Tending to the Ancestors: Isis-Seshat Journal Winter 2018-2019 A quarterly journal of the Fellowship of Isis Each issue, while aligned with seasonal currents, is devoted to a specific theme. The theme of this Winter issue of 2018-2019 is “Tending to the Ancestors.” Many people who identify as Pagan incorporate a robust devotional practice of ancestor veneration in their everyday spirituality, while for others, the issue is very complicated. What does it mean to tend to the ancestors? Is one confined to just commemorating the dead of their bloodlines? What about spiritual ancestors? How are some ways to get a devotional […]
Category Archives: Mythology
Tarot Card Meanings Tarot card meanings as an inner voice is one of man’s techniques of attempting to put order and rhythm into what appears to be our chaotic and unpredictable lives. As a species, we have a desire for safety and order which is why our minds are impelled to seek patterns in what is perceived as chaos; images seen in clouds or undergrowth are examples. The images we are presented with are generally what we need to see. In divination, we are challenged to see the reasons why we are where we are and what we need to […]
Sun Enters Scorpio: Embracing Transformation Sun Scorpio, Tarot Death, illustrates the cycle of life that has little regard for individuality. It is allocated to the astrological sign of Scorpio. In the realm of Scorpio, the idea of death is not an end but a metamorphosis. We don’t cease to exist; we transition to another realm, experiencing transformation rather than termination. There are no ends—only new beginnings on the circular journey of existence. These reflections hint at the notion that our external identity is just a veneer for a deeper essence within. Our temporary physical form and analytical mind are only […]
Prometheus Cain and Wrath of God Prometheus Cain Consciousness and the Wrath of God, Oil on canvas, 72 inches by 36 inches, 2010 Buy Original Painting from Saatchi Art My painting looks at the mythological dynamic from two perspectives. It is illustrating the phenomena of enlightenment being shared prior to the punishment being executed. From the Greek perspective it is the agent of enlightenment to man, Prometheus,who is the one suffering the wrath of the Gods. In the Jewish/Christian philosophy it is the receiver of enlightenment, Eve, who suffers the wrath of God. In the background is Zeus looking down from his domain […]
Sun Virgo Tarot Hermit Sun in Virgo corresponds to the major arcana tarot card Hermit. Close examination of the card reveals the eyes of the Hermit are closed, symbolizing answers to questions are obtained through introspection and the seeking elucidation from from within. The Hermit derives resolution to uncertainty from learned personal experience, recalled through inner voice, in contradiction to relying on influences of society, media and social convention. This inner voice, according to Julian Jaynes in his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, was the voice of Gods and ancestors commonly listened to […]
Leo Tarot Card Strength Leo, tarot card Strength symbolism, Sun in Leo. Is strength accepting the fruit, or refusing the fruit? As an example of a bicameral archetype for this card, Achilles is opportune because of his reactionary fixed automatic responses to phenomena. We should note however that his character expresses wrath and anger but not hate. When presented with a phenomena outside of himself, Achilles responds to voices from within himself. He is, to all intense and purposes, a puppet animated and manipulated by the strings of hallucinating voices of ancestors and Gods. These automatic responses are recurrent throughout the […]
Sphinx, Mystery is Energy Sphinx, Mystery is Energy, a life journey. Oil on canvas, 48 inches by 72 inches, 2010 Buy Original Painting from Saatchi Art She expresses Mystery is Energy and when she loses her mystery she dies. Represents also the mystery of our life journey. In the back ground is written the riddle of the Sphinx, in jumbled Greek letters, and in the foreground are the dead bodies of her previous lovers. The aesthetic comes to her passively in contemplation and she meets him as dynamic energy issuing from this contemplation. She confronts us to make us think, to find answers […]
Tarot Cards, Tarot of the Morning Star, Available From Amazon Online Tarot Cards, Tarot of the Morning Star second edition available from Amazon and Magus Books and Herbs Order at Amazon Second expanded and revised edition deck also available direct from Gamescrafter Seventy Eight Card Deck with booklet, $44.95 ISBN: 978-0-9993813-0-4 Tarot Cards, Tarot of the Morning Star available from Amazon on line, was originally published in 2007 as a major arcana deck only limited to 75 signed hand numbered copies. Introduction If you don’t create your own reality, you are condemned to live in someone else’s. Morning Star, […]
Orpheus Eurydice: Don’t Look Back Orpheus Eurydice, Oil on canvas, 36 inches by 72 inches, 2011 Buy original painting from Saatchi Gallery The most famous story in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice and her attempted return from the underworld. While walking in tall grass at her wedding, Eurydice was set upon by a satyr. In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into a nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel. Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs […]