What do you know about Apollo? (A to Z)

8 Comments January 29, 2008 at 11:40 am by mahud

I’d like to try something new. Every week or so, I’ll pick a Deity (in alphabetical order), and from memory write all I can remember from myth, archaeology, experience, or elsewhere, relating to that Deity. It would be great if you could play along in the comments. Also, feel free to add or correct any of the given info.

Here’s my attempt…

Apollo

Artemis’ twin and son of Zeus and Leto, who gave birth to both of them beneath a tree on an island somewhere in Greece. Apollo Killed the Python who guarded the Oracle at Delphi and claimed it as his own. I think the dictum “Know thyself” hung above the entrance to the oracle. I imagine that Apollo has a symbolic mirror, which is the sun, the indestructible face of divinity that reflects back upon his devotees, although I’m unaware of any tradition claiming that Apollo had a mirror or it was a cult object associated with Apollo. Animals associated with Apollo are mice and serpents. I think in classical sculpture he is depicted holding a serpent staff (Caduceus), like his son Aesculapius (the divine physician), who, Zeus blasted with a thunder bolt, for practicing the art of physical resurrection. Apollo got his own back by slaying the Cyclops who forged the bolt, but had to pay penance of some kind

In the Iliad, Apollo inflicts plagues upon the Greek armies because Agamemnon refused to return Apollo’s priest’s daughter. I’m uncertain of Apollo’s origins but at some point he upgraded as a sun God. It was at the feast of Apollo (winter solstice I think), that Odysseus finally returned to the Island of Ithaca. Hermes stole Apollo’s cattle, and in recompense created the five-stringed tortoiseshell lyre, which he gave to Apollo.

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses he falls in love with a nymph called Daphne. He chases her, but to escape his advances, she changes herself into a laurel tree.

I’m sure a mortal challenged Apollo to a contest with the lyre. I can’t recall the details, but the mortal lost and, I think, was hung on a tree and flayed alive. nasty.

Where is my Paganism? (part 1)

6 Comments January 23, 2008 at 7:54 am by mahud

It was great to discover a recent post at Simple Magics: Solitary Series - Venturing into the Community. I’m uncertain where my interest in Paganism is taking me. I’ve recently delved deeper into Wicca. I’ve read various introductory stuff off the internet and Google Books, and have read (and skimmed) through Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. Another site I’ve found useful was Blue Moon Wicca: Solitary.

As I came to Paganism, I was largely influenced by Joseph Campbell’s believe that “myth is metaphor,” and I still feel that this is true to an extent, but I am increasingly being open to the belief in other Gods and Goddesses. I am at least attempting to open myself up to the possibility that polytheistic deities as individuals, and I want to get to know them.

Over recent months I have been honouring the God Cernunnos upon an altar, but not so much as a distinctly divine entity in his own right, but rather as a, I guess, archetypal Dying (and Rising) God, which I feel is the way ahead for me, but I also want to know the Gods, Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysos, on a personal level as well as a archetypal level. I wonder how far their mythologies of death (and rebirth) deities, really point towards one specific Deity, or many different Gods/Goddesses who share the same basic mythology.

I’m sure I post more ramblings related to this question soon.

On another note, I’ve really been trying to finish the third installment of Diarmaid and the Cosmic Boar (The Cosmic Double-Death of Re-Creation: Part 3). I’ve managed a few paragraphs, and would really love to finish this soon. Sorry about the delay.

The Baptism of the Lord

0 Comments January 12, 2008 at 1:29 am by mahud

Baptism of Jesus in the Hortus Deliciarum

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches after Epiphany, while the Eastern Orthodox Commemorates Jesus’ baptism on Epiphany ^1..

It is not the day when Christ was born that should be called Epiphany”, says St. John Chrysostom, “but the day when He was baptized. Not through His birth did he become known to all, but through his Baptism. Before the day of Baptism he was not known to the people ^2..

Such Epiphanies in the N.T (including the transfiguration, and the resurrection appearances) primarily reveal a divine calling which correspond with the O.T commissioning of the Prophets, such as the divine commission of Ezekiel who witnessed the heavens opening, heard the voice of God and received the Spirit (Ezekiel 1:1, 28; 2:1-2) ^3.. In the case of Jesus’ baptism, the baptismal narrative found in Mark reveals Jesus calling to be reminiscent of Ezekiel. The heavens are dramatically “Torn Apart,” the Spirit descends in the form of a dove, and Jesus’ mission as both Messiah (Psalm 2:7) and Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42:1) is sanctioned by the divine voice “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11) ^4.5.. Furthermore what appears in Mark to be a personal revelation to Jesus, becomes in Matthew a revelation to all who were present, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) ^6..

Despite the likely embellishments in the Synoptic Gospels, the baptism of Jesus by John is accepted by Biblical Historians as a historical event. According to McDonnell, “What gives credence to the historicity of the event of Jesus’ baptism is the realization that the early Christian community would not fabricate an event that would cause so many difficulties and demands explanation.” ^7.. This thorny issue is already apparent in Matthew, where John (whose baptism was one of repentance and hardly applicable to one who was without sin), objects by saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Here the Christological mythos supersedes the historical, by transforming the baptismal rite of John into the Baptism of the Christ for the Christian Church. According to the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, “Jesus requests baptism apparently not simply in order to identify himself with sinners but primarily ‘to fulfill all righteousness’” (Matthew 3:15):

“To fulfill” can be translated “To bring to completion or perfection.” Jesus’ own baptism is thus an identifying sign about Jesus himself. He is the one who completes the intention of God, who brings to perfection all that God has envisioned since creation. Christian baptism is thus less a negation (in token of renunciation) than an affirmation of being incorporated into Christ, who is the perfection of all God wills, and thus of being granted new life as a gift ^8..

Here baptism is taking on a new meaning. The baptism of Jesus is becoming a mythic image of death and re-creation. Jesus himself uses baptism as a “metaphor for his death,” ^9. when James and John ask to sit on his right and left in his glory (Mark 10:37), and he replies, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). In Mark there are ever stronger mythic parallels associating Jesus’ baptism with his death. Whereas Matthew and Luke use the Greek word anoigo meaning ‘opening’ describing the parting of the heavens, Mark dramatically uses the word schism, which he uses only once more when describing the tearing of the temple curtain at the moment of Jesus’ death. Burridge further tells us, “Significantly, the tearing of the heavens is followed by a voice from heaven saying that Jesus is ‘my beloved Son’ (1.11); the tearing of the Temple veil leads into the declaration by the centurion, ‘Truly, this man was the Son of God’ (15.39)” ^10..

In Isaiah the prophet calls out to God, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” (64:1-2). Roger Van Harn comments, concerning the violent heavenly rending at Jesus’ baptism, “Instead of revealing a thunderclap, a whirlwind, or a devastating lightening strike, the open heavens reveal a dove in descent, resting upon Jesus” ^11.. Here we are touching upon another mythological theme within the threshold of of cosmic destruction and re-creation, as well as other symbolic biblical themes that here find parallels in the Old Testament. Quoting again from Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible,

This motif of bringing to completion all that God intends makes sense of otherwise obscure allusions in the narratives of Jesus’ baptism. The Synoptics (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22) mention water and a voice, together with the descent of the Spirit — all reminiscent of God’s spirit hovering over the waters and speaking creation into existence in Gen 1:1-5. Thus Jesus at his baptism is identified as the one who fulfills the old creation by instituting the new creation…. Similarly the figure of the dove further identifies him as the new Noah (Gen. 8:8-12), thus intensifying the motif of the new creation.^12.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, also connects the mythic symbolism of Jesus’ baptism with the dynamic power of his death and resurrection when he says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” ( 6:4), and again in 2 Corinthians where he says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (5:17).

Hugo Rahner also sees the connection in Christian tradition of the death of Jesus with his baptism, saying, “In order to give effect to this mental juxtaposition of cross and baptism in a visual image, it… [was] …customary in art to place the cross in the middle of the Jordan and the same notion is expressed in literary form. One of the ideas here is certainly that which we examined earlier—the idea of the tree of life standing by the source of the rivers of Paradise…..” This can be seen in the depiction of Jesus’ Baptism in the Hortus Deliciarum (see image above), where a cross is seen above Jesus’ head. Rahner also quotes the following Greek hymn read at Epiphany:

Come and see how the shining sun
Is baptized in the waters of a humble river.
A mighty cross appeared over the water of baptism.
The servants of sin descend
And the children of everlasting life ascend.
Come ye, therefore, and receive the light. ^13.

According to Joseph Campbell “The bird is the universal symbol of the spirit and spiritual flight” ^14.. It is interesting that in the case of Jesus’ baptism the flight of the Spirit is descending rather than ascending. In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist not only sees the Spirit in the form of a dove descending upon Jesus, but also “remain on him” (1:32) ^15.. This would seem to fulfull OT prophecy regarding “The Spirit God promises to give […] to the branch of David (Isa. 11:2) to the chosen servant (Isa. 42:1); the prophetic figure of Isa. 61:1 testifies that the Spirit is upon him because Yahweh has anointed him to preach, etc” ^16.. And as Gerald O’Collins remarks, “His baptism with the Holy Spirit signifies the coming of the final age and the fulfillment of God’s promise to pour out the divine spirit” (Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29; Joel 2: 28-29) ^17..

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him
John 7:37-38 NIV

Bibliography

1. 1: 1991, ‘Days of the Lord: The Liturgical Year’, p.294 (Liturgical Press); Fernandez, Francis, 1992, ‘In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year’, p.17 (Scepter Publishers); Adam, Adolf, 1998, ‘The Key to Faith: Meditations on the Liturgical Year’, p.36 (Liturgical Press); & Baggley, John, 2000, ‘Festival Icons for the Christian Year’, p.48 (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press)
2. 2: Lossky, Vladimir & Ouspensky, Léonide, 1982, ‘The Meaning of Icons’, p.164 (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press)
3. 3: Blackburn, Barry, 1991, ‘Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions’, p.184 (Mohr Siebeck) & Koester, Helmut, 1995, ‘Introduction to the New Testament’, p.64 (Walter de Gruyter)
4. 4: Drane, John William, 2001, ‘Introducing the New Testament’, p.55 (Fortress Press); Wright, N. T, 1992, ‘The New Testament and the People of God’, p.537 (Fortress Press); McDonnell, Kilian, 1996, ‘ Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan: The Trinitarian and Cosmic Order of Salvation ‘, p.18, 19 (Liturgical Press);
5. 5: O’Collins, Gerald, 1999, ‘The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity’, p.39 (Paulist Press)
6. 6: Koester, Helmut, 1995, ‘Introduction to the New Testament’, p.64 (Walter de Gruyter)
7. 7: McDonnell, Kilian, 1996, ‘ Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan: The Trinitarian and Cosmic Order of Salvation ‘, p.18, 19 (Liturgical Press); Wright, N. T, 1992, ‘The New Testament and the People of God’, p.537 (Fortress Press); & Bromiley, Geoffrey William & Pannenberg, Wolfhart, 1991, ‘Systematic Theology’, p.279 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
8. 8: Freedman, David Noel (ed), 2000, ‘Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible’, p.147 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
9. 9: Burridge, Richard A, 2005, ‘Four Gospels, One Jesus?: A Symbolic Reading’, p.39 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
10. 10: O’Collins, Gerald, 1999, ‘The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity’, p.39 (Paulist Press) & Burridge, Richard A, 2005, ‘Four Gospels, One Jesus?: A Symbolic Reading’, p.39 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
11. 11: Harn, Roger Van, 2001, ‘The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts’, p.18 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
12. 12: Freedman, David Noel (ed), 2000, ‘Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible’, p.147 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
13. 13: Rahner, Hugo, 1971, ‘Greek Myths and Christian Mystery’, p.80-81 (Biblo & Tannen Publishers)
14. 14: Campbell, Joseph, 2002, ‘The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion’, p.75 (New World Library)
15. 15: O’Collins, Gerald, 1999, ‘The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity’, p.39 (Paulist Press)
16. 16: Blackburn, Barry, 1991, ‘Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions’, p.184 (Mohr Siebeck)
17. 17: O’Collins, Gerald, 1999, ‘The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity’, p.40 (Paulist Press)

Claude Lévi-Strauss: The Resolution of Binary Opposites

2 Comments December 19, 2007 at 11:05 am by mahud

Long before Lévi-Strauss, myths were often understood as the way that a society might give meaning to the question of its origins or the mysteries of birth and death. …a myth is a way of treating an impossibility. But Lévi-Strauss went much further than this. He argued that myth responds to the initial situation of impossibility or contradiction not with a solution but by finding new ways of formulating it logically.

Rabate, Jean-Michel, 2003, ‘The Cambridge Companion to Lacan‘, p.38-39 (Cambridge University Press)

Over the past week I’ve been reading up on Claude Lévi-strauss. One thing that strikes me as interesting is his belief that the function of myth is to resolve diametrically opposed problems, such as raw and cooked, nature and culture, basically anything that cannot be reconciled. However myths do not exactly resolve these apparent paradoxes:

The solution is never logical, strictly speaking, but it imitates logic. If the problem were capable of a purely logical solution, there would be no need to have recourse to myth. But myth can do what logic cannot, and so it serves as a kind of cultural trouble-shooter. Rather than thinking of it as a kind of placebo which creates the mere impression of solution to a problem, it may be regarded as a mechanism for relieving anxiety.

Csapo, Eric, 2005, ‘Theories of Mythology‘, p.226 (Blackwell Publishing)

Once the paradoxical problem of mythic thought has been truly overcome logically, the myth is no longer needed to obscure the dilemma of contradictory thought.

Once a myth has been penetrated and understood, it dies; it no longer functions as an expression of a dilemma or contradiction. The nonliving mythologies of the world are fossilized dynamic thought which has been discarded because it was resolved, outgrown, or made irrelevant by events or cultural evolution.

Caughie, John, 1981, ‘Theories of Authorship: A Reader‘, p.158 (Routledge)

I can think of no bigger mythological paradox than the ultimate ineffable state of reality, which will never be resolved by science and philosophy. Myths will always be a vehicle for the sacred, an unresolvable paradox, that can only be reconciled with our minds through myth and ritual

Devotion to the Gods and Transcending Time

2 Comments December 15, 2007 at 11:28 am by mahud

For the part week I’ve be taking time out, meditation and praying before my altar of the Cosmic Threshold God in the guise of Cernunnos. It’s curious actually, because I was wholly unaware that My initial sessions corresponded with the waning and waxing of the moon, which for me corresponds with threshold of death and life which leads to the gateway of the sacred.

As yet I haven’t experienced anything to dramatic. I have felt some kind of physical presence within my body, but nothing like my previous divine encounters when I was a Christian. Also, Part of my prayers involve inviting other deities and asking if they could help and guide me in various aspects of my live.

One of my main difficulties as I see it is my ingrained notion of linear time, which causes me both anxiety about the future and regret about the part. I’m hoping that I can break away from the linear model, and really start identifying with the circular model of time, where the past, present and future of all created things come together within the threshold of death and life and transport us beyond Cosmic-time, into a kind of sacred-realm that infuses the present with the sacred mode of existence.