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Monday 27 September 2010

O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS!



Recite,

O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS!

O IAKKHOS, whom the light amidst the darkness adorns, hear my cry O son of Zeus and Persephone occultly born. O IAKKHOS!

O IAKKHOS, much-loved resident of these quarters, O IAKKHOS, O IAKKHOS come to this field for the dance with your holy followers, setting in motion the crown, which sits on your head, thick with myrtle-berries, boldly stamping the beat with your foot in the unrestrained fun-loving celebration, the dance overflowing with grace, dance sacred to the holy initiates!

O IAKKHOS, wake the fiery torches which you brandish in your hands, O IAKKHOS, O IAKKHOS, brilliant star of the all-night celebration! The meadow is aflame with light; old men's knees cavort! They shake off the pain of long years in old age in their holy excitement. Hold your light aloft and lead the youthful chorus, Lord, to the lush flowers of the sacred ground!

O IAKKHOS, whom the light amidst the darkness adorns, hear my cry O son of Zeus and Persephone occultly born. O IAKKHOS!

O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS! O IAKKHOS!

Sunday 26 September 2010

The Lexikon (unto the aions unfinished)


Agon – struggle, competition
Aidos – shame, modesty
Akh – luminous body
Akhet – house; horizon
Akhu – the blessed dead; ancestors
Akousmata – oral teachings
Amenti – the west; ‘the Land of the Dead’
Anamnesis – recollection of past lives
Ananke – necessity
Angelos – divine messenger
Ankh – symbol of enduring life
Aparkhai – first-fruit offerings
Aporrheton – forbidden
Apotropaic – averting evil
Arkhe – first principle
Arete – virtue; excellence
Arrheton – unspeakable
Asebia – impiety
Autarkeia – self-sufficiency
AUS – ‘Ankh Udja Seneb’ meaning ‘life, prosperity and health’

Ba – part of the soul; the undying essence
Basilinna – queen
Basileos – king
Bebackcheumenos – inspired with mania by Dionysos
Ben-ben – the first land to rise from the primordial waters
Bios – life; conduct of living
Bomos – altar
Bothros – ritual trench for sacrifices to the khthonic gods
Boule – deliberation, a council

Deshret – ‘the Red Land’; the inhabitable wastes of the desert that surround the Nile valley
Dadoukhos – torchbearer
Daimon – lesser divinities; guardian spirits; personal holy genius
Deimata – terrifying events
Deipnon – feasts
Didaskalia – instruction
Djed – a pillar representing Osiris’ spine or phallus
Dromena – ritually actions
Duat – the realm of the dead
Dunamis – power

Eidolion – place where the image is housed
Eirene – peace
Em hotep – ‘in peace’
Entheos – possessed by a god
Epistates – supervisor
Epoptes – watcher; highest grade in the Eleusinian mysteries
Ethos – habit; the total of one’s actions or character
Eudaimonia – true happiness
Eulogeo – blessings
Euonomia – good order
Eusebia – piety and reverence for the gods

Gamos – wedding
Gnosis – knowing of matters pertaining to things of esoteric or spiritual nature

Hagneia – purity
Heb(u) – festival
Heka – magic; authoritative speech
Hekatomb – sacrifice of 100 cattle; any great sacrifice
Hellenion – a Greek temple set in a foreign land
Hellenismos – the religion and culture of the Greeks
Henu – honour gesture which accompanies worship
Herron – grave of a hero
Hesi – hymns
Hestia – hearth
Het – house
Hiera – holy things
Hiereia(i) – priestess
Hierophantes – he who reveals sacred things
Hieros – sacred
Hierus(eis) – priest
Hubris – overweening pride and an insult towards the gods
Hotep(u) – offerings; peace
Hu – utterance

Ib – heart-shaped amulet
Iru – ceremonies
Isfet – disorder, chaos; whatever is opposed to Ma’at

Ka – part of the soul; vital essence; the personality which must be fed after death in order to survive
Kakodaimon – evil spirit
Katabasis – descent into the underworld
Katharmos – rite of purification
Katharsis – purification
Kemet – ‘the Black Land’; Egypt, especially the rich, inhabitable area surrounding the Nile
Kerukas - herald
Khaibet – the shadow part of the soul
Khaire(te) – greetings
Khat – the physical body
Khesu – basic rites
Khthonioi – earth or underworld gods, as well as the spirits of the dead
Kiste – basket in which sacred things are kept
Kledon – a type of omen drawn from random things overheard
Koinon – common; club
Komos – a group of revellers devoted to Dionysos

Maa-kheru – ‘true of voice’; justified; deceased who has been judged favourably
Ma’at – order, truth; justice; harmony
Makaria – happiness
Mania – frenzy
Mantis – a seer, prophet
Mathein – to learn
Melamphoros – wearing black
Metampsychosis – transmigration of souls
Miasma – ritual pollution
Mimesis – imitation or representation
Mneme – memory
Mousikos – being cultured
Muein – to initiate
Muesis – initiation
Murionmos – of countless names
Musteria – mysteries
Mustagogos(oi) – guide of the initiates
Mustes(ai) – initiate
Mustikos – mystic
Mustipolos – celebrating mysteries
Muthos – a traditional story, usually about gods or heroes

Naos – temple
Nefer – beautiful
Nekhekh – the flail carried by the pharaoh
Nekhtet – victory
Nemesis – righteous
Netjer(u) – a god; divinity
Nisut – the king; pharaoh
Nomos – law, custom
Nous – mind, intelligence

Oikos – household, both the place and people belonging to it
Ololyge – ritual cry
Olympioi – the Olympian gods, either for dwelling on Mount Olympos or from lampo ‘the shining ones’
Omophagia – eating raw flesh
Orgia – rituals
Ouranian – heavenly
Ousia – essence

Paian – a hymn of praise for Apollon
Paideia – education
Paligenesia – rebirth
Paradosis – transmission, tradition
Paredros – divine consort
Pathos(e) – suffering; experience; appeal to the emotions
Patrios Nomos – ancestral custom
Per – mansion; temple
Phileo – tender affection
Philanthropia – love for humankind
Phthora – annilihilation
Phusis – nature
Pistis – faith
Pneuma – breath; spirit
Polis(eis) – city-state
Politeia – citizenship; civil activity
Pompe – procession
Praxis – action; practice
Prutaneis – priestly civic officials
Pros theon – ‘by the gods’

Ren – a name indicating one’s total being

Sa – protection
Sedjem – hearing
Sekhem – vital force
Sekhet Irau – ‘Field of Reeds’, abode of the dead
Sekhet Hetept – ‘Field of Offerings’
Sema – tomb
Senebty – ‘may you be healthy’
Shemsu – follower; devotee
Sia – perception
Sige – silence
Soma – body
Sophrosune – self-restraint; prudence; discretion
Soteria – salvation
Sponde(ai) – drink-offerings
Stoicheia – elements
Sumbolon – token
Summustes – fellow-initiate
Sumpatheia – simultaneous affection
Sunthema – password

Tawy – ‘the Two Lands’; the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
Telein – to celebrate, to initiate
Telestes – initiation priest
Telete – ceremony; initiation
Temenos – sacred precinct
Thanatos – death
Thelema – will
Theoi – gods
Theologia – speaking about the gods
Theophoretos – possessed by a god
Theoros(oi) – sacred envoys; priests
Thiasos – religious association
Tholos – round house; headquarters of the prutanis
Thusia – sacrifice
Thumos – the seat of emotions within the soul
Time – honour or public acclaim
To Hen – the One

Udjat – the eye of Horus amulet

Wab(u) – purifications

Xenia – hospitality

Zoe – life principle

Friday 24 September 2010

To adore Qudshu, the Holy One


Qudshu, that exotic goddess of sacred ecstacy and sexual pleasures. Her Semitic name (QDSH) means ‘the holy one’ and despite some speculations regarding her Near Eastern origins, the goddess was adored with fervour within the Egyptian pantheon of the New Kingdom. Some even whisper that she was indigenous to the land of Khem.

So powerful was this goddess that she was worshipped as part of the divine triad along with the fertility god Min and the Syrian storm god Reshep. She was often associated with the goddess Hathor, whom she resembled in some ways and with the inherently sensual Near Eastern goddess Astarte and the goddess of war Anat, both of whom were known in Egypt.
In the Egyptian pantheon Qudshu was experienced and adored as an aspect of both ba and the ka. In the sense of the ba she represented the microcosmic aspects of fertility, such as eros for sensuality and beauty. For the macrocosm she represented eros for gnosis in the form of the ka.

In Egyptian iconography her vision was that of a beautiful naked woman holding lotus blossoms in her right hand and snakes or papyrus in her left hand, all of which are symbols of her sacred sexuality and fertility. Her hairstyle and headdress sometimes approximate that of other Egyptian goddesses. She is often depicted as standing upon a lion, which represents Canaan and she is flanked by Min on her right and Reshep on her left, the two gods being depicted standing on shrines that elevate them closer to the same height of the leonine-borne goddess.

Truly a goddess to be adored in an ecstatic state of sacred sexuality and beauty
amidst violent sandstorms, scorching heat and the starlit heavens above...

Thursday 23 September 2010

The Rite of the Lunar Spell as recited by the Scarlet Selene

I have been called upon, I mistress of the entire world, ruler of the entire cosmic system, greatly powerful goddess, gracious daimon, lady of night, who travel through the air, ΦΕΡΟΦΟΡΗ ΑΝΑΘΡΑ ΟΥΘΡΑ. My sacred symbols have been heeded and I have given a whirring sound[1], and I shall give a sacred daimon who serves this very night, in this very hour, ΠΡΟΚΥΝΗ ΒΑΥΒΩ ΦΟΒΕΙΟΥΣ ΜΗΕ, and order the daimon...[2]

Behold my call, for I am Selene, who suffers much, who rises and sets at night, triple-headed, triple-named ΜΗΝΗ ΜΑΡΖΟΥΝΗ, fearful, gracious-minded and Persuasion. I have come, horned-faced, light-bearer, bull-shaped, horse-faced goddess, who howls doglike; I have come, the she-wolf, and I have come here now, I mistress of night and chthonic realms, holy, black-clad, round whom the star-traversing nature of the world revolves whenever Iwax too great, I have established every worldly thing, I have engendered everything on earth and from the sea and every race in turn of winged birds who seek their nests again. I am mother of all, who bore Eros, Aphrodite, lamp-bearer, shining and aglow, I Selene, star-coursing, heavenly, torch-bearer, fire-breather, woman four-faced, four-named, four-roads’ mistress. I, the goddess, have attended my epithets, Iheavenly one, harbor goddess of the crossroads; Inether one, goddess of depths, eternal, goddess of dark, I have come to the sacrifices. I shall fulfill this of which I have been asked, I  ΑΚΤΙΩΦΙΣ, mistress, Selene, only ruler, swift fortune of daimons and gods, ΝΕΒΟΥΤΟΣΟΑΛΗΘ ΙΩΙ ΛΟΙΜΟΥ ΛΑΛΟΝ.

I shall send forth my daimons from among those who assist me, one who is leader of night, because I have been adjured by my great names, because of which no aerial or infernal daimon can ignore me, ΜΕΣΟΥΡΦΑΒΑΒΟΡ ΒΡΑΛ ΙΗΩ ΙΣΙ Η. Come to me just as I have been summoned you, ΟΡΘΩ ΒΑΥΒΩ ΝΟΗΡΕ ΚΟΔΗΡΕ ΣΟΙΡΕ ΣΟΙΡΕ ΕΡΕΣΧΙΓΑΛ ΣΑΝΚΙΣΤΗ ΔΩΔΕΚΑΚΙΣΤΗ ΑΚΡΟΥΡΟΒΟΡΕ ΚΟΔΗΡΕ ΣΑΜΠΣΕΙ; hear my words as I send forth my daimon who is appointed over the 1st hour[3], ΜΕΝΕΒΑΙΝ; and the one over the 2nd hour, ΝΕΒΟΥΝ; and the one over the 3rd hour, ΛΗΜΝΕΙ; and the one over the 4th hour, ΜΟΡΜΟΘ; and the one over the 5th hour, ΝΟΥΦΙΗΡ; and the one over the 6th hour, ΧΟΡΒΟΡΒΑΘ; and the one over the 7th hour, ΟΡΒΕΗΘ; and the one over the 8th hour, ΠΑΝΜΩΘ; and the one over the 9th hour, ΘΥΜΕΝΦΡΙ; and the one over the 10th hour, ΣΑΡΝΟΧΟΙΒΑΛ; and the one over the 11th hour, ΒΑΘΙΑΒΗΛ; and the one over the 12th hour, ΑΡΒΡΑΘΙΑΒΡΙ, so that you may do this for me...[4]




[1] You are to hear the whirring sound.
[2] You are to state the nature and purpose of the rite intended.
[3] You are to face the direction of each hour.
[4] You are to state the nature and purpose of the rite intended.

Wednesday 15 September 2010

The Gnosis of the Pure Energeia of the Cosmos


 
And the god spoke to me in revelation... Invoke henosis and you shall discover that free will differs from alingment... for the former is temporal, personal for the lower and impersonal for the higher... but the later is the cry in the virginal wilderness that is eternal, where the impersonal becomes the personal and lower the higher. Beware of the formula of these words, O child of the heavens above and the earth below.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Iakkhos, the Ritual Cry of Eleusinian Mysticism and War


At this stage of the struggle, just before the historical sea battle of the Persians and Greeks, they say that a great light flamed out from Eleusis, and an echoing cry filled the Thriasian plain down to the sea, as of multitudes of men together conducting the mystic Iakkhos in procession. Then out of the shouting throng a cloud seemed to lift itself slowly from the earth, pass out seawards, and settle down upon the triremes.

Plutarch, Life of Themistocles

And the God spoke

 

And the god spoke... go forth into the wilderness and sexually summon me with eros, pathos and mageia beneath the starlit splendour of Asteria! Venture out into the wilderness of the scorching sands, the dark and tenebrous valleys, the lush and endless forests, the soaring peaks deep within the storm and conjure forth the fiery heavens upon earth!