Forgiveness

"I've been friends with a woman who was in the Holocaust and she was in a concentration camp and when I met her, the first thing I said was how did you forgive, she said, 'I would never give Hitler another moment of my life.'"

The Wheel of Fortune

Well, the spring planting is finally finished and now I can take a breather, as we say here in Maine (more like breeth-ah). I have been busy, busy, busy since last I wrote. I planted carrots, and beets, beet greens, lettuce, cabbage, kale, turnips,
rutabagas, broccoli, fennel, bok choy, lots and lots of onions, and peas. We still have room for the tomatoes and cukes, but need to find some place else for our corn, potatoes, squash, beans, and summer squash... so I have decided to find a nice home for the goats, and expand the garden. The herb garden I started last year is looking nice too, with sage, oregano, savory, thyme, chives and tarragon all up, and basil, parsley and lovage seedlings waiting for the last frost - usually within 3 days after the full moon in June, unless it's a late one.
Everything just seems to be better and better. My raspberries and wild blueberries are spreading. I found baby choke cherry trees, and service berry bushes, and an apple I had thought was dead all growing in an isolated corner. The fiddle heads are up, and what more can I say. Life is good.

The Wheel of Fortune - This speaks to the spiritual law: As Within So Without. Our fool has changed, and is a fool no longer, so of course the outward reality of his life is going to change too. With every mastery of some thing that used to push those buttons, or some unresolved childhood pain, or owning of what was once denied (what we were in denial of), the people, places, things, times and events that once reflected to us what we needed to learn, all troop out of our lives. They aren't needed any more, and new mirrors appear to take us even further along our way.

Some call this time of flux the dark night of the soul. This is because we are actually physically addicted to our reality as it is. Every time we do something we are used to doing regularly, like getting angry, or sexy, or weepy, we are taking a hit. It isn't bad, but it will eventually disrupt the normal protein synthesis in the cell and begin the degradation we call aging. To truly change means experiencing a period of withdrawal.

Symbolically we see the wheel of our fortune turning. On top is the Sphinx, keeper of the Riddle of Life, and dealer of death to those who cannot divine the answer (the answer is all over the place though - change, learn new things, grow). Descending on the wheel is the Apep monster, a euphemism for the digestive tract of Nut. It, with it's many ribs, represents here the carnal human, all about appetites. Ascending is the warrior god Set. We know this is the canine form of Set because he is red, whereas Anubis would always be black; and because Set is the only god who can defeat the Apep monster. He rides in the bow of Ra's solar barge and fights the monster every night (remember Nut eats the solar barge every evening and births it every dawn, she doesn't digest it and excrete it, she births it). Set was an old god long before Isis and Osiris came on the scene, and he represented the terrible power of the desert. It was a sort of Zen power, a stripping away of the fleshy and unnecessary, leaving the bare bones of truth behind. In the four corners of the card are the four living beasts which represent the altar and throne of God, as well as the four fixed signs of the zodiac - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. They are reading your book of life, your soul, because now it is interesting again. The wheel then is the wheel of the sun's circuit daily, it is a day - an admonition to live in the moment least you unguardedly fall back into old ways. There are two aspects of the wheel which point to another understanding as well: a wheel may just sit in one place, spinning, making a rut for it self, or it can take you on a journey. It all comes down to choice.

Why Is The Senate Not Even Considering The Only Health Care Plan That Really Works?

"There are rare moments of clarity when we the people can see
through the veil of illusion designed to condition us into docile
inaction.
There was such a moment this week, when Senator Max Baucus, chairman
of the Senate Finance Committee, having already preemptively excluded
any participation of a credible spokesperson for single payer health
care, laughingly joked "we need more police", when one qualified
doctor and lawyer after another stood up to protest their exclusion
from the debate.
THAT was the real Max Baucus, a contemptuous corporatist, who is as
likely to voluntarily bring forward a real people's health program as
Dick Cheney is likely to voluntarily testify under oath. Perhaps you
have already seen the video clip
(it is on the action page), of him trying to laugh off consideration of single payer health care.
And it is not just Baucus, the whole Senate panel erupted into
riotous laughter. Even the so-called "liberals", like John Kerry, who
was anxious to get in his own wisecrack about "Is there anybody in
the audience who didn't ... uh ... come to ...", before it finally dawned on Baucus how incredibly bad this would look on video, as he interrupted Kerry, to try to resume projecting the usual phony concern and compassion.

Folks, this is who those senators REALLY are. This is the way they talk about us behind closed doors, in their cloakrooms, snickering with the lobbyists paying them off about how they pulled off another fast one under the noses of the people. When they are joking, as when Bush joked about being a dictator, THAT is who they really are. And the whole charade DEPENDS on them fooling us into thinking they are representing us for even one second that they are not FORCED to by our active voices.

There is a MASSIVE industry sponsored astroturf campaign going on right this very instant. If you are reading this on a web site, even a progressive one, this very page may be wallpapered with slick banner ads calling for a "balanced health care debate" or "fair health care", and it is one of the most deceptive "petition" actions we have ever encountered, asking you to sign on to a HIDDEN agenda, WITHOUT even disclosing what you are actually signing on to. "Fair and balanced health care". Where have we heard an expression like that before?
In the words of the AP itself, these industry groups are trying to strike a preemptive deal with Obama "in the hopes they can stave off legislation that would restrict their profitability in future years". In other words, to KILL single payer health care, which would give the American people the REAL savings (estimated for us at 350 billion per year) that the people of every other major industrial nation
already enjoy.

And most of all, please understand that of all the huge lies that they have told us, there is ONE lie at the heart of them all. Lies like they were going to end the war in Iraq, when they had no intention of doing any such thing, when the plan has always been and REMAINS to keep at least 50,000 troops in that country until the end of time, that they were going to do something to help struggling homeowners, when the plan was always to loot the public treasury for trillions of dollars, a massive transfer of wealth to the Wall Street con men who caused the whole financial crisis in the first place.

We could go on and on, but there is one lie at the root of them all.

Do you know what it is?

The mother of all lies. The lie they use again and again to keep us from bringing about real change. The biggest lie of them all. Bigger than "compassionate conservatism", bigger than "the war on terror", bigger than "weapons of mass destruction", bigger than "the trickle down theory", bigger than "torture keeps us safe", yes, even bigger than "looking forward not backward" or "change we can believe in".
Do you know what the biggest, most diabolical lie they have ever told
us is?
The BIGGEST LIE of ALL: that we the people do not have the power to
change any of this.

Do we not understand our power? Do we not understand that they shaking in their socks right now in fear that we will finally get it, that there is NO power without the consent of the governed, and that all we have to do is say "No more" in sufficient numbers, and we the people will be free.
Their position is so WEAK, so lacking in merit, so indefensible, they are so afraid of the power of our positions that they have to resort to police oppression to try to shut us up. That is why they need to call on "more police" to keep single payer advocates from even having a speaking seat at the table, to try to keep their voices OUT of the media. Because if the public for one moment was exposed to an actual fair debate, the phony "fair debate" would be seen for the total charade and sham that is it.
We don't need more police. That is not the health care plan we are calling for. We need need more doctors, and nurses, not more insurance company administrators awarding themselves outrageous bonuses to deny suffering people in pain the health care they deserve.
...At the end of the day we have no enemy greater than our own defeatism. It is the lie they tell us to tell ourselves, without which they have NO power at all besides
the gun they can point at our heads."

The Hermit

The Hermit - In the oldest of faiths the chief amongst the Gods was the God of the Axis Mundi. The Dagda, Atlas, Cronus... he comes down to us as Santa Claus, and for a good reason.

Remember that I said The Warrior/Charioteer needed the power of wisdom, well this card is one way you gain wisdom. When you turn to the spiritual path you usually have many years of human experience under your belt. The problem with it is, that not all of it has become wisdom yet. These are those buttons that the world just seems to love to push, and every time we have an emotional reaction, just like we always have. And every time we do that we are loosing the chance to resolve the problem. This card is the key to finally resolving these issues. It is The Observer, that is why he is peering down. He is observing all of life unfold below where he stands.

Symbolically his staff is the celestial north pole, which even primitive people could observe the heavens revolved around, day and night. In a way he and his staff are one. He stands on a snowcapped mountain in a snowbound place, the far north (yes, we know there is an ice cap there, but historically he was always imaged as standing on a mountain or "earthen mound" which represented the Cerebellum, and the Earth Goddess "Beauteous Ceres" because that is the part of the brain where this God operates from). He wears gray because he is invisible. In his lantern he has locked the pole star, the only star which seems not to revolve.

Have you ever, perhaps on the verge of an emotional storm, stepped back from it into an unemotional state of mind? Have you ever, under great stress had a greater self seem to step forward and assume control - perhaps you had to testify in court, or were about to have a car accident? Those are the moments when we have become the Observer, the God we really are. In the emergency we quickly turned our will over to God, and things worked to our best advantage. Thing is we need to do it more often. Those buttons? If you can stand back, in an emotionless space, and observe your body trying to have the same old reaction, the neural network of that habitual reaction will fall apart, and in it's place you get wisdom - a new perspective literally. Sometimes doing this exercise once is all it takes, sometimes two or three times more. It is a very powerful tool. In a moment you have changed your life. The diss-ease that would have become disease is now treasure, wisdom.

And, as if that wasn't enough, this is also where you go with your desires, the things you are ready to allow into your life. You draw a picture, or some other representation of your desire and observe it; never letting the mind stray to how and when, you just observe.

Caution!!!

The Chariot

The Chariot - This character is the fool again, but in this life time the person the fool represents has made the choice to live the master's path. The Fool has become the spiritual warrior. Behind him is the city, which represents traditional thought and accepted norms (social consciousness) of his people. There are some trees that represent his own neural networkss of prejudice, and limited thinking. These he has left behind, along with the dear friends and family who think he's gone cracked. He's cried a river of tears, but all that is behind him now. On the front of his chariot is the winged solar disc, which represents the enlightened brain - that is where he is headed - and the unified feminine and masculine, the red top, which represents where he has gained mastery, the base seal. The sphinxes represent the also polarized second seal, of emotional pain - they are tamed and working for him. On his breast he wears a white square, which represents the plane of visible light, the third seal; and on his or her garb we see symbols of the sources of visible light on this plane - moon, sun, flames(perhaps - the points of the crown), planets... The wand is not too impressive yet, but its a start. Above the head is a blue veil, a higher heaven this entity has not attained yet(the fourth/ultraviolet).
What this entity needs now is power. See how the skirt is patterned with alchemical and cabalistic symbols. Knowledge is only philosophy, a toy for mental gymnastics, until you have had life experiences that will give you understanding of the truth that the knowledge describes. Then it comes alive. Then it is wisdom and power. For instance I could tell you why people find it so hard to leave abusive relationships, but until you have experienced that terror yourself it has little meaning. Or, I could tell you the next dimension is light, but until you see for yourself you are at best only taking my word for it. We can all tell each other we are God until we are blue in the face, but until we experience it, it's just words. The philosophy, experienced, equals the power we need to begin seeing the truth of our own divinity. It is hard to see God in self, when self is a cringing, whining, powerless...
But it's not so hard when we have actually healed with our hands, actually known without being told, when we have gained power.

Why is Seven Sacred?

Some people call 'em Chakras...I was taught to call them seals, like the wax seal of a scroll, when opened the lesson unfolds. "Seals" are what are mentioned in the book of revelations. But a rose by any other name still smells the same.

The Seals are manifested in the body as endocrine glands, and the normal secretions of these glands gives us our clues as to what the lesson of each seal is:
Base seal - Testes - sexuality
Second seal - Ovaries - emotional pain
Third seal - Adrenals - power

These three seals are the ones that equate to survival, and to the human animal. They are often symbolized by an inverted equilateral triangle, often drawn in black. Women are actually a little ahead of men, in general, because we don't have as
much testosterone, which would tend to keep our energy in the base seal. We tend to the second seal in our teens and twenties, but usually are more third seal as we gain distance from childbearing urges.

Fourth seal - Thymus - Love
We all mostly dwelt at this level before puberty. The kundalini rose up to this seal. Love and growth go hand in hand. Most of us can recall the deep feelings of unconditional love we felt for those around us as children. That is fourth seal love, unlike the "love" of lower seals which is more often lust and curiosity mixed together.

Fifth seal - Thyroid - Expression of love
We have all felt our throat tighten when we were deep in emotional pain. This is the withdrawal of energy from the upper seals, into the lower, and a shutting down of this seal - not a permanent shutting down though, just a response to the emotional situation.

Sixth seal - Pineal - All is God
Seventh seal - Pituitary - I am God

Energy blocked at any of these levels will lead to dis-ease. And energy returning to them will give you symptoms too.
Common diseases related to these are:
1st seal - Prostate and testicular abnormalities
2nd seal - Ovarian cysts, endometriosis, cervical cancer
3rd seal - Diabetes
4th seal - a person who is hard hearted would develop hardening of the cardiac arteries. A person who is broken hearted may get a literally broken heart.
5th seal - A person who feels love but can't seem to express it develops cardiac congestive disease, congestive heart failure.
6th seal - Sleep disorders, depression related to lack of circulating seratonin... not sure what else.

Energy returning to the seventh seal/pituitary in greater amounts will cause the gland to grow and blossom, so to speak, but this will give you terrible headaches. I thought I had meningitis the first time I had one, because there is increased intercranial pressure with it, and often fever. This is different from other migraines in that the location of the pain is between your eyes and 2-3 inches in your head, right where your pituitary is. At first I had to take Darvocet for mine, but later I had a dream that told me to switch to nsaids, and I found motrin worked even better. I wouldn't have ever thought so, because the pain is just very intense, but it worked.

As there are seven seals there are also seven heavens. Each pair of seal and heaven corresponds to a wavelength level of the electromagnetic spectrum:
1 - Hertzian
2 - Infrared
3 - Visible Light
4 - Ultraviolet
5 - Xray
6 - Gamma Ray
7 - beyond our ability to read - mystically named Infinite Unknown
(Scientists don't like to be associated with mysticism so, fairly recently, they have added two levels between hertzian and infrared, and don't give comment on beyond Gamma - but these seven levels are traditionally correct)
To me it seems logical that if everything you can detect with your five senses is at the Hertzian level, then with a body of finer stuff there ought to be more to experience in each of the finer levels. In fact out of body experience, as I have known it is actually experienced in a lighter body and on a higher level. You can use this at night, when you sleep to explore the higher heavens, and know more about them. Just ask your spirit to make it so when you say your bedtime prayers.

There are also seven levels of the brain attuned to each of the seven heavens. I, sadly, have yet to learn them all, but here are some:
Cerebrum - hertzian - 1st seal
Midbrain - infrared - 2nd seal
Corpus callosum - ? 3rd or 4th
Cerebellum - 7th seal

So we have it:
Seven seals/glands locking up seven lessons to evolve through,
Seven levels of the brain attuned to each of the seven heavens,
Seven heavens with a body and mind on each,
All the way back to God

The Lovers

The Lovers - This card is all about choice, as many have said, but it is really more complex than that. This card says: Whatever you give your time, attention and thought to, will be what manifests in your life. That is the crux of it really and you don't have to read anymore to get it.
On the one side we have Eve or Lilith (we could even call her Pandora whose box or jar as a euphemism for her womb) and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree represents the body you need to experience this plane - trees generally symbolize the central nervous system, the bushy brain on top of the elongated spinal cord, with its roots extending out into the body; but as the CNS is what tells the cells what proteins to make, and ultimately makes the body, a tree can also symbolize the body. Which begs the question: What is wrong with taking on a body and experiencing life? That depends on who you give you power away too... er, who you ask. There have always been people who are willing to say the body is the source of our downfall. In truth there is nothing wrong with incarnating into flesh. It was the next step on our path of exploration. It is a privilege and an honor to be one of those given a body. But there are entities who are afraid to take the plunge, angelic entities who have never left the upper realms; and some of them truly despise us for doing what they fear to do, and some of these have interfered with us in our vulnerable state, teaching us to worship them and that what we did was wrong. We are the fallen angels of this myth, but it was more a leap of faith, than a casting down. I mean, you can only sit on a cloud plucking your harp for so long... Anyway, Eve, Lilith and Pandora got the blame.
The snake in Eve's tree is the kundalini, and the fruit is the mind created when that brain of unique genetics processes thought. We all know every mind is unique. Eve's tree could be called the tree of involution, as spiritually we were still descending from the God-head. Adam's tree, the Tree of Eternal Life, could also be called the tree of Evolution, because it represents a new body; the one with which we will continue to make known the unknown by ascending this plane. Allot has happened on those upper planes since you last saw them. Adam's tree could also be called a tree of light, as it is on fire. It has twelve flames, and that is important because twelve is the all inclusive number, saying: you don't have to be a Jesus or a Dali lama to ascend, anyone can who is willing to and wanting to.
The squiggly ground between the two lover's feet represents the winding path most of us wander between carnality and spirituality. But the path was a good one after all because it leads eventually to the mountain. All paths that lead to and climb the mountain are paths of spiritual evolution.
Between the two figures are some clouds. They aren't there for the spirit to ride on, they represent the brain. If you know a bit about brain anatomy you can even pick out some of the structures. This brings us back again to choice. Do we choose to spend every minute of the day living for things that give us emotion, the carnal things - the emotion of eating, of cuddling, of having an opinion, of being a victim, or perpetrator - or do we give some of our day to prayer and meditation, to expanding our knowledge, to expanding our God powers (manifestation, invisibility, healing, psychic communication, bilocation, biolocation, remote seeing...). There is only so much life force in the kundalini, but if we are progressive and ongoing it can become that other body without ever dying. That's part of what Jesus did those three days in the tomb.
The solar angel is not an angel at all, but our own holy spirit. It will make manifest in our lives which ever sorts of experiences we give our thought to. The spirit doesn't judge us for our choice. There is allot to be said for living life lustily - you don't want to be off on planet X wishing for one more pizza, or sunrise, or sniff of perfume... Satisfy all that now and you will never have cause for regret later. But when you are sated, let that sort of thing go. Don't be like the alcoholic who keeps reaching for alcohol though it stopped bringing joy into his life long ago; let it go.
There is a tricky aspect to manifesting though because sometimes we desire something and think we are focusing on it, but the real emotion behind the desire was lack, and so lack is what you are actually manifesting. There is an axiom the wise follow:
Seek first the kingdom of Heaven, and all else will follow.
Our God isn't ignorant of the fact that health, and wealth are important enhancements to life incarnate. Our God doesn't desire we live a limited life of poverty, and illness. But these things are gifts that can tie a person even more fully to the carnal nature. Whereas, if they are withheld, they can be the carrot leading the horse (us) further down the path home, which is always what we hope for when we are planning our life. These things naturally flow into the life of a person who lives first for spiritual evolution.

Karma

Now, I don't think karmic law is supreme law. I don't think that for every life you take you must pay with your own - else we would forever be in karmic debt to the insects alone. I do think that a man who is abusive toward women (or woman who hates men) may find in their life review that they need to experience being the opposite sex to gain empathy for them. And I think it works the same way with racist prejudices. But mostly I think karma is our own need to make things right when we feel really horrible about how we have behaved.
Which brings me around to GM... the company who killed the electric car. Sometimes watching karma unfold is just... very satisfying. Unfortunately the greedy decisions of the people at the top ends up hurting everyone below them too, and how do you karmicly repay that?

The Hierophant

The Hierophant - This is the card of the teacher. Everyone and everything in our lives is a reflection of who we are, and is thus a manifestation of the Hierophant. When a person or thing stops being a reflection of who we are it is finished and must leave the circle of our reality. For instance I used to always become involved with men who were needy and wound centered, like my father. These men were psychic vampires, and I kept drawing them until I did two things. First I stepped back and saw my own need, hidden because I was used to a caretaker role and thought I was too strong for neediness (which I secretly despised). And I did it without judgment, so I could later compassionately forgive these men, and my father, and myself. And I learned to say no. Now, there are no people like this in my life. Now I can see these men might not even really have been as they were to me. It could be that this was simply the role they agreed to play in my life and/or they were only a manifestation of Spirit. It is a truth that we do not even know for certain if anyone in our life is really real, or any situation... it could all be part of the matrix.

Anyway, I myself used to really dislike this card. It was all the negative side of it I saw and I couldn't see past that. The false teachings that enslave the soul in chains of shame and guilt. Organized religion, that whore, working with world government to control 'the rabble'. But in the greatest sense the Hierophant is our spirit, our greatest teacher, our greatest lover, and it is expressing through life.

One reason this shows up in a spread is to point out a lesson is to be learned, generally before anything else will change. The lack of learning the lesson has become a major obstacle and the person is stuck in spiritual evolution. Things will only become more painful until the lesson is learned. Another reason for this card to show (and at an unconscious level of mind just seeing this card communicates its truth) that they are their own greatest teacher, and to seek balance where gurus, ministers, preachers and other such external 'guides' are concerned.

Symbolically, one look at the face of this being and we see the entity portrayed is neither male nor female. Then we look at its feet, to see what it is above, or has already learned as far as life lessons go, and we see the checkerboard of polarity. So this being is above polarized reality, the first three, human, seals/lessons/heavens. Indeed it wears the crown of the four upper heavens. Also at its feet are four brown coins, marked in quarters, set in a square pattern, on a red carpet; meaning it has risen above the carnal and earthly. We see the shoes are white, unsoiled by earthiness. There are two keys each marked with male and female symbols, that are crossed; meaning the sexual urges are finished and the soulmates are reunited in this one entity (not that soulmates have to merge, but it is an option). The two friars are interesting. One wears the rose of carnal life, and the other wears the lily which is a funerary flower. One is marked with a Y or V and the other has a Y or V implied but all that shows of it seems to be the Hebrew version of Y or V, Yod or Vav. We also see two Ys or Vs or a W on the top of the crown. Two Yods in a row designate the name of God, Adonai. Vav/Waw is the letter of man, and is sometimes the Hebrew letter assigned to this card. It is the copulative element (the 'male' energy). All this seems to say that God is present even in the lowest nature of all, the sexual; God is certainly present in Mankind; and God perhaps lives at the apex of the 7 heavens. The friars indicate that the Hierophant has mastered death and the redundancy of reincarnation. The pillars and throne are gray because gray is the color of black and white combined, and also, as with the fourth horseman, because the fourth heaven (also designated by the color blue) is within the void so that it's color is spectral, ghostly
.
Most people are aware of the three lower heavens. The lowest is the material realm, where we are now, and it is truly foreign to our true natures. The next is the earthbound realm, which can be hellish, and purgatorial. The next is quite wonderful and this we call heaven, and we stop there. But there are four more enfolded within for those who learn love, the expression of love, and the nature of God (not as it is taught in church).

The clothes worn represent bodies or minds. As we have one present on each of the heavens, and each of the heavens has a symbolic color - ruddy brown for the material plane, red for the earthbound realm(infrared), White or rainbow(visible light) for the third (these three are all polarized planes), then we have the blue realm(ultraviolet), Golden, Rose, and Beyond color(sometimes shown as white or light pink), so the Hierophant wears the colors Blue, closest to the skin, white next, and outermost is red, and reddish brown is the color of the coins at it's feet. The blue gown and the gray pillars and throne all locate this entity at the fourth level - love.

The staff is marked with the cross bars of the four upper planes, each of which has a faster time than the plane below.

On the capitols we have a stylized womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries, within which is a cute little stylized acorn/penis. Again saying that sexual polarity is ended.

The being has three fingers raised, pointing to the triple nature of God/dess; and two fingers pointing down, referring to the polarized nature of the lower realms. Thus saying divinity exists on all levels.

The Emperor

The Emperor - This card is the archetypal Father. When we remember how God was taught to us in Sunday school this card is most representative of that. He is Zeus. The ram heads on his throne, and shoulder are the give away, for Zeus was associated with the Egyptian Ammon, the ram headed god. He is Father as seen through the eyes of a child, filled with unshakable beliefs, volatile dictator of The Law. The Mother is "flow" and "ease", but He is immovable, as his throne and the mountains behind him suggest.
When he shows up in a spread father or fathering issues are being addressed. He is the enforcer of social thought, its ideals, its mores. He is the super ego, not the more realistic ego, and can be a very devilish figure to those who don't learn to temper his wisdom with a little kindness. In film he was portrayed as the tin woodsman who was prone to being rigid, and needed a heart.

Like the Empress he wears a 12 part crown (though the 2 sides and back 5 are inferred) because he is father of all living. The red and white gems refer to lunar and solar, female and male, i.e. "all living". The three part "flower" on his crown refers to the three part nature of true God ( the mother/father principle often just called the void; the child of the void whom most think is there spirit guide; and the mirror or twin of the child who we are, who is the traveler and the adventurer into creation). The yellows, oranges and reds refer to his fiery nature, as well as his carnal nature - our personal, genetic fathers. There is water in his card because just as the tin man already had a "heart", and male and female can appear separate, on a greater level they are the polarized aspects of one, and are always connected. The flow of his hair and clothing means the same thing - he seems all male but is always connected to his other self, the Empress. The globe in his hand represents both the earth, his wife, and the sun, for his energy is often too harsh and solar. The staff could be seen as stylized genitals, saying yet again his energy is masculine; or as a stylized caduceus - the circle is the cerebellum, the wings are the cerebrum, and the rod is the spinal cord, with his fingers wrapped serpentine at the base indicating again that his energy is masculine. The stone throne and bare mountains, even his armor indicate his immovable opinions and attitude.

The Empress

The Empress - This card is the archetypal Mother, with a capitol "M". She is Mater and matter. She represents all the joys and troubles you have ever had with mother figures, and mothering. She is Ninharsag who created modern man. But more she is Nature.

When reading the Major Arcana as "the Book of Life" this card is the supreme governess of Life. And she tests her children - is the duckling sound enough to break free of his shell, is the child robust enough to survive childhood disease. It is her's to oversee Life's balance; impersonal life, nature. She is also the loving mother, but when it comes to nature vs ego, the continuance of Life takes precedence over the continuance of a life. She is all that is good in life, pure waters, fruitful orchards, laughing children; but she also allows into life that which will ultimately be sacrificed for the good of the whole - fruits, crops, deformed wildebeast calves...

In mundane terms she is also the cerebellum. Here are a few examples of the unconscious processes the cerebellum oversees:
Every second we loose 10 million cells, and in the next second it makes another 10 million to replace them. Every one of the 100 trillion cells in the body goes through 100,000 chemical reactions every sec. There are 3.2 billion nucleic acids that make up the genes in one cell, and enzymes are sent up and down those chains all the time repairing mutations. It runs all the organized processes of digestion.
This is why the cerebellum is called the house of God/dess in man.

When she shows up in a spread mothering is the issue. It may be mothering one's own children, or how the querent is being mothered. It could be pregnancy or infertility(some people have so many children in one life they get to have a life free of child care). It could even be Nature herself saying you need to be more aligned with her, more respectful of her needs and powers.

The symbolism in the card reads thus - She wears the 12 starred crown of all living, which is to say: all living were born under one of the 12 signs of the zodiac, and she is queen of that. The pearls at her neck are 7 in number, which says the lessons enfolded in the seven seals are only understandable lessons if you have a body with which to interact with matter. The pearls are the wisdom gained from those lessons. The fruits (pomegranates) on her dress are stylized to look like the symbol for both female and Venus, indicating sexual reproduction. The rod and globe in her hand is a stylized brainstem and cerebellum. She reclines on red cushions that indicate the carnal nature of birth and survival in nature. Her couch is on a raised earthen mound(pregnant belly of nature) surrounded by the waters (her nurturing fluids) on one side, and grains (all of us alive) in front. The tree above her left hand also is indicative of the cerebellum as director of the body's unconscious processes.

Live Avian Flu Virus Placed in Baxter Vaccine Materials Sent to 18 Countries

Vaccines as Biological Weapons? Live Avian Flu Virus Placed in Baxter Vaccine Materials Sent to 18 Countries

(NaturalNews) There's a popular medical thriller novel in which a global pandemic is intentionally set off by an evil plot designed to reduce the human population. In the book, a nefarious drug company inserts live avian flu viruses into vaccine materials that are distributed to countries around the world to be injected into patients as "flu shots." Those patients then become carriers for these highly-virulent strains of avian flu which go on to infect the world population and cause widespread death.

There's only one problem with this story: It's not fiction. Or, at least, the part about live avian flu viruses being inserted into vaccine materials isn't fiction. It's happening right now.

Deerfield, Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Baxter International Inc. has just been caught shipping live avian flu viruses mixed with vaccine material to medical distributors in 18 countries. The "mistake" (if you can call it that, see below...) was discovered by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada. The World Health Organization was alerted and panic spread throughout the vaccine community as health experts asked the obvious question: How could this have happened?

As published on LifeGen.de (http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/showne...), serious questions like this are being raised:

"Baxter International Inc. in Austria 'unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighbouring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease'. Austria, Germany, Slowenia and the Czech Republic - these are the countries in which labs were hit with dangerous viruses. Not by bioterrorist commandos, but by Baxter. In other words: One of the major global pharmaceutical players seems to have lost control over a virus which is considered by many virologists to be one of the components leading some day to a new pandemic."

Or, put another way, Baxter is acting a whole lot like a biological terrorism organization these days, sending deadly viral samples around the world. If you mail an envelope full of anthrax to your Senator, you get arrested as a terrorist. So why is Baxter -- which mailed samples of a far more deadly viral strain to labs around the world -- getting away with saying, essentially, "Oops?"

But there's a bigger question in all this: How could this company have accidentally mixed LIVE avian flu viruses (both H5N1 and H3N2, the human form) in this vaccine material?

Was the viral contamination intentional?
The shocking answer is that this couldn't have been an accident. Why? Because Baxter International adheres to something called BSL3 (Biosafety Level 3) - a set of laboratory safety protocols that prevent the cross-contamination of materials.

"Laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic and potentially lethal agents, and are supervised by competent scientists who are experienced in working with these agents. This is considered a neutral or warm zone. All procedures involving the manipulation of infectious materials are conducted within biological safety cabinets or other physical containment devices, or by personnel wearing appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment. The laboratory has special engineering and design features."

The High Priestess

The High Priestess - This is the card which has dominion over what will and will not be allowed to manifest at a given time. Did you ever wonder why you could work and work, bitch, demand, weep and sulk, and still your God/dess did not send that one thing, that wealth, fame, soulmate... Well this it the card that addresses that.

When reading the Major Arcana as "the Book of Life" this card is Hecate, the supreme governess of the borders between the normal world and the spirit world. She knows all about the Fool's past life, and his game plan for this life, and will gift him with a new body only if he is deserving, because bodies are in hot demand.

In a spread this card may stand for the querent as the one who must ultimately decide whether or not to "step through the door" of opportunity opened by the Magus; whether to stay engaged in the comfortable known, or to engage an unknown. In mundane terms this is the cerebrum, charged with the duty of seeing to it that we survive, unfortunately survival can be a gilded cage, one that ultimately shortens life, because there is no reason for a stagnant life to go on. On another level this card may be saying that you do not deserve your soulmate (or what ever) yet. Perhaps you haven't learned to love yourself yet. If not, how can you love your other self? You are the same person. And further, sometimes we don't get what we want because it is the carrot spirit is using to drag us forward, out of tradition, out of judgemental attitudes, out of stagnation and into evolution.

The symbolism in the cards reads thus -
Her foot is on the moon because she has risen above her lesser, lunar/estrogenic nature. Hekate was a virgin Goddess. She sits at the gateway of rebirth. The pillars are paired male and female, just as people are on this material plane. The veil behind her is covered with pomegranates, and palms, the tree and fruit most symbolic of motherhood. But this goddess obstructs the way. In her hand is a scroll that says "Tora_", Torah (Hebrew: "learning" or "instruction," sometimes translated as "Law") which likely has the verdict in it as to the Fool's fate, rebirth or wait. She has the symbol of the cross roads on her chest. Her crown is a stylized brain, with frontal lobe, and the two hemispheres as wings or horns. Her clothes are blue-white to indicate her spectral nature, as well as her virginity.

The Magus

The Magus - This is the card that represents the action of making manifest a physical object. And it represents the spiritual truth "as above so below".
When reading the Major Arcana as "the Book of Life" this card is, in fact, Hermes the psychopomp. He is guiding the Fool through the process of rebirth. Most people need to be helped through the process because, either they aren't aware going back is an option, and. or they don't recall how they did it last time, having drunk the waters of forgetfullness.

In a spread the Magus may stand for the querent as a manifestor. We all are manifesting our current reality all the time. If reversed it may indicate that the querent is creating their lives unconsciously, rather with intent and purpose. It can also mean that something is very close to manifestation. It can mean pregnancy.

The symbolism in the cards reads thus -
First, he is standing amidst a garden of lilies and roses. The lilies represent the underworld goddess, the High Priestess. The roses represent the mother goddess, the Empress. The Magus works with both of them. The lily goddess of the underworld/afterworld may permit or deny the Fool be released from her realm, perhaps judging that he did not live well in his past life and so he must wait while the more deserving get their turn to be reborn. The Rose/Mother goddess may also accept or refuse the person seeking reincarnation. The table in front of the Magus is all of the physical plane, and it has on it emblems of the four elements of which everything on this realm is made(staves for fire, cups for water, sword for air, and the pentacle coin for earth). He wears the ourobouros, symbolic of reincarnation(the snake became associated with many lives because of an old sumerian pun, where the word -ti meant both life and rib) as a belt. He wears white and red as the colors of life and death. The infinity symbol over his head recalls to us the forever ongoingness of life, with or without the body. The wand he has upraised is really Hermes wand, the Caduceus, which is the central nervous system with the kundalini rising up from the base. Having it uplifted tells us his main purpose, in this card, is to renew physical life.

The Fool

The Fool - this is the card which represents any person about to embark on a new adventure. And it represents the spiritual directive - Go forth and make known the unknown.

When reading the Major Arcana as "the Book of Life" the Fool is the virginal soul seeking rebirth. Virginal not necessarily in that it has never been born before, but in that it has drunk from the waters of forgetfullness, and has no memory of past lives to hamper it in this lifetime.

In a spread The fool may indicate that a would-be child spirit is near the questioner, seeking a chance for rebirth. Or, more likely, that the querent will soon have the opportunity to embark on a new adventure in life, the opportunity is becoming manifest.

But why does this card say these things?
First, he is striding down a mountain out of the lofty heights. This means descent from an etheric place into a more material state. He is at the cliff's edge. This referrs to the unpleasant falling sensation that often accompanies a return to the body after astral travel. His yellow boots say he is immature. The white rose and undergarments say he has been cleansed of his memory of his past life, or possibly he has never been incarnate before. The rod, or stave he carries is of the element of fire and represents the kundalini, which is the life force - notice how it seems finite, but when you look closer it might go on and on; this is because, I am told, if you keep making known the unknown you don't fall into stagnation and therefore there is no reason for God to shorten your life. The dog and the sack represent two aspects of the soul; the dog represents the guide (before we are born we create a destiny for our selves, which is suposed to help us resolve our imbalances, and this destiny is carried in the soul), and the sack represents the recorder of this life's events. Like a beechcomber's bag we get to fill it up with grand memories(and likely some not so grand). His dress represents his mother's fruitful womb, rather like the caul and the afterbirth. The feather in his hat is the new brain he is comming into possession of, with his new body.

Minor Arcana

In the Minor Arcana we have 16 face cards, four representing each of the elements, in each of the four suites, which also represent the four elements. The King is Fire, the Queen is Water, the Knight is Air, and the Page is Earth.; no matter which suit they are in. These represent the four personality types: phlegmatic - water, melancholic - earth, sanguine - air, and choleric - fire; multiplied by themselves. So, if you look at the King of Cups, for instance, he is the fire of water, which is to say he is a choleric-phlegmatic personality type. If you looked at the Queen of cups, the water of water, she would be just phlegmatic. Of the sixteen, twelve represent both the signs of the zodiac, and corespond to the major Greek gods. The other four represent the cusps that fall on the quarters of the year, and also corespond to a major greek god

Choleric.......Fire/Wands...... Zeus(Sagitt), *Hera, Ares(Aries), Heracles(Leo)

Sanguine.......Air/Swords...... Apollo(Gemini), Athene(Aquarius), Hermes(Libra), *Artemis

Phlegmatic.....Water/Cups...... Neptune(Cancer), Aphrodite(Pisces), *Eros, Dionysus(scorpio)

Melancholic....Earth/Coins..... *Hades, Demeter(Taurus), Hephaestus(Capricorn), Persephone(Virgo)


*four cusps, at solstices and equinoxes -

Pisces/Aries - water of fire - Queen of Wands - VE - Hera

Gemini/Cancer - Air of Water - Knight of Cups - MS - Eros

Virgo/Libra - Earth of Air - page of swords - AE - Artemis

Sagitt/Capri - Fire of Earth - King of Coins - WE - Hades


Choleric: A person who is choleric is a doer and a leader. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. On the negative side, they are easily angered or bad-tempered. - Testosterone

Melancholic: a person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly creative – as in poetry and art - but also can become overly pre-occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. The temperament is associated with the season of fall/autumn (dry and cold) and the element earth. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. This often results in being unsatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works and always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved - Melatonin

Sanguine: A person who is sanguine is generally light-hearted, funloving, a people person, loves to entertain, spontaneous, and confident. However they can be arrogant, cocky, and indulgent. He/She can be day-dreamy and off-task to the point of not accomplishing anything and can be impulsive, possibly acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion. - Serotonin

Phlegmatic: While phlegmatics are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Like the sanguine personality, the phlegmatic has many friends. However the phlegmatic is more reliable and compassionate; these characteristics typically make the phlegmatic a more dependable friend. - Estrogen


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments#Temperament_Blends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism

“These studies are a spur...

...to the young, a delight to the old; an ornament in prosperity, a consoling refuge in adversity; they are pleasure for us at home, and no burden abroad; they stay up with us at night, they accompany us when we travel...” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Two of my all time favorite authors are Jean Shinoda-Bolen,M. D., who wrote "The Goddess in Every Woman", and Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D, who wrote "Women Who Run With Wolves". Both are Jungian analysts. After reading them, I had to read the master -Jung. He found the Tarot's Major Arcana to be a set of archetypes.

archetype –noun
1.the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
2.(in Jungian psychology) a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.

So I went searching for a set of archetypal figures that fit the cards, and I found the Titans. The first set of matches is most likely, and very tidy, But some titan's have little mythos left to read, unless you can reliable give them their summerian names, and so I made a second list with names that may seem more memorable or harmonious. And after all, an archetype by any name, is likely still the same.

22 Major Arcana -

0 - Fool - Any man or woman

1 - Magus - Epimetheus, he and his brother created beasts and man.
2 - High Prstss - Pandora, her box is both funerary and womb - speaking about rebirth

3 - Empress - Rhea, her name means ease, and flow
4 - Emperor - Zeus

5 - Heirophant - Oceanus(he is pictured as a man-fish or man-serpent and is wise like Ea
6 - Lovers - Tethys, she draws the waters up from the earth or down from the sky

7 - Chariot - Crius/aries, his name means Ram
8 - Strength - Eurybia means wide strength or force

9 - Hermit - Coeus/Polus ("the inquirer"and north Pillar)
10 - Wheel of F - Phoebe as queen of the turning heavens

11 - Justice - Themis/Libra
12 - Hanged Man - Prometheus

13 - Death - Cronus/Khronos
14 - Temperance - Uranus

15 - Devil - Iapetos ("the piercer" and west pillar)
16 - tower - Klymene("fame")

17 - Star - Aphrodite, seaborn of Uranos

18 - Moon - Theia Euryphaessa as Moon goddess
19 - Sun - Helios Hyperion ("watcher from above" or "he who goes above" east Pillar)

20 - Day of J - Mnemosyne - "memory" - keeps the waters of Memory as opposed to Lethe
21 - World - Gaia

The above are mostly in pairs, husband and wife, or mother and child.

More Memorable -

0 - Fool - Epimetheus - "after thought" He was called a fool in Olympian times, for several reasons
1 - Magus - Hermes - as psycho pomp
2 - High Prstss - Hecate or Persephone, as she who allows the dead rebirth
3 - Empress - Rhea - Mother
4 - Emperor - Zeus - Father
5 - Heirophant - Oceanus/Ea - Teacher
6 - Lovers - Pandora, Helen and Paris - Choice
7 - Chariot - Crius or Athene - Force or Power
8 - Strength - Eurybia/Leo - Tame the animal nature
9 - Hermit - Coeus ("the inquirer"and north Pillar) - The Observer
10 - Wheel of F - Fortuna - Fate, Genetics
11 - Justice - Themis - Law, Natural law
12 - Hanged Man - Prometheus or Dionysus - Midlife crisis, spiritual rebirth
13 - Death - Cronus - to heal from the past and do away with it.
14 - Temperance - Atlas or Apollo - the wisdom gained by resolving the past creates virtue/temperance
15 - Devil - Pan(panic, fear) - That fear which keeps us within the sphere of what is known, rather than evolving.
16 - tower - Menoetius or Nemesis - Death, if you can't defeat the challenge of the devil card
17 - Star - Aphrodite(Venus = morning star = sirius/Sothis) - light at the end of the tunnel
18 - Moon - Selene as Moon goddess - Heaven #2, the earth bound realm
19 - Sun - Hyperion - Heaven #3 visible light
20 - Day of J - Mnemosyne - "memory"- the light or life review. On the day that the soul is healed of its shame and guilt and anger, it is pure and may pass to higher heavens. This only happens if the person "drinks not of the waters of Lethe"
21 - World - Gaia - the four higher heavens

Thus we see that the Major Arcana, as well as describing the archetypes also tell the tale of a person from before rebirth to after death, or to the transcendence of death which happens if the person is able to defeat the challenge the Devil represents. To this second person the Tower is the alchemical reduction of all that person's remaining dogmas, judgments, prejudices... essentially all that remains of the human animal. The Star then is the birth of Christ consciousness. All of the heavens are open to them, and when the soul is reviewed it is found spotless.

The Terraces of Purgatory - Mordor and the ascent of Mount Doom

Dante's Terraces of Purgatory

First Terrace: Pride, by carrying a heavy weight on their backs. The wearer is unable to stand up straight (Cantos X through XII). This teaches the sinner that pride puts weight on the soul and it is better to throw it off. Furthermore, there are stones of historical and mythological examples of pride to learn from. With the weight on one's back, one cannot help but see this carved pavement and learn from it.

Second Terrace: Envy, by having one's eyes sewn shut, and wearing clothing that makes the soul indistinguishable from the ground (Cantos XIII through XV).

Third Terrace: Wrath, by walking around in acrid smoke (Cantos XV through XVII). Souls correct themselves by learning how wrath has blinded their vision, impeding their judgment.

Fourth Terrace: Sloth, by continually running (Cantos XVIII and XIX). Those who were slothful in life can only purge this sin by being zealous in their desire for penance.

Fifth Terrace: Avarice & Prodigality, by lying face-down on the ground, unable to move (Cantos XIX through XXI). Excessive concern for earthly goods - whether in the form of greed or extravagance - is punished and purified. The sinner learns to turn his desire from possessions, power, or position, to God.

Sixth Terrace: Gluttony, by abstaining from any food or drink (Cantos XXII through XXIV). Here, people's desire to eat a forbidden fruit causes their shade to starve. Once they master their desire to be a glutton, their appetite for sin leaves them and they are no longer starved by it.

Seventh Terrace: Lust, by burning in an immense wall of flames (Cantos XXV through XXVII). All of those who committed sexual sins, both heterosexual and homosexual, are purified by the fire. Excessive sexual desire misdirects one's love from God and this terrace is meant to correct that. In addition, perhaps because all sin has its roots in love, every soul who has completed his penance on the lower six cornices must pass through the wall of flame before ascending to the Earthly Paradise.

I think the parallels are obvious. I am not sure why Tolkien wanted this in his Master work, but there it is.

Where ever you go, there you are...

... still the center of your own universe, still a captive in the Matrix, the Ring of
Doom remains intact.

Different cultures and authors have chosen to associate the elements with different points of the compass. The earliest reference to this I have seen is in the way the tribes of Israel were directed to camp around the temple while Moses led them through the wilderness. On the east side was Judah the Lion. Ephraim was on the west was the ox or bull. Reuben was on the South was Aquarius and Dan was on the north as an eagle(a well known alternative symbol for Scorpio. From where they were geographically these associations made perfect sense.

East/LEO/FIRE - Dawn
WEST/TAURUS/EARTH - Africa
South/Aquarius/Air - Sahara, and the disease carrying winds of Set
North/Scorpio/Water - Mediterranean

Frank Baum has his imaginary world set up thus:
WEST/YELLOW/TIN/AIR/Aquarius - Winkie Country. It is distinguished by the color yellow which is worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings. This was the country ruled by the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy melted her with a bucket of water in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; since then, the Tin Woodman has ruled the Winkies as their Emperor.

EAST/BLUE/SILVER/WATER/SCORPIO - Munchkin Country. They are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue. The Wicked Witch of the East is the ruler of Munchkin Country. The young girl's house lands on top of The Witch. The Witch, who had been ruling over the Munchkins, is killed instantly with only her feet sticking out from under the house. The Witch was wearing magical shoes (made of silver in the book).

NORTH/Purple/GOLD/EARTH/Taurus - Gillikin Country is the northern division of L. Frank Baum's land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color purple worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings.
* The forest of the Winged Monkeys, creatures that obey whoever wears the enchanted Golden Cap
* The palace of the Good Witch of the North (never actually mentioned, but assumed to exist because the Good Witch of the North rules this particular province)
* The ruby palace of Gayelette

SOUTH/RED/COPPER/FIRE/LEO - Quadling Country is the southern division of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color red, worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings.
*Glinda, the Good Witch of the South
*The Cowardly Lion kills a giant spider, who is terrorizing the animals in a forest, and he agrees to return there to rule them.
In the books, Glinda is depicted as a beautiful young woman with long, rich red hair and blue eyes, wearing a pure white dress. Glinda lives in a palace near the southern border of the Quadling Country, attended by one hundred beautiful maidens (twenty-five from each country of Oz). She also employs a large army of female soldiers, with which she placed Ozma on the throne of Oz at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Men are not prominent in Glinda's society.

CENTER/GREEN/Emerald Tablet of Hermes _ The Oz books describe the Emerald City as being built of green glass, emeralds, and other jewels. The buildings were decorated with gold as well.

JKRowling seems to place them thus:
Air/West - Ravenclaw house.

Water/East - Slytherin

Fire/North - Gryffindor

Earth/South - Hufflepuff

Modern Pagan(and I am going to lump Wiccan in with the whole) practice seems divided on whether air or earth should go in the north.

Geographically it would make sense if the elemental/directional correspondences changed to reflect your place on the earth. In that view a person practicing on the east coast of the US would put water in the east(the Atlantic), fire in the south, earth in the west(the continent), and air to the north. Or if you lived far enough north to see the aurora you might even put fire in the north.

Fortunately, for me at least, we are talking about a deeper, more universal understanding. This is my case for Earth being in the north/spiritual realm -
1) The qualities that make "earth"/solid, different from the other elements are its density, and resistance to flow. The further north you go the more solid, the earth is, due to frost. The hardest form of earth is the diamond(as far as I know), and in the north we have diamond-like snow.
2) The alchemists say the highest form of matter is gold, and the highest form of gold is the philosopher's stone, which is not a stone at all, but a fine white powder - like snow.
3) While we are the God at the axis mundi of our own known, microcosm, the one who stands as axis of the world is God of the Earth, and all the world is known to him. He sees all that passes beneath and above. He is the Observer.

He may have two "wives", one representing the point of contact with the earth(the earthen mound usually being an under statement for the nearest holy mountain), and the other representing the point of contact with the heavens(the pole star or circumpolar constellation). We see this in the two forms of Arianrod's name. Arianrhod - the Welsh arian, "silver," and rhod, "wheel". Alternately, the earliest form of the name may have been Aranrot "Round Hill, or Mound".

The Wise amongst ancient people surely knew that the axis mundi was as far North (speaking only of the Northern hemisphere) as north existed on this earth - the shortest distance between the earth and the celestial pole.

Symbolically it may have been seen as the nearest holy mountain, or oracle, because at these places the unknown could be seen more clearly. But in truth it was in the distant north, behind the north wind, so to speak.

If you have ever stepped back and just watched yourself, perhaps observing your body instincts wanting to react to some stressor, then you have "become the observer". That is your spiritual place of power. In that state you can know the unknown, the occult, the hidden, heal yourself and others, remote view, all that. That is embodying your God. And where is that God found? At the North Pole. He IS the North Pole, but he is also Santa, and he has gifts of occult knowledge in his "sack". And since that God is also within, you don't even have to travel.

These things, to me, equate the element of earth with north and Spirit.

There was also an understanding I read once that explained how ancient thinkers believed the immaterial became manifest. They thought it descended through the different elements, from finest to solid. So it would travel from ether to fire, to air, then water then solid. My understanding of this is that they may have actually thought it traveled through the actual elements, or they may have been using the elements as symbolic of the actual process. In the symbolic scenario it would go something like this. There is a spark of inspiration (fire) received from the All(ether) that is then contemplated(thought/air) which produces emotions(water - the chemicals of emotion in the blood stream) and the chemicals of emotion stimulate the cells to make proteins, matter. In this scenario we literally become what we have given focus to. The next step would be that we draw to ourselves what we are, then the think contemplated on should show up in our explicit reality. Since this is how I have been taught manifestation actually works, I am sort of reconstructing what the old teaching seems to have really meant. To me this is why - fire is associated with innocence, beginnings, and the passion that comes with epiphany; air with thought and intellect; and water with emotion. Earth or solid then becomes a thing we can actually experience and gain wisdom from - making known the unknown - and wisdom is the diamond, or fruit of the earth.

Big Carnivores, a Witches pov.

Defenders of Wildlife

It is one thing to weep for the wolves of the Rockies, and the polar bears who are starving, and quite another thing to have to live with them. I'm not sure many people would be calm and cool, and merciful, if there were wolves in their forest. I am not sorry T-rex is only a bad memory, and bones in the sandstone. The only good I see in sharks is Orca food, and the only good I see in Orcas is their intelligence, and that I think some of them have human souls. Still... if Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone) could find peace with even the carnivores, then it must be something possible for us all. Perhaps there will always be animal attacks as long as there are people who are terrified by these creatures. Perhaps it is the fear that goads them to attack. I have been assured that the things we fear most are the things we draw to our selves - so that we can make them known, and thus they are not fear inspiring anymore. There are times too, when I yearn for the world to be "Bigger" again, and I am reminded of Capt. Jack Sparrow's line: "The world's still the same. There's just less in it."
Collectively all of nature equates to "Life", because it is the platform which allows life to continue on our world. Yet around the world there has arisen a hostility between mankind, and "Life". It has come to all out war. Who will win? Life will. I want to be on that side. The side of the wild stallion, the wolf, and the spotted owl. So I recycle, turn off my lights, live close to the earth (garden and goats...), and everyday in my email I get notices from my favorite activist groups - NRDC, Greenpeace, NOW, NARAL, True Majority, Save Alaska's Wolves, and Millions Against Monsanto. On line activism is easy, and the groups keep me abreast of current issues. I think my representatives may get tired of hearing from me, but that's their job. The best part though is I can see it making a difference. Have we finally reached that hundredth monkey? I hope you all have or will jump on the Train with me. It's a gasgasgas.

Mirror, Mirror...

Blogger ARIE said... Not an easy task to know oneself.

To know your self you need a mirror

I believe that everyone who comes into our life is a mirror.

I believe that if we understand them we understand our selves.

And, if we are judgmental to them, we are being so to ourselves(and our soulmates).

I believe we could not comprehend a thing, or forgive it, if we have not been it ourselves.

And that the greatest mirror on this plane is the natural world. African wildebeest show us herd mentality, each hopes to survive personally by letting the weaker element be lion fodder. No matter how much pasture there is, two bulls will fight until one is the master of it all. Lionesses are like women who settle for very little, at the expense of their children's well being. Horses who won't leave their burning barn are like people in abusive relationships who can't find the courage to leave.

The natural world can also give us a positive example of healthy mind: Eagles who mate for life, who rear their young together, who rarely re-mate if one should die, are an example to us of real love. A mother bird doesn't fall into bitterness and depression should one of her chicks die, though it is obvious that she is devoted to them. Caterpillars metamorphosize...

It isn't hard to know yourself if you know the trick to it, and approach it with humility("I am not the best person, nor the worst") and the sort of kindness you would extend to your child, or best friend.
One really enjoyable aspect to doing this - recognizing yourself in your mirrors - is that those pesky personality types who have seemed to haunt you forever, will disappear(or the behavior will), as soon as you have seen and owned the truth they represent.
One thing I have found is that most people, myself included, do those mean and nasty things they do, when they are frightened. To me that is certainly forgivable.

So what does all this have to do with the practice of magic? If you don't know yourself you can't detoxify from the shame and guilt our toxic society hands out to everyone. And the mysteries just don't reveal themselves to toxic minds. And, also, these blind spots in our self awareness are key to healing our psychic wounds, that disempower us - no witch or wizard can stand for anything disempowering. It is the opposite of who we are.

He who knows himself knows god – Clement of Alexandria

Spring Equinox

Being able to read symbols comes in handy when you are trying to discern the deeper meanings of these old pagan holy days. For instance three enduring symbols associated with Lady's Day (or what ever you prefer to call the spring equinox) are the moon hare, eggs and Wotan's cross (as seen on hot cross buns). The egg is a womb symbol and refers to resurrection. But which egg is it? It is not the cosmic egg, nor the solar egg lain by the Nile goose goddess. It is the lunar egg laid by the hare goddess. In symbolism moon = body, because the moon's seeming importance fades as the sun rises; and sun rise equates with spiritual awakening or rebirth. This all points to spring equinox as the time devoted to the resurrection of the human body, as a parallel to the resurrection of the Earth Mother, seen in the greening of spring.

We have been taught that we are all dying, and most of us are, and the reason I have been taught that this is so, is because we fall into stagnation. Our survival instincts keep us tied to the reality that we know, and we stop expanding into the world. We settle for our own known corner. For instance, we may desire the freedom of wealth very much, but if we aren't used to it, it is an unknown. That part of us responsible for our survival looks at wealth and sees an unknown, fearful thing. How will our lives change if we do manifest wealth? We don't know, and so when the opportunities come we don't act. The bugger is, if we aren't growing, experiencing the new, spirit sees no reason for our lives to continue and we age.

So, Wotan's cross, made into food gives us an answer. There are various meanings to the symbol, but the one that goes with this set of symbols is that there is a need to focus. It says draw all your attention to this one spot, and make it be a thing you want to experience that is new in your life. Now focus on it.

So, saying we try this out, how long do we focus? As long as you can is a good answer. Until you feel an exultation sweep through you, is a better answer. But someone very dedicated to manifesting, would remain in focus three days and three nights. The amount of time Inanna hung on a hook in the underworld, and the amount of time Yeshua spent in the tomb.

Death, and the tomb, and the underworld all refer to sensory deprivation, a death-like state, gained by total darkness and ear plugs. The point being to lull the upper brain into a hypnotic state so that the image of your focus is carried into the deeper places of the brain, bypassing the censoring of those survival instincts.

Disclaimer: I am not saying anyone should do this. But any of us could do this, perhaps with a second to smack you when you nod off. I've never come close, but I am aware that it is a discipline used by adepts who are more dedicated than I am.

So... Spring Equinox, the time to become like the mother, and be reborn for a new season of life.

The Goddess is Alive...

Once upon a time...

...when I was just a young woman of about nineteen, and a student, I met a woman. She was just a few years my senior and had only recently graduated from the same school I was going to. I respected her, and our teachers presented her as a model graduate. She was hard working, and climbing the ladder. I was even assigned to work under her a couple of times. But I found that the closer I got to her, the more she frightened me. I couldn't tell if her laughter was genuine or ironic, but it seemed bitter, almost hysterical at times... I was not very insightful as to human nature in those days. I tried to avoid her, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately as things turned out) we attract the things we fear. And so it was one day, when I was feeling free, and happily talking with my friends, I didn't notice this woman enter the room behind me. In a moment she began to verbally attack me, with such sure scorn and despise in her tone I was shocked. Like a deer in the headlights I just let myself be run over by her poisonous words, and they seeped into my very core. The fact that it happened in front of my peers increased my shame a hundredfold.

If I had been taught how to value myself, the strength of knowing your own self worth, her words would have rolled off, but I wasn't raised by a wise woman. My mother was barely eighteen when she had me, and she knew very little apart from her own traditional upbringing. To a large degree I went into the adult world naked and raw.

The attack of this woman stayed with me for years. When I graduated, in good standing, I sobbed bitter tears, sure of my own unworthiness. I never asked questions least I appear not to know something important. I wore a mask with everyone, and I hungered so for recognition... but any recognition I received I shrugged off, because I thought they were simply fooled by my mask, Ms perfect. I worked like a fiend to keep that perfect mask in place, terrified that someone would detect and reveal to everyone my deep unworthiness. I healed wounds, eased pain, saved lives, but couldn't see myself as I was. I couldn't own my triumphs, or forgive my lacks.

Well, from that day forward I thought of this woman as my enemy. I could look back at my life and say I don't hate anybody, even my ex-husband, but then I would think of her. I wondered how I would ever heal that wound, and time passed. I learned philosophies that led me to wisdom. I learned that those people we think of as enemies, in this illusory world, are in fact some of our greatest friends when we pass this plain and know the truth. I learned that no one incidence can scar a person so deeply as I was scarred unless it reminds us of unresolved pain from previous existences. I learned that people in our lives are mirrors to us of who we are.

One fine day I thought of Helen, and I wasn't filled with hatred, or shame anymore. It came to me that I was allot like her - a little too smart, so that my humor often confuses people who aren't in on the joke; a little too sharp when I am stressed; impatient with people who are lagging behind me intellectually, like with republicans, and the religious right. And it occurred to me that she may have been having a really bad day herself, and that perhaps she was so driven because she too was filled with toxic shame. It also came to me that what she did for me was help me solve this problem of low self worth, by being that one last straw. Perhaps I have been suffering with this for lifetimes, but now I have the keys, and either have healed it, or am healing it, and she helped me.

The key is to see self clearly, without judgment for the human weaknesses but compassion instead. Once you have recognized yourself you won't need it from others. You will know your own humanness, your beauty, your true power, and your own godliness.

One thing I have learned from this is that some people are very vulnerable, and that I don't want to be their "Helen", because I think for every one person who finds a way to heal those wounds there are likely a huge number who never do. Another thing is that we all live in a world toxic with judgmental attitudes, and that I would rather be compassionate toward human weakness, than be one who adds to the toxicity with my own intolerant condemnations.

President Obama and the Black Pope Prophecy

Here is a very enlightening insight into Nostradamus's Black Pope Prophecy

This one gives us reason to hope:
http://www.ramtha.com/newsletter/vol5/issue2/SP1.html

This doesn't offer much:
Nostradamus - 243
The great empire will be torn from limb,
The all-powerful one for more than four hundred years:
Great power given to the dark one from slaves come,
The Aryana will not be satisfied thereby.

This is supposed to mean - the US will suffer civil war, it was all powerful, and colonized 400 years earlier. Obama is the one from the slaves given great power, and the Aryan-sorts will be displeased.
~~~~~
Saint Malachy had this to say about the last black "Pope":
Petrus Romanus
(In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations; when they are over, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible or fearsome Judge will judge his people.

I can't help but wonder if "Peter" = the Rock, which is what the name means.

and if "Romanus" could also, less literally be "of the Republic". "The Rock of the Republic" seems more apt for Obama. Also, I have heard him referred to as: The Rock Obama.

Personally I think the city of Seven Hills is Rome but here is a link to a list of cities built on seven hills:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_claimed_to_be_built_on_seven_hills
~~~~~
And speaking of Caribou Barbie, I found this associated with her on a Nostradamus site:

At the war's end:
The Feeble Kept One will strike down the Night
And his Imbecile Queen will rise from the snow
Bedecked in finery and the pelt of a wolf.

I can't guess what the first part meant, but the second part seems to be Palin to a T.

The Green Man

I believe the Gods (masc), or if you prefer: "archetypes", of our pagan past, most of which still are very pertinent today, are to a witch what the nine muses are to men of various inspired arts - they are our inspiration.

Lately I feel the the presence of a power, a God, both lofty and profoundly erotic.
It is The Green Man. He has many names, some hotly contested. He is Osiris, Dumuzi, Tammuz, Adonis, Dionysus, Jesus, Viridios, the Green Knight, John Barleycorn, Sylvanus, Green George, Jack in the green, Al-Khiḍr, Llew, Robin Goodfellow, Robin Hood...

A couple of interesting bits -
"In one of his roles the ancient Egyptian God Osiris is regarded as a corn-deity and is commonly depicted with a green face representing vegetation, rebirth and resurrection. Containers of soil in the shape of Osiris planted with seed ("Osiris Beds") are found in some New Kingdom tombs . The sprouting corn implied the resurrection of the deceased."
- Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart, p119, Routledge, 2005

"There are legends of him (Al-Khiḍr) in which, like Osiris, he is dismembered and reborn; and prophecies connecting him, like the Green Man, with the end of time. His name means the Green One or Verdant One, he is the voice of inspiration to the aspirant and committed artist. He can come as a white light or the gleam on a blade of grass, but more often as an inner mood. The sign of his presence is the ability to work or experience with tireless enthusiasm beyond one's normal capacities. In this there may be a link across cultures, …one reason for the enthusiasm of the medieval sculptors for the Green Man may be that he was the source of inspiration."
- Anderson, William (1990). Green Man: The Archetype of Our Oneness with the Earth. San Francisco: Harper Collins.

The Green Man isn't just the Goddesses yearly child. Together with his sister-lover, the flower maiden, he is life, life never-ending. He may transform in Autumn, when he is sacrificed for the sake of life, to feed the people, but he is never absent, as, in all places, he is immortal in that which is evergreen.

In him we see our own immortality mirrored. We, are born in the spring of our youth, only to ripen and be harvested, and then , one fine day we come again, like the grasses and the flowers we are reborn, again and again... me, I want to be the evergreen.

I yearn for him to come
and bless my garden with his presence,
as if it were a holy place
where he might abide softly
enchanting me with his green song.
In my soul the flower maiden awakens,
and my hair takes on a golden hue,
and my finger tips are rosy.

When I tread the pathways,
of my garden;
so carefully laid out in early spring,
tendrils and dewy leaves grasp at me.
I smell the perfume of herbs,
and green life growing.
He is so close then I wonder
blushing, and glancing about,
if other's will see my desire.