The Egypt Trip 2009

My Egypt trip came about in an amazing serendipitous way and it all started at BATS when a woman named Norma came up to me after the panel discussion on the last day of the conference and said, "I have something to tell you and you have something to tell me but I don't know what it is..." My response was," well let's figure it out" Turned out she needed to know something about cross-quarter-days and full moons for the labyrinth she was creating and she told me I needed to read The Egypt Code by Robert Bauval... My thoughts were “if I ever see this book sometime I hope I remember to pick it up,” frankly I doubted I would find it anytime soon.
Since my husband Peter had never been to San Francisco we made plans to take a ride with Ferol Humphrey and a woman named Darlene both women had been on my last trip to Egypt November 2007. By the time I had finished talking to Norma, Ferol and Darlene missed us and had left with Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone to see Wald’s old haunts in Berkley. So Tracey Hoover, Peter and I decided to go walking, we ended up at Field's book because Tracey said she saw my MAAT deck and book there and she wanted to show me. So just 20 minutes after Norma had told me about Bauval's book there I was at Fields and the book was the first thing I saw. I purchased it right away. I looked through it that night and thought, “wow its pretty complicated,” and set it aside. A little over a month later I started reading it and really connected, I also realized this was the same guy who connected the three great pyramids of Giza to the stars in Orion’s belt way back in 1990’s. This idea really influenced my thinking about Orion and Osiris and later the Fool and Orion for the MAAT Tarot. Anyway part way through the book I had a bunch of questions and wondered if Robert was on Facebook. And he was!! And better still I could write him a message so I did. I introduced myself and told him about my work and asked him if he was ever going to be covering the Egyptian’s spiritual views about the moon as clearly the Egypt Code was singularly focused on alignments of Sirius, the Sun and other stars. I was surprised to hear back from him that very night and he responded that he would be doing an entire book on Egypt and the Moon in another book. I joined his fan club and left it there a few days later he friended me. Being Robert’s friend now I could see his posts and I was one of the first people to see his invitation for 10 guest/visitors to see the 8000 year old stone circle in Egypt’s western desert an ancient site with possible ties to Egypt’s pharonic culture...before I could think about it I responded asking about dates and prices. Thinking to myself “Can I do this?”. And also thinking what about Gina? As I scrolled down Robert’s page I noticed Gina Thies my roommate in Egypt also friended him that day. My first thoughts were, you’re going and so is Gina. In the end we were both picked to go but it wasn’t as easy as that. There were many pitfalls before the trip took place and much to consider before the trip was settled we would all have to face our own shadows.

When the dates were announced I was struck that we would be there during the holiday of Easter in fact we were there for both Christian Easter and Coptic Easter the week later we were also there for the Egyptian holiday of Sham El Nessim “The Spring Day” meaning smelling the breeze which falls on the first Monday after Coptic Easter. Sham El Nessim is an agricultural holiday that dates from about 4500 years ago. Sham El Nessim is celebrated by eating special salted fish and colored boiled eggs, green onions, green lettuce, Lupine beans and grey mullet a meal with ancient pharonic roots and symbolism of new life. To add to the mix in 2009 Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday April 8 and ends at nightfall on Thursday April 16 in the Diaspora (Wednesday April 15 in Israel).

For me personally it marked the 28th year since my vision of the girl on the cliff at Hatshepsut’s Temple. This was clearly a Saturn return for my vision. I wondered what it would mean to be back in Egypt again at this time and was only slightly disappointed that the trip would only be a desert tour. But having seen the Nile and the other temples I was content to just be in the country on this anniversary and that would have to be good enough.

For those of you who have never heard about the day I woke up at Dier El Bahari this is what happened, the experience changed my life, it changed my reality, my world view and the way I look at time and space.

Late March in 1981 during an emotionally dark point in my life I was gifted with what I would view now as a shamanic experience and one of the biggest reasons I felt that 'someday' I would need to go to Egypt.

I was home from UW-Whitewater staying at my mom and dad's house for Easter break, sleeping on the couch, I had the most tremendous astral journey. Some time in the night I woke up but instead of being in the living room where I had fallen asleep I was lying on a woven linen mattress seated upon a stone slab. I stood up and saw white curtains billowing between 2 or possibly 3 pillars. I looked beyond the curtains and saw water that seemed to go on forever. To my left was complete darkness. To my right I saw brilliant red cliffs against the most beautiful bright red sky, and below on the shore, there was a three-tiered temple with flickering torch lights inside. Between the cliff and the temple there were thick bushes growing. The cliffs behind me were green and lush with ferns and delicate plants of all types I could see their roots co-mingled with stones, and there were square white buildings nestled into the vegetation up above from where I was. There were also stone stairs to my right that led down to a sandy beach below where the Temple was.

I thought to myself, "Where the hell am I?" I was thinking with my own mind, and thought perhaps it was the Mediterranean Sea, Greece or Italy based on the small white buildings behind me. And even though in my mind I was Julie when I looked down at my body, it was not in my body. I was shorter and smaller in stature and my hair was black and wavy really long, trailing past my knees, my skin was a beautiful light brown. In the distance I could see lightning flashing in the south and I could hear the low rumble of thunder. There was a large black cat with a small head accompanying me. The cat jumped up in my arms, I crossed my arms around the cat’s body and flew out over the water. When suddenly, I was back on my mother's couch, a black cat was sitting on my chest meowing loudly and I was completely paralyzed and I realized I couldn't speak. The sound and the flashing light from the thunderstorm was all around me. Then I seemed to 'wake up' again, and the cat was gone, and I could move, but the thunderstorm was still clashing fiercely outside.

The very next day while still at my mom's house I was paging through old encyclopedias because there was nothing else to do. Suddenly in one of the books there it was!... the Temple from my dream it was in ruins, the uppermost tier was without a ceiling and vegetation was all gone but it was very recognizable, it was unmistakably Hatshepsut's temple in Egypt, a necropolis (City of the Dead) on the west bank of the Nile across the river from the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes). The temple is situated just east of the Valley of Kings separated by the cliffs that are actually a beautiful golden color. It took me ten years to find out any information as to whether there actually were actually cliffs to the north of this temple… the cliff that had been my vantage point… or if the Nile had ever risen that close to the temple in the past.
Since that vision Hatchepsut's temple has been the subject of many of my paintings, the Star picture in the Blue Moon, in the Ten of Staves in the Ancestral Path, and in the Two of Wands as well the most resent painting which I did just before this trip came up. This was the most intense astral journey I had ever experienced. The memory is still so strong and so powerful.

What I have discovered about Hatshepsut since my vision?

Hatshepsut was the only female “pharaoh”. Her name had been scratched out sometime after her death and all the evidence of her reign was deposited in one location. I have been following the archaeological finds about her. My main question at twenty-two, since I was divorced, and raising a child alone was "Why is there so much prejudice against women?" I struggled with how hard it was to be a woman raising a child alone back in 1981. I found that after Hatshepsut laws were created so that women could never be pharaohs, women could never be kings, and women could never be priests. I really think that Hatshepsut may have been the pharaoh from the Bible story who released the Hebrews. Her stepson, who she took power from, was about nine years old when he was supposed to be king. Her husband Thut'moses' II, who had been appointed by her father Thut'moses' I, was a weak ruler, so she had the responsibility of running the country during his lifetime. Her stepson Thut'moses' III, was the son of her husband’s consort, was supposed to take her place. Even though the dating by Biblical scholars doesn't correlate, there are some archaeological studies that name her as the pharaoh from the story of Moses. According to the story after the Hebrews had been set free Moses led them to the “promised land” but here is a thought, promised by who? Hatshepsut had the power to promise him lower Egypt and since pharaoh was considered a ‘god-king’ there is plenty of room for error as far as translating what god promised lower Egypt to “Moses”. In the biblical story Moses also disappears from the story after his people reach the ‘promised land’ and doesn’t stay with his people. No one knew until recently what happened to Hatshepsut; Her death was not recorded. We know that Thutmoses took over and stayed in power for about forty years. He also suddenly removed Hatshepsut from the public record some years after he was in power, and her temple at by the cliff was destroyed within 100 years after it was built laid to ruin until it was rediscovered in the late 19th century and reconstruction has been on going since around the 1950’s.

During my first short visit to Hatshepsut’s Temple our guide announced casually that the daughter of Hatshepsut was buried up on the cliff where my vision originated. I felt certain that this was the girl whose body I had occupied.
I nearly came out of my skin with excitement. With more research I was able to find that her name was Neferure and she served as “god’s wife” for her pharaoh mother. That Thutmoses III was supposed to marry her to legitimize his claim to the throne because he was not born from a queen but from a lesser wife of Hatshepsut’s brother/husband Thutmoses II. There were also some amazing environmental upheavals during this time that could have thrown a shadow on the reign of Hatshepsut, things that were beyond the control of this otherwise successful pharaoh. There is now evidence of ash from the eruption of the island of Thera (Santorini, Greece) during this time. The catastrophic effects of this volcanic eruption would have thrown dust and ash into the atmosphere blocking out the sun causing the red sky from my vision and inducing thunderstorms as well as tidal waves causing the Nile to flood with sea water and could easily account for the plagues of Egypt. Since the pharaoh was responsible for maat (universal balance and order) poor Hatshepsut was to blame. Neferure who would have been pharaoh’s first born died young she may or may not have ever been married to Thutmoses III there is not a lot written about her life.
For many years I thought this girl had something to tell me. In a recent reading by Nancy Antenucci I was told that Neferure is looking to me to find her story. This may or may not be true but it would seem that the story does seem to have started to bleed through. My questions have only increased as time goes by.

Since my out-of-body experience happened at Easter and Passover, so that suggests to me there is a correlation. This was a wild time travel journey and nothing similar has ever happened to me again. It makes me think there is so much more to this universe than I could possibly understand. Was it the timing of the holiday weekend? Was it my question? Was it the power of the thunderstorm? Were the ions just right? While visiting Abydos temple just a short distance from Dier el Bahari we were shown hieroglyphs of what looks unmistakably like modern modes of transportation, a helicopter, a jet, a tank and a possible submarine are carved into a stone beam high up near the ceiling at Abydos. This makes me wonder what the ancient Egyptians had tapped into. It is apparent that the temples of stone resonate and hold energy, the obelisks carved of singular pieces of stone hum like tuning forks when struck. What did the Egyptians know that we have forgotten?
***
As the deadline for the down payment neared Gina was wavering on going, she was in the process of buying a new house and overwhelmed. She sent in her money on the last day of the deadline and then when it seemed as if everything was settled she backed out. She had gotten a reading from her friend and mentor Beatrice who told her to wait for the better trip, that she would not enjoy this trip in the desert. Suddenly I was back to going on the desert trip alone. At first I was panicked but then remembered I signed on way before knowing Gina would go and settled into the idea shortly after. Booked all my flights and hotel rooms for my return.
So here I was about to go back to Egypt for a tour of the western desert or so I thought…when the Saturday before we left the whole itinerary changed suddenly as if by magic…

I was out at Bullthistle Farm for shearing day when the phone call arrived from Robert Bauval that the permits for seeing the cave paintings at Gilf Kabir had been denied and because of this he would now be adding Abu Simbel, Philae, Aswan and a cruise to Luxor to the trip. My head was swimming with excitement. I knew that if Gina knew the trip had changed she would now want to go. And so it was, in one single day Gina managed to coordinate and book her flights to come along we were going on a whirlwind trip back to Egypt together and Luxor was on the table as well.

The timing and the itinerary are still mulling over in my mind by the time it was over not only would we have stood before the only living statue of Sekemet again but we would journey through the eastern desert to the Red Sea before heading back to Cairo and we would also be seeing Alexandria as well.

I picked a card for each day’s journey and in 3 to 6 months I will review these picks again for more insights since when dealing with spirit and trying to understand one must blur your eyes and view the negative space as well as the objects before you to really see what is being presented.

Day One
Monday April 6th, 2009
Card of the Day
The MOON
After a nervous day and threats of a snowstorm the weather parted like the Red Sea my flight though delayed for 3o minutes left without a hitch. However the weather that missed me had Gina stuck in Chicago and she missed the Egypt Air flight by 45 minutes. For whatever reason we were meant to journey separately to Cairo. I spent my 10.5 hours to Cairo with 3 seats to myself reading and thinking and trying to sleep. Gina would reschedule for the same flight the next day and arrive on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Day Two
Tuesday April 7th, 2009
Card of the day
No entry
I arrived at the Cairo airport a young man named Mohamad stood there waiting with my name on printed on a card he whisked me through customs and boarded me into a private luxury van that brought me to the Cataract Hotel. I got checked in and joined Robert by the pool where we chatted with a man who was from England he had brought his young son to Egypt and Rome for his birthday because the boy was obsessed with all things Egyptian and Roman. To look at their faces I could see they were both revisiting…past lives.
I also was introduced to Joanne Cunningham a New Zealander who had been living in Cairo for 5 years and worked as a graphic artist for the UN she was old friends with Robert and would be his guest on this trip.

Day Three
Wednesday April 8th, 2009
Jewish Passover begins at sundown
Card of the Day
No entry
Gina arrived around noon after a morning of watching Pallo Productions filming Robert at the Sun Temple for a documentary about his next book Black Genesis. After Gina was fed and settled our 8 fellow travelers loaded into the 2 4x4 vans with the desert expedition guides from called Red Sea. The group consisted of a married couple from Palermo Maria and Nicholi, Joanne and Robert, Gina and myself and the Italian filmmakers Johnny and Antony who would later be affectionately known to Gina and I as the Roman Guard.

Day Four
Thursday April 9th, 2009
Christian Holy Thursday
Card of the Day
The Fool
Full moon in Libra this was our first day of seeing the oasis at Bahariya Robert
brought us to see the water and then we drove to a high cliff where an English major built a stone house of slate overlooking a Roman tomb we spent the day on the road driving through the Black desert and then the White Desert where we were served a lunch of Egyptian fare on woven rugs. By sunset we found ourselves in the Sahara. The guides helped us set up our tents cooked us dinner and we watched as the full moon rise orange and full over what looked like a wall to wall carpet of sand nearly the color of golden cornmeal… perfect tiny pebbles of golden rock. We were visited by desert mice and saw fox scat but didn’t see any fox. This was by far the most beautiful place I had ever seen, so pure and so perfect the air was light and dry and pleasant.

Day Five
Friday April 10th, 2009
Christian Good Friday
Card of the Day
The Chariot
We woke to the sun rising in the Sahara the sea of sand. The sun rose where the moon had risen the night before. We had breakfast served and broke camp. Our first stop was a Ptolemy Temple outside of Bagawat. Where we had clouds and a rare sprinkle of rain. Our next stop was an 11th century Moslem City Bagawat. The city was now empty and served as a sort of museum. I took lots of pictures of this ancient place. Our next stop was the oldest Christian necropolis. I thought it was very ironic to be here on Good Friday. We set up camp in a nondescript desert site and we were served dinner again chicken and potatoes, soup and various Egyptian salads.

Day Six
Saturday April 11th, 2009
Christian Holy Saturday
Card of the Day
7 of Cups
As we broke camp had breakfast of eggs and crepes, fruit, cheeses and jam. Then drove through to the old caravan trails we stopped so the filmmakers could shoot some footage and when we were done. Robert pointed out the red and yellow ochre pigments found just below the surface of the ground. It was easy to find it where the tires of the 4x4’s made their tracks. I scooped up two plastic bags full of the pigment and cried a little realizing this was a gift from Manitou who wanted to give Peter back his pigments. Peter had emptied his ochre supplies at Manitou’s grave the week before. This was the place of death as there were literally hundreds of ancient camel skeletons littered all around us. I also had to be quick about collecting the ochre as it was not long before I could hear it was time to load into the 4x4’s and go.

That eventing as the sun began to set we got to see the oldest stone circle in the world with alignments to Sirius and the Summer Solstice at Napta Playa. The Black culture that lived here left suddenly leaving behind their grinding stones and their stone circles. Not far from this 8000 year old site we saw the ruins of ancient Roman outposts and giant round stones that no one seems to understand.

Day Seven
Sunday April 12th, 2009
Christian Easter Sunday
Card of the Day
8 of Swords
We were the first to arrive at Abu Simbel that morning. It was just Gina, Robert and myself. Robert suggested that we not look at the temple until he told us so we could get the full impact of just how grand it is. We walked down the stone walkway and though it was tempting to look we did wait the monument was awesome tall and imposing. Robert told us the story about the guy who found it and that some local people tipped him off that there was a temple there.


Day Eight
Monday April 13th, 2009
Card of the Day
Prince of Wands
In the morning we went to the Temple of Isis at Philae ( built 200BC and closed 514AD when it was turned into a church)
I was disappointed that I did not get the shot of the view looking west from where the island used to be before it was moved…So near and yet so far. The boat drivers are not allowed over there by police orders.
I did get a photograph of the hieroglyph of the Nile that I used in my MAAT book, this may eventually become a painting.
Later we visited the island of Elephantine stood in the ruins of the Jewish settlement where Jesus was supposed to have lived when he was in Egypt. This island is no bigger than a few city blocks Egyptian and Jewish cultures blend. This place was a potter’s colony there are layers and layers of pottery shards. There is a temple to the Egyptian moon god Khnum who created people on a potter’s wheel just a stones throw from the synagogue where the Hebrew god formed Adam Lilith and Eve out of dust.

Day Nine
Tuesday April 14th, 2009
Card of the Day
King of Wands
Leisurely day didn’t go to the Nubian Village and swam in the pool, got some sun, rested, read, and attended a lecture on star alignments and temples.

Day Ten
Wednesday April 15th, 2009
Card of the Day
King of Cups
We had another unusual Wisconsin sky today. I was up early much to Gina’s dismay I went to the upper deck to watch as we sailed on to Luxor. I saw shores filled with palm trees and distant dry hills to the east and to the west.

Day Eleven
Thursday April 16th, 2009
Coptic Holy Thurday ( 2009 Jewish Passover ends)
Card of the Day
10 of Wands
We finally arrived in Luxor this morning we went to the temple of Rameses III
we got pictures of parts of the temple we missed before.
Then we went to Hatshepsuts’s temple the temple site has gone through many improvements including a new entrance building. New tombs on the walk in seemed to be recently excavated. We noticed many more lion and snake symbols than we saw the last time we were here and I took more shots that will lend themselves well to painting.
Later after the heat of the day had passed Gina and I went with the guide to Karnak Temple by the time we got there the ticket booth had closed I thought we would miss out on going in. The guide told us to wait by the avenue of sphinx and I took a bunch of good pictures thinking I would be satisfied with the shots I got this time. We both decided that if Sekhemet wanted to see us she would and we would just let it be whatever it was going to be. Low and behold after a few phone calls we were allowed in. Gina and I went looking for the red chapel but didn’t find it. There was a little old man who showed us some special walls that were in really good shape. And then we told him we wanted to go see Sekhemet at the temple of Ptah. He took us there and they unlocked the door for us. We went in and it was as always a powerful moment out of the darkness you see the eyes of Sekhemet and they seem to glow in a soft blue green. The little old man began to weep openly and it brought us all to tears. We stood before her and I thanked her for seeing us again and for other things as well. I felt the journey was complete at this point and whatever else happened would be more than I expected.


Day Twelve
Friday April 17th, 2009
Coptic Good Friday
Card of the Day
9 of Cups
We traveled by van from Luxor to Cairo via the eastern desert following the footsteps of the Exodus. But before we left we went to Dendera and got some great shots of the temple of Hathor which has got some of the best preserved paint that I have ever seen.
The day was long we journeyed from 5AM until 10PM stopping at the Red Sea for lunch and to put our toes in the water. The water of the Red Sea is perfectly clear and clean and is the most beautiful blue green.

Day Thirteen
Saturday April 18th, 2009
Coptic Holy Saturday
Card of the Day
6 of Coins
We were up early to go to Sakara and Giza stopped at a friend of Robert’s an old man who used to be a guard at the Sakara pyramid complex. The filmmakers were trying to get in to shoot the pyramid complex. We got a close up of the reality of life in Egypt. The man and his wife and 10 children lived in a brightly colored house in close proximity was a cow and a goat with 2 babies, there were 2 dogs and 3 puppies running around. The wife was not too happy about the camera filming her. There was a teenage girl who served us tea and a little boy who spoke pretty good English. Johnny Pallo the film producer asked me if I noticed the bruise on the oldest daughter’s face. I hadn’t but from what Joanne had been telling me earlier the women of Egypt have really got it tough.

When we got back for lunch I was just in time to meet up with Gina and Emil Shaker our tour guide from my first trip to Egypt. He took us to see Mohamad Nassmy at Quest Travels and we had a good time catching up. Then Emil treated us to a fabulous lunch and a trip to old Cairo were we visited the oldest Christian church that had special healing water running through it in small canals, then we went to the oldest shops in Cairo that were once the shops of all the Jews. We got back to the hotel just around sunset. Upon returning to the hotel we decided to hire a van and go see Alexandria just 2.5 hours away.


Day Fourteen
Sunday April 19th, 2009
Coptic Easter
Card of the Day
6 of Swords
The Quest Travel van arrived at 7AM sharp and we were on our way to Alexandria. We arrived a couple hours later and stopped at the Alexandrian Museum first it was surprisingly small in my opinion but it had some pretty amazing mosaics. This made me think back to the reoccurring dreams I had about a mosaic floor with two dolphins just off the coast of the delta to the east of Alexandria. The city itself had touches of mosaic something that was not in other parts of Egypt. After the museum we had the driver take us to the Theatre of Alexandria Gina and I took turns standing at the sweet spot and hearing the effect of the perfect acoustics it was amazing how the size of the theatre seemed to be reduced almost as if by magic. The stage still showed places there were still mosaic tiles on the floors. The full city block also had remnants of the old city around it.
After the theatre Gina and I were hungry and we did the unthinkable and ate at McDonalds…yes I broke my 30 year record but somehow I think I needed the American food just to ground myself in 2009.
The last thing we did was visit the harbor our driver dropped us off in front of the little shops and we walked watching the blue water crash up on the shore, again the water was the most beautiful blue. After a quick cruise past the new library our driver bought us an Egyptian ice-cream and drove us back to the hotel.


Day Fifteen
Monday April 20th, 2009
Sham El Nessim (pharonic agricultural holiday of new life and new beginning)
Card of the Day
Princess of Swords
The last day in Egypt the driver picked us up at 6AM for our 9:15AM Egypt Air flight back to JFK. We stopped for coffee and something quick to eat and then headed off to our gate. The 11 hour flight back seemed to go fairly fast there was a lot to process and I was ready to go home…

Day Sixteen
Tuesday April 21st, 2009
Card of the Day
High Priestess
Gina and I parted ways and I took the early shuttle to LaGuardia to catch my Midwest flight back to Milwaukee. The 2-hour flight seemed like nothing and I could see Peter’s smiling face waiting at the end of the ramp a chai latte in hand.
It was good to be home again…

Post Script-
Friday April 24th, 2009
I received an email from Tracey Hoover she sent me the information that Friday’s… on this day in history…Thutmoses III is crowned the 6th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty on this day in 1479 BC
She read about this just before she found and read this blog post…the serendipity continues.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well what does one blog about as one turns 50? From what I am hearing this is when the fun begins and I must agree. I was surprised by my husband, family and friends this weekend with a surprise 50th birthday party. I wanted to share here the funniest gift I received from my friend Lisa who also lives here in Watertown. She created the “Julie nativity scene”. It made me laugh so hard I nearly lost bladder control. You will note the tiny photo of grown up Julie pasted over the baby face and all the wise men and and other figures have witch hats, (not 3 dimensional witch hats but flat cut out witch hats)LOL! The gifts from the "magi" are labradorite and kianite also notable is my actual birth chart being held by a wise man with the most hilarious look on his face. There is a Bast among the wise men and golden goddesses and stone cats arranged around the manger, in the ivy surrounding the display you see hidden MAAT Tarot and Ancestral Path boxes. There is also various MAAT cards spread under foot if anyone wants to take a stab at reading the cards for me. I just wanted to share this so everyone could laugh along. Anyone interested in giving the gift of nativity can write to me and I will forward your interest to Lisa who may have just started something.
Julie~
Be sure to click on the picture for a closer look!

Egypt November 2007-what I learned

As Mercury goes direct today I woke up with a “download” of memories and the ability to finally put my Egypt experience into words. As I close in on the year anniversary of my first trip to Egypt I am finally able to synthesis and realize what I got from this trip.

The Tigris and Euphrates may be considered the cradle of civilization but I feel the Nile Valley is truly the source of all Western Cultures’ religions. This was never so apparent to me as it was in Egypt.

The first thing a person notices in Egypt is the sun. Even in November the sun is high and prominent, you can feel its heat and it is bright and golden. There is a sense of geometry and perfect direction in Egypt. The great river is a huge feature through out Egypt running predominantly south to north dividing the land into eastern and western parts. The great sun’s path runs east to west and crosses the great river at midday. Giving greater practical meaning to the symbolism inherent in the structure of the Great Pyramids at Giza. This element is punctuated by the Moslem call to prayers at dawn, noon and sunset. This practice gave me a sense of the unity of their community but also hinted at some other more ancient time when the stations of the sun god were venerated. Suddenly I was struck with the importance of the conjunction of the path of the sun in the sky with the intersecting river on earth. This relationship between sun and river was just like the action of warp and weft offering clues inherent the ancient shuttle of the goddess Neith and Egypt’s connection to the use of “as above and so below”. It was the sun and the river that brought life and abundance to Egypt.

One of the earliest known religious practices of Egypt involved the rising of the star Sirius. On my trip we visited the Temple of Isis at Philae the southern most temple in Egypt, here you can see a large viewing plaza were the rising of the star could have been viewed. It was at Philae where the highest points of the annual flood were measured by the elite priesthood to help pharaoh predict what the annual harvest would be. Because Egypt only gets about one half inch of rain each year it is dependant on the Nile for all of its water drinking as well as agricultural. Without water from the annual flood of the Nile Egypt would be a desert. The annual flooding occurred every year when the star Sirius merged with the sun. Coincidently this all happens during the month when the full moon is in Aquarius. The hieroglyph for the Nile and the symbol used in the sign of Aquarius is so similar. Even today we still talk about the “Dog days of Summer”. In ancient times it was thought that the sun grew hotter when the large star merged with the sun. Sirius or Sothis “dogs” the constellation of Orion. Orion is a prominent constellation known for his belt of three stars. (These three stars have been linked to the three pyramids at Giza. Again there is a sense of “as above so below” here.)

Orion also disappears during the summer months this is the time of the year when he is thought to be murdered by his brother similar to the Cain and Able story in Christianity and Judaism. After his death Osiris is then personified by the grain as it rises out of the mud left as the floodwater recedes, thought as being resurrected by the magic of Isis. The star Sirius was sometimes thought of as the tear of Isis and when her tear disappeared from the sky it flooded the Nile. Orion was associated with Osiris god of the grain, the sun at midnight and the judge of the dead. Osiris was died annually killed by his jealous brother the personification of the desert. These Osirian Mysteries were similar to the Dionysian Mysteries in which the gods were dismembered, symbolism of bread (Osiris) and wine (Dionysis) rites have their origins in these very similar rituals. I knew about the similarities between these two gods before my trip to Egypt. It was the connection to Sekhmet that I saw that was new to me.

While sitting at Philae author Normandi Ellis told the story of Sekhmet. This was the story about when Sekhmet was sent out by her father Ra to avenge his honor. Her killing spree was so intense that all the gods thought she would wipe mankind off the face of the earth so Thoth was sent out in the form of a baboon to try to stop her. His trick was to replace the blood she was devouring with wine (or in some versions of the story ochre colored beer) She drank the alcohol went to sleep and became dossal. I think what I was struck with was the whole blood changing into wine (beer) verses the modern wine turning to blood of modern Christianity. I always felt there was a female connection to the idea of the “body and blood” being connected to woman’s menstrual cycles some how. Here we also see that the domesticated Sekhmet turns into Hathor and becomes the wife of Horus savior god and son of Isis and Osiris. So to sum it up the revelries and drunken parties would serve to subdue the angry vengeful blood soaked Sekhmet into the lactating, gestating dossal Cow goddess Hathor. Symbolically and in the progression of general life cycle of the female I can see how this connection could be made by male observers. I still hold to the personal idea that women once ran these blood rites and rituals for themselves in secret without the judgment of men. The ancient Moon Lodge of western culture that has no written record but can only be mythologized and speculated about.

At Elephantine my roommate Gina and I opted not to visit the temple of the Ram headed Khnum. The idea of a male moon god insulted our sensibilities. The agenda for the group was to participate in a ritual where Khnum would remake us on his potter’s wheel. We found this out when people came back and decided Gina had given me a “makeover” on the train the night before and that seemed to cover it. (Gina being a makeup artist for Chanel by trade.) Fellow traveler Tammy got a lot from her experience at Elephantine felt a big connection with Moses in the rushes and the stories of Isis and Horus.

Upon returning to the US and connecting with the book “ The Jesus Papers” by Michael Baigent who spoke about the Hebrew settlement that had once been there. Baigent writes that Mary and Joseph may have settled there to raise the young Jesus. On Elephantine the synagogue and the Temple of Khnum are right next to each other. Stories and cultures commingle like kids at summer camp.

I could see this settlement has Old Testament connections to the making of Adam from clay or dust. This island of Elephantine seems to hold a key to the male creation mythos. And it just happens to be not too far down stream from the Isis temple. It is not too hard to see how male creation stories evolved. Rejected from the blood mysteries…and somewhere not too far away. Khnum like Khepera begins his creation story; Khnum is lonely and masturbates into the dust from there a great mound of land appears creates all the gods on his potters wheel and there you have it. It is interesting because the consequence of no rain in Egypt makes it a very dusty place, piles of fine dirt or dust piles up on street corners and cars like a Midwest snowfall. Making it abundant for all kinds of creative uses.

My biggest personal connection was with Luxor ancient Thebes. This is the part of Egypt where the river changes course and creates a bow in the river returning to its northward course at Dendera. At the beginning of the bow is Luxor on the east bank is Karnak and Luxor temples they are connected by an avenue of sphinxes.

During the inundation those avenues would fill with water and the barque or barge or sacred ark of Min would go down this avenue. The statue would go from one temple to the next and during Hatshepsut’s time revelries would be held all night at the her mortuary temple the statue of the god Min would be allowed to visit with the statue of Hathor the revelers would drink until dawn and when the sun would rise their torches would be dowsed in buckets of milk. Then the god would be returned to his own temple. I was also amazed to find that there is a storyboard panel that lights up at winter solstice sunrise and that the ramp at Hatshepsut’s temple aligns not only with this sunrise but also with the farthest southern wall of Karnak temple. If a tunnel existed thru the cliff wall behind this temple it would have shown light through to Hatshepsut’s tomb on the other side of the cliff in the Valley of the Kings.

When traveling through the Valley of the Kings which is only about 4.5 miles from Karnak running a straight line through the mountain cliff. My first impression was “I thought this was Jerusalem but it’s the Valley of the Kings…and then the middle stanza of the 23rd psalm rang through my head… The 23rd Psalm -

“ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.”

As the river curves around and creates a loop its farthest northern point on the west side of the river we find the temple at Dendera the temple consists of a Temple to Hathor and various birthing temples, it is where queens gave birth and seems to be the doorway to rebirth. As the River finishes its big curve and aligns with Luxor again we find Nag Hammadi the place where jars containing the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed in 1945.
Not far from Nag Hammadi is the Temple of Abydos built by Seti but now some geologist think it was much older at least the part called the Osiris Temple in the back which is much lower than Seti's structure. In abydos there is a grouping of hieroglyphs with clear carvings of a helicopter, jet and submarine? The carvings can be found on a lintel close to the ceiling some 20 feet off the floor. Seeing this left us all stunned and with tour guides began bickering over whether they are or not modern vehicles. They are, I know because I traveled to ancient Thebes in my dreams and if I can go there they could have certainly come here. They had to be doing something with those big obelisks that rang like giant tuning forks…

My interest and relationship to the culture of ancient Egypt seems to be an ever-unfolding onionskin. I thought I would find closure there I thought I would see it and be sad that it is gone and over. I have to say to my surprise Egypt is not dead not gone the doorway to the other world is still there and open. Beckoning us on to common ground.

Sarah who???

Really? Is McCain kidding us? Is she supposed to serve as a Hilary substitute?
This could be laughable if it wasn’t so frightening. Talk about having inexperience
a heart beat away from the presidency and little too close to the button. I admit to having a hard time choosing between Hilary and Barack in the primaries. But only because they were both such good choices. My choice never had anything to do with race or gender though seeing something other than a white male on the ballot was refreshing. I find McCain’s choice to be really irresponsible. How stupid does he think the American woman voters are? We may want to see a woman in the white house but not just any random woman. What a strategy! This election is not about the package its about the product. I am not going sit by and be politically correct here.We have lived with "stupid" for 8 long years and if Diebold steals another election and we could get an aging John McCain and this “inexperienced, gun toting, ex beauty queen”. This will really be ridiculous. There I said it, somebody had to.

If you haven't seen this video Watch it

What it's like to have a stroke
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke.

As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

More about this from another angle:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/304.html

Orion/Osiris the Fool and Egypt

Good morning,
In the months since my return from Egypt I have been haunted by my trip.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't find my mind drifting back to Luxor, the Isis Temple and Hatshepsut's Morturary Temple.
I knew that in ancient times Philae(original spot for the Isis temple) was thought to be the source of the flood as it was the southern most border of Egypt and I think I must have known that water levels were recorded into the rocks there, though during our visit we did not see that. What I did NOT know was that the carving of the hieroglyph for of the Nile was there. The one that clued me into the connection between the Star card/ and the sign of Aquarius being connected to the Full moon in Aquarius which occurs in July during the flooding of the Nile. The carving is there on the western wall which we never got to see.
Anyway the other morning I am reminded that we were told that the original island just south of the temple island is where the thigh of Osiris was hidden.That morning finally I start to think about how this might be related to the old positioning of the temple. Seeing as the entire temple of Isis was moved stone by stone from the island of Philae in 1970 due to the flooding caused by the building of the Aswan dam. The original placement of the Temple would have been due east of the much higher rocky island(Biga Island) where Osiris's thigh was hidden. Which got me thinking about the constellation of Orion and its connection to Osiris and its disappearance just before the annual flood which begins around July 18. Now I needed to find a star finder to see if and when the last part of the Orion/Osiris constellation to disappear at the horizon at sunset would be his leg what date that would happen and if
so I am thinking there may have been a major ritual there to find the thigh of Osiris journey to the duat overnight watch the sunrise with Sirius in conjunction and Pharaoh or perhaps "the god's wife" would pour water from vessels as the flood waters would rise. The annual flood and the rising of the dog Star Sirius was so predictable that it was more accurate than counting the 365 days in the year. I am thinking now the alignment of the sunrise
on these dates would have shot down through the doorways in that side temple where we all danced and would have intersected right in front of the courtyard where the pharaoh would have stood to address the masses.

Intersections of east and west and north and south were sacred. As I was waking that day I realized why the Egyptian day began at noon. It was the time when the sun would come in conjunction with the Nile and the crossing would have been deemed as sacred the meeting of the ad blending of the opposites. Picture the perfect south to north flow of the Nile and the perfect east to west journey of the Sun/Ra. at noon these two paths cross as they would again when the sun reached midnight. This "sun at midnight" is referred to in what little is written about initiation of the priests of Egypt.
Again this is referred to in the journey to the duat as warp and weft. Nearly where ever you are in Egypt there is a distinct sense of direction, the Nile running south to north and the sun going east to west some with exceptions of course like the area of Abydos and Denderah.

In my quest to find the perfect starfinder I came across Google Earth I was able to see in great detail the area of Biga Island and even the submerged island of Philae perfectly due east of Biga. When I looked at Google Earths'
detail of Orion there was a big surprise waiting there for me, not only would it appear from the original Philae that Orion would go leg first into Biga island but the word for Rigel (Orions' left foot)in Arabic is FOOT.

I am thinking there is a painting in all of this stay tuned.
Julie

Journey to the Far World

February 10th I held my "Egypt Day" intensive study for some MAAT Tarot students in the Chicago area. The group got to see a movie I created from a blending of collected Egypt pictures and images of paintings. Then we delved into the idea that the Egyptian Funerary texts were not just for the dead pharaoh but were also useful to the living. The funerary texts may well have been used by the living pharaoh as well as the priesthoods to journey to the "far world" This premise is the feature of a fairly new book by Jeremy Nadler called Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts. This is the book Michael Baigent quoted in the Jesus Papers. Here is what was in my handout for my class. I was up till midnight the night before I left for the weekend it all came out at the very last minute.
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Understanding the Egyptian concept of Time.

The Egyptian view of time and eternity was not like the view we have today. They did not view time as people in the 21st century do, the future stretching infinitely in front of us and the past infinitely behind us. They did not have a heaven above and hell below them.

Time was seen as a blending commingled phenomenon. There was neheh cyclical physical time the seasons, the cycle of stars in the sky, which was infinite and there was djet a world where time was suspended a place where there was no time this was an eternal place. The worlds of djet and neheh were commingled though one did not see djet it was always there. I think the best way to think of djet and neheh is to think of neheh as the physical atoms and djet as the space in between the atoms. Djet and neheh were all part of the perfection and state of eternal harmony of the universe known as maat.

Part of the perfect harmony of the universe was the rising and setting of the sun. The place on the horizon where the sun rose in the morning as well as the place where the sun set at night were considered sacred like a doorway to the 'far world' this doorway was called akhet meaning 'horizon'. This doorway led to the place called the Duat the' far world'. Everyone in Egypt was responsible for working toward maintaining maat. However it was the responsibility of the pharaoh to maintain maat. Temples built in Egypt aided the pharaoh in maintaining maat and served as a gateway to the 'far world' as temples served as a link between the earth and the sky.

The Duat or the 'far world' was the place where one went at death it coexisted with the physical world, it was not seen as separate but a world that existed simultaneously with the physical world. In effect the Egyptians had a rather shamanic world view and funerary texts once thought to aid only the dead may have in fact been meant for the living as well. And may have been used in rites by priests and priestesses to journey to the far world.
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Then we used a spread I created based on the 12 hours.Doing the spread before we knew what the questions were was fun and surprising.
Journey Through the Dwat- Tarot Spread
12 hours of the Journey of the Sun (pharaoh)
We found the best way to do this is to shuffle and pick 12 cards place the cards in an arch starting from the right side and going left dipping down and around like the bottom half of a circle.



Now here are the spread correspondences to complete your reading:
The actual funerary texts are found in the tomb of Thutmoses III in the valley of the Kings. There is a movie of these funerary texts filmed by Chance Gardener in Magical Egypt a symbolist tour episode 5 navigating the afterlife what to do in the Duat. available on line.

The First Hour Shows a barge with a scarab floating on the water and it is about the preoccupation with separation symbolized by three snakes, the snake as a larval form of life separates the waters. The symbol of the boat on the water represents the consciousness being led through the mysterious interaction with the flow of time. Time is the river. What I need to separate from.

The Second Hour Shows the barge with Amon in his shrine on the bow two cobras Isis and Nepthyus the personification of Magic. She who guides the boat -Magic guides the boat. What magic guides my boat?

The Third Hour Shows Anubis and Osiris. She who cuts up souls the prototype for
The Christian hell-the annihilation of the shadow. Those who obstructed others are
forgotten. In other words the identity of people who stand in the way of other peoples' enlightenment are sentenced to oblivion and lose their identity. What is my shadow?

The Fourth Hour The coffin descends into the earth. How deep can I go?

The Fifth Hour Physical to divine. The Power of the Earth to rebirth. Life bursting through the egg of Saqar. Creates a bridge to heaven. What am I creating?

The Sixth Hour The solar barge rests on the water faced with Set. Apep must be cut into pieces. The enemy is cutup and overcome. Opposition is just as immortal as divinity itself. Who is my immortal opposition?

The Seventh Hour Symbols of transformation. Symbols of weaving and metamorphosis the four states of matter in the form of un-sheared rams. Going from lower to higher consciousness. What is my transformation?

The Eighth Hour Deities seated weft and warp more weaving What must I contemplate?

The Ninth Hour The boat contains the scarab rolling the egg with its own future symbol of the Great Work. Symbols of the rising sun may be the kundolini. What is my Great Work?

The Tenth Hour Harmonious solar and lunar, right and left-brains rising sun is at the third eye. Harmony and balance. What will bring me into harmony?

The Eleventh Hour Process is almost complete solar and lunar fused together. The enveloper riding across time on the serpent. Intellect made divine duality reconciled Mastery over time.
What do I need to know from the timeless place?

The Twelfth Hour Process is complete barge is rolled through the large snake compared to the kundulini energy released. Ba and Ka unite the new sun rises. Who am I?

After doing this spread it dawned on me that the initiates may have been weaving their own white robes of ascension.
Love Julie
©2008 Julie Cuccia-Watts

Green Smoothie Nation

There has been a bit of banter in the past couple months between a few of us tarot artists, authors and friends about the benefits of the Green Smoothie. Yes I am now an addict. Big Grin! It started with Joanna Powell Colbert and it has become a wild fire changing everyone who has tried it. 60% fruit 40% green leafy vegetable blended with cold water and consumed in the morning for an amazing blast of energy that will last for the whole day. Who would have thought eating whole foods could feel this good?
Of course this makes sense when you really think about it. But we come from a generation that has been programed to believe what we are told by the advertisers bent on selling us "great"things. Now as we baby boomers are beginning to age it starts to come to our attention that maybe all that 'cool' food isn't really that good for us.
Here's an article from http://www.hemuz.org/Health/Very-interesting-facts-on-MSG
on MSG that is both startling and informative.
As a mother who has a child who is allergic to dyes like red 40 in his food it has made me a label reader for a long time now. MSG and high fructose corn syrup is also on my "poison" food list. This article on MSG is so good I thought I would pass it on.

MSG Hides Behind 25+ Names, Such As 'Natural Flavoring.'

MSG Is Also In Your Favorite Coffee Shops And Drive-Ups (9-12-5 ).

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did a friend of mine, John Erb.

He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and spent years working for the government.

He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called "The Slow Poisoning of America ".

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice are naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates; causing rats (and humans?) to become obese. They even have a title for the fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats".

I was shocked too. I went to my kitchen, checking the cupboards and the fridge. MSG was in everything: The Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low fat' ones.

The items that didn't have MSG marked on the product label had something called ''Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein'', which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate.

It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who carefully read the ingredient list, so they don't catch on. (Other names for MSG: 'Accent', 'Aginomoto', 'Natural Meat Tenderizer', etc) But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items had MSG.

Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere:

Burger King McDonalds Wendy's Taco Bell

And every restaurant like: TIFF, Chili's, Applebee's and Denny's use MSG in abundance.

Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in EVERY chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG.

So, why is MSG in so may of the foods we eat?

Is it a preservative or a vitamin?? Not according to my friend John. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called "The Slow Poisoning of America " he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body. http://www.spofamerica.com

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG at: http://www.msgfactscom/facts/msgfact12.html explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people EAT MORE OF THEIR PRODUCTS.

A study of the elderly showed that people eat more of the foods when MSG is added. The Glutamate Association lobby group says eating more benefits the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us? 'Betcha can't eat just one', takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight?

The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance! Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals, soups, snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat everyday. The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. How can they claim it safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these?

'The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity'. GobattoCA, Mello MA, Souza CT , Ribeiro IA.Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002.

'Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats'. Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug.

'Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk factors'. Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, IchikawaK, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar.

'Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity'. Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct.

Yes, that last study was not a typo, it WAS written in 1978. Both the "medical research community" and "food manufacturers" have known about MSG's side effects for decades! Many more studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to Diabetes, Migraines and headaches, Autism, ADHD and even Alzheimer's. But what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see?

Even as you read this, G. W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a Bill through Congress called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill", this sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors. Even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods. Read about it for yourself at: http://www.yahoo.com. The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before the media lets everyone know about 'MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food'.

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While sitting in the Government office, the official told him "Sure, I know how bad MSG is, I wouldn't touch the stuff." But this top-level government official refused to tell the public what he knew.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. The food producers and restaurants have been addicting us to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an addictive food additive. But what can I do about it? I'm just one voice.

What can I do to stop the poisoning of our children, while our governments are insuring financial protection for the industry that is poisoning us.

This e-mail is going out to everyone I know in an attempt to tell you the truth that the corporate owned politicians and media won't tell you. The best way you can help to save yourself and your children from this drug-induced epidemic, is to forward this email to everyone. With any luck, it will circle the globe before politicians can pass the legislation protecting those who are poisoning us. The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on Nicotine?

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us, and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine, at http://www.pubmed.com. Type in the words "MSG Obese" and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.

We the public, do not want to be rats in one giant experiment and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line, while waiting for the heart transplant, diabetic induced amputation, blindness or other obesity induced, life threatening disorders. With your help we can put an end to this poison. Do your part in sending this message out by word of mouth, e-mail or by distribution of this print out to all your friends all over the world and stop this 'Slow Poisoning of Mankind' by the packaged food industry.

Blowing the whistle on MSG is our responsibility, get the word out.


Now that it has become vogue again to eat organic and eat locally maybe we will see a shift in our health as a nation. This could also shift our priorities and get us all back in the mode of making and even growing our own food. I feel personally there is nothing chic and glamorous about not knowing how to cook. This is not only basic to human survival it fulfills something primal in our psyche.
Julie

Soggy but not damaged!!

Thanks to all the people who phoned or emailed to see if
we were okay here in Watertown. These shots show that we are just fine. The river is high the ground is soggy, the basement is wet, but we have suffered no damage here at all. The folks in Wisconsin closer to the Mississippi River in La Crosse and Vernon counties and to Lake Michigan in Kenosha county are not fairing as well.

Julie & Peter

First Harvest Recipes

We have now entered the time of the year when the summer garden is coming in strong.
Around here it can even be a bit overwhelming. Here are some fast and easy ways to save the harvest and you won't have to spend hours in a hot kitchen boiling jars.
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Quick and easy no boil tomatoes.
Here is the best way I have found to save my garden tomatoes. When it's 90+° the last thing a person feels like doing is making tomato sauce. So here is my solution. Things you will need;
tomatoes
gallon freezer bags,
sharp knife.
Simply cut the green core out of your fresh tomatoes toss them into the freezer bags and suck the air out of the bag and freeze. You don't have to blanch tomatoes to take the skin off the skins will fall off all by themselves when they thaw out. Add to your favorite recipes all winter. I can process a large bushel of tomatoes in about 30 minutes.
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Fast and easy Refrigerator Pickle Recipe

This recipe is great for cucumbers, hot peppers, green beans, asparagus and brussel sprouts.

Pack your clean quart jars with 6 heads of fresh dill and 6 or more cloves of fresh garlic cut in half pack your clean produce tightly into mason jars.

Bring to a boil in a non reactive pot( glass, enamel or stainless steel-non aluminum)
12c. water
4c. vinegar
1c. kosher( or canning) salt

After this mixture comes to a rolling boil remove from heat and add 1t.(teaspoon) Alum. Stir
Pour hot liquid into your filled jars until it covers all your vegetables and comes up to 1/2 inch from the top. Seal and let cool. After the jars are cooled
place into the fridge after 3 days your pickles are ready. Your pickles will last until they are eaten.

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Garden Fresh Salsa
3 to 4 good sized tomatoes
1 onion
1 green pepper
1-2 jalapeno peppers (depending on the heat you want)
juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
fresh cilantro (to taste)
1-2 cloves of minced fresh garlic
(a little organic sugar if you want a sweeter taste)

Eat immediately with your favorite corn chips or save in freezer containers
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Fresh Pesto
2c.packed fresh basil leaves
1/4c. pine nuts(or walnuts or macadamia nuts)
1/4c. parmesan cheese
1/4 -1/2c. virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic

Place all ingredients one by one into a blender or food processor(better choice) until it forms a paste place in a mason jar and freeze or use right away. Great on bread, pasta and pizza as a sauce substitute.
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Class of '77

I was lucky enough to have gone to my 30-year class reunion this past weekend and had the best time. Funny how 30 years can melt away when you get together with people you grew up with. Looking back I remember how pretentious we all were at the 10 year looking to see who had become "successful". Everyone boasting of homes, careers, spouses, children being proud they were not still "townies". (people who never moved away from our small Midwest town) However even at the 10 year I had my first sense of the reality of time. Thinking 10 years ago I was in high school and 10 years from now I could be a grandmother. Suddenly and for the first time life seemed short because high school didn't seem like such a very long time ago.

I didn't go to the 15 year it was 4 weeks after my daughter had been born and felt like a cow at 33 my body just wasn't springing back like I thought it should and I didn't want to go back looking like I was 5 months pregnant. My ego and vanity kept me from going that year.

By the 20-year we were all just very happy to see each other and we noticed that some classmates had really changed really aged it was shocking. We were all a lot more relaxed about our successes although some just couldn't resist flashing the cash. At the 20 we did have one or two grandmothers in the bunch. Mostly the ones who had started motherhood early and some who had step grandchildren from new husbands.

I think the 30-year reunion was our best reunion ever. My spouse did not want to come with me and this year I didn't mind, I think I would have been horrified to go without him 10, 15 or even 20 years ago, but this year it was just what I needed. Many of my old friends were there by themselves as well. Now it is my opinion that no spouse should ever be dragged to a class reunion unless they are also from that class. How often do we get a chance to step back in time and be a teenager again? I was surprised by emotional response to the gathering of these friends and how much love still existed between our core group of classmates. How we were able to just pick up where we left off and joke and kid around as if no time had passed. And even sing karaoke you can not have any ego to get up and do that. We stayed up too late and we got up too early making the 2-day event into a 3-day marathon of fun. I don't think we really knew how much we missed each other.


When you grow up in a small town like I did you have the same small class in grade school. 33 kids in a classroom everyday for 6 years can get pretty close maybe even closer than siblings, the junior high just added more kids to that core group and the bonds just expanded. High School was the same thing one junior high one high school the same kids every year. I don't think we realized what we had then but I think we do now.

I don't think everyone gets this especially today when families tend to move every 3 years on average. Making what my class had even more profoundly special. It seems sad now when I think about how abruptly life just dispersed us into the world and we all leapt out of the safety of the group into the world, striving and gaining never looking back. Last weekend I think we discovered how important friendships are especially the earliest ones. Who knows you better than the people who shared your secrets when you were 12? We need no ID checks on these folks. Here’s to the graduating class of ’77 at WHS.

Mummy of Hatshepsut Found!

Mummy Of Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut Found!

Science – It's being called the most important discovery in the Valley of the Kings since King Tutankhamun. Today Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt,announced the Identification of Hatshepsut's mummy.

How synchronistic and cool is that?
Julie

The WATTS conference is coming up very soon

create & buy custom products at Zazzle
ARE you ready?

On Beltane...

Beltane
By Heather Shaw

Spring is here! For many of us, this means a relief from the cold, dark days and snows of winter. As the days lengthen and get warmer, we are greeted by the rebirth of the earth itself: bulbs come up and bloom, filling the air with their heady, tempting fragrance; birds chirp and sing as they return from their winter migrations to build their nests; cats yowl out their urgent readiness for motherhood. All around us are symbols of fertility, growth, warmth and light. It is the perfect time to throw a May Day party or Beltane Festival, to celebrate the end of winter hibernation and to reconnect with your friends and loved ones.

Historic Beltane

Beltane is an old Celtic Fire Ritual which celebrates, at the most fundamental level, the end of winter and the beginning of the warmer, lighter half of the year. It is the counterpart to Samhain, which marks the Pagan New Year and celebrates ancestors and the death of the crops (harvest). Beltane celebrates life. For the Celts, it was a festival that insured fertility and growth.

Beltane is one of the four major Sabbats in the Celtic tradition, the other three being Lammas, Samhain and Imbolc. Beltane's traditional date, May 1st, was chosen as the midway point between the vernal equinox and summer solstice (two of the four minor Sabbats). Due to the change in the earth's axis of rotation over time, this point is now closer to May 5th, and some pagans observe May 5th as "Old Beltane," but the traditional date is still favored.

Beltane, much like Samhain, has changed over the years. Some traditions existed only in a single village, while others were found throughout the culture. It is believed that Beltane is a Celtic reinvention of an even older Roman festival, Floralia, which celebrated the goddess Flora and the flowering of spring. Most major religions have a holiday that marks the coming of spring. The Christian religion celebrates rebirth (or resurrection) on Easter; Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, chicks, and lilies are all pagan symbols of fertility associated with spring, adapted to the Christian tradition. The Hindu religion celebrates Holi, a carnival-like spring festival, dedicated to Krishna or Kama, the God of Pleasure. This festival resembles Beltane, with bonfires being a main focus of the holiday.


A maiden gathers wood
for the Beltane fire.

Traditionally, Beltane festivities began days before May 1st or "May Day," when villagers traveled into the woods to gather the nine sacred woods needed to build the Beltane bonfires. The tradition of "May Boughing" or "May Birching" involved young men fastening garlands of greens and flowers on the windows and doors of their prospective ladyloves before the fires are lit Beltane night. As with many Celtic customs, the type of flowers or branches used carried symbolic meaning, and much negotiating and courting could be worked out ahead of time.

Many communities elected a virgin as their "May Queen" to lead marches or songs. To the Celts, she represented the virgin goddess on the eve of her transition from Maiden to Mother. Depending on the time and place, the consort might be named "Jack-in-the-Green" or "Green Man," "May Groom" or "May King." The union of the Queen and her consort symbolized the fertility and rebirth of the world.

The tradition of choosing a symbolic goddess and god as official participants in the Beltane ritual captured Marion Zimmer Bradley's imagination in her novel The Mists of Avalon. In Bradley's retelling of the King Arthur legend, the Beltane celebration is a sacred ritual involving a high-ranking male and female virgin to represent the God and Goddess. The god in this case is called the "King Stag"; he must run through the woods with a pack of deer, followed by his own huntsmen, and only after he has successfully locked antlers with and killed a stag that he can return to the festival and claim his right as consort to the Goddess. Other couples also celebrate in this way, but it is only these two who become the God and Goddess incarnate.

Because the Celtic day started and ended at sundown, the Beltane celebration would begin at sundown on April 30th. After extinguishing all hearth fires in the village, two Beltane fires were lit on hilltops. The villagers would drive their livestock between the fires three times, to cleanse them and insure their fertility in the coming summer, and then put them to summer pasture. Then the human part of the fertility ritual would begin.

As dancing around the bonfires continued through the night, customary standards of social behavior were relaxed. It was expected that young couples would sneak off into a ditch, the woods or, better yet, a recently plowed field for a little testing of the fertility waters. Even after hand-fasting was replaced by the Christian tradition of monogamous marriage, the Beltane ritual continued with a new tradition: all marriage vows were temporarily suspended for the festival of Beltane. Many a priest would lament the number of virgins despoiled on this one night, but the tradition persevered. Babies born from a Beltane union were thought to be blessed by the Goddess herself.

Another use of the Beltane fires was for a purification ritual using a scapegoat or Fool. Special cakes made out of egg, milk and oatmeal, called bannocks, were passed around in a bonnet. One piece of bannock was charred, and whoever chose this piece was the Fool for that year's Beltane; it was believed that any misfortune would fall on the Fool, sparing the rest of the people. It is now generally believed to be a myth that the Fool was ever burned as a human sacrifice; this seems to have stemmed from Christian priests and their attempts to condemn Beltane festivities. Later customs called for the Fool to leap three times through the Beltane fire, and according to earlier customs the Fool was banned from all Beltane activity.


Beltane, like Samhain, is a time when the veil between the worlds is thought to be thin, a time when magic is possible. Whereas Samhain revelers must look out for wandering souls of the dead, Beltane merrymakers must watch for Fairies. Beltane is the night when the queen of the fairies will ride out on her white steed to entice humans away to Faeryland. If you hear the bells of the Fairy Queen's horse, you are advised to look away, so she will pass you by; look at the Queen and your sense alone will not hold you back! Bannocks were also sometimes left for the Fairies, in hopes of winning their favor on this night.

The maypole, which was either a permanent feature or cut in a ceremony during the gathering of the nine sacred woods, was a symbolic union of the God and Goddess. The maypole itself represented the male, a phallus thrust into mother earth, while the ribbons that were wound around it represent the enveloping nature of the woman and her womb. The maypole was usually danced after sunrise, when disheveled men and women would stagger back into town carrying flowers they picked in the forests or fields. The area around the maypole was decorated with the flowers, and then the winding of the ribbons would begin. Sometimes the flowers were put into baskets and left on the doorsteps of people who were too ill or old to attend the Beltane celebrations. In this way, the entire town could participate in the joys of the coming spring.

Beltane Today

Neopagans already are well familiar with Beltane and its accompanying rituals. Some pagan groups have land on which they can host huge Beltane fires, with all-night dancing and frolicking outdoors. A quick look at the current events on Witches Voice around April or May will show many Beltane celebrations throughout the country. Among the offerings this year are Beltaine 2001: A Pagan Odyssey in Oxford, CT; the Mid-Atlantic Beltane Festival in Stanardsville, VA; Edinburgh Beltane in Edinburgh, Scotland; and FPG -- The Rites Of Spring (St. Petersburg, FL). All of these festivals includes a bonfire and a maypole. Most of them are multi-day events, with camping and workshops and general merriment and fun. The outdoor setting of these events makes nature and her flowering in springtime a more central focus to the May Day celebration.


Beltane Morn: Heather and
Holly Shaw in Thunder Dome at
Lothlorien in Needmore, Indiana

One such festival I attended several years ago at Lothlorien in Southern Indiana began with the rattle of chainsaws several days in advance, as the fire-tender prepared his surprises. Many of us were annoyed by this disruption in the lovely woods that covered the land on which we were camped. It was too modern, too technological for our tastes.

When we saw the reason for the chainsaws, most of us forgave the noise. The festival began with the usual smudging at the door of the dome (where each participant is circled by a burning sage stick to cleanse them before they enter the ritual space). On one side of the fire pit was a wide log with a yoni cut out of its middle; the other side held a delicately carved phallus. The fire was struck from flint, and once the kindling had caught more yoni-shaped logs were brought in. We danced around the fire as yoni was stacked upon yoni. Soon a long, narrow piece of wood was brought in, and when it was thrust into the stack of yonis, our dancing reached a fevered pitch. The night went on like this, stack and thrust, and the fire became huge, with towers and castles created out of burning embers. Some chemicals were thrown on the fire, and different colors would streak up from the flames, hovering near the top of the dome. We danced (with some sneaking off to use their own yonis and phalluses) until dawn. As the sun came up, the fire tender picked up the finely carved phallus and lit the spinning firework on the tip. The fire tender held the phallus to his hips as sparks flew off of it and the drums pounded out an irresistible rhythm. As the sparks died down he thrust the carving into the yoni on the fire. Daylight broke over the dome, and the dancers collapsed in spent heaps around the dome, cuddling together for warmth in the morning dew.

Speaking of morning dew, it is traditional to wash your face in the dew of Beltane morning. It is thought that it brings health and luck, and, in the case of young women, guarantees against fading beauty.

Celebrating Beltane


Maypole dancing at
Mary Anne Mohanraj's house
in Oakland, California.

You don't have to be a Neopagan or have large acres of land to frolic in to celebrate Beltane. In fact, you may have already been a part of a Beltane celebration if you've ever attended a May Day party. Throwing your own Beltane or May Day party is a great way to celebrate the coming spring. These days, a celebration of fertility does not necessarily mean your goals are human reproduction. Perhaps you have a garden that you would like to grow well this season; if you have a private enough yard (and a lover), making love in the garden is a way of honoring and insuring the fertility of the seeds you have planted. Make a wreath of flowers or fragrant herbs -- rosemary is a nice smelling one that tends to grow in abundance -- and weave a wreath for someone you'd like to know better. Or maybe there are projects you'd like to complete, goals you need to reach for, dreams you'd like to see realized. All of these things can benefit from the Beltane celebration of growth and fertility.

Any Beltane party should have as many flowers as you can afford. If you have a garden, or a deck or porch with container gardens, you should include this as part of the party space and make sure you've planted your spring flowers in time for May 1st. Six-packs of spring flowers at your local garden store should run you no more than several dollars (and often less than two), and can add color and life to your Beltane atmosphere. You can even freeze flowers in the ice cubes for your punch. Edible flowers can add a fairy-like feel to your food table at a Beltane party. This site not only lists the types and tastes of edible flowers, but includes a delicious-sounding recipe for a Day-Lily Sorbet.

Any fruit is appropriate for a Beltane spread, especially cherries, figs, mangos, peaches, pomegranates, and apricots, which have all been long associated with sensuality and/or fertility. Spring greens are another healthy way to imply fertility and celebrate springtime. Chocolate and other sweets are always a good means of tempting your guests at any Beltane party.


Temple of Nine Wells-ATC's Maypole
at Derby Wharf, Salem Massachusetts
Dancing a maypole is the most traditional way of celebrating May Day. Go to your local hardware store and buy a 20-foot wood pole (more rural folk can cut it themselves, but be sure to take a moment to honor the tree that gives the sacrifice). Ask your guests to bring their own ribbons, 20 feet in length and about two inches wide, in any color (and be sure to have several extras on hand anyway). At the party, tie all the ribbons to the top of the pole (you may want to buy an eye hook to make this easier) and plant the other end of the pole several feet into the ground. Have everyone form a circle, and count off in twos; have the "ones" face clockwise and the "twos" face counterclockwise. Have everyone grasp their partner's right hand, then pass them by on the right. Now, grasp left hands and pass by on the left. Then right, then left, and so on. Once you've made it once around the circle, pick up your ribbons and begin again, this time weaving your ribbons as you go.

You'll want to have music once you start the actual weaving of the maypole. If you have talented friends who don't mind sitting out the maypole dancing itself (and certainly that's an option, especially if you're superstitious about pregnancy at this time of year), live music is the nicest way to go. This website has some songs that might be appropriate. Singing is good, too; if you choose to sing, you might want to consider sending out lyrics with the invitations, and sing the tune to your friends over the phone. This might be a good way to find out how much you can count on singing to carry the music 'round the maypole, too.

Even if you don't have live music, the technological age makes sure nobody has to sing or miss out in order to have some music. A CD or tape of any Celtic music will do, but I also suggest searching out bands with specific May songs. You can sing along, or just listen and enjoy as you skip around the maypole. "Welcome in the May," by Annwn, is a fun, bouncy song that would be appropriate. It describes a typical old Beltane night:

We were there last night when the dark drew down:
we set the bonfires leaping.
Then we vanished in the heather
and we couldn't be found until the dawn came creeping.


Seduction in the meadows;
"The Hireling Shepherd" by William Holman Hunt.
If you have the space and the zoning, have a Beltane fire after sundown. It should be lit from flint or friction, but matches can count as friction too. Again, drumming or singing around the Beltane fire is a traditional way to celebrate Beltane. Go around and talk about things in your life that you want to have grow in the following season. It might be your life's dream of becoming a painter, or your physical activity, or your relationship with a loved one. It might even be a baby you're trying to have; there's no better time than Beltane to ask the gods for fertility!

Later, if people sneak off, make sure that the fire is not left unattended. If this is likely to happen at your party, you may think about researching different ways to handle that kind of party. Or, perhaps, you can wait until after the party, when you can frolic naked with your loved one(s) in private. This is certainly my favorite, and probably the most appropriate, way to end Beltane. And you may find, with the leaping fire and the well-wrapped maypole urging you on, it is inevitable; as the Annwn chorus goes:

Did it get a little warm around the fire last night?
Were the flames a little higher than they had the right?
Was your breath a little heavy and your dress a little tight
and the moon too bright for sleeping?




Heather Shaw is the Bookstore Manager for Strange Horizons.

Bashing 'The SECRET'

Maintaining my blog has been a difficult task. I write about my cards on Aeclectic Tarot and Meet-up but when it comes to my blog I run out of commentary. So I decided I would think about what I admire about other people's blogs. The ones I find interesting like Corrine Kenner's blog. What I like about Corrine's blog though it has a theme of tarot current events it also has unexpected commentary that I find useful. I noticed she will write how she feels about things that come up with humor and candor.

In light of topics for blog commentary I have heard much discussion on the new best selling book The Secret. Having just returned from the Reader's Studio in New York where I noticed The Secret coming up in conversation through out the weekend. When you go to events like tarot conferences you will hear discussion on issues of metaphysics and spirituality. Tarot is part of the trapping of the New Age movement, which I feel represents the movement toward embracing our spiritual selves, acknowledgment of our Oneness with the Universe and each other. Though I find there is a "dark side" to all the LOVE and LIGHT to the point where it gets impractical and unrealistic.

To me The Secret has that over the edge hollow vibe. I saw What the Bleep when it first came out and now there is a sequel The Secret. I enjoyed the connections What the Bleep made in regard to physics and metaphysics even though it had such shallow examples of the idea. I guess I have always had trouble with anyone channeling "named entities from other planets" who can make my life instantly better just because of some awareness or wisdom they can impart. And then there is the white middle class "creating their reality" folks I have trouble with that reality as well. I get into heated debates with these people all the time on this subject. Due to the fact that most people who adhere to this mentality are people who can afford to create their reality. I don't like it when I hear them equate worldly success with their own spiritual evolution. As if by virtue of their own spiritual success they have created their wealth and good fortune. In other words if you life sucks and you are suffering it is simply your own fault. Born poor? it's was you choice. Sorry but I don't think it is that simple. In my opinion some folks are just standing in the path of other people folks "creating their reality "and then they end up having a life that sucks.

Though I feel we all have free will and can make our own choices sometimes the randomness of the cards life hands us can be pretty big and overwhelming at times. I find The Secret to be the over simplification of the old idea that Words are Magic. As if words and thoughts can make things manifest the old "God said let there be light and there was Light mindset". If thoughts and words were as The Secret would have us believe then Iraq would be at peace and Global Warming would be well on its way to being resolved. Words and thoughts can get the ball rolling but actions carried out in toil and sweat are what make the real changes. It is the opposable thumb that made us not our index finger or spontanious generation.

The thing that triggered this blog entry was a review I read in the May issue of The Progressive by Barbara Ehrenriech. In her review she writes: "...check out the credentials of the "teachers" enlisted in The Secret. Most are well-known motivational speakers who claim to instruct such business heavy weights as financial advisers, developers, and a "master marketeer." One of The Secrets' teachers Denis Waitley, includes on his website testimonials from Merrill Lynch, WorldCom, 3M, Dell, and IBM, among others.... When the leaders of a major economy lapse into mysticism and come to believe they can accomplish things through their mental vibrations, without lifting a finger, then it is time to start thinking about going into subsistence farming on a remote compound in Idaho."

Perhaps this kind of thinking is why Louisiana is still in the state it is in?

This also makes me think about what Michael Moore said about big corporations wanting us to believe if we all work really hard we can all get rich. This mind set created the American Dream work ethic of the 20th century. The truth is the system is set up in a way that All of us can never get rich no matter how hard we work. Today in our modern two income house holds where everyone is spread too thin most of us work many more hours than our parents did. Yet our parents and grandparent who worked 40 hours a week and lived on one income factory jobs were able to pay off homes while their children were still children. Is The Secret just the same old guilt in a new guise backed by the same old karma chameleons who need to control the masses to keep their power?

I don't know I'm just asking...

Justice

Justice
Full moon Cycle of Libra (March 21-April 19)

The full moon cycle of Libra is the first full moon cycle after the Vernal Equinox. The full moon signals the week of Passover for Jews and the first Sunday after this full moon is Easter for the Christians.

For Wiccans and pagans, Ostara/Eostar- the Vernal Equinox signals the rebirth of the earth just as the Winter Solstice signals the rebirth of the sun. During this the time of earth rebirth when the increasing sunlight has awakened the earth, trees begin to show buds, flowers begin to emerge from the dormant ground of winter. The name for the Christian holy day known as Easter has its roots in the pagan holiday Eostar. Eostar the spring equinox was named after the Germanic goddess Ostara, Eostre or Eostar. Eostar's sacred animal is the hare. The hare is associated with fertility and magic. The goddess Eostar whose name means the dawn is also similar to the goddess Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of morning and evening star.

Even today the modern Easter bunny that hides eggs shows the lingering remnants of the goddess Eostar. The egg and the rabbit or hare symbolize the mystery of life that returns from a seemingly dead earth.

The tomb, which becomes the womb, is symbolized by archeological evidence of tombs found throughout ancient Europe in the shape of goddesses. See Habitations of the Great Goddess by Cristina Briaggi published by Knowledge Ideas and Trends Inc. Manchester CT.1994. The idea of shaping a tomb like a woman gives rise to the ancient idea of Earth as mother and the dead being reborn like plant life that reemerges from the dead winter ground in the spring. Life rising from death. Like the egg with emerging chick that symbolizes life rising from a small rock like object.

The symbol of the scales in the zodiac sign of Libra is found in the ancient Egyptian stories of the judgment of souls. In these stories it is Maat the Goddess of Truth and Justice who weighs men's souls against a feather before they can pass on into the next world.

The great hall where the Judgment takes place is called The Hall of the Two Truths. At one end of the hall sits green skinned Osiris, behind him are his wife Isis to his right and Nepthyus to his left with their arms around his shoulders. Before him perched on a lotus stand the four sons of Horus; Mesta (guardian of the liver), Hapy (guardian of the lungs), Tuamutef (guardian of the stomach), and Qebehsenuf (guardian of the intestines).(the 4 elements sit respectively Along the sides of the wall each on separate thrones, are; sun-god Ra/Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut lady of the sky, Horus, Hathor lady of the West, Hu and Saa.

A great Balance stands in the center of the hall, surmounted by Thoth, lord of wisdom, karma and magic, inventor of hieroglyphic writing and Anubis guardian of the tomb and guide of souls. The deceased was given a barrage of questions to judge his innocence. With each question his heart would be weighed against Maat's Feather of Truth and Justice. If the heart weighed equal with TRUTH then, all was well, but if his heart were to weigh heavy it would betray him and he would meet his doom. This fate was to be devoured by Ammut, a monster, her body part hippopotamus, and part lion with the face of a crocodile.

This threat would certainly keep one true to one's heart. In spite of this impressive display of divine Justice, the deceased was found innocent in every case and admitted to the Afterlife without issue.

The Libra moon represents a time for balance between winter and summer. It is the time when Light overtakes Darkness and the winter surrenders to springs warm days. The Libra moon has the attributes of life awakening from death and the weak and oppressed finding liberty and justice from the forces that oppress them. This theme is reflected in the story of Passover, when Hebrew slaves were released from bondage and set free by the pharaoh god-king of Egypt.

As a small child going to Catholic school and attending Catholic mass every morning the words of the Apostles creed and consecration of bread and wine into body and blood were etched into my mind. As an adult woman who has studied ancient Egyptian religious practices I see the world though different eyes. The words "descended into hell and ascended into heaven" * of the apostle's creed pop out at me because of their similarity to the secret initiation rites of ancient Egyptian priests. The Egyptian priests descended into hell and ascended into heaven as well. During their descent into hell the initiate priests faced the horrors known to the goddess Isis who reassembled her dismembered husband Osiris. If the initiate could handle the initiation he was anointed as a priest of Isis with all of its rank and privilege. There is very little known about these initiations as they were veiled in secrecy.

*I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
Although Christian legend has it that the Apostles wrote this creed on the tenth day after Christ's ascension into heaven, this is not the case. The Symbolum Apostolorum was developed between the second and ninth centuries. This particular verse is the most popular creed used in worship by Western Christians. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator.

My personal view of the passion of the Christ is that the Jews had become so oppressed by the Romans that they waged a rebellion. The public death and resurrection was necessary to gain political support of the masses during this age of 'god-kings'.

In the Old Testament God was hidden after a veil, and the man was behind the veil... but that "veil" was torn the day of the crucifixion, in Mat.27: 51, and now we can enter into the presence of God at any time, because Christ has laid the way to us. It is Final Judgment (Rom.2:5-11, Mat.25:31-46, Rev.20:11-15).


It seems apparent to me that the timing of a rebellion was critical to the Jews for reasons of sympathetic magic established for them by their history. Although a favorable outcome could not be guaranteed this was the optimum time based on past success commemorated by the Passover holiday to stage such an act. Any rebellion that may have occurred against Rome did not make it into the historical record, however. This rebellion may have been squelched by the Romans as there is not much evidence handed down to the 21st century to prove there even was a rebellion. Only trace evidence like the crucifixion itself, a political act, sending the public a form of warning against political rebellion. There is evidence of a rebellion waged approximately 30 years later that speaks of the continued unrest. The new religion 'of women and slaves' born of this cause was not so easily squelched. This religion became so powerful that the only way for Rome to control it was to adopt it as the state religion some three centuries later. This is when Rome was able to gain back full control over the hearts and minds of the Christian people. As the state religion of Rome, Christianity was given the attributes of the previous state religion Mithraism. 'Jesus the Savior', rebel against Rome, has been put to death every year and will be for as long as the religion exists. One of the most telling and peculiar attributes of the Christian religion is its need for conversion and constant and vigilant quest for members. I feel this behavior is a remnant of the recruitment for the cause and the need for large numbers of rebels to wage a rebellion against Rome.

As a pagan woman I can not help but see the similarity between the ancient scene of Osiris judging souls before the scales of Justice and the Judeo/Christian father god who also judges the dead and to whose right hand Jesus ascended to after he spoke to Mary Magdalene in the garden. Jesus did not let Mary touch him. Is there a connection between the celibacy rules for initiates of ancient rites and the current practice of the priesthood? At this point we can only guess.

Other names: Maat; Mayet; Truth


Attributes: time for initiations; Puberty rites; Tests of Soul and self; Rites of passage; Death and resurrection ceremonies; Divine comedy; harmony; balance; the Law is Love; honesty; light heartedness

Symbols: scales; ostrich feather; hearts; wombs and tombs; life and death; eggs; rabbits; hares

Full Moon in Libra key phrase: "I balance"