Lilith

now..... hmmm

then - Babylonian image

Lilith

http://goddessschool.com/projects/willowrayne/l1fplilith.html

Uncompromising, unapologetic, all natural and all powerful.

Lilith represented how effective the Christian church was in stripping women of power, passion and respect. Unwilling to be subservient to Adam, she was cast out and became the poster girl for the evil woman who pursues her own sexuality and her own path....... welcome back Lilith......

Inanna's Descent

Inanna


An eye is meant to see things
The soul is here for its own journey
(Rumi)

...the light has to descend into darkness in order to reappear in the next cycle...

 (Baring and Cashford)

...bring courage, acceptance and devotion with you..cross the bridge and connect...

(6 August 2011)

Eurynome

an eary Greek (pre-Titan) goddess who created the world complete with plants and animals. She ruled over Olympus with her husband Ophion, until Cronos and Rhea removed them. According to the Pelasgian Creation myth, "In the beginning Eurynome, the goddess of all things, rose naked from chaos..." She was worshipped at the convergence of two rivers in Akadia (on the Greek Peloponese) and is often represented as a mermaid (half woman half fish) or as an acquatic deity.



Eurynome on the far left



represented as an acquatic deity

 

3 Graces from a 1st C AD frescoe in Pompeii

Other mythology suggests she was the mother of the 3 Charities (or 3 Graces in Roman mythology)

ache of the journey

...profound understanding is needed about the nature of pain. We begin by acknowledging that the natural state of the spirit is one of bliss. This is our goal- it is our communion with the earth, it is the touch of the gods, the divine inspiration of perfect freedom and existence... Anything less than bliss is the ache of the journey, with all the colours of its emotional experience.

If denial is the darkness of the unknown, then joy is the pure light of knowing... most people have experienced at least glimpses of this joy, the ecstacy which is their perfect freedom. But while we stuggle through our negative and self-negating beliefs, it tends to come spontaneously and be out of our control. Yet the more we experience it, the more addicted we become, the more we want - and on demand... "If you learn with dedication and commitment, you'll be able to walk in that space whensoever you wish."

(ref: Restall Orr)

understandings

"When someone goes to the other world he's looking for recipes to bring back into this world in order to make it more pleasurable there." (Malidona Patrice Some)

"The only way that people from the western type of upbringing can appreciate the idea of spirits or gods is to experience them by feeling or seeing them. It is the only way. No explanation will do." (Miguel A Kavlin)

(ref: Shamanic Wisdomkeepers)

the seer

To you alone it is given to know the truth about the gods and deities of the sky... The innermosat groves of far-off forests are your abodes. And it is you who say that the shades of the dead seek not the silent lands

 of Erebus and the pale halls of Pluto; rather, you tell us that the same spirit has a body again elsewhere, and that death, if what you sing is true, is but the mid-point of long life.

(Lucan, Pharsalia, c.AD600)

"Divination... need not be simple fortune-telling...It can be an effective means of revealing hidden dynamics- whether they are in oneself or within a relationship, or within a group. Divination then becomes a means of gaining self-knowledge and a deeper understanding of the hidden causes behind appearances. Seen in this way it becomes yet another way that we can try to go beyond the surface, to plumb the depths, to look at causes rather than effects." (ref: Carr-Gomm, 2002)

Time

The measurement of time is not absolute. Time is perceived by humans in a relative fashion by using human created units of measurement. Examples of human created units of time are the measurement of seconds, minutes, hours, and days. (ref: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/3c.html)

The measurement of time is not the same for all observers. It depends on the relative speed of the observer, i.e., the measurement of time depends on the physical condition of the observer. (ref: http://ignca.nic.in/ks_31_cn.htm)

According to Lokesh Chandra, "Time dwells in the depths of full mind. Deep inside us it interweaves the real and the unreal. Sacred time is the pure becoming, where the time of physics is no longer determinant. It is the flowing onward of the essence of life, a value centre in many principles of being, as we seek to create newer and even individualised eyes. The mind renews itself in the intuition of time. It is the laughter of the gods out of which emerge our newest sensibilities of expanding consciousness."  (ref: http://ignca.nic.in/ks_31_cn.htm)

I like laughing gods.......

mystical marriage

Gebo

"It is the giver, the giving, the given and that which is given to... By the power of this rune persons are bound together through an act of will in order to effect a result." (Thorsson)

According to Paxson, this rune also governs esoteric exchanges, "especially exchanges of of energy or magical power, whether between individuals or between humans and gods." (Paxson, 2005)

Gundarsson also suggests that Gebo has a sacrificial role - as Odin sacrificed himself to himself, so "the vitki's sacrifice to himself or herself [is] a prelude to transformation."

Real Spirits?

"The difference between a real spirit and a spirit which we imagine at an idle moment or while reading a horror story is that the former connects with realms of energy and consciousness and the power of the deep mind, while the latter is more or less constructed by the ego and connects with very little. Its shape is like an emplty shell. The real spirt will have a mind of its own and enough power to upset the ego if needed, while the constructed spirit will simply reflect our wishful thinking, and this is a vast difference, no matter that thier bodies are equally imaginary."
(Fries, 2006)

The Druid Philosophy

According to Restall-Orr (2008), "...Druidy is unambiguoulsy polythestic: it accepts that there are not one but countless gods. As far as archaeologists and historians can access and understand the clues left by time, Druidry always has been polytheistic and contiunues to be so."

How does that apply to me:

Who is right? Which philosophy has the answers? I know which ones are more acceptable to mainstream society. I know which ones are deemed to be nothing more than romantic links to a bygone day. I also know what my experience is and how it relates to the theories and practices I have read so far. Restall-Orr's words make sense: "...if we get stuck in the sticky details of other's visions and experience, we can quickly find ourselves tying to accept or believe in something that doesn't settle naturally within us."

What the Roman says

"Augury and divination by lot no people practise more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment. In public questions the priest of the particular state, in private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes towards heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according to the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove unfavourable, there is no further consultation that day about the matter; if they sanction it, the confirmation of augury is still required." (Germania)

Tacitus' account describes the divination practices of the ancient Germanic tribes. Presently, there are many schools of thought and practice concerning the runes. Many people have published works and claim to have access to the 'real' magic if you simply join their organisation. In the short time I have used the runes, I have come to believe that the truth lies within oneself. The trick of course, is learning to believe what you intuitively know. Learning to tame the ego who shouts, "No! No!, Listen to me... I know the truth". Time and time again, the runes have proven to me that I should consult, consider, question and think. Then put all that aside, because I really do know the right answer to the question.