Sphinx Magick

In my experience, most people think of the sphinx as an Egyptian creature, usually depicted as a lion with a man’s head like the famous monument on the Giza plateau.  But Greek mythology presents a different kind of sphinx, and it is that one to which I am drawn.

In Greek mythology, the sphinx typically has the head (and often but not always the breasts) of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and a serpent headed tail.  She is known for posing riddles, most famously to Oedipus, in her role as guardian at the gates.

She is also an elemental figure.  In modern magick, the four powers of the sphinx (also called the witch’s pyramid by some) are “To Know, To Will, To Dare, and To Keep Silent.”  These are linked to the elements of life — Air, Fire, Water, and Earth respectively — and just as Spirit is considered the essence and sum of the four elements, Aleister Crowley added a fifth power to the sphinx, namely “To Go”, as the essence and sum of the other four powers.

There are different ways to attribute the elements to the parts of the sphinx (and in part they vary because there are different types of sphinx.)  But this is how I see the elements assigned to the sphinx as depicted here:

The woman’s head holds the power To Know.  This is the human mind and intellect, as well as the deep intuitive wisdom that contributes to true knowledge.  This relates to the power of Air, and the sign of Aquarius.

The powerful lion’s body represents To Will.  The lion brings solar energy, sovereignty, and the Fire of will as Leo.

The broad eagle’s wings give her the power To Dare, soaring the heights where others fear to tread.  The eagle is also one of the symbols connected with the sign of Scorpio and hence the powers of Water.

The subtle serpent tail relates to the power To Keep Silent.  The serpent is low to the ground, and is often associated with secret wisdom (i.e., that which is kept silent.)  Here’s where the astrological connection falls apart, however, as I can’t quite connect the serpent to Taurus (although some other images of the sphinx include elements of a bull to make that connection).  Still, I think the serpent is not too far off as a symbol of Earth.

And, of course, the sphinx as a whole would be Spirit, with all of her combined parts giving her the power To Go.

So this is how I see us — all of us, the whole star-touched human race when we are at our best — standing at the center of Above and Below, incorporating within ourselves the elements of life that we may do our Work.

May we remember that Work, and go forth to accomplish it.

New Sphinxy Artwork

You may have noticed (if you’ve visited before) that the blog has new artwork!  The podcast site does, as well, and starting with the next episode, the show will have the new logo attached to it.  The design was created by me, but the lovely artwork was done by a young and talented artist named Rachael Cattel.  She’s still working on her site, but she does have some art and writing samples up there, so please take a look if you like what you see here.

I’ve been waiting until the design was done before posting my thoughts on the sphinx, and why I chose it as my namesake — so that post will be coming up very soon now!

Stargazer’s Little Helpers

I thought I’d post some of the online resources I’ve found useful when I’m interested in viewing an object in the night sky and I’m not sure where it is — or, conversely, when I’ve seen something (like a particularly bright planet) and want to find out what it is.

Firstly, Sky & Telescope Magazine has a great site, including an interactive sky chart you can access if you register.  Registration is free, and gives you access to some other nifty areas of the site as well.

Space.com’s Night Sky feature is excellent also, especially the interactive Starry Night star chart, which allows you to see the night sky as it is visible from your location.  This makes it easy to learn the constellations that are in the sky at any time of year.

Heavens-Above has some great tools for tracking the various man-made objects that are sometimes visible in the night sky, like satellites, space shuttles, and the International Space Station.  They also offer a whole-sky chart with adjustable date and time.

The Space Weather site is a little more specific, offering information and updates about the “Sun-Earth environment,” including solar flares, aurora sightings, comets and meteors, etc.

Last but not least, if you are specifically looking to find Comet Lulin in the skies this week, here is a great page with pictures, info, and finder charts.

Enjoy, and happy stargazing!

Special Pleading

After Barack Obama said in his inauguration speech that “we are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers,” many in the Religious Right began the usual outraged blustering that results when they aren’t being pandered to.  Ex-Judge Roy Moore’s statement was particularly telling.  He wrote:

To state that this is a Muslim nation, a Hindu nation, or a nation of nonbelievers is to deny that God is the grantor of religious freedom. It is also a denigration of the Christian faith to just another religion.

What brought that back to mind after more than a week had gone by is that Jason at the Wild Hunt blog recently posted this comment from the Anglican church in its new push toward evangelizing:

The Church’s General Synod, meeting in London, overwhelmingly backed a motion to force its bishops to report on their “understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multifaith society”

This, in turn, reminded me of the way in which many American politicians and pundits like to posture about the unique role of Christianity in our culture.  (As an example, here’s a House resolution from 2007 “recognizing” the importance of Christianity.)  Anything that fails to acknowledge Christianity as supreme — even though we have no official state religion, and no religious tests for public office, and no reference to Christ or Christianity in our founding documents — is proclaimed to be an “attack” on Christianity, an act of intolerance even if its intention (like Obama’s inaugural statement) was an expression of inclusion.

All of this amounts to what is called “special pleading.”  This is a form of faulty logic in which you want different rules to apply to your own arguments versus those of others.  The fear that Christianity might be presented as “just another religion” hinges on just such special pleading — it is asserted to be something different, not like those other (presumably false) religions.  While you can make all the Christian references you want without feeling compelled to mention other faiths as well, when you do mention those other faiths, you’d better make clear which one is the real one.

And why is it the real one?  Because they say so.  Why do they say so?  Because supposedly their god says so, in their holy book.  If you point out that other faiths have holy books that claim their gods said something different, that doesn’t matter — those are false faiths, whose books aren’t true.  Why?  Because they say so.  Special pleading.

Anticipation

Can you feel it?  Feel the ground softening, even under feet of snow?  I find myself singing spontaneously, giddily laughing for no reason, throwing myself energetically into new projects and resuming old ones that had languished during the dark weeks of winter.

Maybe you don’t get snow where you are, or the ground has already begun emerging from beneath its white shroud.  But where I am, in western Massachusetts near the Vermont border, I can still sink into snow past my knees if I venture past where repeated melting has created a hard crust to walk on.  (And we’re due to get a few more inches tonight, so it’s not over by a long shot.)  Still, I can feel it — spring is coming.

Not-So-Spiritual Warfare

I just finished reading the disturbing “manifesto” (pdf) of the domestic terrorist who shot up the UU church in Knoxville, TN last year.  He clearly intended for the document to be his suicide note, expecting to die at the hands of police after his “generous” contribution to the greater good of American society — namely, killing liberals.

Included is a rant against the UU church itself, calling it a cult, a “collection of sickos, weirdos, and homos” that is the wellspring of ultra-liberalism in this country.  He goes on to explain that he really wanted to kill all the Democrats in Congress, and everyone in charge of the media, but knowing he wouldn’t be able to reach them, he decided to go after the “everyday” liberals who support them.  In his own words, this was an act of political protest — making it, as Sara Robinson had pointed out to her, an act of terrorism.

At the time of the shooting, it was discovered that this man, James Adkisson, had books in his house by the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Bernard Goldberg.  He even mentions Goldberg in his ranting manifesto, saying that he really wanted to kill the 100 people listed in Goldberg’s book (titled, of course, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken is #37).)  Note: I’m not giving any links to his work because I refuse to add to their popularity, but a quick Google search should find it easily.

David Neiwert, also at Orcinus, has written at length about the eliminationist rhetoric of the right wing in this country, and Sara Robinson alludes to it in her essay linked above.  Now, freedom of speech is pretty much an absolute for me, and owning books is certainly no proof that one agrees with what’s in them (and even agreeing with them doesn’t necessarily lead to acting on their words.)  But in this case, someone did, and left behind clear evidence of his sources of inspiration.  Not only that, his “manifesto” is also a call to action for others to do as he did, and in this political and economic climate it’s very likely that someone will.

The point I’m very slowly getting to is that this isn’t just about the UU Church or the Democratic Party; it concerns us, too — witches, magicians, etc.  And I’m not assuming that everyone reading this blog is a self-described liberal, because that actually doesn’t matter.  Whatever your political views, in the eyes of people like this, you are a liberal. After all, Adkisson made that assumption about everyone in the Knoxville church.

Think of the language used to describe those who practice magic, or even those who simply choose not to follow the Christian god.  Eliminationist talk targeting witches even has Biblical backing, and for people who believe in a world dominated by spirits locked in a battle of good versus evil — which describes a staggeringly large number of influential conservative Christians these days — we are clearly placed on the “evil” side.  So if James Adkisson and his ilk think the UU Church is a collection of “sickos, weirdos and homos” who deserve to die, what must they think of us?

That last link, to an article on the Talk To Action blog, brings me back to the issue I allude to in the title of this post, namely the rhetoric of “spiritual warfare.”  This is a topic I’ve been doing a lot of research on, and I plan to tackle it in more detail going forward.  I believe that what it really is, is church-sanctioned magic that has a very real effect even beyond its contribution to eliminationist talk about witches and magic-workers.  But that’s for another time.

As a final note, please don’t mistake my tone in this post as hysterical fear-mongering — I’m well aware that, thankfully, people unstable enough to become the next James Adkisson are rare.  They’re just not rare enough.  And it pays to be aware of what’s being said, and counter it, because sometimes words lead to actions, especially the more that those words go unchallenged.

Trip to Orion

I mentioned the Orion Nebula in episode one of my podcast, when I was discussing the constellation of Orion.  I just found a very cool NASA video that zooms in from a naked-eye image of the constellation as a whole, to one of the most detailed photos taken so far of the nebula.

Zoom in to the Orion Nebula

(Image also courtesy of NASA, taken by Akira Fujii.)

The Goddess Wants Me to Post This

I’m getting a little (ok, a lot) sick of all these politicians announcing that God wants them to run for office — especially the ones who say God wants them to win. Norm Coleman is the latest.  He’s the guy who ran for Senate against Al Franken in Minnesota, and lost after a very close recount.  But he can’t let go, and now he says that God wants him to serve, and that’s why he’s challenging the ruling.

My response?  Ok, first — get over yourself.  And second — even if God wants you to serve, he gets one vote just like the rest of us, and your race wasn’t that close.  (Plus, you don’t really want to open that door, do you?  I mean, there are many, many pantheons way bigger than yours, and if they all get a say…)

Mercury Blues

I seem to weather Mercury retrograde periods ok, though I do notice more small glitches (and often bear witness to larger, more frustrating problems in the lives of those around me).

No, where I have trouble is in the period right after it goes direct.  I’ve noticed this pattern the last few times around — the week or so after the planet goes direct, when it’s said to be “in its storm,” because while it’s gone direct it’s still not quite “normal” in its motion relative to Earth.  That’s when I have the computer glitches, car problems, rampant miscommunication, etc., etc.

Technically, the storm period just ended two days ago, but today felt like a definite Mercury glitch day.  *sigh*  Retrograde motion (I should say apparent retrograde motion, to be precise — take a look at that Wikipedia link above if you don’t know what I mean) may be a trick of perspective, but I do notice an effect.

I have a nice Mercury Retrograde oil from Conjure Oils that seems to help — I guess I just have to remember to use it for another week before the planet goes direct!

Podcast Now on iTunes

The Media Astra Ac Terra podcast is now listed in the iTunes directory!  You can find it in the category Podcasts->Religion & Spirituality->Other, or by searching for the title.  If you take a listen and like what you hear, please take a moment to give it a review!

It’s also now listed at Podcast Alley in the “Religion & Spirituality” category, and at Podcast Pickle in the “Belief and Religion->Esoteric and Occult” section — so again, if you like what you hear, please consider giving it a rating there.

Thanks!