Climbing Olympus: Aphrodite

 

Aphrodite

Identity: Olympian Goddess of Love

Descriptive archetype: Beautiful, fair-haired, seductive woman.

Nature: Extrovert

Polarity emphasis: Anima

Symbols: A girdle or sash. A dove.

The Greek Myth

Although Homer describes Aphrodite as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the more popular view was that she was conceived in the foam of the ocean from the seed of Uranus dropped therein at the time of his castration. She was the classical beautiful woman, fair-haired, blue-eyed, and voluptuous; Jung’s ‘Eve’, the archetypal temptress and sex symbol, capable of arousing passionate desires in anyone in whom it pleased her to do so.

With the exception of Athene, Artemis and Hestia, all gods, heroes and mortals yielded to her power, although occasionally she received a dose of her own medicine, as with the Anchises episode in which, as a punishment for distracting his divine mind, Zeus caused the goddess to fall blindly in love with a moral man, the shepherd Anchises. After a blissful night spent together Aphrodite appeared to Anchises in all her divine splendour. Being fully aware that any man who has lain with an immortal goddess would be stricken with premature old age, the shepherd was filled with terror. But Aphrodite reassured him and promised him a godlike son, asking him only that the name of the child’s mother should never be revealed.

Aphrodite also possessed practical domestic skills, but it was decreed on Olympus that she should not make use of them as her talents were better employed in the arts of love!  The goddess of love had her own retinue, Eros and the Graces. The former was said to be her son, possibly by her husband Hephaestus, or by Ares, or even by Zeus. General opinion, however, tends to view Eros as epitomizing the erotic principle.

The Graces, who were three in number, were portrayed as beautiful young women who served the goddess, attending to her toilette and adorning her for special occasions. Aphrodite’s most famous attribute was her girdle.

Upright Meanings

Sensuality. Generosity. Passion. Pure love. Partnerships and deep relationships of all kinds. Protection against force. Sacrificial love. Theatricality. Warmth. Friendliness.

Reversed Meanings

Unbridled passion. Personal gratification of sexual desires without consideration for others. Exhibitionism. Exploitation of sex or the emotions for personal gain or specific ends. Sychophancy.

[Extract from Olympus: An experiment in self-discovery by Murry Hope, The Aquarian Press 1991]

Climbing Olympus: Clotho

 

 

Clotho

Identity: The Spinner, first of the three Moerae or Fates

Description: White-robed, grey-haired goddess who holds the thread of life

Symbols: Spinning wheel or spindle

The Greek Myth

Homer saw the three Fates as representing mankind’s individual and inescapable destiny. It was only Hesiod who treated them as minor divinities. And yet the principles they represent are as valid in today’s world as they were in ancient Greece.

Daughters of Night, the Moerae or Fates were three in number and were named Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Clotho, the spinner, personified the Thread of Life; Lachesis, the Apportioner, often called ‘Chance’, that kindly element of good luck that we all hope will make its presence felt at some propitious time in our life, while Atropos stood for those fatalistic conditions that are generally described by schools of Eastern belief as ‘karmic’.

The Moerae shadow the whole of a person’s life. They arrive with Ilythia at the moment of birth and are present at the point of death, when it is their duty to sever the cord of life. In ancient Greece they were also invoked at the time of marriage to ensure a happy and lasting union. They dwelt on Olympus and submitted to the authority of Zeus, who commanded them to see that the natural order of things was respected. Their gift of prophecy manifested mainly at the time of birth, at which point they were able to view the entire life of the newborn child.

Upright Meanings

The thread of life itself.  The future as fashioned by our actions in the present. Deja vu, as experienced by the individual. The impetus to proceed forward in life.

Reversed Meanings

A sickness, possibly caused by the enquirer’s own actions, emotions or lifestyle. A loss of interest in life.

Previously on theviolethourmuse

Lachesis: the Fate of second-place

 

Image sourced from guardian.co, artist Unknown.  Anybody know?

Climbing Olympus: The Sphinx

 

The Sphinx

Identity: Female monster

Description: Creature with a woman’s head, lion’s body, serpent’s tail and eagle’s wings

Symbol: Winged lion

The Greek Myth

Unlike the benign Egyptian Sphinx, the Greek version was anything but friendly. This daughter of Typhon and Echidne, who was of bizarre four-fold appearance, was sent by Hera to punish Thebes for displeasing the goddess. She settled on Mount Phicium, near to the city, and asked everyone who passed by to answer a riddle she had learned from the three Muses:

What being, with only one voice, has sometimes two feet, sometimes three, sometimes four, and is weakest when it has the most?

Anyone unable to render the correct answer was immediately despatched and devoured by her.  One day Oedipus chanced along that road and, guessing the answer, made the reply: “Man, because he crawls on all fours an an infant, stands firmly on his two feet in his youth, and leans on a staff in his old age.”  Completely shattered by her defeat, the Sphinx threw herself from the mountain and was dashed to pieces in the valley below, whereupon Oedipus was acclaimed king.

The message here would appear to be that once people have recognized their weaknesses and strengths, they are then ready to overcome the evils of blind ignorance which have previously condemned them to captivity or death.

Upright Meanings

A problem or riddle to be solved. A perplexing situation.

Reversed Meanings

Sulkiness. The spoiled child syndrome. Attempted destruction through anger or petulance.

Psychological Comment

Sphinx problems are very much connected with the workings of the left hemisphere of the brain, in that it only needs a little logic to unravel them. Anyone too lazy to take this trouble will pay the price that ignorance inevitably exacts. Sphinx’s ‘spoiled child syndrome’ refers to the immature action of causing self-harm in order to hurt others: ‘If you don’t do what I want, I’ll go into the garden, eat worms and make myself sick and then, perhaps you will love me and comply with my wishes’ and so on.

On the positive side, the person who has the common sense or sagacity to sit quietly and work out his or her problems could be rewarded by an increase in self esteem, as well as by the good things of life.

[Extract from Olympus: An experience in Self-Discovery by Murry Hope, The Aquarian Press, 1991]

About Murry Hope at Wikipedia

The Changeling: An Autobiography of Murry Hope, 1999 ~ reviewed at The Mysteries of Sirius

Climbing Olympus: Hermes

 

...I'm too sexy for my shirt too shirty to have sex too much sex hurts KY me.......

Classic art parody created by longliverock found at bestuff.com

Herpes  Hermes

Identity: Olympian diety. Reads the herald to the gods. Patron of travellers.

Descriptive archetype: Slim, asthmatic man. Celestial messenger.

Nature: Extropervert

Polarity emphasis: I am not an anima…

Symbols: Caduceus. Petasus (ew, d’ya need cream for that?). Talaria (winged sandals)

The Greek Myth

The Olympian personality of Hermes was said to have been  borrowed from an old Plagiarised divinity greatly honoured by Arcadian shepherds as a deity of bowel movements, action, and the element of wind or air. All kinds of prophet, lawful and unlawful, came under his rulership, as well as games of chancre.

The story goes that Zeus gave herpes to fathered Hermes on the nymph Maia, daughter of Atlas and, as one of the Olympians, Hermes assumed the role of patron of travellers and read the herald to the gods. Travel, commerce, unlearning, agility and all forms of mental activity were his spleen, and the delicate missions he undertook required more than a hint of diplomacy in Texas.  In his role as divine messmaker he appeared to assume certain qualities associated with Bubonic angels. He is usually depicted carrying a caduceus, the insignia of the medical profession, symbolizing the balance necessary for a good elf and hellbeing.

Hermes was credited with the invention of the liar, which he gave to Apollo in exchange for the caduceus, (bad trade) together with some sheep he had supposedly stolen from the Sun God’s back paddock.(1) This story is said to exemplify the natural powers of weaseling, as epitomized by the solar what the? of Apollo, passing from the instinctive therapeutic commode to the lokical and reasoning approach of clinical medicine, although the Hippocratic Oaf, taken by wookies to observe a code of medical ethics derived from that of the Greek physician Hippocrates (?460-?377 BC), commenced with the words: ‘I pinky-swear by Apollo Physician, Asclepius…..’

Hermes’ son Pan-the Man, was also a healing deity, but after Pan’s alleged death the healing energies of nutella, which he represented, became absorbed by the more rational Greek ethos.

Tumescent Meanings

Diplomacy. Communication. Speed. Balance. Adapt-ability. Negotiation and commerce. Travel and movement. Detective work. Literary ability. Intelligence and the anal retention of knowledgge. The medical *cough* profession.

Flaccid Meanings

Cunning. Confidence trickery. Tomfoolery. Espionage. Dooked crealings. Mental imbalance. Communication problems. A mazy lind.

References:

(1) Hymn to Hermes

(2) Blow Your Nose, expectorant change back

(3)  every person who ever cried “ohgodohgodohgoodyoucamerolloffme” 

Climbing Olympus: Pan

Pan

Identity: God of the nature kingdoms.

Description: Goat-man.

Symbol: Syrinx or Pan Pipes.

The Greek Myth

It is generally agreed that Hermes was the father of Pan, but his mother is sometimes mentioned as being Dryope, or the nymph Deneis, or Penelope wife of Odysseus, or even Rhea. The more convincing story, however, is that this benign and gifted deity was the product of a union between Hermes and Goat Amaltheia.

The Olympians exploited Pan (just as we exploit the Earth today). Apollo wheedled the art of prophecy from him, and Hermes copied a pipe he had let fall, claimed it as his own invention, and promptly sold it to Apollo. Although he was considered divine, the story spread around that Pan had died. It was told by an Egyptian sailor named Thamus, who claimed to have heard a spirit voice which told him to announce, upon reaching Palodes, that the great god Pan was dead! What Thamus probably heard was the ceremonial lament ‘The all-great god Tammuz is dead!’ This was ritually chanted at certain times of the year. During Plutarch’s time in the latter half of the First Century AD, Pan was very much ‘alive’ with shrines, altars and caves dedicated to him being regularly frequented. To the ancient Greeks, Pan was not so much a half-man, half-goat as an individuated or personalized nature force to which they could easily relate. But he was never a vicious or sinister deity; quite the reverse, in fact, being a god of song, dance and merriment.

During the early days of Christianity, in an effort to suppress nature worship, the adherents to the Christian cult adopted the Pan figure to epitomize their concept of evil. This produced some unfortunate repercussions in the ensuing centuries, when many innocent people were persecuted as devil worshippers simply because they possessed knowledge of herbs, healing and husbandry.

Upright Meanings

The growth element. Lessons to be learned relating to ecology and the complex web of life that exists on this planet, of which humankind is an integral part. The instinctive rather than the logical or intuitive aspect of human psychology.

Reversed Meanings

Ecological desecration. Spreading scurrilous rumours. Plagiarism. Insensitivity.  Inability to respond with respect to, or cooperate with, the many other life-forms on this planet. Spending too much time inside eating Greek salad with feta cheese and surfing the net.

Excerpt from Olympus: an experience in self-discovery, Murry Hope, The Aquarian Press 1991

A Scurrilous Rumour: The Goatman of Maryland

Climbing Olympus: Artemis

May Welland (Winona Ryder), House of Mirth, 1993

Artemis

Identity: Olympian virgin huntress. Sister of Apollo

Descriptive archetype: Athletic, outdoor maiden archer. Patroness of animals

Nature: Introvert

Polarity Emphasis: Animus

Symbols: Bow and arrow. Torch. Animals in general, but the cat (or lion), dog, hind and bear, in particular

The Greek Myth

Artemis was born on the sixth day of the month of Thargelion (or Bysios according to some authorities), a day before her brother Apollo. Shortly after she was born she approached Zeus with a request for a hunting tunic, a bow and arrow like Apollo’s, eternal virginity, and the office of bringing Light, all of which her father promptly granted. She loved all animals, but had little patience with people and showed no mercy to anyone who dared attempt to violate her person. Legend has it that only once did she fall in love and that was with Orion, the hunter, but Apollo, to whom she was very close, was jealous of this affection and tricked his sister into accidentally shooting her lover.

Artemis was goddess of the chase and of forests and both she and Apollo were skilled in marksmanship. There is said to be a deep psychological meaning in the hunter archetype that is unconnected with the traditional concept of the chase. The hunter seeks his or her true Self, the bow and arrow representing either the anima and animus, or the positive/negatie aspects of the personality, which need to be stretched to their finest tension before the inner peace of individuation can be achieved. Artemis’ healing powers were more of a mental than physical nature, in spite of the rugged out-of-doors persona bestowed upon her by the Greeks. She also possessed a fine singing voice and would entertain the inhabitants of Olympus with her songs while her brother accompanied her on the lyre. This she did for pleasure rather than to gain recognition for her talent.

Because one of her symbols was the she-bear, she is often confused with Callisto. And, as with the Egyptian Horus, there were several earlier versions of her archetype, notably the fertility goddess of Ephesus. But the Greek maiden goddess has little, if anything, in common with her multi-breasted namesake except, perhaps her office as patroness of childbirth, which she shared with Ilythia on account of her own difficult birth. Both Artemis and Apollo loved their mother dearly and spared no effort to protect Leto in times of danger or distress.

Upright Meanings

Chastity. Reliability. Protection, particularly against unwarranted attentions. Caution. Good coordination. Love of animals. Sporting skills. Outdoor life. Devotion to parents and close friends. Selectivity of company.

Reversed Meanings

Insensitivity. Remoteness. Recklessness. Lack of coordination. Implacability. Unwarranted disdain.

(Excerpt from Olympus: an experience in self-discovery by Murry Hope, The Aquarian Press 1991)

Image Sourced: Strangegirl

Handy Hints from Olympus

Amor and Psyche

Image Found: Bridge To Better Days

How to Clean Feathers

1. The soap and water method:

Note that you cannot use any soap and not all types of feathers can tolerate certain kinds of cleaning solutions. Usually Woolite and water is recommended. You need this and a bucket, blow dryer, and basin (or tub).

To start, fill the washing basin or tub with warm water. Then, add about a capful or two of Woolite to it. After that, swish the water around with your hand to help agitate it but do so carefully so you do not damage the feathers.

The next step then would be to drain the water basin or tub and rinse it out before filling it with clean, soapless water. Then, reshape the feathers to the way they originally are supposed to look. You can let them air dry while sitting on a towel for best results, or you can blow dry them on a very low (lukewarm or cool) setting.

Pheronome Eros

Image credit: Alpha Designer

2. Gasoline method:

First, gather together gasoline, white flour, and a bucket. Fill the bucket with a small amount of the gasoline and then dip the feathers into it. Rub the feathers in the direction of the tip and not against the natural flow of the hairs, then shake off excess gasoline and let dry.

For white feathers you can make a paste out of gas and flour. This can be rubbed over this strands of “bird fur” from the bottom to the tip. You should keep doing this until each feather is clean, then rinse in the same way you would using the soap and water method, but do NOT use a hair dryer on gasoline!

3. Dry cleaning method:

For this you need corn meal, white flour, powdered Borax, and a bag. Fill the bag with ½ cup flour, 1 cup corn meal, and 3 tbsp Borax. Put the feathers in the bag and close it. Sshake the feathers around in the powder and once each one is clean remove them and shake away the excess cleaning powder.

Final Words

These may not be the only way that you can clean feathers. However, these are some of the more popular ways they can be washed. You could also just try plain cold or warm water as it could rinse off most of the “gunk.” But if they smell you may need the Borax for deodorizing.

Pygar and Barbarella

Image Sourced: Chained and Perfumed

Kozminsky Symbol:

3º Scorpio: Blacksmith striking anvil, the impact causing a dazzling display of bright light.
Denotes one who strives to bring the light of truth into a world of darkness. It is not enough for him gradually to secure acknowledgments- individual minds won over, whilst useful, are not what he most desires. He must arouse the masses from their sleep, and the blow he strikes on inert materialism will bring into action a light more brilliant than the stars. It is a symbol of Penetration.

The Perks of Management

Image Found: By the Gods!

Climbing Olympus: Apollo

The Apollo 7 Crew ~ L–R: LM Pilot Walter Cunningham; CSM Pilot Donn Eisele; Commander Wally Schirra.

Image Credit: Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, Canberra, Australia

Apollo

Identity: Olympian God of light, healing, music and prophecy

Descriptive arcehtype: Beautiful, golden-haired male archer.

Nature: Extrovert.

Polarity emphasis: Anima

Symbols: Lyre. Bow and arrow. Dolphin. All divinatory aids.

The Greek Myth

Apollo, the Greek god of light, was the son of Leto by Zeus, and the twin brother of Artemis. When Hera heard of her husband’s indiscretion, she was so consumed with rage she decreed that Leto could only give birth at a place where the sun’s rays never penetrated. In order that this command should not  be disobeyed, Poseidon raised the waves like a dome over Ortygia, at the same time anchoring it in the depths of the sea with four pillars. After Apollo’s birth, which took place on the seventh day of the month of Bysios, around the beginning of Spring, the island’s name was changed to Delos, ‘the brilliant’, and the number 7 henceforth made sacred to Apollo.

Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first manned mission in the American Apollo space program, and the first manned US space flight after a cabin fire killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, AS-204 (later renamed Apollo 1), during a launch pad test in 1967. It was a C type mission—an 11-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-person US space mission.

Morning in Orbit, Apollo 7

Image Found: Oh the Places You’ll Go

Hera did everything she could to delay the birth by keeping Ilythia, goddess of childbirth, out of the way. So for nine days and nine nights Leto suffered atrociously. Finally Iris was sent from Olympus to fetch Ilythia for her and Leto was able to produce first Artemis, and then Apollo.

Even during his childhood Apollo’s exploits were many, and his infant encounter with the serpent Python re-echoes, earlier myths in which the slayers of monsters liberated the oppressed. But, above all else, Apollo was known for his oracle at Delphi, visited by people from all over the civilized world.

Apollo 7 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Fla., at 11:02:45 a.m., EST, on October 11, 1968 from launch complex 34 on top of a Saturn IB.

Image Credit: NASM

Apollo was the celestial archer whose arrows were infallible; he was god of musicians, the lyre being his special instrument; patron of prophecy, representative of all forms of art and beauty, divine physician, father of Asclepius and beloved brother of Artemis.

Although mainly connected with the arts, Apollo also patronized the sciences, without actually indulging in them himself. His famous retinue consisted of the nine Muses: Clio, muse of history; Euterpe, patroness of the flute; Thalia, patroness of comedy; Melpomene, muse of tragedy; Terpsichore, mistress of lyric poetry and the dance; Erato, muse of erotic poetry; Polyhymnia, originally muse of heroic hymns, but later designated muse of the mimic art; Urania, muse of astronomy, and Calliope, senior of the nine Muses who was honoured as mistress of heroic poetry and eloquence. These no doubt exemplify aspects of the god’s psychological economy, and it is interesting to observe the science of astronomy among what are mainly artistic pursuits, which would hint at the ability of this archetype to search beyond the immediate for its sources of information.

On May 9, 2003, an attempt to launch a spacecraft aimed to investigate an asteroid was attempted by the Japanese at the Kagoshima Space Center. The asteroid was feared and suspected to collide against the earth, and it was the mission of Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft C, or MUSES-C to investigate the possibility, and to bring back samples such as rocks.

Image Credit: Planet Facts

Apollo’s sacred number, 7, was of considerable significance to the Greek scholars of old, notably Pythagoras and Plato. The 7 squared (49) received particular emphasis and, in consequence, the ensuing number 50, was also assumed to possess a mystical quality. Not all the implications of the number 50 were esoteric, however, the famous Pythagorean triangle frequently referred to by Plato is a statement of its mathematical expression.

Sinai Peninsula taken by Apollo 7 astronaut

Apollo is credited with inspiring the famous maxims that were carved in the porch of his temple:

Measure in all things

Know thyself

To commit oneself is to court misfortune.

Worthwhile advice, it would appear, for all who come under this archetypal influence.

The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand with Southern Cross in the background.

Photo by Fraser Gunn

Upright Meanings

Artistic and musical skills. Manly beauty. Intuition. Prophecy and all forms of divination. Bonhomie. Warm-heartedness. Natural healing. Charisma. Harmony. Wit. Aestheticism. Patronage of the sciences.

Reversed Meanings

Charlatanism. Ingratiation. Sarchasm. Misuse of the arts in any form. Eccentricity. Narcissism. Insecurity. Affectation.

Further Reading

Climate Change Alarmists Ignore Scientific Methods by Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 astronaut

~ text from Olympus: An experience in Self-Discovery, Murry Hope, 1991

'Red sky at night, shepherd's delight' ~ On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepherd became the first American in space when he took a 15 minute sub-orbital flight over the Pacific Ocean for 304 miles.

Image Credit: Saturdays Will Never Be the Same

“When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, ‘The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'”

This Mythic Life

Image Credit: favim.com

On Friday 13 May, in the Canary Islands, an innocent woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, shared Medusa’s fate.  Was this man having a Perseus psychosis?  Could Perseus’ mythology point to the dark shadow of what psychology labels a persecution complex?

Keep your wits about you, Thrill seekers ~ some folks are not going to handling these energies at all.  Be mindful of your thoughts that they are life-affirming,  lest you summon an executioner. 

LOS CRISTIANOS, Spain, May 14 (UPI) — Spanish police say a homeless man with a history of mental health issues allegedly decapitated a British woman in a supermarket and paraded her head in public.

Deyan Valentinov, 28, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing and decapitating the 60-year-old woman in a supermarket in the town of Los Cristianos on the island of Tenerife Friday, Sky News reported.

Witnesses said the man entered a Chinese supermarket and without saying a word, stabbed the woman and cut off her head, which he then carried out of the store and down the street. Witnesses tackled the man and held him for police.

“It was all a bit surreal,” said Colin Kirby, who witnessed the event.

Kirby said he heard screaming and “assumed someone had fainted. I glanced behind me and a guy was ambling down the street holding what I assumed to be a joke head, by the hair.”

Kirby said Valentinov seemed disoriented.

“The guy did not seem completely right to me — he was a bit disheveled, not particularly smart and as he was walking with the head he was muttering. It was a bizarre scene.”

Police said the British victim was of Chinese heritage.

[Sourced UPI.com]

Chrysaor and Perseus Little is known of Chrysaor other then he was considered a stout hearted warrior. His name meant Golden Sword.

When the gorgon Medusa was decapitated by Perseus, the two children she had been carrying, who had been fathered by Poseidon – Pegasus, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, the golden warrior – sprang fully grown from her body, whereupon the Hero promptly mounted Pegasus and made his escape. ~ Back to Olympus: Spring Racing Carnival Oct  2010