Kala the Wild

In this modern age of smart phones we might think of the word "call" as being a really ordinary word. I make lots of ordinary phone calls. I call people I don't even want to talk to, in order to make appointments for things that I wish I didn't have to, like getting braces for my kids. I call about these things, yet these things do not call to me. Like a wolf howling to the sky at the full moon those things do not summon me. We are animals filled with longing. We long for the beauty, goodness and pleasantness with seems to elude us in this life. The wild softly summons us with its melody to teach us about beauty; a true beauty that is not found in the world, but rather in the fulfillment of the desires of our hearts. The call of the wild in our hearts is tinged a mournful tune until we reach paradise. 

In Old Norse kalla is "to cry loudly," and kaleó καλέω in Ancient / Koine Greek is "call, invite, summon."

Calls can be made with flutes or pipes. Reed pipes are often portrayed in Ancient Greek art. "Reed, reed-pen, measuring rod" in Greek is kalamos κάλαμος (kalama Sanskrit, calamus Latin).

A bird's song is also said to be its call. They are often beautiful songs like the call of the Calandra Lark. Calandra / Kalandra is derived from the Ancient Greek name for the lark, i.e., kalandros. It is a bird found around the Mediterranean and eastwards though the area that was once known as Mesopotamia and north into Scythia, which is Southern Russia. Its habitat is open plains, steppes and pastures. Syrinx is the name for the vocal organ of birds, i.e., the lower part of their windpipe.

Syrinx Σύρινξ was a beautiful wood (in Cornish, celli "wood") nymph who was pursued by the god Pan, though reluctantly. A Pan Pipe, is a type of reed pipe which is called a syrinx. In mythology Pan made the syrinx / Pan pipe from the reeds which Syrinx, his object of desire, was turned into. 

    Pan Pipes/Syrinx

She was turned into reeds to escape Pan. Then when Pan heard the soft sound of the wind whistling / singing over the reeds he made a flute out of them to have her with him. Perhaps the music of the pipes reminded Pan of his yearning for Syrinx and her beauty, kalós "beautiful, good, noble" in Ancient Greek, origin of the name Kala. But perhaps he also thought her callous for refusing his advances.

    Pan and Syrnx, Jean Francois de Troy 1722-1724, J. Paul Getty Museum

Because of Pan's pursuit and desire for her, Syrinx was transformed into a reed (kalamos) quite a calamity for her.

You know Syrinx disregarded fiery Kythereia[Aphrodite], and what a price she paid for her too-great pride and love of virginity; how she turned into a plant with reedy growth substituted for her own, when she had fled from Pan's love, and how she still sings Pan's desire! -Nonnus, Dionysiaca 42. 363 ff

The "place of reeds" in ancient Egyptian mythology was considered to be heaven, the best place, paradise. It was called Aaru and was described as a field of reeds in the east, where the sun rises. Aaru jꜣrw has the meaning of "rushes, reeds" in ancient Egyptian.

For the Greeks the best place, heaven, was called the Elysian Fields, a place of plenty and blessedness. Perhaps it was like Cana, insofar as it was a happy place, like Cana, the location of the wedding festival and Jesus' first miracle in the bible. Cana is from Greek Kana Κανά and is said to mean "place of reeds" likely taken from Hebrew qaneh "reed, stalk, cane, rod, branches." 

This(i.e., reeds being associated with the good), is reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian nefer, nfr hieroglyph. The nefer hieroglyph was used to represent the ancient Egyptian concept of beauty / the beautiful / goodness. The symbol is generally believed to represent a stylized sheep's heart(due to its markings) + trachea / windpipe ("reed"). So we could say it is a symbol with something like a kalamos (reed)," and has a similar meaning to kalós (beautiful / good). But what does this symbol have to do with beauty? 

    nfr - nefer

There is not a clear explanation of the origin of this symbol. However, it had many extended meanings and the specific shape was used for amulets, jewelry and other objects, as well as the hieroglyph. The symbol did not just mean beauty and goodness as a word, it also conferred meaning through its form. So what was it representing through its form?

It seems possible that it could have represented something like *the word of the god expressed from the calling of his heart*.

A word is spoken from the larynx located in the trachea. In Egyptian mythology it was said that the primordial god Ptah conceived of creation in his heart and spoke it into being through his mouth. And it is not just any word that comes from the mouth of God, it is the Perfect word . . . and that Word is the Beautiful and the Good, i.e., nefer. 
It is said that word's come from the wellspring of the heart.

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good(nefer), and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance* of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

The mouth speaks what overflows (*perisseumatos περίσσευματος "abundance, overflow") or comes out of the heart. The heart was viewed as seat of the personality in ancient Egypt. So in this way the heart and trachea can be said to be connected. However, why then a sheep's heart and not a human heart for the symbol?

Khnum/Khnemu ḫnmw (from ḫnm meaning "to join, unite; build"), the god of the waters, and thus also the silt which formed the fertile soil and clay of the Nile Delta region, was the "Divine Potter" who created man out of clay on his potters wheel and placed them in their mothers wombs. He was depicted with the head of ram (ba is "ram" in Egyptian, and ba was also "soul," being one of the five aspects the soul). So the nefer symbol had a ba heart, i.e., a ram's heart, which would also call to mind the ba "soul". 

    The Ba of the dead person hovers over his mummy clutching a shen-ring

In later periods Amun / Amon / Amen-Ra(the "concealed/hidden" one) took prominence as the chief creator god. Amun was also sometimes depicted as a ram, or with a ram's head. So the chief god was depicted as a ram (sheep) therefore it would not be too far out to say that the sheep's heart in the nefer symbol represented the heart of God. Then the whole symbol would represent that which proceeds from the sacred heart, i.e., beauty / goodness.

In Hebrew towb/tobe/tov/tova means "good, better, best, beautiful, pleasant, agreeable, sweet". The Lord(Yah) is Towb where we get the name Tobiah / Tobias(towb + yah). So, towb is used to describe God, and it is also used to describe the knowledge of the tree in the Garden of Eden. The tree in the midst of the garden was called "the Tree of the knowledge of towb and ra'".

Calista / Kalistos, means "fairest, most beautiful" in Greek, she was a nymph who took a vow to remain a virgin, however Zeus disguised himself as Artemis (Diana) to lure her into his embrace. She then became the mother of Arcas and ended up being turned into a bear. 

    Diana and Calysto 1559 Titian, national Gallery of Scotland 

Now Calista resides in the heavens as the Great Bear(momma bear), Ursa Major.

Calla lily means "beautiful flower," also called Arum Lily, "naked flower," Trumpet Lily, and Pig Lily. The Calla Lily, although considered to be neither a true calla nor a true lily, is said to be "naked" achlamydeous (literally "without a cloak") in botany because it is lacking petals and sepals. 

    Calla Lilly, Zantedeshia aethiopica

Calla Lilies are often used at both weddings and funerals. They are generally considered to be symbols of purity and rebirth. Yet they remain somewhat bawdy in their "nakedness". . . or at least alluring. 

Nefertem was the ancient Egyptian god who represented the lotus flower which arose from the primordial waters. He was known as "He who is beautiful" and Water-lily of the Sun," he was the morning aspect of Ra blooming / reborn as the Nymphea cerulea, Blue Water lily / Egyptian Lotus, every sunrise. 

    Nymphea cerulea- Blue Water Lily/Egyptian Lotus

He was associated with the beautiful scents of the lily and other flowers, and with the first morning sunlight. The Blue Water Lilly arises each day out of the murky, muddy depths, beautiful and alluring. 

Calidus  means "warm, hot" in Latin, and calor is "heat", from

PIE root *kele-(1) "warm." Warm is good and beautiful (kala) when you have been out in the cold and finally come in and take a nice soak in the hot tub or cozy up by the fire. Warm is like home.

    The Runaway Bunny, pictures by Clement Hurd- "I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you." - photo by Julie O. /chtonickore

In her more gentle aspects, Kali is a mother goddess. However, she is a mother who is able to fiercely protect her children. Kali means "the dark / black one," she who is "beyond time." She is associated with Shakti "Power, Empowerment" (from shak "to be able", ie., can, from Old English cunnan "be able, know, have power, Old Frisian kanna) and is the goddess of time and change. She is the counterpart of Shiva, the destroyer, who is called Kala meaning "time, black/dark, death. Her name, Kali, comes from kala.  

    The Goddess Kali standing on Lord Shiva

Kali is kind of beautiful (kala) despite being so wild and foreboding. And from the look on Shiva's face I'd say he was enjoying his predicament. Perhaps he finds something about Kali's fiery nature alluring. She is a woman who can get things done. Maybe he's met his match, Caliente!

I am dark but beautiful, O Daughters of Jerusalem- dark as the tents of Kedar, dark as the curtains of Solomon's tents. Song of Solomon 1:5

Lovers yearn for each other. The beloved calls to the beloved. They are consumed by their love for each other. This can lead to the end or destruction of one, or the other. Kaleh in biblical Hebrew is translated as "yearn," from kalah "finished, annihilate, accomplished, been consumed, complete, destruction, devoured, at an end." An encounter with Kali can definitely bring a man to kalah (destruction). Time to meet your maker. But that's not always a bad thing, right? To discover or become the Shiva or Christ within, a certain destruction is necessary.

Amen, Amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto eternal life. John 12:24-25

Kali is beautiful, yet fierce, like a shrill battle cry that invokes dread or the terrible drone of the bagpipe.
In fact the Old Irish meaning of Caellach (one possible origin of the name Kelly) is "war, strife, lively, aggressive," and Old Norse kalla is "to cry loudly".

Kali seduces you to your destruction.

    Siren with Reed Pipe/Aulos and Cane(?)- Thomas Bulfintch, The Age of Fable, 1897

Sirens were dangerous yet beautiful. To listen to their call meant death. They lured men in with their enchanting mournful song, then the unwary travelers were dashed against the rocks, shipwrecked, or simply driven into a deadly torpor. The voyagers were so high on beauty, they would forget how to do anything, neither steer their boats, nor even eat, to their ultimate demise.

    Seiren, Agent of Death

Siren (Seiren Gk.) is possibly from Greek seira "chord, rope," meaning something like "entanglers, binders." They lure or rope you in with their eloquent song, and  then you wither up and die. Searian is Old English "dry up, to wither". 

Kalupto/Kalypto has the meaning "to cover, veil, hide, conceal, envelope; deceive" in Ancient Greek. Calypso Καλυψώ "she who conceals." 

    Odysseus  and Calypso, Arnold Bocklin, 1883, Swiss Symbolist Painter

Odysseus was seduced and drawn in by Calypso, but after a while came the apocalypse from Greek apokalyptein "uncover, disclose, reveal." After the dis-clothes-ing or unrobing and consummation of his desire he realized that he needed to leave that place and get back home to Penelope. He did not feel called to be Calypso's immortal husband.

Sometimes an unveiling can feel like the end of the world.

Jesus called ("kaleo") his disciples and they left their former lives to follow him. However, he was actually leading them to their death. Was this a good or bad thing? You be the judge of that, but make no mistake, they were never going to be the same. You could say that Jesus was a destroyer (Shiva) and deceiver (Calypso). He lured in his apostles when the mission was concealed (kalypto). He preformed all sorts of wonderful miracles, was eloquent, and was and all round awesome guy . . . then bam-o! He's being crucified, and the apostles are scared out of their wits. Afterwards most of them ended up being tortured and killed. But that revelation (apokolypsis) came after the initial calling / seduction, and then it was already too late. They were hooked.  

Pieter Pierterz the Elder c 1569, Dutch Renaissance painter, Death of St. Peter and St. Paul

However, the purpose of it all was salvation, to partake in Christ and to become God. We are called to share in Christ's nature and become gods.

The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods. -St. Thomas Aquinas, Opuscula 57:1-4. From Catechism of the Catholic Church 460

In ancient Egypt the shen hieroglyph was a stylized rope with a loop in it, meaning "protection." In the ancient world the shen-ring was a symbol representing eternal protection. The shen is a place enclosed, like "paradise" from ancient Greek paradeisos "park, garden, paradise," from an Iranian source similar to Avestan pairidaeza "enclosure, park"[OE].

Here is an image of Inanna or some say,  or Lilith (Hebrew "night demon," possibly related to the Babylonian concept of the Mesopotamian Lilitu, a class of female demons) holding two shen rings.

    Queen of the Night/Burney Relief, Mesopotamian terracotta, c.1800-1750 BC, British Museum, London, shown with shen rings

The Hebrew letter ש shin/sin can represent fire (esh / aysh) and Shekinah שכינה‎(from the verb shaken meaning settle down, abide, dwell.") Shekinah is a grammatically feminine name used to denote the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. 

Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Exodus 24:17

      Letter Shin (reminiscent of a Cala Lily, and also a candelabra, trident, or wings?)

The shin is said to stand for Shaddai "Almighty," one of the names of God that YHWH gave of himself to Abraham, "I am God All Mighty [El Shaddai]; walk before me and be blameless (Genesis 17:1)," from the root shadad "destroyer." It is indicated in the posture of the hands in the Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim).

    Priestly Blessing- Mosaic at Synagogue of Enschede(detail), Netherlands

Why would God come down and dwell with men?

"For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage." Deut 32:9

One's dwelling place is his home and his portion. God's home, his heaven, place of rest (shabbat) is with his people. And the home of his people is with God. Heaven is the home of their desire / heart.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul …  Lam 3:24

Remember heaven is Aaru, the Field of Reeds (aaru). And Cana has the meaning "place of reeds." Late Latin canna is "reed," it also has the meaning "small vessel / gondola." Maybe this is canna in the sense of a safe enclosure, like the haven of the reed barque of Ra, or a home in the eternal abyss / waters.

Papyrus Reed Solar Barque (Barque of Ra), on pt "sky/heaven" glyph, at gateway to Nuit / Nut (goddess who is the starry night sky)

There is something about eternity that is really quite frightening. It's just SO big! We might actually choose to keep / confine ourselves to one portion of it. However, we don't want that portion to be a prison (like Calypso's island). In Hebrew kala also has the meaning of "shut up, restrain, withhold." And from this kala comes the word kele "prison, confinement, imprisonment." When parents try to protect their children they may put their own "shen" protective ring around them, but it can seem a bit like a prison. Maybe more like a lasso rope than the shen. Cloister is perhaps a little more of a benevolent word than prison, being from Latin claustrum "enclosure, place shut in," but still, what we desire is heaven, a paradise, so it would have to be the perfect enclosure; the cloister that is in NO anyway confining, but more like perfection; an un-cloister, or un-prision (more like Disneyland). 

 NASA MODIS compound photo, 2002. Spaceship Earth is our Cloister in the Abyss of Space, but feels like an Un-Cloister. Earth is Not a Prison Planet

Maybe like a perfect / ideal marriage or union, i.e., a binding that does not bind or limit. Instead it is comfort, the heart's desire, beauty (kala, nefer, towb), and protection, i.e., a home, om, eternal dwelling place, where we are "limited," but only to goodness. 

"Behold the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

Yes, f*ck the chaos. I would like to retire to a beautiful paradise, or heaven Earth when I'm done with all this.

Amen!

House of Horrors?

Matthias Grünewald, Tauberbischofsheim altarpiece(detail), 1523-1525

If you look at this picture objectively, it is pretty gruesome, as are many crucifixion images. However, most people don't view them as such because they are so used to the idea of the image and its significance. Such images are displayed in millions of homes, churches and places of prayer throughout the world. Why are images like this OK? Because this particular bloody foot happens to be the foot of Jesus. It is not something grotesque like a zombie foot. It is sacred art.

We might wonder, however, what someone visiting from a distant solar system would think if they saw some of our religious art, and different religious practices. We might wonder how they would describe what they saw here back on their home planet if they didn't bother to understand the significance, or were confused about what was going on and why. What if they judged us as being silly and unevolved already because we were not as advanced as they were? They might show a picture of the crucifixion to their children and say something like, "This is the God from Earth, Passio Christi, he is a horrible masochist who haunts people. He tells everyone they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood or they will be eternally tortured. He also tells children to hate their parents and only do what he says."

Zombie Meat Market-Foot(or, given a minor miscommunication, the foot of Passio Christi packaged and ready for consumption on Planet X.)

It is all about perspective isn't it? People aren't usually as objective as they would like to think. They imagine that how they view things just is so, and is right and correct. Other people who think or do things differently, are just stupid or silly, or at worst, are evil heretics who should be put to death.

Do you want to see something really scary? Are you sure? Here it is . . .

    Horus-Set

Are you horrified?

This is a depiction of Horus-Set. The name transliterated from the hieroglyphs to the English alphabet is Ḥrwy.fy. What's that? Horrify? No, ḥrwy.fy. It is usually translated as, "He of the two faces/or heads".

Is Horus-Set supposed to be some sort of monster? What is going on here? How could it possibly have an interpretation that is positive? The man has two heads AND they are both animal heads! Isn't that demonic?

Actually, Horus-Set was supposed to signify a balance of power. Horus was the Lord of the Black Land (fertile Nile area) and Set was the Lord of the Red Land (desert). Together they created balance. Originally Set, the more negative, or yin half of the ballance, was not demonized but honored along with Horus as a god or power. In later time periods Set came to be associated with evil.

However, this association with evil can happen to more positive gods or people as well when they aren't considered to be on "your team", or aren't part of your religion or race. It is Horus, the more possitive, or yang personification of the power of God in the ancient Egyptian religion whose name and titles can be suspiciously found in words such as "horrify"(hrwyfy), "horror" (Haw-Wer, Heru-ur,  ḥr.w wr, meaning, 'Horus the Great'), and "heressy", (Herseisis, Har-si-Ese, "Horus, Son of Isis), "nefarious"(Nefer Hor, Nephoros or Nopheros, nfr ḥr.w, meaning 'The Good Horus'), and "whore"(Horus, Haru, ḥr.w, Coptic, Hōr, Greek,Ὧρος Hōros). 

And look at this. This was the orrigional "House of Horus".

    Hathor

The goddess Hathor, ḥwt-ḥr meaning, "mansion or house (like "hut", hwt) of Horus (hr)".

Hathor was the sky-goddess of love, beauty, motherhood, foreign lands, mining and music. Does that sound like a "house of horrors" to you?

I can understand this sort of thing happening to gods such as Set, the Lord of the Red Land, becoming a "Satan" figure because of his connection with storms, desert, and chaos.

    Set or Seth (Setesh, Sutekh, Setekh, or Suty)

People make judgements about adversity. All adversity is called "evil". When actually there seems to be a subtle distinction between what we call adversity and what we call evil. Adversity is an experience that can create positive outcomes. It creates growth, saviors and heroes. But evil is just bad. 

For instance, adversity is judged to be evil in the story of "The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" in Genesis. It is one way of interpreting the events of the story.

Out of the ground the LORD God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and also the tree of the knowledge (da'ath) of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 

The word evil comes from Old English, yfel (Kentish evel), meaning "bad, vicious, ill, wicked". The word in Hebrew used to describe the knowledge of the tree in the garden is, ra' translated as, "evil", in English.  However ra', although it is sometimes translated as "evil" and "bad," can have the meaning of adversity, unpleasantness, giving pain, unhappy, hurtful, and not only moral badness or wickedness. 

Also, because the knowledge from the tree was said to make one "like God," 

For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing (yada) good and evil(ra'). Genesis 3:5

is it more like God to have knowledge, as in experiential knowledge, of what we would call adversity, or of evil?  For it seems that to truly know something(and not just know of it, or hear of it), you have to be in communion with it, or be one with it. Just as we know sweet and sour after we actually taste sweet and sour foods, we know hot and cold after feeling the extremes of high and low temperatures with our bodies, and we know pleasant and painful sensations in the same way. We would say Jesus knew adversity in this way because he suffered, but would we say he knew evil? Does God know evil? Or is evil always just a fleeting perception? God intends everything for good and brings good from evil, even that which is done with bad intent, as is shown in the story of Joseph and his brothers. 

As for you, you meant evil (ra') against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. 

So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.  Genesis 50:20-21, New American Standard Bible

God does apparently at times intend ra'a (root of ra'), which is rendered as "evil" in some translations, such as this passage from the English Revised Version of the Bible.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts: As I thought to do evil (ra'a) unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not; Zachariah 8:14, ERV 

But this ra'a here is just as often translated as "disaster," "bring harm," "punish", "treat badly," "afflict", or "destroy." So, God sometime intends to afflict people, but we are not supposed to think that when he does these things he is acting with evil intent or he is being bad, therefore it must be the case that ra'a is, in and of itself not wicked, but that it can be used with intent for good or bad, or to accomplish either meaningful/good or wicked ends.  

Ra / Re also happens to be the ancient Egyptian sun god.  Here he is depicted as a man with falcon head and disk of the sun encompassed by a cobra.

    Imentet/Amunet "The Hidden One" and Ra 1298-1235 BC, Tomb of Nefertari

The rays (Ra, Re) of the sun can be really intense and cause ra (adversity or affliction) but are they evil? They can seem evil when you are being scorched, like Jonah in the desert. But the same rays cause growth and warmth and give light.  Power can be perceived as evil when it causes an experience that is unpleasant, but we shouldn't truly put the label of evil on it unless it is, for the purpose of personal gratification, intentionally trying to cause harm for the sake of inflicting pain, i.e., comes from evil intent.

We can understand the association with evil, as well, with gods like Loki, who is the Norse counterpart of Set. Loki IS actually pretty "loco". He is the trickster god always causing trouble and adversity.

    Loki, Norse Trickster God, 16th Century Icelandic Manuscript

Loki is the father of Hel, of the wolf, Fenrir (who swallows Odin during the battle of Ragnarok), and the father of the Wold Serpent / Midgard Serpent, Jörmungandr. But he is also the mother (yeah, weird story) of Odin's wonderful eight-legged horse, Sleipnir who is described as, "the best of all horses".

    Sleipnir

If it weren't for Loki, the world of the gods would surely be more boring. He appears to be a force sometimes for good, and many times for adversity. He is called a god and not called a demon or Satan. However, he seems to have possibly contributed to the characteristics we think off as being demonic today. He even has the demonic looking facial hair and/or helm with horns in certain depictions.

And Set too, with his association with red, and the forked, or other times club looking tail of the set beast, whom he is represented by, has the look of what is now called a devil or demon, but he started out as the personification of a balancing power that was not called evil, but rather, adverse, difficult, or harsh.

    Set Beast or Animal

Sometimes the label of good and evil seems to be a matter of subjective opinion. If people like something, they say it is good, and if they don't like it, they tend to call it evil.  

Is darkness evil? No, darkness is not always evil. Sometimes darkness is just mystery and hiddeness. Sometimes darkness reveals secrets, like during an eclipse the corona ("crown") of the sun is visible to us, but is not visible at any other time. An eclipse or darkness would only be evil if it stayed that way and kept us in darkness forever. Some darkness is OK. A certain amount of darkness it is called night, and it is not evil because it is contained by light. Darkness is part of what we call Day, and the Day is good.

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, one day .  .  .  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:5, 31

    Total Solar Eclipse

We might wonder what it would be like if there were never any night. In that case we might call day evil. Too much of a good thing can seem evil. Or what if there was only too much day, or night for long periods of time, like in the polar regions. It seems what we really seek is balance between the extremes. It is silly to vilify either light or dark, hot or cold, work or rest, or any polarity. In and of themselves they are neither good, nor bad.

What of this icon known as the Black Madonna?

      Our Lady of Jasna Gora, Czestochowa, Poland

One might wonder about this dark or sooty (Suty, happens to be another rendering for the name of the god Set) depiction of Mary. This dark image is venerated right along with the bright and light ones. What mysteries lie waiting to be revealed by this darkness? What glory is being shielded behind the veil of the woman? Is something being covered that we are being protected from, or aren't ready to see?  

Could it possibly be some aspect of the feminine or yin such as this?

      Kali Hindu goddess of time and change

Kali is "the Black One", the Hindu goddess of time and change.
  
Is she evil? She does have heads strung around her neck and she is standing in a pool of blood. But how would you feel about her if she was a mother protecting her children? How would you feel toward her if you were the child in need of protection and she was defending you? Sometimes it is good to have a mother bear looking out for you. It doesn't mean the power is not fearful however. 

Maybe some people aren't quite prepared to handle the reality of the kind of strength that lies within the dark, black, yin, feminine aspect of the divine. So it has been veiled in the western tradition. Or, when not veiled, it is vilified. Such as with Eve (Havvah "living") in the garden of Eden who was an agent of change. It is because of, Eve, the woman, that we are all sinners, that we are all stained with original sin, correct? What a whore!

    Adam and Eve, Lucas Cranach the Elder, oil on wood (c.1538), Prague

She should be ashamed for causing her husband to sin like that. She listened to the whispering voice, described as, nachash [Hebrew], i.e., a snake (nachash from its hissing sound, the hisser). This snake is equated with the devil, the deceiver (trickster?), and evil.

It is interesting to note, that later on, Elijah listens to a whispering voice as well (1 Kings 19:12). He listens to the whispering voice, i.e., "qowl ('voice') demamah ('whisper/silence') daqqah ('thin')," sometimes translated as the "still soft voice", but he is said to be talking to God, and is a great prophet. He then goes back to town and instigates a huge bloodbath of slayings, but this is OK because he was talking to the Lord, YHWH, and not a snake!

It seems that a judgement has been placed on the two events. The whispering voice that Eve listens to is called a snake and a deceiver, whereas, the whispering voice that Elijah listens to is said to be YHWH. This is because the motive for what Eve did, and the consequences of what Eve did were judged as "evil"(Eve-ill), rather than causing the experience of adversity. Even though adversity is apparently a type of knowledge that God has, a kind of shame is put onto the action, i.e., she is a wicked "sinner" for disobeying God and being the cause of our experiencing "evil". On the other hand, we are told not to think badly of what Elijah does, even though it appears to be harsh, because he was doing it under the orders of God.  

We should remember too, that although the eating of the fruit of knowledge (da'ath) of adversity brought with it the experience (yada) of adversity, and especially adversity in the form of death, it is also because of this action of Eve, which was done out of her innocence (she was created in a state of grace and innocence), that we (the adam, ha'adam) became like God.

. . . "Behold, the man (ha'adam) has become like one of us, knowing good and evil . . ." Genesis 3:22, ESV

It seems that, to be like God, should be a good thing. We could consider this fall as being a necessary part of God becoming man, and man becoming God, just like a baby upon leaving the womb first begins to experience adversity in the manner of coldness, hunger, breathing, digestion, etc., but it is a necessary step in joining the human race. Is it a fall, then, as in "wickedness and evil", or a fall, as in "the falling/swinging of a pendulum", i.e., the experience of polarity and duality? Perhaps it was a fall, as in, from no change, to a state of change and movement, from timelessness, to the spinning of the wheel of experience. Or, simply put, that which occurs when the spirit(in the image and likeness of God) is incarnated in the flesh and becomes an adult.  This is just the order of creation, 

Day, Night, Day .  .  .  One Day.

        Taijitu

Actually, fall is my favorite time of year. It begins at a time of equilibrium, as the balance is shifting from the predominance of yang energy to the predominance of yin energy. It's not evil, its just an experience.

Think of the name "Katrina", is it infamous to you at all? If it is, it certainly didn't start out that way, but became infamous by association with an event that people judge as being a horrible event.

      Hurricane Katrina infrared Immage, Aug. 29, 2005 

Is it a storm or a monster?

Horrible is from the  Latin horribilis "terrible, fearful, dreadful". To be those things is not necessarily bad or evil. God is horrible in that respect. I'm sure Pharaoh thought the God of Moses was horrible, or even, evil when he killed his firstborn son.

This sort of thing is also illustrated nicely in the musical, "Wicked".  Is a witch good or bad? Is a good witch good or bad? Is a wicked witch good or bad? Which witch is which? What?

Is it an insult to be called a witch?

            Good or Bad Witch?

Or, if someone says that you are horrible, terrible, or a witch, or any other such "insult", should you take it as such, or could you maybe take it as a compliment, just like it is a compliment on Halloween?  

It's all a mater of perspective.

    Horrible Picture of Jack Skellington on a Crucifix- by Julie O. / chthonickore

Happy Halloween!  Happy Samhain!

Have a horrible, terrible, fearful evening!