Sunday, April 17, 2011

A Royal Wedding of Mythic Proportions



According to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the upcoming Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29, 2011 will be watched by around 2 billion people worldwide, nearing Princess Diana's funeral audience of 2.5 billion. In what will be the biggest televised wedding since the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981, this Royal Wedding event is sure to capture the attention of the world, tap into the collective energy, and channel it into in a global ritual on the eve of one of the most magical days of the year, Beltane.

As I mentioned in a previous post on the Royal Wedding, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be acting out the Hiero Gamos, or sacred marriage as they ascend to their archetypal roles of God and Goddess. Hieros gamos refers to the coupling of a god and goddess or their earthly representatives, often conducted in the spring as a fertility rite. The Royal Wedding occurs two days before the great pagan fertility rite of spring, Beltane, also called May Day. This cross-quarter designates the halfway mark from the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice and is a time of partnerships and fertility. I wouldn't be surprised if the Prince and his bride begin a family within the first year of marriage. And it seems they may be planning for a girl. According to the online Telegraph: Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is actively pursuing the plan to scrap the principle of male primogeniture from the monarchy in order to grant any future princesses born to the couple the same rights as male children. Under current arrangements, the Prince’s first born son would be next in line to the throne, even if the child had an older sister. However, this young royal couple wants to set a new future for the monarchy and are asking the Queen to grant any future princesses born to the couple the same rights as male children.

In my last post I also discussed the convergence of apocalyptic symbols associated with the date of April 29 as pointed out by Andre Heath in his blog The Alien Project. Heath points out the connection between this year's bird deaths with an episode of Flashforward, a TV series about a global loss of consciousness that occurred on April 29. Another instance of the numbers "429" being associated with apocalyptic themes appears in the catastrophe movie The Core. The numbers were depicted on a bus traveling through Trafalgar Square in London when birds suddenly fell out of the sky due to the shifting magnetic fields. Like the 9-11 prophetic images portrayed in the media before that calamity, 4-29 appears to be imprinting on the collective consciousness.

This month Time Newsfeed points out that the Royal couple share the same wedding day as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, who killed themselves 40 hours later in his underground bunker. April 29 is also the date that the royal family buried Wallis Simpson, a commoner like Kate, whom King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry. And as I mentioned in my last post, Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married on the 29th of July which, as we all know, did not end well.

Even Biblical references to 4-29 may indicate that the harvest or end times are upon us. From the New Testament Mark 4:29 says But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. This same image and theme is repeated in Revelation 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple sanctuary, calling with a mighty voice to Him Who was sitting upon the cloud, Put in Your scythe and reap, for the hour has arrived to gather the harvest, for the earth's crop is fully ripened. Sickle and scythe are instruments of both harvest and death, depending on who is doing the reaping. In this case it may be Saturn. As Julie Loar describes in Saturn - Celestial Ringmaster or Cosmic Principle of Order?:

Saturn is sometimes pictured as the Grim Reaper, wielding a scythe, and cutting a wide swath in human affairs. Saturn's symbol bears a likeness to the god's sickle. In this role he delivers his trials as a stern but wise task master. The reaper is only “grim” if we have sowed metaphorical seeds of destruction.


Loar describes two types of Saturn/Cronus archetypes in Western mythology. One tradition portrays Saturn/Cronus as a selfish and autocratic ruler, intending to maintain his reign at any cost -- including swallowing his own children so that none of them would supplant him. Another tradition from Orphic cosmology (Egypt) depicts Saturn/Cronus as a beneficent king, ruling over both heaven and earth. In this guise Saturn/Cronus ruled during a halcyon Golden Age in antiquity .



In Vedic Astrology Saturn is called Shani, the slow moving one. He is considered to be the Lord of Time and Consequences who gives the result of karmas to every creature. Saturn is considered to be the strongest malefic and a stern teacher who teaches patience, effort, endeavour, and endurance. Astronomically 29 is associated with the planet Saturn because it takes 29 years to orbit the Sun. Saturn figures prominently in the wedding chart of Charles and Diana, as well as in the birth and wedding charts of William and Kate.



In the event chart for the upcoming wedding, Saturn, the planet of commitment and lord of time, rules over the 7th house of marriage from its 3rd house placement in the sign of Virgo. Virgo is the sign most related to the goddess and Golden Age (for more click http://starsyncs.blogspot.com/2010/11/messenger-from-virgo-comet-c2010-v1.html). In addition, Saturn aspects the chart ruler of the wedding chart, the Moon which is conjoined Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter all in Pisces. Thus Saturn becomes a pivot point in the chart. In addition, the 3rd house rules over communication, the arts, courage and sometimes death (the 3rd house is the 8th house from the 8th house). It is an upachaya house, which means planets placed here get better over time. Thus Saturn may indicate the potential for a committed and long term marriage, or it may bring obstacles to all the benefic planets lined up in the 9th house of good fortune, the father (ancestry) and the law.

Saturn has been transiting the sign of the Virgo since 2009. Both William and Kate have Saturn in Virgo in their natal charts, and thus are currently in their first Saturn return, a time of maturing and commitment -- and both will turn 29 years old this year (Kate is already 29, Wills will be 29 in June).



In addition to the upcoming Royal Wedding chart, Saturn was also placed in the sign of the Virgin during the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. In fact Saturn was rising on the ascendant with Mercury, the chart ruler, on that day. According to Dr. K.S. Charak, Diana's natal chart also has a Virgo ascendant that links her to her namesake, the Virgin goddess of the moon. Much hoopla was made about Diana's virginal state before her marriage to Prince Charles. Diana literally means "heavenly" or "divine," and like the Virgin Mary, she delivered her divine son to the world; except that unlike the Virgin Mary, Diana gave birth to her child on Summer Solstice when the Sun is at its peak (in opposition to the birth of Christ). Although the virginal state of Kate Middleton no longer seems to be an issue for the protocol keepers of the Monarchy, she is connected to the heavens in her devotion to her favorite color: blue. Like Diana, Kate wore a lovely blue engagement dress which matched her Saturn engagement ring made of blue sapphire that belonged to Diana. This dress was produced by her favorite designer Issa, perhaps a not-so-veiled allusion to Isis? Could there be an upcoming shift in which we no longer need a virgin to birth a god or king?



In both wedding charts, Saturn is placed in the 13th nakshatra, Hasta which consists of five stars representing fingers of a hand in the constellation Corvus, the Crow -- another interesting sync with the bird deaths, Aflockalypse themes, and the Royal Wedding. Hasta's power is the ability to manifest what we are seeking and to place it in our hands, hasta sthapaniya agama shakti. What will Saturn, the planet of commitment, sorrow, and time, place in the hands of the royals?

Another intriguing coincidence pointed out by Time Magazine is that April 29 marks the feast day of the Italian saint Catherine of Sienna. This Italian saint, who bears the same first name as Kate (Catherine) Middleton, was known for her Mystical Marriage with Jesus giving yet another sign that this is indeed a Hieros Gamos, or Alchemical Wedding. Although this intriguing synchronicity may feed conspiracy theories that Prince William is the chosen one, or even the anti-Christ (click here), it is more likely that this coincidence alludes to the divine right of kingship of young William, whose bloodline may be traced back to Jesus and/or Egypt (click here for David Icke's geneology that suggests the true bloodline goes back to Egyptian pharoahs) through his own mother and her Merovingian ancestry. Moreover, Prince William’s eventual ascendancy to the throne will mark the return of a Stuart monarchy after 400 years. William is a Stuart through his mother, Diana Spencer, whose bloodlines are as English as they come, unlike those of his father, the Windsors (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), who are of mixed English/German descent (the name Windsor was adopted in 1917, when was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha because of wartime anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom).

Tracy R. Twyman is an author and expert on occult history. In her recent article, Prince William Marked for Death with Ominous Sacrificial Beltane Cake, makes an interesting case for this global ritual to be one of blood sacrifice. She writes:

. . .at Beltane, there was the baking of the “Beltane cake,” which was used to select by lot the “Beltane carline”: the sacrificial victim. Whoever received the piece that had been blackened over the coals was the unfortunate one. . . This is very interesting, given one of the details of Kate and William’s wedding. In addition to the traditional fruit-based wedding cake that will be served for the rest of the wedding party, Prince William is breaking with tradition and commissioning his own “Groom’s cake” just for himself. It will be made of dark chocolate and tea biscuits, based on a “secret family recipe.” I’ll bet. The ancient rituals we are dealing with here have their roots in a tradition by which a reigning monarch sacrifices his son to prevent him from threatening his reign.


So will this global marriage rite bring celestial energies to rejuvenate the British monarchy by restoring its mythical magic and power over a future new world order through the bloodline of Christ/Egypt; or might it bring about a sacrificial death which might it keep the Windsor line on the throne? Well there are more intriguing symbols to consider.

Bel, Green Man, and Osiris

The word Beltane literally means "bright" or "brilliant fire," and refers to the bonfire lit in honor of the Celtic deity variously known as Bel or Belenus, the Shining One who was associated with pastoralism. As god of fire and healing, Belenus was invoked during Beltane. Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire called the Need Fire was kindled. This fire was used to purify, cleanse, and bring fertility. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. And at the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Bel Fires to start their fires anew.



It is very intriguing that the Royal Wedding chart has many themes associated with fire. The Sun is in the fire sign Aries which is exalted and placed in the 10th house of public life. The chart ruler is a Pisces Moon conjoined an exalted Venus, the planet of love and fertility, in the "scorched" or "burning" pair of nakshatras Purva and Uttara Bhadrapada. And Rahu, the North Node, is aligned with the galactic center in the fire sign of Sagittarius just one degree from Prince William's ascendant. This wedding will certainly kindle the Bel Fires this month!

Other Beltane festivities include, frolicking throughout the countryside, maypole dancing, leaping over fires to ensure fertility, circling the fire three times for good luck in the coming year, athletic tournaments feasting, music, drinking, and going a "maying."



Flowers, wreaths, and garlands were worn to signal the victory of Summer over Winter and the blossoming of sensuality in nature and the promise of fertility it will bring. Originally the tradition of "May Boughing" or "May Birching" involved young men fastening garlands flowers on the windows and doors of their prospective mates before the fires are lit on Beltane night.

Beltane is also the night of the Sacred Marriage and union of the God and Goddess. Many communities elected a virgin as their "May Queen" to to act out this ritual with her consort the "May King," "Jack-in-the-Green" or "Green Man." The Green Man can be found all over the world, from Ireland and England to Rome and China. The Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring.



The union of the May Queen and her consort the May King symbolized the fertility and rebirth of the world. The Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh is a modern adaptation of this ritual drama loosely based on some aspects of the pre-Christian festival of Beltane.



During this ritual the Green Man is is killed by the Queen's handmaidens, then brought back to life by the Queen. Does this story sound vaguely familiar? It should. It is based on the Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris, the Green fire god. Osiris was usually depicted as a green-skinned deity symbolizing his power of rebirth and his connection with pastoralism.



The Legend of Isis and Osiris is one of the most ancient myths in Egypt, and it was central to the ancient Egyptian state religion. Essentially the myth establishes Osiris' position as the God of the Dead and Lord of the Underworld, and gave his son Horus (and thus all the pharaohs) the divine right to kingship. While there are many variations to their story (including the earliest one of a father sacrificing his son to keep his kingship -- a very Saturnine theme), I will try to give as brief a synopsis as possible of the later trinity of Osiris, Isis, and Horus to help us understand the archetypes at work in the upcoming Royal Wedding.

According to Egyptian mythology Osiris was a well loved king who brought civilization to the land of Egypt. He may be considered the earliest "Green Man" because he taught the Egyptians about agriculture and domestication of animals. Osiris developed a code of civil and spiritual laws that instructed his people how to live and how to worship the gods. Egypt became a mighty land under his kind and gentle rule. After he finished bringing the gift of civilization to Egypt, Osiris journeyed to other lands to share his teachings while leaving his wife, Isis, in charge of Egypt.

However, as with all good myths there is an evil protagonist: his bitter and jealous brother Seth. During his absence, Seth conspired to kill his brother. He secretly obtained his brother's physical measurements and had a magnificent casket made to fit. Upon the king's return, Seth organized a large feast to which Osiris and 72 guest were invited to celebrate. At the height of the festivities Seth produced the casket and announced that it would be given to whoever it fitted. All the guests tried the casket for size, but none fitted until Osiris tried it on. Seth immediately slammed the lid closed and sealed the casket shut with molten lead and threw the sealed coffin into the Nile.

Upon hearing the news, Isis was devastated by the loss of her husband and set out to find the casket. She searched throughout Egypt and eventually found it where it had come to rest under the roots of a massive tree. Isis collected the casket and brought it back to Egypt for a proper burial. When she returned she concealed it in the marshes beside the Nile for safe keeping. Unfortunately Seth found the casket and was so enraged he chopped the body of Osiris into 14 pieces, scattering the severed parts throughout the land of Egypt.



Once again Isis set out to find remains her husband so she could give him a proper burial. Eventually she found all the pieces except his phallus which had been eaten by a fish. So being the smart high priestess that she was, she fashioned a phallus out of gold, wrapped him in bandages, and breathed life back into Osiris' lifeless body. It is said that she conceived their son Horus during this magical event. Osiris was resurrected, received proper ceremonies and burial, and became Lord of the Dead and Afterlife.



And the story doesn't end here. Many dangers faced their son Horus after birth. Isis fled with the newborn to escape the wrath of Seth. Isis protected and raised Horus until he was old enough to face Seth in battle to avenge his fathers death. After a series of fights neither Horus or Seth were able to secure an overall victory. Ultimately Osiris was declared King of the Underworld, Horus the King of the living, and Seth the ruler of the deserts as the God of Chaos and Evil. Osiris rules from the Kingdom of the Dead while his son Horus rules over the Kingdom of the Living. Sound familiar?



Therefore the theme of resurrection is connected with kingship and divinity since the earliest days of civilization. Moreover, this same story is retold through various religions in which a Father rules from Heaven, impregnating a devoted Virgin, who gives birth to a divine Son who rules over the Earth battling evil. And the symbols associated with the Egyptian trinity reoccur over and over again in the images surrounding kings and leaders in the Western world. Starting with the Romans who conquered Egypt and appropriated these myths and their symbolism into their own art, then to Constantine who integrated them into the early Roman Catholic Church, and on to Charlemagne who reconstructed the Roman Empire and laid the ground work for European monarchies, the roots of all symbols of European kingship may be traced back to Egypt. Moreover, these symbols have also been integrated into other political systems through the work of Freemasons like the Founding Fathers of the United States.













British Trinity

Osiris - Green Man
Three (magical) days after the announcement of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton which of course was aligned with the galactic center and Prince William's rising sign Mula (click here to see previous post), Prince Charles was making headlines of his own. On November 19, 2010 his documentary Harmony: A New Way of Looking at our world premiered on NBC. The documentary gives the audience a rare glimpse of Prince Charles portraying him as a gentleman farmer. The documentary and its accompanying book give a new and inspiring perspective on how the world can meet the challenges of climate change globally, locally and personally. Most importantly, it revealed that Prince Charles has become a defender of Nature, a Green Man. And it appears that Prince William agrees with him and is a Green Man in the making.



Isis - Diana
Although named after Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt, Princess Diana may be viewed as the Goddess Isis who bore her Green Man a son, William-Horus on the Summer Solstice who seems to be chosen to rule over Britain. Moreover, Lady Diana was born during the helical rising of Sirius, the star most associated with Isis. Her chart ruler Mercury (I use a Virgo ascendant) and the Sun are both in Gemini in the nakshatra Ardra, the teardrop, which certainly flowed from Diana. It was said that Isis' tears over the death of Osiris were the cause for the flooding of the Nile. In a strange twist of events for this modern Royal Trinity, Isis/Diana is the one who dies hitting the 13th pillar under the Pont de l'Alma in Paris over an ancient sacrificial site used for the worship of the Roman goddess Diana. Because of her charity work, as well as her divorce and outspoken criticism of the royal family, she won the hearts of common people around the world and is still worshiped today as the People's Princess.

Although she's no virgin like Diana, Isis, and St. Catherine, Kate Middleton now steps up for the role of May Queen for her Beltane wedding. Unlike Diana who was named after the goddess of hunting, but despised it (perhaps because she was always the one being hunted), Ms. Middleton has no problem taking down a deer as she did during her first deer hunting expedition with Prince Charles at the Queen's Balmoral Estate (click here for article dated 10/13 of course).



And Guess what, apparently Ms. Middleton is no commoner either. AND it turns out that she is a distant cousin of her soon to be husband. According to the Daily Mail online, the man who links William and Kate as kith and kin is Sir Thomas Leighton. He is William's 12th generation great-grandparent, and Kate's 11th, making them 12th cousins, once removed. Although they are not brother and sister like Isis/Osiris and Arthur/Morgan, they are royal family complete with pedigreed bloodlines that will ensure the right to divine kingship is passed on.

Horus - William
Horus was an ancient Egyptian solar deity who as God of the Sky was primarily depicted as a falcon. Prince William is a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and last year received his wings from his father, who flew aircraft in the Royal Navy (underworld) with Kate Middleton looking on.



Horus was also the God of War, and in this video it is reported that Prince William would like to follow in the footsteps of his brother Harry and fly on the front line in Afghanistan.



As I mentioned in my previous post, Prince William was born under a Mula ascendant on the summer solstice just moments after a solar eclipse. It is cosmically stunning and significant that the next heir to the British throne was born on the first day of summer while the galactic center was rising on the Eastern horizon moments after a solar eclipse to the Sun and Moon in Gemini in the nakshatra Ardra, the asterism that contains the star Sirius which conjoins his deified mother's natal Sun and chart ruler. This spectacular alignment further indicates that Prince William's destiny is heavily imprinted with the karma of the galactic center, the womb of galactic mother, as well as the galactic anti-center, the home of divine mother Isis in Sirius.

Westminter Abbey and the Cosmoti Pavement
Thus by now it should be no surprise that the Royal Wedding will take place on top of the newly renovated Cosmati Pavement at the historically significant Westminster Abbey.



Unlike his parents who were married in St. Paul's Cathedral, Prince William and Kate Middleton will exchange vows in historically rich Westminster Abbey which has housed 15 royal weddings. Whereas St. Paul's Cathedral has a history of executions and peace treaties, Westminster Abbey is most famous as the site of the Coronation of Kings and Queens. Every monarch since William the Conqueror, with the exception of Edward V and Edward VIII, has been crowned in the Abbey.

As Tracy R. Twyman points out in her essay: Kings of the Apocalypse: Secret end times message found encoded on Westminster Abbey coronation floor (click here):

The next coronation, however, is going to be even more special, because it will take place on top of a mosaic representing the exact center of the cosmos, and the end of time. That mosaic was created in 1268 by the command of King Henry III, but it has not been seen at the coronation for over 150 years. It is called the “Cosmati Pavement,” and it has only recently been rediscovered.




As the video portrays, the symbolism encoded in the Cosmoti Pavement is spectacular. Each stone has meaning. The earth-like circle at the center makes it absolutely clear that this is the ceremonial and sacred epicenter of the world. From the collection of tiles that were shaved from columns of ancient Rome linking English coronation with the approval of the Roman Catholic Church, to the imperial purple stones that were imported from Egypt linking it to the origin of divine kingship, this floor is clearly designed to represent the connection between heaven and earth which is upheld by the throne and legitimized by the divine right to kingship passed on along through history.



Moreover, the apocryphal message hidden in the stone perimeter is incredibly intriguing as we approach what some believe to be the end of time. The Latin inscription around the perimeter states: The spherical globe here shows the archetypal macrocosm. Encoded with the message is a medieval mathematical formula to calculate the end of time. According to a translation by John Flete:
The reader wisely considers all that is laid down, he will find here the end of the primum mobile; a hedge (lives for) three years, add dogs and horses and men, stags and ravens, eagles, enormous whales, the world: each one following triples the years of the one before.


As Twyman points out:

When you add up the mythical ages of all the animals given, including the man and the sea serpent, then multiply them by three as the inscription tells you to, you get 19,683. I am not exactly sure what creation date we are supposed to state from. I have heard television presenters say that the code means the world will end at 19, 683 AD. But as far as I can tell, no beginning date is in fact given, and therefore the exact end date is not known.


So I would say that the Royal Wedding which is brimming with alchemical and apocalyptic symbolism and which will take place on the archetypal macrocosm of the world center with a Prince who was born under a special alignment with the galactic center is beyond extraordinary. Another strange coincidence that ties the symbolism of this pavement with the upcoming royal wedding is, once again, the number 29. Within the entire Cosmoti Pavement there are 29 circles each filled with difference geometrical shapes. What could these 29 circles represent? 29 worlds? 29 heavens? 29 dimensions?



Many of these circles are filed with six pointed stars within hexagons. The hexagram itself represents the union of yin and yang, a symbol of the alchemical wedding of god and goddess. Is it me, or does anyone else the resemblance to a shri yantra?



The hexagon is also a design found in the ancient flower of life like the one below from Temple of Osiris at Abydos in Egypt that is believed to reveal the secrets of the universe and life in its sacred geometry.



And perhaps most strangely, a hexagon is also connected to the planet Saturn, as this gas giant has a hexagonal storm swirling at its poles.



Thus the sacred geometry embedded in the Cosmoti Pavement represents the blueprint of heaven and earth, the secret of the flower of life, and the divine right of kings to maintain the seat between heaven and earth through the coronation at the center of the circle. In sacred geometry, the circle represents not only the spiritual realms, but is also universal symbol of unity, wholeness, and infinity. Thus the circle refers to cycles of all kinds: the cycle of life and death, the cycle of day and night, or a trip around the zodiac. At the center of the Cosmoti Pavement, the earth circle is surrounded by four other circles in what appears to be a cross. Many infer this represents the Christian cross, which is of course based on the astrological symbolism of the cross-quarters of the Sun. But could they also refer to world ages, as in the four world ages (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron)? Could the Royal Wedding be a world wide ritual to prepare the May King and Queen (and us) for the upcoming shift of the Ages?

Did you know that the current heir to the throne, Prince Charles is a huge fan of sacred geometry? In his book Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, he asserts that order can be restored in the world through a rediscovery of "classical knowledge" (ie. sacred geometry). One section of the book details what he calls “the grammar of harmony,” curious mathematical constants, like the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence, that can be found throughout nature. The ubiquity of these constants, he argues, hints that we do not live in an “accidental universe.” No we don't, and if all the symbolism surrounding the upcoming Royal Wedding is correct, a new order of the cosmos is fast approaching.

Namaste!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow

TitusL said...

Great Post :D
thought you might enjoy my Beltane Blessing machinima film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VElZSplpxQc
Bright Blessings
elf ~

Anonymous said...

Love the post.
Here are some additional photos of the Cosmati Pavement in Westminster Abbey that may be of use in the article.
This one shows the Flower of Life pattern:
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/__data/assets/thumbnail/0007/18097/33984.jpeg

And this one is of the Hexagram:
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/__data/assets/thumbnail/0006/18096/33983.jpeg

stargurl said...

Thank you Anon.

Truthseeker444 said...

I stumbled upon your blog while searching for a pic of William getting his wings. Very interesting, I have been researching the same subject matter this 6 months. I am making a series of vids on the subject. At the min I am working on episode 4 "Sun God".
At this stage, I think we have come to the same conclusions, I do hope Im wrong on this! I think they have been creating a Seth Osais situation this many years. Cane, Able etc. Good bother bad brother. If you are interested I will send you the vids I have made so far. Great blog.
sandra X

stargurl said...

Thanks Sandra,

I would love to see your video. Have you also found the work of Tracey Twyman. . . she also has some very intriguing theories about the once and future king.