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)

deja vu

this is a great example of how science has tried to 'explain' past knowledge and experience. Here are the two sides of the coin:

• the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously (an individual feels as though an event has already happened or has happened in the recent past), although the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain. The term was coined by a French psychic researcher, Émile Boirac (1851–1917) in his book L'Avenir des sciences psychiques ("The Future of Psychic Sciences"), which expanded upon an essay he wrote while an undergraduate. The experience of déjà vu is usually accompanied by a compelling sense of familiarity, and also a sense of "eeriness," "strangeness," "weirdness," or what Sigmund Freud calls "the uncanny." The "previous" experience is most frequently attributed to a dream, although in some cases there is a firm sense that the experience has genuinely happened in the past. The experience of déjà vu seems to be quite common among adults and children alike.

And then there is:

• Scientifically speaking, the most likely explanation of déjà vu is not that it is an act of "precognition" or "prophecy," but rather that it is an anomaly of memory, giving the impression that an experience is "being recalled." and.... encountering something which evokes the implicit associations of an experience or sensation that cannot be remembered may lead to déjà vu.

Hmmm, what science always fails to account for are the 'feelings' associated with deja vu. That absolute innate knowing that something has indeed been experienced before, a person has been met before, something has been said before.......
 

Faust

"'Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish'd me..."

(Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus)

Recent reading includes: Whores of the Devil: Witch Hunts and Witch Trials by Erik Durschmeid. Fascinating.

Today I read about Johann Faust, to whom is attributed the saying: 'to sell your soul to the devil'. He was a German scholar who aspired to learn more, more and more and in doing so, struck a deal with the devil that in return for... his soul... he would know it all! The historic figure is very interesting as there is all sort of discussion as to whether he really was who the historical accounts say he was.

But what strikes me as the most interesting is... what price for all the knowledge in the world?

now

sometimes we are wise enough to know.
it is the inherent knowledge passed to us.
we step confidently and know that we will not fall.
the past guides us as we look to the present.

and then at other times, we are challenged.

not sure how or when to step forward.

in competition with our ego.

the fight can rage for some time until there is a winner.

but the real winner is the one who has the courage and strength -

that which she knows she already posseses.

Lughnasadh

"As with every long journey the starting out is hard, but it is eased as we acknowledge the turning tide and adjust to its flow. As we stride forward, it is eased still further, though strangely so til we stop, now and then, to listen more closely... There is music and laughter drifting through the trees in the heat and stillness of the early afternoon, and then across our path sometimes there passes a wild free soul, with dancing eyes, who shares with us some weird old tale, or throws us a riddle like a shining fresh apple, or skips with a rhyme that makes us spin. At times the music is so enchantingly sad our path starts to blur in the mist of our tears. At times it gives us a rhythm so fast we can barely walk for dancing..." (ref: Restall Orr 1998)

The shift begins again

ehwaz

The horse is a source of numinous knowledge and it facilitates the journey between worlds... "the vitki may literally ride its power through the realms of reality." (ref: Thorsson)

Slepneir - in Norse mythology, Odin rode Slepneir (an eight legged horse) from one reality/world to the next. The horse was his vehicle but together they travelled.

Ehwaz is the vehicle of transcendence that increases physical power, the body, which is the vehicle for the soul. Ehwaz is the rune of the horse and together with mannaz (man) they form a partnership that is built on trust and  loyalty.

In a reading, ehwaz indicates movement or change. Of interest it can mean the "...development either spiritually or physically, or an increase in capacity in either the physical or spiritual as a result of cooperation with another." (ref: Paxson)

It is also linked to astral travel.......

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)

equinox

"There is a god called Tyr. He is the boldest and most courageous, and has power over victory in battle...He is also so well informed that a very knowledgeable man is called Tyr-wise." (ref: Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning)

conviction. dependable. justice. balance. moral strength. self discipline. determination. spiritual warrior. courage. energy. strength and honour.

awen

The action of connecting (or reconnecting) with the source of the spirit of life that flows through us, body and soul.

We call it inspiration.

...more than just the relief at a piece in a mental puzzle clicking into position... more than just the usual unreliable and erractic flashes that life can bring.

awen comes from being with, being in and being part of all things.

This is where knowledge and understanding comes from.
Andy Goldsworthy

returning

Muslims talk about people 'reverting' to the Islamic faith, not 'converting'. They believe that their faith is something all people are born into, but they are not necessarily brought up in that faith. Accordingly, when a non-Muslim finds Islam, they are returning to what they inherently know.

When we return home from long distant travels, we return to what we know.

Occasionally,we return to some inherent knowledge that has been locked away for many moons......

returning to what we already know....

teaching

Who teaches us? How do we know what it is we have to learn? The best teachers are the ones who teach us without us realising. They are the ones who enter our lives and before we know it, we are learning.

What about knowledge we get from other worlds and times? Who are those teachers? I see these spirits as cloaked beings. No faces, no gender, but a strong presence and something to tell, something to teach.

There comes a time though, when the teaching is done, when enough books have been read and enough lore has been memorised. It is at this time that the student needs to do, practice, experience, move. When we do this, there is a new path to follow. Ironically, on this new path, there are more things to learn and perhaps even new teachers.

Of course, my teacher had to tell me this! But I do understand this now.

My most important lesson so far, "...open up [your] mind- the rational and irrational...accept possibility...and realities beyond our understanding..." (Restall-Orr, 2004)

knowing

"An ancient and unutterable longing drew up

through me, gathering me like a needle and

thread gathers silk." (Kim Wilkins)

Ancestor Knowledge

I am very interested in how we know what we know. I don't mean the knowledge, facts, stats etc we get out of books, or that we learn from the TV, radio or from talking to others. I mean the knowledge and information that is stored deep within our own souls and our minds, the intimate knowledge unique to each person.

The runes
The rune Othala relates to community, kin, family and ancestors and inheritance. Gundarsson (1990/3) writes that, "...this inheritance may include not only genetic material inherited from one's physical ancestors, but the spiritual legacy of one's previous lives." Paxson (2005) suggests that "...rather than physical inheritance, Othala may indicate connection with an ethnic group-soul."

The Druid Concept
IN her book (2004), Emma Restall Orr comments that, "...at any time, an ancestral soul may touch the cells that ignite the moment of conception. Created by the spark of the spirit, the soul establishes its link to the zygote, guiding its development from there. Thus our ancestors become our descendants... " She goes on to say that, "Listening to our ancestral songs, finding the notes of our genes, our history, blood and bones, the wash of continuity through evolution is exquisite, sometimes painful but always poignant."

Collective Unconscious
This is the one I struggle with. I am least able to understand psycho-babble....... Carl Jung coined the term "collective unconscious" to explain the idea that each of us share knowledge and experiences common to all humanity. Jensen et al (1997) comment that the collective unconscious is, "a reservoir of the experience of our species." This collective unconscious is separate to the personal subconscious, which is particular to each human being.