Welcome to the Age of Aquarius

 PART I: What is Astrology?

 

Astrology is the ancestor of Astronomy, just as Alchemy is the ancestor of Chemistry.  Nobody knows when Astrology began because humans have been studying the sky throughout all our history. One reason was to discern patterns and correspondences between the movements of the “heavenly bodies” and the movements of time (as in the Seasons).  

 

Eventually, humans learned to predict the movements of the heavenly bodies into the Future.  When we reference the Future in Astrology, we are usually talking about Transits.  If we know that Venus, for instance, is transiting our Natal Sun's position in the sky at a certain time, we might have an experience where we can use our charm, or we may expect a pleasant social experience.  This is about the interplay of the energies of Venus (balance, harmony, personal charm) and the Sun (the expression of our core identity, our "Center") coming together.

 

Some people have used Astrology to predict very specific details....things like when will I marry? how many children will I have?  how much money will I make? when will I die?  I do not believe these things can be predicted; because I believe that the future is flexible and can be changed by our actions.  However, we CAN predict the energies we will encounter in our lives by studying our Natal Horoscope, and the way our Natal planets interact with the transits in the sky that occur during our lives.

Jonathan Cainer, one of my favorite astrologers, put it this way:

"In the ocean of existence, we are all surfers. 

Want to know which waves to seize and which to steer clear of?"   

 This means that Astrology can inform us which energies will be good for us, and which ones will challenge us and give us a hard time in our life. For instance, when we encounter the energy of Saturn, it can feel very limiting. Saturn is a "teacher in the school of hard knocks." Experience can teach us many things. Saturn is like a stone....and it can feel like a "stumbling block," or we can use it as a "stepping stone" or build something with it.  It really depends on us. Astrologer Caroline Casey says:

"Astrology is not a belief system; it is a language of the dynamic interplabetween our interior life and the exterior world. The astrological language grants us access to the invisible realm it describes, and provides the vocabulary with which we can begin a detailed investigative exploration of the psyche."

 The Horoscope is a Map for this exploration, a map of the sky at the moment of our birth. that guides us to our gifts and our blind spots, our talents and our potential. Astrology can show us these. And knowing these, we can meet the Future (whatever it may be) better prepared and better able to handle whatever comes up.

If ancient Mariners used the sky to give them knowledge of where they were and where they were going, why can't we do the same?

PART II: What is the Age of Aquarius?

 

"Astrology is the study of cycles."  –Kaypacha

The great astrological year is one of those cycles. It marks the 25,600 years that it takes for the earth's axis to rotate in a complete circle around the North Star.  The 25,600-year cycle consists of 12 astrological ages of just over 2,000 years each.  We are now exiting the Age of Pisces and entering the Age of Aquarius.

This movement is called "The Precession of the Equinoxes," because the Earth wobbles just a little and also appears to move backwards through the Zodiac.  (You can read about this phenomenon in some of the LINKS given in the RESOURCES section below.)

"We are currently in the process of leaving the Age of Pisces and preparing to enter the Age of Aquarius. The symbol for the Age of Aquarius is a human pouring water from a great jug. This suggests that in the Age to come, the powerful waters of the unconscious will no longer be a source of illusion and confusion. Instead, people will start using them in more conscious and beneficial ways."   —Atasha Fyfe

                    
Exactly!  Or, in other words, more of us will be growing up, becoming spiritual adults who do not need to listen to any spiritual authority (except to our own Greater Self), and who can work with nature, and with each other, in many ways, for the good of all, according to free will.  

We are at a point in the developmental history of human consciousness where development will accelerate. The major evidence for this is the increased number of meaningful coincidences people are noticing in their lives.  –James Redfield

PART 3:  The Age of Pisces:     

                  

The Age of Pisces (which we are now leaving) has been an age of duality.  Think of common symbol for Pisces: Two Fish going opposite ways.  Pisces is a WATER sign. The symbol of water is about the flowing of our emotions and feelings.  Underwater is the archetypal symbol of the unconscious. The two fish tied together, but pointed different ways, suggests unconscious forces with opposing agendas.

Some cite Jesus as the avatar of the Age, but it was really any person who was unjustly persecuted for their spiritual beliefs or their innocent actions that somehow threatened the "authorities" of the day.  And there have been a lot of them.      

There is so much karma coming to the fore now.  All the karma from the last 2000 years and even from before that: i.e.,The Crusades, the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II...the subjugation and persecution of women, of tribes, of people who somehow seemed to threaten others, whether they did or not!  As the Age of Aquarius emerges, we come to terms with all of this!  Past lives are being triggered.  Old business that was never resolved in those past lives is being activated, here and now. 
                                
Not all was bad about the Age of Pisces, however.  

There was another, hidden side to the Age of Pisces. Peeking behind the grey curtain of official history reveals a big surprise. There was a huge underground veneration of the feminine. Because it had to be kept secret, this was probably more widespread than we can ever know. It flowered especially well in what came to be called the Courts of Love. These were aristocratic strongholds such as chateaux, castles and great manor houses.
–Atasha Fyfe

All through the Age of Pisces, hidden streams of ancient knowledge were kept alive in symbols, secret groups, and not only among the artistocrats!  People who traveled (including actors, musicians, soldiers, sailors, wandering tribes, and skilled craftsmen) carried knowledge from one place to another, sometimes having to couch this knowledge within symbols in order to protect themselves. Groups were formed to protect the members who shared the knowledge.

Poets and musicians, sometimes called Troubadours, would spread songs of love and freedom, couched in symbolism and codes.  Many artists also hid "clues" in their artworks that pointed to this esoteric underground source of wisdoms.

Fulcanelli (a French alchemist) explained that the great Gothic cathedrals of France were in fact "books in stone" - that is to say, they were designed by Adepts for the instruction and inspiration of the masses towards the secret wisdom, not just the popular religious wisdom of the day.

Of course the Church would never have sponsored such designs, and so the Masters used the Magical Language (also called the Language of the Birds, or the Green Language) to conceal their designs. Only a mind that was ready for the Truth would be able to decode the symbols, letters and numbers of the structure.

In his book, The Sufis, Idris Shah speaks of these underground streams of knowledge and shows how they were international, spreading through clandestine networks globally.

The common people had their own way of honoring "The Old Ways," and much of the ancient traditions were hidden in Fairy Tales or "Old Wives' Tales."  Folklore and Folk Music preserved much.  Much was incorporated into the religious calendar when the people loved and valued  the traditions so much that they refused to give them up.  In Christianity, for example, much of the ancient Goddess Lore was folded into the people’s devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Religion will survive. I firmly believe we go through these various ages to expand our knowledge and experience, not to discard what we have gone through as we move on to the next thing. The Age of Pisces has been a powerful building block upon which to stand. Hopefully, if we stand high enough we can reach the sky and discover true wisdom, but that does require that we keep building upon what we have learned.

If we lose our spirituality we will have learned nothing from the Age of Pisces. Many scientists say to me that the closer you get to mathematicians and physics the closer you come to God and the underpinnings of our beautifully, magically constructed universe. Our world is ever fascinating, but complete understanding of it is always just out of our reach.

Can we carry on and improve on the spirit of the earth's collective consciousness? It is not, as I see it, a question of spirituality OR science but a question of blending the two. Science will bring up more questions than answers, and if we are to solve them, we will need to rely on the ethical, moral and religious judgements that we make individually. These are the conclusions we draw after a sleepless night, in the quiet pre-dawn hours when we lie awake and meet our true souls. If we are going to be able to live with ourselves, we must find those answers, even if it means pulling those solutions from the bottom of our hearts, and we must bravely state what we stand for out loud. There is a reason we came from the Age of Pisces, so let's hold on to the treasures and mysteries of faith it gave us.
    
–Susan Miller

Part 4:  The Age of Aquarius: Starting Here and Now:

We've had Ages of Monarchs and Authoritarian Rulers of all kinds in the past.  The Aquarian Age is the Age of the People.  ALL the people. The Whole Earth. Including the plant people, the animal people, the rock people, etc.    

The Current of Aquarian Energy is awakening on the planet now and it is electrifying us all!  We are waking to our own inner power, and when we move together, we are waking to the power that comes when we gather ourselves for the good of all, according to free will. 

The transformation is being performed by WE THE PEOPLE.  As the Aquarian Age is shaping up now (as I write this), I am noticing (and appreciating) some features coming to the fore:

Qualities of activism emerging with the Age of Aquarius (I’m sure there will be more):

*Soul Force: power of nonviolent action 
*People coming together to stand for Justice
*People using their economic power to force markets to be fair
*The power of Technology (i.e., cell phones to record the facts of the situation)
*The power of Humor and cultural creativity        

In Astrology, the zodiac sign of Aquarius rules the circulatory system of the body and of the planet. It is the opposite of the zodiac sign of Leo, which rules the heart.  Both are needed for healthy functioning and they need to work together!  Leo shows us the Leader, who is nothing without the People; Aquarius is all about “we the people” and “the people have the power.”

Aquarius is freedom-loving and future-oriented!  It thrives on the energy of unity, collective consciousness, and ground-breaking ideas. Invention is its strong-suit, but it usually does not like to wear suits!  It is all about our uniqueness; we can be ourselves and still be part of All-That-Is, joining with others when it is needed.  Group-oriented events will be common in this era because we recognize that, as a planet, we can only make the needed changes by joining with others.

Aquarius challenges us to wake up, become Spiritual Adults able to use all our senses, including the 6th sense, and more, to become truly Multi-dimensional beings.

Breathe. Take it slow. The only way out is through. There are plenty of Wayshowers available to assist the collective through these transitions. Above all, listen to your own Heart.
–Karen Neverland

"What better way to express what we discover than through Art? Art is one of the blessings of Pisces.  And as we leave the Piscean Age, we need to take our Artists seriously. And they need to take themselves seriously and tell us the story of our times.

"That will begin a great healing of our collective psyche. It's time to bring more healthy nourishment into our collective lives, and that begins in our own lives.  Don't forget that we are all artists, so dance and sing, play music, create art and story and share it with your communities."

--Cathy Pagano

Back in 2002, astrologer Mark Lerner wrote:

We are just beginning to taste the Aquarian Age potential. Think literally of a near future of mental telepathy, time travel (perhaps via the intuition and "higher planes"), contacts with ETs, clairvoyance, clairaudience, past-life and even future-life "recall," great advances in medicine, science, technology and environmental protection. There is some TIME--perhaps as much as 9 decades (akin to a pregnancy cycle of 9 months)--to birth a real, solid Aquarian Age--an age where humanity and the Earth as a whole actually go through a bonafide spiritual initiation.

I am feeling this "spiritual initiation," are you?  

It's about Transformation, and Pluto (the planet of transformation) has moved into Aquarius for the next 20 years to show us how to do this, from the roots (Pluto) up! 

A scholar of Aquarian energies, Marilyn Ferguson, speaks of the paradigm shift to a more mindful society in her book, Aquarius Now. She sees us moving on from a mindless materialism that threatens our material existence. We have been seduced by what she calls the ‘Cult of Numbers', obsessed with competition, with winning and losing, afraid of anything that can't be seen or measured, and in the grip of an economic model that says only that which generates economic growth is worth pursuing. 

The task is not to climb a mountain, but to navigate a river. Or perhaps, to surf "the Big Wave." We have to stop thinking of ourselves as conquerors and start thinking of ourselves as fellow travelers with other human beings and every living being on this planet, including the planet itself.     

Dan Furst wrote Surfing Aquarius: How to Ace the Wave of Change, in which he spoke of our time as:

The beginning of a spiritual transformation when awakened human beings will create new societies based on Aquarian principles of inventive teamwork and empowered service. The book features the 11 Principles of the Aquarian Age: Revolution, Evolution, Unity, Friendship, Transparency, Magic, Comedy, Abundance, Electricity, Brilliance, and Freedom.

Buckminster Fuller called our planet "Spaceship Earth."  And we are all crew of this Spaceship.
And in the Aquarian ideal, each crew member is important and vital to the functioning of the whole planet.

What a beautiful planet
oceans full of life
land to grow food on
polar ice caps reserving water
plants and trees to provide oxygen
atmosphere to collect warmth from the sun
swirling clouds recycling moisture and providing fresh water
It is an ever-replenishing system
Earth - The Blue Planet

https://www.eco-pros.org/blueplanet.htm
    
                                        

Part 5:  The Cusp 

A Cusp is the transitional time period during which one Age shifts gradually into the next.

Now that the Piscean Age is drawing to a close, these Aquarian vibrations are more widespread and more integrated into our entire cultural atmosphere.  So, if any astrologer claims to know exactly when the Aquarian Age began, please take such information with a grain of salt. 

As we live through the Cusp period, take careful note of the GRADUAL, SHIFTING CHANGE.  We will recognize this change in the growing number of “trends” that move us into the future. Furthermore, Aquarius can bring sudden changes, too, as its glyph suggests.  The symbol can be interpreted as waves of energy (or brainwaves) and also as lightning!

A Cusp period is a dramatic, exciting, and important time in which to live.  The transition from one Age to the next is felt by everyone.  The air is literally crackling with change..During a Cusp period, the astrological influences of both Ages are felt: the one that is coming up, and the one that is passing.  People are constantly confronted by choices between the old and the new..

Astrologer Marion Weinstein wrote of "the shadow of the Cusp" showing itself as far back as the Victorian Age.  But I believe it can be seen even earlier, with the discovery of the planet Uranus, as well as the state of people wanting to govern themselves (democracy) and rebelling or revolutionary acts of overthrowing authoritarian governments, including the U.S., France, and Haiti, in the 1700s.  

The people learning to rule themselves is part of the "growing up" process in becoming spiritual adults.It takes time to learn to be a spiritual adult.  Especially when our cultures have done their best to tamp down such things so that the Authoritarians could tell us what to believe spiritually.

This Cusp period is giving us a chance to see the Choices in front of us, stark and plain.  Aquarius encourages us to making brave, optimistic choices in a spirit of community.     

Pisces was a time of duality.  

The main duality theme was the concept of good vs. evil,
God  vs.  devil.  Thus  we  see  the  ideas  of  sin  (including  original  sin)  and  redemption,  damnation,  and  salvation.                    

"Following  orders"  was  a  Piscean  Age  trait.  Rulers  were  authority figures  outside  the  self.  Government  was  initiated  outside  of  and  away from the people. People had titles that said some were better than others, by right of birth. Kings, queens, priests, cardinals, dukes, and other rulers were higher; peasants and serfs were lower. The institutions of feudalism, monarchy,  hierarchy,  and  government  bureaucracy  were  all  Piscean;  so were the concepts of unequivocal allegiance, regimentation, nationalism, and  patriotism.

Duality also applied to man and woman, considered literally two different  species.  Man  was  higher,  woman  was  lower.  Thus  patriarchy  was perpetuated in the Piscean Age, and God was unquestionably male. There was duality also within male/female relationships: "sacred" vs. "profane" love. Spirituality was higher, sexuality lower. Hence chastity, chivalry, asceticism, celibacy, and sexual repression—all Piscean.

Now, let's take a look at the Aquarian––and current Cusp—counter-parts of the above themes.

The dominant themes of Aquarius are equality and the oneness of all life.  Duality is NOT an Aquarian issue. Neither is the concept of higher vs. lower, winner vs. loser, inner vs. outer. There are no polarities.

This can be seen in the Aquarian view of sex. The unisex style popularized  during  the  1960s  was  an  Aquarian  phenomenon—men  and  women dressing alike, looking alike, acting alike. The Gay Movement, the Women's Movement, transsexualism, the open recognition of bisexuality as well as homosexuality—are all Aquarian. In the Aquarian Age, male will no longer be superior, but neither  will  female. There  will  be  equality  and  oneness between  the  sexes. 

In  male/female  relationships,  sexuality  is  no  longer considered  "lower"  than  spirituality.  Love  includes sex,  instead  of  being seen  in  contrast  to  it.  The  acceptance  of  open  sexuality  workshops  and therapies,  beginning  with  Masters  and  Johnson,  legalized  abortion,  sex education, widespread  birth  control,  the  so-called  sexual  revolution,  and the  idea  of  sex-as-healthy—these  are  all  Aquarian.

People  totally  governing  themselves  will  demonstrate  the  Aquarian ideal  of  government,  but  this  hasn't  actually  happened  yet.  Democracy, socialism, and communism are self-government in theory, but they are still dominated  by  hierarchical  practices,  bureaucracy,  and  authority  figures.  They are Cusp phenomena because the idea is Aquarian, but the for is still Piscean. Organic, or "quiet," revolution is Aquarian, the change from within—as opposed to social revolution of a violent nature, which is both  Piscean and Cusp.

Aquarian religious adepts will serve new functions, because people will no longer  require  the  intercession  of  clergy  or  saints  to  reach  God.  People,will be able to reach Deity directly, because Deity is within everyone.

Meditation is Aquarian. But any rigid, structured, or commercial organizations  selling meditation—and/or  other  "spiritual"  techniques—are Cusp. This includes the so-called human potential movement. Enlightenment sold for a fee and delineated according to a given set of rules, is an Aquarian idea in Piscean form.

East/West blends of religions, gurus, messiahs,  and  cults  are  all  Cusp— because  they embody  Aquarian  religious ideas within a Piscean structure of following a leader. Nuns wearing street clothes, women  rabbis, married  priests, gay  churches—Aquarian  innovations grafted onto Piscean religious forms—are also Cusp.  

It was Piscean to see a duality between the practical and the mystical. In the Piscean Age, you could either be a man of God (such as a holy mystic in a hair shirt, living on a mountain top), or you could be a practical man of action (warrior, king, or knight—and later, businessman, politician, or scientist).  If  you  were  a  woman,  these  choices  were  not  open  to  you.  You could be either a good woman (celibate nun or holy wife/mother) or harlot (rich courtesan or poor whore).

Now in the Cusp, the practical and the mystical are beginning to merge. Science  as  a  Piscean  institution  categorically  denied  the  existence  of  occult  phenomena.  The  Cusp  science  of  parapsychology  works  with  occult phenomena. So does the "New Physics," quantum physics; although words such as "occult" and "magic" are not used, the same ideas are very much present.  The  emotional  transference  of  old  religious  feelings  to  newer ideologies, such as psychiatry, is Cusp. Experimental psychiatric and psychological techniques are also Cusp, as is the use of psychotropic drugs.

Exploitation of the planet is an idea which  grew  out  of  Piscean dualities—man as separate from God, humans separate from the rest of nature.  The  Aquarian  counterpart  is  environmentalism:  save  the  planet and revere nature because we are all inextricably linked to it. A Cusp phenomenon occurs when oil, coal, or other (Piscean) energy companies, which
are still exploiting natural resources, use advertising campaigns to "pass" as  ecologically  sound  (Aquarian)  ventures.

Psychic communication is truly Aquarian: ESP techniques such as telepathy and spirit contact, cannot be owned, bought, sold or regulated. Now, in the  Cusp,  they  are  just  beginning  to  be  explored  and  accepted.  Interplanetary and interspecies communication are also Aquarian, although space travel is cusp at this point, because of the expense and consequent ownership.

Man-as-center-of-the-Universe is a Piscean belief. Racism is a related Piscean  belief.  Equal  opportunity  legislation,  integration,  minority  liberation,  and  anti-defamation  groups  are  all  Cusp.  By  the time the  Aquarian  Age is really set in, racism,  nationalism,  and  sexism  will  no  longer  be  significant  issues,  because the prerequisite feelings of duality will be gone from the culture.

Another  Cusp  problem  may  be  a  "doomsday"  feeling.  Sometimes  it may appear that the world is going to come to an end, and we hear talk of Apocalypse,  Armageddon and other dire predictions. Hollywood disaster movies  depicting  destruction  by  fire,  flood,  or  Satan  are  outlets  for  the doomsday  fear  and  are  harmless—unless  they  are  taken  seriously.  Such doomsday  thought  is  a  primitive  fear  reaction  and  it  is  important  not  to yield to it. The feeling seems to surface during every Cusp, and is a misunderstanding of the turning point between two Ages. The world is not com ing to an end, the Piscean Age is!

Negative  predictions  can  put  forth  negative vibrations  into  the  atmosphere.  It  is  far  more  productive  to  look  ahead optimistically and plan for the coming Age.

We can afford to be optimistic about Aquarius! It has long been heralded in occult lore as a Golden Age for the planet. Also, in assessing the Piscean  Age,  there  is  no  reason  to  say  that  it  was  all  negative.  We  must  acknowledge the positive accomplishments of the passing Age so that we can build on them in the next Age. We can then clearly turn our attention to new themes and choices, bearing in mind that every individual choice, in each person's life, influences the culture of the Age.

A major theme of Aquarius is that God is within. The goal in the Age of  Aquarius  will  be  how to  bring  this  idea  into  meaningful  reality.  The choices  will  involve  innovative  ways  of  helping  everyone  to  be  happy,  secure, and fulfilled, making sure that no one is hungry, exploited, or poor. And  this is to be realized, not according to some authority's ideas, but in response  to the genuine basic needs of everyone.

During the Cusp period, we may find ourselves grappling with the themes of the  past  Age  versus  the  themes  of  the  new  Age:  the  old  ways  versus  the  new. This is deceptive. Ultimately, there is no real choice between old and new, because as Tennyson told us, the old order is destined to yield place  to new.

           --Marion Weinstein                 

Yeah, I know there's LOTS here, but it's a pretty big deal and we are really lucky to be born in a time when we can influence the ENTIRE AGE OF AQUARIUS NOW BEING BORN!  We are the ones who are sowing the seeds that will be blossoming many decades into the future!    YeeHAW! ;-)

The Ruler of Aquarius is the planet Uranus, the “maverick” planet:

Uranus is all about uniqueness, intuition, innovation, ingenuity, rebellion and rascalry. We all have a maverick within. Intuition connects us to the larger dance of creation and, through the agency of synchronicity, keeps us all in touch with each other. Through the intervention of meaningful Uranian coincidence, a new world comes together, organically and naturally.

Caroline Casey identifies Uranus with OYA, the African Goddess of Change. Her "prayer" to Uranus goes: 

"Let the winds of change blow through my life, bringing the most radically enlivening thing that could possibly happen. I am hoisting my sails. Parasail me into the place where I can connect with my allies, and together we can do the most good." 

 

 Part 6:  COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

 

 The Real Message of the Age of Aquarius:
This era isn't about becoming "better."
It's about becoming so aligned that your life reorganizes around truth.
The old world was built on external control.
The new world is built on internal coherence.
And that's why it's intense.
Because this isn't a cosmetic upgrade.
It's a root-level rewrite.
–John Roma

Understanding these huge cycles of time gives us a new perspective. We can see the earth as part of a giant cosmic dance with dance partners that come from far beyond our solar system.. Considering the great sweep of the ages, our individual lives look so brief and fleeting. This however, is another illusion. In fact, we are eternal spirits who experience many lifetimes and can never die. Our long reincarnational journey may go through similar seasonal cycles – wintry lives of difficulty moving into easier, summery lives. As the old saying goes, ‘as above, so below’

Ptolemy said that when you know about the great cycles of the stars, it gives you inner peace. It provides a higher perspective and a more cosmically centered consciousness. Thinking of the earth as the center of the universe, with everything revolving around it, is how infants see themselves. It now feels good to know that our world could be one of squillions of others, and is an integral part of the giant cosmic wheels of time. The full benefits of this knowledge are wonders waiting for discovery in the exciting new worlds that now lie ahead for us.

--Atasha Fyfe (link to her article about cycles)

Aquarius will certainly encourage us to expand our Consciousness, in a myriad of ways.  This is the true Age of Exploration of the Mind, Soul, and Spirit.

The Earth’s consciousness will also be expanded and S/he will take us along for the ride!  We might as well do our best to learn to truly become spiritual adults and express our vast hidden potential!  

I know some of you are thinking you are helpless to steer the change. But you're wrong! It can happen. All it takes is for you and I and the next guy to change our thinking and values to align with the coming new Age of Aquarius. Once the synergistic ball starts to roll, it will be unstoppable.

– by Sandra Weaver

Achieving this (adult) level means that you can enter a synagogue, a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, or an Andean cave with the same feeling of sacred in your heart. The capacity to do this indicates someone who can see, feel, and recognize the sacred energy of people, places or objects, directly. They are able to see through the symbol, beyond it, moving into direct energetic perception. This is the real meaning of being a Mystical Seer.

When you move into the (adult) level, you become one with PACHAMAMA (the Earth). This means that your energy bubble literally resonates with the spirit of the entire earth. At that point in your development, you can no longer be under the tutelage of an APU, but you must come under the tutelage of a being from the HANAQ PACHA (the dimension of the Stars).

--Juan Nunez del Prado

                        

PEACE IN THE HOOD

 
By Enki  (channeled through two humans)

(Enki’s energy has incarnated within millions of people on the Earth today...and many people can channel this energy.  He arranged it that way. ;-)

Those who look for me, you have found me!  Here I am, once again: I have been here living with you for eons.  I, Enki, have inserted myself throughout time and space in order to learn how to grow, how to feel and how to love.  I believe I have succeeded to some extent.  Of course, there is always room for improvement. ;-)  And being that I love humanity, it is my joy and excitement to share with you, at your timing on Earth, through these two physical aspects of myself who are only two of MILLIONS!

This day, I look around me and see that many of us are striving to bring peace to the planet Earth in many different ways.  And I also see that peace has always BEEN here, on our beloved planet, as source and center of its truth and its mystical legacy.  All the magic that exists comes from this place of peace within each one.  This kind of peace is like a MAGICAL FOUNTAIN that refreshes all; the more it refreshes the more it is filled and replenished!  Additionally, this place of peace has a particular vibration to it--breathe deeply now and feel that refreshing vibration!  Ahhhhhhhh.  Remember, and become familiar with that vibration for it is our essence with the Source of All-That-IS.

WAR & PEACE

So how and why do wars occur?  I may well ask this question, for while in my Anunnaki form, early on, I participated in many of them.  I have taken the form of a warrior in many of my multidimensional explorations.  Many of you, also, "remember" the life of a warrior.  So, let us look within and take responsibility for our own actions.

Conflicts began as a means of the soul exploring the idea of itself as an independent, separate, individual aspect of All-That-IS.  Conflicts are a natural outcome of All-That-Is's explorations, and they can be resolved quite naturally too.  

However, conflicts, when left unresolved (like wounds that have not healed) may fester into wars.  The Anunnaki were some of those who explored what it is to be a creator god, play Prime Creator to the max, to be in charge, in control, dominating and deciding for oneself, manipulating all powers to have that control.  This created an unbalanced situation, a conflict which was not addressed. This imbalance spread in scope and intensity, attracting others of like mind/belief systems to group, family, planet or star; and then wars were fought between them for the same purposes of superiority, control, etc.

Wars always involve a perception of scarcity.  Lack.  There is always a clamoring for something, a desire for more, or for something new.  This comes from the inner need for balance.  Wars come from that place inside that feels deprived, separate, left out, misunderstood.  And governments have used the idea of war to boost the economy when scarcity was felt in a material way.  Is that how we all want to continue?

In a war there are usually two sides: victim and tyrant, hero and villain, powerful and powerless, good soldier and commander, martyr and executioner, etc.  Polarities.  These polarities reflect the desperate need for balance.  War provides the last ditch attempt for people and beliefs who desperately want to be heard.  Both sides have truth and can be heard with respect, compassion, integrity; and resolutions can be achieved without resorting to war and conquering.  And these battles are mirrors of battles occurring within the self.  Honoring what your polarities are showing you, honoring what the "outside" polarities reflect to you of yourself may help you change the war scenario to one of  cooperation, peaceful co-existence, new relationships, or at the very least, one of a richer understanding.

I have my own memories of being misunderstood. Wars in my particular Anunnaki family, when my father set up son against son (Enki and Enlil) for power, control, adoration, and more.  Now, I  have always loved my bro’ Enlil, but the family "business" created much division and animosity between us.  He and I were always warring, always wanting to have the same thing, and not willing to share.  I thought I knew better and he thought he knew better.  Why couldn't we come to some kind of understanding?

Well, my dear ones, the truth is, we have!  Enlil and I have made our peace.  We have realized that we are simply different sides of the same coin, so to speak.  From my experiences and temperament, I saw things one way.  From Enlil's experiences and temperament, he saw things a different way.  Neither of us was completely wrong.  Neither of us was completely right.  We just had our own perspectives and we were too close to those perspectives to see the BIG picture.

Since then, we have both been busy at the adventure of growing NEW perceptions.  And we love each other very much.  Thanks to the medicine teachers on the Earth, we have been able to share in the experiences of moving into the gravitational field, to share in the Earth's energies and to be nurtured by this Great Being.  We have both grown many "eyes", or "I's!"  Now, if we allow that multidimensionality to manifest, we can truly SEE the BIG picture.  And we can see (and feel) the natural balance and harmony of that Big picture.  It is happening.  HERE AND NOW.

WHAT MORE CAN WE DO?

Many of you, too, are beginning to SEE through multidimensional "eyes" or "I's". It is not as difficult as if first appears.  One need do only the following:

1.  Allow and listen to all points of view that have relevance to the conflict.

2.  Allow all consciousnesses to link naturally to their over-vibration.

3.  Vibrate with that over-vibration which encompasses the "whole" in which the "polarity" has gathered force.

4.  State it out loud, meditate upon it, write it, create ceremony if need be, sing, rap, dance, make art, make music, cook, do good deeds, do anything at all to express the polarity within and its relationship with the over-vibratory wholeness that is being manifested.  Music especially connects people’s feelings and harmonizes them.  This creates a positive manifestation and outlet for those feelings so they can be integrated and processed with harm to none.

5. When you have done 1-4 you understand the beauty in your individual freedom of feelings and expression and the shared group experience, all being lifted to a new vibration from this healing. From that new understanding, conflict resolution is easier.  


Enlil and I have realized that we are part of a more inclusive Being.  The brothers are part of the 'HOOD; of the brotherHOOD and the sisterHOOD,  of the neighborHOOD.  This 'HOOD is like our connection with All-That-IS:  Each individual contains the whole and therefore each can access the wholeness from it.  The individuals know themselves as one and as all the parts and vice-versa.  We now coexist in peace with respect and allowance for the diversity within the whole.  We no longer have the need to control or conquer.  We welcome and allow.

So, this 'HOOD has a larger perspective, that's all.  It is the source of our projections and it is a holographic universe in and of itself.  It can know itself by looking out through our "eyes", or "I's."

The great differences between Enlil and I have caused a great deal of energy to be built up in our over-vibrational holograph.  This energy vibrates with the pulse of life and becomes creative, if we let it.  It takes courage and patience to HOLD the energy long enough to let it express itself.  It is called "feeling."  If we block that energy, or refuse to hold it long enough for it to express itself in a positive, creative way, it may turn in on itself in destruction and war.

The energy that is used for war or destruction is tremendous.  Lately on the planet there is potential for even bigger weapons, even more destruction of the planet's eco-system because of polluting, non-renewable energies, many of which have been created out of the anticipation of war. And what's more, the weather patterns on Earth are influenced by these emotions, as well.  The misdirected/undirected/and unconscious use of our pent up emotions can make a gentle rain into a flood, a minor quake into a disaster.  So, we can take that tremendous energy and turn it around using it towards peace, harmony and healing!  Awareness of the focus of that energy, with awareness of intention and integrity is the key.

OLD IDEAS AND NEW PRIORITIES

When the Anunnaki family arrived on this beautiful planet, its practical focus was to mine the Earth for needed minerals.  This is still a focus on the Earth; however, it is a focus that has lost much of its meaning.  The Earth, if we let it do it's thing, has all that everyone here needs to sustain life (all food, medicines, clothing, shelter, tools, everything for our use) if used without abuse and over-mining (hoarding).  

And there are other ways to create energy that do not harm the Earth or the atmosphere.  Let us open our "eyes" and "I's" to new possibilities.  Let us use that rambunctious warrior energy to explore harmony and respect with our planet and our multiverse.

The only real fun of war has been to dress up in all the regalia, use all the metals, move great quantities of men and machines around in a precise order, create great explosions, play martial music and shout war cries, test ourselves, bond as comrades-in-arms, ride the great orderly energy into crazy chaos.  Yes, it had its fun and it has left its destructive mark.  We have done it all and done it for far too long.  Realize that chaos exists NOW.  We have ridden inside chaos.  The great warrior energies on the planet cannot hold or control the forces they have created!  It has gone too far!

Like two great dragons, the positive and negative energies of the universe, order and chaos are wild animals that can teach us their wisdom.  Let us hitch our wagon to these great DragonStars.  Now is the time to show the one-dimensional warriors just what the Rainbow Warriors can do!  We let go of all pacts that keep us from realizing our full potential as multidimensional aspects of the All-That-Is!  Ho!  And we seek the great explosion of cosmic orgasmic ecstasy!!!

These two great dragons pull away from each other at first.  Each of them is an opposite polarity, after all; and each will tend to go their separate way, even war with each other!  But, the Rainbow Warrior will hold their energy firmly with the power of unconditional love, loyalty and freedom.  The Rainbow Warrior knows that the dragons will help, if helped in return.  The Rainbow Warrior can fight them, but that never works because it keeps perpetuating war and division.  The Rainbow Warrior can tame them; that is a partial solution which leaks some previous "wild" energies.  Or, the Rainbow Warrior can join with them, ride them, vibrate with them to become a hologram in which they play.  The lemniscate, the symbol of eternity (an "8" on its side) is really the mobius strip which becomes the yoke that links them together.  Once linked, balanced, OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL, they will join with us in the happy play of All-That IS.  When they come together of their own free will, there is a new vibration and unlimited power.

How can we use this power, as Rainbow Warriors?  As Matali has said, (and I salute you, dear friend): "So fellow grand beings, underestimate yourself no longer!  The time for limitation is over now.  Allow yourselves to KNOW that you are a unique being to all universes at all times.  You are indeed, all powerful!  Always be certain that you want what you ask for, because you will get it.  It can be no other way."

We want peace.  And we want to define that peace as a place where we feel and know we are safe, cared for and loved.  Earth wants the same thing.  It is time we begin letting the energy of conflict resolve itself in the energy of doing what is good for ALL, lifting our vibrations and vibrating in the Oneness of All That Is.  For we are all at peace, connected at the Source.  Let the fountain bubble, sing and dance with joy!  We are One, all part of that One great cosmic "neighborhood".

“It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood, a lovely day for a neighbor, won’t you be mine?
  It’s a neighborly day in the beautyhood, a neighborly day for a beauty, won’t you be mine?”
(Mr. Rogers)

RESOURCES:

“We Want a World” Affirmation song for Peace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3WSs79f6y0

Magic for Peace by Marion Weinstein (Kindle edition)
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Peace-Marion-Weinstein-ebook/dp/B001E01Z0Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542325765&sr=1-2&keywords=marion+weinstein+magic+for+peace

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (book)

https://peacealliance.org/tools-education/peace-inspirational-quotes/

https://peacealliance.org/issues-advocacy/department-of-peace/

Conflict Resolution/Peace and Conflict Studies
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/conflict-resolution-skills.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_and_conflict_studies



Music as a Harmonizing Energy

https://www.facebook.com/fredclarkealvarezmusicmedicine

https://www.facebook.com/musicforpeaceug/

https://playingforchange.com/

http://www.nonviolence.com/action/music-for-peace/

Art and Sports as Harmonizing Energy
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Peace+through+art+and+sport.-a0124009542

Peaceful Warriors’ Way:
http://www.peacefulwarrior.com/

The Art of Peace
by Morihei Ueshiba, translated by John Stevens
https://web.phys.cmu.edu/~sgaan/webfiles/THE%20ART%20OF%20PEACE.pdf


Path of the Sacred Warrior:
https://dreamflesh.com/essay/sacred-warrior/

Changing the War Culture to the Peace Culture:
https://truthout.org/articles/our-enemy-ourselves-ten-common-sense-suggestions-for-making-peace-not-war/

Shapeshifting into Peace:
https://pachamama.org/about

Peace in Space:
https://peaceinspace.com/about-us/

A New Look At A Classic Movie: Bell Book And Candle

 (Warning: This article may contain “spoilers, ” so if you haven’t yet seen the movie, you might want to avoid reading it.  This article was first published online on the Witchvox.com website.)

A perennial favorite movie among Pagans at this time of year is the 1958 romantic comedy, Bell Book and Candle. Many regard it as a Yuletide treat, since most of the action takes place on December 24-25, in New York City. Shot by legendary James Wong Howe in some of the most beautiful color ever seen on the big screen, the movie showcases the city-in-winter. It is known as one of the premier New York City films and one of the most distinctive-looking films ever made.

On his website of “A Neo-Pagan Filmography, ” Mike Nichols writes:

“Yes, I’m well aware that this movie, based on the John Van Druten play, is responsible for more misinformation about Witchcraft than anything outside the ‘Bewitched’ TV series. Still, I hardly know a Pagan who doesn’t love it. For many of us, it was the first time we’d encountered the idea of Witchcraft alive and well in a modern metropolis. And Kim Novak is STILL my idea of what a Witch OUGHT to look like. And none of us will ever forget Kovac’s reading of the line ‘Witches, boy! Witches!’ Or Stewart’s offhand comment that it feels more like Halloween than Christmas. Lots of fun.”

The film is based on a play of the same name that opened on Broadway in 1950. The play ran for 233 performances during the 1950-1951 season and served as a starring vehicle for Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, who were married at the time.

(I like to think that the success of this play had something to do with Britain’s repeal of its last Witchcraft Laws in 1951, since it openly featured Witches who were accessible to the modern urban mind. The repeal, in turn, opened the way for two very influential books by Gerald Gardner; Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft.)

The original play was written by John Van Druten, a droll Englishman who eventually emigrated to the US. He incorporated various textures of meaning into his play. One level concerns the story of the hidden community of Witches in New York City and the love story of one of them with a book publisher. Another, more hidden, level is about “witch-hunts” in general, and how groups of outsiders must sometimes hide the truth of themselves from society. Whether the group might be Witches, Beatniks, Jazz-lovers, Foreigners, Artists, Communists or Homosexuals, the story of Bell Book and Candle seems to be saying that true love can cross the boundaries of society, but not without a snag or two!

Some find good reason for the subtext of the film:

“Its author, Van Druten, was gay but in the 1950s no film/play could portray that world and get away with it. So he used the setting of Greenwich Village, center of New York's alternative world, and witches and warlocks to introduce a gay subtext in a subtle way, so subtle it was never noticed by the then censors." --Anne Sterck

This makes sense to me. In BB and C, a key part of the story takes place in the “Zodiac Club, ” a subterranean gathering place where all kinds of odd and counter-cultural characters converge. The bohemian mood is played up, Hollywood-style, with jazz musicians (the Brothers Candoli on trumpets and Nicky on the bongos) with a French singer and mime (Philippe Clay) performing.

Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, together with Christopher Isherwood's short stories, Goodbye to Berlin (1939) , formed the basis of Joe Masteroff's book for the Kander and Ebb musical, Cabaret (1966) . Cabaret ALSO explored issues of personal freedom in a nightclub setting, but this time in Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, Van Druten died in 1957, a year before the movie of Bell Book and Candle was released.

The movie came together when Van Druten’s play was optioned by Columbia in the mid-1950s. Daniel Taradash, who had recently scripted From Here to Eternity (1953) and Picnic (1955) , was the writer who turned the play into a sparkling screenplay. Columbia gave the script to the up-and-coming 27-year-old Director, Richard Quine.

Lavishly budgeted, the scenes of BB and C can be appreciated for their highly creative and colorful décor, the (then) ultra-modern and urbane interiors, and the wonderfully witchy wardrobe of its star, the great Kim Novak. This wardrobe is still one of my favorite delights, combining the “Witch” with the “Bohemian” in a luscious celebration of black, red, and animal magnetism! The style was conjured by Jean Louis Berthault, who won an Academy Award for these designs. I have no doubts that Kim Novak also added her own touches, since she has always had a strong sense of fashion, even going on to design costumes for a couple of movies herself. She also didn’t like to wear bras OR shoes, much like the character she portrays!

Kim Novak plays the main character, the lovely and independent Witch Gillian Holroyd. Her role is a fairly subdued one, also somewhat conflicted...yet always sensuous and curious, like a cat. Part of her appeal is her urbane sophistication, something that no movie about Witches had ever explored! In addition, Novak brought her own Aquarian artistic sensibilities to this role, for her in private life, Novak was (and is) an accomplished artist who expresses herself in watercolor and oil paintings, sculpture, stained glass design and photography. She also writes poetry, and has a special love for animals and plants.

Novak was 24-years-old at the time, and she had made a big splash in the Taradash-scripted Picnic just two years earlier. She was at the peak of her stardom in 1958, having just received critical acclaim for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn allowed Novak to appear in Vertigo as a last-minute replacement for the pregnant Vera Miles. As part of the complicated negotiations over Vertigo, Novak’s co-star Jimmy Stewart had agreed to team with the actress again on BB and C, but reportedly he wasn’t happy with the choice of Richard Quine for director. This film was, by the way, Stewart’s last film as a romantic lead. He was 50-years-old.

One of the reasons that Novak exuded such a strong, sensuous aura during the shooting of this film was probably that she and Richard Quine were deeply in love at the time. Novak was able to convince Stewart to give Quine a chance. Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak were very good friends and had a wonderful comraderie on the two films they made together.

Stewart plays the book publisher Shep Henderson, and his chemistry with Novak is obvious. Jack Lemmon plays Gillian’s brother, Nicky Holroyd, in a slightly goofy, but earnest, way. The very creative comedian Ernie Kovac plays Sidney Redlitch, who is a writer researching a book on REAL Witches in New York. Nicky, somewhat strangely, volunteers his services to introduce Redlitch to the underground Witch community. It has been suggested that the Nicky character is one of writer Van Druten’s strongest hints of the homosexual lifestyle. If this is the case, it’s no wonder that the movie role is a bit uneven, perhaps tiptoeing in an effort to veil Nicky’s “true” feelings. It is interesting that one of the most puzzling parts of the story is Nicky’s seemingly inexplicable attraction to the writer Sidney Redlitch. Redlitch calls Nicky a “fascinating boy” and hangs around with him exclusively. They even seem to live together while they “collaborate” on the witchcraft book. They seem to be a “closeted” gay couple, though nobody connected with the film would publicly admit that!

Gillian and Nicky’s Aunt Queenie, one of the most engaging and entertaining of the Witches, is played by Elsa Lanchester. Lanchester brings Queenie alive with mischief and a strong pride in being a Witch. “I sit in the subway sometimes, or in busses, and look at the people next to me, and I wonder....” she muses, “What would you say if I told you I was a Witch?” Haven’t we all wondered that at one time or another?

Another great Witch character is Mrs. Bianca de Passe, played by Hermione Gingold. She, actually, is the one who helps Shep break Gillian’s spell over him. Her regal bearing, though comical at times, is immensely suitable for a Deva/Crone Witch character.

Shep’s fiancé, Merle Kittridge, is a perfect foil for Gillian’s magic. She plays a chic New Yorker with a snobbish attitude. (Perhaps her character was named for the G.L. Kitteredge who wrote the book Witchcraft in Old and New England published in 1929.)

And then there’s Pyewacket! SUCH a beautiful Siamese cat! The cat who played Pyewacket in the movie was never credited, but I think she (?) is the best actor in the film! She portrayed the true spirit of Witchcraft that ties the whole story together.

As a Witch, I find several things in this movie that grate on my nerves. However, when I study the film in historic context, it seems a truly groundbreaking artwork where Witches are concerned!

Gillian Holroyd is quite an independent woman for her time–the 1950s, when most women were being encouraged to move to the suburbs and become housewives. She owns (and runs) a gallery specializing in native indigenous art. Kim Novak’s portrayal as a self-assured and strong-minded female was unusual for the time. The Witch Gillian was powerful, someone who did as she pleased, not really caring what other people thought. She even would go so far as to rebel from her own family, falling in love with an “outsider, ” and ultimately paying a price for it.

As Marion Green says in her book Witchcraft Myths in American Culture:

“Gillian was happy with her bachelorette lifestyle, her shop, her flat, and her pet cat’s company. With power relations topsy-turvy, and no prospect of containment within a family to hand, witchcraft must be crushed at once. The title Bell, Book and Candle was a reference to the rite of exorcism designed to defeat it.”

Green posits that, in BB and C, the “Zodiac” nightclub and the Witchcraft emanating from it suggested both gay sexuality and the “dangers” of female sexuality to patriarchal repression. The play took the possibility of male witches a little further than the film: everyone, male and female, had the potential to be a witch–“queer, ” subversive. In the play, it was suggested that even Shep could become a Witch if he learned the right way!

When Gillian decides to confess all to Shep, he asks, “Have you been engaging in un-American activities?” She replies, “No. I’d say very American. Early American!”

Says Green: 

“This line cut several ways in 1950: a joke about colonial witch-hunting, a swipe at McCarthyism, an assertion that witchcraft, communism, and maybe even women’s empowerment are all legitimate American traditions. But overall, the play and film conservatively reaffirmed women’s place in society...Having been given the space for alluring independence at first, they must be ‘shepherded’ into marriage. Gillian had initially proposed that her cat familiar give her Shep as a Christmas present: but it was she who would be given away in the end. It was, however, better than ending up dead with a stake through your heart, and the next evolution of the witchcraft-comedy made the pleasures of marriage for a witch, as well as its constraints, very clear.”

Seven years after BB and C, a television series called Bewitched was born and became an immediate sensation. The TV series was about another (blond) woman who decided to “give up” her powers in order to be married to a mortal man. However, Samantha never LOST her powers; she was STILL a Witch, and DID end up using her powers more often than not!

So, what lesson can a real-life Witch glean from BB and C? By the end of the movie, Gillian’s shop has been transformed into a flower-and-plant-shop. Gillian herself has been transformed into someone who can now nurture a living being.... a healer, rather than a manipulator. Her tears are proof of her newly-found depth-of-feeling. Perhaps this is something that real Witches can learn, too.

Unfortunately, her Witchy wardrobe has also been transformed as well–

“Here, Gillian Holyrod is not just a witch, but a dealer in ‘primitive’art and with her black clothes, bare feet and hipster brother is clearly a beatnik, a threat to the 1950s status quo. Feminist scholars note she must trade in her chic Jean Louis wardrobe for a dumpy shirtwaist and jam her bare feet into spike heels to be worthy of love.” -- Laura Boyes

“At the end, she gives up all her witchcraft, stops wearing sexy black outfits, gives away her cat (evil symbol of an independent mind!) , and waits unhappily in her shop, attired in a pretty pastel shirtwaist, until Stewart returns to her. All her magic and enchantment, and certainly all her power, are gone. If Stewart's character fell for the enchantress in her, I think he must have been very disappointed to end up with Betty Crocker.”
--Kathleen Pierce

It seems this story is saying that Love and Power cannot go together….or can they?

“There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.” -- Mary Parker Follett

Kim Novak made this movie when she was under contract to an all-powerful movie studio. They even tried to manipulate the actress’s personal life. This was difficult for her, because she was an Aquarian free spirit. She was also an artist who followed her own instincts in her art. Even though the movie (like the play) ended with the main character’s capitulation, the Actress-as-Artist was performing an ancient rite. She was bringing a new Aspect of the Goddess into world consciousness.

Kim loved acting, which, to her was not about the money or the fame. To her it was a “search for meaning.” She found a character in Gillian to which she could deeply relate. Kim’s personal story brings a whole new level to the tale. About Jimmy Stewart, she said, “I always felt Jimmy was trapped in Hollywood. He felt it himself. He loved aviation so much and he wanted to be able to do more of that. He somehow just got stuck here.” She took her own advice later, explaining, “I didn't want to start relying on what someone else thought was right. It was easier to go away all together.”

Kim quit the Hollywood life just as Gillian quit the power-plays and witch-wars. They both wanted a life where they could be at peace—and they both got it. Kim’s life became one of country pleasures and artistic freedom.

Yet, Kim left us with an image of a Witch who was totally at-home in the cosmopolitan world of New York City---the first Urban Witch on the big screen! She inserted her Aquarian image into the mix, inspiring a world where magic is increasingly integrated with the mundane. Her artistic rendering of the character of Gillian opened a door into the Aquarian Age for Witches the world over!


RESOURCES:

Kim Novak (including quotes) :

http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show.php?id=210

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/kim_novak.html#

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/fkimnovak.htm

https://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/2018/04/hollywood-love-sammy-davis-jr-and-kim.html

Kim’s art and poetry:
https://www.kimnovakartist.com/

https://taddlr.com/celebrity/kim-novak/

CELEBRATING THE HARVEST: AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

 

After the sultry, slow days of August, a chill enters the air; the air clears and becomes crisper, clearer. . .and our bodies and souls react to the change.  The Equinox itself is the point when day and night are equal in length; after this point, the night will become longer and longer until Winter Solstice.  

We have our choice--we can lament the passing of the warm weather and become depressed at the 'death' of the plant life all around us; or we can welcome the waxing night and the chance to draw inward as nature does at this time...counting our blessings.  This is an excellent time to decide what to drop from our lives as we watch the trees gracefully dropping their leaves.  And we can also think on our goals as we begin to see the seeds which store the secret of life within; they teach us to be patient and wait for the right time.

The Autumnal Equinox is called Mabon in some Celtic traditions and signifies the second in-gathering of the Harvest (the first is Lammas--August 1, the third will be Hallowmas.)  In our land, it is apple cider time, wine-making time, the season of bounty when the ripened fruits and vegetables remind us of the goodness of the Mother Earth.  Indeed, this is a season in which to give thanks to such a generous Lady--and there are celebrations the world 'round which honor the Female Power of Nature.

In Roman times, the Goddess Ceres was honored, and the best of the harvest was offered to her as a thanksgiving for her bounty.  In ancient Briton, she was known as the Harvest Queen, the Ivy Girl, the Neck, and the Mare.  It was about this time of year that the Druids began their month of Ivy, which symbolized 'resurrection' to them--meaning that in the seed of the dying plant lies the secret of life born anew.  This was the way the Earth balanced--and at the Autumnal Equinox the idea of Balance is foremost.

At this time the ancient Babylonians had their New Year--though in Persia, this was changed nine centuries ago to the Spring Equinox.  The Jewish people, however, still celebrate the ancient New Year in the season of the Fall Equinox.  The call of the ram's horn (Shofar) is a call to harvest what was planted and nurtured, as the Angel Gabriel was said to awaken the dead to eternal life.  The Jewish people examine themselves and then purify themselves so they can start the New Year in a balanced way.  In the Jewish home, special foods are served for Rosh Hashanah: honey cake, apple slices and honey, with a special blessing for a 'sweet year.'  Traditional bread called challeh (hah' leh) is baked in a round shape, symbolizing the 'whole, round' year.  Sometimes it is shaped into a braid or 'ladder' or decorated with little birds and ladders, symbols to help prayers 'rise to God?'  Sweet potatoes, meat, prunes, carrots (in Yiddish 'meyrin', meaning 'to increase' as the New Year should increase in goodness).

Spiritual cleansing and atonement is a theme also in the English celebration of "Harvest Home."  After the harvest is gathered in, goods are brought to churches and schools where they are distributed to the needy--the fruits of the harvest are shared with those less fortunate.

Celts used to offer their harvest thanksgiving in ancient stone circles, leaving offerings of wheat, honey, and water on a stone altar.  The Jews also use honey and grain as traditional offerings, and as a wish that the new year may be a sweet one.

At this time of the year, brush is cleared out and gathered in for use in cooking, shed-roofing, and bedding for the animals.  The ancient Canaanites instituted a holiday at this time which survives
in the Jewish "Succot" where boughs of fruit trees and evergreens were made into little "booths" in which the farmers lived for one full week of harvest celebrations.  This could also have served a practical purpose--living close to the place where the harvest-work was being done helped keep the intense focus of the time in a communal cooperative spirit.  Other cultures also did this, for instance, the Thesmorphia was celebrated in ancient Greece--women built bowers out of plants and sat on the ground to establish contact with the Earth.  Bowers also has a "lovers" connotation, as well, serving as a private little place where lovers could meet.

Threshing floors may have also been situated near the harvest area, too.  And these threshing floors may have also served the purpose of a ritual area where harvest thanksgiving was given.

In the orient, roasted pigs, poultry, fruit and special pastries are offered to the Earth as a special thanks for the harvest.  In the practicality of the orient, the 'essence' of these foods was taken by the divinity; then the humans can partake of the 'substance.'

Many Native American tribes celebrated the Corn Maiden at this time; the practice of hanging 3 colored ears of corn on the door of one's home is a survival of their offering to her.  These ears of corn are both a declaration of thanksgiving the Corn Maiden and a prayer for continued abundance and prosperity; a blessing on the house, and on all who enter therein.

As vegetable realm is honored, so too is the animal realm.  The Feast of St. Denis (October 9), one of the Patrons of France, is perhaps a holdover from the Dionysian revels.  St. Denis was to be martyred by being eaten by wild beasts; but instead, they became tame when they saw him and simply licked his feet.  The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4)  also reminds us of the possibilities of communication between man and beast.  Horses are very much intertwined with the Autumnal Equinox time of the year, honoring herd animals, which have an ancient connection with humans’ survival on this planet.  Later in the season is the Feast of St. Hubert (November 3), who was a hunter who beheld a vision of a white Stag who spoke to him and changed his soul.

The theme diverges--as in Chinese myth of the visit of the Fox- faerie to Chu Hze--the melding of the human and animal nature produces a capacity for higher, even "angelic" knowledge.  It is
not by the DENYING of the animal nature that man arises; it is by the EMBRACING of that nature, and the balancing and coming to terms with it.

The Feast of the Conception of John the Baptist on Sept. 24 celebrates the triumph of the return of the life-spark to the old ones; John the Baptist was famous for his hermit ways of living on locusts in the desert, wearing animal skins identifying him with the animals, and telling the truth as he saw it.

A Macumba feast on September 27 in Brazil celebrates 'the Ibeji's'– The Twins--associated with the European saints Cosmas and Damian.  They are warriors who have turned their skill to healing--and they represent the most ancient ancestors of the human race.  (They can also be represented as one male twin and one female twin)  In the Macumba tradition, which springs from ancient African roots, they show themselves as children, and people give them 'treats' as a prayer for healing.  Perhaps this shows that the way to turn energy from killing to healing is to become child-like again.  Games of ball and marbles are played now!

September 28 is 'American Indian Day' in the United States; these Native Americans have much to teach us of being children of Nature, and of communication with the animal world.  This would be a good day to partake and honor their knowledge.

September 28 is also Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael and all the angels.  This feast was the one chosen by the Christian Church fathers to include all the festivities of the Pagan Festival of the Autumnal Equinox.  This day was celebrated merrily.  It was said that it was good to sleep late on this day, and that if one would eat roast goose on this day, one would not want for money all year long.  This feast neatly combined the harvest festival with the masculine energies of the time--St. Michael is the Angel of the Sun (and the Equinox IS a Sun-Feast) who was strong enough to be named the chief of the angelic 'army.'  The Basques take him for theirpatron; they are rumored to have brought his image from Atlantis, where some say they originated.

On September 30, the Macumba religion celebrates the feast of one of its own patrons, Xango.  Xango is associated with St. Jerome, and he has ancient connections to the African god who was brought over with the Yoruba people  from Western Africa into Brazil.  He is also a warrior-saint, associated with fire.  He is said to be lightning- born, and he lives in a stone (meteor?).  His color is Red; he carries an ax (double-headed), adn his metal is copper.  Meteors are said to be a direct emanation of his power.  In Macumba, he is an ally for breaking spells and he helps with protection.  He loved foods like rooster or sheep, and he especially loves crab.  He is shown with a Lion-totem and is said to be "King in his own country."

On October 2, people of Spanish/Indian descent honor their own PERSONAL guardian angels.  On their personal altars, they place white flowers and 9 white candles (one for each heavenly choir).  They offer treats, also, and pray for continued guidance and a loving bond with their angelic friends.  (We may expand this tom honoring of our personal spiritual guides.)

At the Equinox, day is balanced with night.  A closely connected concept to Balance is Beauty--and at this time of the year, both are in evidence.  In the Harvest festival of Hungary, heart-shaped cookies with curlicue icing are baked, symbols of the Goddess of the Earth, or of Venus.  They are exchanged by lovers.

Try this: At the moment of the Equinox, stand an egg on its end; it will stay upright by itself, illustrating the power of the time.  Another practice (this came from Persia) is to stand an orange in a bowl of water; at the moment of the equinox it is supposed to rotate!  Oval eggs and round oranges symbolize the "wholeness” of the year.

The Beauty of Autumn and the Harvest is great!  A legend from China illustrates both the lure and the pitfalls of beauty.  There was a Cowherd who saw 7 maidens come down from heaven and bathe in a pool.  He fell in love with the youngest of the maidens, and while they were bathing he took her cloak so she could not fly back up into the sky again.  Well, fortunately, the maiden fell in love with him (he was very beautiful) and they were both deliriously happy for quite a while.  Eventually, however, the chief Goddess up in heaven started wondering where that maiden was.  She was called "The Weaving Maiden" and her job was to weave the fabric of the universe.  But she was having too good a time withe her Cowherd, and they were both neglecting their jobs.  Well, the Big Mama Goddess decided to intervene, and she separated them--putting one on one side of the Milky Way Galaxy and one on the other.  It is at this time of the year (the Equinox) that they are allowed to be reunited, traveling across the Milky Way on a bridge made out of fluttering magpies...only once a year do they get to be with each other.

This love-story coincides with the entrance of the Sun into Libra astrologically. Libra is ruled by Venus, the planet of Love, and yet there is a bittersweetness to the joining of the lovers, for they know that they must part.  And yet there is hope, they will meet again and share with each other.  The Balance/Beauty of the Equinox season has a minor note of sadness to it, like the music of the poignant gypsy violin...it reaches deep into the soul.

(Note: Astrologer Barbara Hand Clow says that the true ruler of Libra is the planet Nibiru, and postulates that a newer, deeper and higher note of Love will be struck when that planet is discovered.)

The 7 Maidens of the Chinese legend are sometimes associated with the Pleiades, a group of 7 stars.  Astronomically, the Pleiades are in the process of passing from the eastern horizon at this time as the Sun sets in the west.  The Pleiades have been associated with visitors to Earth, with the fairies, with Isis, with the rising of the Nile in Egypt.  They have been beloved by humans the world over.  In Japan, the Equinox time of year coincides with the honoring of the Nanakusa, 7 'goddesses' who are healers, and associated with reeds and brush.  One of the goddesses was named 'Hagi,' and it is she who was beloved by a mystical Stag.

The Stag reminds us that when the harvest of the plant life is coming to a close, the season of the Hunter begins.  It is the beginning of the season of 'The Horned One,' and the horn of Rosh
Hashannah celebration may be associated with his honoring, too.  And animals of the herds begin their rutting season now, and the voice of the Stag is heard, bellowing its call of Life!

In many Wiccan traditions and Pagan, this season is very much tied-in with the rising of the Masculine Principle--the logic being that now the Fertile Goddess disappears from the scene (to return again in the Spring), and it is time to say "thank you" and "farewell" until then.  While she is out-of-sight, the God is focused upon.  (As humans, we have both aspects--Goddess and God--within us.)  In these traditions, it is at Hallomas that the God becomes fully potent.

The Cowherd is an aspect of the God, as seen in the Chinese story.  He is a loving being; and very much connected with the animal world.  (As a matter of fact, the god Krishna might merged with this ancient myth.)  Another story of China connected with this time is a story of a hermit named Chu Hze.  As a hermit, he symbolizes the inward-drawing energy of this time when the night advances.  Chu Hze meets with a faerie (who can change into a fox) woman who gives to him a beautiful pearl of wisdom.  After that, he becomes a great writer; and he writings are still studied in China!  Again, there is the connection of the masculine with the animal
world.

In the Mediterranean, the Feast of Dionysius was celebrated around this time; Dionysius is the god of "Feeling" and people were encouraged to let their feelings be expressed through dance and song and general festive mayhem.  It was also the time when the grapes were harvested and stamped on (danced on) to make the wine!

As the air clears in the Equinox season, the sky becomes an important focus.  This also ties in with the rise of the masculine and "angelic" emphasis of the time.

In China, as elsewhere, the time of Autumn is associated with a festival-journey called "The Mounting of the Heights."  This is a festival of the Literari class--the scholars, poets, writers, students and teachers.  People take a trip to the tops of mountains to view the changing of Nature and compose a poem to the season.  They wear special purple and white clothing (Kiku-gosane).  They picnic on the mountain tops, eating some of the harvest feast, special wheat-cakes which are said to assure promotion in public life.

The "Mounting of the Heights" gives a fine climax to a season of hard work and thanksgiving feasting.  What better way to view our world than from a mountain-top?  And what better way to connect with heaven?  Balance the two together, knowing that each is necessary to our well-being, and you have the miracle of the season.

My Equinox wish for you: Be balanced, be beautiful, be harmonized in Love!

Queen of the Hill of Tara: Tailtiu

It is said that there is a QUEEN buried on the Hill of Tara.  Her name is Tailtiu or Tailltiu (also known as Tea or Talti).  And, like the beloved Brighid, her fame has combined the very ancient, prehistoric Goddess with an almost mythological historic woman.

The story says that she was the daughter of the King of Spain who traveled to Ireland to wed the last Fir Bolg High King.  The Fir Bolg were descendants (or slaves?) of Scythians (or Spaniards?) who had come to Ireland in ancient times, got kicked out, lived in Greece (!?), and then returned to Ireland!

(I think that the mention of Spain, in these cases, might have been a codeword for Atlantis or perhaps Egypt or Ethiopia.)

At this time, the Fir Bolg had fought for, and won, their share of the land from the Fomorians, who were basically Sea Raiders.  There were still some Fomorians living in Ireland, however.

Now....it was actually mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible (Jer 41:10) that the Prophet Jeremiah went to the Egyptian city of Tahpanhes with his scribe Baruch, Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, and with “Tea Tephi and her sister.”  As mentioned, “Tea” is another name for Tailtiu, and Tephi is used interchangably for her sister.  (There may be a connection with the Chaldeans, also.)

Sometimes Tea and Tephi are featured in a story that is credited to Masonic tradition, traced to an introduction into popular culture during the nineteenth century (“The Book of Tephi” by J.A. Goodchild, 1897) and credited as a reference in several printed sources thereafter.  According to this account, the biblical prophet Jeremiah left Egypt with King Zedekiah’s daughters whose names were 'Tea Tephi ' and ‘Tamar Tephi’ and a scribe, Baruch. He boarded a ship in Tarshish with Tea Tephi, whose sister Tamar Tephi chose to stay behind. Jeremiah took the remaining daughter to Ireland (some say “by way of Gibraltar) to found Tara. The story goes on to say that the two mounds of earth on the Hill of Tara were then named "The Mounds of Tea Tephi" by Jeremiah, and that Tea Tephi married the King of Ireland.

http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id291.html

It has also been said that Tailtiu was “the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh Bachtir Mac Buirech,. It is said she came from Thebes. Her sister is Scota Tephi, the bright, who is crowned with feathers, has a staff and brooch.”  Other stories have the sisters as daughters of king Zedekiah of Jerusalem.

http://www.tartanplace.com/faery/goddess/teamhair.html

Most accounts of Irish mythology say that Tailtiu was married to Eochaid mac Eirc, the last Fir Bolg king, “an ideal ruler during whose reign only truth was spoken in the land, which bore abundant crops under fair skies.” However, some believe he had taken Tailtiu from her father in Spain.  (At that time, the power of Goddess Culture was still strong, and I believe he married Tailtiu in order to gain her favor with the spirit of the Land.)

Eochaid was killed at the first battle of Mag Tuired, when the Fir Bolg battled the magical invaders, the Tuatha De Danann. “Thereupon Tailtiu married Eochaid Garbh, who despite the similarity of name to her first husband, was a member of the victorious Tuatha De Danaan.”

Early Irish kingship was sacred in character. In the early narrative literature a king is a king because he marries the sovereignty goddess, is free from blemish, enforces lucky actions and avoids unlucky ones.  Perhaps there is a forced cultural merging, as the triumphant (male) leader in battle marries the widow of the killed vanquished leader.  Tailtiu, in her role as Queen/Priestess, was representative not only of the Goddess, but of the Land Itself.  And the new “King” must be “married to the Land,” or else was not recognized to have any true authority by the people.

Now, the new ruling group of Ireland, the Tuatha de Danaan, had all kinds of intrigues and strange things about their own family relationships.  For instance, the Tuatha de Danaan man, Cian, was the son of Dian Cécht and Danu. He had a “magic cow” that gave an endless supply of milk.  However, the Fomorian Balor tricked him out of the cow!

Cian took revenge on Balor by seducing his daughter, Ethlinn.  (That seems a strange way to get revenge!) Ethlinn bore Cian three sons: triplets.

It was prophecised that Balor's grandson would one day kill him.  Because of his fear, Balor had his daughter Ethlinn  imprisoned in the tower. When her sons (triplets) were born, Balor threw each son from the tower into the sea.  Only one infant was saved by Manannán (the Tuatha de Danaan Sea God) and a Druidess named Birog. Birog brought the child to his father, Cian. Cian put the child, whom he named Lugh, into the care of his brother Goibhniu (a Master Smith of the Tuatha).

Now it gets a bit confused, but the gist of the story is that Lugh had many “foster-fathers” (including the Smith) who taught him all the skills in the world.  AND (most importantly) he was given to Tailtiu as his foster mother.

Lugh, of course, became a legendary leader and a kind of “God” in his own right.  But his love for his foster-mother Tailtiu was also legendary.  And, as his “foster mother,” she must have taught him much.

Now Tailtiu is very interesting to me, because she is the one who caused the “Hill Fort” (or “Ring Fort”) to be built on the Hill of Tara.  And this is how it happened:

“In Spain (Egypt? Ethiopia?  Atlantis?), Tailtiu had chanced to see the Rampart of Tephi. When with her people, she begged her husband to give her the ridge, now called Tara, but then Druim Cain, ‘The Fair Ridge', the wish was granted.  Tailtiu built a wall round the ridge in imitation of Teipe-mur (the Wall of Teipe or Tephi) …" Tephi, again, was Tailtiu’s sister.

“Tailtiu lived in her palace on Ráth Dubh and she led her people in the clearing of the forest of County Meath, some of Ireland's best farmland. But the work of clearing proved so onerous as to break her heart, in the words of the text.”

Now, I doubt if she tried clearing that land all by herself!  So the text puzzles me.  She certainly had many stout followers to help her with the clearing of the land.

My own opinion is that Tailtiu, in spirit, was so entwined with the Land, that the felling of the ancient trees of the dense forest did indeed break her heart.  Yet, she felt she needed to do this so that her people could survive by planting what they needed, and tilling the land.  So she sacrificed herself (and the trees) for her people!

As for the building of a hill-fort, this is also puzzling to me.  There are many remnants of hill-forts around Celtic Britain, but archaeologists are doubtful that they were for military defense.  It seems that, in the transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age, the climate changed, and people had to band together to survive the harsh weather.  They needed seasonal enclosures for their animals and to protect their plants and store their grains.  IF Tailtiu came from Ethiopia or Chaldea, she was aware of the utmost importance of her people being able to cultivate the fields and vineyards, and thus lay the foundation of security.

As she died, she asked that her funeral go on forever, with horse racing and games and festivities. And so her foster son, the god Lugh, established the August festival that, strangely, bears his name (Lughnasa) rather than hers.

“On Her deathbed Queen Tailte (Tailtiu) asked that funeral games be held annually on the cleared ground.  King Lugh came from his great palace at Nas (now Naas, in Co. Kildare), and had Tailtiu interred in Her ‘green circle on the distant hills.' Legend says She was buried in a royal state, with impressive druidical rites, on the side of Caill Cuain (now called Sliabh Caillighe), in what is known now as ‘Cairn T.’”

Lugh lead the first funeral games at the time of Lughnasa (1 August; Lammastide, now Lammas), which consisted of hurling, athletic, gymnastic and equestrian contests of various kinds, and included running, long-jumping, high-jumping, hurling, quoit-throwing, spear-casting, sword and-shield contests, wrestling, boxing, handball, swimming, horse-racing, chariot-racing, spear or pole jumping, slinging contests, bow-and-arrow exhibitions, and, in fact, every sort of contest exhibiting physical endurance and skill.   A universal truce was proclaimed in the High King's name, and all feuds, fights, quarrels and such-like disturbances were strictly forbidden and severely dealt with; and all known criminals were rigorously excluded from both the games and the assembly.

In addition, there were literary, musical, oratorical, and story-telling competitions; singing and dancing competitions, and tournaments of all kinds. Also, competitions for goldsmiths, jewellers, and artificers in the precious metals; for spinners, weavers and dyers; and the makers of shields and weapons of war. The fair lasted for a fortnight.

One common feature of the Games were the ‘Tailtean marriages,” a rather informal marriage that lasted for only ‘a year and a day’ or until next Lammas.  At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if it pleased them, or to stand back to back and walk away from one another, thus bringing the Tailtean marriage to a formal close.  Such trial marriages (obviously related to the Wiccan ‘Handfasting’) were quite common even into the 1500s, although it was something one ‘didn’t bother the parish priest about.’  Indeed, such ceremonies were usually solemnized by a POET, BARD, or SHANACHIE (or, it may be guessed, by a priest or priestess of the Old Religion).

http://www.crystalwind.ca/find-your-way/neopagan-path/wheel-of-the-year/3425-lammas   

This Festival was celebrated annually in Tailtiu’s honor, lasting the whole of August. For generations it was celebrated, complete with mercantile fairs and sporting events; even into the medieval times Tailltiu's festivities were held. Eventually, they died out, but in the early part of the 20th century the Tailltean Games – the Irish Olympics – were revived in an attempt to restore Irish culture.

The Equestrian events and Horse Racing were especially loved by the Irish people.  Again, there is a Sacred connection. 

Edain Echraidhe is her Gaelic name; her home is the high valley between the hills of Tara and Skryne in the Royal City of Celtic Ireland. This high valley holds a sacred stream called the Gabhra (pronounced gow-ra), which means the white mare. The Gabhra Valley was free range for the White Mare of Celtic ancestors who came from northern Spain.

https://www.celticdruidtemple.com/

The Celtic Druids of Ireland (see above link) have written the following:

Now that Edain Echraidhe has returned to our attention; may she gather to her the desire dreaming of her people from over the whole world to shatter the illusions and reveal the Light.

Tara's Celtic Goddess Dreaming
- a suggested midnight visualisation located in the high valley of Tara -

"Tall leafy trees behind a Lady in White sitting on a White Mare; she leans forward offering a branch of thirteen leaves to three Celtic Women who open their hands to receive and reflect the old ways again. Eight Celtic Men form a semi circle around the three Celtic Women facing the Horse Goddess who emits a gentle white Light. Peace and Calm. Then, the neighing of a wild horse and the thunder of many hooves and the White Mare lifts her head to the gallop responding to the call to run free in the sacred valley... The 'Three Ladies and the Eight Men' of Tara step back enraptured in the graceful movement of the herd. This Fairy Host gallops along the entire Valley of the White Mare and down to the River of the Cow Goddess and back again, no fences or gates - just lush rolling grasslands edged by forest and overlooked by Rath Lugh and Rath Miles. Their free raw energy bursts through the mask of illusions every night at midnight. Light and freshness evolves in their space."

My own feeling about Tailtiu is that she was an Avatar of the Earth Goddess. 

It is said that Tara and Glastonbury are “sister sites.”  There is an ancient tradition of “The White” and “The Red” that activate their connection.  The main well at Tara (there are at least 6 others) is called “The Well of the White Cow,” and like the spring at Glastonbury, is said to hold healing water.

“While studying the sacred landscape of Tara and Glastonbury and the Goddesses associated with them, there is a demonstration, yet evident in place names and imagery of an ancient tradition - a pairing of two Goddesses as Sisters of the Gateway, perhaps a remnant of a very ancient dual system of matrilinear descent. Red is the seen and white the unseen. We have found the symbolic use of color, red for life, kingship, vitality, the ‘life of the land’ in the physical world; and white for the shining light of truth in the spiritual world, the light life force or spiritual energy that fuels creation. To be truly effectual, we must cultivate our understanding and connection to both.”

http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id291.html

Tara is the Goddess of mountains and hills all over the world. A hill, whether Nun of Egypt, Mount Meru, Olympus, Mount Leinster, Mount Shasta, Glastonbury Tor, is based on earth, and is the place of Tara where earth meets sky. We need to climb our own hill to the sky; yet not forgetting where we came from - the earth.

–Lady Olivia Robertson, founder of the Noble Order of Tara

I will end with an excerpt of a story by William Butler Yeats, a great poet/bard who understood the Celtic Mysteries, of what happened to one young man by the name of Red Hanrahan who decided to follow the cry of the hounds and go out to a sacred place in Ireland, on Samhain Eve:

And he could walk no longer,but sat down on the heather where he was, in the heart of Slieve Echtge, for all the strength had gone from him, with the dint of the long journey he had made.

And after a while he took notice that there was a door close to him, and a light coming from it, and he wondered that being so close to him he had not seen it before. And he rose up, and tired as he was he went in at the door, of and although it was night time outside, it was daylight he found within.

And presently he met with an old man that had been gathering summer thyme and yellow flag-flowers, and it seemed as if all the sweet smells of the summer were with them. And the old man said: 'It is a long time you have been coming to us, Hanrahan the learned man and the great songmaker.'

And with that he brought him into a very big shining house, and every grand thing Hanrahan had ever heard of, and every colour he had ever seen, were in it. There was a high place at the end of the house, and on it there was sitting in a high chair a woman, the most beautiful the world ever saw, having a long pale face and flowers about it, but she had the tired look of one that had been long waiting. And there was sitting on the step below her chair four grey old women, and the one of them was holding a great cauldron in her lap; and another a great stone on her knees, and heavy as it was it seemed light to her; and another of them had a very long spear that was made of pointed wood; and the last of them had a sword that was without a scabbard.

Red Hanrahan stood looking at them for a long Hanrahan-time, but none of them spoke any word to him or looked at him at all. And he had it in his mind to ask who that woman in the chair was, that was like a queen, and what she was waiting for; but ready as he was with his tongue and afraid of no person, he was in dread now to speak to so beautiful a woman, and in so grand a place. And then he thought to ask what were the four things the four grey old women were holding like great treasures, but he could not think of the right words to bring out.

Then the first of the old women rose up, holding the cauldron between her two hands, and she said 'Pleasure,' and Hanrahan said no word. Then the second old woman rose up with the stone in her hands, and she said 'Power'; and the third old woman rose up with the spear in her hand, and she said 'Courage'; and the last of the old women rose up having the sword in her hands, and she said 'Knowledge.' And everyone, after she had spoken, waited as if for Hanrahan to question her, but he said nothing at all. And then the four old women went out of the door, bringing their tour treasures with them, and as they went out one of them said, 'He has no wish for us'; and another said, 'He is weak, he is weak'; and another said, 'He is afraid'; and the last said, 'His wits are gone from him.' And then they all said 'Echtge, daughter of the Silver Hand, must stay in her sleep. It is a
pity, it is a great pity.'

And then the woman that was like a queen gave a very sad sigh, and it seemed to Hanrahan as if the sigh had the sound in it of hidden streams; and if the place he was in had been ten times grander and more shining than it was, he could not have hindered sleep from coming on him; and he staggered like a drunken man and lay down there and then.

When Hanrahan awoke, the sun was shining on his face, but there was white frost on the grass around him, and there was ice on the edge of the stream he was lying by, and that goes running on through Daire- caol and Druim-da-rod. He knew by the shape of the hills and by the shining of Lough Greine in the distance that he was upon one of the hills of Slieve Echtge, but he was not sure how he came there; for all that had happened in the barn had gone from him, and all of his journey but the soreness of his feet and the stiffness in his bones.

http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/2535/

Resources:

The Goddess Tailtiu
https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/goddess-tailtiu/

The White and the Red (Tara and Glastonbury)
http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id291.html
Writing by:  By Linda Iles, ArchDrs.
Grove of Elen of the Ways and Llew of the Silver Hand

Irish Tourism: Tara
http://www.meath.ie/Tourism/MeathsTownandVillages/Teltown/
http://www.meath.ie/Tourism/Accommodation/AccommodationListing/Title,4156,en.html

http://www.sacredireland.org/

http://www.goddessalive.co.uk/issue-18-home/tailtiu-harvest-goddess/
http://www.goddessalive.co.uk/issue-18-home/tailtiu-in-cornwall/
http://www.goddessalive.co.uk/issue-18-home/the-goddess-in-the-fields-2/

Noble Order of Tara
http://www.fellowshipofisiscentral.com/noble-order-of-tara---a-link-between-heaven-and-earth
http://www.fellowshipofisiscentral.com/noble-order-of-tara-1

Tephi, Queen of Tara and Gibraltar
http://jahtruth.net/tephisum.htm

Tamar/Tea Tephi, Daughter of King Zedekiah
http://www.obrienclan.com/seanchas-old-lore-blog/tamarteateiatephi-hebrew-princess-queen-of-ireland

The Tailteann Games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailteann_Games

Wells of Tara (Holy Wells)
http://irelandsholywells.blogspot.com/2011/10/well-of-white-cow-tara-hill.html

http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/482/the_well_of_the_white_cow_holy_well.htm

http://www.irelandtravelkit.com/exploring-the-hill-of-tara-sacred-well-sheela-na-gig-and-sloping-trenches-tara-co-meath/

http://www.druidry.org/library/sacred-waters-holy-wells
 
Lebor Gabala Erenn (11th century book which tells the ancient history of Ireland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebor_Gab%C3%A1la_%C3%89renn

High Kings of Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_King_of_Ireland

Timeline of Irish Myth and Legend
http://www.legendarytours.com/dates.html

Gaelic Polytheism
http://www.tairis.co.uk/values/gessi-and-buada/

Celtic Deities
http://www.angelfire.com/wizard/celticdeities/

Book: The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power
by Vicki Noble

Geneology of Tamar Tephi
http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/a/r/Richard-Allen-Harper/GENE3-0001.html