11 * WORKING
(For an overview and explanation of the Working see: http://www.horusmaat.com/HMLFAQ.html#ELEVENSTAR)
HML ELEVENSTAR WORKING 2009
(organize & scribed by Shade )
Aum. Greetings to All!
Our 11-Star theme for 2009 is summed up in the word:
HEALING
With the world rather thoroughly screwed up right now, in financial collapse, ecological disaster, famine, plague, and war, we feel that this is a fairly practical endeavor on a macrocosmic level, and it must also be linked to our individual human bodies on the microcosmic plane. This is Healing in the widest sense of the word, including the concepts of Balance, Harmony and Evolution.
Our monthly group workings take place in the darkness of the New Moon each month and are usually loosely based on the qabalistic Tree of Life model:
January 26: Truth/Kether: the entire concept of Universal Healing for humanity through the awakening manifestation of N'aton as World Soul.
February 24: Will/Chokmah: healing all the diseases, epidemics, famines and other horrors externally afflicting people.
March 26: Love/Binah: healing all the internal fears, misunderstandings, paranoia and hatreds as well as all individual skeletal structures.
April 24: Harpocrat/Daath: projecting universal waves of healing through the astral dream-sphere.
May 24: Pan/Chesed: healing the planet’s financial and trade networks, and our endocrine systems.
June 22: Shaitan Aiwass/Geburah: healing the wounds of war, our physical infrastructure, and the individual circulatory system (blood).
July 21: Ra-Hoor-Khuit/Tiphareth: healing of the Whole Self, and the religio-spiritual and cardiovascular systems.
August 20: Babalon/Netzach: healing of relationships and sexuality in all their diversity, AIDS awareness, and our reproductive systems.
September 18: Therion/Hod: healing communications and diplomacy, the Internet and free information flow, and the psychological and nervous systems.
October 18: Hadit/Yesod: healing all family and community networks, and the digestive and urinary systems.
November 16: Nuit/Malkuth: healing the global and local ecology, the lymphatic system, and the body of all Nature.
December 16: Ain/Ain Soph/Ain Soph Aur. Limitless Light, culmination of this cycle.
* * *
Part of this group working is work with the Norse Runes, studying the 24 futhark in 12 monthly pairs and forming them into magical bind-runes to share with one another - all aimed towards the focus of HEALING as per above.
........................
January 26 Nu Moon:
FEHU (F): Wealth, Cattle.
A rune of golden energy, power, fertility, growth, expansion and success. Wealth in the form of both herds of cattle and of money. Linked to the Vanir (fertility gods).
URUZ (U): Aurochs; Rain.
This now-extinct wild ox was a symbol of wild animal power and phallic vitality, and also of life-giving rain.
February 24 Nu Moon:
THURISAZ (TH): Giant; Thorn.
The power of both attack and defense, linked to both the dangerous storm-giants and the protective thunder god Thor and his hammer. Also a phallic symbol.
ANSUZ (A): Ancestral God, Aesir, Odin.
The primary rune of magick and spells. Odin is king of the gods, speaker of poetry and wisdom, shamanic ecstasy. The Aesir are sky-gods.
March 26 Nu Moon:
RAIDHO (R): Riding, Way; Wagon, Chariot.
Represents the rhythmic course of life, and the sun-goddess. Linked to rhythm in ritual and music.
KENAZ (K, C, Q): Torch, fever.
The primary rune of Fire, and the craft and skill of the blacksmith, shaman, warrior or lover. Lust.
April 24 Nu Moon:
GEBO (G): Gift; Wedding.
The grain-goddess as Giver; sacrificial offerings; the primary rune of love-magick.
WUNJO (W, V): Joy, pleasure, delight; meadow, pasture.
Rune of joyful life, and the golden apples of the goddess Idunna that grant immortality.
May 24 Nu Moon:
HAGALAZ (H): Hail, hailstone, world-egg.
The seed or creative power of the storm, and the union of the primal powers of fire and ice.
NAUTHIZ (N): Need, necessity, constraint; need-fire.
The sacred fire annually rekindled; also the negative forces like hunger and cold, with which humans must constantly strive. The Forgotten Ones.
June 22 Nu Moon:
ISA (I): Ice; bridge, jewel.
Ice is the contracting and crystallizing power solidifying the universe (paired with expanding energy of Fire). May also be linked to rainbow bridge Bifrost.
JERA (J, Y): Year, good harvest; eagle.
The cosmic cycle of the yearly harvest completed in festival. Eagles and ravens are Odin’s birds.
July 21 Nu Moon:
EIHWAZ (EI): Yew tree, Yggdrasill.
The world-tree whose branches are over heaven and roots beneath the earth; and the shamanic journey between life and death.
PERTHRO (P): Lot box, dice cup, chess piece.
The rune of the Norns, triple goddesses who weave the web of fate, chance, and destiny. Symbolic grid and/or container of the runes.
August 20 Nu Moon:
ELHAZ (Z, X): Elk, swan, protection, eelgrass.
A complex rune, symbolizing the fylgja or follower, a hereditary guardian or animal totemic spirit; also a protective shield or outspread hand; and other meanings.
SOWILO (S): Sun; jewel, sail.
Solar power, breath and light, the Sun goddess, health, energy and wholeness.
September 18 Nu Moon:
TIWAZ (T): Tyr; a star.
The rune of victory. Tyr is a very old star and sky-god connected to both justice and war, and is called upon in single (judicial) combat.
BERKANO (B): Birch Tree, or Goddess.
The main rune of the goddess Freya, patron of love and sorcery; and of spring and the fertility of plant life, the green rebirth of the earth. She is queen of the Vanir or earth-gods.
October 18 Nu Moon:
EHWAZ (E): Horse, or twin horses.
Horses are the sacred steeds of the sun and moon, and the way of riding and of power for humans. May be linked to Odin’s 8-legged steed Sleipnir.
MANNAZ (M): Man, Human Being.
The human condition; perhaps also the moon, which is male in Norse myth. Also may be linked to the Hawk (Horus?) and to N’Aton, the collective human evolutionary genome.
November 16 Nu Moon:
LAGUZ (L): Water, Sea, Lake; Leek.
The power of Water; waterfalls are sacred places. Also the sea, healing (often by herbs), dreams and fertility.
INGWAZ (NG): Ing (god or hero).
Ing is a form of Frey, twin brother of the goddess Freya; he is a phallic, solar and harvest deity, linked to burial mounds, sacred bonfires, human heroes, and the wain or wagon representing the course of the sun by day.
December 16 Nu Moon:
DAGAZ (D): Day.
The magical or enlightened state of consciousness, cosmic paradox, and mystery; a rune of Odin.
OTHALA (O): Ancestral Property, Homeland.
Inherited property; the house, homeland, tribe or gild. Completion.
* * *
As god-forms for the Healing work I also suggested Aesklepios, son of Apollo and Imhotep, son of Thoth as divine physicians along with N'aton. This sparked a debate about other cultures and healing goddesses as well, which appears below. We invite everyone to tune in to this working on the New Moons in their own way, merging your own customary practices with our magicks as you Will.
Ha!
93/696, <-O( ~ Shade Oroboros
***
NOTES & SNIPS FROM HML DISCUSSIONS:
Might I suggest, not for the sake of duality but for the sake of
balance, that if the Divine Physician is to be the patron of our 2009 11*, we also need a Divine Midwife?
IMO healing/balancing the individual/global psyche is only the first half of the equation. The manifestation of N'Aton suggests the genesis of a new, integrated humanity -- homo veritas, in Nema's words -- which could be pictured as a Golden Child or a Star Child (ala 2001 - A Space Odyssey). For this purpose, a doctor is seldom necessary; midwives are usually all the help that is needed to bring a new life into the world.
What would be an appropriate midwife for this series of workings? I know Isis is considered a Divine Midwife... what about other cultures/religions? Just a thought.
- Papa Nick
Nice thought. The egyptian goddess Heqet is also a midwife (Grant equates her with Hekate) and there is also a roman birth goddess, Lucina I believe, an aspect of Juno.
~ Shade
wow - very cool. May I suggest Artemis (who is a goddess of midwives and a midwife herself)?
http://www.ehow.com/about_4566577_goddess-moon-artemis.html
Carmenta (new to me)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmenta
and Hathor (protectress of pregnant women and a midwife)
http://www.egyptartsite.com/hathor.html
- Holly
HATHOR!!!! She was even more popular for longer than Isis and she was the patron of childbirth- her temple at Dendera (we went to) had a huge birthing temple...
- Aion
AUDHUMBLA!!!!
--This is a great runic name, the B rune in there denotes her pregnancy. At present I think one of these two may be the "secret name" of Nuit (due to "secret name" = 103 in serial english):
AUDHUMBLA = 103, 1111 in serial and metric runes.
ALCHIMIA = 58, 103 in serial and metric latin (greek based).
Hathor really is a beautiful goddess, I consider Her, AUDHUMBLA, Nuit, and ISIS to be very closely related. Liber P.P. I:7 has a neat verse: "The Land of Milk shall have the honey also, dropped down as dew by the Divine Gynander." This reinforces the interpretation of Nuit as pangenitor or creatrix, self-dividing "for love's sake." The Milk may signify her and the feminine principle while the honey she drops (gives birth to) may be interpreted as the male golden Horus child, or just the child principle without gender. Verses 7 & 8 may be interpreted aeonically too, with Nuit being eternal beyond time. In fact in verse 8 is direct mention of PVER AETERNVS, the "Eternal Child".
I personally interpret it as there is a continual Goddess Aeon beyond time which is the "Maatian current", but that "The Lord of Parts" (the unity of the divisions of the time-based universe) is Hadit/Horus, as it says "His Kingdom." I see Thelema as one of many Phoenix/Horus aeons based in time which will change their words, while there will always be a concurrent and continuous Nuitian/Maatian goddess current streaming beyond it or parallel to the changes. A bizarre notion is the question "Is IPSOS the eternal Word for the continuous goddess aeon?!" (some Maatian conspiracy theory for ya!), there is warning upon its secret power in Liber P.P.: "...be circumspect in its usages--for if its truth be known abroad, it would perchance drive the slaves to madness and despair." Does this imply slaves, or those resistant to change and transformation (giving up of themselves to the all), cannot adapt to the mind bending gnosis of the continuity of Nuitian
consciousness?
--Btw, the pentagram ritual represents this putting back of the pieces or parts of Osiris: 1-4 are the four elements brought together; 5 is the Spirit, soul, and unity thereof; 6 is "The Lord of Parts" Himself as Hadit/Osiris, etc.; 7 is the Goddess Nuit/AUDHUMBLA/Hathor/ISIS/Maat; then 8 is the Child Horus she births which may start the process anew.
- Walter
Hequat, bactracian midwife of predynastic Khem...
-kreese7
Pondering about a * Feminine Counterpart* to Asclepios, I recall that, in various mythologies ~ Asclepius was married to Epione ~ The Soother of Pain ~ Epione, being a mortal, may be a good mediator between (most of ;-) us mortals and the God ~ they had some say five some six daughters ~ who each performed a facet of Apollo's Art ~ this feminine pantheon surrounding the God was intricately woven into and part of the Asclepian Rites ~ And may be useful to call upon as * the Midwifes of the God* ~ And the these many faces of the * daughter * seem to tie in nicely with Maat ~ They were, according to various sources:
Hygieia ~ the goddess of Prevention, cleanliness and sanitation and sometimes: the moon ~ played an important part in her father's Cult ~ and she had her own temples, notably at Epidaurus. Her statues were oft covered by women's hair and pieces of clothes as ex-votos. While her father was more directly associated with healing, she was chiefly associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health.
Aglaea, the Charis ~ or Aglaia ("splendor, brilliant, shining one") who was Hephaestus ' wife ~ who, in some myths, was one the three Charites ~goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility ~
Meditrina ~(the serpent-bearer) ~ Goddess of longevity and, later, in Roman Cults, wine ~
Panacea ~ literally: *All Healing *~ the goddess of healing through Cures ~ said to have a Poultice or Potion with which she healed the sick ~ hence the Goddess of all remedies & medicines~
Aceso, Goddess of the healing process ~
and Iaso, Goddess of recovery ~
In other mythologies, daughters are named Ippone, Lampetea, and Xanthe ~Asclepios and Epione also had one, three or four sons ~ pending on the mythologies~ notably Machaon and Podalarius, both legendary healers.
Finally, whenever Aesclepios is called, Cheiron the Centaur isn’t far...
Also wish to offer that The Rod of Asclepius is considered by some to represent the constellation Ophiuchus, also known as Ophiuchus Serpentarius, the thirteenth sign of the sidereal zodiac. This seems to me to *tie in* in some mysterious way with recent conversations about the 13 moons ~ and leaves me with an instinct that, under Aesclepios, finding a way to incorporate the specific healing face of the respective signs of the Zodiac each Nu Moon falls in might be interesting,
~ Ariel
Was also reminded that, according to some ( ref: The Symbol of Modern Medicine: Why One Snake Is More Than Two, Wilcox and Whitham Ann Intern Med.2003)
The Rod of Asclepios, symbol the healing arts, is not the same as the Caduceus (Belonging to Hermes ~ which is nevertheless often mistakenly used as a symbol by the medical profession) ~ the former bearing a single snake ~ symbol of rebirth and fertility ~ entwined around the staff, as opposed to two on the caduceus ~
A very different symbolic for very different Mysteries ~
I have always sensed that said rod was a symbol of the roots of the Asclepian Mysteries laying within the Snake Cult of the Minoans ~
Clarifying this also feels relevant in view of Asclepios having notoriously incurred the wrath of Hades ~ Of whom by contrast Hermes Psychopompos was the Mediator ~
According to Wikipedia: (featuring fine pix of said Rod)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius
"Widespread confusion regarding the supposed medical significance of the caduceus appears to have arisen as a result of events in the United States in the 19th century.[1] It had appeared on the chevrons of Army hospital stewards as early as 1856.[11] In 1902 it was added to the uniforms of Army medical officers. The inconsistency was noticed several years later by the librarian to the Surgeon General, but the symbol was not changed.[1] In 1901 the French periodical of military medicine was named La Caducée. The caduceus was formally adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army in 1902. "
~ Ariel
I recognized in your description of the Rod of Asclepios a 3' carving I'd seen near the entrance of a veterinarian's office. It was a rod with a single serpent twined around it.
Also: From JewishEncyclopedia.com brazen serpent - Biblical Data:
An image set up by Moses which is said to have healed those who looked upon it. When the people of Israel, near the close of the desert wanderings, were marching southward to go around Edom to the east of Palestine, they murmured against God and against Moses. As a punishment "fiery serpents" (compare Isa. xiv. 29; xxx. 6) of the region were sent against them, and very many died of their poisonous bites. On their showing repentance Moses was bidden to put upon a lofty pole an image in bronze of such a serpent, which, according to II Kings xviii. 4, was known as "neḥushtan." The sufferers, when they looked upon the image from any part of the camp, were healed of their sickness (Num. xxi. 4-9). This "brazen serpent" became an object of adoration to Israel, and so remained until Hezekiah destroyed it by breaking it into fragments (II Kings xviii. 4).
93/696, Nema
I see no reason (at this point!) to keep our god/desses confined to
hermetic- TARA is very much the patron of healing in Tibet and Nepal- esp Green Tara- which works well for me in terms of a feminine healing spirit and an image of the Earth Mother as healer- So I plan to use her as the feminine healer deity- I think it also important to remember that Asclepios was a deified human, that Apollo was the healer god before he was declared a god- another greek goddess associated with healing was the Greek Maat: Themis.
- Aion
Ah, but don't forget Ningishzida - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningishzida
And, IIRC, there's a Sumerian version of the Staff of Asclepius too.
- Io Phanes, Tzeenj
For my part, I don't wish to focus on specific deities, but the staff and serpent of Asclepios speak strongly to me, as the Divine Surgeon. The other is the Pomegranate, a fitting symbol of the midwife, bursting with potential life, and full of healing energy. The Tree and the Fruit thereof.
- Papa Nick