities is either Zeus or Poseidon and remotely, Dionysus. However! There still stands the ruins of a temple dedicated to Demeter and Apollo as a pair on the island of Naxos:

This has been a lot of Greek talk tonight- so what did Italians do? Eat. Drink. Make offerings of bread and wine and fruit. Prep for the winter. There's no time to be high falutin when you're concerned with survival!
No matter which way you look at it, this is not the happiest time of year, a time to bid adieu to the blooming earth for a while, knowing that She will be restored. No wonder so many Pagans skip this holiday or just gloss over it!

No matter how you celebrate, no matter what you call it, I hope you have a good one :)

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!

Trust

Italian Witches are some of the most magically paranoid people I know. Everything is as secret as possible. Unless you're seeking help from your magical family, you keep you work to yourself. Having grown up in that environment, it's hard for me to trust others, especially about work I might be doing. When I'm doing a ritual with people I don't know very well, I shield myself. My energy goes out into the pool, gets mixed with the others and sent out towards the intention of the day. But I wouldn't take that in. Or charge my items with it.

Public rituals can be a tricky thing, energy-wise. You don't know who will be there or what energy they will bring to the proverbial table. At an event ritual, like a fair or Pagan Pride day, what you're really counting on, for a successful ritual, is common intent, plus many voices saying the same thing which equals repetition, which equals invocation.

I'm a firm believer that these kind of rituals should be quick, to the point, raise a lot of energy quickly, and have the leaders of the ritual direct it towards the goal. Otherwise the focus is lost quickly and the whole thing degenerates into a theatrical production with no power behind it. 

I know that I have been unfocused lately. In the past, it's typically been a joy to blog every day. This week, I'm just not feeling it. Others who work with Mercury in his various forms have told me that they also feel the same way: Two peas in a pod for the longest time, then all of a sudden... He's off and busy taking care of other things. Well, not to say there is nothing there, but it's something I have to actively call up as opposed to the usual being together an in sync. Like when someone you live with is off on a trip; You have to pick up the phone to call them instead of just talking to them across the room. I have been feeling the lack of His presence lately and it has been reflected in my blogging, so apologies for that. I know I need to give myself over to the joy of blogging daily and learning something new and exploring the things I love. I decided that last night and today I came across three different statues of Mercury. He's still around. Right now I just have to pick up the phone.


Speaking of phones... what do you think about technology in ritual? Skyping in? Magic over the phone? ipod as index card you can read in the dark? I'm pondering a post on that!

Greased Lightning!

The planet Jupiter is now retrograde. Astrologically speaking, it's not considered that big of a deal because Jupiter is retrograde for half the year, every year. However, there is a shakeup around the 5 days or so it takes for it to slow down and turn retrograde and later turn direct once again. This Jupiter storm coincided almost perfectly with the storm of Mercury going direct. In the days it took Mercury to stabilize into direct motion, Jupiter was slowing. So many people complained that it felt like Mercury was still retrograde!

In astrology, the planet Jupiter rules many things, including luck: It's the difference between the football hitting the goal post and going in, or hitting the post and bouncing off. What do you think is more likely to happen when Jupiter is retrograde? Yeah. No goal.

Last night we had a storm which inspired this post. The lightning was amazing- the likes of which I haven't seen since I was in the Berkshires at Mount Greylock and the lightning danced with the top of the mountain. Wow!

Lightning striking the top of the Washington Monument

Here's more info on the Iuppiter, aka Jupiter, aka Dies Pater.... lots of akas.... "Iuppiter originated as a vocative compound of the archaic Latin vocative *Iou and pater..." Our Father much? ;) The link is to the Nova Roma entry for Jupiter. I respect their research and typical attention to detail. There's also a great list of epithets!

Best Jupiter quote ever, unintentional tho it might be:

"Now if the Attendants be bright as the Sun, quick as Lightning, and powerful as Thunder; what is He that is their Lord?" -Thomas Comber, 1676

Let's leave off tonight with His Orphic hymn, which is thought to have been, in it's original language, used as an invocation during the Mysteries of Eleusis.

The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter
Thomas Taylor 1824

Fumigation from Storax
O Jove, much-honour'd, Jove supremely great,
To thee our holy rites we consecrate,
Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine,
For all things to produce with ease thro' mind is thine.
Hence mother Earth and mountains swelling high
Proceed from thee, the deep and all within the sky.
Saturnian king, descending from above,
Magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jove;
All-parent, principle and end of all,
Whose pow'r almighty shakes this earthly ball;
Ev'n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod,
Loud-sounding, arm'd with light'ning, thund'ring God.
Source of abundance, purifying king,
O various-form'd, from whom all natures spring;
Propitious hear my pray'r, give blameless health,
With peace divine, and necessary wealth.

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!

Other fun things

I did some really wonderful, necessary, Mercury-is-direct-and-we're-retreading-ground type work tonight for the new moon, and I'm just wiped out from the energetic output. I'm going to take a mulligan on this post and hope to be up n at em again tomorrow! In the meanwhile, here are some fun articles to read and videos to watch:

An article by James Jacob Pierri on Hypatia of Alexandria and Aradia. A good, quick read!

Nemesis is recommending Tubelo's Green Fire by Shani Oates. I've always had an interest in the Clan of Tubal Cain and the way Nemesis is gushing about this book, I plan to read it too. Bibliophiles unite!!!

The movie Anonymous, about Edward De Vere as the real writer behind "Shakespeare." Why do I care so much? Because I love a good conspiracy, Shakespeare moves me, and Edward De Vere was a contemporary of Giordano Bruno and John Dee and wrote about both in Hamlet and The Tempest respectively. He also included Pagan deities in every play, including Diana, Apollo, Mercury, and Hecate. Also, everything in the plays matches up to events in De Vere's life. I also love a well costumed period piece and I need folks to go see this with with me. Check out the trailer!

Tempestates

Thanks to Dusio for bringing up Tempesta and the Tempestates. There isn't much out there about Her or Them unless you really look. I am grateful for Google Books! I was able to take my research over there and came across the book Rome and Carthage at peace by Robert E. A. Palmer. In it there are a few references to the Tempestates. I went there because I knew that Scipio was the one who dedicated the temple. Turns out he did it because he was on his way to wage war with the Carthaginians.

I'm of two minds on this: The Aeneid starts out with Juno calling upon Aeolus to loose the storm winds to decimate Aeneis' ships. So is Scipio's offering, which was the same as the one made in The Aeneid, plus his promise to build a temple in honor of Juno? Is Tempesta one of Her epithets? One of Her Aspects? The temple dedication/celebration was done on June first, the celebration of Juno Moneta.

Other theory: He felt like Juno was after him (She was the Patroness of Carthage!), so he made offerings and promises to the Tempestes to spare him. His dedication on one of Juno's festival dates could be taken as trying to overwrite her.

More theories abound! In the book I mentioned above, the author theorizes that the storm deities were Punic in origin. In a play written hundreds of years after the temple was dedicated, a seafaring merchant delivers this speech:

quom bene re gesta salvos convortor domum
Neptuno grates habeo et Tempestatibus
simul Mercurio qui me in mercimoniis
iuvit lucris que quadrupli cavit rem meam

Here's my crappy amateur translation:

When the house (domain? boat?) was saved from veering
I thanked Neptune and The Tempests
At the same time, Mercury in some way gained me four times the worth of my merchandise.

I tried using google translate to help, but it was a clunker. It doesn't really work with idioms. Anyway, that's what the basic gist sounds like to me. Thanks to Neptune, to The Tempests, and to Mercury for successful seafaring.

Add another book to my virtual list, I'm enjoying the preview of this one!

I hope all are safe and well. Please continue to dissipate the storm and push it far out to sea!