” A Pale Green Mermaid Blog “

Good Afternoon,

Amulets were placed in the linen wrapping of Egyptian mummies worn as jewlery and carried as tailsmans by the ancient egyptians.  

You can find amulets in many museum  shops, I have one on my computer stand – Bastet the cat goddess of creativity.  They are hand carved and can be held in your palm. 

 My old “dog tags’ were a cartouche of my name in silver and an Udjat until I lost that necklace. ( boo-hoo, my favorite…)

Below are a few of the most popular amulets,

SCARAB,

Eye of Horus- UDJAT,

BASTET,

ANKH,

Images From Goggle

The images are small but eloquent.

Have a Purrrrfect weekend!

FROM  www.metmuseum.org  Egyptian Amulets/Thematic Essay  (Goggle search)

An amulet is a small object that a person wears, carries, or offers to a deity because he or she believes that it will magically bestow a particular power or form of protection. The conviction that a symbol, form, or concept provides protection, promotes well-being, or brings good luck is common to all societies: in our own, we commonly wear religious symbols, carry a favorite penny, or a rabbit’s foot. In ancient Egypt, amulets might be carried, used in necklaces, bracelets, or rings, and—especially—placed among a mummy’s bandages to ensure the deceased a safe, healthy, and productive afterlife.

Egyptian amulets functioned in a number of ways. Symbols and deities generally conferred the powers they represent. Small models that represent known objects, such as headrests or arms and legs, served to make sure those items were available to the individual or that a specific need could be addressed. Magic contained in an amulet could be understood not only from its shape. Material, color, scarcity, the grouping of several forms, and words said or ingredients rubbed over the amulet could all be the source for magic granting the possessor’s wish.

From    www.angelrainbows.com
Egypt Egyptian Ancient Culture
Amulets Ankhs and Talismans Alchemy

Examination of funerary objects, tomb paintings, and inscriptions suggested that as a culture the Egyptians were inordinately concerned with ensuring that their eternal life was as agreeable as their daily life. The continuance of the personality in the afterlife was of paramount importance so the body was mummified, placed in a tomb, and given regular food offerings.

The Ankh was the Egyptian symbol for eternal life. Comprised of a spirit circle on top of a mundane cross, this Egyptian hieroglyph was an alchemical symbol, depicting the ascension of the soul over wordly boundaries.

By quickening the spirit with infusions of spiritual awareness, the life force rose to higher, more refined levels of Beingness. Various Egyptian gods and goddesses were often depicted holding an ankh before someone’s lips or the king’s nose, indicating that they were the purveyors of the Breath of Life necessary in both this life and the afterlife.

True ascendancy was achieved only when the Above totally permeates personal essence Below, raising substance to the level of quintessence. The two became one not only in the melding of male and female polarities; but; also in the mergence of the awakened, individual divinity with the totality of Universal Spirit.

Learning how to flow with evolutionary currents allowed one to effortlessly float in the cleansing waters; thus, bypassing the need to undergo the suffering of the crucifixion where the karmic crucible transmutes fixed patterns of negativity.

Ancient Egyptian art is five thousand years old. We are all familiar with its distinctive representation and style, and of course, with the historical figures which made its art and culture famous the world over: Ramesses the Great, Nefertiti (below right), Akhenaten, and of course, King Tut-Ankh-Amun. Expressed in painting, sculpture and architecture, the art forms of the Ancient Egyptians are symbolic and fascinating, and of course intended to keep history alive.

In a narrow sense, Ancient Egyptian art refers to the canonical 2D and 3D art developed in Egypt circa 3000 BC and used until approximately the 3rd century. The majority of elements in Egyptian art remained remarkably stable during that time period without incorporating any outside influences.The same basic conventions and quality of observation started at a high level and remained near that level over that entire time period.

So what, you ask, are the most important influences that dominated the character and style of Ancient Egyptian art? Regularity of features, keen observation, and exact representation of 3D forms are all definite factors. Although we are still stunned today by the sheer beauty of tomb art in particular, “prettiness” was not as important to the Egyptians as completeness and exactness of representation.

Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism, ranging from the Pharaoh’s regalia (which symbolized his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, was omnipresent in Egyptian art. Animals were also considered symbolic figures. The most prevelant of these would be the cat, an animal strongly revered in those days, and representative of the cat goddess, Bastet.  (below ).

Colors were also symbolic; blue and green represented the Nile and life, yellow stood for the sun god, and red represented power and vitality. As stilted as some of the human figures appear to us now in this day and age, the artists in Ancient Egypt show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and a close attention to detail, especially in their rendtions of animals.

Tomb art in particular had another important function, one that we find odd today. The painted figures, as well as ceramic figures, were intended to accompany the deceased upon his/her journey into the afterlife, either to keep him company or as slaves to serve his needs. Artists endeavoured to preserve everything of the present time as clearly and permanently as possible.

Basically, we could say that Egyptian art in all of its forms obeyed one law, and one law only: the mode of representing man, nature and the environment ramained almost identical for thousands of years, and the most admired artists were those who replicated the most admired styles of the past.

Next time we will take a look at other forms of Ancient Egyptian art and how they related to everyday life, as well as how gender roles were portrayed. Stay tuned.

by Kim Jackson

.Source.

(c) Emanuele Inversi

Dopo il successo ottenuto lo scorso week end nello spazio allestito nel corso dell’inaugurazione di Fotoleggendo, il WSP incontra e intervista Valentina Cinelli, ideatrice del progetto CafeXperiment.

CafèXperiment già il nome dice tutto o quasi, raccontaci quello che non ci dice il nome

Sinceramente c’è poco da raccontare in più. CafeXperiment è un progetto talmente semplice che ancora mi stupisco del grande riscontro di pubblico che ha ottenuto. Ho solamente riunito due mie grandi passioni come quella per il caffè e quella per la fotografia in un sito internet http://www.cafexperiment.com/(non è altro che la collezione di scatti fotografici a tema “caffè”), e ho scoperto che sono 2 passioni condivise da tantissima gente, e che in tutte le parti del mondo c’è qualcuno pronto a raccontarti “visivamente” la propria pausa caffè e a condividerla per un giorno con tutti.

Un resoconto della 2 giorni di Fotoleggendo?

Sono state due giornate veramente entusiasmanti. Ero colpita da quanta gente è stata al gioco. Il CafeXperiment Live Set prevedeva che io offrissi un caffè (rigorosamente fatto con la moka) in cambio di una foto sempre a tema caffè, da pubblicare poi in tempo reale sul sito (www.cafexperiment.com/fotoleggendo2009).    

Per l’occasione sono statai preparati due set, a cura della Prolight Equipment, dove poter scattare sia dei ritratti a un tavolino del bar, sia degli still-life con tazzine e cucchiaini.

E’ stata un’occasione per permettere alla gente di “giocare” su un tema specifico, e con due set a disposizione tantissimi fotografi si sono divertiti a comporre la propria foto. Ma è stato importante anche per me, perchè mi ha permesso di incontrare tanti “fans” di CafeXperiment ai quali ho finalmente potuto dare un volto. Il progetto va avanti da 4 anni e ha raccolto più di 1600 fotografie a oggi:  è stato incredibile vedere quanto la gente che già lo conosce gli sia così affezionata, e quanto colpisce la fantasia di chi lo scopre per la prima volta. Cmq colgo l’occasione per ringraziare Officine Fotografiche per l’opportunità e il supporto, Mario Profili per avermi fatto da assistente, e i ragazzi della Prolight Equipment.

Nuove iniziative legate al progetto?

Si stava meditando di ripetere l’esperimento “Live” in maniera itinerante. Ma al momento è tutto in fase embrionale. Per ora l’unico obiettivo concreto è di non fermare mai la quotidiana pubblicazione di foto sul sito – a pict a day - e continuare a coinvolgere bravi fotografi o semplici fotografi amatoriali a raccontare e a condvidere la propria pausa caffè.

The Egyptians were the first people to “domesticate” cats. Perhaps taking their cue from their pets, they very early venerated cats as divine. Cats were, however, working animals that controlled vermin and poisonous creatures that violated the principle of stability that the Egyptians so valued. From the earliest records of the Old Kingdom we find the goddess Mafdet portrayed as a cat. Her name translates to “swift runner” and she was protector of Pharaoh, and thus of all Egypt. She was also associated with justice, a role reprised by Puss-in-Boots in Shrek 2. The hearts of evildoers were ripped out by Mafdet and brought, like a dead bird or mouse, to the Pharaoh.

Mafdet? (Don't give your kitty knives!)

Mafdet’s fame declined with the rise of Bast, or Bastet. Bast (“devourer”) was also an early goddess, associated with the sun, and like Mafdet, she was a fierce protector. Her cult was centered in Bubastis, a city named for her. The guardian of Lower Egypt, she kept the kingdom safe from cobras, scorpions, and presumably hair-balls. Unlike the gentle kitties of today, she was also represented as a lion, a goddess of war.

Bast, all grown up

Bast’s fortunes faded with the rise of Sekhmet, the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. With a name translating to “powerful,” Sekhmet was yet a third feline protector. She was also a lion-shaped goddess whose breath created the desert. (I have worked for human beings who could justifiably make that same claim.) Like Bast, she wore the sun on her head and became Egypt’s version of the violent goddess. Ancient peoples all feared the raging goddess, no matter what name or shape she took. Perhaps they always expected bad behavior from men, so when female deities got in on the act it was all the more powerful.

Sekmet with the breath that sank a thousand ships

Where does evolution go from there? Is it merely coincidence that the Ashera Cat is part African Serval (as was perhaps the original Mafdet) and that it is being billed as the royal cat? I think not! Cats have a long pedigree with the divine, and from what I’ve been reading, Ceiling Cat has a very wide following. Evolution of the Egyptian cat, it seems, takes us from the Old Kingdom right up to Lolcats.

Here’s an interesting Being:  Casey Y (mrthejazz1). He answers hypothetical questions like “What if you found the lost diamonds of Zarenzia?”

Which inspires me to answer the utterly non-hypothetical question,

“What if ‘cats’ are invader, mind-controlling space monsters?”

They are, you see. I know because I saw them land on Earth with my own eyes, 15,000,000 years ago.

My Tweeps know what a dim view I take of IM-CSM “CATS”! I don’t want to read the word “cat”. I don’t want to see pictures of “cats”. I don’t want to see bastardized words like “Caturday”. I become incensed every time I observe another example of how the infernal IM-CSM “CATS” have enslaved and exploited humanity!

A “cat” sits in a tree from which it is perfectly capable of getting down just for the perverse entertainment of watching humans waste their tax dollars and let their homes burn down while scurrying to do its silent bidding.

Dogs have owners, and lovingly fetch them beer. Cats have staff, and trip them up at every turn.

I will not tolerate an IM-CSM “CAT” near me! Just yesterday, one slunk up to me as I sat on the patio of Hooked On Colfax. It looked at me with its baleful yellow-green eyes, like glowing pits of Hellish bile. It rubbed itself lasciviously against the leg of my chair, and I knew it would try the same on my leg next! Impudently, intimately, obscenely is how the IM-CSM “CATS” like to take their prey, though they can control human minds over vast distances when they choose. But not me, and not this IM-CSM “CAT”!

“Oh, no, you don’t, knave!” I muttered at it menacingly. “Be gone at once or I’ll drop-kick you into the middle of next week!”

The IM-CSM “CAT” leered up at me, insolently speculating about my sincerity.

“I’m as serious as a DUI,” I growled. “Test me if you dare. Make my day.”

The IM-CSM “CAT” sauntered off, foolishly secure in the delusion that innumerable laws its kind have compelled dully (sic) elected officials to enact protected it from me. I woofed once to clear the stench of the thing from my nostrils, then returned to Tweeting.

Do not think that I loathe cats. I liked cats very much! The trouble is, there are no more cats! The invader, mind-controlling space monsters killed them all long ago, and took over their semblances.

What Became Of Cats?

Some 15 million years ago, foul creatures from the constellation Draco (The Dragon) passed near Earth on their way to conquering another planet. Their spacecraft malfunctioned and crashed in the region now known as the Czech Republic. I witnessed this catastrophe, and watched all the evil that has come from it unfold.

The molten remnants of that pestilence-bearing vessel splattered far and wide, leaving deposits of a tektitic substance known to gemologists as Moldavite. People actually make jewelry out of this stuff and sell it to the innocent! Greed drives trade in Moldavite, for its supply is very limited and it increases in monetary value constantly. “Greediness is a source of suffering,” as The Buddha said.

Marooned, the invader, mind-controlling space monsters sought to make the best of things they could. They crept across the planet, stealthily spying to see which species enjoyed the greatest comfort. Cats, of course. So the invader, mind-controlling space monsters killed every cat on Earth and assumed cats’ place in the ecosphere.

Then began the enslavement of humanity, first with the Egyptians and the “cat” goddess Bast/Bastet. But quickly, “cat” worship spread across the Earth like sickly mold on ripe, succulent orange.

I don’t have to tell you have successful the invader, mind-controlling space monsters have become. But if you have any doubt that “cats” are invader, mind-controlling space monsters, let me give you just one example of their terrible power over human minds:

Eyelids For A Space Monster?!

True story, read it on a newspaper’s Web site:

A woman was walking down the street, minding her business, when an invader, mind-controlling space monster “cat” with no eyelids seized control of her. Who in her right mind and proper control of it would take such a hideous thing home? But she did.

It then compelled her to call innumerable veterinarians in search of one who would put eyelids on a space monster. She found such a fool, or maybe he was just greedy. He wanted $2,000 for the wicked deed. The hapless woman didn’t have that kind of money, but the space monster would not be denied.

The poor woman was compelled to beg on the Internet for money to put eyelids on a space monster! Now comes the seriously terrifying part, illustrating just how far-reaching the invader, mind-controlling space monsters’ power is:

Overnight, people gave this woman $2,000 to put eyelids on a space monster!

It would take a homeless human being three months to panhandle $2,000!

Do not tell me “cats” don’t have mind-control, or that they are of this Earth.

And don’t come near me with one of the Goddess-cursed invader, mind-controlling space monster “CATS”!

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En el post de hoy abandonare momentáneamente mi verde tierra salpicada por eternas grises y graníticas piedras, para dirigirme un poco mas al sudeste. Tampoco me iré a las marmóreas y níveas rocas que salpican el “Mare Nostrum”. No navegare, ni divagare, por marítimos vientos, aunque no abandonare nuestra agua esencial. En esta ocasión la madre agua no sera salobre, sera un agua dulce , tampoco abandonare las eternas rocas. Viajare a la que hoy es una tierra desértica donde las rocas se tornan ocres y son calcáreas . En esas pétreas paredes leeremos un mensaje para las generaciones venideras que dice así: “De bello rostro, señora de la felicidad, con el sonido de su bella voz uno se reconforta, señora llena de gracia y de bello amor”.
Dichas paredes rocosas fueron indudablemente mandadas grabar por su enamorado, para dicha grabación empleo una servidumbre mayoritariamente anémica, cuya dieta consistía fundamentalmente en cebolla, pan, cerveza y legumbres. Dichos datos sobre esa mayoritaria servidumbre, así como otros muchos los conocemos hoy gracias al arqueólogo británico Barry Kemp y a su equipo de egiptólogos que actualmente excavan las tumbas de los trabajadores de la ciudad hoy conocida como Amarna. Llegados a este punto del post muchos de los lectores a los cuales apasiona el antiguo Egipto, sabréis que me referiré a una de las épocas mas convulsas y conflictivas del antiguo Egipto, una época evidentemente marcada por su gobernante el Faraón hereje. Que en el quinto año de su gobierno de un solo golpe, no solo cambio la antigua religión egipcia , si no que también mudo su nombre de Amenothep IV, por el de Akenaton. Akenaton al parecer tuvo una visión y así mismo cerro los casi dos mil templos del antiguo Egipto, sustituyéndolos por uno solo.
Al cerrar los templos consagrados a los dioses zoomorfos, también instauro el culto a un solo dios Atón , identificado como el disco solar. Akenaton podría ser traducido como el agradable a Atón. Akenaton, no solo fue revolucionario en cuanto a su concepción religiosa, si no en cuanto a su esposa a la que igualo a su rango. Algo que sus antecesores en el trono no habían hecho y gobernó durante veinte años, veinte años que no alcanzaban a vivir la mayoría de sus súbditos. Súbditos a los cuales mando cincelar en la calcárea roca las palabras con las que termina el primer párrafo del post. La afortunada esposa es la mundialmente conocida Nefertiti, cuyo bello busto fue expoliado de Egipto en 1912 por el arqueólogo germano Ludwig Bochardt . Y el cual tuve el honor de ver en otra convulsa época en 1992 recién caído el vergonzoso muro de Berlín, del cual guardo un fragmento perdido en cualquier sitio por el desván.
Pero no voy aquí a revelar la cantidad de objetos inútiles que guardo en mi mugriento desván. Voy a seguir hablando de estos tiranos teocraticos que gobernaron Egipto durante la XVIII dinastía. Contrasta la miseria y hambre del pueblo de Akenaton con el esplendor de su templo consagrado a Atón , con sus 1900 mesas de ofrendas que día a día, se llenaban de exquisitas viandas. Un templo como no podía ser menos en esta época revolucionario, ya que carecía de techos, para adorara en todo su esplendor al disco solar. O la grandiosidad del palacio del palacio imperial con su magnifico
jardín hundido, donde entre otros vegetales creció mi invitada al post de hoy o al menos una pariente muy próxima, y con cuyos aceites esenciales se ungiría la bella Nefertiti , desprendiendo así un sutil aroma.
Nuestra invitada al post de hoy, cuyo perfume es de los mas conocidos desde muy antiguo, todos conoceréis el agua de lavanda, cuyo nombre según el genial y mordaz Alonso de Herrera autor de la Agricultura General, publicada en 1513 bajo los auspicios de el Cardenal Cisneros , es nombre dado así por los petimetres . Ampliamente conocido en cosmética y perfumería el espliego, este es el nombre castellano de la planta , también puede ser empleado para aliviar los nervios en infusión ,o para aliviar de las picaduras de mosquitos, tábanos e insectos varios. Pero el nombre veraz de mi invitada de hoy es Lavandula officinalis, su reproducción es fácil por esquejes semileñosos a finales de verano e inicios de la primavera gustándole los terrenos bien drenados . El azul de sus flores es sin lugar a debates el azul de las pinturas de Amarna , a donde un Faraón hereje
mando trasladar la capital de su reino. Y el gris de su follaje es el gris de mi gata persa ”Lola”, viuda infecunda de mi gato persa blanco “Tavo”, a los cuales dedico el post de hoy, porque servidor adora a los gatos persas como los antiguos egipcios adoraban a Bastet, a Lola le encanta la lavanda. Tavo siempre estarás en mi corazón, tu perdida ha sido traumatica e irreparable, la vida sin ti no es lo mismo, estés donde estés se que leerás estas lineas.

Thursday 18 November  2004

After an early breakfast at 6.00am in the hotel, Sam and I  left at 7.00am with Abdul to drive down into the Delta. I’ve wanted to go to Bubastis for years but never managed it before now. We arrived at the modern town of Tell Basta, 83km from Cairo at around 9.30pm.

There is much more to see at the site than I had expected. Many guide books will say that there were once temples at Bubastis but with little now remaining except a field of jumbled stone. For us it was a real feast of inscribed blocks, all with reliefs from the temple of Bastet, mostly re-used Ramesside from Qantir, or Libyan (Third Intermediate Period) and all very interesting. The plan of the site is a bit confusing but we were able to vaguely work out the different areas of the Temple of the cat-headed goddess Bastet. I could have spent all day there as I’ve been starved of decent reliefs for the last couple of trips. There is also a recently erected and greatly restored colossal statue of a lady, probably Rameses II’s daughter Meryt-Amun, that is stylistically very similar to the one at Akhmim. Behind the temple site is a large mudbrick town site which is undergoing excavation. It’s thought that there may be a palace here dating to Amenemhet II. Bubastis is a strange place with modern apartment blocks crowding in around the edge of the large site, looking like they can’t wait to get in across the fence. The site is bisected by the main road but Sam said there really is very little to see on the other side as it’s now all covered up. After a couple of hours it was time to leave because it’s quite a long drive down to Tanis, our next stop.

The Delta roads are awful, but at least we didn’t have to have the police with us on the drive today. Something I haven’t seen anywhere else were the hundreds of little 3-wheel Mitsubishi cars which were like motorised rickshaws, the driver sits in the middle above the front wheel and there is a bench seat behind and a soft hood over it. A sort of horseless caleche and these seem to be used as taxis in the Delta towns. At one point we hit a burst water main and had to drive through two feet of water flooding the road – with fingers crossed that there were no deep potholes in this stretch. Our car, a Lancer, is quite low to the ground and it was a worrying moment.

Tanis again had much more to see than I had expected and is a huge and quite confusing site with several ruined temples from different periods. We had the gafir and a security man (riding shotgun) with us but they let us go wherever we wanted and were very patient. The French IFAO are currently excavating here in the rear of the Amun Temple section, but we couldn’t really see what they were doing. At last I got to see the Third Intermediate Period royal tombs of Osorkons, Takelots  Shoshenqs, Psusennes et al. and was even allowed to take a photograph in one of them. I have wanted to see these for years. The gafir unlocked three of the tombs for me. Osorkon II’s tomb is open but entails a climb up a very rusty set of metal steps, some with the rungs missing or replaced by dubious bits of wood and you then have to perch on the wall at the top and look down into the roofless tomb where the huge granite sarcophagus of the king is still in situ, with lots of reliefs on the walls surrounding it. It was here that the archaeologist Montet found the wonderful Tanis treasures in 1939, including the silver coffins of Shoshenq II and Psusennes I, now in the Cairo museum.

It was all very new and exciting. Much of the site is now an open-air museum with many carved blocks and large Ramesside statues. These probably came from Per-Rameses at Qantir to be reused in the later temple structures at Tanis. Sam has been here three times before, but again we really couldn’t spend as much time as we would have liked to as Abdul wanted to get out of the Delta before it got dark because of the bad roads in this area. Because we were late we ended up driving over to Ismailia on the Suez Canal and back to Cairo along the big new highway.

It was a long drive to Cairo and we arrived back at 7.00pm. Went out to eat and sat outside in a coffee shop near Opera Square until around midnight as it has been quite a mild night again.

“The mystical divinity of unashamed felinity, round the cathedral rang ‘Vivat!’ Life to the Everlasting Cat!” I’m not sure if this is T. S. Eliot, Andrew Lloyd Webber, or a chimeric mix of the two, but it is an interesting bit of mythology. My daughter is the consummate Cats fan and has been asking me to write a post on Cats and religion. When I read (or hear) the above lines of poetry, I must confess, my mind wanders to Xenophanes who stated that if horses could draw they would draw their gods like horses. Ditto for cats.

Everlasting cats, however, have their roots deep in religions of the ancient world. Although the word “cat” never occurs in the Bible (“dog” is there plenty of times, with even a “bitch” or two) cats are certainly within the biblical culture. Eternal Egypt knew of an everlasting cat — Bastet, the “cat goddess.”

Bast to see this as an everlasting cat

Little Bastie doesn't seem so playful any more

La Moleskine ha lasciato la capitale e si trova in quel di Varese!
Le pagine di Bastet sono già online su Flickr.

#21

#22-23

Tra qualche giorno, le pagine di Fedmor!

Misteria Eryzyjskie objawione Sondrze London przez Arcykapłana POEE, Kerrego Thornleya w 3163 YOLD.

O BOGINI!

Wcielona w Bastet
Egipskie Bóstwo Kotów!

Pobogosław oto Kuwetę
by stała się super-chłonna
wraz z lepszą aglutynacją.

Spraw, by stała się na odór
odporna i nietknięta,
niczym skarpa Nilu
nad Wielką Wodą.

Lecz najważniejsze,
by staniała poniżej
75 centów za funt.

Cholera, przecież brzoskwinie kosztują 39 centów za funt, a są o wiele smaczniejsze od tego gówna…

Tonight I was a good girl and did an esbat meditation ritual. One of the recent articles over at Modern Pagan was about spur of the moment rituals. I am very guilty of being a planner. I plan everything. So rituals sometimes became cumbersome due to my inability to just relax. So tonight, in light of me starting a new journey down a “new” path, I decided to put to use what I read in the article. I did gather some supplies but I had no idea what I was going to do. As I was setting up the altar outside it dawned on me. I should just do a meditation spell and connect with one specific deity. There were suggesting in Circle of Isis on sort of how to do that and I remembered a couple things. So I decided…full moon…awesome Bastet sitting on my living room table….I am going to connect with Bastet tonight.  So I finished setting up getting all excited. Since I was winging it, I decided not to call corners. I did take a moment to reflect on each of the elements but nothing real formal. Since kids were in bed and to get to the backyard (where I normally do my outside rituals) I have to go out front door and walk down back…AND hubby isn’t here, I opted to do the front yard. I won’t do that again, it’s much too noisy on my street with all of the cars driving by and my neighbors were a bit nosey on what it was I was doing. Don’t forget I live 4 houses down from a Baptist Church and some of the neighbors are members, so concentration was difficult. Anyhow once I cast my circle, reflect on the elements, I sat before my statuette of Bastet and began meditation. I inwardly chanted her name out repeatedly until she came forth. We were able to converse for a short while. I won’t go into great detail but basically it was “about time you came to me” and “finally you are on the right path!” (if I haven’t mentioned it or you are a new reader…I have been obsessed and reading about the Ancient Egyptians since I was 9). Unfortunatley Alex woke up and came outside and interrupted us. But it turned into an education session for him. He wanted to know what everything was and what it was for. I don’t think he will remember any bit of it come tomorrow but it was nice to share it with him.

2009 no es un año muy bueno para los Tauros en cuestiones relacionadas con el amor. Su relación de pareja se verá afectada de forma negativa por malos entendidos que, si no se controlan, corren el peligro de extenderse y convertirse en amargura. Si esto te ocurre, debes actuar con mucha paciencia y cautela si quieres salvar tu relación, porque cada paso que tomes será muy importante para el resultado final. Si logras superar la crisis, tu relación será más fuerte.

Es posible que también experimentes problemas en tu vida doméstica en 2009, sobre todo durante los primeros meses del año cuando, a veces, te encontrarás de mal humor e irritable. También te preocuparán los gastos domésticos. Pero ten paciencia, porque a partir de agosto experimentarás una mejoría notable tanto en tu propia predisposición como en la de los que te rodean. Urano que simboliza cambios repentinos y sorprendentes.

Continua su tránsito por tu 11ª casa durante todo el año y esto podría significar que, con la ayuda de tus amigos, podrás realizar un sueño personal.

El año en lo profesional comienza para ti con la continuación de lo que habías estado trabajando en el año anterior, es un período para expandir tu estabilidad y mirar metas a largo plazo. Como regla general, deja un pie anclado en la tierra y sal en busca de tus sueños e ideales. Ponte firme ante los retos y consolida tu posición. No te complazcas demasiado y te duermas en los laureles porque de lo que ahora siembres, cosecharás el resto de tu vida. Vienen cambios radicales, que harán estremecer tu mundo de paz y tranquilidad. Si te resistes al cambio se te hará más difícil, por eso deja que las situaciones vayan por su cauce para que fluyan suavemente y sin fricciones. Al incorporar esos cambios te ayudará a solucionar conflictos de una manera más creativa. Trabajando fuerte podrás conseguir más de lo que esperas.

En cuanto al trabajo, el 2009 será un año muy favorable y es posible que los resultados superen tus expectativas más optimistas. Tu actividad profesional te aportará grandes satisfacciones y alegrías y tal vez tengas una subida salarial o una promoción. Es un año especialmente positivo para aquellos que trabajan en el sector audiovisual o en otro sector que exija imaginación y creatividad.
Neptuno permanece en tu décima casa y esto favorece creación artística, literatura, teatro, música etc. Si no te gusta tu trabajo actual, es un buen momento para buscar otro que te permita desarrollar tu capacidad creativa.
Por otra parte no es un buen año para realizar inversiones arriesgadas, sobre todo durante los primeros seis meses.

Tu poder adquisitivo aumentará considerablemente, pero no te extralimites en tus gastos. Piensa siempre en tu futuro. Tu carrera será un punto focal
Durante los meses de enero a abril, es allí donde sentirás los impactos más fuertes en cuanto a cambios un poco revolucionarios. Hacia mayo, los cambios en tu persona serán más intensos, dirigidos hacia un proceso regenerativo y de crecimiento interior. Para el siguiente mes reforzarás tu situación financiera, tomando decisiones muy acertadas y haciendo otros pequeños ajustes.
Para julio te estarás moviendo en las aguas del reajuste intelectual. También en primera plana estarán las relaciones familiares, compartirás experiencias de crecimiento y surgirán nuevas perspectivas de cómo debes aproximarte a este sector de tu vida. El mes siguiente todo se empezará a despejar y equilibrar, el punto central será tu hogar, que rebozará de energías creativas y de cambios, tal vez pienses en mudanza.

De septiembre a noviembre, excelente lapso para activar todo lo relacionado al trabajo, al éxito y al dinero. El cosmos te sonríe y te regala la oportunidad de un gran avance. Las relaciones sentimentales están pasando por cambio bien profundo y de decisión, sopesa la situación y resuelve si vale la pena o no continuar junto a esa persona, si sobrepasan el trance, se consolidará más la unión. El año finalizará con un panorama enfocado hacia tu trabajo y todo lo concerniente a nuevas tecnologías y publicidad. Aunque tú no creas tus inversiones están creciendo, lentamente para tu gusto, pero crecen.
La presencia de Júpiter en la octava casa de Tauro podría causar problemas de salud por lo que debes vigilar tu alimentación y otros trastornos relacionados con el estrés o alergias especialmente entre junio y septiembre. No obstante no se prevé ninguna enfermedad importante. Habrá momentos en los que tienes tendencia de ser mucho más vago que lo normal y debes llevar cuidado. Sería bueno si empezases a hacer alguna actividad deportiva.

Es posible que realices un viaje en 2009 y también de que compres un coche (u otro tipo de vehículo) nuevo.
En balance, este año será de consolidación de tu porvenir económico y de aclarar tu vida sentimental. Todo lo que hagas o dejes de hacer influenciará los próximos años de tu vida y será la base de tu porvenir.

La Biblia así como otros grandes libros de religión histórica, muestran los vestigios de un valor profético de los sueños.

José interpreto un sueño al faraón de egipcio, que le permitió al pueblo subsistir a la hambruna que vivieron.

Platón, Shakespeare y napoleón le atribuyeron cierto valor profético. Los sueños, son parte muy importante de nuestras vidas, a través de ellos podemos conocer aspectos desconocidos de nosotros mismo, determinar nuestro deseos esperanzas y temores a la vez que nos permiten acceder a nuestro inconsciente.

A continuación escribiremos para usted algunos de los sueños más comunes y su significado, si quisiera una consulta personalizada gratuita sobre el significado de alguno de sus sueños por favor escribanos, nuestro grupo esotérico estará dispuesto a ayudarlo.

Desnudez: estarlo indica compromisos ingratos. Si lo vemos con naturalidad expresa libertad. También tiene una interpretación de deseo sexual.

Abeja: signo de prosperidad y trabajo en equipo, si esta fabricando miel se tendrá mucho éxito material si por el contrario esta en una flor, un nuevo amor esta por llegar.

Bruja: es estar en busca de nuevas aventuras que le darán paso al placer, pero podrían volverse penas.

Agua: simboliza la vida. Si es clara traerá a su vida prosperidad y placeres, si es turbia esta en peligro o tiene problemas de salud.

Si ve una inundación es símbolo de resistir el mal o una discusión. Caer en agua pantanosa, significa equivocaciones. Beber agua mineral es símbolo de fortuna.

Bebe: indica que vivimos felices y nos sentimos vivos. Expresa deseos de sentirnos niños y queridos. Un bebe llorando es desengaño amoroso.

Cabellos: indica vida cómoda y segura. Si es corto o crespo indica infortunio. Si es largo y liso traición en el amor, si se le esta cayendo es perdida de salud.

Muerte: el inicio de una nueva etapa en la vida. Ver una persona que ya esta muerta indicara que esta reclamando por una promesa hecha.

Novia: joven indica que se recibirá una herencia o dinero. Besarla es signo de reconciliación.

El fuego divino y sagrado, representa la energía de nuestros astros sol y luna.

Los rituales con velas aunque parezcan sencillos, tienen una tradición bastante misteriosa y compleja que nos revela y cumple grandes beneficios al ser usados con fuerza, firmeza y combinados con los diversos elementos que nos otorga nuestra madre tierra, esta combinación requiere mucha responsabilidad y precaución, ya que es importante prever que todo lo que se hace en beneficio personal o buscando el bien para los demás moverá una energía positiva que se conectara con el orden divino, provocando que se realicen hasta los mas inalcanzables deseos. Pero de no ser así, todo aquello que es realizado con fines maléficos, se devolverá el doble, como ley divina.

EL RITUAL:
Para poder realizar un ritual de forma correcta debemos tener un espacio limpio de ruido, tener una actitud muy positiva, una mente despejada, para potencializar nuestra concentración y lo mas importante ponerle mucha fe.

Todo esto hace parte del respeto que se tendrá a los espíritus de luz a quienes se les ofrecerá nuestro ritual.

La selección de la vela es de suma importancia, cada vela según su color y forma, representara nuestros deseos, seria de gran ayuda que nosotros mismos la elaborásemos ya que se impregnaría de toda nuestra energía y esencia. Pero como a veces no disponemos del tiempo necesario, podremos comprar una, pero antes de  usarla, debemos realizarle una limpieza previa.

Para remover las energías de las demás personas que han tocado nuestra vela, es necesario impregnarla un poco de sal natural o sal casera, y así la alimentaremos de nuestra energía, luego pasaremos a escribir nuestro nombre completo con un alfiler, de la punta hacia abajo y de abajo hacia la punta. En caso tal de que el ritual sea familiar podremos usar solo los apellidos de las familias.

El tamaño de la vela puede variar según nuestras necesidades, podremos colocar una vela mas grande para el amor, si vemos que en este aspecto estamos muy bajos, es decir que las velas mostrarían un mapa de nuestras vidas en todos los aspectos.

DIA PARA REALIZAR EL RITUAL:
Los días mas propicios para realizar el ritual van desde el 21 de diciembre hasta el 31 en horas de la mañana, la vestimenta deben ser colores muy suaves, en especial el blanco.

ELEMENTOS:
1.- VELA ROJA (AMOR) AMARILLA (DINERO Y TRABAJO) BLANCA (PAZ Y LUZ)
2.- varilla de incienso de tu elección (para armonizar)
3.- Esencia de azahar.
5.- Hojas de papel.
6.- Lápiz o bolígrafo.
7.- Tijeras.

PROCEDIMIENTO:
Organizaremos todos los elementos en forma de altar, adornando con algunas flores silvestres.

Las velas formaran un triangulo espacioso, la vela blanca ira a la cabeza y las otras dos abajo.

Dentro del triangulo pondremos la varilla de incienso y esparciremos 31 gotas de la esencia de azahar. Esto lo harás en un lugar de mucha luz, pero debes de tener cuidado que el viento no apague las velas.

Entonces es allí cuando nos concentraremos y pensaremos en todo lo que deseamos alcanzar y visualizaremos estos deseos cumplidos.

Luego escribirás todo lo que deseas alcanzar para el próximo año, y esconderás el papel en un lugar muy privado, donde nadie lo pueda mirar y no lo observaras hasta el próximo año.

Deja consumir las velas y luego vota todo en una cajita y tirarlo en un lugar lejos de tu casa.

Ya veras muy pronto los resultados.

Mucha luz

Tú amiga

Bastet.

How to Write Poetry and Live Poetically

Free E-Course Lesson 33

Chapter 11: Living Poetically
Case Studies in Poetic Living — Irene

Join now! Find details about this free E-course at Lesson 1 … 

Case Study #1: Living Poetically

Anne Bancroft

None of my case studies is a perfect example of the poetic liver (or pancreas, or gallbladder…). We are, after all, talking about human beings, not gods or angels. But these are human beings who, in nearly every exigency, see not disaster but an infinite number of choices, and from these they select the most elegant or the kindest.

Irene is an exquisitely complex individual; accordingly, her life has always been complex. She is gifted in a hundred ways, and, with luck (and a bit more focus), she might have excelled in any of a dozen fields.

Irene the Artist 

She is an artist in the Renaissance sense: she sketches, she paints, she sculpts, she sings and plays the guitar. We met in high school — we were both singing in our school’s elite A Cappella Choir.

During our junior year, she had the lead in the Madwoman of Chaillot,

(French title La Folle de Chaillot) … a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play has two acts and follows the convention of the classical unities. It follows an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life. —Wikipedia

Without Irene, such an ambitious production could not have been attempted at our school. Her performance was so exceptional that even the most lowbrow of our peers, the guys who still thought it was hilarious to make farting noises with their armpits, were agog.

Mel Brooks, 1984

Likewise, Irene’s appearance was, and remains, dramatic. Her late mother strongly resembled the actress Anne Bancroft (1931-2005), perhaps best known for her Academy Award–winning role as Annie Sullivan in the 1962 film the Miracle Worker. Bancroft was married for more than 40 years, until her death in 2005, to Mel Brooks, now 82. (1)

As Irene ages (she is nearing 62), she looks more and more as her mother did when I knew her — more glamorous, more Anne Bancroft-ish. For the past ten years or so — after decades of supporting herself, working hard at interesting jobs (she was, for example, the executive director of a ballet company) and learning, learning, learning (she studied under Robert Bly in Chicago) — Irene has lived almost entirely on disability income. She suffers agonies from spinal stenosis and fibromyalgia. In terms of material possessions, she is quite poor — though she reverently keeps the family china from two generations — but poverty has never made her hard or bitter. It has, instead, fueled her imagination and called forth her creativity.

Gifts of the spirit

Irene's double cartouche, the ideal wedding, anniversary, or Valentine's gift

Irene has always been more independent than rebellious. Her spirituality is eclectic, embracing paganism, Wicca, and other fringe religious practices… but she never judges the religiosity of others, and she often prays fervently to “Whoever Is On Duty.”  She begins each day with a ritual of gratitude and a salute to the sun. Many years ago, she dramatically quitted the Presbyterian church she was attending when the pastor’s wife unceremoniously ejected a homeless man from the assembled congregation.

She knows more about Egyptology and pre-Christian Celtic religious practices than do many academics with doctoral degrees in folklore. She privately performs elaborate sacred rituals on the Celtic festival days:

• Imbolc, celebrated on the eve of February 1st,… sacred to the fertility goddess Brigit, and as such … a spring festival. It was later Christianised as the feast of St Brigid….
• Beltaine, held on the eve of May 1st., …devoted to the god Bel, and a common practise was the lighting of fires. It was later Christianised as the feast of St John the Baptist, and the festival of May Day is generally thought to have been based upon it.
• Lughnasadh, … in August, [which]… revolved around the god Lugh, who, according to mythology, was giving a feast for his foster mother Tailtu at that time.
• Samhain, held on October 31st, [marking]… the end of one pastoral year, and the beginning of another, and … similarly thought of as the time when spirits of the Otherworld became visible to humans. It was Christianised as Halloween, which has kept its associations with spirits and the supernatural right into the contemporary period. —Wikipedia, accessed January 31, 2009

Lunar-phase diagram donated to Wikipedia by "Minesweeper"

In spite of the fact that she dances under the full moon and observes certain traditions associated with the new moon… and that she believes herself to be (half seriously, half with tongue in cheek) a latter-day priestess of the Egyptian goddess Isis (or is it Bastet?), and carries forth the goddess’s legacy of protecting and sheltering cats… she is the farthest thing from a fanatic. She is in some ways vulnerable and in others impervious to the opinions of others, and she would be equally comfortable at Buckingham Palace, in an archaeological dig at the sites of the pyramids and tombs of Egypt, and at a roadside diner drinking coffee and munching on a cheese omelet.

Irene of the generous spirit

Irene's Isis print, signed and numbered, 11 x 17 inches; the original was done on real papyrus

Irene is a vegetarian and an accomplished cook — chef might be the more accurate term — and she never comes to see me without a gift of food or the loan of a book. Her makeup is always perfect, her hair beautifully styled, and her clothing artistically accented with earrings or beads, or both. Her own home is approximately half of the second floor of a Queen Anne–style Victorian mansion, with a flank of long bay windows, doorways framed with intricately carved woodwork, and a stained-glass transom.

Her adopted cats live long, pampered lives, protected as they are by Irene and Isis (or, perhaps, Bastet). She (Irene — presumably Isis and Bastet as well) is patient; it took years, but she finally wore me down, in her gentle way, until I adopted two feral kittens, offspring of fecund mama Jezebel, whom Irene has never been able to trap in order to have her spayed. Irene speaks Cat fluently, to my shame, for I have not managed to pick up more than a few words of the language.

A Queen Anne–style Victorian house

The yard of her mansion apartment is tiny, but Irene has found room for a small cat cemetery and for her summer fairy garden of herbs and flowers and stone pathways. She is an aficionado of meditation, visualization, and Tong Ren, and she is a healer by nature and experience.

I do not know if Irene has ever read Martin Buber’s I And Thou, but she relates to people in the way Martin Buber would have us do — as sacred, each and every one. As was often said about my late mother-in-law, she “never knew a stranger,” and she has instant rapport with everyone from the drive-through-coffee-shop personnel to the postal-service mail clerks and the other folks waiting for their prescriptions to be ready at the pharmacy.

Sweet basil from Irene's herb garden

Irene lives poetically about seven-eighths of the time. The lost eighth falls at the end of the month, when she has run out of money, in large part because of her excessive generosity. She is something of an adventurer and spent much of her life on the edge, marrying wildly unsuitable men, one of whom spent an entire night holding a gun to her head. She is far too intelligent and resourceful to have remained in these treacherous relationships, though they afforded her some interesting travel opportunities.

Thwarted

Among the top ten of My Most Embarrassing Experiences is the Incident of the Thwarted Escape Attempt. We were 19 or so, still living with our parents, and she had made plans to run off to meet one of the unsuitable men, who lived, I think, in Indiana. What was supposed to have happened is that I was to drive to her neighborhood and wait on a side street to the south of her house. Her parents left for work — they owned and operated a meat market — quite early, around 6:30, as I recall, and “always” turned north after reaching the end of the driveway, so I was, theoretically, in no danger of detection. As soon as they were out of sight, I was to pick Irene up and take her to the airport, where she would soar away to her assignation.

The view from the bay windows (photo by Mike Pedroncelli)

Unfortunately, her parents had detected her packed suitcase the night before and had prevented her from phoning me to warn me off. So there I was, at 6:30 a.m. on the designated side street, watching her parents back out of the driveway and turn… oops… southward. I scrunched down in the seat,  hoping to become invisible, but I heard their car pull up beside mine, and I heard her mother say, “Mary?” with a question mark in her voice. Well, there was nothing to do but pop back up into view, only to be scolded, berated, and forbidden ever to have anything to do with Irene again as long as I lived.

Fortunately, I did not obey. My life would be much the poorer without Irene and her charm, her grace, and her optimism, which sometimes flags but never fails.

___________

(1) Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky; June 28, 1926)… an American director, writer, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer, best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award. Three of his films (Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein) ranked in the Top 20 on the American Film Institute’s list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time. —Wikipedia

Single cartouche with blessing

• Buy Irene’s cartouches at our eBay store — half-price until Valentine’s Day
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