Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth

There is a theory that lines of some sort connect places of significance. For example, a line drawn between two ancient sacred sites, two medieval churches, two ancient burial sites or an ancient well and the summit of a hill, and then extended in either direction will be seen to link several or many more such sites. A classic and popular example is a line drawn between churches dedicated to St. Michael from Cornwall north-eastwards across southern Britain. This connects not only several such churches but also Glastonbury and Avebury. These are presented as objective facts for which it is possible or even necessary to find an explanation. Both claims for the veracity of such lines and their explanations, and arguments against them, are far from objective or neutral. The present discussion is not interested in whether such claims can be scientifically proved or disproved, or in the adequacy or accuracy of the complex metaphysical systems built around acceptance of such lines, but focuses on the nature and role of such understandings in the wider practice of Pagan living in a living planet.

via Great Dreams

“Ley Lines” or simply “leys” became part of the currency of the English Language after 1921 when Alfred Watkins

Stood on a hilltop in Herefordshire and suddenly perceived the beautiful English landscape before him as newly laid out in a web of lines linking together the holy sites of antiquity.

Watkins himself thought of these lines as ancient trackways or mundane roads. Those convicted by UFO stories have thought of ley lines as the navigational flight paths which direct space aliens around our planet. These stories are less important now, except as the initial cause of considerable interest in alignments of sites and in the lines themselves. (more…)

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Dancing with Dragons

[…] What are dragons? Are they real or imaginary? In the Western world, our word dragon comes from the Greek drakon and the Latin draco. Drakon comes from a verb meaning to see, to look at, or possibly to flash. Certainly in most legends dragons spend their time watching, whether it be treasure, territory, or the supposedly captive maidens. The word “dragon” is used in many different fields, as diverse as astrology, astronomy, alchemy, magick, heraldry, psychology, and the study of dreams. From the time that humans began to record things, dragons have been mentioned.

In astronomy, the ancient constellation of Draco is in the northern heavens and curves in a winding pattern between the Big and Little dippers. It ends in the Dragon’s Head, a trapezium of four stars. The star Draconis is a brilliant double star. The constellation has probably shifted over the millenia and may have once been the polestar to which the pyramid of Cheops was aligned. (more…)

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An Instinct for Dragons

Groaning like a furnace, it hoisted its reptilian body from the ground, labored into the air on stunted wings, and rolled, belching sulphurous smoke, like a churning thundercloud toward the small farm. Its hideous roar shattered the morning calm, announcing the presence of the most terrible of creatures. The humans ran for their lives.

[…]

The Chinese call it lung; the Hawaiians, kelekona or perhaps mo’o. It is zmaj to Croatians and Serbians, lohikaarne to the Finns, and unktena to the Cherokee Indians of North America. The Polish tell of smok, the Turks of the ejderha, the Maori of New Zealand of the tarakona, and the Hungarians of sarkany. The Japanese say tatsu, the Welsh draig, the Germans lindwurm, the Dutch draak, and the Lakota Sioux unhcegila. The creature is named in Aztec, Arabic, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, and others. English speakers call it dragon.

(more…)

Sacred Magic Of Ancient Egypt: The Spiritual Practice Restored

The symbol (winged Solar disc) is derived from the legendary tale Heru and the Winged Disc, inscribed on the walls of the Edfu temple. In this saga, the young god as paraoh battles his adversaries and takes the from of the winged disc to dispel them. The two cobras on either side of the icon present Auset and Nebt-Het, who accompany him on his quest and offer protection. Thus, the symbol is used for apotropaic effect as well as an indicator over chamber entries of the Solar axis in the temple.
Quoted from the pages 55-56 of the book Sacred Magic Of Ancient Egypt: The Spiritual Practice Restored by Rosemary Clark

It (the winged disc) first appears in Egypt in very early times (3rd millennium B.C.) purely as a solar symbol. It was considered a symbol of power and royalty and was adopted by a large number of people. In egypt the winged sun-disc with uraeus symbolised Egyptian royalty and signified the triumph of right over wrong.
Quoted from the page 23 of the book The Language of the Harappans by Malati J. Shendge (more…)

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The Rough Guide to The Universe (Rough Guide Science/Phenomena)

The power of the sun is reflected in the appereance of a Sun god (or gods) in virtually every mythology and religion. Here are some of the most notable.

Amaterasu

The Japanese Sun Goddess whose full name, Amaterasu Omikami, means “Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven”. The Japanese imperial family claims direct lineage from her, and her emblem, the rising Sun, appears on the national flag. In her most famous story, Amaterasu hid in a cave after a family quarrel, thus plunging the world into darkness. She only reappeared after catching a glimpse of her own magnificence in a mirror.

Helios

The Greek Sun god who in Roman mythology is called Sol and is identified with Apollo. Helios’ task was to drive his horse-drawn chariot across the sky each day. When he allowed his son Phaeton to have a go, the young man was unable to control the horses and came so close to Earth that he burned parts of it. To save the day, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and Phaeton tumbled into the river Eridanus. (more…)

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Swimline Two Headed Curly Serpent

What is the Serpent?

Serpent is a word of Latin origin (serpens, serpentis) that is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context, signifying a snake that is to be regarded not as a mundane natural phenomenon nor as an object of scientific zoology, but as the bearer of some symbolic value.
Quoted from Wikipedia

Related Links:

• Why did the ancients consider the serpent a symbol of wisdom, while today it is often associated with deceit and evil? - Reptilian Agenda

  Why should the serpent, or the snake, have been called a ‘liar,’ ‘deceiver,’ and that pathetic figure of mediaeval theology, the Devil, be called the “Father of Lies”? Why should it have been thought that the serpent in the Garden of Eden which tempted the first human pair to evil-doing, was an imbodiment of or the symbol of Satan? Why should the serpent have become the symbol of insinuating evil, of evil doing, of deceit? Or on the other hand, why should the silent, creeping serpent with its slow sinuous progress have been taken as the symbol of Wisdom or of the Initiate, as in the expression attributed to a very lofty source in the Christian New Testament: “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves”?

• Serpent Symbolism Associated with Phallic Worship - Sacred Texts

  We are here reminded of the passage already quoted from Clemens Alexandrinus, who tells us that the serpent was the special symbol of the worship of Bacchus. Now, this annual holds a very curious place in the religions of the civilized peoples of antiquity. Although, in consequence of the influence of later thought, it came to be treated as the personification of evil, and as such appears in the Hebrew legend of the fall, yet before this the serpent was the symbol of wisdom and healing. (more…)

  
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  via johncoulthart.com
  

  Who is Pythagoras? What is Python?

  Pythagoras: (ca. 582 - ca. 507 BC) A pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who settled in Crotona, Italy, where he founded a mystery society. Phythagorean teachings include reincarnation and the ultimate reality of numbers as the basis of all things. The Pythagorean theorem in geometry is a token of their achievement in that field.

  Python: (Greek) The “spirit of divination,” from Pytho, the location at Delphi where the priestess of Apollo called the “pythoness” delivered oracles.
  Quoted from the page 604 of the book The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky, Volume One by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

  Pythagoras, Incarnation of the Serpent

  The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom

  The greatest of the Orphic and Dactyloi initiates was Pythagoras, a wizard and hierophant whose name means “I am the Python” or “I am the Serpent.” Pythagoras was an incarnation of the Primal Serpent which took birth to synthesize and reform the mystery traditions scattered throughout the ancient world.

  During his upbringing upon the Island of Samos, Pythagoras was exposed to many of the most ancient mystery teachings of the Serpent Goddess. Having been born into a Pelasgian home he was surrounded by the wisdom of the first colonist of the Aegean, some of whom had arrived directly from Atlantis. Pythagoras also came into contact with numerous Orphic priests on the island and through them learned some of the ancient wisdom of the Dactyloi and Djedhi. (more…)

  

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  • What’s the Difference Between Human and Animal? We’re all Crazy.
  • How did Humans Inherit Wisdom and from Whom?
  • Eve’s Descendants - Sex, Time and Power
  • The Real Difference Between Man and Beast
  • Aggression and Human Evolution
  • Man, the Destroyer
  • Destruction in the Bible
  • Satan and God - Is Satan Bad?
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill and Steal but…
  • Nakedness and God’s Lie, Cain, Evil Nature, Some Questions…
  • Forbidden Magical Activities: Sorcery, Witchcraft, Charms, Spells and Rituals
  • Fools and Hypocrites - Thomas Jefferson
  • Religion and Science: The God Gene
  • Atlantis, What do We Know?
  • The Serpent Race, Djedhi of Egypt, and Amaraka
  • Caduceus and Brazen Serpent
  • Caduceus and Brazen Serpent - Part II
  • Uraeus - The King Cobra - Caduceus and Brazen Serpent
  • Pythagoras - A Python - Incarnation of the Serpent
  • Serpent Symbolism and Serpent Images
  • Meet the Sun Gods
  • Winged Sun Disc of the Ancient Times
  • Fantasy Dragons and Snake Gods
  • What are Dragons? - Part II

  

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  What is Uraeus?

  Egyptian serpent symbol, a hieroglyphic sign for “Goddess,” suggesting that in pre-dynastic times it was thought all serpents were female and divine. The serpent mother was one of Egypt’s oldest divinities, and her uraeus-snake idol signified healing. Moses copied this egyptian magic with his “brazen serpent” (Numbers 21:9). Egyptian rulers wore the uraeus-snake in the form of a rearing cobra on the forehead, representing the “third eye” of mystical insight. Despite patriarchal opposition to the symbol of the she-serpent Uraeus, among later Gnostic Christians her name became one of the “secret names of God.”
  Quoted from page 1028 of the book The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker
  
  “… pre-dynastic times it was thought all serpents were female and divine.” This statement reminds me:

  The Hindu Puranas or legends remember the Kumaras as renunciate Avatars or Saviors, who as four eternally young , twin brothers served as the first teachers of the “Siddha Marg,” the “Path of the Perfected Ones,” which culminates in the union of the polarity and spiritual immortality. Their name, Kumara, reflects both their path to union as well as their inherent androgenous nature.
  Quoted from the page 13 of book The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom by Mark Amaru Pinkham

  The word, androgenous means “relating to or exhibiting both female and male sex organs but with a predominantly female appearance.”

  According to Pinkham, Kumaras were androgenous. If you are androgenous, you have both male and female sex organs and your appearance more like a female. At the other hand Walker points out that “all serpents were female.” Interesting isn’t it? (more…)

  

  ]]> http://magneticblue.com/2008/01/03/uraeus-the-king-cobra-caduceus-and-brazen-serpent/feed/ http://magneticblue.com/2008/01/03/uraeus-the-king-cobra-caduceus-and-brazen-serpent/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NowAndHere/~3/weKHMcJx7vg/ http://magneticblue.com/2008/01/02/caduceus-and-brazen-serpent-part-ii/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:19:02 +0000 Magnetic Blue http://magneticblue.com/2008/01/02/caduceus-and-brazen-serpent-part-ii/ What is Caduceus?

  
  Caduceus Amulet for Healing Ability
  

  The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

  Some Gnostic Christians worshipped the serpent hung on a cross, rod, or Tree of Life, calling it Christ the Savior, also a title of Hermes the Wise Serpent represented by his own holy caduceus the scepter of two serpents. This was one of the oldest and most revered holy symbols. “The usual mythological association of the serpent is not, as in the bible, with corruption, but with physical and spiritual helath, as in the Greek caduceus.” To Sumerians it was an emblem of life, appearing on art works like the Libation Cup of Gudea, ca. 2000 B.C. In pre-Hellenic Greece the caduceus was displayed on healing temples like those of Asclepius, Hygeia, and Panacea, which is why it is still an international symbol of the medical profession. The caduceus is also found in Aztec sacred art, enthroned like a serpent-deity on an altar. North American Indians knew it too. A Navaho medicine man said his people’s sacred cave once featured ” a stone carving of two snakes intertwined, the heads facing east and west.”

  Hindu symbolism equated the caduceus with the central spirit of the human body, the spinal column, with two mystic serpents twined around it like the genetic double helix: ida-nadi to the left, pingala-nadi to the right.

  Moses’ brazen serpent on a pole, the mere sight of which cured the Israelites, was probably a prophylatic caduceus (Numbers 21:9). It was named Nehushtan, and worshipped in the tabernacle up to the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).
  Quoted from page 131 of the book The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker

  
  Q - The Winged Serpent (more…)

  

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