SAMHAIN HALLOWEEN

 Apple tree

Apples of the Northern Autumn are symbols of the Samhain goddess for they contain the 5 pointed star within their heart. The 5 petalled blossom that results in the apple fruit is reminiscent of the simple 5 petalled rose. The red and white alchemical roses belong to the Virgin Mother who is Artemis/Isis whose dark side is Hecate/Lilith Queen of Samhain. Some call Samhain -  Halloween,  the night of the other world.

 

Hekate, Roman sculpture

Hekate is one phase of The Great Mother Goddess ISIS who is represented in the 3 stages of the fruiting of the apple tree. 

 

1. The bud, representing the virginal state of the aspirant.

2. The blossom, representing the fructified (by the bee) creative potential of the Mother.

3. The fruit or final product, the apple, representing the crone, guardian of the Lunar Wisdom Mysteries.

 

Attune with the ‘Fire of Purification and Peace’, on this day of Samhain/Halloween, as the Sun sails past the small star group ‘Crux’ of the Centaur in the sky and we commune with the ancestors and ask for their golden wisdom.

 

Constellation Centaur

The great poet Dante identified the 4 stars of ‘Crux’, the cross, as representing the cardinal virtues, 

             JUSTICE                   PRUDENCE                

 

FORTITUDE            TEMPERANCE 

 

Dante ends each of his 3 books with a reference to the stars [quoted in Hinckley Allen]:-

 

‘Inferno’:          Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars;

‘Purgatorio’:    Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars:

‘Paradiso’:       The love which moves the sun and other stars.

 

At Samhain/Halloween, the wall between world’s is thinned – listen for the words of inspiration, see the cyclic nature of birth- death- birth. Light a fire or candle to your ancestors living in the other world. 

 

John iii.3: ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’. And the Phoenix rises from the ashes,

 

Rose of Light and Peace

 

EQUILIBRIUM

 Having survived a rather powerful New Moon is the sign of Libra, those of us still left on planet Earth should perhaps think about the dark side of life and the powerful balancing force of EQUILIBRIUM.

MAAT goddess of Equilibrium [cTethy]

We are all searching for harmony or equilibrium in our lives. We search for this harmony internally in bodily health and externally in personal relationships, and in our place in the world.  Internal harmony or good functional working between body parts brings an Equilibrium of body function called good health, such a condition is a reflection of the external harmony of our lives, or lack of. Our living, thinking and relationships reflect the greater harmony or not, of the Cosmos and the Great Laws of Unity or the Universe. With all these many layers of life and living a lot can go wrong, there are just so many opportunities to get things out of balance according to thinking, emotion and action; and then health, living and relationships go sour and become difficult, without our constant vigilance. Like the dust and dirt that ever accumulates around the house and needs constant attention.

 

Some say that our internal bodily rhythms are but a reflection of the Cosmic rhythms and when there is balance these internal rhythms play an internal musical harmony that reflects the natural and unpolluted rhythms of natural law and the greater cosmic movements. But, you ask, what are these rhythms of balance that I so yearn for? I cannot hear them, feel them, see them, record them. To which the answer comes, they are silent rhythms that each must discover for themselves by developing those inner senses that can respond to intangible energies and influences. This discovery is helped and assisted by such humanitarian groups of self-development as the Rosicrucians [AMORC] who have been waiting patiently in the background for many, many, years anticipating our coming Age of Aquarius when the majority of people is growing who are becoming seekers of this light of understanding.

 

Achieving Equilibrium or harmony within ourselves and within our existence is a life-time struggle and the struggle to achieve it proceeds according to our Karma. Karma is the metaphysical concept of living to achieve this much wanted harmony and balance in life. Trouble is, most of us are so out of balance that it takes much effort and perhaps many lives to rebalance our Karma. Karma, what have you done and thought today that will demand compensation tomorrow, or the next day, or maybe in a week, a month, a year, or even in a distant new incarnation. Karma as a subtle energy that pushes all our buttons and forces us to become better than you were.

 

The ancient Egyptians understood this concept of Equilibrium and balance. They gave it a name, Maat.They made the concept of Maat into a goddess and gave her a partner called Thoth. Maat is the concept of Truth and Justice, not the truth and justice of mankind or his law courts, but the Truth and Justice of the gods or the One reality that the Egyptians of old represented in its many god-forms.

 

Hermes, Thoth, Tehuti, three names for the same deity, to honour his tri-powers over the three regions of the cosmos and the three metaphysical divisions of our being; all reflected in the Macrososm and the Microcosm, ‘As above, so below’.  Tehuti of ancient Egypt represents knowledge and understanding of the heart, which in turn can be symbolised in the Ibis, the wisest of birds according to ancient Egyptian lore. Thoth measures and Maat weighs the truth of that measurement.

Thoth recording Judgement of the Heart

Tehuti or Thoth, presides over the weighing of the heart in the Am Dwat or Afterlife and is therefore symbolised also in the scales; bit like the scales of the sign of Libra The weighing scales are monitored by the wisest of animals, the ape, who sits on the fulcrum of the scales and communicates to Thoth the results of the weighing. The scales are used to weigh the deceased’s heart in one pan against the weight of the feather of Maat in the other pan. How do they measure up, are they balanced or is the heart heavy with neglect. The constellation in the sky known as Libra the Scales, also carries the theme of balance and harmony in life, it is the fulcrum between the constellations of Virgo the pure Virgin, who represents outer earthly work, service and health, and Scorpio the Eagle, sign of sharing and the inner mystical transformative life. In the same way, we must strive to balance our inner and outer living.

 

Thoth is the judge of the Equilibrium of these scales of judgement, of the Equilibrium or not of the scales. For this reason, Thoth is also known as the god of the Equinoxes, those two points in the year where equal hours of day and night balance our small universe at the commencement of spring and the commencement of autumn. The principle of this harmony or balance comes under the formula or concept of Maat, the syzygy or partner of Thoth. 

 

We move towards harmony and balance [somewhere between Order and Chaos] by not minding so much about the trials and tribulations we are faced with, or the blocks, obstacles and frustrations encountered along the ‘Way’. Such a process is assisted by detaching from the notion of importance of personal opinion and desire. An ongoing and not easy pathway to be pursued, but as the saying goes ‘No-body said it was going to be easy’, just satisfying in the eventual attainment of inner peace with yourself, and knowing that you have done your best. Greet the sunrise with outstretched arms of Equilibrium and purposeful breathing in of the essence of life to nourish your body and soul, then meet your busy external day in the mode of the Sun Hero, treading the Labyrinth Path of Life.

Labyrinth Mandala of the Mind [cTethy]

BEAUTIFUL VENUS

 The beautiful planet of Venus is closely associated with the sign of Libra and with that of Taurus. Venus is the planet of love and harmony bringing the desire for companionship and reconciliation after the war of competition. Venus likes to eat and dance, to make music and create. Venus needs to find her comfort zone and enjoy that pleasure to its fullest until she grows wise, then she needs to satisfy the mind.  The Egyptian goddess Hathor is often equated with the planet Venus due to her love of music and dance. But Hathor does also have more serious missions to perform.

Egyptian goddess Hathor, representing the planet Venus, 

welcoming Pharaoh Seti into the ‘After Life’.

HYMN TO HATHOR

All hail, Jubilation to you, O Golden One,

Sole ruler, Uraeus of the Supreme Lord himself!

Mysterious one who gives birth to the divine entities,

forms the animals, models them as she pleases, fashions men..

 

O Mother!...Luminous One who thrusts back the

darkness, who illuminates every human creature with her rays,

Hail, Great One of many names..

 

You from whom the divine entities come forth in this your name of Mut-Isis!

You-who-cause the throat to breathe, daughter of Re,

whom he spat forth from his mouth in this your name of Tefnut!

 

O Neith who appeared in your barque in this your

name of Mut!

O Venerable Mother, you who subdue

your adversaries in this your name of Nekhebet!

O You-who-know-how-to-make-right-use-of-the-heart,

you who triumph over your enemies in

this your name of Sekhmet!

It is the Golden One...the lady of drunkenness

of music, of dance, of frankincense, of the crown,

of young women, whom men acclaim because they love her!

It is the Gold of the divine entities who comes forth at

her season, in the month of Epiphi, the day of the

new moon, at the festival of 'She is Delivered'....

 Heaven makes merry, the earth is full of gladness,

the Castle of Horus rejoices.

 

(Translation after M. Alliot, Le Culte d'Horus a Edfou. From Lucy Lamy    )

VENUS in the astrological natal chart represents a search for balance, love and harmony, in the form of inner contentment, and in the outside world through satisfying relationships with other people and pleasant sensations, by war or diplomacy – whatever it takes to restore the Equilibrium.

 

The Greeks anthropomorphised the concept of love and beauty in the goddess Aphrodite, generally an appeal to the aggressors of the world to calm down and see another viewpoint.

Venus-Aphrodite [Larousse]

The ultimate aim of the sensory experience of Venus is to awaken the inner spirit or soul. This is achieved as life experience teaches one to truly evaluate the material world and not just succumb to its pleasures. By and through the symbol of Venus one attracts what one thinks one would like. The lesson being, to discriminate between what one truly likes or loves and what is simply a passing desire on the one hand, or on the other simply an uncontrollable fascination or wanting.

 

In her orbit Venus hurries after the sun and they travel the zodiac almost together for Venus is never more than 48º from that great star, although sometimes running ahead of him, and sometimes behind. Thus Venus sometimes rises before the sun and sometimes she sets after the sun. In this way she acquired the names of ‘morning star’ and the ‘evening star’ depending on where she is in her orbit. From our Earth point of view, if we trace Venus pathway around us it can be plotted as a 5 petal flower or rose which in itself has a deep and mystical meaning.

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From ‘ EarthSky’, this illustration shows what’s called the 5 petals of Venus. It shows a simplified geocentric – Earth-centered – plot of the orbit of Venus as seen from planet Earth over an 8 year period, from 2016 to 2023. Image and article via Guy Ottewell