In a previous post I had written a bit about the relationship of the boar with Apollon here, but I decided that I wanted to continue more specifically in the relationship of Apollon as the swine-herd, as per his role as the leader of the mystic chorus/initiates, and in versions of his involvement in the death of Adonis. I feel I am writing this post a bit out of season since it is still some months away until Adonia, but all the same I write when inspiration grabs me, even if the topics are far afield of seasons and celebrations that they are related to!
Though frequently Euboleus is confused with Dionysos, usually via Iakkhos. Observations that had been made in antiquity that there were two Iakkhos is likely referring to Euboleus in the second context. One thus being a child of Dionysos, and the other a son of Demeter and “twin” (in a loose mystic sense as she is called in her Orphic hymn as being the feminine double) of Misa. These are the torch-bearers, leader of the mystics and initiates. Euboleus is also in the Hellenic text of the Orphic hymns the child who accompanies Demeter in her travel. I have made a great many references in the past in regards to the relationship between Apollon and Demeter as per the growing season, season in general, that it would be a bit laborious to put links up to them all, but I am working on condensing this in my essay for the Demeter devotional. In any case you have here Euboleus the swine-herd, and the god of the ploughed earth, the earth-clod, which rings a certain familiarity in context of the mystic relationship between Admetus and Apollon, for Apollon herded the beasts and tended to the lands of Admetus.
The symbolism of the boar in the myth in which Apollon aided Admetus (who incidentally was one of the heroes who participated in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar) in yoking a boar and lion to his chariot in his effort to win Aclestis for his bride (the same Aclestis who returns from the dead in the play of Euripedes by her name) is rather telling in my opinion. I have spoke in a previous post about the context of Apollon in myths of divine brides (here), this is a similar myth in construct. Thus we see Apollon as herder in effect, not only of cattle, or goats and sheep which are normally connected with the divine by their horned nature, but also a swine-herd with its chthonic symbolism. This also explains reasons why during the Proerosia that Apollon is twice offered sacrifice, once of a goat (or ram, my memory is confusing them here) and a second time with a boar. This same formula is also followed with Zeus during this festival interestingly enough, but I think that it is dealing largely with Apollon as Euboleus, his relationship to the leader of the initiates/leader of the chorus (which is directly attributed to Apollon, even by Diodoros Siculus when describing the roots in the Egyptian mysteries calls Apollon the leader of the chorus for Dionysos/Osiris), and the substation of the pig for the person in their initiation sacrifice at Eleusis. For it is well known that all that was required for initiation into the mysteries was the cost for the piglet, a creature also sacrificed to Apollon Noumenios as protector of the domestic household.
In such respect if we consider Apollon as swine-herd in the sense of initiate-death/sacrifice then we can probably see how versions of the myth of Adonis feature Apollon as being responsible for the boar. In a mythic sense this can be that he is acting on part of his twin’s ire, which is not uncommon in the myths of the twins to do so for each other as we see Artemis doing the same against Coronis. For there are myths that attribute the death of Adonis occurring in the end because Aphrodite, by her arts, robbed Artemis of the youth she loved, Hippolytus. Yet if we step away from that construct, which is important but isn’t really pertinent to this particular post, it is the relationship of Apollon with swine that is perhaps the strongest here, for it is as swineherd that he is sending forth the boar (which can just as much be associated with Ares on a different level) to destroy the youth. Of course Apollon is said mythically to have changed himself into a boar out of anger against Aphrodite for killing his son Erymanthus, but as the precinct carries his name it seems more like a mythic device which connects the myth to the geography and the Erymanthus river and mountain. Adonis himself is mystically sacrificed. That the Adonia celebrating the death of Adonis occurs in the summer we have a kind of link being played out which preludes the descent of Kore as he dies in the time of the wheat harvest, and parallels the death of Hyakinthos, who also dies with the summer heat. In both cases we have the hero-youth who dies prematurely (before the season) and is deified, just as Aclestis too is cut down before her season and returns wearing the crown of Persephone. The deification of heroes by sacrifice I feel has some connection to the idea behind the initiation practices that by their own symbolic sacrifice they are elevating themselves to enjoy the blessed fields of Elysium.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Of Lycia and Hyperborea
I have written often of Apollon’s term in Hyperborea. Of course when it comes to the cycles of Apollon in Hyperborea there are scholarly discussions of the god traveling to Hyperborea only once every 9 years, thus uniting it with the 9 year cycle of the original organization of the Pythian Games. This would be before the games were later reorganized in four year periods like those of the Olympic games. Now if these scholars are correct and the games were synchronized with the departure and return of Apollon to Delphi then would have his absence in Hyperborea been moved by the Delphians to coincide with the new date of the games? I don’t think anyone has successful answered this to my satisfaction.
Largely among modern worshipers we honor it as a yearly event, which seems to be inspired by a departure and return which we have from Delos. At Delos we have a mingling of the Hyperborean myth with that of the Lycian myth in which Apollon both returns from Hyperborea, with the maidens, and the Old Man of Lycia is paramount, who not only returns Apollon from Lycia to Delos, but also attends to the building of the temple of Apollon at Delphi with the Hyperborean men (at least one of whom, Agyieus, is Apollon…but quite likely both are used symbolically to represent different manifestations of Apollon as the builder of Delphi). For as most are probably familiar, Leto, after birthing her children on Delos, proceeds to carry them to the Xanthus in Lycia. This journey is also bound up in the tale of the Lycian frogs, as well as the unification of Xanthus with Apollon, Artemis and Leto in the forces preserving Troy in the Iliad.
In Delian tradition, despite its early history with the myth of Hyperborea, we have a yearly departure of Apollon to Lycia, where Apollon had his winter oracle. Thus the year was divided equally between Delos and in Lycia on the division of the year by the equinoxes. I think that this seasonal abode of the god for half of the year is also what is chiefly tied to the idea presented by Pausanias from Arcadia, of Apollon being one of two seasonal gods. This, from spring equinox to the autumn equinox, is the time of the year in which Apollon’s domain is acting in nature the strongest. If I remember correctly the Delian calendar differed from the Attic calendar in that it began its year on the Noumenia following the equinox, whereas in the Doric calendar it followed the autumnal equinox. With the case of Delos this makes particular sense as the year begins with the return of Apollon from Lycia.
Lycia of course has an interesting place in all of this. Like what is speculated of Hyperborea, Lycia is a very real place, but also serves as a kind of spiritual place as well. Apollon when called the one who is born in Lycia, the Lycian lord, refers perhaps less to the physical place Lycia, but rather to that Apollon is born in light (as Lycia, refers to wolf, from which we get the myths of Leto being led to Xanthus by wolves, and light just as much as Apollon’s epithet Lykeios). In all regards we see Lycia being accounted as sacred to Apollon as much as Hyperborea has been attributed. In the Iliad the people of Lycia were considered particularly those people of Apollon in a manner I find common with the views regarding the Hyperboreans.
This is not to suggest that Lycia and Hyperborea are the same place, though descriptions following the Orphic Argonautika and academic studies does suggest a possible link of Hyperborea with eastern Europe following along the Danube river to the North. So it is *possible* that there may have been an idea of a relationship between the eastern Lycians and the Hyperboreans who were said to have traveled initially to Delos. That we have the Old Man of Lycia appearing with the Hyperboreans in Delian myth does give a certain strength to this, as with the arrival of Apollon with the Hyperborean maidens, knowing that Apollon has traveled to Lycia in the Delian cycle. So perhaps it was conceived that Hyperborea was located in close proximity to Lycia, or within reasonable distant to each other that would bring the Lycians and Hyperboreans in company together in their legendary arrival to Delos.
Whether Delphi eventually picked up this yearly calendar of Apollon’s movement from Delos is rather unknown, though most modern worshipers tend to experience and worship it as a yearly event rather than following the Delphic calendar in which Apollon was gone for a year once every nine years. It is possible that Delphi, after the movement of the games, altered their celebrations of the movement of the mythos. I have suggested before that people who want to incorporate both Hyperborea and Lycia in their worship of Apollon can do so without any problems. Either by observing yearly trip to Lycia and then every nine years a Hyperborean trip, or by linking the concepts of the travel to Hyperborea and Lycia. If there is anything in any probability of a relationship between Lycia and Hyperborea then it may make further sense to do so.
We can thus celebrate Apollon who is in abode of the light, where the gardens of Hyerpborea flourish, where the swans sing, where gold deer graze, and there dwelling people beloved by Apollon, in a land abundant in fruits and holy grain in this glorious land. Which has less to do with geography and more to do with ongoing spiritual symbolism and the kingdom of Apollon in general. And as scholars have been confounded by the lack of evidence in the geographical regions that are ascribed to Lycia, or rather a lack of early period evidence of the kind that would back up such a physical transmission, it is quite plausible that Lycia was treated in terms much like that of Hyperborea. Mostly conceptualized in a spiritual direction, inspired by a place and people rather than Apollon literally taking up residence every winter in Lycia. Thus his oracle was therefore probably viewed in the same concept of being "away," without it actually being moved to another physical location. As such the symbolism between what is going on with Hyperborea and that going on with Lycia is united in its ideology.
Largely among modern worshipers we honor it as a yearly event, which seems to be inspired by a departure and return which we have from Delos. At Delos we have a mingling of the Hyperborean myth with that of the Lycian myth in which Apollon both returns from Hyperborea, with the maidens, and the Old Man of Lycia is paramount, who not only returns Apollon from Lycia to Delos, but also attends to the building of the temple of Apollon at Delphi with the Hyperborean men (at least one of whom, Agyieus, is Apollon…but quite likely both are used symbolically to represent different manifestations of Apollon as the builder of Delphi). For as most are probably familiar, Leto, after birthing her children on Delos, proceeds to carry them to the Xanthus in Lycia. This journey is also bound up in the tale of the Lycian frogs, as well as the unification of Xanthus with Apollon, Artemis and Leto in the forces preserving Troy in the Iliad.
In Delian tradition, despite its early history with the myth of Hyperborea, we have a yearly departure of Apollon to Lycia, where Apollon had his winter oracle. Thus the year was divided equally between Delos and in Lycia on the division of the year by the equinoxes. I think that this seasonal abode of the god for half of the year is also what is chiefly tied to the idea presented by Pausanias from Arcadia, of Apollon being one of two seasonal gods. This, from spring equinox to the autumn equinox, is the time of the year in which Apollon’s domain is acting in nature the strongest. If I remember correctly the Delian calendar differed from the Attic calendar in that it began its year on the Noumenia following the equinox, whereas in the Doric calendar it followed the autumnal equinox. With the case of Delos this makes particular sense as the year begins with the return of Apollon from Lycia.
Lycia of course has an interesting place in all of this. Like what is speculated of Hyperborea, Lycia is a very real place, but also serves as a kind of spiritual place as well. Apollon when called the one who is born in Lycia, the Lycian lord, refers perhaps less to the physical place Lycia, but rather to that Apollon is born in light (as Lycia, refers to wolf, from which we get the myths of Leto being led to Xanthus by wolves, and light just as much as Apollon’s epithet Lykeios). In all regards we see Lycia being accounted as sacred to Apollon as much as Hyperborea has been attributed. In the Iliad the people of Lycia were considered particularly those people of Apollon in a manner I find common with the views regarding the Hyperboreans.
This is not to suggest that Lycia and Hyperborea are the same place, though descriptions following the Orphic Argonautika and academic studies does suggest a possible link of Hyperborea with eastern Europe following along the Danube river to the North. So it is *possible* that there may have been an idea of a relationship between the eastern Lycians and the Hyperboreans who were said to have traveled initially to Delos. That we have the Old Man of Lycia appearing with the Hyperboreans in Delian myth does give a certain strength to this, as with the arrival of Apollon with the Hyperborean maidens, knowing that Apollon has traveled to Lycia in the Delian cycle. So perhaps it was conceived that Hyperborea was located in close proximity to Lycia, or within reasonable distant to each other that would bring the Lycians and Hyperboreans in company together in their legendary arrival to Delos.
Whether Delphi eventually picked up this yearly calendar of Apollon’s movement from Delos is rather unknown, though most modern worshipers tend to experience and worship it as a yearly event rather than following the Delphic calendar in which Apollon was gone for a year once every nine years. It is possible that Delphi, after the movement of the games, altered their celebrations of the movement of the mythos. I have suggested before that people who want to incorporate both Hyperborea and Lycia in their worship of Apollon can do so without any problems. Either by observing yearly trip to Lycia and then every nine years a Hyperborean trip, or by linking the concepts of the travel to Hyperborea and Lycia. If there is anything in any probability of a relationship between Lycia and Hyperborea then it may make further sense to do so.
We can thus celebrate Apollon who is in abode of the light, where the gardens of Hyerpborea flourish, where the swans sing, where gold deer graze, and there dwelling people beloved by Apollon, in a land abundant in fruits and holy grain in this glorious land. Which has less to do with geography and more to do with ongoing spiritual symbolism and the kingdom of Apollon in general. And as scholars have been confounded by the lack of evidence in the geographical regions that are ascribed to Lycia, or rather a lack of early period evidence of the kind that would back up such a physical transmission, it is quite plausible that Lycia was treated in terms much like that of Hyperborea. Mostly conceptualized in a spiritual direction, inspired by a place and people rather than Apollon literally taking up residence every winter in Lycia. Thus his oracle was therefore probably viewed in the same concept of being "away," without it actually being moved to another physical location. As such the symbolism between what is going on with Hyperborea and that going on with Lycia is united in its ideology.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Happy Dionysia (day 1)
As I am awake and the house is quiet with everyone else asleep, I have found a moment to wish everyone a blessed Dionysia, in celebration of the birth of Dionysos. I celebrate this as a 12 day affair as per what my dear friend and I have learned from teachers in Hellas. His information on the 12 days can be found here. This is perhaps one of the most blessed celebrations in the year calendar, and is of great importance in relation to the soul, thus it is with great pleasure and happiness that I greet the days as they come.
As of sundown last night this is the first day in celebration of his birth. On this day we greet too Hestia, she whose domain proceeds all others. I greet her holy fire that brings the first movements that bring forth life, the movements that bring forth conception. Her flame is ever moving, within the heart of all things, hers is the first spark that kindles existence. In Orphic Cosmogony we learn that her domain is the first movement which brought forth the cosmos. A kind of cosmic intake of breath of the first creative substance, a contraction, that brings forth the second holy substance that shall come to mingle with it and bring forth the cosmos. This is as much as I feel free to say about here informally on my blog, though my friend may have more information on it his website above regarding this subject.
As her domain works into the manifestation of the cosmos, so to does it within every soul and being. She arranges the movements, even as in days gone by that people who by their movement strike the flint upon the steel, that the beginnings of life may surge outward from her seat at the epicenter. We can say perhaps this is not unlike the currents generated by the contact between the sperm entering the ovum. The cells will quickly divide from here, but this is the first contact of movement in the generation of life. Hers is the spark which pushes life forward. And so even as we are celebrating the birth of Dionysos we are remembering too that he too, like things, began under the influence of Hestia’s domain through which he had to pass in his own creation and beginning. So we hail Hestia on the first day of the birth of Dionysos.
For the duration of this first day we see everyone else busy with celebrations of Christmas to celebrate the birth of their own lord and savior, one which biblical scholars admit is quite askew from when biblical literature indicates the birth of their savior occurred. And yet for so long that the birth of their savior been ascribed over that of another that it is really a non-issue, at least in my eyes. They celebrate the birth of theirs and I will celebrate the birth of Dionysos the Liberator, the ivy-crowned one, the freer of souls by his mysteries. We celebrate it as the days imperceptibly begin the lengthen, just by a manner of seconds, following the winter solstice of the sun at the dawn of the mystic month of Hephaistos (the Orphic pair of Hestia who we also hail on this day). For Hephaistos gives form to all things, and Dionysos appears here in this month, born as it were in the Corycion cave in Parnassos in the peak above Delphi. It is here that the Thyiades, in the sacred cave, are said to find the infant Dionysos in the liknon basket, which shall make a reappearance in the Lenaea in which Dionysos is still a babe in the basket, which was represented by a mask in the basket at the festival.
He is the golden child of Zeus, the child of promise. And the heart leaps for gladness at his return to us. The bull which was torn asunder, the ivy which was torn, and all consumed, returns even as the ivy which lies for a time dormant will suddenly awaken and bear forth new tender leaves with its life. The lord returns and the soul rejoices.
And so on this first day of Dionysia we celebrate his birth in the Corycion cave and we honor Hestia, with Hephaistos, too. In my families house it is a great thing for me that there are plans, to light a fire for the gathering of the family. And from the center of the house the light and warmth shall embrace all, warming bodies and hearts.
As of sundown last night this is the first day in celebration of his birth. On this day we greet too Hestia, she whose domain proceeds all others. I greet her holy fire that brings the first movements that bring forth life, the movements that bring forth conception. Her flame is ever moving, within the heart of all things, hers is the first spark that kindles existence. In Orphic Cosmogony we learn that her domain is the first movement which brought forth the cosmos. A kind of cosmic intake of breath of the first creative substance, a contraction, that brings forth the second holy substance that shall come to mingle with it and bring forth the cosmos. This is as much as I feel free to say about here informally on my blog, though my friend may have more information on it his website above regarding this subject.
As her domain works into the manifestation of the cosmos, so to does it within every soul and being. She arranges the movements, even as in days gone by that people who by their movement strike the flint upon the steel, that the beginnings of life may surge outward from her seat at the epicenter. We can say perhaps this is not unlike the currents generated by the contact between the sperm entering the ovum. The cells will quickly divide from here, but this is the first contact of movement in the generation of life. Hers is the spark which pushes life forward. And so even as we are celebrating the birth of Dionysos we are remembering too that he too, like things, began under the influence of Hestia’s domain through which he had to pass in his own creation and beginning. So we hail Hestia on the first day of the birth of Dionysos.
For the duration of this first day we see everyone else busy with celebrations of Christmas to celebrate the birth of their own lord and savior, one which biblical scholars admit is quite askew from when biblical literature indicates the birth of their savior occurred. And yet for so long that the birth of their savior been ascribed over that of another that it is really a non-issue, at least in my eyes. They celebrate the birth of theirs and I will celebrate the birth of Dionysos the Liberator, the ivy-crowned one, the freer of souls by his mysteries. We celebrate it as the days imperceptibly begin the lengthen, just by a manner of seconds, following the winter solstice of the sun at the dawn of the mystic month of Hephaistos (the Orphic pair of Hestia who we also hail on this day). For Hephaistos gives form to all things, and Dionysos appears here in this month, born as it were in the Corycion cave in Parnassos in the peak above Delphi. It is here that the Thyiades, in the sacred cave, are said to find the infant Dionysos in the liknon basket, which shall make a reappearance in the Lenaea in which Dionysos is still a babe in the basket, which was represented by a mask in the basket at the festival.
He is the golden child of Zeus, the child of promise. And the heart leaps for gladness at his return to us. The bull which was torn asunder, the ivy which was torn, and all consumed, returns even as the ivy which lies for a time dormant will suddenly awaken and bear forth new tender leaves with its life. The lord returns and the soul rejoices.
And so on this first day of Dionysia we celebrate his birth in the Corycion cave and we honor Hestia, with Hephaistos, too. In my families house it is a great thing for me that there are plans, to light a fire for the gathering of the family. And from the center of the house the light and warmth shall embrace all, warming bodies and hearts.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Blessed Poseideia!
And the time has returned again for Poseideia. Last year to celebrate Poseideia I had posted regarding the relationship of Zeus and Poseidon in regards to the moisture of winter. You can find that post here. So I have thought perhaps to continue my discussion of the divine blessings of the moisture to the earth this Poseideia with heartfelt wonder of the mingling of the moisture with the ploughed fields of Demeter. For even as Demeter was seized by Zeus on the mountains of Rhea and fertilized with the holy daughter Kore (Persephone), so too do we have in this time of the year, during Demeter's mourning for her daughter, that Poseidon pursues and mates with Demeter to bear Despoina (Artemis), keeper of the sacred kiste, the mystic box.
This is symbolized beautifully by the union of horses, Demeter in the form of a Mare and Poseidon in that of a Stallion. She hides herself in the herds of Apollon's son, to escape Poseidon's attentions but the god is not fooled and pairs with the goddess in their horse forms. Though Pausanias says that the identity of Despoina is not to be known outside of initiates he makes it pretty clear a few paragraphs later when he says that Artemis is the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. This is stated at Delphi, and is particularly celebrated in Messenia and Arcadia, the latter of which Pausanias says had identical practices as those at Eleusis. Furthermore the connection to Artemis to horses is pretty well known in the Peloponnese where, particularly in Sparta, numerous jewelry has been found in which the face of Artemis is depicted with that of a horse to either side. And another locality praises Artemis at the spot where Odysseus was able to catch his horses that had escaped. Artemis here can be identified in some respect to the tamer of the horse, even as Athena is the yoker of the horse. But this is going quite afield of what I wanted to talk about.
The month of Poseidon is largely a celebration of the planting season attached to those that also occur around the end of November that are typically attributed to Zeus. This is perhaps the festival that is part of the germination of the seeds. Persephone is the queen in the court of Hades, and Demeter is wandering in her sorrow, withdrawing her abundance from the world with the winter season. The moisture of Poseidon finds Demeter and impregnates her, as the winter rains cause the tiny grains to burst open for tender sprouts. This is a hazardous time because anything can makes these small sprouts die in their very vulnerable stage. Demeter afterwards takes herself to cave in Arcadia where she hides away, and where she likely bears Despoina. Depoina as keeper of the mystic box I feel has a great deal to do with this tender return of life. Dionysos is also born shortly thereafter and so the box is perhaps more intimately associated with the birth of Dionysos in the Corycion cave.
The Kiste in this instance seems to take the place of the basket that we also see next month in the Leanea where Dionysos is represented as a baby in the basket. The kiste can also refer to the heart of Dionysos that was carried by Athena in a box to be implanted in Semele for the birth of Dionysos in Thebes. However here it is likely to refer in general to the arrival of Dionysos with the first germination of young plants. A parallel can be found here in the Ionian tale that Pausanias tells in which after the fall of Troy in which the kiste which carried the sacred image of Dionysos, and drove anyone mad who caught a glimpse of it, arrived in the sacred citadel of Artemis and there was kept with certain mysteries of Dionysos that seemed to have included Artemis. In a sense hear Artemis is bearing the mysteries of Dionysos, much in the same way that we see Artemis represented in relation with Despoina, she is the mistress and is also represented as a torch bearer, the leader of the way, the goddess Hegemone.
Thus Poseideia sets all of these things in motion as Poseidon fertilizes the land and Demeter. He is sea-foaming stallion, white as the whiteheads of the waves, crashing upon the land. Or in more northern climates the rush of the snow blowing through the sky. It is the run of rain stamping with a steady thrum of hoof-beats on the ground. He takes the broad dusky mare of the earth. The fertile mare, whom the Sycthians treated much in similar manner to the cow, by taking the milk from her which was remarked upon in Hellenic literature. This flows after the mating, when she is infused with moisture from him.
So happy Poseideia to all, and may we all takes thanks in the heavenly moisture (in its myriad forms) that permeates our world.
This is symbolized beautifully by the union of horses, Demeter in the form of a Mare and Poseidon in that of a Stallion. She hides herself in the herds of Apollon's son, to escape Poseidon's attentions but the god is not fooled and pairs with the goddess in their horse forms. Though Pausanias says that the identity of Despoina is not to be known outside of initiates he makes it pretty clear a few paragraphs later when he says that Artemis is the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. This is stated at Delphi, and is particularly celebrated in Messenia and Arcadia, the latter of which Pausanias says had identical practices as those at Eleusis. Furthermore the connection to Artemis to horses is pretty well known in the Peloponnese where, particularly in Sparta, numerous jewelry has been found in which the face of Artemis is depicted with that of a horse to either side. And another locality praises Artemis at the spot where Odysseus was able to catch his horses that had escaped. Artemis here can be identified in some respect to the tamer of the horse, even as Athena is the yoker of the horse. But this is going quite afield of what I wanted to talk about.
The month of Poseidon is largely a celebration of the planting season attached to those that also occur around the end of November that are typically attributed to Zeus. This is perhaps the festival that is part of the germination of the seeds. Persephone is the queen in the court of Hades, and Demeter is wandering in her sorrow, withdrawing her abundance from the world with the winter season. The moisture of Poseidon finds Demeter and impregnates her, as the winter rains cause the tiny grains to burst open for tender sprouts. This is a hazardous time because anything can makes these small sprouts die in their very vulnerable stage. Demeter afterwards takes herself to cave in Arcadia where she hides away, and where she likely bears Despoina. Depoina as keeper of the mystic box I feel has a great deal to do with this tender return of life. Dionysos is also born shortly thereafter and so the box is perhaps more intimately associated with the birth of Dionysos in the Corycion cave.
The Kiste in this instance seems to take the place of the basket that we also see next month in the Leanea where Dionysos is represented as a baby in the basket. The kiste can also refer to the heart of Dionysos that was carried by Athena in a box to be implanted in Semele for the birth of Dionysos in Thebes. However here it is likely to refer in general to the arrival of Dionysos with the first germination of young plants. A parallel can be found here in the Ionian tale that Pausanias tells in which after the fall of Troy in which the kiste which carried the sacred image of Dionysos, and drove anyone mad who caught a glimpse of it, arrived in the sacred citadel of Artemis and there was kept with certain mysteries of Dionysos that seemed to have included Artemis. In a sense hear Artemis is bearing the mysteries of Dionysos, much in the same way that we see Artemis represented in relation with Despoina, she is the mistress and is also represented as a torch bearer, the leader of the way, the goddess Hegemone.
Thus Poseideia sets all of these things in motion as Poseidon fertilizes the land and Demeter. He is sea-foaming stallion, white as the whiteheads of the waves, crashing upon the land. Or in more northern climates the rush of the snow blowing through the sky. It is the run of rain stamping with a steady thrum of hoof-beats on the ground. He takes the broad dusky mare of the earth. The fertile mare, whom the Sycthians treated much in similar manner to the cow, by taking the milk from her which was remarked upon in Hellenic literature. This flows after the mating, when she is infused with moisture from him.
So happy Poseideia to all, and may we all takes thanks in the heavenly moisture (in its myriad forms) that permeates our world.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Demonization of Apollon
This was not quite the way I imagined beginning my blog here, but as this was the first entry that came to mind, c'est la vive.
I don’t often talk about the product of the early Church’s demonization of cultural gods that they came into contact with, I tend to leave that for folks who are more passionate on that subject. But I wanted to take a moment to discuss something that has been floating around in my mind for the last several months. Previously I have refrained from blogging it because it was nothing more than loose random thoughts, however in light of a conversation that I had today I decided it was time to address it because with many converts coming from Christianity into the worship of the gods there is often, especially among those who are coming as adults, a kind of influence that plays a part, even if on a sub-conscious level, which may influence how we are understanding and building our relationships with the gods. So it is helpful to be aware of where some negative impressions one may have of Apollon, can come from.
I am rather convinced that a lot of problems that some folks have with building a relationship with Apollon and giving him worship has to do with the fact that Apollon is one of the gods that has been the most brutally demonized by the Church. Not only is his name used for a demon who ruled one of the circles of Hell (Apollymi, from which Apollon’s name is believed to have sprung even in classical times), though this is largely unknown, but what is most apparent is the blatant commonality that Apollon shared with the Christian concept of Lucifer. There is no doubt in my mind that a new worshiper when exposed to the myths and cult of Apollon is being influenced subtly by these associations which can cause a rather averse reaction. Whenever I speak of Lucifer I have give a pause for a moment so I don’t confuse myself. You see when I think of Lucifer I don’t think of him in the Christian sense. I think of the roman god of light as Lucifer in Latin was equivalently of the same meaning of Phosophoros, it refers to the Light Bearer. This being an epithet of Apollon, Hekate, Artemis and Helios. Thus Apollo, when Romanized, was referred to as Apollo Luciferos and his twin as Diana Lucifera. The name of Lucifer has no other pre-Christian origins other than as a name from the old Roman Religion, but was one that was clearly quite intentionally adopted by the Church in their creation of the evil opponent of their god. This Lucifer, and the idea of hell, is entirely an original Christian concept that worked as an effective tool. How better to gain a significant footing against the native religion where they sprung among the Hellenes, then by turning one of the most noble gods, a god of Truth and Light, into their Father of Lies. Certainly to preach that the oracular god was a liar and that no truth was to be had from the oracles would have had, over time, an impact on the oracles themselves until they finally closed their doors.
That is not to say that Apollon is the only god that was consumed into the persona of the Christian Lucifer, but rather he is the most prominent one, and I shall explain why. First and foremost, aside from being a light-bearer, we have to acknowledge that among the gods Apollon is the only one who, on his own, dared open rebellion against Zeus, the father and king of gods. Though Apollon is also a king in his own right, Zeus is the highest king and has authority, and though Apollon is credited as being perhaps the closest favored child of Zeus, Zeus did not hesitate to cast his son from the company of the gods. Sound familiar? A favorite son rebelling and being cast out of the heavens? However in the Hellenic myth this is a temporary punishment. Zeus was going to throw his son into the depths of Tartaros, but Leto intervened on their son’s behalf and curbed his anger so that Apollon was only exiled for a period of one divine year (that would be 10 mortal years), which he spent as a slave of King Admetus serving as his shepherd.
And though we also have Pan, and Zeus, who bear resemblance to rams and goat, this too is common in depiction of Apollon among the Doric people where the worship of Apollon Karneios was widespread. Indeed, unlike Pan, Lucifer in medieval woodcuts doesn’t often have the lower torso of a goat, but rather a monstrous face bearing horns, often with the resemblance of those of a ram, though winged (despite the fact that they are not bird wings typically) and bearing talons like a bird. It may be merely coincidence that Apollon was highly aligned with falcons and ravens/crowns, but it seems a great coincidence to have this particular iconographic stylization widespread in medieval woodcuts featuring the devil. Also, when it comes to iconography, Apollon is likewise on many occasions depicted as taking the form of a serpent, perhaps one of the more famous biblical images that children are familiar with in regards to the corruption of Adam and Eve when Lucifer takes this form. Usually such iconography doesn’t deter pagans…in fact typically it is quite the opposite as the idea of “reclaiming” is a popular one.
Another factor is the part of Apollon with initiations into mysteries in which he is the leader of the initiates, leader of the “chorus” rather, that bears something of a twisted similarity with ideas of the witches sabbats with women coming to gathering in unholy communion of worship where they are often assembled around the devil, who is both who they give worship to and also in the form of an instructor. There are of course also images that are typical in which the witch is carried off by Lucifer on his horse. The emphasis tends to be that the witch trades her soul in order to gain unholy knowledge from Lucifer that she uses to perform her malevolent acts.
It is of course striking that the emphasis on Lucifer often begins with the corruption by the acquisition of knowledge. This is of course contrary to anything that would have been idealized in Hellas and among Hellenes. Apollon as the god of Truth, the right word, would have a pivotal for acquiring knowledge, and that education and understanding the will of the heavens was a blessed thing….and thus his association with philosophy as a love for wisdom is perhaps best understood in this context, as would have been anything in relation to the sciences as he is the leader of the muses who govern the arts and sciences. Yet all of these things were treated by the early Church with a measure of paranoia. Science had to agree with religious text, there was no thinking outside of the box, thus it is of little surprise that Lucifer became equated with those who pursued liberal thinking outside of the confines of scripture. It became another manifestation of Lucifer’s rebellion, and perhaps why he was eventually embraced by some as a symbol for freedom, for the realization of the divine potential of the self. He was liberation from the Canonical laws of the church, and a doorway into knowledge of the world and of the self.
This idea is not unlike the function of Apollon for he is a god of the boundaries and it is through him that we may escape the mortal cycles and its confines. Apollon is also a god of the principle of freedom as in this same manner he frees and through death he purifies, and leader of the Muses he extolls the exploration of the world and the acquisition of knowledge. For he himself is a bringer of divine knowledge and via the Muses he sends forth divine inspiration. Apollon Phosphoros/Apollon Luciferos is the bringer of light to the mind, the bringer of enlightenment. Something which likely terrified the early incarnations of the Church, and probably still does. This nature is not one that is adversarial against the heavens, truth, order and nature. The early Church tried to make it one, and some still fall under that delusion that there is something of an adversarial thing going on, and perhaps against the superstition there is for I greatly admire a French Revolution period statue which depicts Apollon, as reason, crushing superstition, shown as a representative of the church. This sums up the reality of it as far as I understand it. What the church extolls as Lucifer has nothing to do with Apollo Luciferos or Apollon Phosophoros, or any other god of Rome or Hellas, but is rather a creation designed to play upon fears.
These fears, and negative impressions, are only enhanced when encountering some of the more brutal myths of the gods when read literally. Certainly a god who skins his competitor alive looks like a page right from a medieval illustration of some form of Hellish torture rather than a deep spiritual myth. And in following there are those who find in his Light darkness and cruelty that is not part of the god’s nature. Of course then there are those who go entirely the opposite direction. Those who desperately want to keep Apollon as nothing more than a god of oracles, music and light, not wanting to set a single toe in the deeper waters of Apollon’s domain that deal with boundaries, death and decay.
I may expand upon this later but this is what I wanted to address for the time being. Let us leave behind the preconceptions influenced by Christianity, and when experiencing a negative reaction perhaps examine closer the root of this reaction. And moreover let us greet our bright lord ever in celebration that he cannot be conquered.
Hail Apollon Phosphoros
I don’t often talk about the product of the early Church’s demonization of cultural gods that they came into contact with, I tend to leave that for folks who are more passionate on that subject. But I wanted to take a moment to discuss something that has been floating around in my mind for the last several months. Previously I have refrained from blogging it because it was nothing more than loose random thoughts, however in light of a conversation that I had today I decided it was time to address it because with many converts coming from Christianity into the worship of the gods there is often, especially among those who are coming as adults, a kind of influence that plays a part, even if on a sub-conscious level, which may influence how we are understanding and building our relationships with the gods. So it is helpful to be aware of where some negative impressions one may have of Apollon, can come from.
I am rather convinced that a lot of problems that some folks have with building a relationship with Apollon and giving him worship has to do with the fact that Apollon is one of the gods that has been the most brutally demonized by the Church. Not only is his name used for a demon who ruled one of the circles of Hell (Apollymi, from which Apollon’s name is believed to have sprung even in classical times), though this is largely unknown, but what is most apparent is the blatant commonality that Apollon shared with the Christian concept of Lucifer. There is no doubt in my mind that a new worshiper when exposed to the myths and cult of Apollon is being influenced subtly by these associations which can cause a rather averse reaction. Whenever I speak of Lucifer I have give a pause for a moment so I don’t confuse myself. You see when I think of Lucifer I don’t think of him in the Christian sense. I think of the roman god of light as Lucifer in Latin was equivalently of the same meaning of Phosophoros, it refers to the Light Bearer. This being an epithet of Apollon, Hekate, Artemis and Helios. Thus Apollo, when Romanized, was referred to as Apollo Luciferos and his twin as Diana Lucifera. The name of Lucifer has no other pre-Christian origins other than as a name from the old Roman Religion, but was one that was clearly quite intentionally adopted by the Church in their creation of the evil opponent of their god. This Lucifer, and the idea of hell, is entirely an original Christian concept that worked as an effective tool. How better to gain a significant footing against the native religion where they sprung among the Hellenes, then by turning one of the most noble gods, a god of Truth and Light, into their Father of Lies. Certainly to preach that the oracular god was a liar and that no truth was to be had from the oracles would have had, over time, an impact on the oracles themselves until they finally closed their doors.
That is not to say that Apollon is the only god that was consumed into the persona of the Christian Lucifer, but rather he is the most prominent one, and I shall explain why. First and foremost, aside from being a light-bearer, we have to acknowledge that among the gods Apollon is the only one who, on his own, dared open rebellion against Zeus, the father and king of gods. Though Apollon is also a king in his own right, Zeus is the highest king and has authority, and though Apollon is credited as being perhaps the closest favored child of Zeus, Zeus did not hesitate to cast his son from the company of the gods. Sound familiar? A favorite son rebelling and being cast out of the heavens? However in the Hellenic myth this is a temporary punishment. Zeus was going to throw his son into the depths of Tartaros, but Leto intervened on their son’s behalf and curbed his anger so that Apollon was only exiled for a period of one divine year (that would be 10 mortal years), which he spent as a slave of King Admetus serving as his shepherd.
And though we also have Pan, and Zeus, who bear resemblance to rams and goat, this too is common in depiction of Apollon among the Doric people where the worship of Apollon Karneios was widespread. Indeed, unlike Pan, Lucifer in medieval woodcuts doesn’t often have the lower torso of a goat, but rather a monstrous face bearing horns, often with the resemblance of those of a ram, though winged (despite the fact that they are not bird wings typically) and bearing talons like a bird. It may be merely coincidence that Apollon was highly aligned with falcons and ravens/crowns, but it seems a great coincidence to have this particular iconographic stylization widespread in medieval woodcuts featuring the devil. Also, when it comes to iconography, Apollon is likewise on many occasions depicted as taking the form of a serpent, perhaps one of the more famous biblical images that children are familiar with in regards to the corruption of Adam and Eve when Lucifer takes this form. Usually such iconography doesn’t deter pagans…in fact typically it is quite the opposite as the idea of “reclaiming” is a popular one.
Another factor is the part of Apollon with initiations into mysteries in which he is the leader of the initiates, leader of the “chorus” rather, that bears something of a twisted similarity with ideas of the witches sabbats with women coming to gathering in unholy communion of worship where they are often assembled around the devil, who is both who they give worship to and also in the form of an instructor. There are of course also images that are typical in which the witch is carried off by Lucifer on his horse. The emphasis tends to be that the witch trades her soul in order to gain unholy knowledge from Lucifer that she uses to perform her malevolent acts.
It is of course striking that the emphasis on Lucifer often begins with the corruption by the acquisition of knowledge. This is of course contrary to anything that would have been idealized in Hellas and among Hellenes. Apollon as the god of Truth, the right word, would have a pivotal for acquiring knowledge, and that education and understanding the will of the heavens was a blessed thing….and thus his association with philosophy as a love for wisdom is perhaps best understood in this context, as would have been anything in relation to the sciences as he is the leader of the muses who govern the arts and sciences. Yet all of these things were treated by the early Church with a measure of paranoia. Science had to agree with religious text, there was no thinking outside of the box, thus it is of little surprise that Lucifer became equated with those who pursued liberal thinking outside of the confines of scripture. It became another manifestation of Lucifer’s rebellion, and perhaps why he was eventually embraced by some as a symbol for freedom, for the realization of the divine potential of the self. He was liberation from the Canonical laws of the church, and a doorway into knowledge of the world and of the self.
This idea is not unlike the function of Apollon for he is a god of the boundaries and it is through him that we may escape the mortal cycles and its confines. Apollon is also a god of the principle of freedom as in this same manner he frees and through death he purifies, and leader of the Muses he extolls the exploration of the world and the acquisition of knowledge. For he himself is a bringer of divine knowledge and via the Muses he sends forth divine inspiration. Apollon Phosphoros/Apollon Luciferos is the bringer of light to the mind, the bringer of enlightenment. Something which likely terrified the early incarnations of the Church, and probably still does. This nature is not one that is adversarial against the heavens, truth, order and nature. The early Church tried to make it one, and some still fall under that delusion that there is something of an adversarial thing going on, and perhaps against the superstition there is for I greatly admire a French Revolution period statue which depicts Apollon, as reason, crushing superstition, shown as a representative of the church. This sums up the reality of it as far as I understand it. What the church extolls as Lucifer has nothing to do with Apollo Luciferos or Apollon Phosophoros, or any other god of Rome or Hellas, but is rather a creation designed to play upon fears.
These fears, and negative impressions, are only enhanced when encountering some of the more brutal myths of the gods when read literally. Certainly a god who skins his competitor alive looks like a page right from a medieval illustration of some form of Hellish torture rather than a deep spiritual myth. And in following there are those who find in his Light darkness and cruelty that is not part of the god’s nature. Of course then there are those who go entirely the opposite direction. Those who desperately want to keep Apollon as nothing more than a god of oracles, music and light, not wanting to set a single toe in the deeper waters of Apollon’s domain that deal with boundaries, death and decay.
I may expand upon this later but this is what I wanted to address for the time being. Let us leave behind the preconceptions influenced by Christianity, and when experiencing a negative reaction perhaps examine closer the root of this reaction. And moreover let us greet our bright lord ever in celebration that he cannot be conquered.
Hail Apollon Phosphoros
Beloved in Light the parallel universe
Ok not really a parallel universe, but as I have friends who have blogs here on BlogSpot, it seemed more convenient for everyone involved if I also just starting posting copies of my work from my wordpress account over here as well. This will make it easier for me to follow them and for them to follow me. There won't be anything different posted here than what is posted there...except I will probably just post more of poetry and art here whereas over there I have a separate blog for my devotional poetry.
I have no plans to move stuff I have already written. I will just post copies of new posts that I write for here on out onto this blog in the future. I would advise folks if they want to see my archives to take a look at my blog at http://lykeiaofapollon.wordpress.com
But for all future posts you can just follow on here :)
I have no plans to move stuff I have already written. I will just post copies of new posts that I write for here on out onto this blog in the future. I would advise folks if they want to see my archives to take a look at my blog at http://lykeiaofapollon.wordpress.com
But for all future posts you can just follow on here :)
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