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:

Go shorty... It's your birthday...

Well, tomorrow is! No, not yours... Mine!

Tonight is Bethmas Eve! Forgive me for the quickie as bday activities are rollin' already and I want to start playing with my presents!

I realized that today marks 20 years since my Sweet 16 party. It is also the anniversary of when I was initiated and came out as Pagan. My party theme was "astrology." Each table's centerpiece was a different astrological sign; the balloons were red, white, and black; the favors were large clear "crystal" balls on gold pedestals with a rose in the middle which said: "May your future come up roses." In Brooklyn, in my family and circle of friends, astrology was no big deal. All manner of fortune telling was perfectly acceptable and not particularly strange at all.

What boys will do for a girl

For some reason, during that summer season of Sweet 16s, it was popular for the boys to get together form a 10-man pyramid lol
So I even had a magical pyramid that night.





 It was the year I became a vegetarian, the year I told my Mother I would no longer be participating as a catholic, explained to her what my path was now, and it was the year I made my full time dedication to this path and to Diana. I'm vegan now, I'm a Mom now, I'm a Priestess now, and I'm finally understanding the magic which has been woven into the modern religious tradition which most Italians embrace. I'd like to think that our Ancestors put it there so that despite what the politics became, and what the abuses of power were, the magic would still be alive, still grow, still touch us, and still make miracles happen. What the church couldn't suppress, it adopted. Look at just how much of our magic still lives because the people wouldn't let it go... (That's what half of my blog posts are about! lol)

I'd like to think I've learned at least some of what my Elders were trying to teach me. There's so much more. Guess I'd better stfu and get to work, huh?

Tomorrow? Perhaps the Greek and Roman origins of Birthday Cakes!

Danger! Danger!

I was reading a very interesting thread today about the dangers inherent in working magic. Are there dangers? If so, what are they?

Some believe that your "level of power" limits what you can accomplish and how much damage you can do.
I mostly disagree: Children have started fires, and children have injured or killed others or themselves when playing with a gun they thought was a toy. What is their level of mundane "power?" Not so much, but they can still do some serious damage.

If you have the ingredients, you can make the recipe. That's when sht blows up.

It's true that there are certain doors which are open only to initiates and certain streams of magic open only to those tapped into that flow, but there is enough information available out there, enough streams waiting to be tapped by the casual passer-by. The main safety check we, as Witches, have had is secrecy. This is a major drawback to mainstreaming. However, most folks stop at the shiny happy neon feel good and don't explore further. And that's ok. Some, however, go right for the serious stuff.

So what can happen to the practitioner? Karma kicks em? The spell blows back onto them? They're possessed by forces they didn't understand? They made a deal without realizing the implications? Nothing? All are possibilities. I don't really believe in the three-fold law. I do believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

I'm going to leave this as food for thought tonight. I'll get back to the part 2s I promised as soon as I can!

Olive Oil! (quickie)

Since I posted a recipe for an anointing oil last night, let's talk more about the base of the nifty concoction: Olive oil. Legend has it Athena won slot (ad naming rights?) to Athens because she placed an olive tree at the top of the acropolis and Poseidon, her rival for this competition, had created a spring. The olive tree was judged the better of the two.

Here's a link to a nifty article on the background of olive oil in Italy.

Olive oil has formed the basis of the renowned ‘Mediterranean diet’ for thousands of years, along with its medicinal properties. Homer, the great Greek poet, termed olive oil as being ‘liquid gold’ and Greek athletes would apply olive oil to their skin to render it supple as radiant. The olive tree is native to the southern Mediterranean but it is found in Lebanon, Iran and even parts of China. The olive tree was possibly brought to the Mediterranean by the Etruscans, who clearly delighted in its use. Ancient Etruscan vases depicted the scenes of the olive harvest and the tree was clearly a very special part of their mysterious culture.