May your eye go to the sun, your breath to the wind: go to the heaven and to the earth according to rule, or go to the Waters, if there it is ordained for you! Among the plants to take your place with your limbs!

When you were born,
The earth became your body,
The stone became your bone,
The sea became your blood,
The sun became your eye,
The moon became your mind,
The wind became your breath.

When you passed to the Otherworld,
Your breath became the wind,
Your mind became the moon,
Your eye became the sun,
Your blood became the sea,
Your bone became the stone,
Your body became the earth.

When we were born, you did the same for us:
You called forth the earth and rocks;
The sea arose and the sun descended;
The moon shone down and the winds sang.
For those who come after, we shall do as you did for us
When we are gone, we shall do as you did before.

I remember watching the dawn break on Mt. Olympus, far above Litichoro and the sea. As I stood in the gray light of early morning, watching the mists roll over the mountain, I understood a little better the presence of the dawn in the mind of the poet, and the presence of the divine on Mt. Olympus. Truly, the blushing bride of the sun, the virgin innocent who blushes fiercely and beautiully when she is seen at her bath, the girl who comes quietly through your window in the morning and brushes her warm fingers across your face and chest and thighs. . . truly, she was there. . .

In my mind's eye, when I view the dawn I am looking through a keyhole at a young woman bathing in her room, which is richly furnished in dark wood, draped in fabrics with warm hues of orange and red. She may sing to herself, or hum, as she slowly and joyously washes in the deep waters about her, the colours reflecting in the ripples where the waters meet her skin. At length, she rises from the bath, the waters dripping from her bosom in the many colours of the morning, and though she is alone she blushes a deep and soft blush, the colours radiating out from her skin. . . but this vision does not last for more than a the most fleeting of moments, for in a fluid motion she draws forth a cloth that covers her nakedness, walks swiftly across the room and throws open the window to the blinding light of the sun.

In another vision, I see the cool, grey mists of morning enter through my open window. Coming close on the heels of the mists, the dawn rests her fingers upon my window ledge, warming it and drawing colour to it. She then creeps over the sill, gazing down upon me in my slumber, and rests her hand upon my brow, lightly warming me with the warmth of her own touch. Her fingers trail across my face, brushing my hair behind my ear, touching my eyelids, and trailing across my lips and down my neck. Her fingers pass over my chest and stomach, warming them and drawing the first sigh of the morning from my body. She paints the room in fiery colours, drawing pinks, reds, and vibrant oranges across earth and sky. It is this gloriously painted heaven and earth that I view when I open my eyes and find her already gone, though I can still feel her touch and see the joy with which she has painted my world.

Obtaining a Job Interviewed For

When Lugh came to the gate, he was challenged:
 "What art do you practice, what skill do you bring?"
Said Lugh, "A wright am I, a fixer of wheels."
 "A fixer of wheels we have, we need you not."

Said Lugh, "A smith am I, a worker of steel."
 "A worker of steel we have, we need you not."
Said Lugh, "A warrior am I, a champion famed."
 "A champion famed we have, we need you not."

Said Lugh, "A harper am I, a singer of tunes."
 "A singer of tunes we have, we need you not."
Said Lugh, "A hero am I, a man of great might."
 "A man of great might we have, we need you not."

Said Lugh, "A wizard am I, a sorcerous man."
 "A sorcerer we have, we need you not."
Said Lugh, "A leech am I, a knower of herbs."
 "A knower of herbs we have, we need you not."

Said Lugh, "A bearer am I, who carries the cup."
 "A cup bearer we have, we need you not."
Said Lugh, "A brazier I am, a worker of brass."
 "A worker of brass we have, we need you not."

Said Lugh, "Is there one who knows every art you need,
 One who is ideally fit for all things you want?"
Said the gatekeeper, "A man like that we have not,"
 And he heralded Lugh to the king, and brought him inside.

Lugh of the long arm, many skilled and deeply talented,
 Who interviewed at the door, and was granted the king's seat:
I raise my voice in praise to you and seek your favour.

 Let it be known that none other can do what I can.
 Let it be known that none other fits in this place.
 Let it be known that none other has all my skills.
 Let it be known that none other they have interviewed
   is better able to do all the tasks that are required.

Lugh, shining god with the long arm,
 This I pray to you.

On an island in the sea,
Within a sacred grove,
Your wagon awaits your ascension.

As the cows pull you forth,
War ends, swords are sheathed.
Quiet descends.

Nerthus, you move among us
Bathed in our joy for you.
Know our presence as we know yours.

Nerthus, accept our sacrifice.

• Amon - Egyptian ram-headed god of life and reproduction. Later fused with sun god Ra becoming known as Apollo - God of healing poetry and music.
• She - One of the Forgotten Ones. Invoked by the vultures atop the Pillars of the Abyss.
• Nike - Greek goddess of victory. Bewinged, she was also a messenger goddess. She also has an overprinced brand of running shoes named after her.

seamus_mcnasty

3cg_blog

The Stolen Wheel

It is said that long ago, when even the gods were young, Taranis, the Thunderer, saw Sulis, the Sun, bathing at dawn.

Each morning, Sulis would rise from the cosmic waters at the edge of the world. As she rose from the waters, she would blush deeply, and only a glimpse of her could be seen as she ascended into her chariot. No man was allowed to look upon her, for she was young and beautiful, untouched.

Once she had mounted her chariot, whose wheel is the sun, she would ride all day, the wheel shining brightly as it turned along the path, until she returned once again to her bath in the cosmic waters, the aquae sulis.

The god Taranis had heard of her beauty, and though he knew that it was not allowed, he went one morning to see her bathe. Cloaked in his stormclouds to hide his form, he went down to the waters' edge. Taranis was not subtle, however, and Sulis refused to leave the waters.

"Who is there?" she called out.

Thinking quickly, he disguised his voice. "It is I, Epona's handmaiden, come to see your horses."

"But there is nothing wrong with my horses," Sulis responded, puzzled.

"My Lady fears one may be lame. Let me check them while you prepare for your journey."

Sulis agreed, knowing now that it was no man, but a maiden who had come to visit her. As Taranis hid beneath his cloak of clouds, Sulis exited the waters. Instantly, he was struck with lust, and plotted to see more of her.

"How are my horses?" Sulis asked.

"They are fine, my dear," answered Taranis. "Now, be on your way."

And so Taranis watched in awe as she passed by him, wondering how he might see her, so beautiful and naked, again. She mounted the chariot, flicked her reins, and disappeared behind the bright, shining sun wheel.

Taranis knew he must see her again. To do this, he left and flew to the west, intent on stealing the wheel of the sun, for he could not look upon her while the wheel shone so brightly.

He set his ambush far away, placing his clouds in the sky in the west, knowing that she could only travel a fixed path. He waited until the afternoon, and then began to approach the chariot of the sun.

He cast wide his cloak of clouds, racing forth in his own thundering chariot, obscuring the light of Sulis by covering the wheel. He stole the wheel from the axle and hid it deep within the folds of his cloak, laughing peels of thunder at his cleverness.

But Sulis was no weak woman. She was far-seeing and knew things beyond earth, sea and sky. She knew her path, though the cloak of clouds was dark, and she called on the horses to follow it. As the horses pulled, she dismounted the chariot and lifted the axle on her own, carrying it forth, becoming bright herself in the process. Taranis was once again blinded, though this time it was with a beauty born of strength unexpected.

When Taranis saw this, he was in awe—so beautiful a goddess, and yet so strong in her own right. Ashamed, he averted his eyes, admitted the spying, and replaced the wheel. He set Sulis gently on her chariot, and began to ride his away.

As Sulis became once again visible in the daylight sky, and and the clouds receded, Taranis offered one final apology: he reflected the inner light of Sulis' beauty, and brought us the rainbow, the most magnificent display of fire in water.

Children of the earth, this is the story of the Wheel of the Sun, how the Thunderer stole it, and the beauty of his apology to an underestimated woman.

• That which is separated is given higher status
• That which is separated is given lower status
• That which is separated lowers the status of what it is separated from
• That which is separated raises the status of what it is separated from

* - Lyle, Emily. "Markedness and Encompassment in Relation to Indo-European Cosmogony." Perspectives on Indo-European Language, Culture, and Religion: Studies in Honour of Edgar C. Polome (Vol. 1) McLean, VA: Journal of Indo-European Studies. 1991

It is here, according to myth, that the earth opened to swallow Persephone. Today, you see cars as you look out from the shadows, but now, in the spring while Greece is in full bloom among the ruins of Eleusis, the mystery reenacted here makes perfect sense.

The top of the cave is covered in cactus, and the flowers, small yellow ones that look like black-eyed susans without the domestic violence, spread around the floor. Of course, the metaphor in that last sentence is silly, but it's the best way to describe them. Considering this spot is where the traumatic rape of Persephone took place, it is rather refreshing to see a lack of black eyes and violence.

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Plutonion, with zylch and viedansante | Plutonion sign and site description
This is, mythically, where the rape of Persephone took place.

On the balance, for such a violent event, Eleusis and this cave are now very peaceful. I'm listening to chirping birds, doves, and the breeze: these are the dominant sounds of this place, not the far distant breaks of trucks, motorcycles tearing through town, and cars honking at lazy landscapers.

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Modern Eleusis viewed from the Plutonion | One of the pits next to the Plutonion


Yes, this place is beautiful, calming, and full of hope for the time ahead. It is spring.

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Lesbian Stones! | The Telesterion | Telesterion steps

Bonus!

The Temple of Artemis at Brauron

The temple of Nemisis is not far from the sea. The site is covered in graffiti, everything from initials to drawings that look like poor scrimshaw, but the temple is beautiful despite this. It is one of the few ruins one can climb on, probably because they hope that shoes and butts can eventually smooth out graffiti.

I made an offering here to Nemisis, asking that she be there for someone, should she be needed. But my larger offering went to Themis, because I know she is needed.

The temple of Themis is unmarked, so I made my best guess about which temple was hers. I asked her to accept this offering if it was her temple, and to accept its spirit if it was not. Themis is sorely needed.

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Temple of Nemesis | Temple of Themis
The two temples are next to each other

Down by the sea, I had a staring contest with Mr. No Shoulders, who I sat down next to for a short time. Mr. No Shoulders won, of course, as he always does. I don't know my Med. snakes, though, so I didn't know him from asp nor cornsnake, so Mr. No Shoulders and I just stared at each other, him enjoying the sun, and me enjoying the breeze from the see.

It was an amicable solution.

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Rhamnous' site map (Gk & Eng) | View to town from the Temples | The town from up on the hill

Hot Water is. . . ineffible. For several mornings, we have spent our showers in achingly cold water, and for the past six days, I have managed exactly one hot shower.

My body feels cleaner, and my spirit as well. While I've managed to soap, wash my hair, and rinse off every day, it has always left me feeling dirty, even fresh from the shower.

Now, after my first warm shower since the morning after I arrived, I feel clean and (possibly) even attractive again. More importantly, I don't feel like I shouldn't approach some of these temples. I feel purified. zylch said her shower was "The best shower I ever had that didn't involve sex!"

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The Roman Agora and Athens Acropolis
Temple of Hephestos beyond the altar of Ares | Turtle! | The Acropolis from near Hadrian's Library  

Today, I arrived at the temples of Ares, Athena Nike, the Olympian Zeus, and several others. I made offerings and enjoyed some meditative time on the Acropolis in Athens (where they have a strange rule that you cannot take "obscene pictures", which becomes extended to not allowing you to take photos that have people in them in the museum. In other words, you'd better not pose with your favourite statue.)


Detail from the hem of Athena's robe
Acropolis museum
Gigantomachy

I have been making small offerings of coins at most of these temples, but the offerings have been mainly for others. These are not really my deities, and my belief in them is complicated.

That's the interesting thing about our practice. I don't need to believe in a deity to do the proper or appropriate work for them. I really don't think that it would insult a god (though it seems to bug the shit out of the gods followers).

But it also gives me the chance to do work for others, work I couldn't do if it were belief that was more important than practice.

So I leave each site in Greece, knowing that my offering, though left for someone other than me, has been accepted. I always walk away feeling that I have done the proper thing, that I have taken the right action.

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Two views of Athens, and one "Way of Hermes" sign
From the Areopagus to the Agora | From the Acropolis to the sea | The Way of Hermes is over there

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Athenian War Museum: Thermopylae 1942 poster | WTFTentacles? | Athenian War Museum: coolest mace/club ever!
Note: the tentacle sticker was found on the Areopagus
But with a flask of whisky, a paint roller, and tentacles:
How can you really go wrong?

1. I'll bore folks out of their skull, or they won't have enough time to achieve a ritual mindset
2. I'll plan a lot, but get so lost in my devotion to Usas or Ratri that I'll forget that there are other people there with me, and I'll either speak too quietly or personally to the deities for anyone to "follow along" into a ritual mindset

1. Strike a match
2. Sing the Clergy Charm while lighting the candle(s)
3. Pray a seven-line prayer to Usas.
4. Stand "still" for a moment
5. Put on my necklace
6. extinguish the candle

High above the ruins and the modern city of Corinth, I sit in the precinct of Aphrotite's temple, looking out over the world so far below. There, the wind whipps by, running over two thousand years of ruins and blowing through my hair and tearing at my clothes.

I imagined coming here to seek the favours of this temple, of Aphrodite's famed sacred prostutites, and know that for this instutution to have sustained itself on this rock, so high and so inaccessible, it must truly have lived up to its legend, and even surpassed it.

The walk to the precinct was tewnty minutes, up 45° inclines, warn marble steps, and past hundreds of not-so-benign plants, all without a map or guide. I made most of it at a run.

On my way to the shrine, I was about 20 meters down the slope when I encountered a line of nubile young American girls processing down the path as I moved up it. As they paraded by, moving down the path I was struggling so hard to climb, I found myself already aware that Aphrodite still held court here. How else could I explain the exquisite line of twenty-somethings winding down the hill?



But to be here now, to see this view and sit among the stones, my imagination runs wild.

• there, the priestesses meet their customers
• there, they entertain them
• there, they take their money
• here, the pleasures of the flesh are combined with the sacred

And now, here, in this silence of the roaring wind, I can hear their sounds of pleasure.

Pics zylch asked for
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View to the Northwest | View to the North | View of the Ithsmus   
To the north, directly across the water, is Perachora

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 View to the East | View to the South