One of my first exposures to the horned God was back in my high school days when I was doing my first magical working. Cernunnos was the deity I invoked. I loved that oil I bought as well. Since then I have been hooked. In modern times not much is known about the horned God or other horned spirits for that matter. Authors David Rankine have compiled an excellent collection of article that not only give the reader a broader view of the horned gods but also they go into appreciable depth.
In Europe among the Gauls there were statues of a horned God with variations in the name Cernunnos. One said Ernunno,Caronos. Some of the inscription were in Latin of Greek.Statues to Cernunnos are found all across Europe stretching all the way to Central Europe. There were even shrines to him found in Northern Italy. The horns represented robustness, virility, assertiveness, power and strength. It also represented royalty. In modern.paganism the horned God is often associated with sun and solar qualities. But look at the horns carefully sometimes they even represent the crescent moon. Horns have a lunar aspect as well. In many pantheon's the lunar gods are masculine.
Anyone familiar with the different forms of Paganism will realize that Cernunnos is not the only horned God. Let us not forget Pan,Aries or Dionysus. When Romans came to Europe they came across other horned deities as well. Cernunnos was at first identified with Mercury.Julios Cesar equated him with Jupiter. The other horned Gods found in.Northern England were conflated with Aries.
Sorita gives a full glossary of Egyptian Horned Gods and Goddesses. David Rankine goes into depth on Pan. Not only gods are discussed but so are those mischievious Puccas and unicorns.
The second part of the book is about personal experiences with the horned God. Authors write about meditations, encounters in the woods and personal anecdotes. The third part deals with horned Goddesses. They too had some power. The most written about are Hekate,Seleneand Artemis. The thee goddesses are thought to be three parts of one goddeEnjoy the blog
LUNA ACELERADA
HOY, 18 DE FEBRERO DE 2011, A LAS 2:35 HRS. (TIEMPO DE M'eXICO) TENDREMOS LA LLEGADA DE LA LUNA LLENA. LO QUE BRUJOS Y BRUJAS WICCAN CONOCEMOS COMO ESBAT DE LUNA ACELERADA.
LA BELLEZA Y LA LUZ DE ESTA FUERT'iSIMA LUNA DE FEBRERO NOS AYUDAN A PLANEAR LOS PROYECTOS FUTUROS, A UTILIZAR LA CREATIVIDAD COMO UN PODER PERSONAL Y EMPEZAR A LOGRAR AQUELLOS CAMBIOS Y DESEOS QUE PLANEAMOS PARA LA PRIMAVERA...OSTARA SE ACERCA. PIDE A LA DIOSA QUE BENDIGA TU TRABAJO, TUS PROYECTOS PERSONALES, TUS TALENTOS...PIDE AL DIOS, PROTECCI'oN, FE Y VIGOR.ES EL 'uLTIMO ESBAT ANTES DE QUE LLEGUE OSTARA Y DEBEMOS ESTAR LIMPIOS PARA RECIBIR M'aS LUZ SOLAR, PARA RECIBIR AL DIOS VERDE Y DARLE AMOR A LA DAMA BLANCA, DEBEMOS ESTAR LISTOS PARA REALIZAR NUESTROS OBJETIVOS, POR LO CUAL TE RECOMIENDO HAGAS UN BA~nO RITUAL, UTILIZANDO INFUSI'oN EN TU BA~nO (UN T'e PARA BA~nARTE) QUE PUEDE SER DE HOJAS DE LAUREL, MENTA Y LECHUGA (LE'iSTE BIEN, LECHUGA). CUANDO EST'eS EN LA DUCHA, NO OLVIDES REPETIRTE "ME AMO, PORQUE SOY UNA(O) CON LOS DIOSES".
LIMPIA TU ALTAR COMO ES DEBIDO, Y CAMBIA EL MANTEL O LAS DECORACIONES, EL FR'iO POCO A POCO NOS ABANDONA, RECURRE A UN COLOR VERDE, AZULES, ALGO QUE SIENTAS QUE LE DA M'aS VIDA...
PUEDES INVITAR A ESAS PEQUE~nAS FLORES SILVESTRES QUE SE ASOMAN EN LA NATURALEZA, PERO SOLO UNA O DOS, PORQUE ELLAS APENAS NACEN Y NO OLVIDES HACERLO PIDIENDO PERMISO AL ESP'iRITU ELEMENTAL DE LA PLANTA Y A LOS DIOSES ANTES DE HACERLO.
COMO SIEMPRE NO DEBE FALTAR AGUA, SAL, Y POR SUPUESTO TU ALTAR CON TODOS SUS IMPLEMENTOS, YA SEA QUE CELEBRES EN TU MESITA DE TRABAJO O EN EL PISO, O EL JARD'iN, RECUERDA SIEMPRE TRAZAR EL C'iRCULO M'aGICO DE PROTECCI'oN. USA INCIENSO DE VERBENA E IMAGINA QUE LA PRIMAVERA Y LOS CAMPOS EST'aN FRENTE A TI.
ACONSEJO QUE A LA DIOSA PONGAS UNA VELA BLANCA PARA CELEBRAR EL ESBAT.
HAZ MEDITACI'oN Y L'IMPIATE DE COSTUMBRES QUE NO TE SIRVAN. ES HORA DE ORDENAR TODO LO QUE HAY DENTRO Y FUERA...
"LUNA QUE NACES DE LOS SECRETOS DEL FR'IO,EN ESTE MOMENTO M`AGICO SOY UN SER PERFECTO,BLODEWEDD, ARIANRHOD, CERRIDWEN...EL PODER ES M'IO,AY'UDAME DIOSA A LIMPIAR Y SANAR DESDE DENTRO!SIENTO EL AGUA,SIENTO LA TIERRASIENTO EL AIRESIENTO EL FUEGOSIENTO EL ESPIRITU QUE ME DICE...SIENTO AMOR POR MI MISMO"
FELIZ LUNA ACELERADA O DINAMIZADORA!
ESPERO LES LLEGUE A SERVIRSU BRUJO Y AMIGORA'uL DUENDE ELFO )O(
Origin: witchnest.blogspot.com
Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things, has received the last rites of his Church. At NRO Kathryn Jean Lopez quotes something Father Neuhaus wrote about death:
We are born to die. Not that death is the purpose of our being born, but we are born toward death, and in each of our lives the work of dying is already underway. The work of dying well is, in largest part, the work of living well. Most of us are at ease in discussing what makes for a good life, but we typically become tongue-tied and nervous when the discussion turns to a good death. As children of a culture radically, even religiously, devoted to youth and health, many find it incomprehensible, indeed offensive, that the word "good" should in any way be associated with death. Death, it is thought, is an unmitigated evil, the very antithesis of all that is good.
Death is to be warded off by exercise, by healthy habits, by medical advances. What cannot be halted can be delayed, and what cannot forever be delayed can be denied. But all our progress and all our protest notwithstanding, the mortality rate holds steady at 100 percent.
Death is the most everyday of everyday things. It is not simply that thousands of people die every day, that thousands will die this day, although that too is true. Death is the warp and woof of existence in the ordinary, the quotidian, the way things are. It is the horizon against which we get up in the morning and go to bed at night, and the next morning we awake to find the horizon has drawn closer. From the twelfth-century "Enchiridion Leonis" comes the nighttime prayer of children of all ages:
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord my soul to take."Every going to sleep is a little death, a rehearsal for the real thing.Pray for Richard John Neuhaus.
Update: Kathryn Jean Lopez again:Over in the National Review world, we're anticipating the likely imminent death of Father Richard John Neuhaus. He's a Catholic priest who is on our masthead, was a longtime religion editor of ours, and founded the ecumenical journal First Things, which covers religion, politics, and culture. I'm a Catholic, too, and was surprised by the urgent pray-for-Fr.-Neuhaus-to-get-well e-mails. He's been sick for a while now; this is his second relapse of cancer. And, as it happens, doctors don't expect him to hang on for much longer. Which is sad for all who know him-a prolific writer, solid preacher, and generous man, he will be missed-and for all who would have liked to know him. But, for a faithful Catholic priest (and so many religious believers), death is actually joyous news.Update 1/8: From Christianity Today:Richard John Neuhaus, the Lutheran-turned-Catholic priest who founded the influential journal First Things, died last night from cancer.
More to come. In the meantime, First Things has posted a thoughtful essay by Neuhaus, "Born Toward Dying".
From Charles Colson, who worked with Neuhaus extensively on the Evangelicals and Catholics Together project and several political initiatives:Richard Neuhaus is one of the most remarkable human beings I've ever known, a man of extraordinary intellect, a great communicator and theologian. His writings will be his great legacy in the manner C. S. Lewis's are to us today. He had become a very dear friend and I will sorely miss him. He was one of the towering figures of our age.Blogger Justin Taylor has a good timeline of Neuhaus's life. [more]On Fr. Neuhaus - Kathryn Jean Lopez - The Corner on National Review Online, Richard John Neuhaus, RIP Liveblog Christianity Today
Another week, another rock-solid episode of "Noragami".
"You know the drill - every week Noragami" just delivers the goods. More than any new show this season this is the one that's managed to evade the usual peaks and valleys - in fact, I'd go so far as to say the quality range between the "worst" and best episodes has been remarkably narrow. Given that it also looks like it has a chance to do respectably well commercially I wonder if BONES isn't second-guessing their decision to go one-cour - it's not as though they can't do more later (indeed, they already have three series on-tap next season) but there seem to have been creative changes made to accommodate a one-cour run (evidence of which appeared this week) that might be hard to take back later.
"The overall trend of Noragami" is definitely towards the dark side, and it's been so slow and steady that it's never felt jarring. "Consequence" seems to me to be a strong recurring theme here - the costs of our decisions and our actions, and the fact that the universe doesn't seem to like giving anything away for free, even to Gods. This is evidenced by a pair of conversations Hiyori - who's getting a crash education in the harsh realities of the spirit world - has.
First, she meets up with Tenjin while in search of the runaway Yukine. Indeed, the boy has been there asking for a job (again) but Tenjin rejects him on the grounds that if he accepted Yuki, the boy would become "a Nora". Indeed, this is a crucial moment in filling in the blanks of this premise - Nora isn't a name, but a classification for wayward and detested Shinki that have multiple masters. They're the black sheep of the spirit world, loathed by most and their use disdained by reputable Gods like Tenjin. Tenjin seems like a fairly decent sort - if a bit of a dirty old man and an elitist - but his kindness towards Hiyori only extends so far, and he doesn't seem anxious to get his hands dirty any further.
Afterwards, Kazuma pays Hiyori a visit on a rooftop, and this too is extremely illuminating. There are hints that both he and Bishamon (Kazuma calls her "Veena") have conflicted feelings about Yato - especially Kazuma, who "owes him a great deal". Kazuma also tells Hiyori that Yato will definitely die if something isn't done about Yukine, and that he should be "disposed of" as soon as possible. Also fascinating here is that Kazuma appears to be the only one on team Bishamon (there are at least eight Shinki here) that can see Hiyori - not even the Goddess herself can see her when she joins Hiyori and Kazuma on the rooftop.
I like Kazuma a lot - he's an interestingly nebulous and quite powerful character, and the sort of role I tend to prefer Fukuyama Jun in. But this entire scenario is interesting beyond any single character. There's such an obvious inconsistency of attitude here - Tenjin and Kazuma speak of Shinki in respectful terms, and both Team Bishamon and Tenjin seem built on that respect - yet they speak of Yukine as if he were an object, trash to be cast aside. The conflict is obviously being set up as an "either/or" with Yato or Yukine - if the one isn't killed, the other will die (though perhaps Yuki would die anyway if his master did) - but Hiyori isn't buying that it's that simple, and neither am I.
For now, there's the practical concern of Yato trying to stay alive. He's taken a job on the graveyard shift at a convenience store, and Nora (as we know her, and Yato calls her) has taken to torturing Yukine directly. Nora is clearly one of those detested ones Tenjin speaks of, the kind who you only use if you're truly desperate - but she's keen on Yato using her again, and another in the chorus calling for Yukine's elimination. Kofuku and Daikoku show up and offer Yato a gig eliminating one of the many phantoms that escaped from Kofuku's vent, which he accepts - leaving them manning the register in one of the episode's few comedic moments. But Yukine - after wounding Yato yet again by stealing the donations box (that really is pretty detestable) "dulls himself", and is unable to cut the phantom. Rather than turn to Nora, Yato has another of his weekly heroic interludes and "re-forges" him in order to finish the job.
"We're certainly left with a fascinating tangle here, with Hiyori seemingly the only one preaching the humanitarian approach to Yato (no, I don't think it's as simple as that "either). As well, the anime-original character Rabou ("Takahiro Sakurai") shows up whispering in Nora's ear - completing the reunion of "Shirokuma Cafe" leads and causing gastric distress for thousands of manga readers. And through it all, almost unnoticed, Hiroyi seems to be quietly drifting further and further towards the Far Shore. "Noragami" has built it's story brick-by-brick and done a better job of it than any other Winter series, but it has a formidable amount to deal with in the next six episodes.
Credit: paganism-new-age.blogspot.com
