2 10 105 https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/608a472425d33b0226a525a72926ec87.pdf 8e72c692f533c919152566223899eca7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Coming Age Description An account of the resource The official magazine of Lux Madriana from 1975 to 1982. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975–1982 Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Oxford, England Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data magazine, 23pp. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Coming Age, Issue 20 Description An account of the resource Contents: Wenver's Hunt [poem], Many Religions, The Art of Telling Tales, Scenes from a Madrian Childhood Part 3: Mayamijai, The Power of Choice, The Coming Season, The Wonderful Beanstalk [story], The Downward Path: The Decline of Religion, Strength through Serenity: The Nature of Femininity, Symbolism: The Bridge of Dread, Light in the Darkness: Our Lady in the Patriarchal Religions Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Lux Madriana Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Todmorden, England Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Autumn 1981 https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/5c7c8f2eaa38306bb6f2b86af57ec49d.pdf 00087a3ccc85fcebd4fb6b9fa1fb005d https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/f3452e05086669b0728ad19495ea0339.pdf bf4652f496861faa0f07cdb975966e4b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, handwritten (4pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document Anima: Jung and the Female Soul One of the most valuable contributions Jung has made to the understanding of psychology is the discovery of the anima. Broadly speaking, Jung defined the anima as the female personality existing in the unconscious of every man. Nevertheless, Jung made two fundamental mistakes in this description, both of which may be directly attributed to the materialist and masculist environment in which it was formulated. The first of these was to see the anima as merely the function of the mind, inferior to the rational consciousness; the second was to recognize its existence only in men. The word chosen to denote the idea is particularly appropriate and revealing. Anima is the Latin word for soul; as in most languages, it is a feminine noun. The Romans pictured the soul as a bird and always referred to it as 'she'. The fact is that the anima is not a function of the mind. It is the soul itself. The soul is a spiritual rather than a material entity, and as such is regarded by the materialists as a mere abstraction without reality. When the soul is properly considered, however, it is clear that it is more, not less real than the body and the mind. It has lived from before the beginning of time – they have not; it will live forever – they will not; it has been perfect and will once again be perfect – they by their very nature are imperfect. The human soul, like all other spiritual creatures, is female because it is a reflection of the Divine – the Goddess. It is female because it is the very nature of spiritual things to be female,* for the feminine principle is the principle of the dominance of spirit over matter. Jung and his followers come close to this truth regarding the anima in men as the root of spiritual aspiration and all creative expression. The transcendence of material existence is the aim and function of the soul. The crude interpretation of the anima in material (and often sexual) terms, together with the fundamental unbalance of a male-dominated society, has led to attempts to see women as embodiments of the anima. Thus the masculist may regard women as incomprehensible, uncontrollable, irrational (in the lowest sense), creative (in the sense of bearing children only) and so on. And this has done great harm to many women. When the woman is seen as anima, her own anima, her soul is denied: she is said to be tied to the body; her spiritual aspirations are blunted; her creative nature frustrated; her view of herself is severely circumscribed. The Jungians say that while men have anima, women have animus (a latent male personality); but as we will see, this is neither an equivalent nor an adequate substitute. It is important to remember that in masculist society, the male is taken as the norm – (as, for example, the word 'man' is used to refer to all humanity; the individual/citizen/child is 'he') – and this is true in psychology as in all other areas of life. Psychology as applied to women has been a secondary study, and has usually consisted of second-rate deductions and inferences from findings about male psychology. The over-emphasis in masculist society on sexual matters has led to the idea that psychic processes in men and women must be opposite and complementary. Thus Jung has described the animus in women as complementary to the anima in men. However, as with the Oedipus complex, the anima is potentially stronger in women than in men, as they are closer to the archetypally female form of creative and spiritual energy. The animus is not a mere figment of the Jungian imagination, however, although it is not a permanent feature of human psychology. It is the personification of the masculist values thrust on women throughout their lives in a masculist culture. These male-oriented values, which are fundamentally incompatible with the woman's inner psychic nature, group themselves together in a distinct and alien bloc in the mind which may appear to be a separate personality. This is then represented in dreams and other psychic experiences by the figure of a man which may be called the animus. Dreams of rape suffered by some women may represent the violation of her natural psychic processes by the masculist values forced upon her. The difficulties and imbalances caused by the undervaluing and misinterpretation of the anima affect both women and men quite radically. They are connected with the general undervaluing of the spiritual in an atmosphere increasingly dominated by a masculist philosophy. Yet the soul, which reflects the Goddess, is our most precious possession; it is the part of us which is most truly ourselves. The development of the soul towards its original perfection is one aim of life. *"female" here refers to the universal female principle which operates in women and men, though generally more strongly in women, not to biological femaleness. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Anima: Jung and the Female Soul Subject The topic of the resource Jung, Psychology, Anima Description An account of the resource An article critiquing Carl Jung's description of the anima from a matriarchal perspective. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text anima femininity Jung masculism psychology social criticism https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/1757c2d2a8e5d2f0ad2273bbe852f88b.pdf 7d58bf157f10c07ba6fdb3b05e9a34ec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (16pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document Madrian Literature Circle: The Beauty and the Beast Debate The three articles reproduced here represent a debate conducted in the pages of the New-Age magazine Aquarian Arrow. It began with a feature in that magazine entitled "Women on Crowley on Women", including a passage by the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley (who liked to refer to himself as "The Great Beast" of the Christian Book of Revelation, "whose number was 666"), expounding his views on maids. This was accompanied by comments from a number of maids working in the occult field. The whole piece was then sent to Lux Madriana by the editors, with an invitation to comment upon it. Sister Angelina responded with the article "Beauty and the Beast" which was published in the following issue. This drew a response from an anonymous contributor writing under the nom de plume of "Robert". His piece, "Lux Madriana and the Solar Logos", sets out in a clear and serious way many of the fundamental errors and confusions of the New-Age movement in general and of the modern pseudo-matriarchal school in particular. The refutation of these errors involves, indirectly, the refutation of the whole modern world-view. Obviously an entire book could be devoted to the subject; but in a witty and concise article, "Marie Antoinetter and the Reine Soleil", Sister Angelina tackles all the fundamental issues. This piece should be read carefully more than once, for it will make many things fall into place which may previously have seemed obscure. <div style="text-align:left;"> --- NOTE: Crowley's argument, briefly, was to reject all sexual morality as a "superstition" and to declare that woman should realise herself as a primarily sexual being, whose "archetype" is the Great Whore. Beauty and the Beast Superstition presupposes ignorance. For a superstition is literally something which "stands over"; a disembodied remnant of a philosophical structure which, rent from its context and idolised for its own sake, is devoid of content. A hundred years from now, when the primordial forests are slowly reclaiming these islands, there will no doubt be many who will set up steering wheels or spools of computer tape on piles of stones and bow down before them. That will be superstition. Our descendents will have a vague memory of the "power" attaching to these objects, but the context in which alone that power could be actualised will have been lost in the mists of ignorance. In precisely the same way, the sexual "morality" prevalent in Crowley's time (and, to an extent, today) was and is superstition. Certain taboos and mores inherited from the past were regarded with a superstitious awe; a quasi-noumenous "power" was recognized as attaching to them. Just like the steering wheel, these mores had once been part of an integrated system, and it was in their relation to the system alone that their "power" had any validity. The relations between the sexes are the reflection on the material plane of certain transcendent Realities. Realities which existed long before the manifestation of physical creatures endowed with biological gender and which will exist long after they have passed away. Marriage is a ritual "actualisation" of the reflection. That is what it was created for, and that is how it has been understood in every civilisation that has not lost sight of the Absolute. The more conventional of Crowley's contemporaries were superstitious because they worshipped marriage while they did not have the vaguest idea of what marriage is. Crowley (along with the whole contemporary avant garde, whom he merely echoes in rather more fustian prose) is not superstitious; but he is equally ignorant. He does not worship marriage, but he has no more idea of what marriage is. He disposes from the beginning of the idea that he might have any metaphysical understanding: "This Nibbana-idea is the coward – "mother's boy" idea; one ought to take a dip in the Tao, no more." To make a statement like this is simply to say "I am not a metaphysician", just as to declare that 2+2=5 is to say "I am not a mathematician"". The wisdom of the saints and sages is replaced by the crass "dynamism" of Herbert Spencer projected onto the Absolute. "Why do men insist on the innocence of women?" he asks, and comes up with a series of answers on teh same level of profundity as the nineteenth-century dictum that "myths are primitive attempts to explain natural phenomena". He sees woman as nothing more than a sex-object, and proceeds to project this sex-object onto his own sentimental equivalent of the metaphysical plane in the form of an Archetypal Whore. Always the same fundamental error – an error that can only arise in a materialist environment, but which in that environment will always vitiate any spirituality which lacks metaphysical principles. The projection of the relative onto the Absolute. The belief that "as below, so above". What, then, is marriage? For herein lies the answer to the whole problem. Marriage is the ritual actualisation of the fire-kiss. The transformation of the dragon by the sun-maiden. Beauty and the Beast, the Frog Prince and hundred similar folk-motifs are allegories of the archetypal marriage. The maid is (nay, not represents, for, by the power of the Rite, she is) the Spirit, the supernal Sun. The man is the soul ensnared in matter, who is consumed, destroyed and reborn in Her kiss. No mortal maid is God; yet in the power of the Rite, while she does not become the Reality, the Reality becomes Her. The all-consuming fire-kiss is re-enacted in every "consummation" of the marriage; and the ritual extends not only to this, but to every action of marital life. That is why a man must obey his wife. In many of the matriarchal civilisations which have dominated the world for the vast majority of human history, a maid was allowed up to four husbands: the four men representing the four material elements and the maid the quinta essentia. This is not the practice among contemporary Madrians, but it expresses a vital truth about the real nature of marriage. Patriarchal marriage partly inverted and partly misinterpreted the truth. It was perversion, it was heresy, but it was not yet ignorance. Yet the seeds of ignorance lie at the very heart of patriarchy. For every act is a ritual and every ritual has a magical effect. In ritually turning from the feminine principle to the masculine principle – from the sun-maiden to the unregenerate dragon – civilisation turned from the qualitative to the quantitative; from pure metaphysical Intellect to earthbound reason; from transcendent Truth to transient "facts". When the first warrior king usurped the throne of the first priestess-queen, the advent of Freud, Marx and Darwin became an inevitability. So did that of Crowley. In rejecting the fire-kiss of the sun-maiden, patriarchal civilisation also rejected Intelligence in its pure form. For the Kiss operates on many levels, from the simple marriage to the consummation of the perfected hera (saint) in God Herself. Without the Kiss of pure transcendent Intellect (which is not other than the supernal Sun Herself), the dragon of earthbound reason cannot be raised up out of the mire of matter. Instead is will become ever more "materialist", until it grows into the hydra-headed monster of modern techno-bureaucratic scientism. Crowley sought to react against this monster; but having no access to metaphysical principles, his thinking could not be radically different (in the strict sense of that much-abused term) from that which it opposed. he could not have been other than he was. 666, and never been Kissed. Sister Angelina This article is the first of three published by Aquarian Arrow. Lux Madriana and the Solar Logos I am a Thelemite, and hold no brief for Crowley's attitude to women nor his writings on sex. But when Sister Angelina accuses Crowley of metaphysical ignorance, this is really the pot calling the kettle black. For in none of his writings has Crowley ever displayed such a crass misunderstanding of the "underlying realities" behind traditional metaphysical attributions of some elements to women, and others to men, as Sister Angelina did in her article. There may well have cultures in the past in which women personified the Sun and men the Earth, just as the Moon is masculine and the Sun feminine in the German language. But these have been a minority, among matriarchal just as much as among patriarchal cultures. Women have been associated with Earth and Matter long before the days of patriarchal monotheism. This was not the result of men seeking to debase women, because the Earth and Matter were not until recently regarded as "base". In pantheist cultures, Matter and Spirit are but two different aspects of the same divine Reality underlying all Life. Women have been associated with the Earth, because they bear and bring forth children in the same manner in which the Earth brings forth crops. That is why the word "matter" (in Latin materia) has the same linguistic roots as the word "mother" (in Latin mater). Matter is seen as the mother-stuff from which all physical sentient life is made. Women have also been associated with the Moon, because of the close parallel between their twenty-eight day menstrual cycles and lunar months. That is why in matriarchal fertility cultures, the calendar was divided into thirteen lunar months, and each month into four seven-day weeks representing one of the quarters, and why the number thirteen was sacred. It is also at night, especially when the Moon shines and is near Full Moon, that men and women are most under the influence of their feelings and emotions, especially the feeling of Love. This is also associated more closely with women than with men, because of their primary role in rearing children and in protecting them in infancy. The Moon influences also the sea's tides: hence a link between the Moon and the sea, and by extension between women and the element of Water, which also plays an important role through rain in preserving the fertility of the soil. These are the "underlying Realities" behind traditional metaphysical attributions of Earth and Water as feminine elements. The Sun, on the other hand, is associated with the element of Fire: not unnaturally, since the Sun is itself a huge ball of fiery thermo-nuclear explosions and chemical reactions. Fire is itself an aggressive and destructive element, capable of reducing fertile jungles to ashes. The Sun too is essentially destructive when it is not balanced by Water in a landscape: it turns vast pasts of the tropics to deserts, and its solar flares were the main agent of evolution on Earth before the arrival of Man, usually by causing climatic changes that wiped out whole species unable to adapt, for example, the dinosaurs. The male sex has traditionally been the more aggressive of the two, not just in human cultures, but in most mammal species as well. Hence it is natural to attribute the aggressive elements of Fire and the Sun to men. Humanity alone of all animal species has been able to domesticate Fire, and to turn its destructive prooperties to creative use, in the smelting of metals and the fashioning of tools. But these in turn have been used as means of aggression against the environment, of destroying an existing landscape as the first step to fashioning it in a new form. This creative use of the destructive power of Fire, and of the tools made with it, requires the ability for mental conceptualisation of patters different from the existing ones. This conceptual ability, usually attributed to the element of Air, tends to be more highly developed in that statistical myth the "average man" than in the "average woman", although differences between individuals are of course much greater than between the sexes. Hence the attribution of the elements of Air and Fire, Conceptualisation (Logos) and the Destructive and Creative Will to men. Life on Earth is the result of a delicate balance between all these elements. Pure Conceptualisation and Destructive-Creative Will unbalanced by the conservative forces of Form and Love produce the fiery furnace of the Sun, in whose chemical processes millions of new shapes and colours are forever being created, but endure for less than a microsecond, because the conservative force of Matter is absent to hold them and give them form. But pure Matter and Form, unfertilised by thte energy of the Sun mediated by an atmosphere of Air and Water, produces the unchanging surface of the Moon. The Earth is intermediate between these two extremes, though closer to the Moon, and thus we have the marvellous balance of Life, ever-changing but also renewing itself, and in which individual life-forms last long enough both as species and as individuals, to establish an identity and to experience that identity. The ancient pantheistic cultures recognised that Life on Earth is the product of a sacred marriage between the Sun and the Earth mediated by the Moon, of the elements of Fire and Matter, mediated by Air and Water. The sacred marriage of men and women was indeed a paradigm of this. But it was not unregenerate Man being spiritualised by the Sun-maiden. It was Man's fiery aggression and airy speculative intellect being "earthed" and made productive by Woman, by disciplining it into the world of Form. This is still true in practice today, though in the absence of an understood ritual to sanctify it, participants in the process are mostly unaware of it on the conscious level. Men on their own either form armies, that are embodiments of the Destructive-Creative Will, the element of Fire; or congregate into monasteries, universities, or research laboratories, to pursue speculative and conceptual thought for its own sake, the element of Air. It is the women who domesticate the warriors, and bring the speculators down to reality, by asking practical questions such as: "How are your children and I going to survive this war?" or "What good will this wonderful utopia do to ordinary people?" Men are the idealists, women the materialists. But when a great statesman, writer or architect actually achieves something enduring, it is frequently because he had one or more women behind him, encouraging him to give form to some of his many abstract concepts. Solar monotheism originated with the Aryan tribes of the Caucasus, as an attempt to become more efficient at war and conquest by worshipping the spirit of fiery aggression to the exclusion of the gentler loving elements of Earth and Water. That is why they forbade the priestess-dominated fertility cults: they made the tribes "soft" and tolerant, and less effective in war. Solar monotheism also made these warrior tribes less efficient at the Goddess-ruled arts of agriculture, but this did not matter since they could conquer agricultural Goddess-worshipping peoples and force them to feed them. This was the logic behind the solar monotheism of the Aryans and Persians, and later of the Jews under Moses and the Prophets. This could work as long as solar monotheism was the religion only of an upper caste of rulers and warriors, and the lower classes were allowed to retain their religious beliefs with the Earth. But when the Christian Church in its zeal hunted down the witches of the villages, and made the ordinary country people be as solar monotheist as the aristocracy and town inhabitants, the path was set for the society we have today. This is not so much "materialist" in the true metaphysical sense – would that it were! – as obsessionally creative of useless artefacts from which derive no real enjoyment other than the pride of having made them. In doing so, we destroy the much more beautiful and essential environment in which we live, and display the mutual fear and distrust (or at least our rulers do) that is the sign of people alienated from their roots. Sister Angelina claims to deplore this society as much as I do. But she and her fellow Madrians appear to think that all that is needed to redress the balance is to put women at the top of a religious-political edifice that still worships the Solar Logos to the exclusion of Matter, by making the Sun a "Her" instead of a "Him". Instead of turning to the great Earth Mother Goddess of antiquity – to Isis, Ishtar, Astarte, Cybele or Kwan-Yin – the Madrians worship Jehovah-in-drag. Jehovah is a real God – i.e. aspect of the Ultimate Reality – who generally answers the prayers of those that worship Him/Her exclusively, by refashioning their souls in His/Her image of ruthless Destructive-Creative Will. He gave the Jews the will to conquer Palestine on at least three occasions in as many millenia, and the Protestant Puritans the will to conquer and settle North America, South Africa and Australasia, as well as to found countless business empires. Judging by the tone of her interventions at the recent conference on "The Re-emergence of the Goddess" in April 1979, Jehovah has already given Sister Angelina that steely conviction of alone possessing the Truth that I normally associate with Jewish and Christian Fundamentalists. In time Jehovah will help the Madrians to get themselves accepted as equals by men in the rat-race to the top of executive boardrooms, or to become tomorrow's Mrs Gandhis, Golda Meirs and Margaret Thatchers (which is all that some feminists are interested in). But I doubt whether Jehovah can teach the Madrians how to make their kisses initiatory to a higher level of consciousness either to their partners or to themselves, for that is not in that God's gift. To achieve self-transcendence in a Sacred Marriage, the two partners must approach it in a spirit of recognising the divine in their partners that can complement the divine in themselves, and then surrender to them, rahter than look down on them as rather base creatures "ensnared in matter" whom one is trying to lift up. What good would it do humanity to have more Golda Meirs and Mrs Gandhis? Israel was no less intransigently aggressive under Mrs Meir than under earlier and later male Prime Ministers, and India a great deal more oppressed under Mrs Gandhi than before or since. Western civilisation has now worshipped the Solar Destructive-Creative Will exclusively for so long that it is in grave danger of blowing itself and the whole of life on Earth up with its overstocked arsenal of artificial suns, the H-bombs. If we are to prevent this, then it is desperately urgent for us to restore the ancient Earth Mother Goddess to Her temples, put more faith into the preserving power of Love and Fertility than into the sterile Capitalist and Socialist abstract utopias. It is because we all know deep down within ourselves that women are so much closer in intuitive empathy to the Earth spirit that alone can save us that male resistance to the women's struggle is crumbling in the West, and many men would indeed gladly put up with a period of matriarchy. But it would have to be a matriarchy of the intuitive as well as of intellectual women, the sensual and loving ones more than the politicians and administrators. Fortunately, important elements in the Feminist Movement recognise this better than Lux Madriana. For perceptive and sensitive contributions to the resurgence of Mother Goddess worship, and a historically more accurate description of the matriarchal past, read Merlin Stone's Paradise Papers, Carol Ochs's Behind the Sex of God and Anne Kent Rush's Moon, Moon. Robert This article is the second of three published by Aquarian Arrow. Marie Antoinette and the Reine Soleil To begin at the end of Robert's article: yes, there is a form of matriarchalism very different from that of Madrianism. It is preached (with variations) by Merlin Stone, Robert Graves and others. It consists, broadly, in accepting the old patriarchal sky-father/earth-mother doctrine, but inverting their hierarchical order, so that the earth-mother and her cthonic values are exalted above the "rationality" of the sky-father. Madrians have always maintained that such a minor cosmetic operation could never alter the real patriarchal essence of the doctrine; and if proof were needed, Robert's delightfully chauvinist article (behind every Great Statesman is a Good Woman, etc.) surely supplies it. Actually, the whole situation is the result of a metaphysical confusion so excruciatingly entangled that one is reminded more than anything else of a kitten that has managed to get itself trussed like a chicken in its own ball of wool. And this confusion, in turn, derives from the sheer blackness [word unclear] of metaphysical ignorance which characterises (and indeed practically constitutes) the post-Renaissance mentality. In view of this, it is scarcely surprising that Robert is able to accuse me of metaphysical ignorance. I have heard a topologist facetiously but not inaccurately described as "someone who can't tell the difference between a teacup and a doughnut". Robert's reaction to true metaphysics in akin to that of the bumpkin who bursts out: "Topology's supposed to be the science of shapes ain't it? Well any idiot can tell the difference between a teacup and doughnut. Them blamed professors must be daft!" This is not so much a personal criticism of Robert as a general crticism of modern ignorance as a whole. But a little real metaphysics can quickly dispel the ignorance and get the kitten out of the cats'-cradle. But what is real metaphyics? It is the primordial Philosophy not devised by any human mind, but passed down (traditio) from mother to daughter since the primordial time, the Golden Age "when earth touched Heaven". In its original form, this Philosophy was matriarchal, as was the social order. The social order was matriarchal because the primordial Philosophy was matriarchal. Earth followed the law of Heaven. Yet even as humanity descended away from the Golden Age, through the Silver and Bronze Ages, into the Iron Age itself (which began some 5,000 years ago), and in this final Age, patriarchy slowly took over from matriarchy, the primordial Philosophy continued to be taught. It was taught by Plato and Plotinus, by Shankara and Shakyamuni the Buddha; indeed, every Iron Age civliisation has possessed its own more or less scaled-down version of the primordial Philosophy. Or rather, that was true up until the last 300 years. And although each version speaks a slightly different spiritual "language", each is saying the same things. Metaphysics is not a matter of personal opinion; it is as precise as a mathematical equation. The essence of Robert's confusion is as follows: he equates the sky-father/earth-mother duality with two other dualities, namely Spirit/matter and rationalism/emotionalism. Now in the first place thesee two dualities are not only not equivalent, they have no common measure whatever; and in the second place, he has completely misconceived both of them. He state calmly that the majority of matriarchal as well as patriarchal cultures have regarded women as earth/matter as opposed to sun/spirit. Yet even Merlin Stone has pointed out that the sun was female in Japan, India, Canaan, Anatolia, Aravia, Australia and among the Eskimos (The Paradise Papers, p. 18) and one could easily add others to the list. In fact the male sun is purely a patriarchal Indo-Aryan invention. The same author points out that far from being exclusively an earth-goddess, Her most frequent title from the earliest times has been Queen of Heaven (perhaps Robert should scratch the book off his list). The reason he gives for this supposed matriarchal equation of maid with matter is that matter was then given its due worship for its own innate virtues. This is an interesting argument, but it has one fatal flaw. However amazing it may seem to the modern mind, the concept of matter as a physical stuff possessing certain innate qualities was wholly unknown up until 400 years ago. All form, all qualities, according to the primordial Philosophy, are Archetypes, or Divine Ideas, belonging to Spirit. Matter is simply the wax upon which the seal of forms and qualities is impressed. This means that pure matter, untouched by Spirit, would have no qualities whatever: no size, no weight, no shape, neither hardness nor softness, hear nor coldness nor colour. Obviously, it is in no sense physical. The equation of nature with matter implied in Robert's article rests upon the post-Cartesian concept of matter. Applied to ancient civilisations, whether matriarchal or patriarchal, it is pure anachronism. When we speak of modern "materialism", we are using the term loosely, for what is in question is not true matter, but the modern fantasy of "physical matter", which very phrase is a contradiction in terms. This is not to say that all ordinary people in the ancient world possessed a clear philosophical concept of matter, but they certainly did not possess the unnatural notion of "physical matter" which has been inculcated into the modern mind via the compulsory "education" system and the mass-media. Matter, then, is a "crystal mirror", a tabula rasa ready to accept whatever image Spirit shall impress upon it. The combination of matter and Spirit is nature (whether physical or non-physical). The patriarchs knew precisely what they were doing in equating maid with matter, thus making her the purely passive support of man's activity (behind every Great Statesman is a Good Woman). The matriarchal perspective is not simply the reverse of this, for the man in the marriage rite is not "man" being saved by "maid", he is soul being saved by Spirit; the maid is just as much soul as the man; but she is enacting a ritual role. The ritual is certainly real, and not just an "act". But not on the most obvious level. If that were so it would mean that every wife was God! This is subtle stuff, I know, and it cannot be mae any clearer by tossing it about in a polemical arena. All I can say is, contemplate [word unclear] it if you want to and don't if you don't. Any true understanding well be supra-verbal. Which brings us to rationalism. It has become a New-Age truism that the Christian west is overbalanced on the side of solar intellect; and like most New-Age truisms, it is not true. Of the two paths, bhakti marga and jnana marga; the path of Love, will, or emotion and the path of Light or solar Intellect, Christianity has always erred on the side of the former. If one were to look for a culture which has erred on the other side, Buddhism would be an obvious example. What the New-Age critics have in mind is actually the rationalism of the Christian west. But rationalism and solar Intellect are two entirely different things. Intellect not only perceives, but is one with, the Spiritual Archetypes. It is not an individual faculty at all, but rather the point at which the individual soul touches the trans-personal Centre. Viewed subjectively, it is Enlightenment; viewed objectively, it is the Absolute; nor is it other than pure Love (which, from our earthly point of view, is lunar), since the distinction between the two is an illusion which appears only when seen from "below". Rationalism, on the other hand, is the ignorant reaction of the individual mental faculty, through its agent the brain, upon the contingent things of the physical world as transmitted via the senses. Ignorant because it is, by definition, unaware of the Spiritual Archetypes which are the real essence of all physical phenomena. Sentimentalism or emotionalism is a similarly ignorant reaction to the same phenomena by the passional faculty. Far from being in any way opposed, rationalism and sentimentalism are two sides of the same coin. The west is rationalist because it is sentimentalist. The two are inseparable. But just as Love and Intellect, seen in their true persepctive, are seen to be one, so their inferior parodies, sentimentalism and rationalism, being cut of from unitive Reality, present the illusion of being eternally separate. Every modernist reaction against rationalism inevitably takes the form of a mere appeal to emotional reactions as opposed to mental ones: thus its sole effect is to give the wheel of Samsara another turn. Robert's underlying thesis is simply another essay in the long history of such barren sentimentalist reactions. One must sympathise with the desire to react against rationalism. But nothing is achieved by running continually from the right hand of Moira into her left. Since deserting the revealed symbolic structure of the matriarchal Philosophy, patriarchal metaphysics has always been balancing on a tightrope. With Christianity, it finally fell victim to its own meddling with the primordial Doctrine. Due to its dogma of the male sun, it mistook the Christ (who is actually a masculinised version of the lunder Daughter, as opposed to the solar Mother) for the Solar Logos; thus depriving itself of any authentic representative of the solar Principle. The two greatest exponents of solar Intellect in Christianity were Origen and Meister Eckhardt. Both were declared heretics. Lacking the "backbone" of Intellect, the love-path of Christianity declined into a samsaric sentimentality, which eventually gave rise, at the time of Aquinas, to an equally samsaric rationalism, which was the inverse parody of the missing Intellectuality. This rationalism developed slowly, still dressed in metaphysical garments, until the Renaissance, when it broke loose and initiated the wild downward spiral which has led us to the modern world; creating on the way such topsy-turvy notions as "physical matter", and all the confusions which they have generated. These confusions have proved particularly effective in neutralising all intellectual resistance to the downward movement. What is the answer to this impulse? How shall we cleave a path between the Scylla of rationalism and the Charybdis of sentimentalism? The Madrian answer is very straightforward: we must return to the primordial matriachal Philosophy, devotion and way of life. This does not mean reconstructing [word unclear] a "matriarchalism" from a handful of archaeological bones tied together by modern speculations (which will inevitably by rationalist, sentimentalist, or – more likely – both). That will leave us right back where we started. We must go to the living matriarchal tradition, as it has been preserved down the ages in this country and elsewhere. The tradition we call Madrian. And this means not only accepting a Philosophy – although the path of Light is indispensable; nor simply opening our hearts to the adoration of God in the form in which She has revealed Herself to humanity from the dawn of time – although the path of Love is also indispensable. It also means treading the third path, which called the path of Works, or of themis [thamë]. This entails governing our entire way of lief in accordance with divine Harmony. It means rejecting all secular political systems which are not directed by the one lawful Princess of Earth. It means rejecting all industrial systems which are geared to merely "making goods", instead of practising the ancient sacred crafts which are not merely utilitarian, but also a path of meditation. It means rejecting commercialism and the cash nexus, whether in its capitalist or socialist forms. In short, it means rejecting the whole edifice of modern human-centred culture, and returning to a God-centred matriarchy. This is the most extraordinary part of Robert's article. He might have accused us of being wild anarchists bent on tearing down all the "achievements" of "progress". He might have called us Amazon reactionaries intractably opposed to the liberal-democratic ideals of late patriarchy. Either accusation would have some semblance of plausibililty. The more impish among us might have been sorely tempted to reply: "Yop, that's about the size of it." But instead, he chooses to accuse us of wanting to join "the ratrace to the top of executive boardrooms, or to become tomorrow's Indira Gandhis, Golda Meirs and Margaret Thatchers" – we, who do not even accept any secular or patriarchal government as legal! It is rather like accusing Mary Whitehouse of being a pornographer, or Archbishop Lefèbvre of being a Protestant. The good primate no doubt has his detractors. Some of them, perhaps, say some very nasty things about him. It is even conceivable that some of those things may be true. But if anyone is going about accusing him of being a Protestant, we may be forgiven for thinking that person does not have the remotest idea of what he is talking about. Actually, Madrianism, while it is unashamedly matriarchal both in its doctrine and in its social institutions, has nothing to do with denigrating men, or with regarding them as in any sense "base". It is a simple, traditional way of life, based on authority, love and devotion. It puts God (both in Her solar and Her lunar aspects) at the centre not only of its Sundays, but of its stories, its songs, its work and its life. It is lived by men and maids, in that mutual love and respect which one finds only in a God-centred hierarchy. I do not deny that there are many self-styled matriarchalists (most of whom have never seen the inside of a matriarchal household) who, filled with the urban ideologies of the Iron Age, despise our way of life and all that it stands for. But I cannot help but thinking that theirs is the fastidious contempt of a Marie Antoinette, dressed up with crook and smock, upon meeting a real-life shepherdess. Sister Angelina This article is the third of three published by Aquarian Arrow</div> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Beauty and the Beast Debate Subject The topic of the resource Aleister Crowley, sex, femininity, New Age, marriage, role of men, matriarchy, decline of the ages, Solar Intellect, rationalism, sentimentalism, feminism, Christianity, metaphysics Description An account of the resource A reproduction of letters exchanged between Sr. Angelina and "Robert" in the pages of Aquarian Arrow, offering competing analyses of Aleister Crowley's views on the nature and archetype of woman. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sr. Angelina Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Christianity decline of the ages femininity marriage men metaphysics New Age sex social criticism Solar Intellect https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/d1df834f56107d77bee91814c787d4d0.pdf c54a0349d0e9d67b5ab71c3deb8ba417 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (29pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document <div style="text-align:left;">The Inner Meaning of Chess. Chess is one of the most ancient and universal games in the world. Variants of it are found throughout Europe, India and the far and middle east. The earliest surviving representations of the game have been found among the archaeological remains of matriarchal Crete. As with all facets of matriarchal civilisation, chess, for those who hold the key to its symbolism, is penetrated through at every level with profound spiritual and metaphysical truth. To one versed in its mysteries, playing the game exercised not only the rational ingenuity, but also far deeper levels of contemplation, and, approached with the correct themis [thamë] and customs, constituted a "minor ritual". The earliest form of the game involved the use of powers and the understanding of states of existence no longer accessible to modern humanity in its present state of decline. All surviving forms date from a period when the "consolidation" or "materialisation" of the human environment had taken place to the extent that organised physical conflict had become a factor in human affairs; and the symbolic structure of all variants of chess as we know it have their roots in the traditional form of the Amazon armies, and the pre-Amazon forces of the Cretan Empire which kept patriarchy at bay in Greece and the Aegean for many centuries. Nonetheless, beneath the immediate physical symbolism, the far deeper cosmic and spiritual truths are still manifested and continue to constitute the most important levels of meaning. Indeed, with such complexity, and on so many strata of interpretation, both microcosmic and macrocosmic, do these meanings operate, that in a short paper it is only possible to suggest some of the most fundamental principles involved; and what follows by no means pretents to be a comprehesive study of the subject. The Field of Action. The chessboard consists of a square made up of 8 x 8 smaller squares coloured alternately black and white. This pattern is a glyph or mandala of the manifest universe, and is known as the Square of Moira [Werdë], Moira being the "weaver" of fallen creation. Eight is the basic number of the chessboard, and eight is also the number of Themis [Thamë], the mother of Moira, and therefore closely associated with Moira herself. Eight is also the number of a spider's legs, and the spider is symbolic of Moira as spinner and waver (Arachne, the spider-sign of the thirteen month zodiac is an aspect of Moira). Again, eight is the number of the "rose of the winds" ✴ which symbolises both the eight principle directions of space and the eight cardinal junctures of the year (the solstices, equinoxes and cross quarter days). The four sides of the board correspond to the four corporeal elements; in some variants of the game, four players rather than two are involved, each having four pieces and four pawns arranged against one of the sides of the board, each "army" corresponding to one of the elements – it is from this that we derive the duplication of most of the pieces in the modern game* – however, we will restrict our consideration here to the two-sided game. The twenty-eight squares around the perimeter of the board correspond to the twenty-eight phases of the moon. This lunar month, comprising four weeks of severn days each, corresponds to all the basic permutations of the primary constituents of the manifest universe. Each day of the week is governed by one of the planetary principles, and each week of the month is governed by one of the four elements (for this latter see "Rhythm of Life", The Coming Age 5). Therefore the lunar month contains each of the planetary principles in combination with each of the corporeal elements. The number sixty four, the sum of all the squares on the board, is also a sub-multiple of the fundamental cycle number 25,920, which is the total number of years in a complete precession of the equinoxes. The fact that the chessboard "contains the whole universe" is symbolised by the various "grains of wheat" legends. In one of the matriarchal versions the mythical inventor of the game, upon presenting it to the Cretan Empress, was asked what she would take as her reward. She replied that she wanted nothing more than that one grain of weat should be placed upon the first square of her chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth and so on. The total amounted to more wheat than could be found in the whole empire, for by the sixty fourth square it had reached 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 grains.** The cosmic symbolism of the chessboard is closely related to that of the I Ching. In this system, also matriarchal in origin, the whole of manifest existence is conceived under the aspect of sixty four hexagrams, which are often arranged graphically in the form of an 8 x 8 square. The hexagrams themselves are produced by the intercombinations of eight fundamental trigrams. The commonest pictoral representation of the system consists of a glyph showing the eight trigrams arranged in the form of the "Rose of the Winds" around a central yin-yang figure: [illustration in original] The flux of yin-yang can be seen as the impermanent and dualistic "play" of existence, through which the timeless and unchanging essence represented by the trigrams and hexagrams are made manifest on the material plane. On the chessboard this twofold flux is represented by the division of the squares into black and white. The white and the black respectively correspond to all the fundamental oppositions or complementarities which are the necessary condition of manifest existence: life and death, summer and winter, pleasure and pain, activity and rest, day and night, waking and sleep etc. All these have their fundamental prototype in the alternation between the manifestation of the universe itself and its reabsorption into the non-manifest. It should be noted here that there is no square at the centre of the chessboard. Its true centre is an infintesimal point which stands outside all the oppositions of being, and ultimately "beyond being and unbeing". This point corresponds to "The temple of the Heart" described in the Teachings: "The ignorant eye shall not see this Temple from without, for it is smaller than the seventh part of a seventh part of the seed of an apple, and the seventh part of a seventh part divided again until what part remains can be seen nor touched nor tasted. "The ignorant eye shall not see the Temple from within, for it is as vast as the manifest universe. "Beyond life, beyond death is the Temple, for it is the Temple of the spirit." In view of this symbolism and of the strategic importance of the centre of the board, the central point may be taken to represent on the macrocosmic level (as opposed on the one hand to the microcosmic or human level and on the other to the supra-cosmic or genia [janya] level, both of which are symbolised by the pieces) what the Ranya represents among the pieces.</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> Indeed, many examples of the transposition of symbols may be found within the game, and this in itself illustrates the truth that symbols are not static, but change according to the perspective from which they are examined, each part of a symbolic structure being a microcosm of the whole. Thus, on one level, the sixty four squares represent the archetypes or essences of pre-manifest creation, while the "play" of black and white upon them symbolises the flux of material existence through which they are made manifest. In this paradigm, we see the essence as "changeless, beyond the impermanent flux of time", and therefore, in a certain sense "static" rather than "dynamic"; while materia, or substance, is "active". From another perspective, however, the board as a whole represents materia or substance (literally, that which "stands under") and the pieces symbolise Essence or the archetypes. Here Essence is seen as the active, creative principle, while materia is simply the passive support of manifestation. From a third perspective, the board may be seen as a "web of tapestry", in which black and white bands are woven over and under one another, creating the effect of alternate squares; the white bands, representing Essence, are the warp, and the black bands, representing materia, the weft. In this paradigm, Essence and materia are equal on the passive/dynamic scale, but the qualitative superiority of Essence (if one may be permitted such a term) is expressed in the fact that its threads run vertically, while those of materia are horizontal. In other words, Essence descends from pure Spirit and is always radically connected to Her, whereas materia exists on various levels more or less distinct from Her, and is only connected with Her by virtue of its union with Essence. This is cognate with the symbolism of the spider's web, in which the concentric threads exist at different degrees of separation from the centre, representing the various levels of the descent of into matter while the radial threads, representing Essence, connect every level with the centre, just as Essence at every level of manifest existence participates directly in the Divine. The concept of the ranks of the chessboard as levels of proximity to the Divine is reflected in the symbolism of the eighth rank as spiritual Goal in the journey of a pawn. These three perspectives from which the interplay of Essence and materia may be seen reflected in chess correspond respectively to the microcosmic, the supracosmic and the macrocosmic levels. In the first the "flux" presents itself most immediately, just as the flux of material life is the most immediate experience of human existence. Essence, signified by the squares, is both veiled and revealed by the "play" of blackness and whiteness, just as spiritual reality is both veiled and revealed by the "shadows" of material existence (revealed because it is through their blackness and whiteness that they are made visible to us; veiled because it becomes impossible to perceive them in their pure essence, apart from their "accidental" blackness and whiteness). From this perspective the centre takes on a particular importance which is absent from the others. This is because of the volitional nature of the microcosmic or human perspective, centring upon the striving of the will for union with the Divine, Who is not only the unmanifest Centre of the manifest universe, but is also at the centre of the human microcosm: "within the innermost temple of your heart". The second perspective concentrates upon essence and upon the essential Archetypes in their highest aspects as Geniae [Janyati]. Each archetype is a Divine idea, and a Genia [Janya] is the direct expression of such an idea – the living emanation of a function of God Herself. Here the pieces represent the Geniae, while materia, represented by the board, is nothing more than the passive support of their activity. While the first perspective concentrates most immediately on the flux of matter, and the second on the activity of Essence, the third concentrates upon the interplay of the two in their creation of the macrocosm. In one respect the chessboard represents the universe in its grandeur, intricacy and relative perfection – The skilful craftmaidship of Madria Moira [Sai Werdë]; yet equally it is represented as a place of duality, conflict and confusion, reflecting the dark and terrifying aspect of Moira. This very ambiguity, inherent in fallen creation as a whole, is expressed through the alternation and equal presence of the two colours: "some call the chessboard black, some call it white". It is this ambiguity which creates the "field of action" for the conflict of good and evil, whether on the cosmic scale or within the human soul, which is represented by the game itself. The Pieces The chess pieces are derived in their present form from the classical structure of the Cretan and later Amazonian armies. In each case, the army had four main sections, corresponding to the four corporeal elements. In most cases, and in the modern version these were infantry, chariots, cavalry anda rchers; however, during the Cretan period, the chariots were sometimes replaced by ships, for Crete was a great naval power. During this period, chariots were either not used (being difficult to transport by sea) or were placed under the cavalry command. It would have been seen as madness to disrupt the symbolic function of the forces for any merely utilitarian reason. There was also a fifth section corresponding to the fifth element. This was an elite corps under the direct command of the Princess, called by various names at different times: The Silver Guard, the Blackribbons, the Iron Ring, etc. This corps was drawn from those members of the other four sections who were most advanced in the military and spiritual disciplines – for the martial arts of the matriarchal period, like all the arts and crafts, were never separate from metaphysical symbolism and constituted both an initiatory path and a system of spiritual and contemplative training. The five sections also correspond to the five estates or castes of late Cretan civilisation. Modern chess is essentially Amazon chess. The earlier Cretan forms were mostly four-handed variants, in which the four players grouped into two pairs of allies. This reflected the more complicated position of the late Cretan Empire, where diplomacy was as important as military strength, and Madrian-matriarchal civilisation was maintained by a complex policy of shifting alliances with surrounding semi-matriarchal and semi-patriarchal powers. It also had its roots in a far more ancient form of the game which belonged to a time when physical conflict had not yet entered into the possibilities of the world. The direction in which this game was played was one of "rotation" rather than "collision". Its symbolic model was not physical war, but a mode of action which, as the human decline proceeded, became too subtle for the minds of later ages to grasp. Its more complex form corresponded to a metaphysical understanding impossible to later generations except in the profoundest contemplative states. Cretan four-handed rotational chess was a degeneration from this. The later Amazon version simplified, but also purified the game, removing the residue of profundities which were no longer understood, and allowing it to become perfect on its own level. By a seeming paradox entailed in the laws governing the transposition of symbols, this purification actually allowed the deepest levels actually to re-enter the game for those few who could contemplate them since, being perfect on its own level, the simplified game, like all pure symbolic systems, contained all symbolic possibilities in microcosm; whereas the older system in its degenerated form had become a hybrid attempting to incorporate two symbolic systems at once, and therefore did not fully succeed in either. The four handed game did continue in some places, and inevitably continued in its degeneration, so that in many later versions a dice [sic] was added to the game which is an obvious travesty of its very nature. In the four-handed version each player had four pieces and four pawns. The pawns represented infantry and the other pieces were Chariot (or ship), Cavalier or Knight, Archer and Queen. The Amazons united each pair of allies into a single army placing them at opposite ends of the board so that each player had eight pawns, two chariots, two knights, two archers and also two queens. This latter was not so surprising as it may seem since every Amazon nation did, in fact, have two queens, known respectively as the Princess and the Ranya. The term Ranya is used by modern Madrians to mean a teacher or mistress in any capacity, though always on a spiritual basis. In earlier times the term also meant queen since the idea of a secular ruler was quite alien to matriarchal civilisation. The queen was the highest priestess in the country and she ruled in the name of God and as Her surrogate by virtue of her priesthood, for "human authority" is a contradiction in terms. As it says in the Teachings: "I am every princess and every mother, each priestess and each lady of the earth, and none has themis [thamë] (authority) save in Me." "Who rules in her own right is a tyrant, or yet in the right of other maids. There is but one themis [thamë] and the Truth alone is true."</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> The Ranya was a true priestess-queen in the old sense, whereas the Princess was a more "outward" leader and the overall commander of all the troops. Her existence was made necessary by the complete dependence of the Amazon nation upon its military competence for its very survival. Although both were of the rank of Queen and therefore technically equal the Princess had a personal duty of obedience to the Ranya. Their functions were analogous to the active and contemplative lives respectively – equally valid as alternatives but the latter "encompassing" and taking precedence over the former. The personal relationship was like that of a priestess to her ancilla. The pieces, then, are the pawn, the chariot (corresponding to the rook), the knight or horsemaid, the archer (corresponding to the bishop), the Princess (corresponding to the queen) and the Ranya (corresponding to the king). Incidentally, the name of the "bishop" in modern English usage has no religious significance but is purely accidental. The traditional shape of the piece simply resembled a bishop's mitre; in France the piece is called "le fou" because the same shape was there considered reminiscent of a fools' cap. The symbolism of the pieces may be understood either on the microcosmic or human level, or on the supra-cosmic or Genia [Janya] level. On the first level the Ranya corresponds to the heart or spirit while the other pieces relate to the various faculties of the soul. On the second level the pieces relate to the Geniae [Janyati], most particularly insofar as they represent the archetypal categories of being: primarily the five elements and secondarily the seven "planetary" principles. There is a minor transposition of symbols in the attribution of elements to the pieces since one may either attribute the five elements to the five major pieces or else use the old Cretan system under which the pawns represent earth and the chariot, knight, archer and princess the other four. Here the Ranya will symbolise the absolute standing beyond all manifestation. However, this latter can safely be ignored and we will confine ourself [sic] to the more usual system under which the Ranya corresponds to the fifth element which will then represent Spirit at whatever level the system is considered. A more important transposition takes place in the attribution of the seven "planetary" Genia [sic] [Janyati] to the five major pieces plus the two colours of the board. Here there are two distinct scales of attribution, the first relating to the "exoteric" or human point of view and the second to the "esoteric" perspective which sees the supra-cosmic principles, as it were, "objectively" rather than from the specific point of view of the soul's experience and quest. It is important to note that the "esteric" point of view is not in any sense "superior" to the "exoteric". The latter is, of course, more immediate and more simple; but anyone who succumbs to the prevalent view that she has risen above the level of exoteric religion because she believes herself to understand something of the esoteric dimension merely proves that she is far below the level of either. Esotericism and exotericism are in no sense opposed and neither can one under any circumstances "supersede" the other. They are in all cases wholly complementary. We will begin by giving the scales in their enitrety and examine their meaning as we deal with each piece in detail: --- Piece/Exoteric planetary scale/Esoteric planetary scale/Element Chariot/Themis [Thamë]/Rhea [Rhavë]/earth Knight/Tethys [Sushuri]/Tethys/water Archer/Metis [Mati]/Metis/air Princess/Niké [Vikhë]/Theia [Raya]/fire Ranya/Phoebe [Candrë]/Phoebe/spirit Black/Rhea/Niké White/Theia/Themis --- There are two ascending scales in which the four corporeal elements can be arranged, one terminating in air and the other in fire. The first moves from the most "materialised" state to the most subtle while the second [moves] from the "heaviest" to the most ascending, thus ending in fire which constantly strives to rise upward. It is this second scale which is used in the symbolism of the pieces since the volitional character of the human perspective lays stress upon the striving of the human soul for perfection, while from the supra-cosmic perspective the first scale represents the "static" character of the celestial Powers as a hierarchy ranged in order of proximity to the Centre, while the second represents its "dynamic" character which is that more in view in the symbolism of the pieces – although the two perspectives can never really be separated. The Ranya The Ranya, of course, is the most important piece on the board. She represents the Spirit, the Ctre, the supernal Sun. On both scales, however, she corresponds to the lunar Genia [Janya], Phoebe [Candrë], rather than to the solar Theia [Raya]. This is because Theia, being a principle within manifestation, cannot represent the supra-manifest absolute. Theia is a reflection of the sun-principle on the lower planes of being (including, of course, many planes far higher than our own), but not the supernal Sun Herself. Among the seven planetary Geniae [Janyati], it is Phoebe who is the highest just as the lunar colour, violet, is the highest of the seven spectral colours. As priestess and "mistress of the path beyond the world", it is she who leads most directly to the union of the soul with the Spirit. Just as it is the Daughter (Whose symbolism is essentially lunar) Who bears the light of the Mother into the fallen cosmos so the lunar ray of Phoebe (reflecting the light of the sun) bears the Divine Light upon the cosmic field of the chessboard. Nevertheless, the highest symbolism of the Ranya is essentially solar, for she is the Spirit, the Centre, the one thing needful. One's own Ranya is the Spiritual essence, the indwelling Spirit as opposed to the egoic soul; the Self as opposed to the self. She is the quintessential "divine spark" which must be protected against the assaults and temptations of material existence (represented by the various "powers" of the opposing army) until it be kindled into an all-consuming flame. The opposing Ranya admits once again of a dual interpretation. On the one hand she is the very antithesis of Spirit, antigod. In this aspect she corresponds rather to the Snake of Creation than Irkalla; for Irkalla, as commander of the dark hosts, corresponds rather to the opposing Princess. Furthermore, as we shall see later, it is the primal fall, the initial turning from the Light (after which the supernal Sun was "too bright for us to look upon") which is entailed in the negative or maleficent aspect of the symbolism of the Ranya. On a higher level, she representes the Spirit Herself as the Grail; the goal of the Quest; the single object toward Whose attainment all the powers of the soul (one's own pieces) are directed. It may be said that, viewed supra-cosmically, as a celestial Power, the Ranya is the lunar Phoebe [Candrë], while viewed microcosmically as a "part" of the human being, she is the immanent Spirit; but in this case, the "part" is infinitely greater than the whole, for the Spirit in a maid far transcends both her individuality and the human state as such, for the immanent "human" spirit is not other than the transcendent Spirit Herself. The Princess Historically the supreme power and mobility of the Princess corresponds to the fact that she commanded the elite Silver Guard. Traditionally, also, she was versed in the art of archery and surveyed the battle from a chariot; thus her powers combined those of the Archer and the Chariot. Exoterically she represents Niké [Vikhë], commander of the armed hosts of heaven (or as the opponent, Irkalla, commander of the hosts of Hell). On a more esoteric level she is Theia [Raya], the outpouring of the Divine energy upon the fields of manifest creation. Theia is the expansive principle and the power of the Princess is supremely expansive, her lines of potential movement raying out in all the eight directions of the cosmos in the form of the Rose of the Winds. It will be noted that the Princess "actualises" the "potential" inherent in the Ranya. While the Ranya can take one step in each direction the Princess can extend the movement to the very limits of the cosmos. The Ranya symbolises the Principle underlying all manifestation, while the Princess represents the outward manifestation itself. The respectively "static" and "active" nature of the two pieces correspond to the dictum that "earth moves, but Heaven is still." As we have already noted, Theia [Raya], whilst a solar principle, is not the supernal Sun; and while on one level the Princess reflects the solar-expansive principle of Theia, on a profounder level, and in relation to the solarity of the Ranya, her symbolism is essentially lunar. She is the Daughter-principle who translates the Principle "activity" of the solar Mother-principle onto the level of outward manifestation. Hence the obedience of the princess to the ranya historically. Microcosmically, the Princess corresponds to the soul as opposed to the Spirit. Strictly speaking, she is the soul as Perfect Servant whose will is one with the will of our Lady (this is signified by her "moving at will" which we will discuss in relation to the pawn). She is thus the higher soul or psychopneuma present in each of us as a potency but fully realised only in the hera. But the Ranya and the Princess can be taken to represent the Spirit-soul duality at all levels. In their station together at the centre of the other powers at the beginning of the game they represent the heart in its pscychic-Spiritual duality at the centre of the being (See the "Heart and the Moon Axe", The Coming Age 10). The same symbolism is implicit in the historical custom by which the Ranya would ride with the Princess in her chariot to survey the field before a battle and in the legend that Inanna entered the chariot of an Amazon princess to speak with her on the eve of a great battle, a legend whose form and essential teaching have been patriarchalised and largely preserved in the Bhagavad Gita. The Archer, the Knight and the Chariot Microcosmically these three pieces correspond to the three vehicles of the soul; the mental, emotional and physical bodies and also to the three paths to perfection: the path of Light or Intellect [vyamati], the path of Love or will [vyasucri] and the path of works [vyathamë]. Archery is a supremely contemplative discipline and one which has an obvious connection with the "mental" element of air. ["]The Amazon archer must give herself up wholly to the universal Spirit, must become one with the shaft and with the target."[***] This is precisely equivalent to the realisation of pure Intellect, for while reason proceeds "up" from matter Intellect proceeds "down" from Spirit and its realisation is a unitive knowledge in which the "knower" and the "known" are one. Supra-cosmically the Archer corresponds to Matis [Mati], the Genia [Janya] of Intellect. The art of chivalry (cavalry) had its birth in late matriarchal times. Unlike the art of archert its perfection depends upon the perfect harmony of two wills: that of the horsemaid and that of the horse. This harmony is analogous to the harmony of Spirit and soul, of maid and God. It is therefore analogous to the devotional or love path. The love path is also the path of will: the assertion of the true will of the Self over the wayward desires of the self. Modern profane life drops the reins of this essential self-control thinking that this constitutes freedom but, in fact, when the soul succumbs merely to the animal motivations of avoiding pain and seeking pleasure she is just as surely a slave as any donkey manipulated by stick and carrot. Instead of having a will of her own, she becomes the passive plaything of external influences, biological drives and psycho-physiological reactions. The material body and the lower part of the soul (psychedemas), insofar as she is tied up with it, is an animal which, if free will is to have any meaning, must be tamed and disciplined. This taming of the soul is precisely analogous to the handling of a horse, and the language of horsemaidship is often used in traditional spiritual treatises. There is a profound ritual connection between horsemaidship and the devotional path, and the Amazon knights were often said to be the most gentle and courteous of all the Amazon soldiers. Supra-cosmically, the Knight corresponds to Tethys [Sushuri], the Genia [Janya] of love. The Chariot is the “heaviest” or most consolidated of the pieces, it corresponds to the physical body and its lines of movement lie always at right angles to one another forming the upright cross of matter. It is appropriately represented often as a quadriga or four horse chariot, the Ranya and Princess within the chariot represent the heart within the body. Its path is the path of works; of craft and agriculture, of the life of the household, all performed accordingly to the traditional themis [thamë] and ritual symbolism by which every action within a themis society is bound to the Absolute. From the human point of view which takes into account the other states of being the Chariot corresponds to Rhea [Rhavë] in her lower aspect as the principle of restriction, since physical matter (from the earthly perspective) represents a lower limit and a maximum of consolidation and restriction. This duality also corresponds to the fact that the Active Life of a themis society comprises the correct spiritual path for the majority but would be an intolerable restriction for a contemplative mystic. It is obvious that the three paths are three distinct ways to the Goddess. But it is equally obvious that even in the most extreme cases no one of them can be completely divorced from the others. In practice most people would be following the Active Life, the path of works; but devotional practice plays an important part in the life of every religious person (and the irreligious person is nothing more than a freakish anomaly of the late patriarchal era), and the ritual symbolism of the crafts and arts is essentially an Intellectual symbolism, and it is the desire and duty of every maid to progress as far into the Intellectual comprehension of her craft as she is able. So the three paths correspond equally to the three essential powers of the soul: will, intellect and action; and the Knight, Archer and Chariot respectively symbolise these powers. Negative powers We have briefly mentioned the negative or maleficent aspects of some of the pieces; it is now necessary to go into these more systematically. The opposing pieces generally represent the inversions or perversions of the principles represented by one's own forces. These may be regarded either as demonic forces or as "inward enemies". The Ranya, representing Spirit in her positive aspect, represents negatively the primal sin of turning away from the Light. She is the rejection of the Self by the self, the rabid egoity which desires at all costs to preserve its separateness from the Spirit. It can be called the sin of pride, but it is not pride in the most usual sense but in the promethean pride of the soul in its self-assertion against the Spirit. Having been cast into the flux of matter by this turning from the Spirit the constant round of material existence is kept in motion by the three poisons of the soul which bind her to the iron wheel of moira [werdë]. The first is ignorance, the inversion of the Metis [Mati] principle, symbolised by the Archer. Having turned from it, the soul forgets the Truth. She is blinded by the veil of matter and cannot see the eternal world that lies about her. Because of this she does not know how to free herself from the ceaseless flux of material existence. She does not even know that she can be freed. This ignorance is the precondition of worldly materialism which, by blindly treating this physical existence as the only reality, acts in ways which forge chains of moira; part good and part bad, but all binding the soul to the worlds of matter which must ultimately be worlds of dissatisfaction and suffering, because she is really seeking in the world that fulfillment and completion which can only be found beyond the world. The other two posons are the two great dynamic forces which drive the wheel of Moira [Werdë]: attraction and repulsion, represented by the Knight (Tethys [Sushuri]) and the Princess (Niké [Vikhë]) respectively, the principles of concord and discord, Venus and Mars. These are the stick and carrot of our blind donkey, the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, which keep up the ceaseless round of activity directed to no purpose beyond the world of matter. Finally, the Chariot represents what may be called the force of gravity. The Scriptures tell us that there can be no standing still upon the path. If we are not moving upward we will inevitably slip downward. If we waste the precious opportunity of our present human life pursuing merely transient aims we will not find ourselves "back where we started", we will fall to a lower state of being. An ancient myth tells how some of the earliest of fallen souls, being not yet far, quickly found their way back to Heaven and urged their sisters on the earth (who were still radiant and half-celestial beings) to follow them. But the earthly maids wished neither to move up nor down but only to rest a little time on the earth before following their sisters. But inevitably they sunk deeper and deeper into matter and quickly found that they were unable to free themselves without the most immense effort. This law of gravitation operates on various levels from the individual human soul to the progressive decline into consolidation and increasingly gross material states that take place in both human society and the cosmic environment itself throughout the course of the historical cycle. In the human microcosm this principle may be seen as the sin of sloth or inertia provided that it is understood that there are forms of sloth far deeper and incalculably more harmful than mere physical laziness. For example, modern sicoety can be very energetic in the shouting of slogans or the amassing of facts providing it can avoid the real effort of intellectual activity; very energetic in the ceaseless production of consumer goods, providing it can avoid the spiritual effort entailed in the traditional crafts; very energetic in preaching a shallow and sentimental "social gospel", whether secular or pseudo-religious, provided it can avoid the real emotional discipline of the path of will, in which the true love of God entails the only possible true love of all Her creatures. The Pawn The Pawn is the ordinary Amazon foot soldier, with her solar sword in her right hand and her lunar shield or pelta (sometimes made in the shape of a five day old moon) in her left, representing he microcosmic duality. Yet, despite her intrinsic axial and microcosmic nature, she is the fallen egoic soul or psychedemas. Her potency is far more limited than that of the celestial Powers, and it is limited both quantitively, in that she can only move the shortest possible distance, and qualitively, in that she can only move in one direction. It will be noted that the Ranya shares the same quantitive disability while qualitively she is omnipotent: this indicates that while she is the Principle of all potential manifestation she is herself not manifest. The Ranya contains all qualitative “directions” or possibilities within herself but does not enter into their manifest extensions. The dual restriction of the pawn represents all the various qualitative and quantitative limitations inherent in the various states of being separate from the Spirit. The dual bondage of space and time forms a paradigm of these limitations from the earthly point of view; time symbolising quality and space symbolising quantity. The journey of the pawn is analogous to the quest of the soul. She moves upward through the seven ranks (representing the seven spheres) encountering various obstructions and dangers on the path. When she reaches the final sphere and casts off the limitations of her fallen, egoic nature and becomes a Princess which, as we have seen, represents the perfected soul, the soul in her true nature as the perfect servant or hera. The final rank is the rank of the Geniae [Janyati] or celestial Powers, for the perfected soul returns to her true, unfallen Genia-nature. The fact that from the beginning of the game the rank of the Geniae is not only ahead of her but also behind her signifies that she has fallen from this condition and that her forward movement is also a return to the state from which she has come. As a Princess she is now a mover-at-will; having reached the seventh sphere of Phoebe [Candrë], the "path beyond the world", she may leave the world or enter it as she chooses, even as the hera may return or not return. Her perfect freedom of movement is characteristic of the perfect servant of She "Whose service is perfect freedom". As it says in the Crystal Tablet: "If the soul live in Light, no thing shall be impossible to her, for her will shall become one with the will of our Lady." (C.T. 29). At the commencement of the game, each pawn stands in front of one of the pieces and "belongs" to it. Even when it moves onto another file in the process of capturing a piece or another pawn it continues to be designated "Knight's pawn" or "Princess's pawn", according to the file on which it began. This designation is inalienable to the pawn in question. Each pawn is in the "ray" of one of the celestial powers. Each individual is unique in virtue not of her current earthly existence but of her celestial origins. The multiplicity of pawns on the chessboard is analogous to the multiplicity of souls in the world. Looked at along the "horizontal" rank, which, as we have seen, corresponds to the material and quantitative dimension, all the pawns appear identical and undifferentiated. It is only by considering them in relation to the "vertical files", which correspond to the essential and qualitiative dimension, that we are able to see the inherent and unique character of each soul. That is why it is only in a society which has lost all vision of the qualitative dimension that the demagogic conceptions of "equality" and "democracy" can arise, and human individuals be reduced to mere numerical units; statistics or wholly interchangeable "cogs" in the industrial machine. On another level, this same "horizontalist" tendency gives rise to a scientism which seeks to reduce all phenomena to "explanations" based upon undifferentiated and non-qualitative matter. The Game Finally, we must give some brief consideration to the overall structure of the game. Its primary symbolism, of course, is that of battle: the archetypal struggle between the forces of light and darkness, of black and white. The most exoteric interpretation of this interprets white as the divine solar Light (here represented by Theia) and black as the evil darkness represented by the negative aspect of Rhea [Rhavë], while the Princess as Niké [Vikhë] leads the hosts of Light in the combat. This is a fully valid interpretation although it should be remembered that each player, from her own point of view, fights on the side of Heaven; therefore, from the point of view of "black", the darkness corresponds to the divine humility of Rhea, while the white pieces represent the promethean pride of the negative solar principle which is the first cause of the Fall and therefore the very essence of evil. In either case, the elementary conflict of good and evil fits in perfectly with the historical background of the battle for the preservation of the Faith against the encroaching patriarchal forces of darkness whose distortions of the Divinely revealed mythic forms and way of life carried within them the seeds of the total destruction of all spirituality, the darkness of blind materialism and the promethean pride of atheistic "humanism". On another level, as we have seen, black and white correspond to matter and Essence respectively. Now these two are not in any sense opposed but on all levels of existence below pure Spirit are the complementary constituents of being. Provided these two are in balance a state of harmony or themis [thamë] prevails. But, as we have seen, there is a tendency both in human thought and in the cosmic environment itself towards an excessive "consolidation"; a disproportionate and disharmonious (anathemis [athamë]) predominance of the material and quantitative pole over the Essential and qualitative. This tendency is manifested on the earthly and social plane by the institution of patriarchy which, by its inbuilt symbolic nature, tends inevitably towards materialism, quantitativism or "horizontalism". The central conflict of chess can, therefore, also be seen as that of order or concord, represented by Themis [Thamë], with discord or chaos represented by the negative aspect of Niké [Vikhë] and her planetary influence of Mars. In the symbolic language of the planetary signs the cross represents matter and the circle Spirit. The sign of Niké, therefore, is almost diametrically opposed to that of Tethys [Sushuri]. The latter [read: former] represents the full comination of matter over Spirit. This domination can never, in the nature of things, become complete, but in setting the cross at an angle of forty-five degrees above the circle matter is shown as surmounting Spirit as far as that is possible. It is no coincidence that the symbol of Niké is used to this day for the male principle and that of Tethys for the female. However, it is not the symbol of Tethys which is here set in opposition to that of Niké but the symbol of Themis. Tethys, corresponding to the Knight, symbolises the complete submission to the Divine entailed in the path of will, whereas Themis represents the divine order and harmony, whether in the human soul or in a normal theacentric matriarchal society (it may be noted here that there is a close connection between Tethys and Themis. Tethys is said to be the sister of Themis and her name, cognate with the Greek tithenai, means Disposer or Orderer). This perspective clarifies the truth that the aim of war is peace; for peace is nothing other than the restoration of order or harmony in place of disorder and chaos. War in itself is a disorder but one which exercises a balancing function against the initial disorder, thus restoring harmony. This is only true if the war is fought on a purely spiritual basis without hatred and wishing only to restore harmony both to the enemy and to the order as a whole; and if all the arts of war, like all themis [thamë] crafts, are treated primarily as spiritual disciplines. Even so, it remains true that the very possibility of war represents a considerable degeneration in the earthly order which is why war did not appear until very late in the historical cycle after the passing of the matriarchal ages proper. It should be remembered, however, that the "outward" historical interpretation of the war is very far from being the most important. The true war is the "inner war"; that waged against the forces of darkness and disorder within one's own being. We have already examined the nature of the "negative Powers" against which this war is fought. Here it may be noted that, as with the exterior war, the aim of the interior war is peace in the sense of the restoration of harmony or order. It should also be noted that fallen creation at every level necessarily entails a measure of disorder whether or not it is great enough to manifest itself in exterior warfare in one form or another and that the only way to achieve true harmony is by passing along the flux of multiplicity and fragmentation which is the manifest order and coming to rest in the perfect peace of the Spirit, who is at once the Centre of one's own being and the Centre of all the manifest cosmos. That is why the game of chess centres always upon the quest for the Ranya. Just as the chessboard is based upon the Square of Moira [Werdë], so the game itself manifests in microcosm the moraic [werdic] laws of existence. At each move the player has the freedom to choose among the various possibilities of action. But whichever course she chooses will entail an inexorable chain of consequences which will determine the possibilities open to her as the game progresses. Nothing occurs by chance but all takes place in accordance with rigorous laws. The player will maintain her freedom of choice and attain her objectives only by understanding and acting in accordance with these laws. If she acts without understanding she will find herself bound ever more tightly upon Moira's iron wheel, until her relatively unlimited freedom at the beginning of the game has dwindled to a position bounded in anc enclosed on every side by the results of past mistakes which have been only too well exploited by the cunning of the "evil one". We have attempted to give some indication of the complexity of the spiritual symbolism of the game of chess. It will be seen that many points might have been expanded at much greater length and it may be understood that, in principle, an entire and adequate exposition of metaphysical and religious philosophy could be based upon an exegesis of the game. This is in accordance with the principle that every fully adequate symbolism is a microcosm in which the entire macrocosm can be "read", and that every major activity that is truly in themis [thamë] constitutes just such an adequate symbolism. A child belonging to an ancient matriarchal weaving community is reported to have said, "There are two meanings to everything and three meanings to most things and if you knew all there is to know about weaving you'd know everything in the world – and beyond it."[****] This statement is certainly in accordance with the traditional matriarchal understanding of every art and craft. The tools, the methods of working, the traditional forms, patterns and images created, all contribute toward a symbolism which contains principally "all there is to know", and which can be interpreted on a multiplicity of levels from the simplest to the most profound. These crafts, constituting an entire way of life rather than merely a game, contained, beyond their symbolism an effective ritual structure which made them not only a "teaching" but a plenary means to realisation, an "initiatory path". This aspect we have obviously not touched upon here; but we hope to have shown, within the relatively compact structure of a game, the principles upon which the vital symbolism of the Active Life, or the way of works, are based. </div> <div style="text-align:left;"> *See illustration at end of paper **Sufficient to cover the whole of the British Isles to a uniform depth of thirty eight feet. ***The Moira Handbook, p. 26 ****The Coming Age, No. 8, p. 9. </div> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Inner Meaning of Chess Subject The topic of the resource chess, matriarchal history, metaphysics, janyatology Description An account of the resource An article detailing the metaphysical principles behind the game of chess, in light of comparisons between the game's rules and pieces and the functioning and organization of Amazon armies. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text archery chess craft decline of the ages Grail horsemaidship janyatology matriarchal history metaphyics patriarchy ranya reign of quantity Rose of the Winds Sai Candrë Sai Mati Sai Raya Sai Rhavë Sai Sushuri Sai Thamë Sai Vikhë Sai Werdë Square of Werdë three paths vyamati vyasucri vyathamë war https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/c270ed1ae7f742d5ffc81c05f2137185.pdf 68fcf68a84da1677a0ce9a62492f32bf Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (15pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document This was originally meant to be a dictionary, but became more like an encyclopedia. It contains much knowledge about non-physical existence that makes absorbing reading, though, unfortunately, it is not complete. Glossary of Madrian Terms A-C ABSOLUTE DEITY: The Dark Mother; the first Person of the TRINITY; the unknowable First Principle from Whom all else proceeds (see TRINITY). ABSOLUTE GOOD: The Goddess is Absolute Good (Catechism, 33). All other Good is movement towards the Absolute Good. Just as the North Pole is absolute north. When we say "north" we mean "towards the North Pole"; once we have reached it we can go no further north. From there, all directions are south. In exactly the same way, when we say "good", what we really mean is "towards the Goddess". All acts of kindness, prayer, beauty and all good things are steps towards the Goddess. All acts of evil are steps away from the Goddess. Ultimately, the only true test of whether an act is good or evil is to ask whether it is a step towards or away from She Who is Absolute Good. ACADEMICISM: See ENCYCLOPAEDISM. ACCIDENTALISM: See EXTERNAL THEORY OF EVENTS. ADVENT: The period leading up to the Nativity of Our Lady, beginning on the first new or full moon after 1st Astraea and lasting about a month. ALL GENIAE [Janyati], Day OF: 28th Astraea (See GENIA [Janya]). ALL HERAS [Helati], DAY OF: 9th Rosea (See HERA). ALTAR: There are two Altars: the Altar of Sacrifice and the Great Altar (of Communion). During a rite, the earthly Altar becomes one with the celestial Altar; and the Daughter, as Priestess of the World is the true Hierophant of every earthly Rite. (The 'altar' of a shrine is not a true Altar in the strict sense). ANDROMORPHISM: The process by which the image of the Goddess is transformed into a male form. It is a symtpom of religious decadence. In all religions, the original Creator is depicted as female. As they grow further from the Divine inspiration Andromorphosis sometimes takes place, particularly when the society becomes PATRIARCHAL. Sometimes andromorphism takes the form of an arbitrary change of gender, while the name used for Deity remains the same, as was the case with Ea in Syria, Siva in India and Atea in Polynesia. Sometimes by a gradual change. For example, in Greek mythology the original Creative Principle is Metis, the female intelligence. By the time of Orpheus She had been changed into the bisexual Metis-Phanes, both male and female. By Classical times, She had become the all-male Phanes. Yahweh (Jehovah), the Jewish god, was originally the Goddess Iahu. The dying and rising Saviour of humanity, known originally under many names: Persephone, Ishtar, Inanna, the hanged Artemis of Arcadia, etc. was transformed into male forms: Attis, Osiris, Christ, Tammuz, etc. Andromorphism is always marked by a weakening of the religious impulse, and bya more outward and social approach to religion, which often becomes a political instrument of the patriarchal state. (Andromorphism, andromorphosis, andromorphise. Andromorphism is a DISSONANCE). ANIMALISM: All the higher human impulses have their origin in the spiritual. Thus we love earthly BEAUTY because it is a faint reflection of the Divine; we are capable of love because the spark of Divine LOVE is within us. To evade this truth, MATERIALISM puts forward the theory that all human motivations are simply sophisticated forms of animal instincts. It is based on the belief that HUMAN BEINGS are not incarnate spirits, but simply animals, and is closely connected with PSEUDO-EVOLUTIONANISM and the CAVEMAN THEORY OF HISTORY. The most popular theory of animalism is a vulgarised version of the doctines of Sigmund Freud, which seeks to reduce almost all human motivations to the sexual instinct. This provides the foundation for the prevalent popular EROTOCENTRISM. See also CORPORALISM. ANTHROPOCENTIRSM: The reverse of THEACENTRISM. The religious view of life puts the Goddess at the very centre; thus giving both a realistic picture of human existence, and the key to a complete and well-rounded way of life. The FALSE SELF is constantly striving against the Theacentric life, and seeks to lead the soul into a way of life in which purely human aims and ideals are made central. Anthropocentirsm is the human centred life. But by a strange paradox, the human centred-life does not achieve the human aims which it sets out to achieve. We do not become happy by saying "let us be happy". We are most happy when we concentrate on something outside ourselves, whether a piece of work, another person, a game or a piece of music. Similarly, human beings cannot find satisfaction by deliberately seeking it, but only by turning outside themselves to the one Source of all true contentment. In some cases the anthropocentric view sees religion itself as a means to human social ends. This is particularly common where ANDROPMORPHISM has taken place. (ANTHROPOLOGY: See PRIMITIVISM). APPLE: The apple is a symbol of eternal life. It is associated with the element of earth and the FEAST OF DIVINE LIFE. If an apple is cut in half from the side, the seeds form a perfect five-pointed star. APROSOPISM: See COSMIC APROSOPISM. ARTEMID: Noun: a member of the Order of the Daughters of Artemis. Adjective: of or belonging to that Order. ARTEMIS, DAY OF: The fifth day after the New Moon. The second Natural Rite of the lunar month. ARTEMIS, FESTIVAL OF: 23rd Samhain [Vois]. The Festival of our Lady as Mother of Ekklesia and of the institution of COMMUNION. ASTRAL BODY: A subtle body co-existent with the physical body. It is through this body that we experience emotion. See also BODY. ASTRID: A member of the Order of the Silver Star. ATHENE: The GENIA [Janya] of wisdom, knowledge and intellect. ATHENE'S DAY: 7th Astraea. AURORA: The dawn OFFICE. AUTUMN: The third season, comprising Mala [Abolan], Samhain [Vois] and Hathor [Werdë]. See SEASONAL MYSTERIES. AVALA: The Paradise of the Daughter, to which those who have lived as good Madrians are received after death. The word Avala comes from the Indo-European root abol meaning APPLE, the symbol of Eternal Life, and is also cognate with "evening" (Cf the German, Abend). Traditionally, Avala lies "west of the sunset", and is the land of the golden apples of immortality. Avala is also the name of the evening OFFICE. B BEAUTY: Beauty is the perception of good through the senses. Perfect Union with the Goddess is a state of absolulte beauty, perceived not through the senses, but through the entire spiritual being of a purely spiritual creature. All earthly beauty is the reflection of that absolute beauty which was known by all souls before the beginning of time. It is the unconscious recognition of this reflection which fills our souls with happiness. All true art is a glimpse of Heaven. BODY: A body is a material vehicle which can sometimes be used by a soul at certain stages of her development. MATTER, as it affects us in this life, takes three forms: the physical, the emotional and the mental.* We have bodies operating on each of these planes of matter. The most obvious and familiar body is the PHYSICAL BODY. Interpenetrating the physical body is the ETHER BODY, or life body. This is a subtle and invisible substance which is necessary to the continued existence of all living things. All organisms, and all organs within the organism are preserved in their form and shape by the currents and movements of the ether body. As soon as the ether body is dissipated (shortly after death) the process of decomposition begins. Human beings have the ether body in common with both plants and animals, whereas minerals have only physical substance. Although the ether body is invisible to the naked eye, it can be seen by means of Kirlian photography. More sublte than either the physical or ether bodies is the ASTRAL BODY. This is the seat of conscious existence, and therefore of emotion. It is widely held that under certain circumstances this body can temporarily leave a living physical body (this phenomenon is known as astral projection). Human beings have the astral body in common with animals but not with plants. The MENTAL BODY is the seat of intelligence. Some commentators subdivide this into higher and lower mental bodies. Only animate creatures (ie creatures having anima, a soul) possess the mental body, which means that human beings do not have it in common with the majority of animals. It is often held that certain individual animals are animate and do possess the mental body. If this is so, it is not because they have "advanced", or "evolved" to that stage (a creature without a soul cannot "evolve" into a creature with a soul, for both the soul and intelligence are divine attributes and not products of "evolution"), but because an intelligent soul has become incarnate in that particular animal. It is also held that the MOIRA [werdë] of such a soul will frequently draw her to the company of human beings. See also INTELLIGENCE. BRAIN: The brain is the most highly sophisticated and sensitive mechanism known to maid. Like a radio receiver, it is able to pick up the messages of the EGO transmitted through the vibrations of the ASTRAL BODY, and translate them into physical actions. In HUMAN BEINGS, the brain is also used by the MENTAL BODY, and becomes the centre from which INTELLIGENCE operates in the physical organism. CATHOLIC: The word catholic means "universal", therefore Madrianism is the only truly catholic religion. In every nation and area of the world, the first and original Divine revelation was Madrian, and the first religion was a form of Madrianism. As one writer put it: "In all myth throughout the world, from the sun's rising beyond the farthest shores of Asia to its setting west of the farthest islands of the vast Pacific, the first Creator of all is a Goddess. Her names are as many and varied as the peoples whom She created and who worshipped Her as the First Principle." It is only later, with the decline of true religion, that ANDROMORPHISM set it, and religions grew apart from the universal catholic faith of all humanity. CATHOLIC (2): Noun; a Catholic Madrian. CATHOLIC MADRIANISM: HARMONIC Madrianism, whose essential tenets are stated in the Catechism of the Children of the Goddess and the Creed, and which is based upon the revelation of the eternal Truth of the Goddess in the sacred MYTHOS. CAVEMAN THEORY OF HISTORY, THE: This fallacy speings from the mistaken belief that the human SOUL and INTELLIGENCE are products of "evolution" (See PSEUDO-EVOLUTIONISM). It states that the earliest human societies were crude and uncivilised (thus, in modern usage, the word "primitive" is made to mean at once "early" and "barbaric"). According to this view, stone-age society is the type of the early human community. In point of fact, there have been "stone-age" societies in every age; as there are to this day in parts of Africa and Australia. And as far back as we can go, there have always been highly civilised societies. Western history opens with the great civilisations of the near east which are already very old. The belief that there must once have been a stage at which all people were uncivilised is unsupported by any evidence, and comes from the dogma of MATERIALISM that there is no God, and therefore She cannot have created intelligent creatures. We cannot know for sure whether the human body was created quickly (by specific creation) or slowly (by evolution), and it is not a matter of great importance. What we can and do know is: 1. That the human body is a vehicle for the temporary habitation of intelligent souls. 2. That as soon as an intelligent soul became incarnate in a human body, a HUMAN BEING was created which was every bit as intelligent and uncivilised [read: civilised?] as ourselves. If the human body was created slowly by evolution, there must, of course, have been a long period before it was fit for the use of intelligent souls. During this period it would have been a mere animal. An animal which could never in any number of millions of years have evolved a soul. For both soul and true intelligence are divine gifts, and not products of evolution or any other natural process. The body cannot grow a soul like an arm or leg; it can only receive a soul from without. Because they had descended from a higher place, the earliest human beings were probably the most rather than the least civilised. The co-called "primitive" tribes and societies in all ages are merely degenerate groups, as is shown by the fact that most of them have the remnants of a highly sophisticated mythology and system of metaphysical thought which they no longer understand. (See also PRIMITIVISM and PROGRESSIVISM) CHARISMA: (from Greek charis: grace, favour, gift) The gift of Grace conferred by the Goddess, particularly through Her SACRAMENTS. When we talk of charismative INITIATION either of an initiand or a PRIESTESS, we usually mean that a soul have been received by the Goddess without the mediation of a Sacrament; but Sacramental Initiation is in the strictest sense charismatic. COMMUNION: The central SACRAMENT of Madrianism, through which the SACRIFICE of the Daughter becomes actual in our lives. Through Her Sacrifice, we transcend the KEAR which cuts us off from the Mother, and gain real Communion with Deity. In the actual Communion, the bread is transformed into the spiritual body of the Daughter. This Sacrament has been performed in all ages, and imitations of it were invented by certain masculist religions, following the Eleusinian Communion, where Mother and Daughter were called by the names of Demeter and Persephone. It was instituted by the Daughter Herself (See The Mythos of the Divine Maid, VII, 16–23); this institution is especially celebrated at the FESTIVAL OF ARTEMIS, and also at the EXALTATION. CONSCIOUSNESS PRINCIPLE, THE: One of the central principles of the PROFANE world-view. This is in essence the belief that the conscious mind is capable of knowing all that there is to know. It involves valuing REASON above INTELLIGENCE, and is an important factor in producing INTELLECTUAL HUBRIS. The consciousness principle is not only a denial of MYSTERY, but also implies a complete MATERIALISM, since only material things can be fully understandable to incarnate creatures; but even according to the strictest materialism, it would be a surprising coincidence if the brain of one particular animal just happened to be capable of understanding all phenomena, even those which had nothing to do with its survival or even its environment. Human beings have an inbuilt feeling that they are capable of understanding all things. That is true. But when one denies all intuition, and all supee-rational truth — "the truth which cannot be spoken", because it is beyond language — believing mere reason to be the only faculty of understanding; then that truth becomes a falsehood: the falsehood that all knowledge can be reduced to conscious propositions which can be put into words. This falsehood must come into being whenever people fall into the materialistic error that HUMAN BEINGS are merely "rational animals", with no soul and no supra-rational faculty. In conformity with this error, the universe must be "flattened out" and "disinfected" of all super-rational truth. "Supernatural" facts must be explained away somehow, even by the most contrived and ridiculous hypotheses. Human behaviour must be reduced to "evolved" animal instincts and explainted in terms of pseudo-sciences such as economics and sociology. The consciousness principle also grossly oversimplifies all the facts of human life. At its most extreme form, believing that all human ills can be cured by some simple rational formula such as socialism or some new method of education; or forgetting that language is an indescribably subtle complex of nuance and connotation, formed over thousands of years, and believing that it can be replaced by artificial "rational" languages such as Esperanto. The consciousness principle has greatly assisted the forces of darkness by rendering many people incapable of understanding what MYTHOS is and why it is necessary to the human comprehension of Divine Truth. CORPORALISM: The belief that the body is the root and origin of human existence. This springs from the MATERIALISTIC belief that there is nothing beyond the physical, and the ANIMALISTIC belief that all human motivations are "evolved" instincts. It leads to a number of errors, especially: the error that the person ceases to exist when the body dies; and the error that a person "is" her body, rather than simply inhabiting it. It also leads to an excessive desire to "explain" human actions, feelings and beliefs in purely physical, social and economic terms, ignoring the moral and spiritual aspects of human existence. Ultimately, corporalism denies the freedom and individuality of the human being, treating her as a mere product of her environment. (Corporalism is closely linked to EROTOCENTRISM and EROTOLATRY). COSMIC APROSOPISM: Usually called simply Aprosopism. This is very prevalent, and makes a special appeal to the modern mentalist. Apart from strict atheistic materialism, it is certainly the most active factor in leading souls away from the Goddess in the world today. Aprosopism means literally faceless-ism, and put simply, it is the doctrine that God, or the universe, has no face. Of course, materialists believe that there is no overall Personality in the universe, and that all things are mere accident; and it is certainly true that aprosopism first made its appearance in the west when materialistic philosophy was becoming generally accepted. But aprosopism means not strict materialism, but a vague Theism which denies the Personality, the "face" of the Goddess. Thus the overwhelming personal experience of the Divine is avoided, and in its place is put a comfortable, "sensible" philosophy which leaves the ANTHROPOCENTRIC, fale-self-centred life intact. Typical aprosopistic 'gods' include such abstractions as "Universal Intelligence", "the Life-force", "the Great Spirit", "the Eternal Laws", "Cosmic Law". Laws are very popular in certain types of aprosopism; also every type of "Force" or "forces". Even terms such as "the Absolute", or ABSOLUTE GOOD, which, taken in the proper sense, are perfectly correct definitions of the Goddess, can be made into aprosopistic pseudo-deities. The most DISSONANT forms of Aprosopism deny also the Divine Unity, speaking of laws, rather than the Law, forces rather than the Force, spirits rather than the Spirit, etc. On a more sophisticated level, one often hears such statements as "I believe in an immanent God, but not a transcendent God", which is the metaphysical equivalent of saying "I believe in the front of this sheet of paper, but not in the back." Aprosopism is particularly insidious because it often takes Truths which in themselves are perfectly HARMONIC (especially when applied to ABSOLUTE DEITY, the Dark Mother), and misunderstands or misrepresents them in such a way that they appear to conflict with other truths of equal importance, thus creating DISSONANCE. In particular, such Truths as that God is unknowable, and that She is beyond being and unbeing are brought into an illusory conflict with almost all the other Truths of religion. This is helped by the CONSCIOUSNESS PRINCIPLE, which encourages the belief that unaided human reason is sufficient to discover Absolute Truth, and even to over-rule Divine revelation. The most harmful characteristic of aprosopism is that while it does not involce a conscious rejection of belief in God, it invariably ends by transferring that belief into the realm of abstract theory and rendering it void in all practical and personal respects. CREATURE: Any thing or living being created by the Goddess: that is to say, all things in existence other than the Goddess Herself. The term is more often used of living beings (including human beings) than of inanimate things. CROSS: The Cross of equal arms is the symbol of the season of MOURA, and of the death of our Lady. Based on the number FOUR, it represents MATTER. Not, in this case, physical matter, but the lowest depths of matter – the most complete separation from God – into which Her Daughter descended: thus, the Cross is the symbol of absolute DEATH – the death which no human soul can undergo, for no CREATURE can ever be absolutely separate from the Goddess: for complete separation from Her would be non-existence. The MYSTERY symbolised by the Cross is that the only Being ever to suffer complete separation from the Goddess was the Goddess Herself. CROSS OF RESURRECTION: Usually called RESURRECTION CROSS. A cross of equal arms with a circle superimposed upon it, each arm extending a little beyond the circumference of the circle. The circle, like the full moon, is a symbol of complete or Divine Perfection. Here, the cross represents not only the Divine Sacrifice, but also its glorious result – the extentsion of the light of the Daughter in all four directions of fallen matter, so that there is no place to which Her Love does not reach. Within itself, the Resurrection Cross contains the resolved paradox of Divine Perfection – the Cross eternally extending in all directions to infinity, the Circle already perfect and circumscribed. The union of Being and Becoming; the point which is at once infinity; the instant which is at once eternity. The Resurrection Cross is one of the central symbols of the Madrian faith, being both a sign of the absolute Perfection to [read: from] which we came and which we must return, and of the perfect SACRIFICE of God the Daughter which is the only means by which the soul may come again to that Perfection. CULT: Any systematic and regular practice of ritual worship other than COMMUNION. The term is usually applied to the CULT DOMESTIC, but can also designate for example, the regular devotino of an individual or a group to a particular Genia [Janya], perhaps centring around her shrine. CULT DOMESTIC: The whole religious life of a Madrian household, centring on a regular domestic Rite of Sacrifice. A Madrian household is defined as any group of Madrians who live together and all who are dear to them. The "priestess" of this Cult is the spiritual head of the household, who is usually the mother (although, of course, the household may not necessarily be a family). *cf Catechism, 53. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Glossary of Madrian Terms A-C Description An account of the resource A glossary of terms used by the Madrian communities. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Abolan Advent altar andromorphism apple aprosopism Artemis Astraea aurora autumn Avala beauty calendar Catholicism charisma Communion cross cult cult domestic Dark Mother Day of All Helati Day of All Janyati Day of Artemis decline of the ages Ekklesia evolution false self Festival of Artemis fora initiation intellect kear materialism mystery Mythos Nativity offices Order of the Daughters of Artemis patriarchy psychology rationalism Rite of Sacrifice Rosea sacraments sacrifice Sai Mati social criticism subtle anatomy thealogy Vois Werdë https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/e92b64f2b106da0972e6f7b77c5b282f.pdf f5d83928cbf6707e992255bfac9ebae7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (4pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document The Legend of the Sun Of the celestial bodies, the moon (as well as the Morning and Evening Star, Venus) is usually seen as a symbol of our Lady, rather than the sun. Nevertheless, the most ancient mythologists invariably represent the sun as a female figure, from Wurusemu of the ancient Hittites to Grainne of the pre-Christian Irish. Merlin Stone, in her study of ancient Madrian religions, lists sun-goddesses (Geniae [Janyati]) in Canaan, Anatolia, Arabia, Australia, Japan, India and among the Eskimos.* Germans still refer to "Frau Sonne." The following is a sun-legend current among modern Madrians. Like all genuine mythic material, particularly that based on the seasonal cycle, it contains archetypes of Divine Truth, but it is not a work of pure Divine inspiration like the sacred Mythos. -----The Legend of the Sun----- The Mistress of All Things knew that the light of day could no longer be silver, and so She called the seven colours to Her that they might run a foot-race among themselves. For She knew that she who was chosen must be a strong champion, for the Snake would not cease in his attempt to destroy her. And though the colours were but infants, having been born with the dawning of that very day,** each of them ran with marvellous swiftness. But the swiftest by far was Yellow, who ran the whole length of the straight course and back to the beginning before the others had completed the course. And the Goddess laughed and called her Golden, and she was crowned with ivy, and a precious metal was created bearing her name. And when her festivities were over, she was given a golden chariot and seven golden battle-ponies, and was crowned with holly and with thorns, and was given her warrior-name: Sun, the all-conquering. And when that night was ended, she rode slowly forth from the cave of night, bearing aloft her great mace, which streamed out pale gold light. And when the Snake saw this, he laughed, saying: "this is but a child. Has She sent forth a child against the Snake?" But as Sun rode onward, she held the brilliant disc of her shield before her body, and her light grew brighter, and the hooves of her battle-ponies struck fire from the skies. And lo, in war the babe was terrible, and the Snake’s legions fled on every side from the blows of her mace. And her light filled all the world. But still the world was cold, and the creatures upon it tired. And as Sun passed, the shadows closed behind her, and night came quickly. But the creatures of the earth loved her light and did her honour, and grew stronger in her light. And every day Sun grew more powerful, and the legions of the Snake retreated further, and every night was shorter than the one before it, and the earth grew warmer. And there came a time when the night was no longer than the day, and Sun had grown to maidenhood. Tall she stood among the clouds made brilliant by her light. And delight came upon the earth, and life in all things, and the daughters of the earth danced the death of the Snake. And still each day added to her victories, until the whole world was resplendent with her delight. And she had grown to fullness as a warrior, and none could withstand her. But still the Silver Time had passed, and even her forces could not be inexhaustible. And the crafty Snake waited, for it had been long since any had dared to attack her. But the shadows drew closer; and there was a day when it seemed that her grip upon her mace grew looser, and the legions of the Snake attacked. And many were they that dashed themselves upon her shield, and many that were smitten by her mace before the last of them was put to flight. But the Snake smiled, saying: "You are strong, yet I think you grow weaker." For on this day, the day was no longer than the night, and from this day on they grew shorter. And everywhere upon the earth the legions of the Snake ran to and fro, spreading chill and darkness; yet scurrying hence whenever the mighty champion appeared. And day by day they grew bolder, until one day the Snake found the hardihood to stand at the mouth of the cave of night and call to Sun, saying: "Sun, my legions will tonight lay waste the earth unless you dare to fight me hand to hand." "Go your way," replied Sun, "and do not tempt me to your own destruction." "Nay," cried the Snake, "you are not the mighty warrior that once you were, and I fear not the combat." And thereupon, Sun said no further word, but left her chariot and battle-ponies and went with mace and shield to the mouth of the cave of night. And the Snake withdrew himself within, and Sun pursued him. And thus began the longest night the earth had known. And all that night was heard the clangour of that battle which shook the whole earth. And the daughters of the earth fell down in prayer and supplication that their champion should emerge victorious; for they knew that only the victrix might leave that cave alive. But the great priestess of the Mistress of All Things had seen a sign: she had seen Sun, as she rode behind the sea at evening, all red with blood, and her blood spread out upon the sea. And thus, although she also prayed, she held but little hope. And when the clangour ceased, the Snake emerged, dragging behind him the body of Sun. And the daughters of earth wept bitter tears. For three days the funeral lasted; and many were the songs sung of the deeds of the champion, and the races run in honour of she who had won the first race ever run. And for three days the funeral pyre was built of sacred branches of the oak and ash. And on the third day the body of Sun was placed on the summit of the pyre, together with her chariot. And the torches were set to the pyre. And the flames rose from the bottom of the pyre until the whole was ablaze; and the world was suffused in its golden light. And the daughters of the earth said: It is as though Sun were with us once more. And they looked aloft, and lo, in the chariot stood a babe all crowned with ivy. And great was the rejoicing on that day as the daughters of the earth gathered thorns and holly wherewith to crown their champion. *Merlin Stone, The Paradise Papers, Quarter Books, 1976, p. 18. **See The Creation, chapter III, verse 1 & 2. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Legend of the Sun Description An account of the resource A Rhennish myth describing the origin of the Sun and its metaphysical narrative through the year. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text calendar Rhennish legends Sai Raya Snake tree lore https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/cf25ae758ec8e73f2685c0d7e2a21b57.pdf c2da07ae0933b3024ac20b57cd58301e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (6pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document Meditations on the Love of Our Lady You have spread out your heaven, Lady, like a mantle, and in the heavens have set the stars that light our way this night, while the wild beasts of the forest are at large seeking to devour us. You have caused springs to rise in the mountains, from which You send down secret torrents to water the plain of our hearts, that they may bring forth flowers and fruits in abundance, tasting Your sweetness. My soul, an arid soul, a sterile and fruitless soul, thirsts for the sweet drops of this rain, longs for the nectar of heaven. May Your voice sound in my ears, dear Inanna, and tell me how my heart should love You, how my mind should love, how the deepest cavern of my soul should love You. May my inmost heart of hearts enclose You, my one and only treasure, my sweet and lovely joy. But what is love, Inanna? If I am right, it is a strange delight of the spirit, ever sweeter as it is purer, ever gentler as it is truer, ever more joyous as it is more generous; it is the ambrosia of the heart which You inspire, for You are sweet; it is a place that can contain You who are in all places. For she who loves You knows You, and as she knows You, so she loves You, for You are love, You are the love of the eternal sphere. Your lovers are made drunk, losing knowledge of themselves that they may come to You. How do they come but by loving You? By loving You with all their hearts and souls. O Lady, let some fragment of Your great sweetness fall upon my soul to sweeten the bread of my bitterness. Let it drink a drop of that which it yearns for, sighs for, desires so deeply in this desert place of its wanderings. Let it tast what it hungers for, even while it is still on the path to Avala, where you give us to eat and drink to our refreshment. Till then, Lady, I shall seek You, and seek You in love: for the soul that loves You is always seeking You, and the soul that loves You perfectly is the soul that has already found You. ----------------- No created thing creates itself, nor has beauty or goodness of itself, but from She Who is all, Who is wholly good and wholly beautiful; the goodness of all good things, the beauty of all beautiful things derives from She Who is the cause of all existence. And as She is Absolute Good, it is good for us to cleave to Her. And that we may cleave to Her with our minds She has given us three powers of nature, which make us able to partake of Her eternity, share Her wisdom and enjoy Her sweetness. These are memory, knowledge and love, or will. Memory can comprehend eternity, knowledge can comprehend wisdom, and love can comprehend sweetness. And these were given in the likeness of the Trinity, the Dark Mother, Mother and Maid, Whom our memory ever keeps, our knowledge ever knows without deception and our love embraces without desire of anything else. And thus it is in perfection. ----------------- As the ancient faith is once more reborn out of the darkness, and the truth again known on the face of the eart, we should now begin to reflect our Mother in perfection as we did before the beginning and shall do after the end. And yet – our memory is clouded by long forgetfullness, our knowledge darkened by error, our love tarnished by selfishness. When shall we be perfect? This peace, this calm, this happiness is to be looked for in our Mother's home: there when we live in eternity, there will be no room for forgetting, when we rejoice in truth there will be no deception by error, when we are swallowed up in Her love, there will be no impulse to selfishness. O eternal and true love, O true and lovely eternity, O eternal and true and lovely Goddess! Here will be peace and tranquil joy. ----------------- I think it is clear that the soul turns away from her Mother not in any physical sense, but because the mind diverts her love away from the highest good and, growing hardened in selfish pride, deforms in the soul the image of the Divine; and thus if in selfless humility she directs her love back towards our Lady, she is restored to the image of She who created her. For in this love is the secret of the health of souls, the stripping off of the hard crust of matter that surrounds the fallen maid, the renewing of the mind and the reforming of the soul to the divine image. Divine love flowing into our soul from above will dissolve by its heat our inborn inertia and draw us up on high, we shall put off the old and take on the new, the soul will gain the silver wings of a dove and fly up towards that sublime and pure goodness of which our nature had its being. For the rational soul is a mirror of the perfection of the Absolute and it is divine love which lifts up our soul to the heights from which we have fallen. ----------------- O wonderful created being, lower only than She Who created you, why do you make yourself so small? Do you love the world? Your being is higher than the world. Does the sun dazzle you? You are more dazzling than the sun. Do you speculate about the movement of the stars in the heavens? You are exalted above the heavens. Do you search for the mysteries of life's beginnings? No life began more mysteriously than yous. Reason if you will, but do not forget to love: and do not love reasoning, but She who has confronted you in all these things with Herself. She places them before you, neither to humble you nor to enrich you but that you may rise above them to the true Reality which shines through them. Why should you pursue the transient beauties of the material world, when your soul has a beauty which age cannot wither, poverty cannot mar, sickness cannot dim, death itself cannot destroy? Seek, but do not look for that which you are seeking there. Desire, but do not hope to have your desire fulfilled there, but only in eternity. ----------------- The heavy weights of worldly frivolity divorced from joy fetter her; she who loves the things of the world and turns away from divine love heedlessly does not know what divine love is. She seeks rest for her unhappy soul in all these things, but finds everywhere labour and misery, sorrow and affliction of the spirit. And she is shackled and held back from spiritual development; the chain of habit binds her, the claims and expectations of kin imprison her, and even the bond of love and friendship is a hindrance for it is the sweetest of the sweets of the earth. And yet in all these things sweetness is mixed with bitterness, sorrow with joy, calamity with good fortune. Friendship is pleasant to her, but she always fears a rift, and knows that some day parting must come. She sees her joys begin, watches how they progress, waits for their end; and knows that such joys cannot begin innocently, progress peacefully or end harmlessly. And always she lives in fear of death. And yet, when she opens her heart and You, Inanna, pour into it that precious gift, the gift of divine love, all is transformed. What joy there is in Your love, what peace in Your joy, what refuge in Your peace, no words can tell. Who chooses You cannot go astray, for there is nothing better than You; her hope cannot fail, for there is only blessing in loving You; she need not fear that she loves You too much, for no limit is set to loving you; she need not fear death, that severer of the bonds of earthly love, for You give eternal life which cannot die. She need fear no estrangement, for only the cooling of her own love will accomplish it; she need fear no misunderstanding, for You see into her heart and alone judge her truly. Here is the joy which shuts out fear; here is the peace which stills the fretful heart; here the safety which alone is certainty. ----------------- Those who long for love, listen and hear of love. She is the most loving who never wearies of loving, but always, whether sitting or standing, walking or resting, working or playing, thinks of her love; she puts her love first in all her thoughts and actions; and her one desire is that that love should be returned. Such is the love of maids. And Inanna Whose nature is pure Love seeks the love of all creatures. She asks nothing more of us than our love, for love contains all. The very least of those who love Her burns and is bright with love, seven times brighter than the sun compared with a candle, than the candle's beams compared with a star. But she who does not return Her love has shut the door of her heart and locked herself away from the light, in love's poverty. It is the highest sweetness to burn with the love of our Lady. As soon as your heart is touched by the sweetness of heaven, you will begin to have your joy and delight in the song of the heavens, and every melody, every rich thing, and every pleasure which all the maids on earth are able to devise will seem as the tawdry and cast-off toys of your childhood. The eye of your spirit is taken up into the bliss of heaven and is there illumined with grace and kindled with the fire of divine love, so that you shall truly feel love burning in your heart more and more and shall feel such great joy and sweetness and love that no sickness or anguish or sadness may afflict you, but all your life shall be turned into joy; and then, because your heart is so exalted, your prayers shall turn into joyful song and your meditations into melody. Then Inanna shall be all your desire, all your delight, all your joy, all your comfort; all your song shall be about Her and all your action and your rest shall be within Her. ----------------- Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Meditations on the Love of Our Lady Description An account of the resource A collection of meditations on divine love. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Absolute beauty Dark Mother Daughter desire devotional literature Ekklesia hamartiology knowledge love soteriology thealogy virtue https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/8d6222e9615920be896cf09dd2988d41.pdf d44969e1649859babf451110ff6c6b21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, handwritten (22pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document The Planetary Principles Tradition teaches that the created universe did not at the beginning consist of material things, but of perfect forms, or Divine ideas; we might also call them pure Essences. When our part of creation was no longer in perfect harmony with the Absolute, it could no longer exist as pure Essence, but had to be "expressed" though matter in order to remain in being. Thus everything we know consists of both essence and matter. Pure essence would be, for example, pure "flowerness", but not a flower. Pure matter, having no essence, would have no qualities of any sort – no size, no shape, no colour, no texture etc. Pure Essence can and does exist on the plane of Spirit, although we can in no way conceive of it in our present state. Matter is quite incapable of independent existence. But we must make it clear that matter in its true sense does not refer only to physical matter, but to everything below the level of pure Spirit. Thus it includes etheric, astral and mental matter, as well as many other forms of matter with which he have no contact on this plane. A thought is a piece of matter just as much as a table, or rather, they are both, like all things, a combination of matter and essence. Thus to those who say that pure Essence is not inconceivable because one can conceive of pure "flowerness" we must reply that the very conception itself is a piece of thought matter. However, because of the limited and largely erroneous concept which is usually designated by the word "matter" in modern usage, we will use henceforth the traditional term "materia". Essence and materia should not be conceived as "substances" or "things", but rather as the extreme two poles of manifest existence.* All manifest things occupy points on a sliding scale between them – thus a stone is closer to pure materia, a poem closer to essence, but only relatively speaking. Essence is the female, "spiritual" and creative or shaping pole; it is symbolised by the sphere, or in plane geometry by the circle. Materia is the male, "heavy" or "solid" pole; it is symbolised by the cube, or in plane geometry by the square. Again, essence is quality, materia quantity. We have said that everything below the level of pure Spirit has a material form, but there is one exception to this rule: psyche or soul. Soul is neither matter nor Spirit, but stands between the two. So also, soul stands between essence and matter as a third principle. In traditional symbolism, the three principles are termed Heaven, Earth and Maid. In the symbolism of the planetary principles, they are represented respectively by the circle, the cross and the crescent: [image of circle, image of cross, image of crescent] Heaven, Earth, Maid (Essence), (Materia), (Psyche) Etymologically, the word "Maid" is connected with "may", meaning the power to do something (hence "might" is both the past participle of "may" and also means power). Essentially, it means the potential of doing or not doing, ie the power of choice. Maid is "she who chooses", she who is what she is because of the choices she has made. As the mediating or reconciling Principle, the Daughter is perfect Maid. She descended to the level where She too had to choose between good and evil (Mythos III and IV). This is what is meant by the phrase "God became Maid", the phrase "God became flesh" is a materialistic parody of this, reflecting the limited perspective of the materia-dominated outlook. As we will see when we come to examine the male and femlae principles as expressed in the planetary symbolism, this error is intimately connected with the error of conceiving God as male. Within the microcosm of an individual Maid, the three principles may be sen as corresponding to Spirit, body and soul; but it must be remembered that "body" is not just the physical body (or "flesh"), but also the astral, etheric and mental bodies, and that Spirit is not as individual faculty but the point at which the individual remains united with the Absolute. From these three principles proceed the seven planetary principles, which consist of all the meaningful relationships between the primary principles, not [?] filtered through materia (although, of course, they must unite with materia in order to manifest at any level). These consist of Heaven and Maid standing alone – Materia, as we have said, is incapable of independent existence. They are represented not by planets proper, but by the two luminaries, the sun and moon: [astronomical symbol of sun, moon] Sun, Moon (Heaven, Essence), (Maid, Psyche) The remaining five planetary principles derive from the relationships of Heaven and Maid with Materia, and are akin to the five material elements; however, they should in no sense be confused with these elements, which are simpler and purer and strictly more "elementary". Indeed, viewed from a different perspective, thatof the Triad and Tetrad division of the planetary principles (which does not concern us here), certain of the principles correspond to different elements from those given below; however, from a Magical point of view, the kinships given are correct. The four corporeal elements consist of the relations of Heaven and Maid separately to Earth or materia; Heaven ruling Earth, Earth ruling Heaven, Maid ruling Earth, Earth ruling Maid: Planetary principle [signs of Venus, Mars, crescent over cross, cross over crescent] Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Elemental kinship [alchemical signs of water, fire, air, earth] Water, Fire, Air, Earth The seventh planetary principle combines Heaven, Maid and Earth: [astronomical sign of mercury, alchemical sign of ether] Mercury akin to Ether From the foregoing, it should be obvious that the heptad of planetary principles is fundamental, and that the recent "discovery" – or rather rediscovery – of three additional planets does not in any way alter this. The assumption that they do is founded firstly on the supposed superiority of the modern world to the ancient, which assumes that the matriarchal astrologers "left out" the additional planets because they were ignorant of them; whereas, in fact, they were perfectly well aware of their existence, as they are clearly depicted, for example, on several ancient Sumerian seals. Secondly, the assumption is founded on the supposition that the physical planets in some way "create" the principles, rather than merely symbolising them. Usually this assumption is merely tacit, although sometimes one hears talk of such mechanical monstrosities as "waves" or "rays" emanating from the planets. In a purely figurative sense, such images can be useful, but there are persons who intend this terminology to be taken quite literally, in which case it is mere fantasy born of a materialistic desire to reduce super-physical influences to a semblance of physical "science". Having asserted that the planets are only the symbols of the principles, however, it must be made clear that symbolism, when it is of a genuinely universal nature and not merely an artifical convention devised by individual minds, is a far more powerful thing than the materialistic mentality can possibly understand, and is, in deed, one of the bases of all traditional thought. The planets as such do not "affect" earthly events (although, again, there is no harm in saying that they do in a figurative sense, just as we speak of the sun rising, when in fact it does no such thing), but they are a part of the universal symbolic system of which human life is also a part, and since events in any part of the system are organically bound up with events in any other part, knowledge of one part can always be gained by observation of another, provided the correct symbolic interpretations are understood. Neiher do we mean to suggest that the extra-Saturnian planets are outside this system, for that is a manifest impossibility. Any event, from the movement of a planet to the flight of a bird or the fall of a card can, correctly interpreted, give information about any other event. That is the basis of all divination. Our concern here, however, is not with divination, but with the heptad of principles symbolised in the deepest sense by the seven planets for us in this phase of existence; although the seven principles are themselves universal and affect all material existence far beyond our solar system and beyond the plane of physical matter. They are, in fact, seven "rays" (using the image in a strictly figurative sense) which run throughout the universe from the highest point to the lowest, affecting every creature and phenomenon on every level of existence. At the head of the rays, far "above" the physical plane, stand the seven "planetary" Geniae [Janyati]. amd at their "lowest" point, far "below" the physical plane stand the seven daughters of Eresh-Kigal [Irkalla] who represent the extreme perversion of each of the principles. At every level between these two extreme points, each ray has both a beneficent and a maleficent aspect. We will now proceed to a brief examination of each of the principles, treating particularly their deeper significance in the spiritual pattern of the universe. Each ray is named after the Genia [Janya] governing it. [astronomical symbol of sun] Sun; ray of Theia [Raya]: The sun is, of course, the primary celestial symbol of the Mother, as well as representing pure Essence. The correspondence is a natural one since She is the Creator of the Essential world, and it is only through our turning from Her that we have descended into material existence. The name of the Genia [Janya] also expresses the connection with the Mother. In one sense this is the highest of the principles, but it can never manifest its full potential in any part of the material universe, since Essence cannot exist without Materia; and since the rays do not exist in the same form outside [?] the material universe. This principle always remains a secondary or potential state. In the same way the Mother can never be realised fully while the soul remains in imperfection, for "They can no longer look upon My brightness" (Mythos III, 5) – another obvious correspondence with the symbol of the sun. Because of its pre-lapsarian nature, this principle also governs the "Golden Age" of the western tradition (the symbolic metal of the ray is gold), or the Hindu Devpara Yuga. This is called "the time before the Fall", but refers not to the Cosmic Fall itself, but rather to a lesser fall within the span of the preent humanity. The Golden Age refers to the first and longest phase of the present cycle, of some 20,000 years, when human life was fully attuned to its inner principles, and therefore perfect of it skind. The Golden Age also refers to various lesser periods corresponding to "cycles within cycles". In any cycle, major or minor, the four ages correspond to each other in the ratio 6:3:2:1 so that the first age is four times as long as the last. The units in each case are cycles, so that each cycle is made of ten smaller cycles. The perfect attunement of the Golden Age is also the highest aim of life, and this is poetically expressed in the traditional dictum that the true work of an alchemist is "to separate the Philosophical Gold fromthe Black Dragon of Matter." The symbol of the sun also represents this achievement. In operation, the Theia [Raya] ray is the harmonious, expansive, perfectionist principle, it reflects the virtue of Light or energy as defined in The Crystal Tablet and is also associated with the virtue of generosity. [astronomical symbol of the moon] Moon; ray of Phoebe [Candrë]: the moon is the primary celestial symbol of the Daughter, Who in every sense is the Reconciler of Heaven and Earth. As perfect Maid, She stands between Essence and Materia at every level – that is to say, not only between the two principles in their strict philosophical sense, but also between the inward nature of everything and its outward manifestation: "I am between the ripple and the water; I am between the dancer and the dance; I am between the breathing and the breath; between the lightest word of greeting and the thought from which it flows." (Teachings of the Daughter) This is the highest principle in manifestation, and its symbolic colour, violet, is the highest colour of the spectrum. Its virtue, purity, or cimplicity, is said to contain all the other virtues. It governs the Silver Age, or Tetra Yuga. Astronomically, the moon is earth's satellite, but she does not orbit the earth in the manner of a satellite to its gravitational centre. The earth's pull on the moon is secondary to that of the sun, which is the common centre of attraction for both. This symbolises the position of psyche, divided between the pull of Spirit (sun) and matter (earth), and the continual chioce which is the defining characteristic of Maid. From the perspective of the present earth plane, the Phoebe [Candrë] Ray is particularly connected with the astral and other immediately super-physical spheres and the sphere of the moon is traditionally called "the first heaven". The ray governs contemplation and spiritual development. On a lower level, it governs divination and psychic faculties of all kinds. [astronomical symbol of Venus] Venus; Ray of Tethys [Sushuri]: This is the first of the principles which incorporates Materia, and is therefore fully manifest at every level. The first two rays, and particularly that of Phoebe [Candrë], while certainly present at every level, are never fully "naturalised" in the material world, and are constantly drawing all within their sphere of influence "upwards" and beyond it. The Tethys Ray exists as the life-principle throughout all nature, but, symbolising Spirit dominant over matterm it maintains right relations wherever its influence predominates. In all things, matter serves the spiritual Reality which is its source and essence. Since Essence is the female pole and Materia the male, this is symbolised in a society by a matriarchal order; and the symbol of Venus is traditionally taken as the feminine symbol. The virtue of this ray is love. At the highest level, this is the cosmic love defined in the Crystal Tablet. Love is the natural result of the Spirit-centred life: ...the greatest love is the love of the Goddess, and from this love all other loves flow." (C.T., 49). [modified astronomical symbol Mars, followed by standard symbol in brackets] Mars; Ray of Niké [Vikhë]: This symbol is the reverse of the Venus symbol, or rather, as close to an inversion of it as is possible, for, just as Materia cannot have independent existence, neither can matter fully dominate Spirit. For this reason, the cross (or arrow in some later forms) is placed at an angle of 45 degrees, rather than directly above the circle. In social terms, the inversion of right relations implied by this symbol is represented by a patriarchal order; and due to its inherent spiritual tendency, as well as to the magical vibrations set up by the invocatory symbols** of a male-dominated society, such as order is bound to lead by degrees to a materialistic state in which all spiritual truth is lost, and only matter (and eventually only the physical portion of that) is accepted as "real". Just as the Spirit-centred life leads naturally to love, so the matter centred life leads naturally to disharmony, conflict and strife, which are governed by this ray. It is the lowest of the principles, and its symbolic colour, red, is the lowest of the spectrum. Nevertheless it has its beneficent aspect, and the virtue of courage, which it governs, is necessary at every level of manifest existence. Mars governs the first Iron Age, of which we are now approaching the end in our present sub-cycle. This is the war-torn and materialistic Kali Yuga. There is a strong correspondence between Kali and certain phases of the Niké [Vikhë] Ray, since both represent the necessary destructive principle in manifestation; although Niké herself is a far more positive figure. The penultimate Bronze Age (Satya Yuga) is governed predominantly by Tethys [Sushuri], but also by Themis [Thamë], bronze being an alloy of copper and tin. [crescent over cross, followed by astronomical symbol of Jupiter in brackets] Jupiter; Ray of Themis [Thamë]: In its highest aspect, this principle symbolises the governance of the Daughter over the material world. The name Themis means "order", and the meaning of this is the divine harmony which pervades the universe in its perfect state. Themis is said to be the sister of Tethys [Sushuri]. Both manifest the third virtue of the Crystal Tablet, but whereas Tethys manifests Love in the most usual usage of the word, Themis manifests Love in the sense of harmony or order: "It is Love that holds the stars within their courses ... truly all the cycles of the times and the seasons; all the rhythms of the soul and of the mind and of the body: truly all these flow from the love of our Lady the Maid, that creation may not decompose, each several member flying away into black eternal chaos" (C.T. 34–5). If the full implication of Maid's choice at the Fall had been realised, then cut off from the creative principle of the Mother, cosmos would degenerate into mere formless chaos. This degenerative impulse is represented by the Snake (Cf. Creation II, 2 and 13). But the impulse was checked by the Goddess (II, 15–16), and a new order was established, enabling Maid to continue in existence in a lower sphere – ie the material universe. This new order is symbolised by the appearance of the rainbow, whose seven colours represent the seven principles. The principle of true order has so far been lost in Kali Yuga, that there is no word which adequately expresses it in any modern language. The Sanskrit term Dharma carries the correct sense, althought it has been mistranslated by western scholars and western-educated eastern ones alike. Themis [Thamë], used as an abstract noun is symbolically correct, though its full meaning must be gained through contemplation as well as explanation. Themis governs the customs, activities and the entire Active Life of a spiritually normal community, although to equate it with "law" in the profane sense, or even with morality, is completely to misunderstand it. On a lower level, the principle represents the dominance of the human soul over her material surroundings, and therefore success in enterprises of every sort. The two levels are connected, since ultimate success can only come from acting in accordance with the principle of themis [thamë]. [cross over crescent, followed by astronomical sign of Saturn in brackets] Saturn; Ray of Rhea [Rhavë]: The symbol implies the domination of the human soul by matter, and in its lower manifestations, this principle is often connected with restriction and frustrations of all kinds, it is a limiting influence manifesting inertia. On the other hand, it has positive effects in the sphere of stability and security. Law in the profane sense is governed by Rhea rather than Themis [Thamë]. However, the principle also has a far higher significance, indicated by its virtue, humility. This virtue is second only to the purity of the lunar principle, and is bound up with the mystery of sacrifice. The invocation to Rhea [Rhavë] in the Rite of Offering contains the following words "Pour into the chalice of this soul the virtue of humility ... for it is written that she who would find herself must first lose herself. Madria Rhea, lead this soul into the mystic heart of humility. In the Triad and Tetrad division of the planets, just as sun and moon are attributed to Mother and Daughter respectively, so Saturn is attributed to Absolute Deity, the Dark Mother. Saturn is the inverse of Jupiter, and in a certain sense represents the chaos or degenerative principle which is the reverse of themis [thamë]. But whatever exists on the lowest level applies by inverse analogy to the highest also. In her profoundest esoteric sense, Rhea [Rhavë] represents the mysterious Divine Principle of which the Snake is the maleficent parody. [astronomical sign of Mercury] Mercury; Ray of Metis [Mati]: This ray is pure Intellect. Intelligence also has its virtue, although it is usually called wisdom in deference to the complete misinterpretation which has been almost universally applied to the concept of intelligence in Kali Yuga. Intellect should not be confused with reason. The latter is a material function possessed ina certain degree by all animals, though more highly developed in maid. Intellect is a Divine function which comes "down" from Spirit rather than "up" from matter. Reason is based ont he distinction between subject and object, but the realisation of pure Intellect dissolves all barriers between the "knower" and the "known". The truths of Intellect can never be expressed in words, the formulas which attempt to express them are merely "supports" designed to assist each maid toward her own intellectual "realisation" which is the only means of knowledge. It goes without saying that Intellect is wholly inaccessible to materialistic logic, "science" or "common sense", and that the modern world is quite literally without intelligence, at least in its pure form. Sacred (or metaphysical) science and profane (or physical) sceince are like inverse images of one another. Rational theory is common to both, but the latter is wholly "downward"-directed, toward matter, basing its theories upon physical phenomena, checking them by physical experiments, and "consummating" them by application to physical technology. Sacred science, on the other hand, is based upon, and constantly referred back to the spiritual realisation of, pure Intellect, and its end or consummation is in spiritual progress. Neither one is in a position to contradict the other, since the refer to different orders of reality; but in terms of value-judgement, it is obvious that the higher may assess the lower, but not vice versa. The complete unity of the soul with Reality – the "knower" with the "known" – is symbolised in the combination of all three elements, Heaven, Earth and Maid in one symbol. Maid takes the topmost position since, from the human perspective, it is she who is the "subject" of the realisation – though, like all rational formulations, this is obviously inadequate, since the subject-object relation has in reality dissolved. This principle gives the key to the true meaning of esoteric doctrine. It is not that certain truths are "kept secret" as a matter of policy, but that until a particular soul has reached a certain level of intellectual development, she will not be able to "realise" the truths within herself, and the mere words will be worthless to her, even if they do not lead to harmful misinterpretations. At lower levels, Metis [Mati] governs the communicative principle in all its forms. The Geniae We must now consider briefly the Geniae [Janyati] which govern the seven principles. THe outward forms given here are charged with a powerful symbolism, although the Geniae may appear in visions under different forms. When we speak of, for example, the daughter of a Genia [Janya], we are not, of course, referring to a physical relationship, but to a Genia or other entity operating "below" her in the same sphere. Nevertheless, the image is not merely figurative, but symbolises the ineffable equivalent of a personal relationship as it exists in those who transcend the limits of personality. We will take them in their spectral order. Niké [Vikhë]: Usually seen as a warrior in a metal breastplate and short robe. Her head is wreathed with laurel and she has wings of an extremely wide span. She holds a sword, sometimes flaming. Traditionally she leads the forces of light in battle against the forces of darkness. Theia [Raya]: A mature maid of majestic appearance, surrounded by a golden radiance; often riding upon a lion or drawn in a golden chariot by lions. Sometimes winged, sometimes not, she breathes a spirit of joy and abundance. Metis [Mati]: Takes on many forms, but is often robed in yellow and seated cross-legged with palms facing outward in an attitude of Intellectual realisation and unbroken repose, like eastern representations of Tara. But at other times she becomes Nimwë, the enchantress and trickster. Her spirit animates the Ranya*** and all her unpredictable acts are made to lead the pupil to her own realisation; but theose who trust mere reason she leads in endless circles through the labyrinth of illusion until they shall see the folly of their ways. For matter is illusion and only the "single eye" of Intellect may penetrate it. Her principle daughter is Pallas Athene, the Genia [Janya] of wisdom and knowledge – in true science, based upn eternal Principles rather than on the contingent "facts" of the material realm. Tethys [Sushuri]: dressed in flowing robes, sometimes, though not always, green, often standing upon the waves or surrounded by sea. She is never winged, but is of overwhelming beauty. Her name means "disposer" or "orderer" [?]**** – a title of the Mother as Creatrix, and essentially, she is said to reflect Her creative activity upon the material plane. She is the sister of Themis [Thamë]. Themis [Thamë]: The allegorical figure of "justice" is a corruption of the image of Themis, and sometimes she does hold a pair of scales, but more usually a lyre or other musical instrument, symbolising harmony. Grace and rhythm are her keynotes, rather than severity. The element of balance enters through the strict measure that is required to maintain the precision of music or dance. All her actions, al her movements are in perfect proportion. She is the embodiment of "The universal music of Eternity". She is usually winged and often robed in blue. Her principal daughter is Moira [Werdë], Genia [Janya] of personal fate. Rhea [Rhavë]: may appear as an old woman carrying a scythe, or else as the Earth Mother, bearing a wooden staff, and surrounded by the half-light of deep forest. In each case she is a profoundly mysterious figure surrounded by an air of tremendous ancientness, stretching back beyond the very dawn of time. In both forms also, she is an awe-inspiring figure, but in the first there is also a deep but nameless feeling of dread associated with the vision. Phoebe [Candrë]: a priestess veiled and robed in violet and/or silvery white. She is of a semi-ethereal appearance, and very youthful, often appearing as a child-priestess like those of certain matriarchal societies. She may also appear as Artemis, Our Lady of the Wild Things, sometimes accompanied by a fawn. In each case she is surrounded by a spirit of wildness in the sense of absolute purity and simpliity "Let your souls be simple as the running deer, My children, and your hearts as little children filled with wonder" (Teachings). Her purity leads beyond the boundaries of the world. Ritual Correspondences The following tables give various forms which correspond symbolically to the seven principles, and which may therefore be used and/or visualised in ritual invocation and meditation in order to attune oneself to the appropriate ray and to set up a sympathetic vibration which will attract its influence: Table 1 Planet, Genia [Janya], colour, metal, keynote, tonic scale, Virtue Mars, Niké [Vikhë], red, iron, E, Me, courage Sun, Theia [Raya], orange, gold, C, Do, generosity Mercury, Metis [Mati], yellow, mercury, F, Fa, wisdom Venus, Tethys [Sushuri], green, copper, A, La, love Jupiter, Themis [Thamë], blue, tin, G, So, faith Saturn, Rhea [Rhavë], indigo, lead, B, Te, humility Moon, Phoebe [Candrë], violet, silver, D, Re, purity Table 2 Planet, gem, tree, creature, incense Mars, ruby, holly, wolf, benzoin, aloes, sulphur, tobacco Sun, diamond, birch, lion, saffron, myrrh, cloves, cinnamon Mercury, opal, hazel, ewe, mastic, mace, storax, nutmeg Venus, emerald, apple, dove, rose, amber, patchouli, sandlewood Jupiter, sapphire, oak, eagle, balm, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon Saturn, onyx, alder, crow, civet, musk, aloes, brimstone Moon, crystal, willow, deer, frankincense, white sandlewood, jasmine, copal, eucalyptus *In the Hindu tradition, which is closely related to matriarchal root-philosophies which preceded it, the two poles are called Purusha and Prakriti. **The actions and customs of a social order are, of course, deeply symbolic, and their cumulative ritual force is effective, even if it is not intentional. ***A Ranya is one who has attained Intellectual realisation and guides her pupils to the same achievement. Other paths than that of pure Intellect also have their Ranyas. ****Cognate with Greek τιθέναι Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Planetary Principles Subject The topic of the resource Janyati Description An account of the resource A detailed accounting of the metaphysical principles of janyatology, as well as of the nature, symbolism, and correspondences of the seven great Janyati. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text decline of the ages intellect janyatology metaphysics Sai Candrë Sai Mati Sai Nimwë Sai Raya Sai Rhavë Sai Sushuri Sai Thamë Sai Vikhë Sai Werdë https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/32d563701a27e72a2811368d7dc48fd6.pdf e5f28593015f952977ffe86fe6b67fcc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (2pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document Three Paths into the Secret Garden Contrary to popular belief, it is not especially easy to make the Rosary. Of course, it is easy enough to say the prayers, but to maintain a right concentration upon the Mysteries – a perfect contemplation – requires rare qualities of pure attention and self-giving. To a great degree, these qualities can be developed by daily practice, and by pursuing Divine love and self-control in our lives. How easy we find it will depend on how far we have advanced in this life and those before it. Practice is important, because each devotion deepens and widens the channel to the Interior. Life is important, for not only are our lives reflected in our devotions, but a frequent recall of our love for the Divine and Her love for us in daily life will fill our minds with ideas and images, books and poems, pictures, snatches of sentences, thoughts and scenes, all of which are connected in our minds and feelings with our personal relationship with our Lady. All this jumble of loving fragments will be gathered together and poured helter-skelter into our contemplation, caught up in the rhythm and shape of the Rosary, and moulded and sculpted by it into the pattern and structure of the Eternal Mystery. But there is no need to worry if you find it hard at first. Your very dissatisfaction is a sign that you are conscious of your weakness, and are striving for higher things. When as a child I could not sleep, my mother would tell me that if I lay still I would at least have some rest. The same is true of the Rosary: even when we are unable to enter into the full experience, the very act of following this cosmic prayer-structure will bring powerful spiritual benefit. And, as in all prayer, it must be remembered that the conscious mind is not the whole of us. The Spirit of the Goddess may be working in us at a level deeper than we can know. Whenever we genuinely pray to the best of our ability, we may be assured that this is the case. But there are a number of ways in which we can begin to penetrate deeper into the Mysteries of the Rosary, and to increase our power to contemplate them. I would like to suggest three of these which I have found helpful. But first of all, we must take note of a very important fact: the five decades of the Rosary fall into two very distinct sections – the two Mother decades (the first decade and the last) and the three Daughter decades (the three central decades). These two groups are very different in character. The Mother decades deal more with ideas and realities (the dependence of all things on the Mother for existence – the complete union of self with Her.) The Daughter decades deal more with Divine Events (the Events of the Nativity, Passion and Resurrection.) It is not always best to use the same methods for each; the Daughter decades, for instance, lend themselves much better to the eidetic method than do the Mother decades. The Eidetic Path This is good for keeping the mind fixed, particularly during the Daughter decades. The method is to select one particular image for each bead, so that the mind moves rapidly over a set path. It is a good elementary method, because each image will touch off numerous reactions in the unconscious spiritual memory, while the conscious mind is prevented from wandering. One cannot use the method fully for the first decade, but one can take guiding images from verses 1 – 7 of the Creation, chapter I. For the beads of the Daughter decades, I would suggest the following images from the Mythos: Nativity Decade: 1, the conception upon the waters. 2, the journey and entry into the cavern. 3, the appearance of the Star. 4, the coming of the children of the earth. 5, the appearance and address of the Genia [Janya]. 6, the silence before dawn. 7, the voice from the cavern and the rejoicing of the daughters of Heaven. 8, 9, 10, the adoration of the Mother and Child. Passion Decade: 1 – 7, the seven gates of Hell. 8, the binding of Her hands and the beating. 9, the death. 10, the hanging upon the pillar. (It is important to try to understand the particular sinking dread associated with the seven gates.) OR: 1, the descent into Hell. 2, the questions of the Dark Queen. 3, the binding of Her hands. 4, the beating and humiliation. 5, the kneeling before the Dark Queen. 6, the death. 7, 8, the body upon the pillar. 9, the desolation of the world. 10, the sorrow of the Mother. Resurrection Decade: 1, the shattering of the gate of Hell. 2, the taking down of the body. 3, the sprinkling of water. 4, the awakening of the Daughter. 5, the leading of the souls out of Hell. [6+7 not mentioned in original ms.] 8, the greeting of the children of earth. 9, the ascent into Heaven. 10, the crowning of the Queen of Heaven. The method cannot be used for the final decade, but one may make the Pentacle on oneself after the Eternity and use the Rose-and-Pentacle meditation described in Appendix 1 of the Catechism. The Contemplative Path This involves an intellectual fixing upon the Mysteries themselves. A deep and thoughtful consideration of what they mean, what they are, and of one's own relationship to them. For example, in the second decade, one might fix upon the image of Mother and Child, and let the mind play upon the Truth that though They are two Persons, yet They are one and the same. This is not always an easy method, but it can be a very rewarding one. (Incidentally, it is a good idea to keep a record of any thoughts which strike you as important.) The Emotional Path In this method we attempt to realise the Mysteries through emotion. Again, the Daughter decades provide the most directly accessible material for this, but the final decade can become the most emotionally significant of all as it becomes more fully understood. Both the Mother decades call forth an emotion of wonder or glory, which is a little harder to achieve than those of the Daughter decades. The emotional pattern of the Rosary is absolutely symmetrical, moving from wonder to joy (Nativity), to sorrow (Passion), to joy again (Resurrection), to wonder again. But the wonder and joy of the first half are different from those of the second half. It is hard to describe the subtle shades of emotion, but these are brought out naturally by the consideration of the different Mysteries. In the first half they are fresh and bright, like the new moon. In the second, they are full and glorious, like the full moon. In this method, one must throw aside the normal social restraints upon emotion, and allow oneself to feel fully the emotions of the Daughter decades, letting it come through in the tone of the voice and the attitude and movements of the body. In practice, of course, every meditation will contain something of all three methods. Nor do these three exhaust the possibilities of the Rosary. The Mother Decades In what has been said, it may have seemed that the Mother decades are somewhat apart from the rest of the Rosary. But in fact they make a perfect and indispensable entry to and consummation of the Mysteries of the Daughter. In the first decade, we shift our perception from the everyday acceptance of our material surroundings, and remind ourselves of their original nature as Divine Ideas and their perpetual dependence on the continuing creative Act of the Mother for their very existence. In this decade, I sometimes look at the ground on which I rest, and recall that this very place was once part of the roaring seas of primordial Chaos; that it is created by a deliberate Act of the Divine Will which sustains it in every moment. With this realisation of the Absolute, it is far easier to realise the Absolute nature of the events of the Mythos. In the final decade, the emotional and mental experience built up by the Daughter decades – the joy of Nativity, the sorrow and apprehension of the Passion, the exultant happiness of the Resurrection – come to a climax in the Fire of the Rose. Suddenly we are asked to give ourselves; to offer ourselves completely to our Mother, keeping nothing back, to become consumed in the fire of Her love. The whole meaning of all the decades is suddenly concentrated into one utterly personal demand. It is the ultimate demand of religion – the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate ecstasy. Of course one will not experience this on every occasion but even in the most earthbound recital of the final decade, the fullness of this experience lies folded like a rose within the bud. * Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Three Paths into the Secret Garden Subject The topic of the resource rosary, meditation Description An account of the resource Instructions and suggestions for performing the Westrenne rosary according to the Madrian technique. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Absolute meditation Mythos Passion Resurrection rosary vyamati vyasucri https://filianicstudies.org/cms/files/original/9aa3ad13cd7de40b9b9face13e759b31.pdf 81961df09930265c5b0cd1596cae36a2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Madrian Literature Circle Description An account of the resource Documents issued by the Madrian Literature Circle between 1973 and 1982. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-1982 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data loose leaf, typewritten (2pp.) Text Any textual data included in the document Thoughts on Our Lady She is more beautiful than a starry night, with the bright sparks peeping out of a blue heaven. She is more beautiful than a rainbow, appearing out of a grey, cloudy sky. She is like unto the snow, lying crisp and fresh and pure upon the virgin fields; like the fiery heat of a summer's afternoon; like the first snowdrop of spring and the last rose of autumn. She is the setting of the sun in a blaze of pink glory, and like unto its dawning. She is the rising of the moon, and like unto its setting. She is every colour of the spectrum; from rich, deep red to the palest violet. She is the cool light of silver, and the glorious blaze of gold. She is the depth of copper and the heaviness of lead. She is the supple sleekness of a cat, and the nobility and grace of a stag. She is like to every creature – from the stealthiness of a lion to the swiftness of a cheetah, from the brilliance of a bird-of-paradise to the strength of an eagle. All pleasures in these creatures are pleasures in Her, for She is the source of their beauty, all beauty. She is everything that makes a place into a home; She is everything that makes a dwelling place a refuge. For She is our true home, our only home; and anywhere that we call home in this place is but a faint reminder of Her. Every blazing fire we sit around, telling stories and roasting chestnuts, the comfort and happiness we feel, all is but a faint and dimmed reflection of Her. She is HOME. She is warmth and comfort, a haven after the horrors and terrors of the night, the dark night that we have journeyed through to come home. She is Love, the safety and security we feel when in the arms of one we love. She is belonging, because we belong with Her, we belong to Her. And She has kept our places by the fire safe for us to return to, for She is like unto the mother whose daughter has run away from home. Every night she lights the fire in her daughter's room in case she should return that night, and never locks the door so she may always enter. She never lets another child sit in her place, for she is always praying that her daughter will return. To come to us, She suffered home-sickness that we shall never know, a loneliness of soul too great for us to contemplate. For She is home to us, and we must always feel not quite right in this world because it is not our home. How much more is She Her own home! Yet gladly She tore Herself apart, that we might come back to Her. That the door may always be open, She has vowed not to return until the last child of earth has come back home. The agony of loneliness, the aching heart, these things She knows to the ultimate degree. Yet She bears them willingly – She did not have to suffer. She broke the Law to save us, and the Law is Herself. She has paid the price for us. And we are tired of this place, this world. It has promised us happiness, and given us misery. It has offered a handful of promises in exchange for our heavenly birth-right, and the promises have turned to dust in our hands. It tells us to wait, that next week, next month, next year, it will have found a way to happiness for us all. And yet....we know how to find happiness, how to find home, how to find that all-consuming love in which to rejoice. Shall we listen longer, then, to the cries of the world? No, because we are children who have run from our Mother, we are tired and lonely, and we are going home at last. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Thoughts on Our Lady Description An account of the resource A poetic account of the nature of our Mother God. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Personal collection of David Kay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Madrian Literature Circle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1980 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Daughter devotional literature Passion