Golden Years...

Since it's Saturnalia, I've been reading the treatise, Saturnalia, by Macrobius. In it he discusses how Janus is said to have instituted Saturnalia and how Saturn is asleep somewhere, awaiting his chance to return. Saturn is oft associated with the Golden Age. I recall reading this in reference to Astraea, of whom it's said she was the last of the Gods to remain on earth through the end of the Silver age. She was eventually disgusted enough to retreat to the heavens where she is the constellation Virgo holding the scales of justice, aka Libra.

The Golden Age is alleged to have been a time when humanity did no work, the earth was so fruitful and abundant that farming wasn't necessary, and everyone lived in harmonious community with no fighting, no property, no law breaking for there were no laws and no need for laws... sounds like paradise. Or at least like John Lennon's vision.

In the following age, with the reign of Jupiter and the rest of the Pantheon, or Zeus and the Olympians, we now have scarcity, the need for agriculture, property, murder, and all of the nasty business now associated with humanity.

So what the fuck happened?

Can we take this as an allegory for the procession of the equinoxes?

With Saturn as the Lord of Time, can the Moon-as-Sun folks be right? There are people who believe the earth's moon was another sun with the earth suspended between the two. Night didn't exist, it was always day, earth was a paradise, etc. Much how the Golden Age is pictured. Then "something" happened and the second sun exploded creating what is now the moon and the rest of the planets and time itself. If it's always day, if the sky is never changing, there is no way to track time/time does not exist. Not saying this is my theory, but it kind of fits with the four ages theory, so I figured I'd add it in.

There is a Golden Age referred to in Hindu teachings, and even in Norse lore.

Here is an excerpt from Ovid's Metamorphoses about the change from one age to the next, from Saturn to Jupiter:

Nor swords were forg'd; but void of care and crime,
The soft creation [humans] slept away their time.
The teeming Earth, yet guiltless of the plough,
And unprovok'd, did fruitful stores allow:
Content with food, which Nature freely bred,
On wildings and on strawberries they fed;
Cornels and bramble-berries gave the rest,
And falling acorns furnish'd out a feast.
The flow'rs unsown, in fields and meadows reign'd:
And Western winds immortal spring maintain'd.
In following years, the bearded corn ensu'd
From Earth unask'd, nor was that Earth renew'd.
From veins of vallies, milk and nectar broke;
And honey sweating through the pores of oak.

The But when good Saturn, banish'd from above,
Silver Age Was driv'n to Hell, the world was under Jove.
Succeeding times a silver age behold,
Excelling brass, but more excell'd by gold.
Then summer, autumn, winter did appear:
And spring was but a season of the year.
The sun his annual course obliquely made,
Good days contracted, and enlarg'd the bad.
Then air with sultry heats began to glow;
The wings of winds were clogg'd with ice and snow;
And shivering mortals, into houses driv'n,
Sought shelter from th' inclemency of Heav'n.
Those houses, then, were caves, or homely sheds;
With twining oziers fenc'd; and moss their beds.
Then ploughs, for seed, the fruitful furrows broke,
And oxen labour'd first beneath the yoke.

So why is Saturn portrayed as the bad guy? Sure, it's said he ate his kids, but what happened when Saturn no longer reigned? The seasons began, people sought shelter, scarcity was the rule and now everyone had to fight to survive. And if there's supposed to be a second coming of Saturn, and that age is lauded as a good thing- another return to the golden age, then why was his statue kept bound except on Saturnalia? Especially if the merry making, lack of fighting, time off from work and celebration of equality are the main points of Saturnalia.


Holiday food for thought!

Pater = Peter?

Liber Pater, Pater Patratus... Pater was a Roman term before the christians ever co-opted it. It's just the Latin word for "Father." Conspiracies abound regarding the statue of "Saint Peter" pictured here. Some claim it is the statue of Jupiter simply renamed. Others claim the bronze from the statue of Jupiter was melted down and recast as Saint Peter. Either way, we have something terribly interesting and very telling about this saint: He is a recast of Jupiter. That just made me think about when a soap opera changed actors: The announcer would come on in a hushed voice after we see the new actor on screen, but before the actor spoke. "The role of Jupiter is now being played by Saint Peter."

"The role of Jupiter is now being played by Saint Peter."

Notice he is holding a key and is crowned with a nimbus, or sun disc. Some christian conspiracy sites out there rant about it and I'm still looking for the much quoted "archaeologists" but I keep getting side tracked by the fact that the Phrygium of Cybele, Magna Mater, which was built on Vatacan hill, just had "The Vatican" plunked down over it. Allegedly, the bones of Saint Peter were found there during an excavation. Really? How did they know that? The site of the Phrygium was built on top of a necropolis! There were already thousands of remains there! There's only vaguely circumstantial "evidence" that the bones of a man in his 60s were buried with other bones in an area some time around 300 ce. Not buying it.

I'm cutting this short tonight because this is making me cranky. Off to go find real sources on this, not just conspiracies about "Pater and Peter" being different pronunciaitons of the same word meaning "Father."

Do you have anything on this? Join the conversation!

Libya

Tonight's blog isn't a political rant or treatise on the astrological implications behind the protests there and the occupy wall street movement here. Libya has just plain been calling to me.

Tanit has been on my mind. So has Jupiter. So has Alexander the Great. I've been pondering an in-depth post on each of these, but the research has been taking a while. Some things are just in-depth. Seeking the connection between the three has been of interest to me as well. My family lineage traces back to Carthage and Leptis Magna, as well as from other areas in Libya. I don't write this blog just to present research papers or book reports, the point is to sit and do the work. Recent posts have been very light lately because I haven't wanted to post about the aforementioned topics because I didn't have enough under my proverbial belt to do it. Some of it is just private. I do, however, want to share what's been on my mind:

Alexander the Great's mother claimed that his real father was Zeus and came to her as a snake. While he was heading around and about conquering the world, he paused at Siwa Oasis, a spot in ancient Libya (now modern Egypt) where there happened to be an oracle dedicated to Ammon. Ammon was nearly identical to Jupiter and Zeus and syncretized nicely. When Alexander asked the oracle if Zeus was his dad, he got what he took as a yes and allegedly considered himself divine thereafter. I'm working my way through two books about Alexander the Great and the founding of Alexandria in Egypt. I'll get back to you as further developments warrant!

Over the years, my relationship with Jupiter has been... well, it hasn't really been. I don't work with him and I know that's because I was burned out on that as a catholic. The Ponifex Maximus, the most important religious position in the religion of ancient Rome, was eventually subsumed by the emperor. The title is still used today for the pope. So is the political side of the title. Vatican City is its own country. But I digress! I was burned out on dealing with a father-figure. I tip a nod during general libations, but that has been the extent of our relationship for a long time... until recently. It's been interesting and when I understand it a bit better I hope to fill you in.

I found a few well put together articles about Tanit on line, but searching books hasn't yielded much. Much of what I have is my family lore.

Tanit, or Tanith, is the Great Goddess of Carthage, worshipped there as its chief Deity. She is a Sky Goddess who ruled over the Sun, Stars, and Moon; and as a Mother Goddess She was invoked for fertility. The palm tree is Hers, as the desert version of the Tree of Life; and as symbolic of the life-force of the Earth the serpent is Hers as well—in fact Her name means "Serpent Lady". She is identified with both Ashtart (Astarte) and Athirat and Her other symbols include the dove, grapes and the pomegranate (both symbolic of fruitfulness and fertility), the crescent moon, and, like Ashtart, the lion.

She was the "Lady of Carthage" and her consort is Ba'al and syncretizes nicely with so many different Goddesses:

She was identified with Aphrodite, Demeter, and Artemis by the Greeks and with Juno by the Romans, especially their Juno Lucina, Goddess of Light and Childbirth. The Romans also associated Her with the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, Rhea or Kybele.

Her symbol looks like the Isian knot!

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.

The Source

Know the source!

I don't mean "The Source Of All Things." Just the source of information you cite. Today on facebook, a friend posted something about a festival of Venus being celebrated tonight and tomorrow, August 9th. He didn't cite his source. He usually doesn't, but most often I recognize the information's source, like a Gardnerian calendar or Dunwich's Wiccan Book of Days. For this post? No clue. I asked for the source of the information, haven't gotten a reply. Will update in comments if/when I do. (I think I found it. I only scanned through a few of the listings on the page, but I noticed at least 5 mistakes.)

The only Venus celebrations I know of in August is on the 19th, the Vinalia Rustica, which celebrates the founding of Her oldest known temple in Rome. She was also honored at a festival of Jupiter in late August. The only Roman celebration I know of tomorrow is the Opalia, in honor of Ops, and even that date is questioned. Let's remember that what is now August used to be sextillus, the sixth month. The ancient calendar was screwed six ways till nones and has been rectified over and over and over again through the ages. We still tinker with the calendar- 2012 is leap year!

"A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." --Mark Twain

Posting misinformation about an ancient festival date isn't immediately or terribly damaging to our society, but in the long run, it undermines who we are and ultimately what we do. There was a huge outcry years ago about how Pagans should "own" that Wicca is made up. Sure it is. But it's made up of pieces of indigenous, pre-christian traditions. Some of the methods are new, but the ideas are the same, ie: We drive cars now instead of use wagons to get around. Several authors and teachers felt the need to make up a lineage and grand claims, so much so that I sometimes get eye rolls when I tell people I practice my family tradition. Because people have made up information in the past, I currently get shit for it, and so do many Strega. It's one of the reasons why I started this blog. So I get sensitive about misinformation. Especially on my home turf.

If there is new information to be had, something I didn't know before, I want to learn it! So please give me the source of your information because if it is true, then I have a new source and reference and I am the better for it. This is why I respect Nova Roma: They do their work and their research and eek out new sources in the ancient record and in current archaeology finds. If it's about Venus and the Nova Roma folks don't know about it and your source isn't new, it's probably not true. This isn't to say I object to people posting information on topics when they aren't experts, just cite your sources, even if it's Personal Gnosis (especially when it's personal gnosis!)

If we are to be taken seriously, and by "we" I mean Pagans, then we have to know from whence we came: including what we celebrate and why we celebrate it, or why we choose to not celebrate something anymore. If you, as a teacher, or initiate, or general disseminator of information are to be taken seriously, you should cite your sources, or at least make them available to others. If you, as a student, take yourself seriously, don't believe everything people say without investigating the sources for yourself.

Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's true! This goes for me too! Call me on my bs if you see any, ask me to cite missing sources if you find any lacking. This just makes me a better blogger, a better expert and a better person.

Gabii

A new sarcophagus was unearthed by an archaeological team in Gabii. The pictures are really interesting. The articles I've seen on this are really thin at best, kinda like "oh look at the shiny" then they move on.

Gabii wasn't just some place near Rome or a mere rival. It was a member of the Latin League. It was said to be the home of the last Etruscan kings. It was also reputed to be the place where Romulus and Remus were schooled. On the edge of what used to be a lake stands a temple to Juno pictured here on the right. In the temple were shrines to Jupiter, Fortuna, and Diana.



Also found at the site was this statue of Diana, now called the Braschi Diana after the one who bought the statue from the excavators in the 1700s. 














Here's the picture of the sarcophagus, dating from Roman times:

Mercury, Apollo, and....? Who is that in the Phrygian cap top right? Attis? I wish there was a better picture. I haven't found one yet. The one above is the pic that's been attached to every article and I still can't find a proper credit for it.

If anyone has dug up more clues, please let me know!

Take two of these and call me in the morning...

Gods are not pills you take for different ailments. Jupiter is not Excedrin and Flora is not Allegra.

This has been my facebook status for most of the day. Why? Someone posted to an email group asking which deity they should petition for help on a test. The above was my response. Stomach ache? Take ginger. Need to look good for your date? Take Venus. Bad breath? Peppermint. Traveling? Mercury.

Seriously, how did this perception arise where you go to a specific deity for a specific thing, even if you have no prior relationship? I think Jason Miller said it best when he used the following analogy which I will paraphrase badly:

If you need to borrow $50 and ask a virtual stranger, they'll probably tell you to go take a hike. If you ask someone you know, you're more likely to get it, there's a chance. If you ask your best friend, they'll give it to you no questions asked. The difference in each case here is the relationship you've built. Your best friend knows you're good for it or doesn't care because you have a history and affection for each other. The stranger? Not so much. They'll probably want some proof they'll get it back...

Anyway, the point is that when you build relationships, you have a better chance of getting something you ask for. To add to the original analogy... Your friends have contacts they can leverage on your behalf. If your patron is Athena and you need some help with travel, would it not be easier to ask her to petition Mercury for you? Even the Catholics do this: It's called Intercession. It's how they can get away with praying to a full pantheon of major and minor and local deities: It's because they're asking, for example, Saint Michael to intercede on their behalf with God.


Take the time to develop a relationship with deities and ancestors and the Lare and the Lasa. Develop these relationships as you would any other: Time, attention, dedication, following through, keeping your word, etc.  Offerings of energy and prayer and material things like lighting a candle or incense. All of this goes a long way towards reaching out. You can't be entirely goal oriented here, it's not necessarily a tit-for-tat situation, and no one likes to be used. Show your appreciation and gratitude and they will do the same in tangible ways.

Wow. I was just going to post about the solstice today! Looks like there was something else in store. I hope everyone had a wonderful solstice!

Peacock!

There was a post kicking around in my head all day. I even started to type it out here, but some things aren't meant to be casual posts. I do intend to write out some of these, and will likely share them here, but some are destined to be articles, some destined for a book.

I was going to post something from Ovid about keeping your girlish looks by applying lead to your face, but I changed course while reading. In Art of Beauty, Ovid refers to Juno's Bird: The Peacock. So let's go there tonight:

There is a superstition among Italians about keeping a bird in the house, especially a peacock. You just don't do it. Birds are kept outside and are not pets. You don't keep a peacock feather in the house because it can give the evil eye.

What's the big deal about Peacocks and why are they sacred to Juno? It started with Jupiter. You knew I'd say that... Jupiter was fooling around with a river Goddess, Io. Juno figured out what he was up to and went to catch him in the act. Jupiter turned Io into a cow, but Juno wasn't fooled. Juno demanded the cow as a gift. Caught, Jupiter had to give it to her or admit what he did. Juno had Argus, the 100 eyed Giant who never slept (some of the 100 eyes on his bodies were always open), guard "the cow." Jupiter wanted to spring Io from her cow-captivity. He sent Mercury lull Argus to sleep and kill him. Mercury was successful. Poor Argus :( Juno took all of his eyes and set them into the Peacock.

After our chat last night about Juno and Diana, I've gone back to reading The Aeneid. From the very start, Juno is trying to kill Aeneas. She hates Aeneas and is trying to do everything she can to stop him from founding Rome. In the future, she knows, he's going to use Rome to trash her beloved city of Carthage.

One side of my family didn't believe in this superstition. Perhaps because they're Sicilian, not Italian. Sicily had a closer relationship with Carthage, and in fact, some of the economic conditions leading to the slave revolts I recently posted about arose because whomever in Sicily had been loyal to Carthage had their land taken away by Rome and given to Roman generals as reward for service.

I suppose there's a certain logic to the peacock bias: Who would want the keep one of the eyes loyal to Juno in their home, especially if she is an enemy of Rome?

I have a peacock feather on my front door. It's like my magickal peep hole lol Of course I would honor the Goddess of Marriage in my home. It's attached to a broom, which, according to custom, should be by your door to sweep away any funky vibes from the outside.

And because I know you're wondering, here's some of what I was reading from Ovid. I know you want that ancient lead recipe (but don't use it!).

The bird of Juno, when his plumage is praised, spreads out his tail to be admired, and dumb though he be, is proud of his beauty. To kindle in us the fires of love, dress is more potent than the dark arts of the magician...

COME, LEARN FROM ME HOW TO IMPART A DAZZLING WHITENESS TO YOUR SKIN
...
Then make haste and bake pale lupins and windy beans. Of these take six pounds each and grind the whole in the mill. Add thereto white lead and the scum of ruddy nitre and Illyrian iris, which must be kneaded by young and sturdy arms. And when they are duly bruised, an ounce should be the proper weight. If you add the glutinous matter wherewith the Halcyon cements its nest, you will have a certain cure for spots and pimples. As for the dose, one ounce applied in two equal portions is what I prescribe. To bind the mixture and to make it easy of application, add some honey from the honeycombs of Attica."

Yeah... don't try this at home!