Anthesteria celebrated in Alexandria
“Nor did the morn of the Broaching of the Jars pass unheeded, nor that whereon the Pitchers of Orestes bring a white day for slaves. And when he kept the yearly festival of Ikarios’ child, thy day, Erigone, lady most sorrowful of Attic women, he invited to a banquet his familiars, and among them a stranger who was newly visiting Egypt, whither he had come on some private business.” – Kallimakhos, Aitia 1.1

i deplore the growing preponderance of folks whose attention spans are eensy, who cannot watch tv or take a shit without twittering, and who are plugged in all the time.
and yet i spend more time on facebook, which i don't really like, than i do here, my online home. the seduction of speed......
tried to get my elder spawn to watch 'in bruges' with me the other night. he didn't like it, but he was FB-ing the whole time. you can't watch a movie that relies heavily on facial expressions and thick british accents if you're not actually WATCHING it.
but i did kick his ass at backgammon.
the tree is up and beautiful, the house is redolent of norway spruce, and there are delightful colored lights everywhere. i finished up my last class at FCC on friday (and it was a blast), and am finally slowing down a little in time to enjoy the rest of the season. tomorrow will be busy, but wednesday is mine all mine. i think i shall bake. i finish my fast on thursday, but i have so not been into this one. i've cheated quite a bit, and it shows. my autumn one wasn't very good either. ah well, a badly done fast is better than no fast.
i'll be back with a better update soon.
khairete
suz

Today was the official beginning of serious Yule season for me, as it is the first of nine days wherein I honor Odin, ending at the solstice. Tonight, I will start reading The One-eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Mannerbunde and the chapters on mumming and folk drama in The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (thank you, ignited_spark for the suggestion). Then later I will be doing my first night of trancework and divination with Odin. This year, my traditional mead offering to Him is particularly significant, as it will be from my very first batch of homemade mead that I started on Midsummer, which we bottled earlier today. The metheglyn (spiced) turned out quite nicely, I think, but the regular mead may have picked up some foreign yeast or something, it had an odd taste to it. But not terrible, so instead of scrapping it, we added a few things to change the taste, and it should be good enough. On Yule itself, I will start two batches of mead for the nymphs and wights on Midsummer, and so goes the cycle.

( Here's the bottled mead (minus the one bottle I gave to Sannion to take home with him): )

It is also St. Lucy's Day, and as gallows_queen suggests on her blog, there is some parallel that can be drawn between that day and Holda - therefore, I decided to decorate my Hexenhaus (gingerbread house) today, in honor of Frau Holle, Perchta and Baba Yaga (these three keep sticking together in my mind for many reasons, and so far my tentative gestures of honor to them are as a group... not sure where that's leading, so I haven't written about it yet). In recognition of the darker side of such figures, I set out some "sacrifices" in the form of broken and bloody gingerbread children. :) I set up a beeswax candle in the shape of a fir tree next to it, which I will burn in Their honor in the nights to come.

( A few photos of the Hexenhaus (you can see my new gnome friend in the background): )

Finally, I decorated my Yule tree, and gave my deer some greenery in the form of holly cut from the tree in my backyard.

( Isn't he handsome? )

The Yule tree was my big project this year. The tree itself is a dwarf spruce which I bought a couple months ago and keep in the backyard. However, brought it indoors yesterday and will keep here until after Yule. It's nice to have a living tree for this. I decided to make it a miniature Yggdrasil. You'll note the eagle on the top, the squirrel ornament halfway down for Ratatosk, and in one photo you can see the snake I made from polymer clay as Nidhogg, at the very root of the tree. As for the nine worlds, each is represented by a glass globe painted with its name in runes, except for Asgard which is the rainbow (Bifrost) in the clouds near the top... I found that ornament this year and thought it too perfect. My plan is that each year I will find one ornament that represents one of the worlds and replace the glass globe with it. So in nine years, I will have a full set, and it will be a fun project each Yule. A small doll of Odin (a modified Santa ornament from Michaels, lol) hangs from the tree near the bottom, and at the base of the barrel are the three wells: an eye in Mimisbrunnr, a little twig from the tree in Urdarbrunnr (since the tree is watered from that well), and ice in Hvergelmir.

( I'm really pleased with how this turned out. )

We also listened to my Christmas Revels cd's today, which definitely got me in the right mood, as those were always the de facto Christmas music at my house growing up, and yet a lot of it is quite pagan in nature.

Now sannion has gone home and it's time for me to turn my thoughts towards Odin, so I'll wrap this up. Happy upcoming solstice to all who celebrate it in any way. :)

[I will be away from the computer for the weekend, so I'm posting Saturday and Sunday's quotes now.]

Translation of the Septuagint at Alexandria
“For before the Romans possessed their kingdom, while as yet the Makedonians held Asia, Ptolemy the son of Lagos, being anxious to adorn the library which he had founded in Alexandria, with a collection of the writings of all men, which were [works] of merit, made request to the people of Jerusalem, that they should have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language. And they - for at that time they were still subject to the Makedonians - sent to Ptolemy seventy of their elders, who were thoroughly skilled in the Scriptures and in both the languages, to carry out what he had desired. But he, wishing to test them individually, and fearing lest they might perchance, by taking counsel together, conceal the truth in the Scriptures, by their interpretation, separated them from each other, and commanded them all to write the same translation. He did this with respect to all the books. But when they came together in the same place before Ptolemy, and each of them compared his own interpretation with that of every other, God was indeed glorified, and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine. For all of them read out the common translation [which they had prepared] in the very same words and the very same names, from beginning to end, so that even the Gentiles present perceived that the Scriptures had been interpreted by the inspiration of God.” - Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 3.21.2

The Jews build a temple in Egypt
"But then the son of Onias the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings, out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen Kleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt like to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites and priests out of their own stock. The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before, and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction, and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Kleopatra: ‘Having done many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance of God, and that in Coelesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation, where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about Divine worship. Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals; I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with another, and he subservient to thy advantages; for the prophet Isaiah foretold that ‘there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God; and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place.’ And this was what Onias wrote to king Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, and that of his sister and wife Kleopatra, by that epistle which they wrote in answer to it; for they laid the blame and the transgression of the law upon the head of Onias. And this was their reply: ‘King Ptolemy and queen Kleopatra to Onias, send greeting. We have read thy petition, wherein thou desirest leave to be given thee to purge that temple which is fallen down at Leontopolis, in the Nome of Heliopolis, and which is named from the country Bubastis; on which account we cannot but wonder that it should be pleasing to God to have a temple erected in a place so unclean, and so full of sacred animals. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein.’ So Onias took the place, and built a temple, and an altar to God, like indeed to that in Jerusalem, but smaller and poorer. I do not think it proper for me now to describe its dimensions or its vessels, which have been already described in my seventh book of the Wars of the Jews. However, Onias found other Jews like to himself, together with priests and Levites, that there performed Divine service. But we have said enough about this temple.” – Josephus, Antinquities of the Jews 3.1-3

There is a relatively new person on the Hellenistai forum, who has stated several times that s/he lives not that far from me. I initially thought about contacting this person--it's good to try and build community with local co-religionists--but yeah...that's not gonna happen.

Why are so many of the locals (and semi-locals) absolute morons?

So, let me get this straight. Jews are given presents for 8 days and are encouraged to eat doughnuts while making fun of the Seleukids? (More like Epimanes, amirite?) As long as I can make mine a bacon maple from Voodoo doughnuts, count me in!

In honor of the holiday season, the next couple GEQoDs will be about Greco-Jewish relations, particularly under the Ptolemies where the situation was infinitely superior to what they faced under the Seleukids. But first, to kick it off, I'd like to start with one of my all-time favorite quotes. Even if you aren't a huge fan of Rome, there is just something awesomely cool about this display of power. Every time I read the passage I imagine Gaius Popillius Laenas as Steve McQueen, John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. And Antiokhos is totally Steve Buscemi.

Antiokhos Epiphanes gets his ass handed to him at the Day of Eleusis
"After receiving the submission of the inhabitants of Memphis and of the rest of the Egyptian people, some submitting voluntarily, others under threats, Antiochus marched by easy stages towards Alexandria. After crossing the river at Eleusis, about four miles from Alexandria, he was met by the Roman commissioners, to whom he gave a friendly greeting and held out his hand to Popilius. Popilius, however, placed in his hand the tablets on which was written the decree of the senate and told him first of all to read that. After reading it through he said he would call his friends into council and consider what he ought to do. Popilius, stern and imperious as ever, drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, 'Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.' For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at such a peremptory order, and at last replied, 'I will do what the senate thinks right.' Not till then did Popilius extend his hand to the king as to a friend and ally. Antiochus evacuated Egypt at the appointed date, and the commissioners exerted their authority to establish a lasting concord between the brothers [Ptolemy Physkon and Ptolemy Philometor], as they had as yet hardly made peace with each other." - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 45.12

Ptolemy had the favor of Zeus even as an infant
"A proper name. He married Arsinoe, the mother of Ptolemaios the Saviour. This Ptolemaios, not related to him at all, Lagos in fact exposed upon a bronze shield. And a story is current out of Makedonia that says an eagle used to visit [him] and, stretching down its wings while raising itself, protected him both from the direct ray of the sun and, whenever it rained, from heavy rain. It would terrify the ordinary birds, tear apart quails, and offer their blood to him as food, like milk." - Suda s.v. Lagos

[Incidentally, as much as I love this little myth I don't believe it actually happened. I mean, first off Arsinoe was originally the concubine of Philip II, before she was given to Lagos. Everything that has come down to us suggests that Lagos was intensely loyal to his King, and I seriously doubt that he would expose the child knowing it was his. Furthermore, we know that Ptolemy was raised at court, tutored alongside Alexander, and granted an honored place as one of the Royal Pages, so I think everyone knew he was Philip's kid, and merely being raised by Lagos. I don't have any problem believing he was raised on bird-blood, cause that's how fucking bad-ass he was though.]

Sing it Tay.

I worked at Borders for seven years. This is, unfortunately, too true. Although that last bit should probably read: "Fiction or non-fiction? What's the difference?" because way too many people didn't understand the terms.

Temperature on (30 min.) walk into work this morning: about 15 degrees.

Saw the Amazon Creek, which flows through town, with a frozen crust - first time that's happened since I've been here. It was beautiful.

This is really helping me get into the Yule mood, even if we're unlikely to see any snow. I quite love it, now that my pipes are no longer frozen.

“My ba belongs to the sky, that I may rest there; my corpse belongs to the earth among the gods.” - New Kingdom Book of the Amduat

“The moist aithēr holds the psukhē and proud spirit of Eurymachos, but this grave holds his body.” - 4th century inscription from the Peiraios, Epigr. gr. 41

Some late 6th century Dionysian love poetry
“I want always to dance, I want always to play the lyre. I strike up my lyre to praise the solemn festival with my words. The Bacchae have cast a spell on me ... When I drink wine, my cares go to sleep. What do I care for pains and groans, what do I care for troubles? I love a young soldier, a Herakles with longing eyes, a lion tamer; ever one to save our cities.” - Dioscorus of Aphrodito, P.Cair.Masp. I 67097 v F

It is so COLD here! Well, for Eugene, that is. It got down to around 10 degrees last night. Now, I don't mind it so much, having grown up in Maine and then spent three years in Montana where it sometimes got down to 40 below. But the houses aren't equipped well for such temperatures, and this morning I awoke to frozen pipes. Dammit. Spent quite a bit of time slowly, gently thawing them out (and learned useful information in the process, like where my hot water heater was hidden and how to clean out the aerator on my faucet). All seems to be well now, though.

Probably going to be spending most of my time the next couple days curled up under blankets drinking tea and reading. Which isn't at all a bad thing.

I just finished reading Cleopatra and Antony: Power, love and politics in the ancient world by Diana Preston, and I have to say that this was probably one of the best treatments of Kleopatra I've come across so far. As you can imagine, over the years I've read dozens of biographies, plays, novels and essays on my favorite Ptolemaic Queen and unfortunately most of them are fairly pedestrian, regurgitating the same facts and anecdotes in a rather uninspired manner. (When they aren't arguing the author's own bizarre and improbable pet theories, usually a variation on the alleged blackness of Kleopatra, or that Octavian secretly had her murdered and fabricated the suicide-by-snake incident, or my personal favorite of the bunch that Kleopatra was actually the grandmother of Jesus Christ.) This one, however, while managing to cover all of the basics does so in an approachable and entertaining manner. Preston goes beyond the familiar sources and provides ample background information that helps bring the story to life. For instance, after recounting the fabled sumptuous banquets of Antony and Kleopatra she actually takes a couple pages to discuss the type of food that would have been served, including some of the more stomach-churning delicacies enjoyed by Greek and Roman gourmands. Another notable instance of this was her digression on Roman marriage customs after the description of Antony and Octavia's wedding. However, the author was not heavy-handed in this and never allows the anecdotes to get in the way of telling the story she has set out to convey. Her mastery of the sources is truly impressive (she doesn't just rely on Plutarch and Cassius Dio, for instance but also includes more obscure historians, epigraphic and monumental records from the period, etc.) and she even managed to cite a couple pieces of evidence I hadn't encountered before. So bravo to her for that, no mean feat to be sure! Further, her interpretation of the source material is novel and interesting and usually on the mark. She does, unfortunately, make a couple errors and repeat theories that have been thoroughly discredited by scholars early in the book, which almost caused me to stop there, but I'm glad I pressed on, for the rest was quite stellar. She is very sympathetic to Kleopatra and Antony, and ably discusses the political, religious, and cultural importance of their reigns without devolving into a dewy-eyed hagiography. She has no problem pointing out where they went wrong, and this, in fact, is some of the most interesting parts of the book, as it made me rethink some of my own preconceptions about the events leading up to Actium. It's rare to find a book like this that will engage and challenge it's readership - especially a book on such a well-trod subject - but, as I said, it's written in a very pleasant and approachable style and I would definitely recommend it to someone who's interested in reading about Egypt's most famous Queen, whether or not they have a solid background in her story.

“The Nile’s water is conducive to male birth: Zeus drank from it and fathered Ares.” – Scholiast on Aeschylus’ Suppliants 857

For as long as I've been pagan, I've celebrated a mostly Norse/Germanic sort of Yule - at first because those were the influences most prominent on that holiday in the form of Wicca I learned, and because we had two Norse-path members of our coven, and then because I grew to love the traditions myself and had no desire to give them up. However, simultaneously I tried to inject a little Hellenismos into it, in the form of various Dionysian traditions from a handful of ancient winter festivals. Most of those customs, such as the liknon, I have since moved to Lenaia (in late January) where they feel more appropriate. But even as of last year, I was still trying to keep Dionysos in Yule, and it wasn't working very well. Mostly because my attention is rather consumed by Odin and His path around this time of year (especially since I started doing my nine-days-leading-up-to-Yule working with Him). And that's only growing stronger as I become more interested in Germanic folklore and am now adding devotional activities for Frau Holle / Perchta to my Yule celebrations. But I still felt Dionysos should have something special around this time.

Last year, since we never really worked out anything right for Dionysos during Yule, we postponed it a bit and ended up doing just the shadow of what I have been envisioning for awhile now, and so this year I'm going to try to work on it more. We've moved it to New Year's Eve, since that's always seemed an appropriate time to honor Dionysos, and we're focusing on masquerading/mumming - for me, the intersection in many ways of my Dionysian worship and my spiritwork and certain Germanic customs. Because mumming like this can be found in the Alpine Perchtenlauf, but it can also be found in the Carnival of Skyros in Greece. And the latter is thought by some to be an echo of ancient Dionysian masked revels. Whether it is some kind of actual survival or not, it certainly feels Dionysian to me. The dark, masked, ecstatic Dionysos. Here are a couple images - the drawing is a bit older, but the photo is fairly recent.



I want to do this, desperately. It calls to me. I'm working on a costume right now - not exactly like this, but drawing from many similar traditions across Europe. An antlered headpiece, a fur coat, large bells, a walking stick, a mask. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do in this getup, other than wander the streets and forested areas near my home, clanging my bells and spooking folks. That may be enough. Probably, I'll just go where the god leads me. But it's exciting.

If this works out, I am hoping it will become our New Year's tradition from now on. We're calling it Turbe after an ancient festival (with few details surviving), which means "turbulent". I'll let you all know how it goes.

I'm in the process of working on a new book about Greco-Egyptian polytheism. Like The Balance of the Two Lands, it will be a collection of loosely related essays, but whereas Balance was more of an introductory text, covering the basics of history and practice, this one is going to be more focused on living the faith and what it means to be a Greco-Egyptian polytheist in the modern world. So far it's about a third of the way finished, and a lot of the pieces have to do with applied ethics or my take on controversial issues within the community (with a few pieces discussing obscure historical or religious topics). However, I can use some fresh ideas for things to write about, and since you guys will likely be the core of the audience, I figure it's best to turn to you to see what you'd like to see me write about for this book.

Some ideas I definitely plan to cover:

Nymph-worship in Greco-Roman Egypt (and today)
Dionysian Sacred Kingship
The virtue of Tryphe
Greco-Egyptian polytheism as an ecstatic, epiphanal religion
Practical and theoretical information on the cult of the Ptolemies
An overview of Greco-Egyptian ethical thought
Applying the wisdom of the ancients to contemporary problems
The gods and personal strength/responsibility

And a couple others I've jotted down notes for.

So, what should I add to this list?

Also, can you think of a better title than the one I'm considering:

From Panopolis to Portland: Reflections on Greco-Egyptian polytheism today

Well, it's now official. Here is my final post to Neos Alexandria.

Em Hotep,

Five years ago today Neos Alexandria was born. During that time we managed to accomplish some truly outstanding things. We put together an incredible educational resource in the website. Brought out eleven excellent books honoring the gods. Held two artistic competitions. Came together to honor the passing of a young woman who went unmourned by those who knew her in life. Marked several important life-passages of our own members. And most importantly, we created a strong, passionate and active religious community where people could share their love for the gods, safely discuss their experiences, and learn from others.

These are just a handful of the things that stand out – I could go on at great length listing the virtues and accomplishments of Neos Alexandria, but I’m sure you all know them already: that’s why you’re here. I am proud to have been a part of this very special group (yes, even with everything that’s happened over the last couple months) and confident that I am leaving it in the hands of wise and capable individuals who will prove worthy successors indeed.

Though I am heading in a different direction, know that I shall carry in my heart the fond memories and deep friendships formed here for as long as I live. I have no doubt that Neos Alexandria will continue to be a shining beacon and go on to do even more amazing things in the future. I wish you all well in your endeavors, and hope to stay in touch. Anyone who wishes to do so can contact me at http://sannion.livejournal.com/ or through e-mail.

And now it is time to take my leave. Though my home is no longer Neos Alexandria, I shall always remain faithful to the illustrious city of Alexander and her gods.

As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
as is right for you who were given this kind of city,
go firmly to the window
and listen with deep emotion, but not
with the whining, the pleas of a coward;
listen — your final delectation — to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.

- Constantine P. Cavafy

Over the weekend, as you might remember, we were going to celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Nikolaos (the thinly Christianized version of Poseidon) with a trip up the coast. A lovely time was had by all. Here is Naiadis' post about it, and here is Valgrind's, both of which are well worth the read. (erl_queen’s is f-locked, or I would have linked to that too.)

It was wonderful to spend time with the three of them, and we had many fascinating conversations on the drive up. When we finally arrived at Neptune State Park (could there be a more perfect name?) the ocean and beach were even more lovely than I had remembered. The water was a gorgeous blue and green with thickly capped waves that crashed majestically over the rocks. The beach itself was strewn with these odd Cyclopean rock formations and surrounded by some of the lushest, greenest vegetation I've ever seen. After we had set up camp, everyone sort of drifted off and did their own devotional thing. It was quite spectacular to watch them dunk their heads and bodies into the icy water or stand on a stone outcropping and toss offerings into the sea. After I said my own quiet prayers to Poseidon and the spirits of the land and ocean, I went off in search of a more solitary location to do my stuff for Arsinoe Philadelphos.

There was a vegetation-covered ledge with small caves and a strong nymph-presence. To get to it you had to cross a precarious bed of rocks and a small riverlet which I managed to do without getting completely soaked. As I was ambling up towards the ledge I discovered a small block of wood that had drifted onto shore. I picked it up, unsure what I'd do with it but certain I'd find some use for it. When I got to my destination I realized that it wasn't the right place. It was very lovely and powerful, but the energy was all wrong. So I turned around and viola there was my shrine.

Closer to the ocean there was this small hillock composed of what looked to me like some kind of volcanic stone. It had a flat top, however, which was covered in sand and running water. The water, however, had formed into a little miniature lake. The whole thing looked down upon the ocean and I knew instantly that this was where Arsinoe needed to be honored. After all, she had the epithet Akraia “On the Promontory” and Aktia “Of the shore” and this place belonged to both. Further, it was sandy, and as those of you who read my post on Arsinoe's cultus know, sand and sand altars played an important role in her worship. So, I set to work making an impromptu altar for her.

First I inscribed her name with a cartouche in the sand, and then placed the small block of wood atop it to serve as the actual altar surface. Then I covered it with a thin coating of sand, as the papyrus instructs one to do, and set up the candles and incense I'd brought with me. I did a brief ex tempore invocation, using all of her epithets that I could recall, poured out a small vial of perfume for her, managed to light everything despite the gusts of wind, then poured out a bottle of wine and offered her two loaves of bread. I then made a longer and more intimate prayer to her, introducing myself and formally inviting her into my personal pantheon as it were. I asked to know her better and especially if there was anything particular that I could do for her. I sat kneeling in the sand for a while, breathing in the perfume and watching the beautiful ocean roll by. I didn't get any direct communication or drastic confirmation, although the wind did pick up and some dark birds flew across the horizon shortly after my prayer ended. Eventually the candles blew out, and I extinguished the incense and headed back to camp.

I chatted with the others for a bit, and watched the ocean some more, and followed a crow to a cave where I met some nymphs. Then we all decided that it was getting chilly and we were hungry, so we went to Yachats for lunch at this little diner overlooking the ocean. It was very delightful, though the service left something to be desired.

Afterwards we went down to Heceta head (which always scans as Hecate's head to me) and walked along the beach for a while. The women elected not to dive into the water this time, and it was very pleasant and lovely. Two very cool things happened. First was the miracle of the Sand Dollars, which you can read about elsewhere. And secondly, I had a small Arsinoe-related epiphany.

I was walking ahead of the others, reflecting on my ritual for Arsinoe and how nice it had been, even without any major fireworks or overwhelming sense of presence. I mean, it’s not like Arsinoe had to manifest in light and wind and roaring waves and confirm that she wanted me to refound her cult on a grand scale for it to be a good ritual. I said hi to her, she said hi back, and it was very mellow and pleasant, and I was happy to have done it and was joyfully thinking about all of the other things that I could begin doing for her and her divine family. In fact, considering how intense my spiritual life can get at times, having a mellow goddess isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Then, all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I caught movement in the shadows.

A gigantic shape lurched forward, mere feet from where I was standing. It was a huge sea lion bathing himself in the sun. I backed away and pointed him out to erl_queen and bluedolfyn who had yet to see him. He was very docile, as long as we kept our distance, enjoying the warmth of the sun in the chill afternoon. I felt a strong instant connection to him, since I had been the one to see him first. However, something else dawned on me as I was walking back to the car after we got tired of admiring his corpulent grandeur.

You see, one of the ways that the Egyptians spelled out Arsinoe's name in Hieroglyphs included the sign of the lion. lemon_cupcake and I were just discussing the potential implications of this before I left for the weekend, in fact. And, amusingly enough, of all the marine life that I could possibly have encountered during the trip I run into a sea lion. I guess this was a confirmation that Arsinoe is interested in cultus, that the lion (in whatever form) is a meaningful symbol for her, and even though she is a mild-mannered goddess she sure as hell knows how to make her presence felt when she wants to.

So, Dua Arsna Ta sen meri and Khaire O Arsinoe Philadelphe!

Larry is at it again...

He's training to participate in the NJ Marathon in Long Branch, May 2nd, 2010, as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. You may remember that a few months ago, he did a half marathon for this same cause. This time, it's the full thing: 26.2 miles. All of the racers are trying to raise funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. If you can contribute to this at all, please click the above link.

Thanks guys

omg! omg!
i LOVED the start of the alice mini-series on sy fy last night!
can't wait to see the conclusion tonight!
khairete
suz

Request for a priestly circumcision
"From Kronion, son of Pakebkis son of Harpokration, deputy prophetes, and from Maron son of Kronion son of Harpokration, and Maron son of Maron son of Marepsemis, and Pakebkis son of Kronion son of Psyphis, the three last being priests, all four from the famous exempted temple of the village Tebtunis. With regard to the application presented to you by Marepsemis son of Marsisouchos son of Harpokration, priest of the said temple, requesting that his son Panesis by Thenpakebkis daughter of Panesis should be circumcised, in reply to your inquiry whether he is of a priestly family and ought to be circumcised we declare on oath by the fortune of Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus that he is in truth of priestly family, and that the proofs submitted by him are genuine, and that he ought to be circumcised because he cannot perform the sacred offices unless this is done; otherwise may we may liable to the consequences of the oath. I, Kronion son of Pakebkis, have sworn the above oath as aforesaid. (2nd h.) I, Maron son of Maron, have also sworn, as aforesaid; (3rd h.) I, Maron son of Kronion, have also sworn, as aforesaid." - P.Tebt. 2.293

Water and fire used in the worship of Serapis
“Water and fire, the most beautiful of the elements, they reverence as being chief causes of our preservation, and exhibit them also in their temples; as, I believe, even now at the opening of the sanctuary of Serapis the worship is performed by means of fire and water, the precentor pouring out the water and exhibiting the fire, whenever he stands upon the threshold and wakes the god in the native language of the Egyptians. ” - Porphyry, On Abstinence from Animal Food, iv. 9

[Since I'm going to be away for the weekend, I figured I'd post these early.]

Fancy clothes for festivals and a glimpse inside a Greek home
“After we had gone through these rooms we sorted the contents by type. We first began by putting together the things we used for sacrifices. After that we separated the fancy clothing that women wore at festivals, the men’s clothing for festivals and war, bedding for the women’s quarters, bedding for the men’s quarters, women’s shoes, and men’s shoes…. And we divided all this equipment into two sets, those that are used daily, and those used only for feasts… When we divided all the contents by types, we carried each thing to its proper place… Whatever we use for festivals or for entertaining guests or at rare intervals we handed over to the housekeeper.” - Xenophon, Oeconomicus 9.6-10

OMG how come nobody told me about this?!

Alice miniseries on Syfy channel

(and can I digress to say how ridiculous I find the new spelling of the channel to be...)

It looks potentially good - lots of strong actors, and directed by the same guy who did their Oz takeoff, Tin Man, which turned out to be really nice in its own way.

I'm hoping somehow they'll have it all online for free, because otherwise I'm going to have to wait months, I'm sure, before it shows up on DVD. :(

where did all the willpower go?
i did okay for most of the year, but since my equinox fast things have gone out the window. or more accurately, down my chops. i eat healthy meals for the most part, but i sure do add a lot of extras. i got down below my absolute ceiling, 174, a couple of months ago with the determination that i would NOT go above it again. well, i got above it when i went to utah and haven't even got close to it again since. and that's not my goal, not where i'd like to be, but the absolute highest i'm EVER supposed to be again. i just can't seem to muster up the requisite ares-mentality to battle it back. i'm not happy here, but am wrapped in ennui when it comes to making the changes.
sigh.
i thought i was past this.
the solstice fast starts on wednesday, and i'm so very unenthused about doing it. i sure hope i stick with it (it's just the 3/3/3, nothing drastic) and that i feel sufficiently good at the end of it that i keep it rolling.
:/ khairete
suz

Okay, that's rather peculiar. Today alone I've seen several references to Siduri, Qoheleth and the Lay of the Harper together. Admittedly they do represent a pretty consistent viewpoint, though separated by the centuries and their various cultures, and I am reading books and articles on the cult of the dead in Greece and Egypt. But it's still the sort of thing to cause the raising of an eyebrow.

***

Also, while I have this thing up, I think that I shall confess my deep and abiding love for Lady Gaga. I admit, at first it was just for the shock value. I found her surreal costumes - which made her look like the bastard child of The Cell and Pan's Labyrinth - deeply entertaining, especially when they produce scenes like this. But then I watched some of her videos and ... holy shit, they are awesome! She is one of the ballsiest women in the industry today. I mean, she's willing to make herself look absurd and ugly, even though she's a fairly attractive woman, but it's not just for shock value. She has a definite vision and a message, though I'm not entirely sure what it is, and the imagery that fills her videos is some of the most edgy and original stuff I've seen in a decade. It's vaguely reminiscent of Mark Romanek, Tarsem Singh, Michel Gondry and Kevin Kerslake while still being it's own thing. If you haven't listened to her before, give these videos a shot.

Bad Romance (my favorite song by her: I actually downloaded it onto my iPod)
Paparazzi
Just Dance

Plus, what makes it even better: she's nowhere near as vapid as she comes across. I mean, she actually has this quote by Rainer Maria Rilke tattooed on her:

In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?

Plus, I like how she's handled the whole controversy with Christina Aguilera and her own outing as a bisexual. She basically said it was a part of who she was, not really that big of a deal, and she she didn't want to be seen as using it to come across as all edgy and underground. Would that others felt that way. Plus, she cites David Bowie and Queen as two of her biggest influences, and you just can't go wrong there. She's not a freaking genius, by any means, but she seems to be a couple of notches above most of the vapid pop stars out there.

***

Now, what that has to do with the first paragraph of this post is a mystery even to me. Bonus points to any of you who can come up with a plausible explanation.

Today has been a wonderful day full of wonderful magic and coincidences. One of the biggest of these, I'm afraid I can't really go into here ... but it was pretty fucking cool, I've got to say. Hail Hermes Thaumatourgos!

Which, ironically, leads into the next thing I wanted to talk about. (It's all webs of connection, man.) You see, I just had to look up the spelling for that epiklesis because my memory is for shit, and when I googled "wonder-worker" it brought up this page about Saint Nicholas. Now why that's relevant is that December 6th is the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas, who I'm sure you're all aware is the basis for Santa Claus. Well, in Greece there's all sorts of folk customs associated with him that make it pretty clear that Saint Nick is just a thinly Christianized version of Poseidon. Now, since our good friend bluedolfyn is a hardcore Poseidon devotee, erl_queen, gallows_queen, and myself are going to go on a little road trip up the coast to visit the ocean and leave some offerings on that date.

I've been looking forward to this trip for a while now. (Yay ocean! Yay Poseidon! Yay watching crazy things happen when bluedolfyn gets near the ocean!) However, with the recent intense focus on Arsinoe Philadelphos I am now really, really looking forward to it since she has all sorts of connections to the sea. (Don't believe me, just read this.) The timing couldn't be more perfect. This will be the first opportunity I've had to do something big for her on her own (and not as part of my general honors to the whole Ptolemaic family) and where do I get to do it ... at the ocean.

So, anyway, I was thinking about all of this and feeling out what it would be like to just focus on the Big Three (Hermes, Dionysos, Spider) as well as land spirits and the Ptolemies, with the others of my pantheon included as appropriate and actually starting to come around to the idea (and seeing some interesting - and a little scary - new directions that that could head into: I ended up picking out a stack of books from the library having to do with some of this stuff - if this is where the gods want me to go, then I ought to do as much prep work as possible) when I saw something cool. It was down at the corner of the bus station, and it was this little plastic statue of a woman holding her child and painted entirely in gold. It was just sitting there, all by itself. My first thought was Holy crap! It's Kleopatra and baby Kaisarion! (Or, I suppose, Isis and Harpokrates or Mary and Jesus - but my first inclination was towards Kleo and child.) I picked it up and looked at it closely and would have taken it with me except that the statue was way too modern. The woman had a t-shirt and jeans with this bad 70s feathered hair and the baby stared out at you with these crazily intimidating eyes. In fact, it was so creepy and weird I almost took it for that reason alone. But I have issues with accumulating crap, and since I wasn't likely to use it as a religious statue I saw no point in taking it with me. Maybe someone else will find it and it'll be meaningful for them as well. I do think that finding it and the associations it brought up for me are significant, especially considering the thoughts I'd been having when I came across it.

Shortly afterwards I ended up in the Post Office to get a money order for rent, and while standing in line I glanced up at the weird Arabesque design they have above the teller's window. Now, mind you, I've been to the Post Office dozens of times, and never once noticed this ... but the pattern is my symbol for Spider - an 8-pointed star encircled - the exact one I have tattooed on the back of my neck! I have it there for a reason (a reason that only became apparent to me after the fact, mind you) and that reason, I'm beginning to realize, has a lot to do with the stuff I'm eventually going to be doing with the Ptolemies and land spirits.

So, yeah. Pretty weird and wonderful day, all things considered.

However, as if that wasn't enough, when I got home I found 4 (count them f-o-u-r) e-mails from totally random people, about totally random things, all explicitly mentioning Hermes.

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Thanks to mythworker for his shout-out on The Wild Hunt today where he mentions my Girls Underground project. It's funny, in my head I don't tend to think of GU as a "pagan" thing per se, and yet it really is, because it involves - at its core, although I don't discuss it too much - assumptions about the reality of otherworlds and spirits and such. In any case, I think it certainly might appeal to a broad pagan audience. Now I better make sure to update the blog regularly!

Proof that the universe is not only stranger than you thought, but stranger than you can imagine. I give you the Twilight DILDO. No, I'm not kidding. And neither are they! Quoting from the listing: There is actually a sparkling ice dick available for purchase, if you have $40 and a lifetime of sexual repression. It even “retains cold temperature” for “authentic experience” (because Edward Cullen's penis is freezing!)

Hieros gamos
"Is there not in that place a dark underground chamber [katabasion], where the Hierophant meets with the High Priestess alone? Are not the torches then extinguished, and do not the vast multitudes believe it is for their own salvation--what those two do together in the darkness?" - Asterios of Amaseia, Engomion to the Saintly Martyrs

[I'm likely going to be without computer access tomorrow, so I'm posting this one early.]

On the oracle of Zeus-Ammon
"What is worshipped as the god does not have the same form that artificers have commonly given to the deities; its appearance is very like that of a navel fastened in a mass of emeralds and other gems. When an oracle is sought, the priests carry this in a golden boat with many silver cups hanging from both sides of the boat; matrons and maidens follow, singing in the native manner a kind of rude song, by which they believe Jupiter is propitiated and led to give a trustworthy response." - Curtius IV.7.23-24

For those who don't read sannion's journal, thought I should announce that the latest Bibliotheca Alexandrina book is now out: Bearing Torches: A Devotional Anthology for Hekate.

This is the last book I worked on as editor/proofreader/designer in any official capacity, as I am now no longer with NA, though I will continue to be available for future volumes on a case-by-case basis. Anyway, I have to say that this book is really great and has an outstanding collection of poetry, essays, and more. I was very impressed, reading through it.

I had been agonizing over the fact that I wanted to contribute something but have not been in a writing mode at all lately, but reading the other pieces I realized that almost everything I wanted to say was covered anyway (or at least, anything I would have been able to say in such a context - too much of what I do with Her is private). Lots of good stuff in there, and a definitely must-have for anyone interested in Hekate in all Her many guises. Go buy it!