The Mysteries of Venus: Goddess and Demon

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

Tags

Demons, feminism, Goddess, Lilith, Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary, Sexuality, spirituality, Venus, Virgin Mary

Here is the introduction to the book I am currently working on!

The Mysteries of Venus
or
Venus, My Love, I Hate You…With a Passion.

Introduction

Venus. The Morning Star. The Evening Star. Light. Dark. No other symbol has been so loved or so hated, in equal amount. Depending on the name we decide, Venus is either the epitome of Love or the epitome of Hate. Or just a bright, shining planet in the sky, appearing at dawn or dusk. It is often symbolic of all that is feminine: Woman – another object loved and hated in equal measure by society.
My intention in writing this book is to show how society has both revered and demonised anything associated with this one celestial entity. From goddess to fallen angel and demon, Venus has enraptured and repelled humanity.
I will take a chronological approach, showing how Venus was originally worshipped by many ancient religions, in both feminine and masculine aspects. As this kind of equality waned, with the advent of new patriarchal religions, both the goddess – and women, generally – became “fallen” in the eyes of their oppressors. Is it coincidence that Eve was the name of this fallen woman? Is Eve symbolic of the Evening Star? The name seemingly comes from the root word “to live”, but is also very like the Aramaic word for “serpent”; also a symbol, perhaps, of death. Life and death. One symbol. Two opposing meanings.
From here, I will look at the demonisation of all that was once good, and the names we have been mercilessly taught to hate throughout the centuries. This kind of hateful rhetoric has permeated our society, and may be partially responsible – if not wholly – for the irreverence and disrespect shown towards women of the past and present. Women, in particular, who were (and are still) executed as witches – clearly society’s scapegoat for those uncomfortable with female sexuality. We associate witch hunts with the Middle Ages and Catholicism, but witch hunting has been around since antiquity, and it continues to this day in places like Africa. Many societies are extremely uncomfortable with, and fearful of, feminine sexuality. From witch hunts to female genital mutilation, women’s sexuality has always been controlled in some form or another, sometimes subtly, sometimes violently.

Lilith, first wife of Adam. She was the first woman in Eden, but later demonised for refusing to lie beneath him and wanting equality. Her name means ‘night’.

As a singular entity, society can be viewed as having an almost multiple personality in its approach to how it feels about the Feminine. On one hand, the Feminine is respected, on the other it is controlled, humiliated, beaten and raped of any individuality or strength. It is a constant power struggle between loving someone wholeheartedly, and violently oppressing them, which must surely come from a lack of identity, feelings of insecurity, fear and ignorance on the oppressor’s part.
As we are brought into the dawn of the 21st Century, we are once again seeing the light of the Goddess. New religions are springing forth which revere the feminine aspect of deity. With it, there is a change in how women themselves are perceived. In many parts of the world, they – like the Goddess – are becoming stronger and more respected. Balance is being restored to our consciousness, and this can only be a good thing. Venus, the Goddess of love, beauty and harmony is bringing all these things with Her, which must surely herald a time of peace on earth. One would hope that it does not mean an end to the Masculine Divine, as balance is key to harmony. Which is the primary reason that, even as a pagan, I am not averse to the principles of Christ.
Many are choosing science over religion, as patriarchal faiths alone do not fulfil the human need for balance. Many atheists (in particular) are becoming focused on the negative aspects of religion, which deliberately oppresses and controls. Of course, the men at the top of these hierarchies are responsible for this oppression and control. This makes little sense to us, as the purpose of spirituality is to comfort us and free the psyche, connecting us with the life force or Divine. I suppose, to believe in something bigger than ourselves, gives us hope that our lives on earth are worthwhile and have meaning. Which, of course, they do in any case. With or without religion. However, it also helps us to live in harmony with one another.
Since we have been out of balance and ruled by oppressive forces, with the Divine Feminine hidden, we have lived in a power-hungry state. Parts of the world are in turmoil at the moment, but nevertheless, we are seeing positive changes. Even within Catholicism, a movement towards a more integrated belief system can be seen under the guidance of Pope Francis. It is not entirely balanced, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps a further restoration of the Divine Feminine within the Church might be to bring Mary Magdalene out of the darkness too. Perhaps now is the time for her to stop feeling guilty about being a beautiful and sexy woman. Whilst the Virgin Mary and Mother Mary are evident and familiar, these show that women only have two roles in society: to be virginal or to be a mother. Women do not necessarily fit neatly into either category. In fact, in many pre-Christian and modern non-Christian faiths, the Goddess is symbolised by the three ages of Woman: maiden, mother and crone. Three different women called Mary were at the foot of the cross. Mary, her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene. Mary. A name which may mean death/bitter or love. Another opposite. Which, in Aramaic is also translatable as “lady”.

Mary Magdalene

I will unravel the intricate mysteries of Venus in this book, showing the many various faces of the Goddess and the symbolism of this hot, celestial beauty. Furthermore, I will also aim to show the effects of society’s changing beliefs on, not only the Divine Feminine but also the women of the world throughout the ages and throughout a woman’s life-cycle. From reverence and awe, to complete and utter rejection. They say there is hidden treasure in The Vatican. There is. It is The Goddess. It is Woman. It is Mary Magdalene. It is Venus.

Alyson Dunlop
Glasgow (27th September 2013)

Until next month, the key to life is balance! Your friend, A.D.

UPDATE 20/6/16:

http://aleteia.org/2016/06/10/mary-magdalene-apostle-to-the-apostles-given-equal-dignity-in-feast/

The Raven: Black Bird of Ill Omen

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Aesclepius, Aglauros, Athena, Athens, birds, Cecrops, Celtic, cemetery, Chiron, Christopher Lee, Coronis, corpses, crow, darkness, death, Edgar Allan Poe, Erichthonius, fertility, Goddess, Hades, healing, Herse, Horror, Lenore, light, maere, mara, Metamorphoses, Minerva, Morrigan, mythology, nepenthe, nightmare, omen, Pallas, Pandrosos, phantom, Phoebus, Pluto, raven, snake, sun, supernatural, The Raven and The Crow, tombstone, Underworld, Vulcan, wisdom

*Honestly. I’m astounded I even have to add this disclaimer. However, certain parties seem to think that this article entices hatred of ravens. If they had read it properly they’d have realised it was intended to inform readers of the mythology attached to these birds. It is not in any way supposed to be what I personally think about them. I love ravens. They’re great. Very intelligent. Happy?

The raven, a bird from the crow family, has long been considered a bird of ill omen. From ancient texts through to modern times, writers have often associated these creatures with death and the supernatural. It is thought one main reason for this is that ravens are carrion birds. This means they eat the decaying flesh of corpses, usually animals, but they were also connected to battles in mythology – it is likely fallen soldiers were fed upon too. They are associated with The Morrigan, Celtic war goddess, whose name may derive from the old English word maere (the word survives in nightmare). Her name is often translated as “phantom queen”. Take a walk around any cemetery and you are guaranteed to find a crow or raven hopping about or perched upon a tombstone. They sense death is nearby…

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there is a tale called The Raven and The Crow. It is about a raven who was once a white bird, but whose “chattering tongue” was his downfall. Coronis, beloved of Phoebus the sun god, has been unfaithful to him. As the raven is on his way to tell Phoebus, he meets a crow who warns him he might be better just to keep his beak shut. The crow tells the raven that she was once in a similar situation, and had been turned first into a crow, when she was saved by Pallas (Athena, goddess of wisdom), but then banished by her after telling tales. The raven ignores the crow’s warnings and carries on to tell Phoebus about his beloved’s infidelity. Phoebus immediately shoots Coronis through the heart with his arrow, but immediately regrets it. As she dies, she tells him that she carries their child, and they will now die together. Before Coronis is burned on the funeral pyre, Phoebus snatches his son from her womb and carries him off to Chiron, the centaur and tutor of many Greek heroes. Even though the raven had been truthful, nevertheless Phoebus turns him black and banishes him from all the breeds of birds that are white.

The crow tells the raven two attempted rape stories, the first is skimmed over when the crow simply states that “once upon a time a baby, Erichthonius, was born without a mother.” In fact, this was the attempted rape of Minerva (Gr. Athena) by Vulcan (Gr. Hephaestus), whereby his seed falls on the ground and Erichthonius (“very earthy”) is born. The names of Cecrops’ three unmarried daughters are Pandrosos, Herse and Aglauros. Their names mean “bedewed”, “dew” and “clearwater”, which reflect the connection to fertility. The snake that is seen is a reference to the earth-cults. Erichthonius was worshipped in this guise at Athens (Kenney 1998). Interestingly, the son that is born from the murdered Coronus, is Aesclepius, god of healing and medicine, whose emblem is also a snake.

Indulge my ravings…. This seems to me to be, not just a tale of caution about keeping schtum, but also a story explaining the landscape, possibly of the areas in and around Athens. “Born without a mother”, so hardly likely to be animal. Erichthonius’ name means literally “very earthy”, so possibly not even plant, simply the earth itself and how it lies on the land. He was conceived when Vulcan (god of volcanoes) erupted (!) on Minerva (whose Greek name is Athena, symbolic of many things including the city of Athens). She wiped his seed on the ground (i.e. the surrounding land). This sounds to me like an erupting volcano has carved the Athenian landscape. Aglauros aka “Clearwater” is the only one to sneak a look at the “earth”, which could indicate a river(s) or stream(s) in the area. Volcanic eruptions cause the land to become more fertile and draw in migrants. In this case, the migrants who moved into the area were earth cults, whose totems were snakes. They also, more than likely, brought knowledge of medicine.

Furthermore, all four elements are mentioned in this tale: earth (Erichthonius), fire (funeral pyre where Aesclepius is snatched before his mother is cremated; Phoebus Apollo also represents the sun, a symbol of fire), water (Cecrops’ daughters) and air (the birds).

If you disagree, or know more, please do comment at the end of this blog! I would love to hear your opinions.

I recorded a reading of The Raven and The Crow for you.

One of my favourite poems is The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a delight to both read and listen to, so I’ve included both the poem itself and a reading by Christopher Lee (who else?! I couldn’t resist that voice!):

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore–
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“‘Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door–
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;–vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow–sorrow for the lost Lenore–
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore–
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me–filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“‘Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door–
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;
This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”–here I opened wide the door–
Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”–
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore–
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;–
‘Tis the wind and nothing more.

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he,
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door–
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door–
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore–
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning–little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door–
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour
Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered–
Till I scarcely more than muttered: “Other friends have flown before–
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore–
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never–nevermore.'”

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore–
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee–by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite–respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!–prophet still, if bird or devil!–
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted–
On this home by Horror haunted–tell me truly, I implore–
Is there–is there balm in Gilead?–tell me–tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!–prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us–by that God we both adore–
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore–
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting–
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!–quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted–nevermore!

Here is a reading by Christopher Lee:

Lenore is the main focus of the poem, the beloved of the narrator and apparently now no longer living since only the angels know her name now. Poe uses alliteration throughout the poem. The first time Lenore is mentioned he describes her as “rare and radiant”. According to all sources I could find, Lenore literally means “light” or “torch”. Lenore, therefore, is not simply a beloved woman, she is symbolic of all that is bright, his guiding light in life. She is more than mortal. She is an ideal.

This is contrasted by the image of the raven. The bird appears to be almost a part of the darkness of the night from which he emerges. Initially, the raven is asked what his name is and replies “Nevermore”, much to the amusement of the enquirer. However, the more the raven says this the horrified man begins to feel like it is a prophecy. As the narrator asks for the birds “lordly” name he may well be regarding the bird as the “king of the night” himself. Certainly, as the poem continues, the narrator feels ever more threatened by this night visitor.

“Night’s Plutonian shore”, is a wonderful three word description, as it sets a scene and tells us all we need to know! The action is taking place at night: darkness and night often symbolising mystery, danger and frightening powers. Plutonian is a reference to the Roman god of the Underworld, Pluto (Gr. Hades), and all the associations that go along with that: death, darkness, decay. Shore could be a metaphor of the night as an ocean washing up at his chamber door. He describes each night as being a “Nightly shore” in the previous line. Perhaps the narrator sees himself as residing on or near a shore.

The narrator assumes the bird will leave him at daybreak, but the bird again answers him “Nevermore”. As the speaker ponders on this, the memory of Lenore comes back. The idea of nepenthe comes to him, as he imagines the room filling with perfume. In the Odyssey, Homer describes this mythological drink as a potion that takes away all grief and sadness. However, as the bird keeps assuring the narrator that “Nevermore” will he be free from grief, he descends into madness and hopelessness.

The reference to Pallas is another name for Athena, goddess of wisdom, the symbol of the ideal woman. Perhaps this raven speaks the dark truth, the only knowledge he possesses, like that of the raven in the previous poem. It is of little comfort to our narrator, whose soul is lost forever in the shadow of the raven….

Until next week. Your friend, A.D.

References

Ovid, The Raven and The Crow in “Metamorphoses” (c.1-8 CE) (trans. Melville, A. D.; notes and intro. Kenney, E. J. 1998 Oxford Uni Press)

Rosalind Clark (1990) The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan (Irish Literary Studies, Book 34)

http://www.shmoop.com/the-raven/symbolism-imagery.html

Scapegoating “Satanic” Sex Cults in the Sixties and Seventies

17 Friday May 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Aleister Crowley, astrology, atheist, Baphomet, Beelzebub, Beltaine, Beltane, Black Death, Brighid, Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee, City of the Dead, cults, Dennis Wheatley, Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic, dragons, Druids, Edward Woodward, Eliphas Levi, Emily Johnson, esoteric, fertility, Gallic Wars, Gerald Gardner, God, Goddess, Great Plague, Greek, Green Man, healing, Helen Duncan, heterosexual, homosexual, Horror, hypnosis, Imbolc, Jane York, Julius Caesar, Kafka, Knight's Templar, Lucifer, Magi, magic, Malleus Maleficarum, masturbation, May Day, Mendes, Mia Farrow, monotheist, Nods to the Old Gods, occult, pagan, Peaches Geldof, persecution, Persian priests, phallic, polytheist, power, reincarnation, Religion, Rome, Rosemary's Baby, Satan, satanic, scapegoat, Sex, sexually repressed, skyclad, snakes, spiritualist church, Spring Equinox, standing stones, Summer Isle, Summer Solstice, superstition, symbolism, The Devil Rides Out, The Goat of Mendes, The Great Beast 666, The May Pole, The Wicker Man, The Woman Who Came Back, Thelema, Venus, Victorian, Willow, witchcraft, Witchcraft Act, wizard, zodiac

Horror stories have always represented the fears of society, in exactly the same way as religious belief often mirrors the secular world. For example, superstitions changed during the outbreak of the Great Plague, when people began to blame the unexplained deaths on human sin and witchcraft (Malleus Maleficarum Part 1, Q XV)

Human beings have always had a bit of a negative obsession about the Other in society. Time and again we have scapegoated anyone who is different. Since ancient times, we’ve ridiculed and persecuted anyone who does not have the same beliefs as ourselves. The truth is, we are all very similar in all the ways that matter. We are all made up of the same stuff.

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means,
warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,
do we not die? (The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare)

We often give different names for the same things that we each call truth, but decry another for using unusual terminology to describe. It doesn’t take much scratching of the surface to reveal that we are often talking about the same thing. The ancient Greeks coined the phrase ‘magic’ from the Magi, the Persian priests, whose customs were too strange for the Greeks to understand were holy in nature.

I hear Peaches Geldof has joined a sex cult. Shock, horror! She is now a believer in Thelema, the religion founded by occultist Aleister Crowley, who practised sex magic, with apparent “secret sexual techniques for masturbation, heterosexual and homosexual sex” (Guardian, author anonymous). Well…there’s only so much you can do, but I’m guessing we have to take into account the time that Aleister Crowley was practising his esoteric knowledge. This would have been right, slap bang, in the middle of sexually repressed Victorian times. Thank goodness we’ve evolved our notions of sexuality and what constitutes “perverse”.

Aleister Crowley died in 1947, with a reputation as The Great Beast 666, a name he positively lapped up. In 1944, a few years before his death, Helen Duncan, a psychic, was prosecuted and imprisoned under the 1735 Witchcraft Act for revealing wartime secrets. Six months later, in September 1944, Jane York (72) was also prosecuted under the same Act and in December of that year Emily Johnson of Redhill Spiritualist Church was given a severe warning by police. They told her she would be prosecuted if she did not stop her “activities”. The Act actually strove to stamp out the belief in witchcraft amongst the educated in society, but it was possible to prosecute people for pretending to “exercise or use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration, or undertake to tell fortunes”.

Click picture to view

The prosecutions sparked off the creative minds in America, and the following year John H Kafka came up with the story for The Woman Who Came Back (1945). The unfortunate heroine, Lorna, finds herself the scapegoat of the townspeople and is accused of witchcraft for everything that goes wrong. It doesn’t help matters that a coincidental meeting and accident has caused Lorna to suspect they could well be right. Thankfully by the end no one believes in witchcraft. Phew!

By 1951, the Witchcraft Act was repealed and replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, and the previously “underground” Craft of Wicca began to flourish, led by Gerald Gardner. Of course, ignorance breeds fear and, as I have mentioned, fear breeds the practice of scapegoating. By the 1960s movies on the subject of the occult began to get filmed, particularly anything to do with covens and Satanic devil-worshippers. A second wave of witchhunts began, this time within horror movies. City of the Dead (1960) with Christopher Lee paved the way for the paranoia about anything to do with witchcraft. In 1968, two very popular films in the genre were screened: Dennis Wheatley’s The Devil Rides Out and Rosemary’s Baby. Five years later, in 1973 The Wicker Man was filmed. Many more followed, but these are the main ones that set witchcraft and paganism against Christian morality and ethics, at least in the minds of the Christian audience.

Click picture to view

The City of the Dead, starring Christopher Lee, is about a student who goes to a small town to find out information about witchcraft for her studies. Little does she realise that the townspeople are all evil devil-worshipping witches, who make lots of sacrifices, especially around about the time of Candlemas. Candlemas is a Christian festival for a start. It is the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin. However, in the pagan religion it is the festival of Imbolc, and marks the beginning of spring. It is associated with the virgin goddess, Brighid. We can clearly see here a distinct similarity between the purified virgin and the virgin goddess.

Click picture to read preview

Lucifer is also mentioned in this film, and has long been synonymous with the Devil and his many other names: Satan, Beelzebub etc. In Nods to the Old Gods I have explained briefly that Lucifer’s name means “light bearer”, and that it was the name given to the dawn appearance of the planet Venus, which heralds daylight. Early Luciferians – devotees of the god Lucifer – worshipped dragons and snakes, as well as the sun. In more advanced ancient civilisations, dragons and snakes were not perceived as evil. In fact, they were often associated with power and healing.

Click on picture to view “The Devil Rides Out”

The opening sequence to The Devil Rides Out is full of imagery usually associated with magic, Satanism and astrology. Set to the background music, which is horrific and scary, it seems we are to imagine all these images are too. The zodiac signs are used in this sequence, and then again at the end, on the sacrificial altar of the devil worshippers. Also, in the opening sequence we are introduced to Baphomet, who will later appear on the floor of the observatory and again at the orgiastic party. He is a goat-headed being, referred to as “The Goat of Mendes” by Christopher Lee. The reality is that most modern scholars now agree “Baphomet” is a corruption of “Muhammad”. Baphomet was the name of the idol the Knight’s Templars were accused of worshipping in the 14^th century. It is thought that during their occupation of the Outremer, they had begun to incorporate Islamic ideas into their belief system. This, the Inquisition of course declared to be heretical.

In the 19^th century, Baphomet became more associated with the occult (the name occult means “hidden”, as in “hidden knowledge”). In 1854, Eliphas Lévi published Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic in which he drew his image of Baphomet. This image is the best-known picture of Baphomet (see below).

Baphomet by Eliphas Lévi

Lévi considered his Baphomet to be a depiction of the absolute in symbolic form:

The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of occultism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyne of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast’s head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyne arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.

The appearance of Basphomet in The Devil Rides Out is referred to as The Goat of Mendes, a name which Lévi also used to describe Baphomet. Herodotus described the god of Mendes (in Egypt) as having a goat’s face and legs, and that male goats were held in high regard by the Mendesians. E A Wallis Budge writes:

At several places in the Delta, e.g. Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, the god Pan and a goat were worshipped; Strabo, quoting (xvii. 1, 19) …The Mendisians, according to this last writer, paid reverence to all goats, and more to the males than to the females, and particularly to one he-goat, on the death of which public mourning is observed throughout the whole Mendesian district; they call both Pan and the goat Mendes, and both were worshipped as gods of generation and fecundity. Diodorus (i. 88) compares the cult of the goat of Mendes with that of Priapus, and groups the god with the Pans and the Satyrs. The goat referred to by all these writers is the famous Mendean Ram, or Ram of Mendes, the cult of which was, according to Manetho, established by Kakau, the king of the IInd dynasty.

Lévi’s Baphomet became an important figure within Aleister Crowley’s mystical system of Thelema. For Crowley, The Devil is the God of any people that one personally dislikes. Baphomet represents life, love, light and liberty.

There are a couple of interesting points about The Devil Rides Out, particularly the character of Duc de Richleau (Lee), who has knowledge of esoteric scriptures which he has taken the time to memorise. Like the bad guy, Mocata, Richleau also has the ability to use both hypnosis and magic, which he utilises to defeat the powers of darkness. Furthermore, as Mocata raises the angel of death, Richleau manages to raise the dead, bringing Tanith into the body of his niece and commanding her to do his will. He even manages to re-write history and turn back time with his magic. Although not explicit in the film, Richleau, to all intents and purposes, is a most powerful wizard who has the knowledge and ability to use the highest of magic.

Cleverly, and most importantly, however, is the fact that the makers of the film have also brainwashed the audience into believing exactly what they want them to believe with the imagery they use….

Click photo to watch “Rosemary’s Baby”

The same year, Rosemary’s Baby also hit cinemas. The heroine, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), becomes pregnant after having a weird lucid dream in which she imagines herself to copulate with the Devil. Controlled by her doctor and eccentric neighbour, Minnie, Rosemary becomes more and more isolated from all her friends. The climax, as Roman tells her, is that Satan is her son’s father.

In Nods to the Old Gods, I explain that Ha-Satan is usually translated as “adversary” (i.e. of God). In Arabic the term Shaitan means “astray” or “distant”. In the Quran, after Iblis refuses to bow to Adam with the rest of the angels, he becomes known as Shaitan, meaning “enemy”, “evil”, “rebel”, “devil”. In the Baha’i faith, however, Satan is not regarded as an independent evil power, but signifies the lower nature of human beings i.e. the evil ego within us. In conjunction with what we know of his relationship to Pan (the goat-headed fertility god of the ancient Greeks), it would seem that Satan also represents inner sexual instincts. In Rosemary’s Baby he is the sexual force used to impregnate her with the child of the Devil. The ultimate challenge for Rosemary is whether or not her maternal instinct will be powerful enough to overcome the revulsion she feels towards a child whose father is Satan.

Click photo to view “The Wicker Man”

In 1973, The Wicker Man gave an impression of pagan religions which has been hard to get rid of. Edward Woodward plays a cop who goes off to Summer Isle to investigate the disappearance of a little girl, Rowan Morrison. What he encounters are the uncooperative inhabitants of the island who seem intent on thwarting the policeman’s investigation.

He stays at the Green Man’s Inn, where he meets more of the weird townsfolk who proceed to sing a rather raunchy song to the landlord’s daughter, Willow (Britt Ekland), which perturbs the prudish Christian Sergeant Howie. He is further angered and unsettled by seeing couples having sex in a field outside, and a naked woman crying over the grave of her (presumably) dead husband.

The naked Willow sings a Siren’s song to try to entice the sexually suppressed and sweating virgin, Howie. However, he is engaged to another and believes sex before marriage to be wrong. He manages to withstand her charms, but more sex and frivolity are to follow. The following day is May Day Eve, and begins with boys dancing round a Maypole. He overhears the local school teacher explaining that the Maypole symbolises the penis, “venerated in religions such as ours as the generative force in nature” to which Howie makes it clear he is absolutely disgusted. Howie interprets the beliefs and teachings as “degeneracy, indecency, corruption and filth”. On discovering Rowan’s name in the school register, the teacher is forced to explain to Howie that when a person dies the belief of the Summer Isle inhabitants is that they return to nature: to air, to fire, to trees, to water, to animals. She explains that the children find it easier to understand reincarnations rather than resurrection.

Further investigations lead Howie to the residence of Lord Summerisle. On the way, he witnesses a strange ritual with naked women dancing round the fire within a circle of standing stones. Howie argues that the people of the island are practising false religion and false biology by believing in reproduction without intercourse. Lord Summerisle responds that Jesus himself was born of a virgin and a ghost. One belief is no less ridiculous than the other.

As Howie gets more and more angry, Lord Summerisle and the other residents seem to become more and more pleasant and happy. Throughout the film we hear about the sun god, the goddess of the field, the idea of sacrifice in order to gain a good harvest, John Barleycorn (the life of the fields) and the salmon of knowledge. The climax is a virgin sacrifice burned within the confines of a giant wicker man.

Is this what we pagans get up to? Well, no, not quite. Neo-paganism is based on the Old Religions and the practices depicted in the film are either twisted versions of the truth or complete nonsense in the modern age. It is true that the May Pole is a phallic symbol. In many ancient cultures, such as Rome, the penis was venerated as a potent fertility symbol and it wouldn’t have been unusual to see phallic symbols above doors, for example. It is only in modern times that our Christianised culture has forbidden us to worship such things.

The May Pole

Beltaine is an important date in the pagan calendar. It is on 30^th April, the eve before May Day until May Day Night, and it is associated with sex and fertility. It is between the Spring Equinox (21^st March) and the Summer Solstice (21^st June), and it marks the beginning of summer. It was originally a Gaelic festival when symbolic fire rituals were performed to protect the cattle and people, and to encourage crops to grow. Flowers were displayed, and young girls washed their face in the May Day dew. A custom which sometimes still carries on to this day! I remember doing this when I was a young girl.

Nowadays, we generally don’t have much opportunity or requirement for driving cattle between two bonfires for cleansing and protection. We might wish for crops or plants to grow, though, and some pagan rituals might request that the Goddess of the Grain makes our land fertile. Pagans are very individual. Some might take a walk in nature, enjoying the changing seasons and lighting a candle, perhaps saying a prayer, performing a small ritual to mark the occasion or take a trip to Edinburgh to watch the Beltane Fire Festival. Some pagans choose Beltaine to marry, or consummate a relationship, because of its association with love and fertility. A few do carry out rituals naked or ‘skyclad’, but not all. In fact, not many. Most rituals are done robed. However, skyclad rituals are not frowned upon. The pagan ethic tends to be “each to their own”.

Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh

We don’t all believe in reincarnation, although some do. Paganism is so varied and there is no dogma to insist that you believe one thing over another. In fact, you can be pagan and a monotheist (one god), polytheist (many gods) or atheist (no god(s)). Paganism allows you to revere nature, and be of a scientific disposition at the same time, but for those who wish to believe in a god they can. This might seem strange, but we once did all live in harmony, with communities deciding which gods they would worship. Just because someone worshipped one god, did not necessarily mean they did not believe in the existence of the other gods. It seems to me that this system makes for a more harmonious existence amongst the cultures of the world. If we could all accept that we each have our own very different perspective of the world, we might at last live in harmony. Live and let live, as the saying goes!

As for the Wicker Man, there is only one account which alleges it was used by the Druids for human sacrifice. This was written by Julius Caesar in his Commentary on the Gallic War. The Druids may have used ritual sacrifice as a means of executing criminals, but whether they used a giant wicker man to do so is highly debateable. Nowadays, no humans are ever sacrificed, and animal sacrifice is frowned upon by the majority of pagan and magical communities and practitioners. Furthermore, most pagans do not believe in the Christian devil, as he is a later invention and stems from many of the early pagan gods who were misunderstood and, therefore, demonised as time went on. However, there are some people who practise both Christian and pagan religion, celebrating both Christian and pagan feast days. This is probably very similar to how it would have been in the early Celtic Christian world, when we learned to live side by side and more in harmony with each other. What went wrong?

If you think scapegoating doesn’t happen nowadays, you are very wrong. Children are named as witches, ostracised and attacked in parts of Africa, blamed for bringing bad luck to their villages. Just as alarming, is the fact that we don’t have to look much further than our own backyard to find that in British society the sick, disabled and immigrants are having the finger of blame pointed in their direction for all the ills of our desperate economic situation. Like in horror films depicting ancient gods as demonic, the public are often not aware of the level of brainwashing they are receiving, whilst innocent people suffer and die. Suicides have risen in the UK, as the poor find themselves more and more in debt, whilst the tax-avoiding rich are become richer. If you don’t see something very wrong with that, then you have indeed been brainwashed; and you are taking part in the age old practise of scapegoating.

Until next week, I hope we all see the light.

Your friend, A.D.

REFERENCES

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/shortcuts/2013/apr/15/peaches-geldof-aleister-crowley-sex-cult-oto

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jan/24/comment.comment3 by Vanessa Chambers 24/1/2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wicca

http://altreligion.about.com/od/symbols/a/baphomet.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphomet

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm01_15a.htm

VIDEOS

http://viooz.co/movies/1721-rosemarys-baby-1968.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJXl_gckMiU&wide=1