this is insight Joan received in a recent journey:
"“There are two ways of working with spiritual information. The way you know well is how to feel energy that is present, and to create a story to let that energy bubble up to consciousness. By naming the energy, you process it.
“The other way, a more profound way, is to live the myth to create the reality. Create the story, live the energy of the story, and that creates the reality in the physical world.... It is the step you have feared to take: to become the myth and create the reality. It means to not be content simply with what your individual consciousness can comprehend, and what it seeks for its own purposes. Instead, you will embody the Dream that the Dreamer (the Creator) is dreaming. This is a much more powerful way of working with the spirit realm. It is the step you are being called to take.”
it is somewhat disconcerting to take on a whole new consciousness, one that is not one's individual consciousness, and yet is something one is part of. It is an amazing, wonderful reality to support and participate in.
the goddess Athena has many correspondences with Brigid, the main deity to whom the Eye of Vision is dedicated. She appeared at the end of this meditation. Brigid / Athena is very comfortable with this energy, as goddesses of the Upperworld, who create the “blueprints” for what transpires in the material realm.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
theme threads in 3 liturgies
To view the progression of the themes of last three Goddess Festival liturgies, in order to see the threads connecting these annual experiences, visit the blogs associated with them:.
2006 - The Descent of the White Eagle: http://descentofthewhiteeagle.blogspot.com
2007 - The Creation of Life Forms: http://creationoflifeforms.blogspot.com
2008 - Now we come to 2008's liturgy, "Eye of Vision".
The Oracle at the beginning talks about three kinds of Vision The Eye of Vision, Light and Truth. Brigid appears to an old woman, Mary, telling her that the Goddess is coming again. Mary becomes a poet of the Goddess. There are accounts of several visions people have had of the Goddess appearing to them.
So far, the people participating in this liturgy have encountered a lot of chaos. Very basic things like settling on a place to hold the Festival have been difficult to coordinate: there seem to always be unexpected, unforeseen things coming up that change the plan and make the going difficult.
I am realizing that "Eye of Vision" is saying that the new world, the world of the Goddess/Divine Feminine, is here now. The old world which was destroyed (see "White Eagle") went to regenerate in the womb of Night/Nuit/Naut (see"Life Forms") Now in "Eye of Vision" we are having our first visions of the new world of the Goddess.
The visionary journey in "Eye of Vision", exemplified by the learning of the Candidate, is that there is no need to lament loss, because all that is good is really eternal; that we create our own future; and that Truth is the only real basis from which to create anything. This shows us how we can create a greater internal realization and external manifestation of the new Goddess world.
2006 - The Descent of the White Eagle: http://descentofthewhiteeagle.blogspot.com
2007 - The Creation of Life Forms: http://creationoflifeforms.blogspot.com
2008 - Now we come to 2008's liturgy, "Eye of Vision".
The Oracle at the beginning talks about three kinds of Vision The Eye of Vision, Light and Truth. Brigid appears to an old woman, Mary, telling her that the Goddess is coming again. Mary becomes a poet of the Goddess. There are accounts of several visions people have had of the Goddess appearing to them.
So far, the people participating in this liturgy have encountered a lot of chaos. Very basic things like settling on a place to hold the Festival have been difficult to coordinate: there seem to always be unexpected, unforeseen things coming up that change the plan and make the going difficult.
I am realizing that "Eye of Vision" is saying that the new world, the world of the Goddess/Divine Feminine, is here now. The old world which was destroyed (see "White Eagle") went to regenerate in the womb of Night/Nuit/Naut (see"Life Forms") Now in "Eye of Vision" we are having our first visions of the new world of the Goddess.
The visionary journey in "Eye of Vision", exemplified by the learning of the Candidate, is that there is no need to lament loss, because all that is good is really eternal; that we create our own future; and that Truth is the only real basis from which to create anything. This shows us how we can create a greater internal realization and external manifestation of the new Goddess world.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Focus
The "Eye of Vision" is in one way about FOCUS, as well as perception.the overlapping circles of the vesica piscis could easily be mistaken for one out-of-focus circle, i.e. double vision. It is a very simple and spare ritual, reflecting the simplicity in the small shift of perception which can result in an entirely new perception of the universe.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Hanged Man divination
In "Opening the Eye of Vision", The Enchantress with the Eye of Truth stands at the Well at the World's End:
from the Oracle in the liturgy:
A further Initiation leads you at last to reach the Well of Truth, which is both its matrix and its source. Here you meet Me as an ancient woman, hooded in a black cloak. Many dread Me in this form, for I am Death. But as I throw back my hood you see no skull, but rather the Enchantress Who has guided you through many incarnations! You gaze at the still water of the Well and you understand the meaning of all suffering and evil; love and joy. And in this understanding you awaken the Eye of Truth within you. I smile and I embrace you and I hand you my cloak.
From Wikipedia
The Hanged Man is a card of profound but veiled significance. Its symbolism points to divinity, linking it to the Passion of Christ in Christianity, especially The Crucifixion; to the narratives of Osiris (Egyptian mythology) and Mithras (Roman mythology). In all of these archetypal stories, the destruction of self brings life to humanity; on the card, these are symbolized respectively by the person of the hanged man and the living tree from which he hangs bound. Its relationship to the other cards usually involves the sacrifice that makes sacred; personal loss for a greater good or a greater gain.
Serenely dangling upside-down, the Hanged Man has let go of worldly attachments. He has sacrificed a desire for control over his circumstances in order to gain an understanding of, and communion with, creative energies far greater than his individual self. In letting go, the hero gains a profound perspective accessible only to someone free from everyday conceptual, dualistic reality.
The Hanged Man is often associated with Odin, the primary god of the Norse Pantheon. Odin hung upside down from the world-tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days to attain wisdom and thereby retrieved The Runes from the Well of Wyrd, which the Norse cosmology regarded as the source and end of all Mystery and all knowledge. The moment he glimpsed the runes, he died, but the knowledge of them was so powerful that he immediately returned to life. This interpretation highlights the necessity of undertaking acts of personal sacrifice in order to achieve one's own higher spiritual good.
[Note from Joan: another part of the legend says that Odin gave his physical eye to the Norn Urda so he would be able to see the future.]
Another meaning resides in the journey of life. Certain aspects of life — for example sex — are viewed one way by children and a different way by adults. The Hanged Man is the initiate into mysteries. He understands the Truth because he sees it from a different angle.
The most common interpretation of the card is of an outcast of society that appears to be a fool but is in actuality completely in alignment and integrated. The inversion of The Hanged Man furnishes an advantage opaque and impenetrable to others
From Wikipedia
Runes
The eddic poem explains that their originator was the god Odin, and Stanzas 138, 139 describe how Odin received the rune through his self-sacrifice. The text (in Old Norse and in English translation) is as follows:
Veit ec at ec hecc vindga meiði anetr allar nío,geiri vndaþr oc gefinn Oðni,sialfr sialfom mer,a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn.
Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi,nysta ec niþr,nam ec vp rvnar,opandi nam,fell ec aptr þaðan.
I know that I hung on a windy tree nights all nine,wounded with a spear and given to Odin,myself to myself,on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,downwards I peered,I took up the runes,screaming I took them,then I fell back from there
from the Oracle in the liturgy:
A further Initiation leads you at last to reach the Well of Truth, which is both its matrix and its source. Here you meet Me as an ancient woman, hooded in a black cloak. Many dread Me in this form, for I am Death. But as I throw back my hood you see no skull, but rather the Enchantress Who has guided you through many incarnations! You gaze at the still water of the Well and you understand the meaning of all suffering and evil; love and joy. And in this understanding you awaken the Eye of Truth within you. I smile and I embrace you and I hand you my cloak.
From Wikipedia
The Hanged Man is a card of profound but veiled significance. Its symbolism points to divinity, linking it to the Passion of Christ in Christianity, especially The Crucifixion; to the narratives of Osiris (Egyptian mythology) and Mithras (Roman mythology). In all of these archetypal stories, the destruction of self brings life to humanity; on the card, these are symbolized respectively by the person of the hanged man and the living tree from which he hangs bound. Its relationship to the other cards usually involves the sacrifice that makes sacred; personal loss for a greater good or a greater gain.
Serenely dangling upside-down, the Hanged Man has let go of worldly attachments. He has sacrificed a desire for control over his circumstances in order to gain an understanding of, and communion with, creative energies far greater than his individual self. In letting go, the hero gains a profound perspective accessible only to someone free from everyday conceptual, dualistic reality.
The Hanged Man is often associated with Odin, the primary god of the Norse Pantheon. Odin hung upside down from the world-tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days to attain wisdom and thereby retrieved The Runes from the Well of Wyrd, which the Norse cosmology regarded as the source and end of all Mystery and all knowledge. The moment he glimpsed the runes, he died, but the knowledge of them was so powerful that he immediately returned to life. This interpretation highlights the necessity of undertaking acts of personal sacrifice in order to achieve one's own higher spiritual good.
[Note from Joan: another part of the legend says that Odin gave his physical eye to the Norn Urda so he would be able to see the future.]
Another meaning resides in the journey of life. Certain aspects of life — for example sex — are viewed one way by children and a different way by adults. The Hanged Man is the initiate into mysteries. He understands the Truth because he sees it from a different angle.
The most common interpretation of the card is of an outcast of society that appears to be a fool but is in actuality completely in alignment and integrated. The inversion of The Hanged Man furnishes an advantage opaque and impenetrable to others
From Wikipedia
Runes
The eddic poem explains that their originator was the god Odin, and Stanzas 138, 139 describe how Odin received the rune through his self-sacrifice. The text (in Old Norse and in English translation) is as follows:
Veit ec at ec hecc vindga meiði anetr allar nío,geiri vndaþr oc gefinn Oðni,sialfr sialfom mer,a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn.
Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi,nysta ec niþr,nam ec vp rvnar,opandi nam,fell ec aptr þaðan.
I know that I hung on a windy tree nights all nine,wounded with a spear and given to Odin,myself to myself,on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,downwards I peered,I took up the runes,screaming I took them,then I fell back from there
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Eye of Vision, Light & Truth
I am always amazed at Lady Olivia's liturgies! They are truly phenomenal. When we really read them, they are incredibly rich and layered in meaning.
I started mining the gold from this year's liturgy "Opening the Eye of Vision." The first thing that strikes me (in the Oracle section of the liturgy) is that Lady Olivia talks about not one but three kinds of Eyes to open. They correspond to the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone). In this text, they are the Bride, the Queen and the Enchantress.
The Bride has the Eye of Vision. This is to see "the Truth that lies behind appearances". Among other things, it means to search for the inner meaning behind the phenomenal world. It also means to be aware of the energies that in operation from past experiences.
When we get to the Visonary Journey section, where the Candidate (and all participants) are led to different places in space to have visions, the first stop is Hy Brasil, in which the participants are instructed to use their Eye of Vision - in other words, work with the energy of the Bride. The Candidate says s/he sees there is no "need to lament loss, because all that is wonderful, beautiful and noble is eternal".
So the Eye of Vision helps us understand the hidden meanings of energies that come from the past.
Next, there is the Queen, who has the Eye of Light. As the Oracle says, this Eye helps us "transform your own future, and in so doing, to change the world!" It means the capacity we have to not be bound by the past, but to be able to envision the future we want, and through this visioning to bring it to pass.
In the Visionary Journey section, the participants travel to Tir Na nOg, the Heaven of the Futre to open the Eye of Light. Here, the Candidate says, "I see...I create my own future."
Last, there is the Enchantress (Crone/Wise Woman) who has the Eye of Truth, and has "guided you through many incarnations." The Eye of Truth allows us to "understand the meaning of all suffering and evil; love and joy." This Eye gives us the bigger picture, a perspective that transcends concerns about either the past or the future events and brings us to what Buddhists call the "Middle Way" or the essence rather than the phenomena of life.
Int he Visionary Section, the participants travel to the Well at the World's End to open the Eye of Truth. The Candidate explains that s/he found "that without Truth, nothing exists....Love, Beauty, Happiness - all must be honest or they have no value."
Even contemplating these few points from the liturgy, I'm feeling my energy shift and awakening a higher vibratory level.
I started mining the gold from this year's liturgy "Opening the Eye of Vision." The first thing that strikes me (in the Oracle section of the liturgy) is that Lady Olivia talks about not one but three kinds of Eyes to open. They correspond to the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone). In this text, they are the Bride, the Queen and the Enchantress.
The Bride has the Eye of Vision. This is to see "the Truth that lies behind appearances". Among other things, it means to search for the inner meaning behind the phenomenal world. It also means to be aware of the energies that in operation from past experiences.
When we get to the Visonary Journey section, where the Candidate (and all participants) are led to different places in space to have visions, the first stop is Hy Brasil, in which the participants are instructed to use their Eye of Vision - in other words, work with the energy of the Bride. The Candidate says s/he sees there is no "need to lament loss, because all that is wonderful, beautiful and noble is eternal".
So the Eye of Vision helps us understand the hidden meanings of energies that come from the past.
Next, there is the Queen, who has the Eye of Light. As the Oracle says, this Eye helps us "transform your own future, and in so doing, to change the world!" It means the capacity we have to not be bound by the past, but to be able to envision the future we want, and through this visioning to bring it to pass.
In the Visionary Journey section, the participants travel to Tir Na nOg, the Heaven of the Futre to open the Eye of Light. Here, the Candidate says, "I see...I create my own future."
Last, there is the Enchantress (Crone/Wise Woman) who has the Eye of Truth, and has "guided you through many incarnations." The Eye of Truth allows us to "understand the meaning of all suffering and evil; love and joy." This Eye gives us the bigger picture, a perspective that transcends concerns about either the past or the future events and brings us to what Buddhists call the "Middle Way" or the essence rather than the phenomena of life.
Int he Visionary Section, the participants travel to the Well at the World's End to open the Eye of Truth. The Candidate explains that s/he found "that without Truth, nothing exists....Love, Beauty, Happiness - all must be honest or they have no value."
Even contemplating these few points from the liturgy, I'm feeling my energy shift and awakening a higher vibratory level.
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