Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Part IV: Fool's Gold or Alchemical Transformation ?

Post Olympic Blues 


Replica of Big Ben at closing Ceremony
In spite of all the gloom and doom predictions of false flag terrorist attacks, the 2012 Olympics have come and gone without any bombs exploding or aliens landing in London.  Although I was skeptical of the fear-mongering reports spun by the conspiratainment industry and well-meaning warnings by individual researchers, I certainly contributed to the online chatter with my own blog posts on Olympic symbolism, Saturn and the Golden Age.  After all, the headlines were filled with archetypal images just screaming for interpretation.  Were these images truly bubbling up from the deep well of the collective or being manipulated by the media makers?  Although there is evidence of both, there were far too many instances of coincidence and synchronicity not to notice.  In June Jurriaan Maessen suggested that "reverse predictive programming" was being used to ultimately weaken the Truth Movement:

In the case of the many announcements of impending doom prefacing the Olympics popping up all over the internet, I believe we are dealing with a very subtle strain of programming, largely distributed with the aim of preparing people not for any apocalyptic event unfolding but rather to raise expectations to such an unprecedented level that many well-meaning truth seekers will eventually hit themselves on the head, and subsequently disengage themselves from the arena. When the dreaded Games have come and gone with the stars unshaken and the sky unchanged- and rest assured they will be after the summer- another objective will have been accomplished: the inevitable anti-climax will do more damage to the truth than any apocalyptic event foreboded.

Perhaps some conspiracy theorists are disillusioned, but others are galvanized believing that their efforts to expose the elite's secret agenda prevented the false flag event from occurring.   Plus "reverse predictive programming" does seem like an extraordinary amount of effort to discredit a tiny percent of the population that make up conspiracy circles.   

Info Wars picked up Maessen's story about Psychological Programmers verses the alternative media http://www.infowars.com/the-aliens-are-coming-psychological-programmers-versus-the-alternative-media/

Someone who is no stranger to the machinations of symbolism in the media is the ever-provocative Christopher Knowles of The Secret Sun blog.  This summer a recurring theme on his blog and facebook group has been a frustration with the "pantpissing hysteria" erupting in the alternative media, more appropriately dubbed "conspiratainment."  His post-Olympic assessment 2012 Olympics, Fear Strikes Out, Again struck a chord with me and many of his readers. He exposes the culpability of the conspiratainment business, and its under-reported roots in the extreme religious right, as flaming the fear (ie False Evidence Appearing Real) instead of simply revealing, or even reporting, the truth. 
The Guardian did a surprisingly thorough job breaking the story about all of the insane Olympic predictions, digging into the Fundamentalist fever swamps of Godlike Productions and Above Top Secret. You know, those profit-driven fear factories that are destroying the collective mind of their predominantly working-class and lower middle-class audiences by filling their minds with baseless paranoia and religious hatred. . . What The Guardian doesn't mention is that this all springs from the fetid collective imagination of the extreme Religious Right. What The Guardian will never mention is that the Religious Right program was unrolled by Nixon's CIA at the EXACT SAME TIME that they destroyed all of the MK Ultra documents (meaning they ended the research phase of the program).


In a way, Knowles is suggesting a similar thesis as Maessen, but revealing not only a different source for this disinformation (the CIA), but perhaps a different intent: not to create disillusion, but to spin more illusion.  I know from experience that nothing keeps the mind spinning and distracted better than following the white rabbit through Wonderland which is filled with "sulfurous easter eggs" and sleepy-time tea parties.  As Knowles writes: Every minute you spend playing someone else's game is a minute you're not spending improving and enriching your life and sharing ideas with and enjoying the company of your family and friends. . . There's nothing behind all of these little symbolic displays that will enrich your life.

I completely agree, and yet the compulsive desire to understand what lays beneath the surface continues to drive me, and many others.  Astrologically speaking,  this behavior is no doubt reflected by the obsessive energy of Rahu, the severed head of the dragon, whose quest for power, fame and immorality separated him from his body.  The head is the seat of the senses and cognitive mind, so Rahu is associated with the mental field and materialistic thought. According to Prash Trivedi, "Rahu imparts a sensitivity to the mass trends and collective psyche, which an individual can utilize either to further personal ends or serve humanity."  Thus we might ask if our desire to explore the symbolism rising in the mass media is to further our own egoic desires for recognition, or to share some lesson to heal the cognitive dissonance. As Sam Geppi suggests, "Rahu obsesses over the things we need to learn so we can eventually be freed of them."

Knowles is right, anytime we are triggered to play the game, we immediately lose contact with the opportunity to live in the present.  And if we delve into symbolism to find the truth "out there," we are playing some else's mind game and entering the realm of Rahu.  However, I do think that on some occasions pulling back the curtain on these symbolic displays, and the resulting interpretations, can help us to see our own demons and personal game -- which is being reflected in the collective game simultaneously -- and if we are lucky glimpse a higher truth.  I do not feel that interpreting symbols and archetypes is necessarily the problem, but rather it is the state of our own mind and consciousness  that leads us down various paths of the mental playing field.  If an archetype opens up consciousness to understand even a glimpse of the truth underlying Maya's dance, then it may be a powerful tool.

Anti-Christ, cloned image of Jesus
Even if the symbol is being projected by a so-called deceitful intent, there will be a whole archetype, complete with its shadow, that may reflect a greater reality than even the malevolent force can see or understand.  Nothing makes me cringe more than reading interpretations that fearfully describe events as evidence of Satan's hand in a well-worn battle between good and evil, or that Saturn is Satan, or that the elite are preparing the way for an anti-Christ. Biblical numerology is often so contrived that the true magic of numbers is lost.


But it is in that moment of cognitive dissonance and skeptical discomfort that I might be able to discern something deeper, or bigger, or even nothing at all other than the nature of the monkey mind.  I hope that my astrological interpretations and cosmic musings might shine a different kind of light and give new perspective to these subjects that is empowering instead of maintaining the victim mentality of the Piscean age and religions. (There, did you see it? That tricky ego reappears.)

 By realizing that the symbols and shadows which we are examining "out there" are actually reflections of our own inner processes, we can begin to integrate our personal, and thereby collective, shadow to dissolve fear (False Evidence Appearing Real).   For example, I would not be in this current state of understanding were it not for the Alex Jones and the Chicken Littles of the world creating so much cognitive dissonance that my toes curl and my brain shuts down. Only then does the seat of consciousness, the heart, have a chance to recognize the truth.  Perhaps this method is just my own crude way of wading through the mess, but I can see negative aspects of myself that need to be readjusted.

One of the reasons I rely heavily on astrology for my interpretive platform is that it maps out many archetypes at play at any given moment in time -- and all moments contain information interacting at multiple levels.  When enough stellar and planetary variables synchronize, something pops in my mental and emotional field that just won't settle until I process it through the lens of astrology.  Vedic astrology, or jyotisha, which translates as "science of light," is based on the philosophical premise that patterns in the microcosm are reflected in the macrocosm, as the alchemists would say as above, so below. It is no coincidence that modern optic science has revealed that pulsed light waves can carry information.  The structure of space is the optical fiber grid through which massive bodies of consciousness, the stars of the zodiac, transmit data to our local star, the Sun, and planets.   In India ancient seers, called the Rishi, channeled the code to decipher the astral data into language that humans might understand -- through symbols, myth and archetypes -- at what ever level of consciousness they may be expressing.  So astrology is a wonderful tool to process this universal information, but is, of course, contingent on the art, skill, and consciousness of the stellar interpreter.  Because of its foundation in yogic principles, Vedic astrologers understand the karmic responsibility for making predictions and interpretations.  And we understand that Shiva's curse prevents any of us from agreeing, or seeing the full picture, and reduces the chance that we might interfere with either free will or fate.


Although I love the freedom from academic censure that a blog offers, I still feel a responsibility for what I project into the virtual information highway.  After all I am dabbling in the devil's/demiurge's playground -- no doubt due to the influence of the activation of my own Rahu dasha and Shatabisha lagna.  And even if I publish my astrological observations with care, someone else's shadow may inadvertently get triggered taking them down another winding path on their own trip. Nonetheless, I still feel compelled to share my own process of integration which comes through research, writing, sharing, and hearing feedback.  So I want to take one last look at some of the recurring archetypal themes of the 2012 Olympics from an astrological perspective because there are so many wonderful layered signs pointing towards transformation.

Fools Gold or Alchemical Transformation?

Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh-Jennings win GOLD
The London 2012 Olympic Medal count finished with the USA on top with 46 gold, 29 silver and 29 bronze medals, followed by China, Russia, and Britain. Britain did better than expected, the best performance since 1908.  Even though the London 2012 medals are the largest ever in terms of both weight and diameter, their size belies their truth worth.  Due to the global austerity, the inflated medallions are not what they appear to be, even though they meet IOC rules: for example, the gold medal must be 92.5 percent silver, 6.16 copper, 1.34 percent gold making it worth about $500.  Although the metals are nearly worthless, the medals are easily redeemed for endorsement deals and advertising contracts worth millions like the alchemical process that turns base medal into gold.  All the years of sacrifice are rewarded to a select few who win gold, while the rest go home with "the honor of playing in the games."  Thus Olympic gold is associated with good physical karma, years of disciplined training, and sacrifice -- all related to the Lord of the Rings, Saturn.

As most of the American basketball, track, and soccer players were sporting Nike gear, the biggest corporate gold medal winner was Nike, named after the winged goddess of Victory who adorns each Olympic medal. Although the famous Nike swoosh logo was originally derived from the wings of the goddess of Victory, many conspiracy theorists suggest it depicts the rings of Saturn, who was the sworn enemy of Nike's family, a paradox that goes unaddressed by the Saturn proponents. 

Nike is the daughter of a Titan, Pallas, and an Okeanid, Styx, making her a distant offspring of Kronos/Saturn.  Her mother, Styx (water) was the first goddess to stand up and support Zeus in his war to dethrone Kronos/Saturn  When Kronos and the Titans were overthrown, they were cast down and imprisoned in the center of the earth in a chasm called Tartarus, the deepest level of the Underworld. The river Styx is an elemental embodiment of Nike's mother that separates the worlds of the living and the dying.  She was one of five subterranean rivers that converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which is also sometimes called the Styx.  This land is a wasteland where ghosts and shades wander until they cross all five rivers.  To cross the river Styx, the deceased must be buried with a coin, or medal, as payment for the ferryman named Charon.  A few brave mortal heroes payed the ferryman for a return trip, except for Orpheus whose music charmed Charon.  Hmmm, it is fascinating that the ferryman is susceptible to the spell of music as the Olympics opened with a bell ringing.

Landscape with Charon Crossing the River Styx by Joachim Patinir 16th C

So Nike's mother marks the boundaries between the worlds, keeping Saturn's realm in its place. Could the Okeanid Styx dwell in the waters of the River Thames that surround the Olympic Park which was build on a toxic site, a wasteland bog similar to the mythological Styx?  And remember that the Queen's Jubilee Flotilla, in which Queen Elizabeth glided along the Thames in her barge or ferry, passed under Tower Bridge just as the planet Venus was about to make its rare transit across the Sun.  Both Queens of Heaven simultaneously make a crossing on their way to the Underworld in plain sight and observed by billions of viewers.

Queen Elizabeth II sails the Spirit of Chartwell, named after the home of Churchill, beneath the Tower Bridge in London for her Diamond Jubilee on June 3, 2012


Queen's barge, or dragon boat the Gloriana leads the flotilla on June 3 as the Moon conjoins the Dragon's head a day before the last lunar eclipse.

2012 Transit of Venus
If so, then the River Thames may certainly be considered an allegorical Styx, the Tower Bridge a gate to Hades,  and the Queen a representative of the Queen of Heaven/Venus who bravely makes her way to the otherworldly realm where Saturn rules in potentia, in Olympic Park.
 

Mount Olympus was the original etheric home of the ancient Greek Gods, similar to Mount Meru in Eastern legends.  But now that the ancient Gods are a mere memory of the past, and may be regarded as "dead" in the modern world, is it really Mount Olympus that is being summoned by all of these Olympic rituals, or perhaps Tartarus?  In Arthurian legend the underworld is called Anwnn, and is accessed from the top of Glastonbury Tor, which as I have discussed in my last two posts, was the focal point of the Opening Ceremony.  No matter how you look at it, we are being taken on a tour of the underworld through the ritualistic ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

 


Black (Saturn) hats led by Kenneth Branagh at the base of Glastonbury Tor where all the world flags were planted reminding me of the ceremonial north pole where Saturnalia's king, Santa, resides

In July I discussed the astrological influence of Saturn on the 2012 Olympic Games and its relationship to the Golden Age, the cyclic cycles of ancient kingship, and themes of sacrifice. 
The XXX Olympiad commences on July 27, 2012 with the Opening Ceremony whose worldwide broadcast starts at 9 pm under a sky ruled by Saturn, the planet most associated with the Golden Age.  Whether in the distant past, or in another dimension where there is no time, Saturn rules a kingdom where no one grows old because he has sacrificed his children and where all points of time exist simultaneously in what Terrence McKenna might have described as singularity.

Last night I watched a replay of the Closing Ceremony, which was first broadcast live under the influence of stars of Aquarius, ruled by the planetary archetype of Saturn.  It felt like the final night of a long holiday.  Although I did not follow the games closely, it did seem like the two week period of the XXX Olympic Games occurred outside of time, preserved in an imaginary bubble, and on electronic media, which shut out the grim realities of the everyday world outside the East End of London.



For one brief shining moment 'Camelot' was restored to the economically weakened and wearied population of Britain.  The traditionally stiff upper lip of Londoners softened into exuberant smiles.  It was as though the rite of the Opening Ceremony pulled back the mists and revealed the hidden world of Avalon/Albion, only to be obscured behind the mists once again during Closing Ceremony, which was literally under the influence of the "Veiling Star," the nakshatra Shatabhisha.

Opening Ceremony
When the Opening Ceremony commenced with the single toll of the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world, famously inscribed with a quote from Shakespeare's The Tempest -- Be not afeard,the isle is full of noises, it received the shakti energy of the Capricorn constellation of Aquila (the Eagle) rising on the eastern horizon in the nakshatra of Shravana.   The combined starlight and reverberating vibration seemed to open an inter-dimensional door to Saturn's etheric realm.


 


Bradley Wiggins, the yellow shirt winner of the Tour de France
Bradley Wiggins, the "yellow shirt winner" of the Tour de France, had the honor of ringing the bell.  The yellow shirt of the Tour de France is given to the daily leader and winner.  Like gold, yellow is generally associated with the Sun, which rules over winners.  However, it may also be associated with the planet Saturn which appears yellow to the naked eye.  Astrologically Saturn is traditionally associated with the color blue, it was discovered in 2005 by NASA's Cassini probe that the planet Saturn has blue skies in its northern hemisphere, and yellow skies in its southern hemisphere.    In the Vedic tradition, Saturn/Shani is the son of the Sun/Surya, born out of the Sun's union with the shadow his wife left in her place.  Thus Saturn has mixed qualities of both the light and dark manifest in its atmosphere and archetype.

The singular Olympic Bell toll was followed by the angelic solo of 11 year old Humphrey (HUM FREE) Keeper, who was born without a hand on his malformed arm, a characteristic disability of Saturn.  He was part of a children's choir all sporting yellow stripped (like Saturn) shirts.

11 year old Humphrey Keeper in his yellow shirt


Humphrey's perfect-pitch voice literally spellbound the Olympic Stadium with the British anthem Jerusalem whose symbolism I discussed in my several of my previous posts. He was joined by youth choirs from the four corners of Britain who performed a haunting prayer for the restoration of Albion.  It's hard to believe that the harmonic voices of children might be part of some sinister offering or ritual to Saturn, whose death cult in the Western alchemical tradition is believed to gain its power through the sacrifice of children.  And yet it was not the only segment that featured disabled and sick children.  The tribute to the National Health Service (NHS) and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) featured a performance of sick children dancing on hospital beds to a barely recognizable Titular Bells, which was the famous theme from the movie Exorcist. A very unsettling choice to be sure.  Once tucked into bed, the children were frightened by all the evil villains of nightmare and English literature, like Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.  Only the magic of dozens of Mary Poppins, a private nanny/nurse, could cast them away.  What does that say about the actual power of the hundreds of doctors and nurses of the National Health Service?  The segment concluded with the birth of a giant "creepy" baby and homage to the children's hospital, the Great Ormand Street Hospital (GOSH), with a glowing GOSH, another word for "God" often used by children to avoid taking God's name in vain.









This entire sequence was lit in Saturn's dark indigo light.  Is this giant (Titan) baby an offering, or an alchemical creation of a homunculus -- an artificial man.  Remember that Danny Boyle said that the Opening Ceremony program was very much influenced by his work on the musical Frankenstein: I mean, we don't reanimate dead creatures, but we did use Frankenstein as a dry run for a lot of ideas for this.  Some saw it as a fertility ritual for the newlywed Prince and Duchess, who was rumored to be pregnant shortly after the Opening Ceremony.

Another segment that featured a dying child was part of a tribute dedicated to victims of the 7/7 London Bombings that occurred on the day after London won its bid for the 2012 Olympic games (and caused so many to worry about another terrorist or false flag attack during the Olympics).  The memorial was well received in the UK, but strangely edited from the original broadcast in the US.  "Deadspin" first called attention to the missing transitional performance, which only made US viewer more curious and sure to tune in and view the video.  This sequence begins with a group of performers dancing under a glowing sun disk.  Another little wayward boy, dressed in yellow, mysteriously shows up is led by another figure dressed in yellow to join the dancers under the Sun where they are all consumed in its flames. 














This performance is perhaps the most significant moment of symbolism in the Opening Ceremony as it sets the stage and foreshadows what is to come during the Closing Ceremony: the birth of the Phoenix, or Bennu, rising from the ashes of the Olympic Flame of Prometheus.





Closing Ceremony

During the Closing Ceremony the constellation Aquarius, Saturn's other sign of the air element, was rising on the horizon.  Although most astrological traditions associate the Phoenix with the sign of Scorpio, there is one, albeit a tenuous one, that associates it with Aquarius: the Zodiacal Round Table at Glastonbury Tor. This ancient earthen work that depicts twelve constellations was literally molded out of the land.  It was discovered in 1927 by Katherine Maltwood who believed the giant zodiac was constructed sometime around 2700 BCE.  This sprawling feat star map, or star temple, encompasses Glastonbury Tor and Challice Hill in the sign of Aquarius as designed by the eagle (Aquila) or the Phoenix in red below.  





As the author of Walking the Aquarius Figure in the Glastonbury Zodiac writes:

Aquarius can give us flight, it can lift us out of the deep water we find ourselves in. The constellation is a representation in the heavens of Ganymede, a beautiful youth plucked from his earthly existence by Zeus, in eagle form, and carried to Mount Olympus, high above the world, to became cup bearer to the gods. Knowing Ganymede’s story offers a way of understanding why an eagle-like bird (perhaps a phoenix) emerges in the landscape as the Aquarius figure, and why an eagle is the very highest symbol represented in the Glastonbury Zodiac, carved in stone high up on St Michael’s Tower.
So even if its astrological validity is dubious, this mythology would surely be known by most Britains, and ties the cup bearer of the gods of Olympus to the water bearer of Aquarius and the Phoenix, light bringer, to the Olympian Flame of Prometheus.  Moreover, the land that marks the 11th sign includes the Chalice Well, where legend says that the Holy Grail is buried.  Furthermore, the cup bearer of ancient Greek mythology is appropriated and merged with the Christian cup bearer of Arthurian legend.  However, the ancient Druids considered the red spring to be holy waters long before the Roman's arrived, and believed it to be vitally  connected to the nearby white spring.  The red and white springs may also relate to the Arthurian legend of the red and white dragons who live in a subterranean pool beneath Glastonbury Tor.


Chalice Well whose cover depicts a vesica pisces representing the interaction of the two worlds

The colors red and white may also be allusions to the apple of Venus whose red skin veiled the white flesh alluding to the the outer and inner worlds.  Red and white are also alchemical symbols representing the male and female principles of balance of opposites.

Although Saturn rules the sign of Aquarius, the lagna of the Closing Ceremony event chart, it is now transiting in its exalted airy sign of Libra -- the scales of balance.  The scales are used in the justice system, as well as in the market to measure material goods in order to understand their worth.  Thus an exalted Saturn in Libra brings karmic balance, justice, and adjustments to what we value.  The Lord of the Rings is exalted in Venus' sign and its shift from the earth sign of Virgo to the air sign of Libra may indeed be seen as an alchemical process -- releasing spirit from matter.  In fact, the Closing Ceremony had a much lighter, or airier, theme than the heavy tableau of the Opening Ceremony initiated in the earthy sign of Capricorn.  This breezy tribute to British Pop culture included a selection of British Rock, Pop, Theatre and Fashion icons that reflect the many characteristics of these two friendly planets.  Venus is planetary ruler of the arts, and only planet able to raise the dead represented by Saturn and made manifest in the posthumous performances by John Lennon and Freddie Mercury.

Below are two illustrated drawings of the alchemical flasks of Saturn and Venus.  Saturn's flask contains a little child with a dragon and Venus' flask contains a peacock, or phoenix.  

Saturn flask, from Splendor Solis, 16th C
Venus flask, from Splendor Solis, 16th C




















In Chinese mythology the dragon and phoenix are two of four magical, spiritual and benevolent animals (the two others are the Tortoise and the Unicorn). The dragon was the most revered of all as it protects an enormous magical pearl -- or egg -- in its claw, which has the power to multiply whatever it touches. The pearl symbolizes its the most precious treasure: Wisdom. The phoenix is a hybrid with the head and comb of a pheasant and the tail of a peacock that personifies the primordial force of the heavens.  The dragon represents the male element, and the phoenix the female element. In China the Dragon represents the emperor, and the Phoenix the empress. Together they symbolize the union of yin and yang, heaven and earth united. Remember that the Arthurian blood line is called Pendragon.  So who, or what, might be the Penphoenix?




Much of the Closing Ceremony involved releasing this dragon pearl, or cosmic egg.  When British jester Russell Brand sings the Beatles' lyrics "I am the egg man," he is not kidding; dancers create a pyramid to Kate Bush's Running up Hill (to make a deal with God);  followed by George Harrison's Here Come's the Sun -- in case you weren't clear on the secret sun symbolism.



Next a tribute to John Lennon creates what looks like his face on Mars, not far from one of the news headlines printed on the Union Jack Stage which read in bold: Brave New World -- remember this ceremony took place the day before NASA's Curiosity successfully landed on Mars.  We are asked to Imagine no heaven, no hell, and a Saturnine world of living in peace as One -- the Golden Age.   Later Annie Lenox rides a ghost ship that looks like a dying phoenix singing her last swan song, Little Bird:

My my where do I go?
My my what do I know?
My my we reap what we sow
They always said that you knew best
But this little bird's fallen out of that nest now
I've got a feeling that it might have been blessed
So I've just got to put these wings to test 


Perhaps my favorite moment of the Closing Ceremony is a segment featured a holographic resurrection of the late Freddie Mercury of Britain's famous rock band Queen.  He was dressed in a yellow bolero, cosmic bull figher or psychopomp psychopomp who challenges the audience to call out: "Deyo, DEO," latin for "to God." 





Extinguishng the Flame

Image: Venus Blueprint
The final segment of the closing ceremony focused on the ritual of extinguishing the flame. In the video below we see how a spark from the Phoenix descends to the Union Jack Stage, an 8-pointed star (Saturn/Venus), where it transforms into a dancer who begins to perform the Dance of the Flame, derived from Stravinsky's Firebird.  Remember the allegorical story of  Inanna's Decent to the Underworld that I described in my posts on the Venus Transit, in which the Goddess/Venus was required to leave someone in her place in the Underworld? Well here at in the netherworld of the Olympic Stadium, she leaves her spark.  I can't help but be reminded of the June 3rd solar flare that occurred just prior to the Venus transit which NASA's Spaceweather dubbed a chicken, but others see as a phoenix.  Could this solar flare have brushed pass the planet Venus and delivered us an alchemical spark from the heavens during the Queen's Jubilee?






I grew up watching the New York City Ballet perform Stravinsky's Firebird under the starry skies at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) every summer.  This ballet tells the Russian folk tale of Prince Ivan, who gets lost looking for a tree with golden apples and stumbles into the magical realm of Kashchei the Immortal.  There he spies the a bird with dazzling plumage that is trying to pluck the golden fruit from a silver tree.  Ivan tries to capture the bird, but yields to its pleas to be set free.  In gratitude, the Firebird gives Ivan a magical feather and promises to help him someday in the future when he needs it.

The evil villain is Kashchei the Immortal, another archetypal Saturnine king who lives in the netherworld beyond the dimensions of time.  His body cannot be killed because his soul is hidden inside a needle, which is inside an egg, which is inside a duck, which is inside a hare, which is inside an iron or gold chest which is buried under a green oak tree -- any body remember the oak tree on top of the replica of Glastonbury Tor?  Or Voldemort's Horcrux -- time cross? As long as his soul is safe, Kashchei cannot die. If the chest is dug up and opened, the hare will bolt away; if it is killed, the duck will emerge and try to fly off, etc.  If the egg or needle is broken Kashchei will die.

Kashchei the Immortal in his magical wasteland realm
As the Sun begins to rise in the magical forest, the lost Prince notices a castle and sees thirteen princesses, the daughters of Kashchei, filing out to pick the golden fruit.  Of course he falls in love with one of them.  The King refuses his request for her hand in marriage and tries to cast a spell on Ivan.  But Ivan is protected by the Firebird's magic feather.  Next Kashchei sends his grotesque enchanted creatures after Prince Ivan.  But true to its pledge, the Firebird bewitches the old King and tells Prince Ivan how to kill him.  When Ivan destroys the egg, killing Kashchei, the King's spell is broken and the magical creatures and the palace disappear.  Only the "real" beings, including the princesses, remain and awaken. Thus the Firebird, and the phoenix, is associated with magic and rebirth (not to mention hypnotized children).  So what happened to the cosmic egg of the Olympic Closing Ceremony?  Did Russell Brand eat it and destroy Kashchei?  Or did the cosmic hatch?  Remember a Phoenix re-creates itself out its own ashes.  Perhaps it is a (pen)dragon that lays the egg.

Many ancient cultures depict a firebird, or Phoenix as a symbol of the rising sun and resurrection.  In Egypt it is called the Bennu, meaning "rise" or "shine."  According to Rich Merrick, the author of The Venus Blueprint:
As the symbol for sun god Osiris, the Bennu (meaning "rise" or "shine") was believed to be reborn from its embalmed egg of myrrh. This egg is a reference to M'R, the Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid. This in turn descends from the transcendental mountain of Meru in the Rig-Veda where Venus was believed to hover over the sacred mountain to protect and fertilize it.

In fact, the phoenix is just another name for the Morning Star (or torch) of Venus, reborn from the Sun after a transit. In Vedic lore, she is swallowed by the Sun and then spit out as a seed to fertilize and renew Earth. Brought to AMeruCa (land of Meru) by Phoenician sailors, this is the likely origin for the famous Maya prophecy of Quetzalcoatl's return, the plumed serpent of Venus.

The end of the sacred Venus Tzolk'in calendar is almost upon us. Tomorrow we shall see the Venus firebird burn at sunset only to rise from the ashes the following dawn.
Ah, the Phoenix does create an egg -- from myrrh which in TCM is used to move stagnant blood from the uterus.  In both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, myrrh is a sacred incense used for the sacraments of confirmation (of receipt of the holy spirit) and unction (annointing with oil).  No wonder the Phoenix has been appropriated by the Church as a symbol for the resurrection.  As Merrick points out, although the Phoenix is generally considered a symbol of the Sun, it may also be a symbol for the planet Venus, the only planetary deity that can raise the dead -- and of course morning star was also assigned to Jesus.  So what is being resurrected with the Olympic ceremonies -- the golden age, the British empire, the ancient Greek and Egyptian gods?

No one has compiled more fascinating photos and insightful interpretations of many of the Bennu, Phoenix and other esoteric themes of the XXX London Olympiad than Dr. Mark Gray and Hillary Raimo whose blog, MEGARITUAL, has been a wonderful source of information and images.  I am very grateful that they generously share their research.


Image from the blog of Dr. Mark Gray and Hillary Raimon called Megaritual


In ancient Egyptian mythology, the Bennu bird was said to rest on a sacred stone or pillar call the benben stone.  In Egyptian mythology the meeting of the bennu and benben stone may be the symbolic alchemical marriage of Isis (bennu, star, Venus) and Osiris (obelisk), heaven and earth, phoenix and dragon.  Earlier this summer it was announced that Britain's Big Ben (or benben) was being renamed Elizabeth's Tower in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  It is no coincidence that the Bennu is also called Lord of Jubilees.   Thus the Queen/Bennu/Jubilee lord landed on its Tower/benben as the Sun emitted a solar flare resembling a chicken/phoenix.  No one could make this stuff up!  And the likelihood that the hidden elite could control the Sun is extremely low, if non-existent.  Furthermore, as the Queen is an earthly manifestation of the planet Venus, so too is the Bennu; and its triumphant rebirth occurred at the same time that Venus reappeared as the morningstar and conjoin the star Sirius.  With so many levels of synchronicity, it may be time to consider that these events do herald an awakening.

Hillary Raimon also makes a provocative connection between the rising phoenix and world currency in her Megaritual post Green Apples, Stolen Tech, OctoPUS and Financial Webs.


Image from Mark Gray's Facebook page

The 1988 article projects that by 1918 we may be using a global currency called "the Phoenix." By 1918 Saturn will have completed it journey through Libra and will be transiting the sign of Scorpio, which most modern astrologers associate with Pluto and the Phoenix.  In Vedic astrological traditions, Scorpio is ruled by Mars, which has been traveling with the mighty Saturn during most of the summer.  During the Closing Ceremony Mars was only a degree away from Saturn, BUT it was lingering in the last degrees of Virgo, which in the equal house system of Vedic astrology means it was quietly tucked away in the previous 8th house of death, group finances, hidden matters, and chronic illness.  Coincidentally the Queen did not attend this ceremony leading many to speculate on her health; nor did Prince William, who was on "secret" RAF search and rescue duties.  Instead Prince Harry represented the royal family as "part of the plan to leave the games to the younger royals."



Just this week we find out that perhaps the Queen was missing because Prince Phillip has not been well.  On August 15, 2012 the 91 year old Prince was admitted to the hospital, the third time in eight months, for a recurrent bladder infection. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the bladder archetype is associated with resources -- both energetic and financial.  As Prince Phillip was born Prince Phillip of Greece and Denmark, I can't help but wonder if his illness is a symbolic sign of the decline of the British economy and refers to the Greek bailout which many believe is destined to fail and would negatively effect an already weak British economy.

Although the Mayor of London and VISA (V-ISA) might tell you otherwise, the Olympics brought less tourist money to recession-hit Britain than had hoped for with a majority of tourist companies reporting losses from last year.  Perhaps he believes that a positive outlook will stimulate the economy as this Telegraph article proposes.





The 2012 Games may have lifted the nation's spirits, but the government has few alternatives to an austerity drive that may last for the rest of this decade. The recession, rising unemployment, and austerity measures have already driven 1,000 people in Britain to commit suicide. Saturn is often associated with the grim reaper, and I fear he is just beginning to take his harvest.  And don't forget the LIBOR scandal also awaits Saturn's balancing act of karma.

But there is some good news being broadcast from the Heavens too, depending on how you look at it.   On August 15, 2012 astronomers announced they have found an extraordinary galaxy cluster.  It is the most massive cluster found to date and what is extraordinary is that it is pumping out stars at an unprecedented rate -- more than 740 stars per year compared to our Milky Way's rate of 1-2 star rate per year.   This star making machine is located -- wait for it -- in The Phoenix Constellation. It is a minor constellation that is visible primarily to the southern hemisphere.  While some might interpret this find as evidence that the banks might begin pumping out world currency like crazy, others might suggest that in the bigger picture, the mystical and magical bird of transformation is alive and transmuting matter into energy.  How do you want to embody this archetype?

As mystic Anandamayee Maa writes: Either melt by devotion the sense of separateness, or burn it by Knowledge -- for what is it that melts or burns?  On that which by its nature can be melted or burn: namely the idea that something other than your Self exists.  What will happen then?  You come to know yourself.


Namaste - the light and fire within in me, honors the light and fire within you.












Monday, July 16, 2012

Part III: Saturn and the Games of [G]Old

Games of Gold

In the beginning was the Golden Age, when men of their own accord, without threat of punishment, without laws, maintained good faith and did what was right. . . . The earth itself, without compulsion, untouched by the hoe, unfurrowed by any share, produced all things spontaneously. . . . It was a season of everlasting spring.    ~ Ovid, 6th Book of Metamorphasis



Standing more than 40 feet tall and constructed of ivory and gold, the statue of Zeus within the Temple at Olympia on the west coast of Greece was constructed around the year 435 B.C. and sat overlooking the grounds of the ancient Olympics. Re-creation by Marten Jacobszoon Heemskerk van Veen.

As I have been discussing in my last two posts, there is an emerging collective awareness -- whether deliberately imprinted by the media, or bubbling up from unconscious or stellar realms -- that we may be on the brink of the return of the Golden Age.  And whether you believe that the Golden Age heralds a positive shift in consciousness or a negative imprisonment in Eden, it always arrives with a tumultuous bang.  For the past decade the year 2012 has been the focal point of end time prophesies in part due to Terrence McKenna's theory of singularity and many misinterpretations of the significance of the Mayan Calendar's end date.   Our collective fear of an apocalypse is now being projected onto the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London where unprecedented pre-emptive measures have enlisted 20,000 personnel – more than a tenth of the entire Armed Forces of Britain.


The media's use of provocative language, such as associating a "global spectacle" with the "holy grail" of terrorists is disturbing, especially in light of all the Arthurian symbolism emerging around the event.   No wonder conspiracy theorists are predicting that sex magic and blood sacrifices may be orchestrated during the Olympics, all part of a global ritual to enhance the hidden powers that be.  Moreover, the arrests of 14 people in the last week on suspicion of terrorism in Britain has only served to heighten jitters among police and security officials as the upcoming Olympics fixes the gaze of the world — including potential aggressors — on London.



And the internet is full of heightened conspiracy chatter.  Blogs and alternative media are uncovering all sorts of symbolic meaning embedded in the architecture, medals, music, land, ceremonies and media coverage of not only the Olympics, but also the concurrent Queen's Jubilee.  As they say, it’s all hidden in plain view for those who know how to see.  And of course I have contributed to the discussion with my own astrological interpretation of the emerging archetypes.  While I am not so sure that a false flag terrorist event is on the horizon as some in the alternative media propose, or that all this hoopla is a form of "reverse predictive programming" like Operation Blackjack, there is still symbolic evidence that, whether or not bombs go off in London, or aliens land on top of Big Ben/(Elizabeth's Tower), a ritualistic sacrifice of some sort may be brewing.  

Saturn and the Golden Age

The XXX Olympiad commences on July 27, 2012 with the Opening Ceremony whose worldwide broadcast starts at 9 pm under a sky ruled by Saturn, the planet most associated with the Golden Age.  Whether in the distant past, or in another dimension where there is no time, Saturn rules a kingdom where no one grows old and all points of time exist simultaneously in what Terrence McKenna might have described as singularity.

Claude Lorrain, Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helion (Parnassus)1680
 
Ancient Greek mythology describes the Golden Age as a time when Gods walked on Earth, and Saturn/Kronos maintained peaceful anarchy.  But as Tracy Twyman writes:  

. . . we know that in order to maintain this form of rule, he killed his own children to prevent them from growing up to overtake him. The only reason the Golden Age was so golden was because Saturn’s children were paying the price of the sacrifice.   

The Golden Age came to an end when Saturn's son, Zeus, over threw him, repeating the patricidal sacrifice of Saturn's own father, Uranus.  So, just what would it take to return to a Golden Age?  Is it even possible?  Does it require a violent rebellion against the father or male dominated systems?

Vasari, Kronos castrating his father Uranus 1560
Zeus overthrowing Kronos/Titanomachy  by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1588

According to the Vedas, there are four world ages: Satya (Golden) Yuga, Treta (Silver) Yuga, Dvapara (Bronze) Yuga, and Kali (Iron) Yuga. The Satya (Golden) Yuga is one quarter longer than the Treta (Silver) Yuga, and the Treta Yuga is one quarter longer than the Dvapara (Bronze) Yuga, and finally the Dvapara one quarter longer than the Kali (Iron) Yuga.  Thus each successive age is incrementally shorter and less bright than the previous one. These cycles are said to measure great cycles of revolution around the a universal or galactic center, or more locally around a companion sun that many mystics believe is Sirius. Some modern Hindu seers, such as Sri Yukteswar, divide the Great Year into two sets of ascending/descending Yuga cycles, each consisting of 12,000 years.  During the ascending cycle consciousness expands, and during the descending cycle consciousness declines. We are currently at the beginning of the Dvapara Yuga on an upward trend.



Of of my favorite hermetic authors, Jay Weidner, has applied the concept of the diminishing succession of the yuga cycles to a modern understanding of the hypersphere -- a toroidal shape representing the four dimensions of space, including time. As you can see from this illustration, he theorizes that the spin of the four dimensions of space expand and contract in a torus with the dense Iron Age spinning and condensing to a point of singularity that suddenly shifts in an instant into the glorious Golden Age.

In his fascinating article, 2012 The Topology of Time: Hyperdimensional Space and the Unfolding of the Four Ages, Weidner writes:
The borderline between the Iron Age and the Golden Age is the most distinct border in this topographical illustration of hyperdimensional time.  It is jarring and is instantaneous.
 
According to the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Krishna says that a Golden Age will start 5,000 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga ,which fits Weidner's hyperspace model, McKenna's Novelty Theory, and Mayan Calendar observations.  Could all the media hype surrounding the 2012 Summer Olympic Games be a sign that this singularity is about to occur?  However, other modern mystics, such as Sri Yukteswar teach that the Kali Yuga ended -- and the Dvapara Yuga began -- over three hundred years ago.  During the 18th century the shift in consciousness during the Age of Enlightenment does seem to coincide with the dawn of the Dvarpara Yuga.  Isn't it fascinating that Uranus, the father of Saturn/Kronos was discovered as a result of the emerging technology and inventions.  Western astrologers describe Uranus as the great Awakener, a planet of sudden change and rebellion. During this time revolutions threatened the monarchies of Europe and inspired the birth of more egalitarian governments than those based on the ashes of the ancient Roman empire of Jupiter/Zeus.  It was as though Uranus was ruling the Age once again.  Now with the recurring Saturn-Moon conjunctions evident in many global events and rituals, might it be a sign that Saturn/Kronos is poised to rise up again to castrate the Uranian political experiments and technological chaos in order to restore the peaceful life of the Golden Age? Let's take a closer look.




Duty and Sacrifice

Because astrology is my strongest divination tool, I often turn to it to get a sense of the big cosmic picture using Prasna, or Event charts.  Based on the belief that the microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm, astrology can be used to look at planetary and star patterns that may be nested through out many levels of reality.  In my last post I examined the event chart for the Opening Ceremony and noticed that Saturn, the Lord of the Rings, presides over this moment in time the from the 9th house of law, ceremonies, and official sanctions with the planet of energy, war, competition and athletics, Mars.  The 9th house is an auspicious dharma house that represents our highest principles as expressed in domains like law, religion and philosophy. Because of its connection with the father, it is also a house of sacrifice.  In a natal chart it signifies the father, his sacrifices for the family and spiritual life, and his influence over his children's spiritual practices, personal philosophy of life, perception of reality, and reaction to new ideas; but in an event chart it may signify the influence of the collective father over his country and world views or his own sacrifice to ensure his collective family survives.  In this case, the 9th house of the father is ruled by the constellation of the Mother Goddess, Virgo, a sign of perfection, harvest, and completion of the planting cycle, not to mention another face of the Mother Goddess as personified by England, or rather Britain, itself.  Might Saturn in Virgo lay the foundation for the return of the goddess and divine feminine?  Or does its conjunction with Mars indicate a sudden and swift sacrifice reaped with Saturn's sharp scythe and will it return him to the golden throne?

 There is an intriguing synchronicity of the Saturn-Mars conjunction of the Opening Ceremony chart with the natal chart of Prince William, who also has a similar Saturn-Mars conjunction in his 10th house of public service.  Mars is the planet that rules Williams natal 5th house of kingship and it is conjunct Saturn, which is his atmakaraka planet -- indicator of highest purpose in life.  The Saturn-Mars conjunction infers that he is an authority figure (Saturn) in his nation's military (Mars), and potential ruler of a Virgoan society -- Britain.   As I mentioned in a post about his engagement, William's Saturn dasha began simultaneously with his Saturn return in 2010. At that time he seemed to come of age and accept the responsibility of his potential future role as future father and King of England.  Both the announcement of his engagement and Royal Wedding date were cosmically significant with Saturn lording over his public persona via its 10th house transit.  Even his engagement photo reveals his reserved Saturnine nature along with his wife's Saturnine-blue Issa (Isis) dress.  Furthermore the blue sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to his deceased mother was, in his words, my way to make sure my mother did not miss out on today and the excitement that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together -- in Saturn's elusive netherworld?  Saturn also cast a strong influence in the chart of the Royal Wedding  which took place on an ancient Celtic cross-quarter holiday, Beltane, that literally fired up a global and galactic Hieros gamos, or Chemical Wedding.  Although Saturn is very strong in his natal chart, it does rule the second and third houses making it a first rate maraka, or death inflicting planet for the young Prince.  In order for William to become King both the Queen and his father will have to die, or to abdicate. Thus his future as King depends on death, or the fall, of his father.  Sound familiar to any ancient Greek families?

Isle of Wonder

In my last post, I examined how the Opening Ceremony program -- the Isle of Wonder -- was designed by director Danny Boyle to celebrate everything that was unique and special to the British Isles.  It begins with a green and pleasant tableau that alludes to myths of the Golden Age; its Christian counterpart, Revelation's New Jerusalem; the return of the Once and Future King of Arthurian legend; and even Atlantis. Occult writers are quick to point out that the concentric rings of the stadium and water mote surrounding the Isle of Wonder may also be an allusion the lost city of Atlantis.  So is it any wonder that on July 2, 2012 researchers from Prince William's alma mater, St. Andrews University, announced that they have found Britain's Atlantis in traces of ancient land swallowed by waves 8,500 years ago.


According to the article, Britain's Atlantis, or "Doggerland" once stretched from Scotland to Denmark before the great deluge. 

The research suggests that the populations of these drowned lands could have been tens of thousands, living in an area that stretched far from Northern Scotland across to Denmark and down the English Channle as far as the Channel Islands. The area was once the 'real heartland' of Europe and was hit by 'a devastaing tsunami.'
The timing of this press release occurred while the brightest star in the sky, the blue star Sirius, also called the "dog star" as it is located in Canis Major, disappeared into the effulgence of the Sun's summer rays.  Since ancient times Sirius has been associated with the legendary lost city of Atlantis and their descendants, the Egyptian Pharaohs beginning with Osiris and Isis.  Many ancient cultures and mystics pointed to Sirius as the home of our ancestral fathers, creator gods, and spiritual teachers. In the Sirius Mystery, Robert Temple claimed that the ancient African tribe known as the Dogons knew details about the faint white dwarf star (Sirius B) circling in a binary orbit around Sirius that would be impossible to be know without the use of telescopes. According to their mythology, humans are descended from a race of amphibians called the Nommo, who were inhabitants of the Sirius star system.  They are said to have descended from the sky and transformed humans with their advanced knowledge.  In occult traditions they are the teachers of the people of the lost Golden Age city of Atlantis, which now appears to be revealing some of its sunken mysteries off the shores of Great Britain -- or at least that seems to be the message.

Fish Gods with the Tree of life, or thistle? Assyria, 700 BC
  
The motto is Nemo me impune lacessit (No one harms me with impunity).
 
Ancient Mystery Schools consider Sirius to be the secret “sun behind the sun,” or our Sun's companion star, and the true source of our sun’s potency -- and the potency of Sun Kings.  Its annual disappearance from the night sky, and helical return 60 days later, heralded the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egypt, where Sirius was associated with the Goddess Isis.  It was believed that her tears brought the flood as she mourned and wept for her husband Osiris, the first divine King of Egypt.  And, like the transition of Venus from evening star to morning star, the disappearance and reappearance cycles of Sirius are considered shamanic processes of death and rebirth imbuing those deities and rulers associated with it with immortality and royal divinity.  Five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, the heliacal rise of Sirius occurred on the Summer Solstice and linked the royal throne to Isis and her descendants: the royal bloodlines of Europe.



As I have mentioned before, Prince William was born on the Summer Solstice with his natal Sun and Moon in particular receiving the hidden light of Isis.  While the media was reporting on the discovery of Britain's Atlantis, Prince William was becoming supernumerary Knight of the Order of the Thistle in Edin(Eden)burg, Scotland.  Membership in the Order is limited to sixteen knights and the Sovereign (Queen Elizabeth) for a total of 17 (the Star card in Tarot and number associated with Osiris) members.  Prince William is a supernumerary Knight and 21st member of the Order, whose blazing star may be symbolic of the hidden companion sun, Sirius.  Also notice how the thistle resembles the Tree of Life in the Assyrian/Sirian relief above, like the one on top of  the Maypole representing Scotland situated at the base of the replica of Glastonbury Tor in the Opening Ceremony tableau.


Although Stonehenge, Avebury, and Newgrange were built during the Golden Age of the British Isles, none of these architectural icons are depicted in the Olympic pastoral setting. Instead Boyle selected Glastonbury Tor, the legendary location of Avalon and mythical resting place of the Holy Grail, as a focal point for this pastoral setting.  So it is clear that Boyle is alluding to this specific Golden Age myth and the idyllic kingdom of Camelot because it supports the royal bloodline mythology of British kingship that has given legitimacy to the monarchy.  He has also created a time wave of singularity by linking the past, present and future in his imaginary and anachronistic mosaic.

According to Boyle, the aim of the ceremony is to create "a picture of ourselves as a nation".  At one end of the rolling British countryside is a replica of Glastonbury Tor, and unlike the real tor this one "has an oak tree on it," which may be a subtle reference to the pagan Oak King who rules over of the summer months -- perhaps like Prince William who was born on the Summer Solstice and is thought to be breathing new life into the outworn and dusty monarchy.  And at either end of the giant stage are two Mosh pits which Boyle hopes will "do battle."  The one beneath the Tor represents the Glastonbury Music Festival, which has gone "fallow" this year due to the Olympics significantly reaping no harvest.  The other mosh pit is dedicated to the Last Night of Proms (Proms = Promenades, or Prometheus), which is a yearly concert that celebrates British tradition with patriotic music on the second Saturday (Saturn's day) of September -- a British Saturnalia?  This year the Last Night of the Proms falls on September 8, 2012 and features some very intriguing pieces including Mark Simpson's Spark, C2; Suk's Towards a New Life; Delius' Songs of Farewell; John Williams' Olympic Fanfare; and of course Parry's Jerusalem to name a few.



In addition to the Mosh Pits, there are scenes of farm life, with live animals, a cricket match, a horse and plough, and four Maypoles, each with a flower representing the lands of England (rose), Scotland (thistle), Wales (daffodil) and Northern Ireland (flax).  Remember that Saturn also rules land and real estate. This elaborate narrative traces the continuity between Britain's past, present, and future by combining seemingly disparate images into a kind of anachronistic mosaic in which there is no sense of time.  In effect he is creating an in potentia otherworld of Saturn's unrule -- British style.  Remember  Tracy Twyman's  description of Saturn's golden age primordial worlds:
What these myths of the Golden Age, Garden of Eden, and other primordial paradises really point to is the concept of a cosmic center: a kingdom that doesn’t really exist, except in the Otherworld, in potentia. But it is said to be at the heart of our own existence, and its essence can be felt everywhere. It is a place where there is no time as we know it. Rather, all points of time exist simultaneously, and all space as well. This is why the people who live there are said to never grow old.

Games of Lugh

Although Boyle's Maypoles may depict four regions of Britain, they also evoke the ancient ritual of dancing around the Maypole associated with spring fertility rites of Beltane, the high pagan holiday that was selected for the Royal Alchemical Wedding date.  But in the case of the Olympics, why would there be four Maypoles at the Opening Ceremony?  Notice how they are placed perpendicular to each other -- like the four cross-quarters celebrated by the ancient Celts throughout the British Isles and Europe: Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain, and Imbolc and depicted in the Wheel of the Year.


But instead of taking the shape of the Christian cross, the cross-quarters form an X, like the chi of the chi ro.


ChiRho page from the Lindisfarne Gospels

Or the X of Scotland's patron saint, St. Andrew, who is prominently displayed on the Order of the Thistle that Prince William just received.




But this X belies a much older connection to the ancient cross-quarter days of the Celtic Wheel of the Year.  These cross-quarter days occur in the middle of each season and ancient people celebrated these solar holidays with fire ceremonies.  One of these holidays, Lughnasadh, was also an ancient Irish sporting festival. Is it a coincidence that timing of the modern Olympic Games coincides with another sporting tradition of lost Golden Age?  The Assembly of Tailti  was an ancient Irish sports and games festival that occurred during the last fortnight of July and culminates in a fire sacrifice on August 1st, the cross-quarter holiday LughnasadhIt originated far in the Neolithic past to commemorate the last queen of the first people of Ireland, the Fir Bolg.  
After clearing the land, Tailtu gave birth to fields of grain and then died from her efforts. Like many primitive earth goddesses, Tailtu came from and returned, like wheat chaff, to the land.  ~ C. Austin
But as the neolithic age shifted to the Bronze age, Tailtu was gradually replaced by the masculine sky god, LughAnd the narrative changed.

Reims tricephalic god identified as Lugus

Lugh is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past.  Like Kronos and Zeus, there was a prophecy that the Femorian giant Balor would be murdered by a grandson, so he imprisoned his only daughter in a cave.  However, one of his enemies of the magical Tuatha de Danaan clan seduced her and she became pregnant, later giving birth to triplets.  When Balor found out about his grandchildren, threw the infants into a whirlpool to drown, but Lugh survived and was raised in foster care by a smith, much like Kartikeya and Skanda in Hindu mythology.  Later Lugh lead the Tuatha de Danaan in battle and killed BalorLughnasad marks the halfway point between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox and it marks the waning days of the Oak King, who like Tailtu loses his vitality after bringing in the harvest and dies. This fire ceremony is a time of sacrifice – making sacred – when the Goddess gives up the Old King in preparation for the new one; and when the Old King, Lugh, offers himself for sacrifice to renew the contract with the Land. Although few modern scholars agree that the root of Lug, or Lugh, may be derived from the Proto-Indo-European word leuk or lewk meaning  "white, bright, light, or to shine," most researchers would agree that it is derived from leug meaning to "swear an oath."  An ancient tradition of Lughnasadh is the formation of oaths.  Because they had to wait for the crops to be harvested, business transactions and marriaged were formed and renewed at this time of year and even became part of the Lughnasadh festivities. On August 1st, Lughnassadh culminates in a fire ceremony in which an effigy of Lugh, or the Greenman, is burned as the so-called Wickerman.  The God's death is necessary for the rebirth of the next season of crops, with his rebirth at Yule, and coming of age at Beltane.

From the 1973 movie The Wickerman

The setting of the Sun as the Wickerman burns


There are many ancient Irish mythologies associated with this Wheel of the Year that describe the duality of the God and Goddess or the battle of Two Kings (here we go again).


The triumvirate goddess: Banba, Fotla and Eriu,
According to ancient Irish legend, Ireland was first called the island of Banba of the women.

In the first group, the Goddess represents the Earth and the God, the Sun.  As the Goddess ages (triumvirate) and rejuvenates endlessly with the seasons, she is courted by the God in various forms.   For example, the God is born from the Goddess at Yule (winter solstice), grows in power with the Goddess in her maiden form at Ostara (spring equinox), impregnates the Goddess at Beltane, wanes in power at Lughnassadh, passes to the underworld at Samhain, and then is reborn again at Yule.  In this tradition, the divine feminine is the source of life, power, and rejuvenation and is an aspect of the neolithic Goddess represented by the constellation of Virgo who held sway over the poles during the Golden Age.  But as the neolithic age shifted to the copper or Bronze age she was gradually replaced by the masculine sky god, LughAnd the narrative changed.




In the subsequent tradition, two male forces battle over the turning points of the seasons: the Holly King and the Oak King. These figures are dual aspects of a single entity who symbolizes land, fertility, and growth -- much like the Greek god Pan. During Midsummer (the summer solstice) the Oak King is at the height of his strength, while the Holly King is at his weakest.  The Holly King begins to regain power at Mabon (the autumnal equinox)  until he finally vanquishes the Oak King at Yule.  In the spring and summer months the Oak King is young and virile, but towards the end of the seasons he begins to age and weaken. In order to preserve his spirit, he must be killed at the precise moment that he begins to decay (the harvest). He is later killed by the Holly King who will rein over the fall and winter months. After the Holly King ages, the Oak King beheads him and steals his place black on throne. The cycle continues infinitely.  In addition to representing the cycles of the year, this battle is very reminiscent of the ascending and descending cycles of the shift of World Age, or representative of the war between the gods, as their "coronation" aligns on the Sagittarius-Gemini(sidereal)/Capricorn-Cancer (tropical) axis of the Milky Way transitioning as the Sun crosses the galactic center and anti-galactic center at the solstices.  Could the Holly King, who rules over Yule and Saturnalia, represent the Saturn archetype, and the Oak King, who rules over summer, represent the Jupiter archetype of deities like Zeus/Jupiter and Thor, whose sacred tree is also the oak? 

In the Druidic tradition, the holly tree, or cuilieann, is considered the most sacred and magical of their pantheon of trees. Its  mildly poisonous berries are hallucinogenic and may have been a powerful source for magical dreams and deep spiritual insight.  Is it any wonder that the wood of the holly tree is used for making magic wands?  Or that Hollywood is ground zero for the magical world of illusion and film.  Furthermore, these early shaman, the first druids of Ireland, became the first priest kings and the name cuilieann is associated with the oldest bloodline of the world whose descendants are the O'Cuilleain (O'Collins) of West Cork. The Holly Kingship may have been appropriated by British kings and now is associated with Queen Elizabeth and her children.  During her Diamond Jubilee celebrations she planted a holly tree at the Holly Lodge in Richmond.


The Queen plants a holly tree in Richmond Park


The Latin word for Holly is ilex (1= one and lex = law), which under the Emperor Constantine became the official motto of Roman Empire: Ilex Novum Romanum Imperium (INRI) or Holly New Roman Empire that we now simply call the Holy Roman Empire.  Thus the Holy Family is actually referring to the Holly Family, and Christ is the Holly King born at the Winter Solstice when the Sun is aligned with the Galactic Center.  The solstice Sun receives shakti from the "root" of the galaxy, the nakshatra Mula, which is ruled by the spiritualizing force of the dragon's tale, Ketu. 


Acorns growing on an Oak Tree

In other Western mythologies the Oak tree is sacred to Zeus and other thunder gods, such as Thor and Lugh, because of its tendency to be struck by lightning.  My ancestral fathers hail from county Mayo, where they still describe thunderstorms as a battle between Lugh and Balor.   The oak, or duir, is part of the proto-Celtic word for druid: derwo-weyd or druwid.  My own family name, Durkin (often spelled Durkan), may mean "archaic druid" or "kin of the oaks."   The Old Irish duir for "oak" also means "door" in many European languages, and is similar to dvara and dur in Sanskrit, suggesting that the Druids were keepers of the doors or portals to other realms.  It is said that as a method of divination the druids would listen to the rustling of the oak leaves for messages and whispers of things to come.  And, as Tracy Twyman reveals, acorns were the food of the Golden Age:

Moreover, acorns were, according to legend, the primary food of the people of the Golden Age, ruled over by Saturn, the ‘Lord of the Earth’ and the ‘Lord of Misrule,’ the primordial archetype for all kingship. Acorns seem to have been the ur-currency, the measure of wealth and plenitude at a time when there was plenty for all, and therefore no need for governments to protect property, or monetary systems to regulate its exchange.

Furthermore oaks and acorns are symbols of the King and Queen of May Day, the Green Man and Diana, and William and Kate.
 
Prince William and Kate Middleton seem to have crafted their entire wedding to esoterically reenact the pagan Beltane fertility ritual of the Green Man, or the King of the Wood, to Diana, the Virgin Queen of Heaven. . . Historically this ritual was performed by the real king and queen, acting out the roles of the god and goddess, to ensure plenitude in the land. In pre-Christian times (and long afterward), monarchs were thought to be both literally blood descendants of the gods as well as symbolic embodiments of them and host or channels of these ancestral spirits. There was believed to be a sympathetic connection between the fertility of the Queen’s womb and the fertility of the land.

Do you remember how Kate was given a new coat of arms: three acorns with a gold chevron.



And her jeweler created a special set of gift for her wedding: a diamond oak leaf and acorn earring.





It seems like royal iconographers are designing motifs that associate the next generation of monarchs with the Oak King, who reigns over the summer months, and who could reign over the eternal summer of a new Golden Age. During the Summer Solstice the Sun aligns with the anti-Galactic Center which is located the constellation of Gemini. It is no coincidence that Prince William was born on the Summer Solstice, the height of the Oak King's power when the Sun receives shakti from the anti-Galactic Center.  Perhaps Tracy Twyman is right: Prince William is the anti-Christ:

Born on the Summer Solstice during a solar eclipse, Prince William is a living embodiment of the dying and reborn solar king of the ancient world. This is the primordial archetype of kingship, the “Lord of the Earth,” upon which all monarchs throughout history have modeled themselves. Through his descent from the Spencer family, William carries a more illustrious predigree than any other monarch to sit on the throne of England.

Personally, I do not see him as the dreaded figure associated with Revelation, but rather an anti-Galactic center "anointed one" connected with the both the Holly King/Saturn and Oak King and Zeus/Jupiter archetypes because his ascendant aligns with the Galactic Center and his descendant, Sun, and Moon align with the anti-Galactic center.

Athough William's Sagittarius ascendant is located in the sharp and sometimes destructive nakshatra of Mula,  it has a sattwic orientation.  It is ruled by the goddess Nritti who breaks things apart (barhana shakti) in order to end materialism and initiate the spiritualization process.  The ruler of this lunar mansion is Ketu, the tail of the dragon, perhaps a reference to the white dragon of Arthurian legend.  In his chart it rises on the Eastern horizon in the nakshatra Purva Ashada, meaning the "invincible star."  Although often considered unpredictable, Ketu can bring sudden rise to power, and Ketu in this nakshatra certainly gives fame, wealth, fertility, and much wisdom.  In fact, the great benefic and significator of philosopher kings, Jupiter, rules his birth chart and deposits Ketu from the upachaya 11th house -- the house of good fortune, strong alliances, and humanitarian efforts which get better with time.  In addition, as the second house from the tenth house of the King, the 11th house rules gifts from the King and Public.  Moreover, in the Chaldean order of planets, the Sun is ruler of the 11th as Dana Gerhardt reveals:

The Chaldean order of planets makes the Sun ruler of the 11th. “As is only fitting,” writes Frawley, “for as the eleventh shows the good things that descend to us from Heaven, so the Sun is the image of this endless, inexhaustible bounty permeating and sustaining the cosmos.
 


The most fascinating astrological line up in William's chart is the alignment of the Sun, Moon and dragon's head, the famous red dragon of Arthurian legend, Rahu, on the anti-Galactic center that occurred during a new moon, solar eclipse.  The royal Sun is placed in Mrigashira, the nakshatra associated with Soma, the elixir of immortality and treasured nectar of the gods.  It is a soft and sensitive nakshatra, even though it is ruled by Mars.  The Sun is chemically married to a just-past new Moon in Ardra, which also conjoin his mother Diana's natal Sun and fixed star Sirius, imprinting a close mother-son bond and Isis-Horus archetype that they embody for the collective -- as depicted in the photo of William's first steps with Diana, in her Queen of Heaven dress.  On the right, William's affectionate embrace of his new puppy, Lupo, Italian for wolf, another name for Sirius, reflects a similar affection. Ardra is a very intense moon, especially early in life as one starts out in Rahu's maha dasha which is known for being quite a difficult ride. The dragon's head itself casts a lifelong shadow over the Moon and William's consciousness; and reveals the unfortunate Pendragon embrace of his royal family. 


Saturn Dasha and the Return of the Mother

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana died as a result of injuries sustained in a symbolically rich car accident that crashed into the 13th pillar of a underpass along the Pont d'Alma (bridge of spirit) in Paris.  The Flame of Liberty sits above the exit to the tunnel and has become an unofficial memorial for the Princess.



At the time young Prince William was running Jupiter-Saturn maha dasha whilst Jupiter was in mutual reception with Saturn in Pisces opposite its natal position in Virgo and squaring his Sun-Moon conjunction in Gemini.  Very intense indeed with Saturn again playing a key role.  While I won't go into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories still circulating fifteen years later, I will point out that the sacrifice of  Prince William's mother is the first of many tearful moments imprinted by the Ardra moon.  According to internet legend, just before her death, Diana spoke of Prince William Arthur's future role as king:  

I believe Wills (William) can rebuild Camelot and I will be his Merlin. Together we will return to the chivalry, pageantry, and the glory that was King Arthur's Court. William will remake the Monarchy by showing love, leadership and compassion.

A giant helps Merlin build Stonehenge
Merlin predicted the Red Dragon would win.
Although I have never been able to find the source of this statement, it seems strange and mysterious that Diana would associate herself with Merlin, the legendary magician and counselor to King Arthur.  The name Merlin derives from the Welsh Myrddin, the name of the 6th century historical figure who was the prototype for the composite image of wizard that we have today.  According to some accounts, Merlin was the last druid, a seer, a shaman and keeper of knowledge, particularly of the arcane secrets.
 
But there is another deeper meaning encoded in the name Merlin: a small species of falcon, Falco columbarius, is commonly know a a Merlin

The falcon is the symbol most associated with the son of Isis; and Columba is the Latin word for "dove" which became a "modern" constellation in 1592 that incorporated some of the stars of Canis Major, the home of Sirius and the goddess Isis, who is often symbolized by the dove.  After Diana's death, her memorials have included a dove, and other Egyptian symbols like the pyramid and all-seeing eye, alluding to her symbolic role as Isis, Queen of Heaven and mother of the boy-king Horus.  The dove is associated with many ancient mother goddesses including Astarte, Britannia, the Babylonian Ishtar, and her most famous high priestess Mary Magdalene, who as many believe is the Sangreal (meaning royal blood), the Holy Grail itself: the esoteric wife of Jesus, mother of his children, and thus secret keeper of the anointed bloodline of British Royalty. 

















Horus was usually depicted as a falcon-headed man wearing the pschent, the red crown of lower Egypt and the white crown of upper Egypt that represent their unification, like the red and white dragons of Britain.   And the winged disc was another form of Horus, representing his dominion over the air and sky, that is still used today in air force insignia.



Prince William is a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF), so and isn't it fascinating that he received his wings from his father, who flew aircraft in the Royal Navy (Osiris and the underworld) with Kate Middleton, the new Isis looking on.






He even wore his wings during his Beltane Wedding ceremony.  On the right is a photograph of Prince William wearing the red military coat of the Irish guard.  His decision to wear the Irish Guards Mounted Officer’s uniform was officially suppose to be a tribute to a battalion that had returned from an arduous tour in Afghanistan (or a media ploy by the monarch to strengthen ties between London and Dublin -- yeah right); and apparently this fashion choice "disappointed" his fellow RAF service men.  But I suspect there are two other reasons for this garish coat.  First, red is the color of sacrifice, and the Royal Wedding chart was full of stellar configurations indicating death; and second, the white shamrocks/three-leafed clover on his collar are emblems of both Druids and Osiris symbolizing the three-in-one mystery (father-mother-son, father, son, and holy ghost/Virgin).  Furthermore, in the case of Osiris, the trefoil adorned his head and is said to have fallen off  at the moment of his death.  Thus Prince William's Wedding suit prominently displayed the insignia of both Osiris and Horus, Father and Son who will marry the stand-in for Isis in the Royal Hieros Gamos.

So now as we approach another global event concurrent with an ancient Celtic holiday of sacrifice, I can't help but wonder who might be the Wickerman: the Green Man (Osiris, Charles) or the Oak King/Lugh (William)?  Or someone else, like the aging Holly King (Queen Elizabeth).  Could this the Assembly of Tailti , which has been linked to the Queen's Jubilee, be foreshadowing that she is last queen of this lineage?

Perhaps we will get a few more clues when Saturn conjoins the Moon in Virgo one last time on July 24th and 25th.  After that Saturn enters its sign of exaltation, Libra, where it will remain from August 4, 2012 until October 2014.   The scales of Libra are associated with balance, law, fairness and civility and give Saturn an opportunity to balance and reap karma.  Although Saturn is considered a first-rate malefic, it is a highly spiritual planet that assists us understand our past samskaras, the accumulated negative karmas that chain us to the life and death cycle, in order to free us from these bonds.

Perhaps Prince William, who is running Saturn's maha dasha, with Saturn about to enter and transit not only the 11th house of kingship, but also his chart lord Jupiter (which is also the indicator of his paternal grandmother and her chart lord) may experience Saturn's sickle and free himself from his seemingly unwanted bonds to the monarchy.  I do see him as an anti-Christ to the false Christ kings, perhaps restoring the Golden Age by becoming the Lord of Unrule and sacrificing the bondage of his subjects/children to freedom.  I would love to see Prince William grant the British Republican movement their resolution for the abolition of the British monarchy.  But only time will tell how this narrative will change.

The golden age is before us, not behind us.  ~ William Shakespeare


Namaste!


Addendum

Sometimes strange coincidences happen as I'm in the middle of researching the subjects that indicate to me that I am on the right track (or at least that's what I like to believe).  This post was exceptional in personal syncs:


On Friday July 13 the great Awakener stationed at 2:49 am pdt, during which time my cat Lulu was more restless than usual.  She woke me and my "giant" 6'6" partner me up many times throughout the dawn, until finally my bleary one-eyed giant leaped up out of bed, yelled at her, and let her out the back door -- like Balor battling Lugh.  All the activity was too much for my consciousness to float back to sleep so I decided to use this quiet time to work on this blog post.  I was in the middle of writing about the Oak and its connection to Thunder gods -- being the tallest tree it attracts a lot of lightning strikes.  By 8 am I thought I heard the rumblings of thunder, but thought it was my imagination.  I even asked my partner Joseph who thought it was a plane.  An hour later a massive thunder and lightning storm lit up the Seattle skies and dropped heavy sheets of rain.  Though normal in most regions of the US, this display of the battle between Lugh and Balor is extremely rare in the Pacific Northwest.  I can't help but think I must have had a hand in conjuring up these long lost friends.

That night Joseph finally agreed to watch one of my favorite movies Phenomenon.  I told him it was one of John Travolta's better films.   I was extremely humbled when the opening began in an Oak Forest.  Ah, here comes the Oak King again!  After being hit by a beam of light on his birthday, which appears to be the middle of summer, John Travolta's character George Malley transformed into a genius with magic telekinetic powers. I started tingling and giggling to myself when I heard Peter Gabriel sing I have the Touch. He is in love with a woman who makes wicker (yes, as in wickerman) chairs.  And indeed, he was sacrificed in the end.