Since childhood, one of my main forms of ‘meditation’ has been rock and shell collecting. Particularly while walking where the water meets the earth, but even prior to my first trip to the ocean, finding fossils in our neighbourhood in Montreal. Below is the stone that started it all, acquired with developing Mercurial wiles, age 4 or 5. We kids came across it in my bully neighbour’s yard. This little Taurus claimed it, in her mind, but knew if even a smidgen of fascination was detected, ‘Eggy’ would have kept it, just to be cruel and I’d never see it again. So I feigned total disinterest. It worked (he wasn’t the science and nature type) and come dusk I was able to sneak outside in my pyjamas and rescue the treasure.
My first fossil, which still sits at my bedside.
It wasn’t so much about the actual ‘collecting’ part – I never had any books on rocks/shells or cared about what sort they were – but connecting with nature and experiencing the thrill when it coughs up a little, personalized treasure. This can be as magical as finding ancient artifacts…because really, that’s what they are. Some are akin to planets. I’m sure any rockhounds reading this are nodding in agreement!
Found fossil driftwood sculpture
Nowadays I take a lot of photos, so I don’t have to keep the physical rocks, except for those extra special ones. My local beach in Vancouver, BC is rich with fossil driftwood from the ancient redwood forests. Sometimes they are tumbled to the point of not being recognizable as ever having been wood. Nature is the one true alchemist. These fossils live here, so if we take them home, we’re temporary caretakers, only. Shells, too, when no longer wanted, should be returned to the sea. However, there are occasions where it’s a special gift, a power stone.
Blue agate bead, a most treasured, beach find.
Many people nowadays buy all kinds of gemstones for healing purposes. (Guilty as charged, my black tourmaline and rose quartz are never far from reach). But much of the time, these beautiful stones have been ripped from their wombs in a savage manner, blasted by dynamite and/or mined by oppressed workers. Not only can they still resonate the trauma, but it’s not a good idea to promote environmentally awful practices in the name of healing. Try to find ones that are ethical, just as you would with diamonds.
Tiny Carnelians found in Marin
A perfectly ocean-tumbled black stone, discovered by you, is going to hold as much or more mojo than a piece of onyx or obsidian bought in a store and will likely be more ‘relaxed’. Gemstones and other stones are made powerful by their connection with you, it’s a relationship.
I’ve found stones or crystals in odd spots, possibly snatched by a crow or squirrel and hidden (I know they steal them from my own flower pots!). But that’s often the key, to not really be looking, to let them find you.
Menopause is the new “hot topic”, according to the CBC news.
I’m guessing my Pluto in Virgo peeps “opened the floodgates” (media’s words, not mine) of taboo removal, because if there’s one thing Pluto/Virgo understands, it’s the deep, psychological changes that are going on, together with the physical, as we enter opposite virginity, amirite, ladies? So, as we’ve now ‘crossed over’, let us X-gens pass down what we have learned to the next gens.
Menses and month both come from the same root (men also means moon, and there was even a cute, little moon-god named Men, see below). The Moon is our oldest time keeper, as we find depicted on the walls of Lascaux (this is a recent article about it, here I thought it was common knowledge) and elsewhere, because her cycles coincide with those of the female sex.
In the modern age of electricity, humans became out of sync with these natural cycles and the moods that go with them.
Roman Anatolian ‘Men’ who presided over the lunar months.
When a woman (or a man, for that matter) is not in touch with her lunar nature, or feels ashamed of it, the unexpressed Moon self is diverted to shadow, where it becomes an initiate of the Black Moon, Lilith – you know, like those secret tiki god bohemian black magic clubs that respectable members of society used to have in their basements. Her creative power, like that of Pluto, can turn destructive, self-sabotaging, in an attempt to kill off the false self. When this finally occurs with age, we stop giving a damn what others think, and Lilith becomes a staunch ally and a force to be reckoned with. (She’ll be leaving Cancer and entering Leo in a couple of days, so, ya).
Fun fact: ‘Hysteria’ and ‘hysterics’ were once thought to be caused by the uterus moving around through the body at night. (I think mine was actually doing this during perimenopause).
Grandmother Moon has been keeping time and observing all us babies since we were just amoebas on Earth’s watery womb, so if she could talk (and she does), oh the bedtime stories she could tell. This is especially true under the Cancer full Moon, currently opposite retrograde Mercury. The past is bound to resurface in some shape or form. So how does this relate to menopause?
Venus of Laussel with her calends, Upper Paleolithic
The word itself means a ceasing (pause) of menses. Remember, the menstrual cycle is directly associated with time cycles, both inner and outer. Perimenopause can be even more difficult than menopause or post-menopause (note the lunar triad within the triad, there), because everything is getting de-programmed and re-adjusted to a new phase, a new kind of time…hormones surge and drop in ways that make Cancerian mood-swings seem like a toy see-saw. This reverse puberty onset can be downright terrifying (I personally experienced losing half my blood and requiring a transfusion). Maiden and mother phases grow smaller in the distance, as we cross the threshold into Hecate’s cold, lunar landscape. Here, the unconscious knows no solar age…in the soul, everything is fluid.
As beginner crones (root same as crow and crown), we must now become inwardly re-attuned with the Moon, as we feel the ravages of time on our bodies, and face the fact that the physical is temporal. We fear the body loss, because rational, scientific thinking tells us it is primarily our physical self that defines us (see previous Solar Heroes post), that it is the body that ‘has a soul’. But in fact, it is the eternal soul that has a body, or rather, bodies. Grandmother Moon is firm on this. She presides over the inner world like Sun does the outer. At night, we traverse her realm….but, how many of us at this stage find our sleeping patterns are all over the place? Might it mean that our inner Moon is now wide awake and roaming out of bounds? Or just that darned, roaming uterus?
Will leave you with those thoughts, for now. Stay tuned for more meno memos!
Moon-faced Gorgoneion, protectress of mysteries by RB
Jupiter is back in Aries, until May 16. This masculine, fiery combo embodies the mythology of the solar hero (Aries) on a mission from God (Jupiter) or the ‘superhero’. The Sun’s exaltation is in Aries and the Sun is also the ‘son’.
John Singer Sargent, Hercules, 1921
Weapon-wielding, demi-god sons who saved humanity by wiping the floor with fabulous creatureswere abundant in the ancient world (or at least abundantly immortalized), as they are, today – but one in particular stands out from all the others, for he wears the solar lion’s skin and performs twelve labours, just as the Sun and Jupiter themselves stay a day and a year, consecutively, in each zodiacal house. Sing along if you are old enough…
“Hercules, hero of song and story! Hercules, winner of ancient glory! Fighting for the right, fighting with his might; With the strength of ten, ordinary men! Hercules, people are safe when near him! Hercules, only the evil fear him! Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs; Virtue in his heart, fire in every part of The Mighty Hercules!”
I was dismayed to learn that the ‘real’ Hercules never had a magic ring, ripped abs and a quiff, or a centaur sidekick who’s favourite expression was “Suffering Psyche!” But my childhood TV cartoon got one thing right, ‘Herc’ was the modern, macho superhero prototype:
“Heracles – or Hercules as he has been more popularly known ever since the Roman times – was the greatest of all Greek heroes, “one who surpassed all men of whom memory from the beginning of time has brought down an account.” A half-god of superhuman strength and violent passions, Heracles was the epitome of bravery and masculinity in the ancient world and the most notable champion of the Olympian order, which he staunchly protected from various chthonic monsters and earthly villains. Even though his short temper and lack of composure did cause both him and quite a few innocent mortals undeserved trouble, the magnitude of his labors was of such an order that it earned him the prize of immortality… Heracles is undoubtedly one of the most iconic figures in all of Greek mythology.” [source]
Drunk Heracles “urinating” (in fact trying to get it up, for erroneous intent).
In the myth, Goddess Queen/evil stepmother Hera, angry that Zeus had sired him with another, who had the gall to name him ‘glory of Hera’, hated her step son and had marked him since birth. She sent two poisonous snakes (of course) to kill him in his cradle, but he strangled them with his bare, chubby little superbaby hands. Years later, grudge firm as ever, Hera served Heracles a potion to drive him temporarily insane and murder his own family. When the drugs wore off and he realized what he had done, remorseful Heracles sought spiritual advice from Apollo, who divined the gruelling tasks for his atonement. (Note that Apollo was a Sun god, who killed and usurped the Python). “In my defence, I was drunk and drugged!”
Delphic oracle with her tripod, Hellenist bell krater detail (British Museum)
The myth of Herc’s 10 labours was likely extended to 12 – which became the official number – because the day and the solar year were also divided into 12 sections (Roman year had formerly been 10 months, also), each through which the Sun himself was ‘guided’ by a lady of the hora, as he traversed the sky in his chariot. Every man of importance in the ancient world, political or religious, was depicted wearing a halo of the Sun’s rays – essentially what a golden crown is, made with the Sun’s metal. Alexander the Great, who self-identified with various mythic/solar heroes, including Heracles, was frequently depicted as Helios. Our image of the haloed Buddha (‘enlightened one’) also comes courtesy of the imported, Greco-Roman Sun God. Of course it wasn’t only reserved for men, they just tended to have a bit more power and a bit less humility.
[Side note: Though I’m not of the ‘there are really 13 signs!’ camp, it’s interesting that, in order to make things solar and mathematically ‘even’, the 13th constellation touching the ecliptic, associated with the serpent (and 13 being lunar) had to be left out. We now know our Sun is itself serpentine in nature, it ‘sheds’ its skin via coronial mass ejections (CMEs).]
Gilt roundel with Alexander as Helios, 4th c BC
“All the seven planets have opened their gates.” – Goethe
Whilst reading up on Heracles and the horae, I took a rabbit hole into horary astrology. Turns out that on the first day of the first month of 2023, the first hour belongs to the Sun, as does the day (Sunday), meaning the entire year is going to be under solar influence. The Sun card comes up (19 reduces to 1), as does the Chariot, being that it’s a universal 7 year ( 2+0+2+3). The actual picture of the solar demi-god in his vehicle!
The 7th house cusp of the zodiac, opposite to the natal horizon or ascendant, is where the Sun-self begins its descent and marks the beginning of knowing thyself through others (Libra), which is a different kind of awakening.
Vieville Tarot Sun and Charioteer, looking rather Alexander-ish
Unlike Heracles, the Charioteer, previously initiated as a Lover (6, which some do see as ‘Hercules at the crossroads’, choosing between Vice and Virtue), is now tasked with keeping the solar and lunar sides of his own nature in Balance (8).
The fiery energy of Jupiter/Aries is boundless, until Saturn enters Pisces, March 7 and tempers the flame. Saturn specializes in labours and (karmic) atonement, and it’s entering the 12th sign, traditionally ruled by Jupiter. At best, Saturn/Pisces directs Jupiterian inspiration, so as to give form to visions and dreams, testing their weight and our faith, every step of the way. Are we just being given our tasks or is this the final push? Maybe both? (I have Saturn and Jupiter returns coming up this year, will let you know…).
There are 7 cycles of 3 (plus the Fool) in the Major Arcana, so each 4th card is also a new 1. So the Chariot, as the first card of the third triad,is also a1placement. All ‘1‘ placement cards have to do with the theme of change/transition/death/rebirth: 1–Magician, 4-Emperor, 7-Chariot, 10-Wheel, 13-Unnamed, 16-Tower, 19-Sun.
Being the number of traditional planets/planetary spheres, 7has long held sacred significance as a microcosm, by which the weeks and solar years are divided.
Amulets found in Turkish excavation, dated from 7th-4th c BC
Horary astrology is also tied in with magic (using the energy of the planet at the appropriate time and/or creating talismans for positive outcome or amulets for protection). Before Solstice, I made some planet-themed bracelets. I hadn’t checked the planet hours at their creation, but when the Mars one proved conductive, I wondered whether I’d made it during a Mars hour or on a Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Sun-ruled hours/days this year will have extra potency, but I intend to find out! In astrology, the Sun is generally seen as a bringer of happiness, unless terribly aspected. Similarly, we feel hope when the Sun shines, except during a drought or heat dome.
“Symbols are to the mind what tools are to the hand–
an extended application of its powers.”– Dion Fortune
To me, the Chariot card is emblematic of Tarot itself and of magic; forces within and without in accordance, the meeting of above and below, the completion of the first 7 steps.
Blue Saharan Sphinx wood icon by Roxanna Bikadoroff
Sphinxes, such as those who ‘pull’ the triumphal Chariot in some decks, were guardians of mysteries and the dead. As human-lion anthropomorphs, they are also symbolic of Aquarius/Leo (or, previously, Leo/Aquarius). We might view the pelt-clad Heracles as an initiate, a man not yet integrated with the solar lion in the spiritual sense. (He did actually become an initiate of the mysteries, but only in order to capture Cerberus). He is still an accursed bête, wearing the old skin but not yet the golden crown of the solar lion (the Nemean lion he flayed represents the constellation of Leo).
Of the Aquarius Age, astrologer Alan Oken, in the 1970s wrote,
“In spite of the utopian visions which this writer shared with millions of his peers in the 1960s, the Age of Aquarius will not be dominated by a suddenly transcended, spiritually oriented, love-sharing world population. Mankind has yet to work out the natural animal aggression which is so much a part of his nature…”
He goes on to say that (as we are seeing) the Aquarian Age will be dominated by ideological conflicts and, because of the energies available and potential for evolutionary advancement, self-awareness is a priority for people of the Aquarian Age if we are to properly channel these energies – physical and metaphysical – for the benefit of all.
Heracles, in burning agony, throws himself on the fire
In the end, after a kind of alchemical trial by pyre, brought about by a toxic balm his second wife inadvertently procured from a centaur (Sagittarius, the centaur sign ruled by Jupiter, is the transforming fire of the zodiacal triplicity), Hera and Zeus both agreed he’d suffered enough, and Herc was placed in the sky, as the constellation formerly identified with Gilgamesh. “Victory is here, raise a mighty cheer!”
Final thoughts…
As we ‘permanently’ enter the rational, masculine, high-tech age of the Titans (fixed air Aquarius, that is), with Pluto making its first ingress into this sign March 23, it’s important to keep sight of our higher Aquarius/Leo nature. The Sun is just one star in the heavens, but it represents the creative here and now, the full potential and expression (Leo) of our present lifetime. Meanwhile, Aquarius, sign of the starry heavens (hence astrology/astronomy), can open our minds to the distant past and future. Imagination is our personal conjuring tool. Through our art, wonder and creativity we are connected to the cosmos and the gods of our higher consciousness. In sync with these, there is no need for domination or force.
In ye olde times, astronomers noted that the sky/stars moved one direction, while the planets moved against this backdrop, in the opposite direction. (They were called ‘wanderers’). Thus, symbolically, planets came to represent individual will/drives.
So when they go into apparent, backward motion – aka retrograde – they are in effect being forced back into the collective flow of the universe. Something to keep in mind during Mars’ retrograde (since Oct 30/22, until Jan 12/23 + shadow period for another 2 months) as this planet epitomizes personal will/drive. If you are born with any planets retrograde (most people are), you may find those planets are not as co-operative when ‘forced’ to conform, yet they do hold a special wisdom that seems to operate at a more natural pace than direct planets.
Mercury is the “god of retrogradation”, back and forth three times a year, for about three weeks+, and Pluto spends about half the year in reverse. Venus makes a star with her precise retrogrades…i.e, most of the planets are on a schedule. But Mars’ cycle, like the planet-god, can be a bit rough and unpredictable. And because Mars thrives on being adversarial, he’s especially effective when direct, i.e., going solo, against the grain, doing his own, ego independent thing and doing it fast.
In retrograde, not only is he being asked to slow down and march to a beat not emanating from his own drum, but…ever see a scorpion get ready to strike? Or a ram get ready to butt? They back up first – a sign you should get out of the way unless you are up for a battle to the death or at least a bad headache.
I think of Mercurial trickster Bugs Bunny as embodying the flow, the Wu Wei, while his continually confounded adversaries – Yosemite Sam (in particular), Marvin Martian or Elmer Fudd – as embodiments of frustrated Mars. Single-minded, angry child-men just can’t stop seeking his medicine.* (Is that why he says,”Nyeh, what’s up, Doc?”) Backfiring is such a great, Mars retrograde word.
In Gemini (Mercury’s sign), we may feel Mars’ frustration in all areas of communication. It can feel like Mercury Rx on steroids, when things go awry. Personal will and drive aren’t able to function as we’d like and patience must be exercised. If you have a strong, natal Mars, it can be especially frustrating, like driving with the breaks on or getting red lights at every intersection.
However, Mars requires this training in order to be a good samurai, in any area of life, it is actually good for his focusing ability. (Sagittarius Mars understands this, those with this placement will often be into Martial arts or some kind of channeled discipline for their inner warrior).
Who could forget this scene from Kurosawa’s epic film, The Seven Samurai? (Both Kurosawa and Mifune were Aries, btw). Which swordsman has mastered Mars retrograde?
*Astrologer Caroline Casey said that ‘the oppressor seeks the medicine of those they oppress’, am not sure whether she was quoting another.
‘Anathemia’ sequinned tapestry by Roxanna Bikadoroff
Recessional(A Victorian Ode)
God of our fathers, known of old – Lord of our far-flung battle line Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine — Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget – lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies — The Captains and the Kings depart – Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget – lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away – On dune and headland sinks the fire – Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget – lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe -. Such boastings as the Gentiles use, Or lesser breeds without the Law — Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget – lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard• All valiant dust that builds on dust, And quarding calls not Thee to guard. For frantic boast and foolish word, Thy Mercy on Thy people, Lord! Amen.
Recessional was (along with The Vampire) written by Rudyard Kipling in 1897, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. A cautionary Imperialist, he wished to remind his fellow countrymen where England’s power and glory ultimately came from. ‘Lest we Forget’, of course, became the classic war memorial epitaph. (Nineveh is modern day Mosul, in Iraq).
photo: Staff Sgt. Douglas Olsen, USAF
ANAT/ANATH
Anat was the Goddess of war and death, worshipped throughout Mesopotamia and Egypt, from prehistoric times to the 4th-6th century AD. Sculptures of Anat are sometimes confused with male warrior/death Gods, because of her boyish physique. Her adolescent form, however, distinguishes her from a nurturing, mother goddess. Anat personifies the irresistible, testosterone induced ‘rush’ experienced in both sex and battle, which summons willful young men to one mortal coming of age or another.
Violently she smites and gloats, Anat cuts them down and gazes; her liver exults in mirth.. for she plunges her knees in the blood of soldiers, her loins in the gore of cleaving among the tables.
– From the “Ras Shamra Texts” (Canaanite cuneiform tablets), Syria Primitive, sacrificial rights of Anat (Anath)
Anat warrior idol and relief, Egypt
Anat’s bloodlust may have to do with war and genital mutilation being the male equivalent of menstruation rights, as well as primitive blood sacrifice required to fertilize the earth. But like her prototypes, Durga and Kali, she was also prayed to for peace and severs illusion and attachment.
Remove from the earth war, Set in the dust love; Pour peace amidst the earth Tranquility amidst the fields
photo: Roxanna Bikadoroff
The Tapestry
War is anathema. It depletes blood like anemia. Hence, Anathemia, which sounds like a contagious, war disease.
I began working on this third and final tapestry of my series ‘Queen of the Night – an Orientalist Fantasy in sequins starring Theda Bara as The Vamp’ during the start of the Syrian war (the recent one), then only worked on it sporadically. When the current war in/on Ukraine began, however, I was able to channel some of ‘her’ energy and finish the piece. It definitely has more of an active, animated feel than the first two, with explosions going on all around, comets of doom flying and vultures pointing the way, while red poppies sprout from spilled blood.
The goddess sports a westernized mini skirt with a ‘V’ for victory, black high boots/long gloves, and modern weapons replace her old cleaver and spear.
Anat’s lion becomes a panther, reminiscent of the ‘restricted’ symbol for 18+ movies, ie, when a young man is old enough for sex films, he is old enough for battle – a competition over him between love goddess and war god breaks out. But like Ishtar, dual goddess Anat cleverly embodies both morning and evening star personas.
Theda Bara (anagram for ‘Arab Death’) famously played Cleopatra in the 1917 Fox film, wherein she wore a variety of interesting ‘Egyptian’ headgear. The vulture crown, below was said to be her favourite.
‘Coronation’ crown worn by Theda Bara in Cleopatra, 1917
The mystery of Medusa’s mythos is so deep, convoluted and extensive, it’s no wonder most people are happy to just accept the classical version : Beautiful, young Medusa is caught in the act – either by or against her will – with Poseidon, in Athena’s temple. Unforgiving Athena turns her to a snake-haired monster so frightful, her gaze can turn men to stone. Solar hero Perseus decapitates her (presumably also putting her out of her misery), en route to rescuing chained Aethiopian princess, Andromeda from the sea-serpent, Cetus. Neither Perseus or any of his incarnations were fond of reptiles, it seems. The myth of Perseus slaying Medusa first comes about in the 7th c BC, when the Greeks were establishing colonies in North Africa, but the Andromeda rescue operation seems to have been added, later.
Athena Polias, from her temple and illustration from a ceramic vessel
Athena had long been a major, scale-clad, snake-wielding Goddess, in her own right. Most Goddesses of any clout had a relation to serpents, for obvious reasons – in antiquity, snakes, who dwelt in the ground, among the rocks and in crevices of temple ruins they ‘protected’ were believed to be the children of Mother Earth. The oldest religion was snake worship.
However, the Olympian, virgin Athena was born motherless and mess-less, from Zeus’ mind, his contractions merely a bad headache. Her power over life and death was based in rational judgement, not the voices of chthonic, belly spirits. Likewise, the Greeks distinguished themselves from the ‘barbarians’*.
Why have you hated me in your councils? For I shall be silent among those who are silent, and I shall appear and speak. Why then have you hated me, you Greeks? Because I am a barbarian among (the) barbarians? For I am the wisdom (of the) Greeks and the knowledge of (the barbarians. I am the judgement of (the) Greeks and the barbarians.
– from The Thunder : Perfect Mind (Nag Hammadi Texts)
First known image of Medusa
At first, Gorgons were not imagined as having a massive wig of writhing serpents. They had some mixed in with their plaits/dreads, plus a pair interlocked as a girdle around their waist. In the first depiction we know of, Medusa is a centaur with no sign of snake hair, but possibly wearing a snake skin/skirt. Medusa appeared on the temples of other deities and the Gorgon face** was an apotropiac, used on buildings, shields, jewelry, etc…or to protect a mystery. Suffice it to say that Medusa is the face of Athena, once you’ve had a few cups of ergot wine.
Minoan ‘eye’ octopus jug, bronze volute krater handle, 500 BC (Taranto), Corinthian alabastron depicting Athena Owl flanked by lions creating a Medusa face/wings, 595-500 BC, Greek hydria with Gorgon face, sphinx and turkeys or vultures
There’s so much more to her tale than ‘meets the eye’, but perhaps more than any other myth, the decapitation and demonization of Medusa, who was likely a Libyan seer-queen, signifies the final and often brutal conversion from Goddess worship to patriarchal religion. Also, the white-washing. For this ‘Orientalist Fantasy’, I drew inspiration from the romanticized face of the ancient Goddess, subject of symbolist painters and goth horror. But the title, like ‘Lilimoth’, harkens back to natural source, the Sun’s too-powerful gaze, which snakes like basking in.
Medusa mosaic, Turkey
Fun fact: The Gorgon also had another three sisters, the Graiae (essentially the Fates), who shared one, prophetic eye and one tooth between them, also taken by Perseus. Interestingly, in the Perseus constellation, Ras al-Ghul or ‘Algol’, the blinking star in Medusa’s severed head and most feared star in the sky, is in fact not just a binary, but a trinary star system. One theory is that two of the Gorgon sisters were immortal and one mortal (Medusa), because of the three day period of Algol’s variation – the star ‘winks’ out on the third day. We’re the ancients aware of three stars dancing around each other, like Fates?
Nazar ‘evil eye’ amulet (detail)
dread; fearfulness, but also (archaic) the emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring (awful) or astonishing, fear of God (Rasta).
astonish; to stun, to render senseless as by a blow, to strike with sudden fear or wonder (from Latin ‘attonare’ – to strike with lightening/’tonare ‘ – to thunder).
North African hairstyles, Theda Vamp and Prudence Hymen as ‘The Gorgon’ 1964
*To Hellenists, a ‘barbarian’ was anyone who didn’t speak Greek, typically from North Africa (the word comes from ‘Berbers’).
**Robert Graves, in The White Goddess, also suggests there was never any Medusa Gorgon, but that the face had always been a mask worn by the Goddess. He claims Perseus takes it to protect what’s in the sack, her magical alphabet.
Another important theme of Jupiter in Pisces is keeping faith as we navigate waters that are not always perfectly clear. Jupiter has everything to do with faith, but we should also remember that he is the greater prophet as well as a triad (with his other expressions being ‘brothers,’ Neptune and Pluto). Zeus-Jupiter’s psychopomp/messenger son Hermes-Mercury is really just a chip off the old block. Indeed, Jupiter is often overlooked as having anything to do with death in a chart, but will often indicate whether a person had a ‘good’ death, in the spiritual sense.
Again, this quote:
For the supreme maker first creates things, then seizes upon them and thirdly perfects them… …Thus they first flow from that perennial fountain as they are born, then they flow back to it as they seek to revert to their origin, and finally they are perfected after they have returned to their beginning. This was divined by Orpheus when he called Jupiter the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe…
~ from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, by Edgar Wind
As if to reiterate, the Cerberus, who guards the gates of Hades, has three dog heads, said to represent past, present and future (from an excellent blog, linked below):
One head of the dog represents the past, one the present, and the third is the future. Cerberus characterizes all of the negative aspects of each of these time frames. He aims to freeze forward movement and lock us into negative, repetitive patterns. Obsessing about the past, overwhelm in the present, and fear of the future are his methods.
We all have a three-headed dog in the dark regions of our psyche. If we are to live the life we envision, and not the one we fear, we must overcome Cerberus. The past, present and future can be sources of comfort, inspiration and encouragement. Or, they can be a nightmare. The choice is ours to make.
It’s worth mentioning that Scylla, the legendary sea-monster of Greek mythology (ie, yet another demonized Goddess) that haunted the rocks of a narrow straight, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis, also had dog extensions growing from her flanks. This is likely the origin of the expression, ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’ When we can see no way through a situation and must ultimately turn to faith, have patience and wait for an answer to our request from the universe for help or guidance.
Sunk waist-deep in the cave’s recesses, she still darts out her head from that frightening hollow, and there, groping greedily round the rock, she fishes for dolphins (delphines) and for sharks (kynes) and whatever beast (ketos) more huge than these she can seize upon from all the thousands that have their pasture from loud-moaning Amphitrite. No seaman ever, in any vessel, has boasted of sailing that way unharmed, for with every single head of hers she snatches and carries off a man from the dark-prowed ship. You will see that the other cliff lies lower, no more than an arrow’s flight away. On this there grows a great leafy fig-tree; under it, awesome Kharybdis (Charybdis) sucks the dark water down . . . No, keep closer to Skylla’s cliff, and row past that as quickly as may be; far better to lose six men and keep your ship than to lose your men one and all.’ So she spoke, and I answered her: ‘Yes, goddess, but tell me truly–could I somehow escape this dire Kharybdis and yet make a stand against the other when she sought to make my men her prey?’ So I spoke, and at once the queenly goddess answered : ‘Self-willed man , is your mind then set on further perils, fresh feats of war? Will you not bow to the deathless gods themselves?
People often come for readings because of fear and want to believe they have some control over the future by finding out what it might be. This is not really possible – at least not without a grasp on the past and more importantly, the present. For like Jupiter and his brothers, or the heads of Cerberus, the three are all one being. And would it actually even help to see into the future? This is also why Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, is the god of speculation and gambling.
Yesterday, on my low tide beach walk, I came upon a small, dead fish. I noticed the water was very murky. Perhaps it had lost it’s way or its gills became clogged. More likely it was a bait fish that didn’t get eaten. Each day, the tides bring in something different; reams of ivy cuttings, a dead sea lion, limes, agates, plant bulbs, bits of china and glass, fossil wood, a yacht, rose petals, star fish, bones…manifestations of the cluttered 12th house. From whence did these things come? How did they end up here? And where do they go when they disappear again? Life on earth came from this body of salt water and it’s all still a great mystery to us. This is why Jupiter, traditional ruler of Pisces is the god of religion and spiritual matters.
At this moment, the Moon is at 0 Virgo, directly opposite Jupiter. Virgo is one of Mercury’s houses, and has a tendency toward sorting practical details and analyzing. Mercury is in Gemini, his other house, and is ‘slowing down’ in preparation for retrograde, beginning on the 29th. Though we will try, we will be unable to see what’s ahead during this time and must now let Jupiter faith and trust in the greater mystery to guide us. Pay attention to dreams, serendipity and omens (such as finding a dead fish).
Remember that symbolic phenomena doesn’t necessary ‘mean’ anything other than what it IS in its mysterious power. Our Virgo/Mercurial analyzer wants to know what it literally means, so we heed the warnings of priests, superstitions and dream analysis books, not to mention astrologers, rather than just trusting what we felt and that we can’t ultimately know the reason. (However, an astrologer, like the meteorologist, can tell you what conditions will be like, so that you can better prepare).
As an example, once, when I was not well and had very little ‘qi’, a friend was driving me to a doctor’s appointment, when a crow, scuffling with another crow, hit the window on my side, like a bolt. It gave me a great shock, as you can imagine. The next day, another bird hit my studio window, which rarely happens, especially not right after another such incident! I could have groped in the dark for meaning and seen this as a ‘bad omen’ (certainly not good for the birds), but instead took it for what it was…life energy literally being hurled at me in physical form. I thanked the bird messengers for their vehicular sacrifice. Similarly, when things happen or don’t happen due to timing, which is so often the case during Mercury Rx, we get upset and ‘blame the messenger’, when maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Perhaps you’ve heard this fable?
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.
“Herman Melville depicted the great whale Moby Dick as a powerful force of nature, impossible to comprehend fully. He attributes to the whale not only great antiquity, but also divinity. One of the most striking and effective ways in which he does so is by describing the whale as a manifestation (avatar) of the Hindu deity Vishnu, whose mythology he recounts, the Matsya Avatāra. These passages are analysed in the context of the novel’s other references to India and Hindu religious thought. In an effort to interpret the significance of India and Hinduism in the novel, aspects of Melville’s life and thought are also analysed. We conclude that the structure of the myth of the fish avatar is reflected in the novel’s structure, arid that the novel presents a concept of the divine at variance with Christian theological orthodoxy. But in the great Sperm Whale, this high and mighty god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified, that gazing on it, in that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in beholding any other object in living nature.”
Jupiter comes back to his water domicile of Pisces tomorrow (Thurs May 13) at 6:36 EDT/3:36 PDT. This means both Pisces ‘rulers’ are there, Neptune being the other. This hasn’t happened since the mid 1800s. (Am not really comfortable assigning rulerships to the 3 outer alchemists – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – but that’s the consensus).
According to my astro day planner, this week sees Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn (Aquarius), Mercury (Gemini) and the Moon (Sun night to Wed morn in Cancer) all in their home signs – i.e., the unadulterated, pure stuff, so if any of you make tinctures or other creations that are under the influence of these planets, a good time to utilize this. Spiritual energy and compassion is available in abundance now if we should chose to tap into it, or if we have been trying to no avail, this will now help.
Jupiter is called the ‘greater benefactor’, but in truth, often he just blows things out of proportion. The god-like Moby Dick can also be viewed as the outward obsession of man, who has become spiritually impotent in his desire to conquer nature (ie, the feminine). It echoes the ancient Mesopotamian hero-creation myth, wherein the Goddess Tiamat, ‘shining personification of the sea’, is cut in two by Marduk, dragon-slaying early ancestor of Perseus and St. George. Tiamat’s severed body becomes the earth and the heavens. Then there is also the Inuit myth of Sedna, who was ‘impetuous’ in her refusal to marry the guy her father chose for her, so he takes her out and tosses her into the sea, then chops off her fingers as she clings to the boat begging for mercy. Her severed fingers become plentiful sea creatures and Sedna, the great Sea Mother Goddess. Hurray for dismemberment and rebirth!
Could it be, as the human sacrifice-happy Aztecs believed, that when we enter the womb, we are actually being entombed in a body, and it’s when we die that we are actually being born? (You’re welcome, human sacrifices). Is that what our collective death-wish is all about? Is that why Captain Ahab can’t stop following his Behemoth around?
Sedna is currently in the late degrees of tropical Taurus, conjunct Black Moon Lilith in the sign of fixed Earth and nature itself, but will be in the actual constellation for a while, yet. She’s also trine Pluto in Capricorn at the moment. (Venus and the Moon are also within the Taurus constellation, but are in tropical Gemini).
The ancient bull knows all about being sacrificed to the Gods and becoming one in the process, which is why Zeus-Jupiter was called ‘bull powerful’. Its myth and symbolism is too extensive to go into here, but suffice it to say the bull was the first zodiacal constellation (other early constellations, such as Orion and Ursa Major are not part of the zodiac). So any God who’s anyone has to wear horns, provide food and fodder or at least have a thunderous bellow and a fecund nature.
Planets in Pisces are in sextile (good, working aspect) to those in Taurus, so there will be compatibility between planets in both signs, starting with Jupiter and Uranus, and Jupiter will be getting a good dose of bull-power. We must seize the day, however, because Jupiter will be in Pisces for less than a year, shorter than his usual stay in a sign, due to retrograde (starting June 20) and return to Aquarius (Jul 28 – Dec 29). So we get a month this year and just 5 months next year of this prime Jupiter time. But he does come back to Pisces during retrograde again, from Oct 28 to Dec 19, 2022.
For the supreme maker first creates things, then seizes upon them and thirdly perfects them… …Thus they first flow from that perennial fountain as they are born, then they flow back to it as they seek to revert to their origin, and finally they are perfected after they have returned to their beginning. This was divined by Orpheus when he called Jupiter the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe…
~ from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, by Edgar Wind
This is the time to:
– dive deep into spiritual concerns, pray, meditate, be magnanimous
– put spiritual teachings to actual practice
– turn attention to the plight of marine mammals in captivity and in the Arctic
– find teachings in nature, especially the ocean
– make dreams actually happen; that novel, that new location, that garden…
– sustain soul healing, continuing what the Scorpio full Moon and recent, Taurus new moon have set in motion
– release from ‘karmic debt’
– wear purple and amethyst to honour Jupiter in Pisces
Three types of bronze fish money of the Zhou Dynasty, China. circa 1122-255, BC
If you require a Tarot or astrology reading at this time, please contact me. You can find out more about readings here.
“During the flush years of the magazine industry in the 1990s, before it began to downsize, Roxanna Bikadoroff was one of the most sought after illustrators in the business. These days her restless imagination takes her work in some new directions — from hard-edged visual messages with maximum impact to soft detailed fabric and bead sculpture drawing on traditional women’s crafts and female mythology. In an interview with Whitney Smith, the artist talks about her background, what motivates her, and her artistic process with nine of her pieces…”
Venus is in Pisces until March 21st, so I thought it would be a good time to post some of my mermaid and Stella Maris themed art.
This acrylic painting is called Pacific Puttanesque. I did it when living near the beach in White Rock, BC, back in 2010. The title refers to Puttanesca sauce which basically means ‘whore sauce’, either because it originated in a Naples bordello or because it’s fishy-smelling, due to the anchovies. Her half-shell looks more like a Venus’ flytrap than a scallop and doesn’t quite conceal her monsters. Victorian fantasy postcards provided inspiration. The frame is decorated with local shells, to resemble boards from an old, sunken boat. (NFS, private collection).
Pacific Puttanesque
This next, mixed media piece, called Stella Maris was sort of a pre-trial for the Star card in my Tarot deck, which ended up being something entirely different. It’s from 1999-2000. A friend of mine said after looking at it she had a dream about the Statue of Liberty. (Limited edition, digital prints are available).
Stella Maris
On the topic of Stella Maris, the star in Mari’s crown…
This miniature, beaded icon of her is a more recent creation, the last of a series of attempts to return the universal (or original pagan) meaning to Catholic imagery, which had ‘borrowed’ and adapted it. In Roman times, fish was eaten on Friday to honour Aphrodite-Venus, because it was thought to be an aphrodisiac. This was prior to her being covered with heavy robes.
The star itself might have been Venus or any guiding star for mariners, such as Polaris or Sirius.
Stella Maris
Similarly, we have La Virgin de la Caridad – Our Lady of Charity. One of the Seven Virtues, she is said to have appeared to rescue two Cuban boatmen and their slave, who were caught in a storm, sometime in the early 1600s. Hence she’s the patron saint of Cuba, but of course religion had to be practiced underground there for about four decades. Caridad is also paired with the more Venusian Oshun in Orisha religion, who rules sex, pleasure, marriage, the arts and money matters. (NFS, private collection).
Caridad Mini
Following the BP oil spill disaster, off the coast of Florida in 2010, I created a whole series of these Worst Cocktail Ever Florida Souvenirs, using some old cocktail mermaids, shells and driftwood. Self-explanatory. This is one of two that remain, and they are for sale.
Worst Cocktail Ever Souvenir
Sea Spirit was also painted in response to the BP spill. It takes inspiration from the Cape Dorset prints I loved, as a child. I thought about how awful it would be if such a spill were to occur in the pristine Arctic waters, for all the marine mammals there. Unfortunately, with the ice melting and more oil exploration going on, the likelihood is increasing. So this is a Sedna type Goddess who’s life-giving breasts are clogged with oil blobs. Acrylic on canvas. (NFS private collection).
Sea Spirit
But let’s end things on a cheerier note. This mixed-media icon is of Poseidon-Neptune’s partner, Amphitrite. One of those Victorian fantasy postcards I referred to in the beginning of the post. (NFS, private collection).
