Articles | Blue Lotus Grove

by Ash

Blue Lotus Grove Template

January 10, 2011 in New&Updates by Ash

Here is a Microsoft Word Template for creating documents for submission to Blue Lotus Grove such as rituals, etc.

Download the BLGtemplate 2007+

BLG Office 2003 Template

Download the Cardinal Fonts (Click to learn how to install fonts)

How to install a Microsoft Template for Window 7/Windows Vista Office 2007/ Office 2010

Creating a template in Microsoft Word isn’t terribly difficult. However, saving a template and editing it can be a bit tedious. That is, unless you know a simple trick: By default, any document saved in Word’s Templates folder works much the same as a template.

To save a document in the Templates folder, follow these steps:

1. Create a document you would like to use as a Word template

2. Click Save or use the Ctrl + S shortcut key

3. In the Save dialog box, navigate to the Templates folder. The default file path is C:Usersuser nameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftTemplates

4. Click Save.

To create documents based on this template, click the Office button and select New. Click My Templates in the left pane. In the box that opens, select your template and click Ok.

Remember that the file will function like a template. But, it is not a true template. If you move it to a different folder, the file won’t appear with your templates. Also, you can edit the template by double-clicking it in Windows Explorer or opening it with the Open command.

How to Install on Windows XP /Office 2003

Although it is generally a good idea to save any document you wish to use as a template with the .dot extension, a quick way to make a document a template is simply to save it in the Templates folder. By default, any document saved in this folder functions like a template.

1. Create a document you wish to use as a template

2. Click Save or use the Ctrl + S shortcut key

3. In the Save dialog box, navigate to the templates folder (the path is generally C:Documents and settingsuser nameApplication dataMicrosoftTemplates)

4. Click Save

To create documents based on this template, select New from the File menu. In the New Document task pane, click on General Templates… You should see your document under the General tab. Highlight it and then click OK.

You can also open the template from the Program menu in Windows. Simply click New Office Document. You will be presented with the Templates dialog box, from which you can select your document on the General tab.

One of the benefits of creating a template using the preceding steps is that you can easily make changes to the template. Opening the document from Windows or by using the Open command in Word will open it as a regular document, allowing you to make changes that will then be reflected in the template.

Tags: Blue Lotus Grove, General Templates, New Office Document, OK
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by Luminias

Energy Homework

August 26, 2009 in Teachings by Luminias

There are a number of exercises to help you open yourself and feel the energy vibrations. You should choose the ones you feel most comfortable with. To set the tone you might want to create a relaxing atmosphere for your exercises. Choose a room or place that makes you feel at ease. You might want to light up some incense and have soothing music playing in the background. Take a moment to ground and center.

Exercise One:

This exercise takes about 15 seconds but it can be a real life changer. It quickly rejuvenates and also helps in cleaning the meridian channels in the hands.

Stand straight. Remove wrist watch so that it won’t interfere.
Hold your right hand straight but relaxed, pointing down and a little forward with the palm facing inwards (down).
Press firmly with your left palm on the back of your right palm and move it fast up until the shoulder while keeping the pressure. Roll your right hand to the right 180 degrees to make your palm face outwards (forward up) and return your left palm all the way down to the fingers with the same pressure as before.
This all should take about 1 second. Roll your right hand back and repeat the previous step 6 more times for a total of 7 times.
Now perform the same exercises after you switched hands, rubbing the left with the right.

Exercise Two:

Stand straight. Spread your feet a little. Face the palms of your hands towards each other on shoulder level with your elbows pointing downwards and near or on the body. The palms should be relaxed, slightly cupped.

Now start shaking the hands fast by bringing the palms closer together and farther apart. The movements should be fast and short. Don’t bring the palms together; make short movements of the arm, like flapping little wings. Make about 150-200 such movement. The tempo can be about 8 repetitions per second, so the whole exercise will take a little more than half a minute.

These two exercises performed together one after another will quickly restore your low energy levels and wake you up, if you feel tired. They also have profound positive effect on the mental state.

homework 2

Exercise Three:

This third exercise should be performed just following the previous two. It’s also extremely short and simple:

Stand straight, feet a little apart, with your palms touching near your breast, like a Japanese bow or a traditional prayer position.
Take a breath and hold it.
While holding your breath, press your palms strongly into each other, to the degree that you arms start to shake because of the tense muscles of your hands. Hold this pressure for several seconds (3 or 4).
Exhale and release the pressure, returning to the initial position.
Perform 2-4 about 5 times.

In my opinion this third exercise helps to balance the energy from the hands into the body. At least that’s the way I feel after performing it.

Exercise Four: Sensitizing Your Hands

Once you become comfortable feeling subtle energy in your hands, you can next practice activating your hands on a daily basis. There are several ways to get your hands sensitized:

Push the palms of your hands together as firmly as possible for 60 seconds; when you pull them apart, you will feel heightened sensitivity for subtle energy fields and a tingling, energized sensation
Ball your hands up tightly into fists for ten seconds and then stretch your hands wide open so the fingers curl up and back and you feel an energized,tingling sensation;
Blow softly on the palms of your hands with your palms facing one another about an inch apart, slowly bringing the palms closer together until you feel a tingling sensation.

All of these techniques should result in your feeling a tingling sensation in the palms of your hands, which are now sensitized for using energy from your hands directly. These are excellent exercises for getting yourself familiarized with energy fields in your hands, and with the concept that you can influence your own energy field and benefit from the energy fields around you. Stronger energy fields will increase your ability to shift reality in your life.

Exercise Five: Opening the Hand Chakras

Sit comfortably and relax. Take time to go into a deep meditative state or trance. The deeper the trance and level of concentration, the better the results, especially when beginning this exercise. After an energy current within the hand chakras is open and flowing, this can be done anywhere at will.
Put your hands facing each other, fingertips almost touching and relaxed.
With the pad of your thumb, press into the palm of each of your hands, right in the hollow part.
Now, focus intensely upon your hands, especially your palms. Feel the area you pressed in with your thumb.
Keep focusing all of your concentration and begin to feel a warm glow and energy between your palms.
Begin to move your hands an inch or two apart slowly and back again to where your fingertips are almost touching. Try to feel the energy between the palms of your hands. The more you practice and the stronger your energy becomes, keep moving your hands in and out, further and further apart until you can feel your energy as far apart as two or more feet.
Now, visualize a ball of white hot fire like the sun. Later on, you can use colors. Feel the heat and energy from this ball of fire between your hands. This may feel as a tingling or throbbing. For some people, it may even feel cold. The important thing is to get this energy flowing and to feel it.
Now let your arms hang down and relax. Focus on energy flowing down your arms into your hands. This may feel tingly and your lower arms and hands may feel pumped. This is a sign the energy is flowing. Now repeat steps 5-7 above.

This exercise should be done every day for as long as it takes to really open your hand chakras and establish a permanent flow of energy. With the proper practice, you should be able to feel powerful energy between your hands when your hands are more than a foot apart.

Exercise Six: Using the Energy Ball for Healing

Move your hands back and forth as though clapping in slow motion until you have a sense of your aura. Then feel or envision or imagine the energy forming a ball of healing light. Pumping or scooping motions help draw in more energy.

When you feel or imagine a nice big ball of energy between your hands take the energy ball to your recipient and lower, push, or put it into their body. You can either put it in and smooth it down or make another ball and keep smoothing it until you feel done. Take the ball and envision it as a collector to gather and sweep the illness or imbalance away and disperse it to the Earth to be transformed.

When you are finished, envision the one being treated bathed in healing light. White is the most common but I like rainbow and golden light myself. Envision healing energy flowing from your hands and going to where it is needed. You can imagine and visualize your energy fingers growing longer so that you can reach into a body to remove energetic gunk stuck within the energy body. (Before you pull out the gunk, ask permission from the patient)

Chakra Balancing Meditation

The purpose of the chakra balancing meditation is to open and clear the chakras. It will align higher frequency energies and also purify/release any stored negative energy from your body/aura.

The Chakra Balancing Meditation:

• Sit comfortably on a chair with your hands on your legs (I have found with the palms facing upwards more beneficial)

• Whilst sitting close your eyes and concentrate on your breath, nice deep slow breathing

• Put you attention on the base Root chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright RED ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the base chakra – breathe in red – breathe out red. Repeat for 2 – 3 minutes.

NOTE: Ensure you see the red ball’s energy is spinning at the Root chakra and also flowing down through your legs into Mother Earth like a tree spouting its roots and connecting with the center of the earth (This is grounding you.)

• Put you attention on the next Sacral chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright ORANGE ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Sacral chakra – breathe in yellow – breathe out orange. Repeat for 2-3 minutes.

• Put you attention on the next Solar Plexus chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright YELLOW ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Solar plexis chakra – breathe in yellow – breathe out yellow. Repeat for 2- 3 minutes

• Put you attention on the next Heart chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright GREEN ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Heart chakra – breathe in green – breathe out green. Repeat for 2-3 minutes

• Put you attention on the next Throat chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright BLUE ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Throat chakra – breathe in blue – breathe out blue. Repeat for 2-3 minutes.

NOTE: Ensure you see the blue ball’s energy is spinning at the Throat charka and also flowing down through your each of your arms and out though your hands meeting five feet in front connecting both blue energies together; flowing. Remember “what you ask for you will get” well this is turning what you say more easily into physical manifestation.

• Put you attention on the next Brow chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright INDIGO ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Brow chakra – breathe in indigo – breathe out indigo. Repeat for 2- 3 minutes.

NOTE: Ensure you see the Indigo ball’s energy is spinning at the Brow chakra and also envisage you sitting in a chair in an Indigo room in your minds eye, looking out of a Window to the stars (i.e. looking out of your Third eye)

• Put you attention on the next Crown chakra – visualize the chakra as a bright VIOLET ball spinning clockwise – as you focus on the Crown chakra – breathe in violet – breathe out violet. Repeat for 2-3 minutes.

NOTE: Ensure you see the violet ball’s energy is spinning at the Crown chakra and also envisage the opening of a Violet lotus flower on the top of your Crown — make this as large and as magnificent as you can.

• Finally See White light flowing down from the All through your Crown chakra all the way through the other chakras and finally into Mother earth. You should envisage yourself as a glowing white being with all the Chakras spinning brightly (for their chosen color). Hold this for about for 2-3 minutes.

You should feel exhilarated!

Tags: Chakra Balancing Meditation, Exercise Five Opening Hand Chakras, Exercise Four Sensitizing Hands, NOTE
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by Luminias

Working with Energy

August 26, 2009 in Featured, Teachings by Luminias

energy etheric body 2 Physics and Metaphysics are intertwined – as are all things in our reality. The more I study metaphysics – the more I am drawn in the nature of energy, motion, time, space, etc. They are fascinating!

For all of us whether we are scientists, healers or ordinary human beings, life is essentially an energy experience. None of us are focused in purely material reality. Although we must all eat food, drink water and breathe air to survive we actually spend most of our time in the non-physical worlds of feelings and thoughts, with occasional glimpses of a deeper world within and beyond. We are continually moved, swayed and transformed by energies which though physically immaterial, mold our actions and determine our behavior and experience.

energy from the center All forms of consciousness appear to have a center from which energy radiates, creating an energy field which surrounds them. This energy field is characterized by the quality of energy of the witch and it is within this energy field that a physical form manifests itself and appears for us all to see.

As human beings we are soul sparks of creational energy expressing ourselves in a form of consciousness which is variously described in religious literature as the Soul, Psyche, or Being.

We as witches use this soul spark energy to manifest and create our dreams, wishes, hopes and desires. Our very nature, energy, fuels and sends forth all that we do desire. How does this happen? There are several ways we may accomplish this as witches, singing, chanting, holding hands and passing energy thus creating a vortex and cone of power to emanate and join with the ever present energy all around us on a basic mundane level. Part of our responsibility as witches is to acknowledge and try to understand this ever present energy and then to use it respectfully and responsibly to aid in the needs and wishes of friends, family and loved ones, for the improvement of all.

Energy Bodies

The five-layer Energy Body system is a way of describing the human energy field. The physical body is counted as an energy body since all matter is ultimately made up of energy. Also of importance is the fact that the higher subtle energy bodies overlap and interpenetrate the complete physical body. In much the same way as many different TV signals exist around us in the same space simultaneously and can be individually identified by a specific frequency, the overlapping subtle energy bodies (which are also defined by different frequencies) also penetrate into the same space as our physical body. So when a witch using energy, places his or her hand on someone, the energies are sent not only to the physical body, but also to each higher energetic body. Thus, with the proper frequencies channeled through a witch, energy transfer or movement will occur on not only the physical level, but also on the Etheric, emotional, mental and spiritual levels of the witch and all touching within the circle.

The Physical Energy Body

At first, it may seem unusual to consider that the physical body is an energy body, but that is exactly what it appears to be. And as we explore and become more accustomed to this new paradigm, we are able not only to see the physical body in a greater, more meaningful context, but also we begin to understand the role of disease and the nature of healing. The physical body is the densest form of energy that our consciousness uses to explore its environment and interact with others. By the densest form, it is meant that the vibrational patterns of the physical body are of a frequency low enough to be seen by our eyes (they are within the spectrum of visible light), heard by our ears (about 30 to 15,000 Hertz), and experienced with the senses of touch, taste and smell which are within the “frequency capability” of our physical body.
energybody But there are many octaves, frequencies, and vibrations beyond the capability of our physical senses. Beyond what we can see as visible light are the higher frequencies of ultraviolet, x-ray, and cosmic radiation. We are beginning to understand that what we can physically sense is only a small portion of the vibrational energies around us. And if we look within our physical bodies at our atoms, molecules and cells, again we find patterns of vibrating energy that we have traditionally called “matter”.

We need to become aware that our physical body is really a field of vibrating energy that has coalesced from higher less dense octaves. But we also need to remember that as vibrating fields interact with each other, one field can affect another field through the phenomenon of sympathetic vibration. If a violin player produces a note an octave above Middle C, and a second violin lying nearby on a table has a string which is tuned to Middle C, the second violin string tuned to Middle C will sympathetically begin to vibrate as well. So as we also begin to understand that there are several vibrational fields of energy around our physical body, it becomes easier to understand how one field affects another through this principle. And this is the key to understanding how energy-based healing techniques can achieve such visible and profound results in the physical body.

The Etheric Energy Body

energy etheric body 1 The etheric body is the first energy body in frequency above the physical body. It exists within the physical body, and extends outward about an inch outside the skin of the physical body. Its purpose is to form an energy template or matrix for the development, maintenance and repair of the physical body. The etheric body contains a vibrational energy counterpart for each organ, blood vessel and bone found in the physical body. Indeed, the etheric body contains the energetic blueprint for the pathways that guide the location and development of every cell of the physical body. Our physical bodies exist only because of the vital (etheric) field behind them. This etheric field exists prior to, not a result of, the physical body.

Since the etheric body is the physical body’s blueprint, the two are very closely related. The energetic vibrations of the etheric body determine the pattern for not only the physical tissues and organs, but also the state of health of those tissues and organs. If the vibrations are not clear and pure, this disharmony will be reflected in the physical body as disharmonious function — what we call “disease”.

Conversely, traumas to the physical body (e.g., broken bones, burns, incisions and scars) will in time be reflected into the etheric body unless there is some interceding process that either prevents this reflection into the etheric body or which restores the original vibrational pattern which existed prior to the trauma. The ability to work with a client’s vibrating energy fields is precisely what forms the basis for rapid and effective energy-based physical healings.

An illness can appear in the energy field weeks and even months before it appears in the physical body. In his book, Vibrational Medicine, Dr. Richard Gerber, a Detroit physician, notes that “The etheric body is a holographic energy template that guides the growth and development of the physical body.”

The following description of the etheric and higher subtle energy bodies surrounding the physical body are taken from Barbara Brennan’s book, Hands of Light. To her, the etheric body appears as a grid of tiny energy lines which has the overall structure and shape of the physical body. This matrix extends from 1/4″ to 2 inches beyond the physical body. It is upon this etheric grid or matrix that the cells and tissues of the body develop and are anchored. The etheric body appears as a light blue or gray matrix of lines of light that constantly pulsate or scintillate at a rate of from 15-20 cycles per minute.

The Emotional Energy Body

The emotional body contains the emotional patterns, feelings, and vibrations that determine our personality, and also how we feel about ourselves and interact with others. If we are constantly angry, always feel helpless, or are consistently fearful, these patterns or vibrations get locked in our emotional energy field and become a part of our personality. This determines to a very large degree how we interact with others on personal, social, and cultural levels.

The emotional body generally follows the shape of the physical and etheric bodies, but is somewhat more amorphous and fluid, and extends from one to three inches outside the physical body. It contains energy “blobs” of all colors of the rainbow, depending on the specific feeling or emotion. Highly charged feelings such as love, hate, joy, and anger are associated with energy blobs that are bright and clear, while confused feelings are darker and muddier.

The Mental Energy Body

The mental body contains the structure and patterns of all the thoughts and belief systems that we consider as true. And there is a very strong connection between the mental and emotional bodies. Although a thought or idea can in itself be very powerful, our reactions to those thoughts carry even more energy, and different people will react differently to the same thought.

For example, consider the thought form “If you are not a Catholic (or Protestant, or Muslim, or Jew, or whatever), you can not go to Heaven.” One person might hear that thought or idea, think it was silly, and give it absolutely no energy. But another person might become very passionate, depending on his or her belief systems, and argue strongly either for or against that statement. His emotional body would then record the reaction to the thought stored in the mental body. However, the person who thought the statement was silly in the first place would not have any resonance with it, and no energetic pattern would be stored in either the mental or emotional bodies.

The mental body usually appears as yellow light radiating around the entire body from head to toe, and extends from three to eight inches beyond the physical body. Within this area, individual thought forms appear as small blobs of light of varying form and intensity.

The Spiritual Energy Body

The spiritual body (i.e., all vibrational patterns in octaves higher than the mental body) contains all the information related to our experiences, and reflects our gestalt consciousness of all that has been learned and experienced. It contains our higher intentions, our sense of what is right and wrong, and our desires to increase our awareness of our purpose, place and mission for this lifetime.

These five energy bodies make up one’s Human Energy Field, or aura. Its outer shape appears roughly egg-shaped and extends out to perhaps 1½ to two feet beyond the physical body; however, this shape can be extended even further out or contracted closer to the physical body depending on the situation the person is experiencing. For example, when a person is feeling emotions of unconditional love, the aura may expand to several feet and radiate bright hues of gold or white. But if the same person is feeling threatened physically or emotionally, the entire aura may collapse to a much denser pattern within only a few inches of the body.

Opening Yourself To Energy While Holding Hands

energy hands holding 2 When holding hands, some people might feel their fingers tingle, pulsate or grow warmer or colder. Some will feel strong emotions or suppressed memories might come to the surface. Some feel incredibly happy, relaxed or elated. Everyone is unique and everyone will feel the energy differently. The more you practice moving energy while holding hands, the more you will recognize how to interpret the energy as it flows through you.

For those of us hearing about the energy transfer and wondering what that energy is, there’s a simple exercise that can give a feeling. Many witches use their hands as energy channels to pass it to their fellow grove members and thus help their mind and body to “charge up” and fuel a working. This is a very simplistic description.

energy hands holding 1 While holding your palms facing each other, take a slow deep breath (abdominal breathing) and imagine energy beams entering your body and filling you, gathering inside your abdomen. Exhale slowly, and while doing this imagine the energy flowing from the abdomen through your chest, through your shoulders, arms and radiating from both palms into the space between them. Increase the energy flow with each breath.

This visualization can greatly increase the flow of energy between your palms and you’ll feel it stronger. Usually, my palms start to “repel” each other, pushing farther apart with each exhalation, like the magnets in my palms become stronger. Don’t give up if you don’t experience this from the first attempt. Just perform it another time, when you’re less tired and more relaxed.

energy science In the past 30 years the Foundation of science, The Foundation of Life and H. Coetzee, Ph.D. along with Dr. Ingo Swann presented a thesis to the United Nations proving the validity of bio-electromagnetism and has given a scientific basis to spiritual energy transfer as a form of bio-energy manifestation or usage. It really can work! Each of us has the innate capacity, through the use of simple ancient breathing techniques, to generate a powerful healing resonance, or energy vibration, from the hands. When applied magically this resonance catalyzes the magickal process in workings and in circle. It also brings about high energy, then inevitably deep relaxation and a feeling of well being.

An Ancient Breathing Meditation

energy Kwan yin 6 Energy from the hand has an ancient history on this planet. It is part of the ancient belief system associated with yoga. These traditions were handed down orally for thousands of years before being codified by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, several centuries before Christ. It has been used for thousands of years by tribal people on every continent, and has been a part of every religious tradition. In main-stream western society, hand energy has been treated either as a myth or as a mysterious talent given only to a special few. However, there is a simple method which turns on hand energy in nearly everyone who tries it — the Chakra Balancing Meditation*.

The earliest known mention of the meditation is found in the Upanishads, including specifically the Brahma Upanishad and the Yogatattva Upanishad. These vedic models were adapted in Tibetan Buddhism and eventually found their way to the Western World.

The Chakra Balancing Meditation* is a breathing rhythm which influences the body’s electromagnetic field in measurable ways using Kirlian Photography and computerized spectrum-analysis of brain waves EEG, electroencephalography. While breathing in this rhythm, the energy flowing through the hands has greatly amplified its qualities. Passing the chakra energy, it is possible to stimulate, focus and exchange a powerful flow of magickal energy.

*Note: The meditation is in another lesson.

Determining Your Dominant (Power) Hand

energy dominate hand 1 What is a dominate hand? Do you have one? What good is it? These are valid questions you may have. The dominate hand is defined as: the hand you use to send out and direct energy. In witchcraft, we consider the concept of two hands, the receiving hand which will sense energy, sometimes referenced as the hand that can receive, and then we have our hand that projects energy, called the projecting, sending or dominate hand. Our hands are like the poles of a battery. For example: we use the dominate hand when we are creating a circle. We hold the athame or wand, in our dominate hand, sending energy through the athame as we cast the circle. Like wise our receiving hand is held straight behind us to absorb and receive Earth energy.

When we are holding hands, or working magic in a circle, the thought of projecting with the dominate hand becomes slightly anomalous. We actually are receiving energy with our dominate hand, using the force of the dominate hand and its energy to push the energy through us, absorbing what we need, adding to it and out through our other hand giving it to the next person to accomplish the task we have set. So, which hand is your dominate hand?

To determine your dominant or power hand, hold your hands at a comfortable distance away from you with the palms facing you. Look at your left hand and concentrate on the palm. Imagine energy flowing from the universe down into your crown chakra and flowing into your left hand. Feel the energy in your left palm. Now turn to your right palm and do the same thing. Whichever hand feels stronger, it might tingle, be hotter or colder than the other, this is your power hand. If you don’t feel anything when you first attempt this exercise keep trying and you will eventually start feeling the energy.

Some methods to feel energy in your hands

Place your hands together and visualize energy entering your crown chakra.
Feel the energy radiate through your whole being.
Rub your hands together until your palms feel warm then relax your wrists and shake your hands.
Put your hands together, then open them about six inches apart. Feel the energy emanating from your palms.
As you feel the energy, explore it. Feel the different sensations as you move your hands up and down, side to side and around in circles. Can you feel the lines of energy connected to each palm?
Separate your hands further and again move them up and down, side to side still feeling the energy between them.
Now cup your hands together and create a circle of energy within them. Place this energy into your heart and imagine it expanding and filling your entire body.

Grounding and Centering

energy groung and centering To be effective at energy work it is of great value to know how to ground and center yourself connecting with the spiritual heart of the earth or the All and calling yourself together, aligning your thoughts and personal entirety in a solid focused state. This is a frequent basic practice in virtually all forms of spiritual work, healing, meditation, manifestation, protection, or releasing and is of itself often profoundly healing. Everyone must learn to ground in the way they feel most comfortable with.

Using Hand Energy to Heal the Body

The body has the capacity to heal itself. On the first day of medical school, this fact is taught. Whether you give medicines, perform surgery, or use any kind of medical therapy, you only support the body to heal itself. The same is true with bio-energy therapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs, or any other holistic modality.

The ability for self-healing is an inherent part of all life. The body is constantly renewing itself, getting rid of old and diseased tissues. We are not aware that this is always happening, because the body rids itself of disease so fast it appears we are remaining healthy. On the occasions when the ongoing self-healing process doesn’t work, then it becomes necessary to get help from the outside. Traditionally, throughout the past five thousand years, our species has used foods and herbs for healing. We have also used the healing powers of touch. If you practice what is taught here, your touch will be a transmission of bio-energy, a form of bio-energy therapy. The bio-energy which flows from your hands will melt pain, evaporate stress, and catalyze the healing process. You and many people will be simply amazed!

Our cultural collective conscious mind set has believed for almost two hundred years that such energy has been scientifically proven not to exist. This idea is practically institutionalized! Our collective unconsciousness (the deep knowing) believes and knows that hands-on healing / bio-energy therapy works. This cultural belief operates from the same brain centers as religious beliefs (and scientific “heretics” are sometimes subjected to the same treatment as religious heretics have been).

energy eletro However, new evidence shows that the body is indeed highly electromagnetic, full of all kinds of energy patterns and configurations of great significance (even though they may be small in size). This evidence has not yet become sufficiently well known to break the cultural taboo against healing. But, you’re becoming aware of this revolution in the new bio-electromagnetic paradigm in biology, and your practicing chakra balancing, will hasten the breaking of this mind set.

Another reason some are afraid to pass energy is this: When you release energy through your hands, touching another person, it is a form of intimacy. We are often afraid of showing this kind of intimacy, either for fear of stimulating repressed sexual feelings or for fear of rejection (or from whatever form the fear conjures). Indeed, our failure to be intimate may feed the roots of many of our physical and emotional problems. So, my advice is: don’t be afraid to share what are beautiful moments of innocent closeness, of psychic intimacy. It will be healing for you, for the other, and for the Grove’s health.

Breaking taboos, by the way, isn’t easy. If the witch believes in the taboo too strongly, even successful energy transfer outcomes can be ignored or dismissed by the person who has just received it. A strong belief in the negative mind set can even block the transfer. This is why we send energy healing to the person’s Higher Self to bypass any resistance/taboos the conscious mind may have as to its effectiveness.

Energy Balls

The energy ball is a very common and basic core technique for becoming aware of and directing energy. Personal energy can be felt and universal energy can be used as a way of delivering other frequencies of energy. Begin by holding your hands a foot or so apart, bringing them slowly toward each other, until you feel a slight resistance between them. It will feel as though a mass of energy has built up between your hands. Feel all around this energy with your hands, feeling the shape of the packet of energy you have gathered. Fashion it into a ball shape. For some this ball will begin by being cup-sized, for others it will be a big beach ball. This may take some practice to feel. Some people do not sense energy this way at all. Sometimes people don’t feel their own energy ball, but they would feel other people’s because the frequency is slightly different.

A technique for rapid healing from injuries, called reframing, that often is effective is to go back in your mind to the moment of the accident and visualize as clearly and nearly as possible the exact event except change a detail /details so that the accident, injury, or trauma, does not happen. You are not in any way hurt, repeat the visualization over and over make it as real as possible, if it is practical to act out the event as closely as possible in the physical world – as almost slamming the door on your hand that can make this even more effective. If you are in pain and the pain is reduced then it’s ok to drop the visualization but keep reinforcing this vision. I have used this on cut fingers and on my chronic knee pain with good results for speeding healing. Theoretically this is more effective if done soon after an injury but I have used it on injuries and traumatic experiences from years back with good results.

Experiment:

Take an energy ball that you have made, and press the ball into your heart chakra. Press it into your third eye. Press it against your skin, and see what you feel.

Some energy balls are first visualized outside the body then filled with energy. They can be observed to “see” events or information or be used to send an affirmation or to fill with manifestation visualization, such as charging candles. They can be sent out to retrieve lost or needed energy, such as tapping into the Grove Crystal or they can be filled with your anger fears or with pain etc. Then charged with light /energy to dissolve and transform that “negative” energy.

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Tags: Ancient Breathing Meditation, Brahma Upanishad Yogatattva Upanishad, Chakra Balancing Meditation, Energy Body
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by Luminias

Mead Making

August 19, 2009 in Featured, Teachings by Luminias

The History and Tradition of Mead

Mead is a honey-based fermented beverage that has been produced and enjoyed since before the dawn of recorded history. Because of its antiquity, mead has acquired an almost magical reputation in our mythologies. For example, the term “honeymoon” is intertwined with the custom of drinking honey-based mead for a month (moon) after the wedding; this practice was said to ensure baby boys. Mead making was once the province of a select, trained guild. Now, it is open to all who have the patience and skill. You are continuing this long and honored tradition. Welcome aboard and enjoy.

mead and horn Mead is an important part of the Asatru religion and has a place in both of the major Norse rituals: the blot and the sumble. The sumble is a drinking ritual where stories, oaths, and poetry are shared and mead’s function here is obvious.

In this day and age mead is even more important to the blot or sacrifice ritual. The blot is actually quite simple. A God or Goddess is called upon and a sacrifice is poured in their honor. In ancient times this was most often an animal sacrifice and blood was poured out onto the ground or altar. Today an alcoholic beverage of some kind is the usual sacrifice. This is not only an adjustment to modern feelings about animal sacrifice, but is appropriate from an esoteric point of view as well. In ancient times the Norsemen were primarily farmers and an animal would have been a product that they had raised. Also, sacrifices were not a wasting of the animal, merely given to the Gods and left to rot, but were usually feasts where the Gods got their portion and the humans their own. Today mead making has been a frenzied activity among Norse Pagans, and it is most appropriate that something be sacrificed to the Gods which has been made by your own hands in a sacred manner. Mead fits the bill. It has the immediate links to our farming ancestors, but it can be easily made from household items in even a small apartment.

celtic_odin Finally, we have a few myths involving mead directly. Mead was known as Kvasir’s blood and it’s primary association was with wisdom. Kvasir was a being who was the wisest in all the universe, but he was killed and a mead created out of his blood that when drank brought the drinker wisdom. Aegir, a God of the Sea, was held to be the patron of brewing and the finest of mead and ale for the Gods to drink in Valhalla. Odin is said to never eat, but to exist purely on mead, just as the Greek Gods had their nectar.

vine_bacchus The association with mead is not as prevalent in the Greek and Roman myths, but certainly exists. Bacchus is the quintessential god of vine and vegetation, so he is usually associated with wine. I have added him because of his association with brewing. Whether you see him as Bacchus, Dionysus, the Green Man, or some other vegetative god, the god of the vine is a key archetype in harvest celebrations.

vine_dionysus6 The Greek Dionysus was representative of the grapes in the vineyards, and of course the wine that they created. As such, he gained a bit of a reputation as a party-hardy kind of god, and his followers were typically seen as a debauched and drunken lot. However, before he was a party god, Dionysus was originally a god of trees and the forest. He was often portrayed with leaves growing out of his face, similar to later depictions of the Green Man. Farmers offered prayers to Dionysus to make their orchards grow, and he is often credited with the invention of the plow.

vine_bacchanalia In Roman legend, Bacchus stepped in for Dionysus, and earned the title of party god. In fact, a drunken orgy is still called a bacchanalia, and for good reason. Devotees of Bacchus whipped themselves into frenzy of intoxication, and in the spring Roman women attended secret ceremonies in his name. Bacchus was associated with fertility, wine and grapes, as well as sexual free-for-alls. Although Bacchus is often linked with Beltane and the greening of spring, because of his connection to wine and grapes he is also a deity of the harvest.

vine_cernunnos In medieval times, the image of the Green Man appeared. He is typically a male face peering out from the leaves, surrounded by ivy or grapes. Tales of the Green Man have overlapped through time, so that in his many aspects he is also vine_puck Puck of the midsummer forest, Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, the Oak King, John Barleycorn, Jack in the Green, and even Robin Hood. The spirit of the Green Man is everywhere in nature at the time of the harvest — as leaves fall down around you outside, imagine the Green Man laughing at you from his hiding place within the woods!

vine_green_man-full Even if it were not for any mythological importance, mead is of interest to the modern brewer because it is easy to produce and delicious. One merely introduces a yeast to the sugary liquid, and the yeast converts the natural sugars into alcohol. After all the sugar is converted, the yeast dies off and the wine can be bottled. However, this is not always as easy as it sounds.

The Types of Mead

Mead is classified not by the kind of honey from which it is made, but by what else may be added to it for flavoring:

“Traditional” mead is made with only honey, water, and yeast, plus perhaps a small amount of acid (to balance the sweetness).
“Metheglin” is mead made with added herbs or spices, such as cloves or cinnamon. (The word is an English transliteration of the Welsh word “meddyglyn”, meaning “medicine”. Historically, medicinal herbs were infused into a sweet mead to make them more palatable.)
“Melomel” is mead made with the addition of fruit or fruit juice to traditional mead. Melomel may also contain spices, as Metheglin does.
“Cyser” is a particular Melomel made with apples or apple juice.
“Pyment” may have two interpretations: a Melomel made with grapes or grape juice, or a wine sweetened with honey.
“Hippocras” is a spiced Pyment.
“Sack” is a name (or an adjective) for stronger meads made with more honey than usual, and therefore more likely to be somewhat sweet.

There are various other seldom-heard terms: “hydromel” (weak, literally “watered” mead), “rhodomel” (mead with rose petals), “omphacomel” (left as exercise to the interested student), and so on.

Depending on the initial amount of honey, and how attenuative (effective at fermenting sugars) the yeast is, the final mead may vary from quite dry and austere like some white wines, to very sweet.

Depending on the bottling process, the mead may be “sparkling” (carbonated) or “still” (no bubbles).

What Kinds of Honey?

There are many kinds of honey, based on which flowers the bees collected the nectar from. Bees aren’t loyal to any particular flower, so any characterization of honey as being from a particular source (for example, “blackberry honey”) can vary from absolutely true to a rough generality, depending on what flowers the bees can find and how interesting they find them. Honeys range in taste and color from the light clover through alfalfa to stronger tasting (and darker) such as buckwheat. There are many unusual honeys to be found where there are unusual local flowers. Which honey you will use depends both on which you like the taste of, and what type of mead you are trying to make. Stronger flavors go well in metheglins and heavier or sweet meads, while the milder honeys make a good base for melomels or dry traditional meads. Realize that a honey with an interesting-but-unusual taste can produce an overpowering character in mead.

You can buy honey in bulk from roadside stands or health food stores. You may be lucky enough to live near an apiary and be able to buy right from the beekeeper. Look in the phone book for honey, health food, or beekeepers. Sometimes, exterminators will remove hives, give the bees to beekeepers, and sell the honey. University agriculture departments occasionally sell honey. Be inventive. If all else fails, you may have to buy it from the grocery store.

vine_raw honey The honey will be either raw or processed in some way. Raw honey has bits of wax, bee parts, dust, pollen, microorganisms, and the like in it. You have the most control in how you process raw honey, but you also have the most to do. Honey may be filtered, or blended, or even heat-pasteurized to make it clearer and less likely to crystallize. The more processed it is, the milder it is likely to be and the less character it will give to your mead. The processing also dissipates some of the honey’s aroma. Commercial, “grocery store” honey, crystal-clear and pale, is the most processed and is usually not a good choice for mead making.

Crystallized honey is normally acceptable for mead. In fact, it has two points in its favor: First, it generally indicates less processing, since one of the reasons for processing honey is to keep it from crystallizing. Second, it may be cheaper because it’s less appealing to the average consumer. (One point against crystallized honey is that if the sugar is drawn out into large crystals, the liquid surrounding them can be low enough in sugar content to allow some fermentation from wild yeast.) To re-liquefy crystallized honey so you can pour it, just heat it gently.

How Much Honey to Use

When you decide to start making your own recipes, you may be wondering how sweet the drink will be. This depends on the amount of honey and the type of yeast used.

For the purposes of the following chart, wine yeast can be considered equal to dry mead yeast. Ale yeast can be considered equal to sweet mead yeast.

This chart assumes a 5 gallon batch. For example: if you used 6 lbs. of honey/gallon (6 lbs. X 5 gallon batch=30 lbs. honey) and used a dry mead yeast, you would end up with a medium sweet mead (one with lots of alcohol, by the way). If you used a sweet mead yeast with this amount of honey you would end up with a very sweet mead.
Note: when a recipe says to use 5-6 lbs. of honey per gallon, that means 5-6 lbs. honey and enough water to make a gallon. Not 5-6 lbs. honey and a gallon of water.

Note: this chart does not take into account the sugars derived from any fruit or malted barley added to the mead. This chart is for straight meads only.

Yeasts

Mead is more a wine than beer, with a final alcohol level anywhere between 10 and 18 percent. Wine yeasts, which have a higher alcohol tolerance, may ferment slower at first (although some are remarkably fast) but will ferment more completely than ale or lager yeast. They are also less likely to produce “off” tastes which take a long time to age out after the mead is finished.

A partial list of some popular yeasts:

Champagne: Ferments out very dry and has a high alcohol tolerance Epernay,
Flor Sherry: Has a high alcohol tolerance and contributes a flavor that goes better with sack meads
Steinberg:
Prise De Mousse: Particularly neutral, fast-fermenting, and attenuate (leaves little residual sweetness).
Tokay:
Red Star (this is the one I use. Mainly the green one) Great flavor, high alcohol.

vine_redstar_blue vine_redstar yeast_green This list is by no means exhaustive. Yeast will impart its own unique characteristic to the mead. Some yeasts (such as Montrachet wine yeast) can produce noticeable levels of phenols (the throat-burning part of cough medicine), which age out eventually in bottle conditioning but are an unnecessary complication since there are yeasts that don’t produce them.

Yeast Nutrient

Honey by itself is low in some of the nutrients that yeast need to reproduce and quickly ferment out the mead must. Fermentation times can be measured in months as the yeast slowly trickles along. This is a disadvantage because as long as the fermenting mead remains sweet and low in alcohol, it is inviting to contaminating bacteria and lacks a good layer of carbon dioxide (CO2) to protect against oxidation. Mead makers can add a nutrient to help the yeast, and normally should do so if the only fermentable ingredient is honey. Fruit, particularly grapes, will contribute needed ingredients; thus melomels have lesser or no requirement for nutrients. Nutrients are normally added when the must is prepared.

vine_Yeast_Energizer_1.5oz_89x160 There are several kinds of nutrients. Most winemaking shops will sell various salts designed for grape musts. While this is helpful for mead, too much can leave an astringent metallic flavor that will take months or years in the bottle to age out. Yeast extract, pulverized yeast, is also available. Dead yeast are exploded ultrasonically or in a centrifuge, and sold as a powder. Yeast extract will not leave the same metallic flavors as nutrients, but may be more difficult to find. It is not possible to make your own yeast extract at home.

Adding Acid

Acid may be added to the “must” (the honey water mixture you’re going to ferment) both to adjust the pH and to balance the sweet flavor of the honey. Yeast prefer an acidic environment. Many other micro-organisms don’t. The acid you add protects the must until the alcohol level creates a hostile environment for the competition.

Acid can be added in many forms. Winemaking suppliers sell acid blends, powder or liquid. Acid is measured in “as tartaric”, or how acidic the must is compared to pure tartaric acid. For example, if the must is 0.5 percent acid as tartaric, it is as acidic as if 0.5 percent of the must were pure tartaric acid. Inexpensive test kits will let you measure the acidity so that you can adjust it. Acid blends are a combination of tartaric, citric, and malic acids. You may be able to get the individual acids used in blends. Each contributes a slightly different taste in addition to acidity. The natural acid in fruits and berries will also acidify the must, for which reason melomels often need no additional acid.

Recipes

Basic Fruit Mead (Melomel)

10 lbs honey

15 lbs Berries (I used thawed frozen)

Yeast nutrient to instructions on package

1 pack yeast

Water to fill to 5 gallons

Herb Fruit Mead (Metheglin)

10-12 lbs honey

15 lbs Berries (I used thawed frozen)

Yeast nutrient to instructions on package

1 pack yeast

½ cup dry Elderberry flowers

½ cup dry Sweet Woodruff leaves

½ cup dry Damiana leaves

Water to fill to 5 gallons

How to Prepare the Must

The honey/water before fermenting is called “must”. You will want to add the honey to hot water in a large pot, but make sure the pot is not on the heat while doing this because the honey will fall to the bottom and caramelize (or stir vigorously if you leave it on the heat). Stainless steel or enameled kettles are preferred; aluminum is not ok. Do not use iron, nor enameled kettles with cracks in the enamel.

Some mead recipes recommend only heating the must enough to pasteurize it. This is because boiling honey will drive off some of the delicate flavors.

If scum rises while heating or boiling the must, skim it off. It consists of wax, bee parts, pollen, etc., which don’t help the flavor of the mead.

An alternative preparation method involves the use of “Campden tablets” or “sulfiting” to sterilize the must. If you’re a winemaker, you’ll recognize this method. With the use of Campden tablets, it is not necessary to heat/ boil the must at all first, although some mead-makers do so anyway for the sake of clarity of the final mead. If you use Campden tablets, follow a recipe or instructions for quantity, preparation, delay times before adding yeast, etc. Heating is probably easier than sulfiting for the beginning mead-maker.

Directions

Step 1

Alright let’s get started. Grab all your brewing materials and the sanitizer and it’s time to wash some dishes. This is a very important step. Unless you want to get sick with some kind of funky disease, I highly suggest that you not skip this step.

Step 2

Now that you have everything washed and sanitized, grab your brew pot and fill it with the best water you can get. Water with full of chemicals will produce off tastes. Once the water is in the pot, its time to bring it to a boil.

Step 3

Once your water is boiling, remove it from the heat. Add the honey to the hot water at this point. DO NOT add the honey to boiling water as it will burn and will ruin the crucial parts of the honey that make it able to become mead. If you want a dry mead, add less honey. For sweeter mead, add extra honey. Now stir it until the honey and water become one.

Step 4

Once the honey and water are good and stirred, it’s called a “must”. Let the must cool down to around room temperature then grab your funnel and carboy that is sanitized. Put the funnel in the mouth of the carboy and pour the must from the pot to the carboy.

Step 5

Once you have the must transferred into the carboy and it’s cooled off (the next day), Bloom your yeast separately, then add your yeast to it. Once the yeast is pitched in, its time to put your rubber stopper in the mouth of the carboy and put the fermentation lock in the stopper to release the pressure that will happen when the mead starts fermentation.

Step 6

Now it’s wait time. Put the carboy in a closet somewhere where the temperature is around 75 degrees F. (Room temp most of the time). After around 1-2 weeks, you’re going to want to rack the mead. Racking is to siphon the initial brew out of the first container to get the sediment and nastiness left at the bottom out of it. So, if you have another carboy, get it and make sure it’s sanitized, and grab your siphon kit. Siphon the mead out of the first container and put it in the other carboy.

Step 7

After anywhere from 1-2 months, rack again, it can most likely be consumed. Sometimes though it can take anywhere to a year for a mead to become fully matured. So really it’s just a sit back game from here. Every 1-2 months get a little sample out of the carboy to taste test it to see how it’s coming along. Once it reaches maturity or the taste to your liking, if you did everything right, it should be good to drink without any health issues.

Fermentation

Mead will take longer than beer to ferment. Fermentation times are often measured in months, so get another carboy. Mead likes to ferment a little warmer than beer (70F – 75), but should be stored in a cool place to bottle condition. You will have to rack mead (transfer it to a separate vessel, leaving behind the sediment) while it is fermenting. If you make any kind of mead beside traditional, you will have to rack about a week after starting to remove the bits of fruit or spices that settle out. Rack periodically after that to get the mead off the dead yeast and other matter that settles out–every 3-6 weeks depending on the rate of fermentation and settling. This improves the flavor and clarifies the mead.

Initial fermentation of melomels made with fruit (not just juice) is easiest in a food-grade plastic pail so that you can strain out the fruit before racking. Except for this, glass carboys with fermentation locks are the best fermentation vessels. Mead does not tend to form the huge head that beer does when starting fermentation.

Bottling

First, you must make sure the mead has stopped fermenting. Mead is such a slow fermenter that it may appear completely done, yet continues to ferment after bottling. This can turn a still mead into a sparkling one; it can even produce enough pressure to cause the bottles to explode. Exploding bottles– “glass grenades”–aren’t funny. They’re unpredictable and very dangerous.

To be sure the mead is done fermenting, take hydrometer readings spanning a week or more and be sure the readings are not still falling. Dry meads will also finish at a gravity below 1.000. As a mead finishes, it will “fall clear”–the initial cloudiness will settle out. Be careful, though, because being clear is not enough.

Choose appropriate bottles for the type of mead.

Still meads (uncarbonated, like normal wines) may be bottled in regular wine bottles with standard corks, or in crown-capped bottles as above. Since pressure isn’t an issue, almost any bottle with an airtight closure can be made to work. Bear in mind, though, that the appearance of your bottles is part of the first impression when you serve your mead.

Mead that has finished fermentation and is then bottled will be “still” (flat). Sparkling mead is “primed” by adding a small amount of sugar at bottling time to produce a short renewed fermentation so that it is carbonated. For predictable results (again, to avoid “glass grenades”), you should first let the mead finish fermenting in the carboy, then add just the amount of sugar needed to carbonate it. Bottling a mead before it finished fermenting (in hopes of capturing just the right amount of carbonation in the bottle) can lead to under- or over-carbonation, and even in the best case won’t give the mead a chance to finish clearing before bottling. A normal amount of priming sugar is about 4 ounces by weight for five gallons.

Store the bottles in a cool dark place. Mead is not as sensitive as beer to light (unless you have hops in it), but should not be left in bright light.

Wassail!

While reading the mead-lovers digest you will occasionally see the word “Wassail”. It’s a toast, an expression of good will, much as a beer drinker might offer “Prosit” or “Cheers”. The word derives from Old Norse through Middle English, and means “be healthy”. A modern German cognate would be “wacht heil.” The dictionary lists two pronunciations (wahs’ul, wah-sale’).

Legality

In the USA, mead is classified as a wine. A brief, informal (not legal advice!) synopsis: Federal regulations allow an adult to make up to 100 gallons a year, or 200 gallons per year per household of two or more adults, for personal or family use, with no tax or license required. It may not be sold. Concentration (including but not limited to distillation) is prohibited. State and local laws may impose additional restrictions, so check first. The usual situation is that home mead-making is allowed in any locality where commercial wine can be sold. Repeat: this is NOT legal advice.

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Tags: Green Man, Honey Use, Kinds Honey, Types Mead
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by Luminias

The God in Wicca

August 18, 2009 in Featured, Teachings by Luminias

In ancient times, the role of the male was well defined. He was the hunter, the warrior, the sage and elder. He was the provider of meat, and the protector of the home. As time progressed, the gender lines of the olden days have disappeared.

Only by invoking the God and utilizing the symbolism can we all truly form our own opinions and experiences with the God in our daily lives.

Aspects of the God in our Tradition

The God is gentle, tender and comforting, but he is also the Hunter. He is the Dying God, but his death is always in the service of life. He is untamed sexuality, as a deep holy, loving power. He is the force of feelings. Our God wears horns, they are the crescents relating to the mysteries of the Moon and the symbol of animal vitality. In some aspects he is all black, not because he is dreaded, but because darkness and night are times of power and a part of the cycles of time.

The Horned God embodies the power of feeling. His animal horns represent the truth of undisguised emotion, which seeks to please no master. He is the Life Force and the Life Cycle. His power is always directed to the service of life.

He is also the God of Love. This love includes sexuality, which is wild and untamed as well as gentle and tender. He is the Dying God and the Horned Hunter, the bringer of death so that life may go on. He is the Searcher, the Seeker. He, as well as the Goddess, unifies all opposites. He is the proud stag that haunts the heart of the forest, the hidden forest of the self. He is the stallion, swift as thought, whose crescent hooves leave lunar marks even as they strike solar sparks. He is the moon bull with the crescent horns and the hooves that thunder over the Earth. He is all that within us will never be domesticated, that which refuses to be compromised, diluted, molded, or tempered. He is free.

He is the dream world, the Other Lord. He is the self-voyaging of the dark waters of the unconscious mind. The gates He guards are the threshold that divides the conscious from the unconscious; the gates of night and day through which we pass in and out of life. As He is ever dying, He is also ever reborn. In the moment of his transformation, he becomes immortal even as love is immortal.

Symbology of the God

male_antler_wreath

Antler

Antlers symbolize the pagan Horned God, the sacred Stag. They are almost symbolically interchangeable with Horns.

Antlers represent the God who is a symbol of all wild creatures, especially those virile creatures who give themselves away to serve the life of the people.

Male_bull

The Bull

The Bull is an ancient symbol for the power of the God, specifically as a devotee of His Goddess-Mother.
In ancient Crete, women would dance around and leap over bulls in sacred rituals. The Bull survives in many mythological forms, even today. The Minotaur is probably the most well-known example.

The Bull owes this association in part to the shape of its horns, in part to its connection with the Sacred Cow-Goddess, and in part to its power and virility. A single bull will produce a herd of calves, which creates prosperity for the people.

male_eye of horus

Eye of Horus

The Eye of Horus is a God symbol that conveys ultimate protection. (Although originally it was seen as the Eye of Maat.) It was thought, because of this power of protection, to aid one in reincarnating.

This Eye is sometimes seen as two-fold. A right eye for the feminine – the Moon – is called the Eye of Horus or Thoth, and a left eye for the masculine – the Sun – is called Ra.

Naming this symbol after Horus may have evolved to simplify communication, since Horus – the Sky – contained both the Sun and the Moon as His eyes.
male_GoldNug01

Gold

Shining like the warm Sun, gold is a symbol of the God in general, and the Sun God in particular. Gold is a yang metal.

Gold is also a symbol of spiritual pursuit and purity, because it does not tarnish or rust. Gold is incorruptible, as is the Divine.

Holly

Holly is the Winter God symbol, the Green Man in his winter guise. He is the complement of the Oak King, the Summer God.

As an evergreen, Holly is revered as a symbol of eternal life. The red berries, reminiscent of Persephone’s pomegranates, reinforces this meaning.

The Holly King represents life that lives on, beneath the surface. On the surface, the God is dead; the Green has given way to white snows. But this death is an illusion. The God, this symbol promises, will rise again. Holly is the promise of that.

Horn

Horns are an ancient God symbol. Horns have been associated with worship of the Divine perhaps since the dawn of human consciousness. Stone Age art everywhere depicts men wearing horns and antlers.

One obvious reason for this correlation is the visual similarity between horns and the Crescent Moon. The first is a symbol of male virility and spiritual power, and the second is a symbol of the creative power of the female.

Thus the curved horn, such as a bull’s horn, can simultaneously signify the God and the Goddess, specifically the God as lover and child of the Goddess.

This explains the Bull’s ancient power as a spiritual animal.

Maypole

The Maypole is an ancient phallic God symbol, representing the generative power of the God.

The Maypole would be set into the Earth at Beltane (May Eve). This symbolically fertilized the Earth Mother to produce new life in the Spring.

Then women and men danced around this sacred union, women widdershins and men deosil. As the lines wove in and out, ribbons tied to the head of the Maypole interlaced into a colorful sheath along the Maypole.

male_oak

Oak

Oak is associated with Wicca because it was particularly sacred to the Druids, from which Wicca was said to have evolved.

The word Druid may in fact come from the same root as the word for Oak. It is from oak trees that sacred mistletoe was gathered.

Oak is associated with the masculine divinity. The Oak King is the Green Man in his summer aspect: growing, powerful, virile.

The Stag, Buck

The stag is a symbol of the Horned God. This is the God of joyful virility, radiating Power and life force. It is He who gives Himself away so that others can live.

The stag is not only a Wicca symbol, but also widely used in Neopaganism.

Sun

European tradition has the Sun as male, so any image of the Sun is, in Wicca, a God symbol.

The God in Wicca symbolism is connected with the cycles of the Sun: the birth, growth, failing, death, and then rebirth of the sun and the seasons of nature that are tied into this cycle.

This is a symbol of the God who gives himself away, so that His people can live. And in this way He preserves His immortality . . . for after death, He can be again born of the Goddess.

The Sun King, who was the God’s representative on Earth, would similarly reign for a year, or another symbolic period of time, and then would give his life for the good of all.

Sun-Antlered Stag

The image of the Stag with the sun cupped in his antlers is a symbol of the masculine aspect of the Divine, the Great God.

This God symbol shows both the worldly God and Highest God united as one. The God who is manifest in a physical body, yet retains knowledge of his true Self.

Tags: Dying God, God Wicca, Green Man, Horned God
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by Luminias

Concepts of Anima and Animus (God and Goddess)

August 18, 2009 in Featured, Teachings by Luminias

Animus:

The male component of the unconscious female psyche. Like the anima (Eros), but he personifies “spirit” and “intellect” (Logos). His negative aspect gives a woman her irrational convictions and opinions. He’s usually plural because women focus on one man only in conscious relationships. He also compensates the basic female faculty for unity. He seems to lack the anima’s historical quality and is more concerned with present and future, which Jung saw as compensation (its women who think more about roots, the past, etc.)–but in his deepest qualities he is as history-oriented as the anima.
concept_animaandanimusface

Anima:

The feminine component of the unconscious male psyche and inner counterpart to the persona. Possibly she reflects a man’s smaller number of female genes. Ultimately an archetype of Eros and of life itself, this “woman within” functions as a filter, bridge, guide, and mediator between the ego and the deeper layers of the unconscious. As long as she’s not differentiated she stands for the unconscious; later, she stands apart, a daughter to the Wise Old Man who compensates her and sometimes mate of the shadow. Because she carries a man’s “soul” and his “relatedness,” she can be fully realized only with a female partner. “If a man cannot project his anima, then he is cut off from women” (Analytical Psychology).

First projected onto the mother and always mixed with the mother archetype, she usually appears after a man confronts and integrates his shadow. Unless he addresses her as an autonomous personality-fragment and gets to know her, integrating, not her, but her products, he will project her onto an outer woman and confuse the image with the external reality. (Jung didn’t need to consult his anima once he’d learned to read the meaning of his dreams directly, without requiring a mediator, and to accept whatever surfaced from the unconscious. When she vanishes into the unconscious, the collective contents are constellated. The anima seems immortal until she “brings forth”; then she dies.)

Anima images are usually singular (as opposed to animus images) to compensate both the male habit of seeing a mate as one woman among many and the basically male faculty of discrimination, as opposed to the basically female faculty of unifying and synthesizing. (Jung felt that for the collective state to arise, the anima had to be suppressed.)
The anima passes through four stages corresponding with a man’s maturity: Eve, Helen of Troy, Mary, and Sophia.

concept_anima_animus2

Anima and Animus

A part of our persona is the role of male or female we must play. For most people that role is determined by their physical gender. But Jung, like Freud and Adler and others, felt that we are all really bisexual in nature. When we begin our lives as fetuses, we have undifferentiated sex organs that only gradually, under the influence of hormones, become male or female. Likewise, when we begin our social lives as infants, we are neither male nor female in the social sense. Almost immediately — as soon as those pink or blue booties go on — we come under the influence of society, which gradually molds us into men and women.

In all societies, the expectations placed on men and women differ, usually based on our different roles in reproduction, but often involving many details that are purely traditional. In our society today, we still have many remnants of these traditional expectations. Women are still expected to be more nurturant and less aggressive; men are still expected to be strong and to ignore the emotional side of life. But Jung felt these expectations meant that we had developed only half of our potential.

concept_anima_animus concept_animaanimuskazuhisanagato The anima is the female aspect present in the collective unconscious of men, and the animus is the male aspect present in the collective unconscious of women. Together, they are referred to as syzygy. The anima may be personified as a young girl, very spontaneous and intuitive, or as a witch, or as the earth mother. It is likely to be associated with deep emotionality and the force of life itself. The animus may be personified as a wise old man, a sorcerer, or often a number of males, and tends to be logical, often rationalistic, even argumentative.

The anima or animus is the archetype through which you communicate with the collective unconscious generally, and it is important to get into touch with it. It is also the archetype that is responsible for much of our love life: We are, as an ancient Greek myth suggests, always looking for our other half, the half that the Gods took from us, in members of the opposite sex. When we fall in love at first sight, then we have found someone that “fills” our anima or animus archetype particularly well!

Jung’s Archetypes

Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung described several archetypes that are based in the observation of differing but repeating patterns of thought and action that re-appear time and again across people, countries and continents.
Jung’s main archetypes are not ‘types’ in the way that each person may be classified as one or the other. Rather, we each have all basic archetypes within us. He listed four main forms of archetypes:

The Shadow
The Anima
The Animus
The Self

concept_the shadow

The Shadow

The Shadow is a very common archetype that reflects deeper elements of our psyche, where ‘latent dispositions’ which are common to us all arise. It also reflects something that was once split from us in early management of the objects in our lives.

It is, by its name, dark, shadowy, unknown and potentially troubling. It embodies chaos and wildness of character. The shadow thus tends not to obey rules, and in doing so may discover new lands or plunge things into chaos and battle. It has a sense of the exotic and can be disturbingly fascinating. In myth, it appears as the wild man, spider-people, mysterious fighters and dark enemies.

We may see the shadow in others and, if we dare, know it in ourselves. Mostly, however, we deny it in ourselves and project it onto others. It can also have a life of its own, as the Other. A powerful goal that some undertake is to re-integrate the shadow, the dark side, and the light of the ‘real’ self. If this can be done effectively, then we can become ‘whole’ once again, bringing together that which was once split from us.

Our shadow may appear in dreams, hallucinations and musings, often as something or someone who is bad, fearsome or despicable in some way. It may seduce through false friendship or threaten with callous disregard. Encounters with it, as an aspect of the subconscious, may reveal deeper thoughts and fears. It may also take over direct physical action when the person is confused, dazed or drugged.

concept_animusanimaRuth Thorne-Thomsen

The Anima and Animus

The second most prevalent pattern is that of the Anima (male), Animus (female), or, more simply, the Soul, and is the route to communication with the collective unconscious. The anima/animus represents our true self, as opposed to the masks we wear every day and is the source of our creativity.

The anima/animus may appear as someone exotic or unusual in some way, perhaps with amazing skills and powers. In fiction, heroes, super-heroes and gods may represent these powerful beings and awaken in us the sense of omnipotence that we knew in that very early neonatal phase.

Anima and animus are male and female principles that represent this deep difference. Whilst men have an fundamental anima and women an animus, each may also have the other, just as men have a feminine side and women a masculine. Jung saw men as having one dominant anima, contributed to by female members of his family, whilst women have a more complex, variable animus, perhaps made of several parts.

Jung theorized the development of the anima/animus as beginning with infant projection onto the mother, then projecting onto prospective partners until a lasting relationship can be found.

concept_the syzygy

The Syzygy

(The Divine Couple)

In combination, the anima and animus are known as syzygy (a word also used to denote alignment of planets), representing wholeness and completion. This combining brings great power and can be found in religious combination’s such as the Christian Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy ghost).
concept_the divine couple A perfect partnership between man and woman can occur when not only are our physical forms compatible but also the anima and animus. Thus you might find your soul-mate. Finding our matching other half is a lifetime of search for many of us, and few of us succeed in this quest. Love of another indicates an actual, perceived or hoped-for close match.

Tags: Anima Animus, Freud Adler, Jung Archetypes
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by Luminias

The Wild Hunt

August 18, 2009 in Featured, New&Updates by Luminias

The Wild Hunt (also known variously as Woden’s Hunt, Herod’s Hunt, Cain’s Hunt,the Devil’s Dandy Dogs, and in North America Ghost Riders) was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground, or just above it. It is often a way to explain thunderstorms.

The wild hunt is often thought as werewolves led by Cernnunos, the Horned God.

The hunters may be the dead, or the fairies (often in folklore connected with the dead).The hunter may be an unidentified lost soul, a deity or spirit of either gender, or may be a historical or legendary figure like Dietrich of Berne, the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag, Woden(or other reflexes of the same god, such as Alemannic Wuodan in Wuotis Heer (“Wuodan’s Host”) of Central Switzerland, Swabia etc.), or Arawn.

It has been variously referred to as Wilde Jagd (German: “wild chase”) or Wildes Heer (German: “wild host”), Herlaþing (Old English: “Herla’s assembly”), Mesnée d’Hellequin (Old North French: “household of Hellequin“), Cŵn Annwn (Welsh: “hounds of Annwn”), and Åsgårdreia (Norwegian: “ride of Asgard”).

Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it.Mortals getting in the path of or following the Hunt could be kidnapped and brought to the land of the dead. A girl who saw Wild Edric’s Ride was warned by her father to put her apron over her head to avoid the sight.Others believed that people’s spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the cavalcade.

The Middle Ages

Wütendes Heer der kleinen Diebe, from a 1569 Basel printing

Medieval legends of the Wild Hunt are mostly from the area encompassed by modern-day Germany. Historical figures reported to have participated in the Wild Hunt were St. Guthlac (683–714), and Hereward the Wake (died ca. 1070). Orderic Vitalis reports such a cavalcade seen in January 1091, which he asserts were “Herlechin’s troop” (familia Herlechini; cf. Harlequin). From the twelfth century, there are testimonies from England: In the Peterborough Chronicle, the chronicler attests the Wild Hunt’s appearance at the appointment of a disastrous abbot for the monastery. Around the year 1132, the anonymous monk wrote:

Þa huntes waeron swarte and micele and lardlice, and here hondes ealle swarte and bradegede and lardlice, and hi ridone on swarte hors and on swarte bucces….

(“Then the hunters were black and large and terrifying, and their hounds were all black and broad-eyed and terrifying, and they rode on black horses and black goats….”).

This particular Wild Hunt was banished by the intervention of the monks of the monastery and the local nobility.

The leaders were known by many names, including Wodan (or Woden), Knecht Ruprecht (or Krampus), Berchtold (or Berchta), Holle (or Hulda), and Selga.

While these Wild Hunts are recorded by clerics and portrayed as diabolic, in late medieval English romance like Sir Orfeo, the hunters are rather from a faery otherworld, where the Wild Hunt was the hosting of the fairies; its leaders also varied, but they included Gwydion, Gwynn ap Nudd, King Arthur, Nuada, King Herla, Woden, the Devil and Herne the Hunter. Many legends are told of their origins, as in that of “Dando and his dogs” or “the dandy dogs”: Dando, wanting a drink but having exhausted what his huntsmen carried, declared he would go to hell for it. A stranger came and offered a drink, only to steal Dando’s game and then Dando himself, with his dogs giving chase. The sight was long claimed to have been seen in the area.Another legend recounted how King Herla, having visited the Fairy King, was warned not to step down from his horse until the greyhound he carried jumped down; he found that three centuries had passed during his visit, and those of his men who dismounted crumbled to dust; he and his men are still riding, because the greyhound has yet to jump down.

Post-medieval legend

the wild hunt wistmans wood Wistman’s Wood in Devon, England.

The Wild Hunt is known from the post-medieval folklore of Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and to a lesser extent Norway. One of the origins postulated for the modern Harlequin is Hellequin, a stock character in French passion plays. Hellequin, a black-faced emissary of the devil, is said to have roamed the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell. The physical appearance of Hellequin offers an explanation for the traditional colors of Harlequin’s mask (red and black).

The myth of the Wild Hunt has through the ages been modified to accommodate other gods and folk heroes, among them King Arthur and, more recently, in a Dartmoor folk legend, Sir Francis Drake. At Cadbury Castle in Somerset an old lane near the castle was called King Arthur’s Lane and even in the 19th century the idea survived that on wild winter nights the king and his hounds could be heard rushing along it.

In certain parts of Britain, the hunt is said to be that of hell-hounds chasing sinners or the unbaptised. In Devon these are known as Yeth (Heath) or Wisht Hounds, in Kernow / Cornwall Dando and his Dogs or the Devil and his Dandy Dogs, in Cymru / Wales the Cwn Annwn, the Hounds of Hell, and in Somerset as Gabriel Ratchets or Retchets (dogs).In Devon the hunt is particularly associated with Wistman’s Wood.

It can be compared to other ghostly troops, such as the Santa Compaña in Galicia, a procession of the dead that recruits those who meet it; and the chasse-galerie, or bewitched canoe, of Québec.

Origins

the wild hunt wodan “Wodan’s Wild Hunt” (1882) by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.

The ritual re-enactment of the Wild Hunt was a cultural phenomenon among many Gaulish and Germanic peoples. In its Germanic manifestations the Harii painted themselves black to attack their enemies in the darkness. The Heruli, nomadic, ecstatic wolf-warriors, dedicated themselves to Wodan.

The Norse god Odin in his many forms, astride his eight-legged steed Sleipnir, came to be associated with the Wild Hunt in Scandinavia because of his aspect of berserking. Odin acquired the aspect of the Wild Huntsman, along with Frigg. The passage of this hunt was also referred to as Odin’s Hunt. People who saw the passing hunt and mocked it were cursed and would mysteriously vanish along with the host; those that joined in sincerity were rewarded with gold (H. A. Guerber, 1922). In the wake of the passing storm (which the Hunt was often identified with), a black dog would be found upon a neighboring hearth. To remove it, it would need to be exorcised similar to the custom for removing changelings. However, if it could not be removed by trickery, it must be kept for a whole year and carefully tended.

According to H. A. Guerber: “The object of this phantom hunt varied greatly, and was either that of a visionary boar or wild horse, white-breasted maidens who were caught and borne away bound only once in seven years, or the wood nymphs, called Moss Maidens, who were thought to represent the autumn leaves torn from the trees and whirled away by the wintry gale.” Whatever the case, the Hunt was most often seen in the autumn and winter, when the winds blew the fiercest.

Otto Höfler (1934) and other authors of his generation emphasized the identification of the hunter with Odin, looking for the traces of an ecstatic Odin cult in more recent customs from German-speaking areas.

In view of this, John Lindow of the University of California, Berkeley (Lindahl et al. 2002:433) notes that more recent scholarship “would argue a basis in an Indo-European warrior cult in which young warriors imbued with the life force fight with the characteristics of animals, especially, those of wolves, and are initiated into a warrior band.”

Odin’s Hunt in Sweden

the wild hunt oden Odin continued to hunt in Swedish folklore. Illustration by August Malmström.

In Sweden, Odin’s hunt was heard but rarely seen, and a typical trait is that one of Odin’s dogs was barking louder and a second one fainter. Beside one or two shots, these barks were the only sounds that were clearly identified. When Odin’s hunt was heard, it meant changing weather in many regions, but it could also mean war and unrest. According to some reports, the forest turned silent and only a whining sound and dog barks could be heard.

It is clear that the belief in Odin’s hunt remained most widespread in the Swedish region of Götaland, where numerous toponyms testify to very early worship of Odin. It is also notable that the Odin of folklore retains a considerable number of external traits from his origins in Norse mythology. Moreoever, it appears that the beliefs in Odin maintained a strong position in the region from pagan times until modern times.

Although the figure of the wild huntsman no doubt emanates from pagan Germanic culture, it should be noted that the recent legends do not spontaneously connect the name Odin with a divinity. During the centuries, Odin has been euhemerized into a legendary character, who is often demon-like and dangerous, without any clear connection to the All-father of Norse mythology. In western Sweden and sometimes in the east as well, it has been said that Odin was a nobleman or even a king who had hunted during the Sundays and therefore was doomed to hunt down and kill supernatural beings until the end of time.

According to certain accounts, Odin does not ride, but travels in a wheeled vehicle, something that Thor of Norse mythology was known to do.

There are several examples of origin legends where Odin appears. In Gärdlösa on Öland, there is a story that Odin once went across the Alvar of Högrum and tied his horse to a crag of rock. The crag was splintered when the strong horse pulled in the cord, and then the horse threw himself on the ground, and so the bottomless swamp of Gladvattnet was created.

In parts of Småland, it appears that people believed that Odin hunted with large birds when the dogs got tired. When it was needed, he could transform a bevy of sparrows into an armed host.

If houses were built on former roads, they could be burnt down, because Odin did not change his plans if he had formerly traveled on a road there. Not even charcoal kilns could be built on disused roads, because if Odin was hunting the kiln would be ablaze.

One tradition maintains that Odin did not travel further up than an ox wears his yoke, so if Odin was hunting, it was safest to throw oneself onto the ground in order to avoid being hit. In Älghult in Småland, it was safest to carry a piece of bread and a piece of steel when going to church and back during Christmas. The reason was that if one met the rider with the broad-rimmed hat, one should throw the piece of steel in front of oneself, but if one met his dogs first, one should throw the pieces of bread instead.

Leader of the Wild Hunt

the wild hunt Perchta A modern mask representing one of the Perchten, followers of Perchta, sometimes leader of the Wild Hunt.

Basque Country: Ehiztari beltza, Mateo-Txistu, Abade-txakurrak.
Belarus: King Stakh.
Britanny: King Arthur.
Catalonia: Count Arnau (el comte Arnau), a legendary nobleman from Ripollès, who for his rapacious cruelty and lechery is condemned to ride to hounds for eternity while his flesh is devoured by flames. He is the subject of a classic traditional Catalan ballad.
England: Wild Edric, a Saxon rebel; Hereward the Wake; King Arthur; Herne the Hunter; Herla, a form of Woden (later de-heathenised as a Brythonic King who stayed too long at a fairy wedding feast and returned to find centuries had passed and the lands populated by Englishmen); St. Guthlac; Old Nick; Woden; Jan Tregeagle, a Cornish lawyer who escaped from Hell and is pursued by the devil’s hounds. On Dartmoor, Dewer, Old Crockern or Sir Francis Drake.
France: Artus, King Arthur (Britanny); Lord of Gallery (Poitou).
Galicia (Spain): Santa Compaña
Germany: Wodan, Berchtold, Dietrich of Berne, Holda, Perchta, Wildes Gjait. The Squire of Rodenstein and Hans von Hackelberg (both Sabbath-breakers).
Guernsey: Herodias (Rides with witches at sea)
Ireland: Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna; Manannan—also known as The Fairy Cavalcade.
Netherlands: Wodan, Gait met de hunties/hondjes (Gait with his dogs), Derk met de hunties/hondjes (Derk with his dogs), Derk met de beer (Derk with his boar/bear), het Glujende peerd (the glowing horse). Ronnekemère, Henske met de hondjes/Hänske mit de hond (Henske with his dogs), Berend van Galen (Beerneken van Galen, Bèrndeken van Geulen, Bommen Berend or Beerneken, the bishop of Münster, Germany).
Scandinavia: Odin; King Vold (Denmark); Valdemar Atterdag (Denmark); the witch Guro Rysserova and Sigurdsveinen (Norway).
Wales: Arawn or Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh god of the Underworld.

Prey of the Wild Hunt

In Danish (Scandinavian) tradition the hunted is a female troll, old elf, or jötunn-like figure named Slattenpat, which literally means “Wobbly-boob”. The ugly-looking Slattenpat runs away putting her long hanging breasts over her shoulders in order to run faster. Eventually she is caught up by the wild hunt and killed by the leader.

Tags: Germany, King Arthur, Wild Hunt
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by Luminias

The African Pantheon

August 13, 2009 in Teachings by Luminias

Most African cultures, if not all, believe in a Supreme Creator in one form or another. A God behind the Gods, a Supreme God who created everything. The Creator is thought to have once lived on Earth, but left it for His Kingdom in the Sky because of human infractions. Because he was no longer in direct contact with the people, Lesser Gods were created directly from His power to do certain jobs that were given to them. These Lesser Gods are the Gods of Earth, The Rains, Water, The Winds, Fire, etc. The Deities are capable of answering human prayers by use of their own power and can intercede on man’s behalf with the Creator Himself. Although The Supreme Creator is usually referred to by him etc. it is beyond sex, being both male and female. It has no form and is thought of in an abstract way. It is available to any human, regardless of their position. A breath of Its Divine Being is within all animate and inanimate things.

It is known as Mulungu (East Africa), Leza (Central Africa), Nyambe (West Tropics), Nyame (Ghana), the Molder, Giver of Breath and Souls, God of Destiny, One Who Exists of Himself, God of Pity and Comfort, the Inexplicable, Ancient of Days, the One Who Bends Even Kings, the One You Meet Everywhere, etc.

Among many tribes, the creation of the Earth took four days. The fifth day was reserved for worshipping the Orisha Nla (Chief of the Deities), who actually created the Earth with the instruction and aid of the Supreme Creator. The Orisha Nla was also given the task of creating bodies out of clay. When this was complete the Supreme Creator secretly placed the spark of life within the forms. These newly created humans were then placed on the Earth to live.

The Gods and Goddesses

Adroa
Other Names: “God in the sky”, God on Earth”, Creator God, River God.
Location: The Lugbara of Zaire and Uganda.
Description: He is pictured as tall and white with only half of his body visible.
Rules Over: Social order, law, death.

Akuj
Location: The Turkana of Kenya.
Rules Over: Divination.

Ala
Other Names: Ale, Ane.
Location: The Ibo of Nigeria.
Description: Extremely popular Goddess and Earth Mother. She is a Creator Goddess and Queen of the Dead.
Rules Over: Community laws, morality, oaths, harvest.

Anayaroli
Location: The Temne.
Description: River demon.
Rules Over: Wealth.

Asa
Other Names: Father God, “the strong lord.”
Location: Akamba of Kenya.
Rules Over: Mercy, help, surviving the impossible.

Asase
Other Names: Yaa, Aberewa, Efua, “Old Woman Earth.”
Location: The Ashanti of West Africa.
Description: Goddess of creation of humans and receiver of them at death.
Rules Over: Cultivation, harvest.

Behanzin
Location: West Africa.
Description: Fish God.

Cagn
Location: South Central Africa among the Bushman.
Description: Creator God.
Rules Over: Sorcery and Shape-Shifting.

Chiuta
Other Names: Mulengi, Mwenco, Wamtatakuya Tumbuka.
Description: Creator God, Rain God. Is self-created and omniscient.
Rules Over: Rain, help, plant growth, food.

Chuku
Other Names: Chineke.
Location: The Ibo of East Nigeria.
Description: “The first great cause”, “Creator”, Father of Ale, The Earth Goddess. Offerings and sacrifices were done for him in groves.
Rules Over: Help, goodness.

Danh
Location: Dahomey.
Description: Snake God. Rainbow Snake shown with tail in his mouth.
Rules Over: Wholeness, unity.

En-Kai
Other Names: Parsai, Emayian.
Location: Masai.
Description: Sky God. Grass is used in rituals for him.
Rules Over: Rain, vegetation, blessings.

Fa
Location: Dahomey.
Rules Over: Destiny.

Famian
Location: Guinea.
Rules Over: Protection, health, fertility.

Gauna
Other Names: Gawa, Gawama.
Location: Among the Bushmen.
Description: Leads the spirits of the deceased.
Rules Over: Disruption, harassment, death.

Ge
Location: Dahomey.
Description: Moon God.

Gu
Location: The Fon of West Africa.
Rules Over: War, smiths.

Guruhi
Location: Gambia.
Description: Evil God. Meteors are his sign.
Rules Over: Power and death over enemies.

Heitsi-Eibib
Location: The Hottentots.
Description: Sorcerer God.
Rules Over: Shape-shifting, magick.

Imana
Other Names: Hategekimana, Hashakimana, Habyarimana, Ndagijimana, Bigirimana, “Almighty God.”
Location: The Banyarwands.
Rules Over: Power, goodness, children, planning.

Ison
Other Names: Eka Obasi, Obasi Nsi, Ibibio, Ekoi.
Location: West Africa.
Description: Tortoise-shelled Goddess.
Rules Over: Fertility of the Earth.

Jok
Other Names: Jok Odudu, Alur.
Location: Uganda and Zaire.
Description: Black goats were to be sacrificed to him when rain was needed.
Rules Over: Rain.

Juok
Other Names: Shilluk, Supreme God.
Location: White Nile.
Description: Created all men on Earth.

Kaka-Guia
Other Names: Nyami.
Location: The Volta areas.
Description: He brought souls to the Supreme God.

Katonda
Other Names: Lissoddene, Kagingo, Ssewannaku, Lugaba, Ssebintu, Nnyiniggulu, Namuginga, Ssewaunaku, Gguluddene, Namugereka.
Location: The Ganda of East Africa.
Descriptiojn: Creator God.
Rules Over: Help, Judgment, aid when the odds are against you, control over spirits, divination, oracles.

Kwoth
Location: The Nuer of South Sudan.
Description: Great Spirit God.
Rules Over: Nature, help, compassion, judgement.

Leza
Location: Dahomey.
Description: Chameleon God/dess.
Rules Over: Protection, divination.

Mbaba Mwana Waresa
Location: The Zulu of Natal.
Description: Goddess of what she rules over.
Rules Over: Rainbows, rain, crops, cultivation, beer.

Mawu
Location: Dahomey.
Description: Supreme Goddess, creator of all things. Mawu is worshipped by The Fon of Benin in West Africa as a Moon Goddess and creatrix of everything.

Mukuru
Location: Macouas of Zambesi, Banayis.
Description: Supreme God, creator of everything.
Rules Over: Agriculture, architecture, the harvest.

Mungo
Location: Giryama of Kenya.
Description: Rain God.
Rules Over: Rain.

`Nenaunir
Other Names: The Rainbow Snake.
Location: Masai of Kenya.
Description: An Evil Storm God who was linked to the rainbow. Resided in the clouds and was a dreaded spirit.
Rules Over: Storms.

`Ngai
Location: Masai.
Description: Creator God.
Rules Over: Life and Death.

Ngami
Description: Moon Goddess.

Njambi
Location: Lele.
Description: Creator God.
Rules Over: Protection, justice, help, forests, fertility.

Nyambe
Location: Koko of Nigeria.
Description: God.
Rules Over: Restoring Life.

Nyambi
Other Names: Nyambe.
Location: The Barotse of Upper Zambesi.
Description: Gread God. Creator of everything.

Nyame
Location: The Twi of West Africa.
Description: Great God who prepared the soul to be reborn on the physical plane and gave out its fate.
Rules Over: Fate.

Nyamia Ama
Location: Senegal.
Description: God of storms, rain and lightning. A sky god.
Rules Over: Storms, rain, lightning.

Nzambi
Location: The Bankongo of the Congo.
Description: Great Goddess who created everything. She played the role of Justice and rewarded and punished according to the deeds of man.
Rules Over: Justice.

Oba
Description: Santeria river goddess.

Ochumare
Location: Yoruba.
Description: Santeria Goddess of the rainbow.

Oddudua
Location: Yoruba.
Description: Primary Mother Goddess.

Ogun
Other Names: Ogoun.
Location: The Nago and Yoruba of West Africa.
Description: God of iron and warfare.
Rules Over: Iron, warfare, removing difficulties, smoothing the path to a desired result, Justice, Smiths, Hunters, Barbers, Goldsmiths, Steel.

Olorun
Other Names: Olofin-Orun, Olodumare.
Location: Yoruba.
Description: Sky God.
Rules Over: Truth, control of the Elements, Forsight, Victory when the odds are against you, Destiny.

Pan
Location: Agni.
Description: Son of the Earth.
Rules Over: Cultivation.

Rock-Sens
Location: The Serer of Gambia.
Description: Sky god, controlled the weather.
Rules Over: Rain, Thunder, Lightning.

Rugaba
Other Names: Ruhanga, Kazooba, Mukameiguru.
Location: Ankore of Uganda.
Description: Creator God, Sun God, Sky God.
Rules Over: Life, healing, death, sickness, judgement.

Ruhanga
Location: Banyoro.
Description: Great God.
Rules Over: Fertility, abundance, children, animals, harvest, health, sickness, death, judgement, rebirth.

Sakarabru
Location: Agni of Guinea.
Description: God who is strongest during the main phases of the Moon. Swift to punish wrongful deeds.
Rules Over: Medicine, justice, retribution.

Shango
Other Names: Schango.
Location: Yoruba of Nigeria.
Description: Carries a double-headed axe much like the nordic Thorr.
Rules Over: Thunder, Storm, War, Magick.

Soko
Location: Nupe of north Nigeria.
Description: Creator God.
Rules Over: Control of the Elements, Witchcraft, Communication with the Deceased.

Tilo
Location: Mozambique.
Description: Sky God.
Rules Over: Sky, Thunder, Rain.

Unkulunkulu
Other Names: Nkulnkulu.
Location: The Amazulu and Ndebele of Zimbabwe.
Description: Great God, Earth God.
Rules Over: Fertility, organization, order.

Utixo
Location: The Hottentots.
Description: Sky God who speaks with a voice of thunder.
Rules Over: Rain, Storms, Thunder, Harvest, Rebirth.

Wele
Other Names: Khakaba, Isaywa.
Location: Abaluyia, Bantu.
Description: “The High One”. Sky God, Creator God.
Rules Over: Rain, storms, lightning, creation, prosperity, harvest, celestial phenomena.

Were
Location: Luo of Kenya.
Description: Great God, Father God, Creator God.
Rules Over: Birth, Death, Nature, Judgement.

White Lady
Location: Tassali of the Sahara.
Description: Agricultural Goddess.
Rules Over: Agriculture, fertility.

Xevioso
Location: West Africa.
Description: He used a thunder axe.
Rules Over: Thunder, rain, fertility.

Ymoja
Location: Yoruba.
Description: River Goddess.
Rules Over: Women, children.

Tags: Moon God
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by Luminias

The Greek Pantheon

August 13, 2009 in Teachings by Luminias

The ancient Greek mankind, trying to explain certain metaphysical phenomena and anxieties, invented amazing myths concerning the Cosmogony (the creation of the World) and the Theogony (the birth of the Gods). Thus, the ancient Greek people created their own splendid, yet human-like world of gods, justifying the various abstract significances like Love, Birth or Death.

The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion are described in the Theogony, the famous poem of the Greek writer Hesiod (around 700 BC) and the Library of Apollodorus. The creation of the gods needs to be divided into four parts:

Aphrodite

The Greek goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth

Birth and Family of Aphrodite
As her name implies, Aphrodite (aphro=”foam”+dite=”arisen”), was created from the foam of the crystal waters of Paphos in Cyprus, when the titan Cronos slew his father, the major titan Ouranos, and threw then his genitals into the sea.
Aphrodite was married to the lame smith Hephaestus, who was the Olympian God of the Iron, but her heart was devoted to Ares, the God of War, with whom Aphrodite was having a passionate, but secret love affair.

According to a myth, Aphrodite gave birth to Eros, the winged cupid of love and was often accompanied by him. Other children of Aphrodite were Hemeros, Pothos(desire), Phobos(fear), Demos, Harmonia and Rhodes

The Role of Aphrodite as a Goddess
Aphrodite was the most attractive goddess of Mount Olympus. She was the goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth and was connected with the death/rebirth of nature and human beings.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Aphrodite was a highly attractive young woman with a golden wreath on her head, curled eyelashes and a constant smile on her lovely face She had beautiful buttocks and she dressed elegantly.
Aphrodite’s symbols were the girdle, which she was using to compel love, the seashell and the mirror. Her sacred animal was the dove.

The Roman name of Aphrodite is “Venus”

Apollo

The Olympian God of the Sun, the Light, the Music and the Prophecy

Family Tree of Apollo
Apollo was born by the King of the Gods Zeus and the mortal Leto in the divine Greek island of Delos. He was the younger twin of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

Apollo and the Music
Apollo was the Greek god of the Music. He invented the lute (a plucked string instrument with a body shaped like a pear), but most popular he was for his playing the lyre, which was invented by Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Apollo excelled in important music contests, competing against Greek god Hermes and the Satyr Pan as well as other deities.

Apollo also owned the precious gift of prophecy, given to him by his father Zeus in his infancy, and was the patron of the ancient city of Delphi, was the first oracle in Ancient Greece was located.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Apollo was a handsome, youthful god with impressive golden hair.
His symbols were the lyre, the tripod, the laurel tree and the navel stone.

The Roman name of Apollo is “Apollo”

Ares

The Olympian God of War and the figure behind all kind of violence

Ares, the Greek god of War, was the son of Zeus and Hera. The half-sister of Ares was Athena, the goddess of Wisdom and Skill. Athena also was a goddess of War but approached war solely for the purposes of justice.

Ares had his residence up on Mount Olympus and his throne was upholstered with human skin. Usually he was accompanied by Eris, the goddess of discord. Ares’ secret mistress was Aphrodite, the goddess of Love and Beauty; their union resulted to the birth of Armonia (Harmony), which was seen as a blend of two opposing powers.

Just like his mother Hera, Ares had a very difficult character to deal with and was therefore rather unpopular among the other deities and mankind. For this reason, no Greek city wanted to have him as its patron. He often had conflicts and fights with Artemis, the goddess of the Hunt and also with his sister Athena, especially during the Trojan War.

Ares was the first Greek god to be tried in the hill of Areios Pagus. Ares was accused by the Greek god Poseidon for having murdered his son Alirrothios, because Allirrothios attempted to rape Ares’ daughter, Alkippe.

Appearance and sacred symbols
The spear and the dogs
The Roman name of Ares is “Mars”

Artemis

The Greek goddess of the Hunt, the Moon and the Childbirth and protector of the young.

Family of Artemis
Greek goddess Artemis was born in Mount Cynthus at the island of Delos in Greece as a daughter of Zeus, the Ruler of the Greek gods and the mortal Leto. Artemis’ twin brother was Apollo, the god of the Sun, whereas Artemis’ cult was connected with the Moon. She had been born before Apollo and had helped her mother Leto to give birth to her little brother.

Artemis, the Virgin Huntress

As a child, Artemis had asked from her father Zeus to remain an eternal virgin and therefore became one of the three Virgin Goddesses in Greek mythology. Artemis had absolute sovereignty over nature and was said to bring fertility to all places that worshipped her. Usually accompanied by Nymphs and Oceanids, Artemis loved to hunt with arrows dipped in poison.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Artemis was usually armed with bow and arrows and was wearing a knee-high chiton
Her symbol was the bow and her sacred animals were the snake and the deer

The Roman name of Artemis is “Diana”

Athena

The Greek goddess of wisdom, skill and war

Athena’s extraordinary Birth
Athena was born during the battle of the Giants by Zeus and Metis, Zeus’ first wife, who was keeping inside herself the entire world’s wisdom.

Athena’s Skills
Athena was the goddess who taught mankind various skills such as weaving and sewing to the women and agriculture and metallurgy to men and was always giving precious advice and stood by on any danger.

Athena and the City of Athens
After competing against the Greek god Poseidon, Athena officially became the patron deity of the city of ancient Athens and the Parthenon was built in her honor. She was known as “Athena Nike” (Athena the victorious); as she was believed to have given the Athenians the victory during the Persian War.

Appearance and sacred symbols
A tall, slim woman with glacis eyes wearing a suit of armor and a golden helmet, the owl, the aegis and the distaff

The Roman name of Athena is “Minerva”

Demeter

The Greek goddess of agriculture and vegetation

After Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, Demeter was the second daughter of the titans Rhea and Cronus

Demeter was a peace-loving deity and the source of all growth and life; she was the goddess who provided all nutrition on the earth and taught mortals how to cultivate the earth and ease life. Demeter was most appreciated for introducing wheat to mankind, making man different from animals.

Appearance and sacred symbols
A rich haired woman with slender feet, wearing a dark cloak and an ear of wheat and the grains

The Roman name of Demeter is “Ceres”

Dionysus

The Greek God of Wine, Joy and Theatre and a Lover of Peace

Family of Dionysus
Dionysus was the son of the Zeus, the King of the Gods and the beautiful princess Semele. Goddess Aphrodite was his great-grandmother.

Personality and Style of Dionysus
Dionysus was known for his lightheartedness and always offered his help to anyone in need. He was therefore very popular among gods and mortals and many feasts were being held every year in his honor.

Dionysus was one of the Olympian gods who actually did not live in Mount Olympus but was constantly traveling around the world together with Satyrs and Maenads in order to discover the secrets of winemaking.

Appearance and sacred symbols
A handsome young man with impressive hair (usually tresses falling below his shoulders) and a wreath of ivy on his head. In his hand he was holding a “thyrsos”, which was a light staff wrapped with leaves of ivy and a pine cone on its top. The sacred animal of Dionysos was the panther.

The Roman name of Dionysus is “Bacchus”

Hades

The ruler of the Underworld

Hades was the Greek god of the Dead and, according to Plato; he should be considered as one of the Olympian gods.

Hades was the supreme ruler of the Underworld. Almost never did he leave his gloomy kingdom but was residing there instead, surrounded by darkness and silence…

Hades’ helper was Charos, the angel of dead. Charos had the duty to transfer the dead people’s souls with a boat over the River Acheron from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Furthermore, Hades had a dog with three heads which was named Cerberus.

Greek god Hades was a son of the titans Cronus and Rhea. Hades wife was Persephone whom he abducted from her divine mother Demeter and took with him down to the Underworld.

The Roman name of Hades is “Pluto”

Hephaestus

The Greek God of Metallurgy and the Smith of the Olympian Gods.

Family Tree of Hephaestus
Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, although it was considered by some that he had been conceived prenuptially. Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Beauty, but unfortunately Aphrodite never devoted herself entirely to Hephaestus.

Hephaestus’ Disability
Hephaestus was a very kind and loveable god, but was the only deity who was physically ugly and lame. When his mother Hera saw him for the first time, she was so frustrated that she took her son and threw him from Mount Olympus to the depths of the seas, causing a deformation to his leg. Hephaestus was finally rescued by two Nereid’s, Thetis and Eurynome, who raised him for nine years inside a cave, far away and hidden from his cruel mother.

The Workshop of Hephaestus
Hephaestus had his working lay beneath the crater of the volcano of Aetna in Italy. There, he was working together closely with the one-eyed Cyclops to create strong thunderbolts for his master Zeus. Hephaestus was also famous for having created the first woman of the ancient world, Pandora.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Fire, the axe, the pincers and the hammer

The Roman name of Hephaestus is “Vulcan”

Hera

The goddess of Marriage and Family and protector of married women.

Family Tree of Hera
Hera was born by the Titans Cronus and Rhea and was one of the three sisters of Zeus and later on became his wife as well.
The royal wedding of Zeus and Hera was celebrated with exceptional splendor and the couple gave birth to four children; Eilithyia, the goddess who was protecting the childbirth, Ares, the Olympian god of war, Hebe, the goddess of youth and Hephaestus, the Olympian god of metallurgy. According to some beliefs, Hephaestus was born without the intervention of Zeus.

Hera’s troubled marriage with Zeus
Although Hera was one of the fairest goddesses in Mount Olympus, Zeus was giving Hera plenty of reason to be suspicious and jealous; Hera therefore used to stay in high places in order to keep an eye on her husband’s doings. There were times she would also interfering, causing harm to Zeus’ mistresses, since Zeus himself was invincible. Most of all, Hera was in conflict with the semi-god and hero Heracles, since he happened to be the son of her husband Zeus and a mortal woman.

Trivia about Hera
Strange to say, Hera, besides being a mother, also embodied the eternal virginity, since she was annually renewing her virginity by bathing in the spring of Canathus in Nauplia (Peloponnes/southern Greece). Hera therefore was considered as one of the three virgin goddesses in ancient Greece, next to Ath”All strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a gift, though small, is precious.” –Homer, the Odyssey

Appearance and sacred symbols
Hera was a beautiful, mature woman wearing an ornate crown and golden sandals.
Hera’s symbol was the pomegranate, a symbol of fertility, and her sacred animal was the peacock.

The Roman name of Hera is “Juno”

Hermes

The Greek God of the Trade and luck-bringing Messenger of the Gods.

Hermes was born inside a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia (Peloponnes) as the son Zeus, the King of the Gods, and the mountain Nymph Maea.

Hermes was having wings on his sandals and therefore was the speediest of all Greek gods. Because of his speed, Hermes received the role of the messenger and conductor of souls to the Underworld.

Hermes was the only Olympian god who was authorized to visit Heaven, Earth and also the Underworld and enjoyed this way popularity among all the Greek gods and spirits.

Appearance and sacred symbols
A young man, wearing traveling clothes, a flat hat known as “petasus” and winged sandals on his feet. Oftentimes he was also considered to have wings attached to his shoulders and hat. Hermes usually held a winged staff with snakes wrapped around it in his hands in order to gain access everywhere.

The Roman name of Hermes is “Mercury”

Hestia

The goddess of the hearth, home and family.

Hestia personified the fire hat was burning in the hearth of every home. All families were pouring sweet wine in her name and the fire was not allowed to go out by any family unless it was ritually extinguished. Hestia herself was never leaving her residence, the sacred mountain of Olympus.

Greek goddess Hestia was the eldest daughter of the titans Cronus and Rhea and a senior goddess among the mortals.

All Olympian deities respected and loved Hestia because of her kind, forgiving soul and her discrete character, since Hestia never participated in any disputes or wars. Hestia may not have had a public cult, but she was always worshipped in any temple, regardless of the god it was dedicated to.

Hestia was one of the three virgin goddesses, next to Athena and Hera. Both Poseidon and Apollo had wished to marry her; however Hestia had given the oath to Zeus to never enter into a union with a male and to remain forever pure and undefiled.

The Roman name of Hestia is “Vesta”

Poseidon

The God of the Seas, the horses and the earthquakes.

Family of Poseidon
Poseidon, the Greek god of the Seas, was born by the major Titans Cronus and Rhea. He was an older brother of Zeus, the King of the gods.

The powers of Poseidon and his way of life
Poseidon was the Greek god responsible for natural and supernatural events, mainly the ones associated to the sea world. He possessed a trident which was so powerful that it could shake the earth. Poseidon could cause tempests and earthquakes, drown lands, shatter rocks and had the ability to finally bring back peacefulness.
Poseidon possessed two palaces, the one was up in Mount Olympus and the other was located in the depths of the seas and was bejeweled with gold and precious gems. Usually Poseidon preferred to stay with his wife Amphitrite beneath the ocean.

Personality of Poseidon
Poseidon was considered to be the bad-tempered, moody and greedy god among the Olympians. Once insulted, he would revenge himself, like he did in the case of Odysseus, who brutally blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Poseidon was imposing and strong with long, blue hair.
His symbol was the trident and his sacred animals were the dolphin and the horse.

The Roman name of Poseidon is “Neptune”

Zeus

The Supreme God in Ancient Greece, father of the Olympian gods and ruler of mankind.

Family of Zeus
Zeus was the last child of the titans Cronus and Rhea and had five older brothers and sisters. All of them had been swallowed by their jealous father, however, Zeus managed to escape the menace and free his siblings later on.
Zeus married his own sister Hera, the goddess of marriage and monogamy, but was giving her plenty of reasons to be jealous, since Zeus was renowned of his numerous love affairs.

Role and Responsibilities
Zeus had his golden throne on the highest summit of Mount Olympus and was respected and awed by all Gods and mortals. He was the “Lord of Justice”, punishing anyone who lied or broke an oath, but was fair and always striving to keep a balance of all things.
Furthermore, Zeus was responsible for the weather and was shaping it according to his temper. When in high spirits, Zeus was blessing the world with fine weather; in case of bad mood, however, he would throw rain, winds, lightning and thunderbolts to cause disaster to the mortals.

But even Zeus’ powers had their limits, for, however powerful as he was, he had neither the right nor the ability to intervene the decisions of the Fat” All strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a gift, though small, is precious.” –Homer, the Odyssey

Zeus was the Supreme God in Ancient Greece, father of the Olympian gods and ruler of mankind.

Appearance and sacred symbols
Zeus was imposing with long, oftentimes curly hair
Zeus’ symbols were the scale and the thunderbolt, which was as a gift from the Cyclops because he liberated them. His sacred animal was the eagle.

The Roman name of Zeus is “Jupiter”

Tags: The Greek Pantheon
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by Luminias

The Egyptian Pantheon

August 12, 2009 in Teachings by Luminias

Ancient Egypt has provided the world with one of the best recognized and most intricate pantheons in existence; one which continues to fascinate and influence even today, some 5100 years beyond its emergence from prehistory. This page is intended as a reference guide for students of Egyptian mythology.

The format will consist of a Name and a description of the divinity. The description will include areas of authority, attributes, images, appearance, and selected comments or stories which might help characterize the divinity better.

On Names

A number of Egyptian divinities are now known by the most recent version of their name or, especially, a Greek transcription of that name. Nevertheless, earlier versions in the native language exist, and where there is a significant difference I have tried to provide a note on the original form, while retaining the most common form for familiarities sake. Such notes must be viewed as somewhat tentative, because of the nature of the ancient Egyptian language.

Like all Semitic tongues, Egyptian was written without vowel signs, leaving later transcribers to guess at what words sounded like, or utilize foreign (usually Greek) versions of those words to form an idea of their true pattern.

On Animal Iconography

The Egyptian divinities are well-known for being portrayed with the heads and visages of various beasts. The relationship between the divinities and such creatures is complex, and beyond the scope of this article. Nevertheless, it should be noted that these creatures were not necessarily the only animals sacred to the God or Goddess they are connected with, or that they were the exclusive figure used to image the divinity – in some cases the God or Goddess claimed more than one animal, and in some cases the God or Goddess was portrayed with any of several different creatures faces. Even so, in most cases a particular creature was almost always used to image a divinity.

The GODS and GODDESSES

Amun
Variant spellings: Amon, Amen, Ammon, Amoun
Amun’s name means “The Hidden One.” Amun was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed (along with his consort Amunet) as a primordial creation-deity by the priests of Hermopolis. His sacred animals were the goose and the ram.

Up to the Middle Kingdom Amun was merely a local god in Thebes; but when the Thebans had established their sovereignty in Egypt, Amun became a prominent deity, and by Dynasty 18 was termed the King of the Gods. His famous temple, Karnak, is the largest religious structure ever built by man. According to Budge, by Dynasty 19 or 20, Amun was thought of as “an invisible creative power which was the source of all life in heaven, and on the earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld, and which made itself manifest under the form of Ra.” Additionally, Amun appears to have been the protector of any pious devotee in need.

Amun was self-created, according to later traditions; according to the older Theban traditions, Amun was created by Thoth as one of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amun, Amunet, Heq, Heqet, Nun, Naunet, Kau, and Kauket).
During the New Kingdom, Amun’s consort was Mut, “Mother,” who seems to have been the Egyptian equivalent of the “Great Mother” archetype. Their child was the moon god Khons.

Amun-Re
Variant spelling: Amon-Ra
A composite deity, devised to link New Kingdom (Dynasties 18-21) worship of Amun with the older solar cult of the god Re. In a union of this sort, the deities are said to indwell one another – so we have the power represented by Amun manifesting through the person of Re (or vice versa). This sort of relationship is common among Egyptian gods, particularly among cosmic or national deities. It is an example of how the Egyptian gods are viewed, as Morenz puts it, of having “personality but not individuality.”

Anubis
Greek version of Egyptian Anpu
Anubis was the son of Nephthys. By some traditions, the father was Set; by others, Osiris. (And by still other traditions his mother was not Nephthys but Isis.) Anubis was depicted as a jackal, or as a jackal-headed man; in primitive times he was probably simply the jackal god.

Probably because of the jackal’s tendency to prowl around tombs, he became associated with the dead, and by the Old Kingdom, Anubis was worshipped as the inventor of embalming, who had embalmed the dead Osiris, thus helping preserve him in order to live again. His task became to glorify and preserve all the dead.

Anubis was also worshipped under the form Wepwawet or Upuaut (“Opener of the Ways”), sometimes with a rabbit’s head, who conducted the souls of the dead to their judgment, and who monitored the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from the second death in the underworld.

Anuket
In Upper Egypt, around Elephantine, Anuket was worshipped as the companion (generally the daughter) of Khnum and Sati. Her sacred animal was the gazelle. She was believed to be the dispenser of cool water, and wore a feathered crown on her human head.

Apis
An early deity, probably the best known Egyptian deity represented only as an animal, and never as a human with an animal’s head. Apis was most closely linked with Ptah, and his cult center was Memphis. He was primarily a deity of fertility. He was represented as a bull crowned with the solar disk and uraeus-serpent. A sacred Apis bull was kept in Memphis, and there is a great mass burial of Apis bulls, the Serapeum (named for his composite relative Serapis), located there.

Aten
variant spelling: Aton
The sun-disk itself, recognized first in the Middle Kingdom, and later becoming an aspect of the sun god. In the reign of Amunhotep IV during Dynasty 18, Aten was depicted as a disk with rays, each ray terminating in a human hand and bestowing symbols of “life” upon those below. Aten was declared the only true deity during this period, but the worship of Amun and the other deities was restored by Amunhotep IV’s successor Tutankhamun. Morenz believes the name “Aten” was pronounced something like “Yati” during the height of its cult.

Atum
A primordial creator god, worshipped as the head of the Heliopolitan family of gods. Father of Shu and Tefnut, and in later times believed to be one with the sun god Re.

Bast
variant spelling: Bastet

A cat-goddess, worshiped in the Delta city of Bubastis. A protectress of cats and those who cared for cats. As a result, an important deity in the home (since cats were prized pets) and also important in the iconography (since papyri usually show the serpents which attack the sun being killed by cats).

In later Egyptian mythology Bast is also a patroness of luxury and pleasures.
Bes
A deity of either African or Semitic origin; came to Egypt by Dynasty 12. Depicted as a bearded, savage-looking yet comical dwarf, shown full-face in images (highly unusual by Egyptian artistic conventions). Revered as a deity of household pleasures such as music, good food, and relaxation. Also a protector and entertainer of children.

Duamutef
variant spelling: Tuamutef
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Duamutef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was the protector of the stomach of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Neith.

Edjo
A serpent goddess of the Delta, a symbol and protrectress of Lower Egypt, the counterpart of Nekhbet in Upper Egypt, worn as part of the king’s crown.

Four Sons of Horus
The four sons of Horus were the protectors of the parts of the body of Osiris, and from this, became the protectors of the body of the deceased. They were: Imsety, Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebhsenuef. They were protected in turn by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Selket.

Geb
variant spelling: Seb
The god of the earth; son of Shu and Tefnut; brother and husband of Nut; and father of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. His sacred animal and symbol was the goose. He is generally represented as a man with green or black skin – the color of living things, and the color of the fertile Nile mud, respectively. Several New Kingdom funerary texts say that Geb would hold imprisoned the souls of the wicked, that they might not ascend to heaven. Note that Geb is masculine, contrasting with many other religious traditions in which Earth is feminine.

Hadit
See Horus of Behedet.

Hapi
The English version of the name of two different deities:
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was represented as a mummified man with the head of a baboon. He was the protector of the lungs of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Nephthys. See also Four Sons of Horus,

Nephthys
Spelled with different hieroglyphs, Hapi is also the name of the god who was the personification of the River Nile, depicted as a corpulent man (fat signifying abundance) with a crown of lilies (Upper Nile) or papyrus plants (Lower Nile).

Hathor
variant spellings: Hathoor, Het-heru, Het-Hert
A very old goddess of Egypt, worshiped as a cow-deity from earliest times. The name “Hathor” is the Greek corruption of the Egyptian names Het-Hert (“the House Above”) or Het-Heru (“the House of Horus”). Both terms refer to her as a sky goddess, and the latter shows her as the consort of Horus. In later times she is often connected with, or even equated with, Isis.

She was usually shown with a solar disk flanked by cow horns on her head. At Thebes, she was considered a goddess of the dead, and wore the hieroglyph for “West” (amenta) on her head. She was also the patron of love, dance, alcohol, and foreign lands.

Harpocrates
Greek version of Egyptian Hor-pa-kraat

“Horus the Child”, the son of Isis and Osiris as a little child, distinguished from Horus the Elder, who was the patron deity of Upper Egypt. Represented as a young boy with a child’s side lock of hair, sucking his finger.

The old English occult group, the Golden Dawn, connected him with silence, presumably because the sucking of the finger is suggestive of the common “shhh” gesture.

Heqet
A primordial goddess with the head of a frog, worshipped as one of the Eight Gods at Hermopolis, and seen as the consort of Khnum at Arsinoë.

Horus
Greek version of Egyptian Heru
One of the most important deities of Egypt. As the Child, Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis, who, upon reaching adulthood, avenges his father’s death, by defeating and castrating his evil uncle Set. He then became the divine prototype of the Pharaoh.

As Heru-Ur “Horus the Elder”, he was the patron deity of Upper (Southern) Egypt from the earliest times; initially, viewed as the twin brother of Set (the patron of Lower Egypt), but he became the conqueror of Set c. 3000 BC. when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and formed the unified kingdom of Egypt.

Horus of Behdet
variant spelling: Hadit
A form of Horus worshipped in the city of Behdet, shown in the well-known form of a solar disk with a great pair of wings, usually seen hovering above important scenes in Egyptian religious art. Made popular by Aleister Crowley under the poorly transliterated name “Hadit”, the god appears to have been a way of depicting the omnipresence of Horus.

Imhotep
Imhotep was a historical figure. He was the architect, physician, scribe, and vizier of the 3rd Dynasty pharaoh Horus Netjerykhet Djoser. It was Imhotep who conceived and built the Step Pyramid at Sakkara. In the Late Period, Imhotep was worshipped as the son of Ptah and a god of medicine, as well as the patron (with Thoth) of scribes. The Greeks considered him to be Asklepios, the god of medicine.

Imsety
variant spellings: Amset, Mestha
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Imsety was represented as a mummified man. He was the protector of the liver of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Isis.

Isis
Greek version of Egyptian Aset (variants: Iset, Auset)
Perhaps the most important goddess (or god, for that matter) of all Egyptian mythology, Isis assumed, during the course of Egyptian history, the attributes and functions of virtually every other important goddess in the land.

Her most important functions, however, were those of motherhood, marital devotion, healing the sick, and the working of magical spells and charms. She was believed to be the most powerful magician in the universe, owing to the fact that she had learned the Secret Name of Ra from the god himself.

She was the sister and wife of Osiris, sister of Set, and twin sister of Nephthys. She was the mother of Horus the Child (Harpocrates), and was the protective goddess of Horus’s son Imsety, protector of the liver of the deceased.

Isis was responsible for protecting Horus from Set during his infancy; for helping Osiris to return to life; and for assisting her husband to rule in the land of the Dead.

Her cult seems to have originally centered, like her husband’s, at Abydos near the Delta in the North (Lower Egypt); she was adopted into the family of Re early in Egyptian history by the priests of Heliopolis, but from the New Kingdom onwards (c. 1500 BC) her worship no longer had any particular identifiable center, and she became more or less universally worshiped, as her husband was.

Khepri
The creator-god, according to early Heliopolitan cosmology; assimilated with Atum and Ra. The Egyptian root kheper signifies several things, according to context, most notably the verb “to create” or “to transform”, and also the word for “scarab beetle”. The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it – this was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere of the sun through the sky.

Khnum
Appearing as a ram-headed human, Khnum was worshipped most at Arsinoë and Elephantine. He was another creator-god, represented as fashioning human beings on his pottery wheel. His consort was variously Heqet, Neith, or Sati.

Khons
The third member (with his parents Amen and Mut) of the great triad of Thebes. Khons was the god of the moon. The best-known story about him tells of him playing the ancient game senet (“passage”) against Thoth, and wagering a portion of his light. Thoth won, and because of losing some of his light, Khons cannot show his whole glory for the entire month, but must wax and wane. The main temple in the enclosure at Karnak is dedicated to him.

Maat
Considered the wife of Thoth and the daughter of Re by various traditions, Maat’s name implies “truth” and “justice” and even “cosmic order”, but there is no clear English equivalent. She is an anthropomorphic personification of the concept maat and as such has little mythology. Maat was represented as a tall woman with an ostrich feather (the glyph for her name) in her hair. She was present at the judgment of the dead; her feather was balanced against the heart of the deceased to determine whether he had led a pure and honest life.

Mentu
variant spellings: Month, Montu
The principal god of Thebes before the rise of the Amen cult; appeared as a falcon-headed man and often united with Horus. Primarily a war god.

Min
variant spellings: Menu, Amsu
A form of Amen depicted holding a flail (thought to represent a thunderbolt in Egyptian art) and with an erect penis; his full name was often given as Menu-ka-mut-f “Min, Bull of his Mother”. Min was worshiped as the god of virility; lettuces were offered as sacrifice to him and then eaten in hopes of procuring manhood; and he was later worshiped as the husband of the goddess Qetesh, goddess of love and femininity.

Mut
The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; the word mut in Egyptian means “mother”, and she was the mother of Khonsu, the moon god.

Nefertum
The youthful son of Ptah and Sekhmet, connected with the rising sun; depicted as a youth crowned with or seated upon a lotus blossom.

Neith
variant spellings: Net, Neit
A very ancient goddess of war, worshiped in the Delta; revered as a goddess of wisdom, identified with Athena by the Greeks; in later traditions, the sister of Isis, Nephthys, and Selket, and protectress of Duamutef, the god of the stomach of the deceased. Mother of the crocodile god Sobek.

Nekhbet
Upper Egyptian patron goddess, represented as a vulture in iconography, and often part of the crown of the pharaoh, along with her Lower Egyptian counterpart Edjo.

Nephthys
Greek version of Egyptian Nebt-het
“Lady of the House”, the youngest child of Geb and Nut. The sister and wife of Set, and sister of Isis and Osiris; also the mother (variantly by Set or by Osiris) of Anubis. She abandoned Set when he killed Osiris, and assisted Isis in the care of Horus and the resurrection of Osiris. She was, along with her sister, considered the special protectress of the dead, and she was the guardian of Hapi, the protector of the lungs of the deceased.

She is given the title “Friend of the Dead” and is seen as a personification of darkness (in a non-evil sense) as Isis is a goddess of light.

Nut
variant spelling: Nuit
The goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb, mother of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys.

Nut was generally depicted as a woman with blue skin, and her body covered with stars, standing on all fours, leaning over her husband, representing the sky arched over the earth.

Aleister Crowley, the English occultist, connected her with “Hadit” (Horus of Behedet). This has almost no basis in Egyptology; only that Behedet was often depicted underneath Nut – one finds Nut forming the upper frame of a scene, and the winged disk floating beneath, silently as always. This is an artistic convention, and there seems to have been no marriage between the two in Egyptian myth.

Osiris
Greek version of Egyptian Asar (variant: Ausar)
The god of the dead, and the god of the resurrection into eternal life; ruler, protector, and judge of the deceased, and his prototype (where in English we use the euphemism “the deceased” or “the late”, Egyptians referred to “the Osiris”). His cult originated in Abydos, where his actual tomb was said to be located.

Osiris was the first child of Nut and Geb, thus the brother of Set, Nephthys, and Isis, who was also his wife. By Isis he fathered Horus, and according to some stories, Nephthys assumed the form of Isis, seduced him thus, and from their union was born Anubis.

Osiris ruled the world of men in the beginning, after Ra had abandoned the world to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his brother Set. Through the magic of Isis, he was made to live again. Being the first person to die, he subsequently became lord of the dead. His death was avenged by his son Horus, who defeated Set and cast him out into the desert to the West of Egypt (the Sahara).

Prayers and spells were addressed to Osiris throughout Egyptian history, in hopes of securing his blessing and entering the afterlife which he ruled; but his popularity steadily increased through the Middle Kingdom. By Dynasty 18 he was probably the most widely worshipped god in Egypt. His popularity endured until the latest phases of Egyptian history; relief’s still exist of Roman emperors, conquerors of Egypt, dressed in the traditional garb of the Pharaohs, making offerings to him in the temples.

Pharaohs as deities
From earliest times in Egypt the pharaohs were worshipped as gods: the son of Re, the son of Horus, the son of Amun, etc. depending upon what period of Egyptian history and what part of the country is being considered. The pharaoh was looked upon as being chosen by and favored by the gods, his fathers.

Ptah
Worshipped in Memphis from the earliest dynastic times (c.3000 BC), Ptah was seen as the creator of the universe in the Memphite cosmology. He fashioned the bodies in which dwelt the souls of men in the afterlife. Other versions of the myths state that he worked under Thoth’s orders, creating the heavens and the earth according to Thoth’s specifications.

Ptah is depicted as a bearded man wearing a skullcap, shrouded much like a mummy, with his hands emerging from the wrappings in front and holding the Was (animal-headed) scepter, an Ankh, and a Djed (sign of stability). He was often worshipped in conjunction with the gods Seker and Osiris, and worshipped under the name Ptah-seker-ausar.

He was said to be the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum, and later, Imhotep.

Qebehsenuef
variant spelling: Qebsnewef
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Qebhsenuef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a falcon. He was the protector of the intestines of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Selket.

Qetesh
A late entry into the Egyptian pantheon believed originally to be a Syrian deity, Qetesh was a goddess of love and beauty. Qetesh was depicted as a beautiful nude woman, standing or riding upon a lion, holding flowers, a mirror, or serpents. She is generally shown full-face (unusual in Egyptian artistic convention). She was also considered the consort of the god Min, the god of virility.

Re
variant spelling: Ra
Re was the god of the sun during dynastic Egypt; the name is thought to have meant “creative power”, and as a proper name “Creator”, similar to English Christian usage of the term “Creator” to signify the “almighty God.” Very early in Egyptian history, Re was identified with Horus, who as a hawk or falcon-god represented the loftiness of the skies. Re is represented either as a hawk-headed man or as a hawk. In order to travel through the waters of Heaven and the Underworld, Re was depicted as traveling in a boat.

In dynastic Egypt, Re’s cult center was Annu (Hebrew “On”, Greek “Heliopolis”, near modern-day Cairo). In Dynasty 5, the first king, Userkaf, was also Re’s high priest, and he added the term Sa-Re “Son of Re” to the titles of the pharaohs.

Re was father of Shu and Tefnut, grandfather of Nut and Geb, great-grandfather of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys, and great-great-grandfather to Horus.

In later periods (about Dynasty 18 on) Osiris and Isis surpassed him in popularity, but he remained Re netjer-aa neb-pet “Re, the great god, Lord of Heaven” whether worshiped in his own right or, in later times, as one aspect of the Lord of the Universe, Amun-Re.

Re-Horakhty
variant spelling: Ra-Hoor-Khuit
“Re, who is Horus of the Horizons.” An appellation of Re, identifying him with Horus, showing the two as manifestations of the singular Solar Force. The spelling “Ra-Hoor-Khuit” was popularized by the English occultist Aleister Crowley.

Sati
The goddess of Elephantine, and the consort of Khnum. Together with their companion Anuket, dispenser of cool water. Represented with human head, the crown of Upper Egypt, and the horns of gazelles.

Seker
A god of light, protector of the spirits of the dead passing through the Underworld en route to the afterlife. Seker was worshiped in Memphis as a form of Ptah or as part of the compound deities Ptah-seker or Ptah-seker-ausar. Seker was usually depicted as having the head of a hawk, and shrouded as a mummy, similar to Ptah.

Sekhmet
A lioness goddess, worshiped in Memphis as the wife of Ptah; created by Re from the fire of his eyes as a creature of vengeance to punish mortals for their sins; later, was transformed into a peaceful goddess of pleasure and happiness, Hathor.

Selket
variant spellings: Serqet, Serket
A scorpion-goddess, shown as a beautiful woman with a scorpion poised on her head; her creature struck death to the wicked, but she was also petitioned to save the lives of innocent people stung by scorpions; she was also viewed as a helper of women in childbirth. She is depicted as binding up demons that would otherwise threaten Re, and she sent seven of her scorpions to protect Isis from Set. She protected Qebehsenuef, the son of Horus who guarded the intestines of the deceased. She was made famous by her statue from Tutankhamen’s tomb, which was part of the collection which toured America in the 1970′s.

Serapis
A Ptolemaic period god, devised by the Greeks from Osiris and Apis. Supposedly the consort of Isis, god of the afterlife and fertility. Also physician and helper of distressed worshippers. He never obtained much following from the native Egyptian population, who worshipped the original Apis. His cult center was Alexandria.

Set
variant spellings: Seth, Sutekh
In earliest times, Set was the patron deity of Lower (Northern) Egypt, and represented the fierce storms of the desert that the Lower Egyptians sought to appease. However, when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the 1st Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper Egypt’s dynastic god).

Set was the brother of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, and husband of the latter; according to some versions of the myths he is also father of Anubis.

Set is best known for murdering his brother and attempting to kill his nephew Horus; Horus, however, managed to survive and grew up to avenge his father’s death by establishing his rule over all Egypt, castrating Set, and casting him out into the lonely desert for all time.

In the 19th Dynasty there began a resurgence of respect for Set, and he was seen as a great god once more, the god who benevolently restrained the forces of the desert and protected Egypt from foreigners. This resurgence was probably due to the fact that the ruling family had red hair, long associated with Set himself.

Shu
The god of the atmosphere and of dry winds, son of Ra, brother and husband of Tefnut, father of Geb and Nut. Represented in hieroglyphs by an ostrich feather (similar to Maat’s), which he is usually shown wearing on his head. He is generally shown standing on the recumbent Geb, holding aloft his daughter Nut, separating the two.

The name “Shu” is probably related to the root shu meaning “dry, empty.” Shu also seems to be a personification of the sun’s light. Shu and Tefnut were also said to be but two halves of one soul, perhaps the earliest recorded example of “soul mates.”

Sobek
The crocodile god, worshipped at the city of Arsinoë, called Crocodilopolis by the Greeks. Sobek was worshipped to appease him and his animals. According to some evidence, Sobek was considered a fourfold deity who represented the four elemental gods (Re of fire, Shu of air, Geb of earth, and Osiris of water). In the Book of the Dead, Sobek assists in the birth of Horus; he fetches Isis and Nephthys to protect the deceased; and he aids in the destruction of Set.

Sothis
Feminine Greek name for the star Sirius, which very early meshed with Isis (being the consort of Sahu-Osiris, which was Orion). Also associated with Hathor.

Tefnut
The goddess of moisture and clouds, daughter of Re, sister and wife of Shu, mother of Geb and Nut. Depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, which was her sacred animal. The name “Tefnut” probably derives from the root teftef, signifying “to spit, to moisten” and the root nu meaning “waters, sky.”

Thoth
Greek version of Egyptian Tahuti
The god of wisdom, Thoth was said to be self-created at the beginning of time, along with his consort Ma’at (truth), or perhaps created by Re. At Hermopolis it was said that from Thoth were produced eight children, of which the most important was Amun, “the hidden one”, who was worshiped in Thebes as the Lord of the Universe. Thoth was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, and carried a pen and scrolls upon which he recorded all things. He was shown as attendant in almost all major scenes involving the gods, but especially at the judgment of the deceased. He served as the messenger of the gods, and was thus equated by the Greeks with Hermes.

Thoth served in Osirian myths as the vizier (chief advisor and minister) of Osiris. He, like Khons, is a god of the moon, and is also the god of time, magic, and writing. He was considered the inventor of the hieroglyphs, which the Egyptians called medju-netjer, “words of the gods”.

Thoueris
Greek version of Egyptian Ta-urt
A hippopotamus goddess, responsible for fertility and protecting women in childbirth. Partner of Bes Wepwawet

egyptian-family-tree-Ennead

Tags: Egypt, Four Sons Horus, Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt
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