Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
POSEIDON

Return to Occult Library Index

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

of raving (wiitcn) and insanire are suitable to the blustering stormful god of war. homer calls ares 0ovpns the wild, and("tcj)p(cv the insensate, 6y nvriva oi'sf depia-ra, ii. 5, 761. but naiverai is said of other gods too, particularly zeus (8 .300) and dionysos or bacchus (6, l;-i2^ one might think of fro, freyr (ch. x, but of course glittering swords were attributed to more than one god; thus poseidon (ke])tune) wields a sfivov aop, ii. 14, 38j, and apollo is called xpvo-zeus (see suppl. but further, as the saxons were so called, either because they wielded the sword of stone (saxum, or placed this god at the head of their race, so i think

the edda (siem. 87% conf. 10) designates freyr' folcvcddi (al. folcvaldr) gosa. now this folkvaldi means no other than dominator, princeps, i.e. the same as frea, fr6, and seems, like it, to pass into a proper name. on the linking of freyr and niorsr with osinn, there will be more to say in ch. xv (see suppl. if snorri's comparison of niorsr with kronos (saturn) have any justification, evidently poseidon (neptune) the son of kronos would come nearer to our teutonic sea-god; and iloaeiscov might be referred to iroacs (lord, lith. pats, sansk. patis, gotli. faj^s, which means the same as fro. only then both fro and nirdu would again belong to the eldest race of gods> wh. miiller, nibehingensage pp. 136 148, wishes to extend the vanir gods only to the siieves and goths, not to the western ge

particular, odinn or wuotan is pictured everywhere as an old greybeard (conf. the old god, p. 21, thorr as in the full strength of manhood. balder as a blooming youth. the gods grow hdrir ok gamlir (lioar and old, sn. 81, freyr has' at tannfe (tooth-fee) presented him at his teething, he is therefore imagined as growing up. in like manner uranos and kronos appear as old, zeus (like our donar) and poseidon as middle aged, apollo, hermes and ares as in the bloom of youth. growth and age, the increase and decline of a power, exclude the notion of a strictly eternal, immutable, immortal being; and mortality, the termination, however long delayed, of gods with such attributes, is a necessity (see suppl, epithets expressing the power, the omnipotence, of the reigning gods have been specified, pp

often exceeding even the gigantic. when ares is felled to the ground by the stone which athene flings, his body covers seven roods of land (etrra s' evecr^^e irekeopa ireaoiv, 1. 21, 407, a size tliat wiih a slight addition the od. 11, 577 puts upon the titan i'ityos. when here takes a solemn oath, she grasps the earth with one hand and the sea with the other (ii. 14, 272. a cry that breaks from poseidon's breast sounds like that of nine or even ten thousand warriors in battle (14, 147, and the same is said of ares when he roars (5, 859; here contents herself with the voice of stentor, which only equals those of fifty men (5, 786. by the side of this we may put some features in the edda, which have to do with thorr especially: he devours at a wedding one ox and eiglit salmon, and drinks t

tti (the former used also of helen, ii. 3, 121^ the latter of a nereid 18, 40, athene rf^avkw- tti? or i^vkofio'i (which again does for here, thetis dpyvpotre^a, iris aexxo7ro9, iroh/jvefmo'i, ypvaotttepo, eos pososdktv\o, demeter (ceres ^avd] 5, 500, and ka\\nr\6/ca/jlo; 14, 326, just as sif is harfogr (p. 309, in allusion to the yellow colour of the waving corn. as the sea rolls its dark waves, poseidon bears the name kvavoxaiti, ii. 14, 390. 15, 174. 20, 144. zeus could either be called the same, or kvavocppv (a contrast to baldr brahvitr, browwhite p. 222, because to him belong dfji^pocnat'^altai ii. 1, 528, the hair and locks of wish (p. 142, and because with his dark brows he makes signs. this confirmatory lowering of the brows or nodding with the head (veveiv, karaveiecv kvaverjacv

ws and shaking the beard. obviously the two gods, zeus and donar, have identical gestures ascribed to them for expressing favour or anger. they are the glowering deities, who have the avenging thunder at their command; tliis was shown of donar, p. 177, and to zeus is given the grim louring look beiva s' virohpa iscov, 11. 15, 13, he above all is the fj,ey oxdi]aaposeidon of the dingy locks (8, 208. 15, 184. zeus again is distinguished by beaming eyes rpeirev oaae aphrodite has ofijxata fiapfiaipovra, 3, 397, twinkling, shimmering eyes (see suppl. figures of greek divinities show a circle of rays and a nimbus round the head^ on indo-grecian coins m

9% gek 100% gengo 70' 71^ gengengo 1^ 5% or else /or sp 31^ 53^ 75% this fara meaning no more than ire, proficisci, and osinn was even called gangleri, s^em. 32. sn. 24, i.e, the walker, traveller; the as. poets use geiocit (evasit, abiit) or sidode of god returning to heaven, andr. 118. 225. 977. el. 94-5. but how enormously the walk of the gods differs from the common, we see in the instance of poseidon, who goes an immense distance in three steps, ii. 13, 20, or that of the indian vishnu, who in three paces traverses earth, air and sky. from such swiftness there follows next the sudden ajjpcarance and disappearance of the gods; for wliich our older speech seems to have used goth, hvairban, ohg. imerban, as. hweorfan (verti, ferri, rotari' hivcarf him to heofenum lullig dryhten' says cre

retained in many stories of the devil, who assumes at departure the body of a raven or a fly (exit tanquam corvus, egressus est in muscae similitudine. at other times, and this is the prettier touch of the two, the gods allow the man to whom they have appeared as his equals, suddenly as they are going, to become aware of their divine proportions: heel, calf, neck or shoulder betrays the god. when poseidon leaves the two ajaxes, one of them says, ii. 13, 71: i-xyca yap fierotriade ttobwv i]be kvrjfiawv pev ejvcov air i6 vt o; dpiyvcotoi, se deoi irep. so, when venus leaves aeneas, virg. 1, 402: dixit, et avcrtens rosea cervice refulsit et vera incessu patuit dea. ille ubi matrem agnovit, ta\i fugientem est voce secutus. so, ii. 3, 396, alexander recognises the 6ed; irepikawea ceipi]v, arrjo

that of isis, and frey's skisblasnir, the best of all ships. stem. 45^ but whichever way the gods might move, on earth, through air or in water, their walk and tread, their riding and driving is represented as so vehement, that it produces a loud noise, and the din of the elements is explained by it. the driving of zeus or thorr awakens thunder in the clouds; mountains and forests tremble beneath poseidon's tread, ii. 13, 18; when apollo lets himself down from the heights of olympus, arrows and bow clatter (ekxay^av) on his shoulder 1, 44, betvr) se kxajyr] yiver' dpyupeoio ^lolo, dreadful was the twang of his silver bow 1, 49. in the lays of the edda this stirring up of nature is described in exactly the same way, while the as. and ohg. writings, owing to the earlier extinction of heathen

m. 67; skirnir is frey's shoemaker (81) and messenger, beyggvir and beyla are also called liis servants (59. these services do no detriment to their own divine nature. beside hermes, the goddess iris goes on errands for the greek gods (see suppl. among the gods themselves there is a difference of rani: three sons of kronos have the world divided among them, the sky is allotted to zeus, the sea to poseidon, hell to hades, and the earth they are supposed to share between them (h. 15, 193. these three tower above all the rest, like har, lafnhar and thrisi in tlie norse religion, the triad spoken of on p. 162. this is not the same thing as' wuotan, donar, ziu' if only because the last two are not brothers but sons of "vvuotan, although these pass for the three mightiest gods. then, together wi

greek deities: sigt^sberg, himinbiorg &c. olympus was peculiarly the house of zeus (zjio? sw/ia, to which the other gods assembled (ii. 1, 494; on the highest peak of the range he would sit apart ccrep axkwv 1, 498. 5, 753, loving to take counsel alone (atrdvevoe oedv 8, 10. he had another seat on ida (11, 183. 336, whence he looked down to survey the doings of men, as 05inn did from hlisscialf. poseidon sat on a height in the wooded range of samos (13, 12. valholl and bilskirnir, the dwellings of oijinn and thorr, are renowned for their enormous size; the one is said to have 540 doors, through any one of which 800 einheriar can go out at once, and bilskirnir has likewise 540' golfe [on. golfr, floor (see suppl. if now we take in one view the relations of gods and men, we find they meet a

ngs; osinn, hoenir and loki travelled in company; medieval legend makes god the father seek a lodging, or the saviour and st. peter, or merely three angels (as the servian song does, vuk 4, no. 3. most frequent however are the solitary a^ipearanccs of gods, who, invoked or uninvoked, suddenly bring succour to their favoured ones in every time of need; the greek epos is quite full of this. athene, poseidon, ares, aphrodite mingle with the warriors, warning, advising, covering; and just as often do jniary and saints from heaven appear in christian legends. the lithuanian perkunos also walks on earth (see suppl. but when they descend, they are not always visible; you may hear the car of the god rush by, and not get sight of him bodily; like ghosts the blessed gods flit past the human eye unno

xo gram, p. 37, is unable to spy othin riding a white steed and aiding the swedes, till he peeps through the ring formed by the arm of a spirit- seeing woman: a medium that elsewhere makes the elfin race visible to the bleared eyes of man. in another way the gods, even when they showed themselves bodily, concealed their divine nature, by assuming the form of a human acquaintance, or of an animal. poseidon stept into the host, disguised as kalchas, ii. 13, 45, hermes escorted priam as a myrmidon warrior 24, 397, and athene the young telemachus as mentor, in the same way othin appeared as the chariot-driver bruno (p. 330, or as a one-eyed old man. metamorphoses of gods into animals in teutonic mythology take place only for a definite momentary purpose, to which the character of the animal su

led after him dios-curi, hercules by alcmena, perseus by danae, epaphusby lo, pelasgus by niobe, minos and sarpedon by europa; other heroes touch him only through their forefathers: agamemnon was the son of atreus, he of pelops, he of tantalus, and he of zeus; ajax was sprung from telamon, he from aeacus, he from zeus and aegina. next to zeus, the most heroes seem to proceed from ares, hermes and poseidon: meleager, diomedes and cycnus were sons of ares, autolycus and cephalus of hermes, while theseus was a son of aegeus, and nestor of neleus, but both aegeus and neleus^ some slavic expressions for hero are woi-tliy of notice: kuss. vuiar, serv. vitez; russ. boghatyr, pol. bohater, boh. bohatyr, not conn, either witli bogh deus, or boghat dives, but the same as the pers. behddir, turk, bah

hero are woi-tliy of notice: kuss. vuiar, serv. vitez; russ. boghatyr, pol. bohater, boh. bohatyr, not conn, either witli bogh deus, or boghat dives, but the same as the pers. behddir, turk, bahadyr, mongol, baghdtor, hung, bdtor, manju butura, and derivable from h\(dra lively, merry; schott in erman's zeitschr. 4, 531 [mongol, bayhd is force, fiia, aiid -tor -tur an adj. sullix. 344 heroes. were poseidon's children by aethra and tyro. acliilles was the son of peleus and thetis, aeneas of anchises and venus^ these examples serve as a standard for the conditions of our own heroic legend (see suppl. tacitus, following ancient lays, places at the head of our race as its prime progenitor tuisco, who is not a hero, but himself a god, as the author expressly names him' denm terra editum. now, as

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

m-aesh-neith, mau, ka :agni (tejas) yama (as god of: beshunt, horus, tarpesheth: last judgment: 32 :sebek, mako :brahama :32 "bis :satem, ahapshi, nephthys:(prithivi: ameshet :31 "bis :asar:(akasa: 310& 311 table i: xxxiv: xxxv :key scale: some greek gods: some roman gods: 0 :pan: 1 :zeus, iacchus :jupiter: 2 :athena, uranus :janus: 3 :cybele, demeter, rhea, here :juno, cybele, saturn, hecate: 4 :poseidon :jupiter: 5 :ares, hades :mars: 6 :iacchus, apollo, adonis :apollo: 7 :aphrodite, nike :venus: 8 :hermes :mercury: 9 :zeus (as air, diana of :diana (as moon: ephesus (as phallic stone: 10 :persephone (adonis, psyche :ceres :11 :zeus :jupiter: 12 :hermes :mercury: 13 :artemis, hecate :diana: 14 :aphrodite :venus: 15 :athena :mars, minerva: 16:(here :venus: 17 :castor& pollux, apollo the :c

12 :hermes :mercury: 13 :artemis, hecate :diana: 14 :aphrodite :venus: 15 :athena :mars, minerva: 16:(here :venus: 17 :castor& pollux, apollo the :casto& pollux (janus: diviner: 18 :apollo the charioteer :mercury: 19 :demeter (borne by lions :venus (repressing the fire of: vulcan: 20:(attis:(attis) ceres, adonis: 21 :zeus :jupiter (pluto: 22 :themis, minos, aeacus, and :vulcan: rhadamanthus :23 :poseidon :neptune: 24 :ares :mars: 25 :apollo, artemis (hunters :diana (as archer: 26 :pan, priapus (erect hermes :pan, vesta, bacchus, priapus: and bacchus: 27 :ares :mars: 28:(athena, ganymede :juno: 29 :poseidon :neptune: 30 :helios, apollo :apollo :31 :hades :vulcan, pluto: 32:(athena :saturn :32 "bis:(demeter :ceres :31 "bis :iacchus:(liber: 312 table i: xxxviii: xxxix :key scale: animals, re

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

the vulture, which therefore was chosen to symbolize the mother-goddess. he is the wandering knight or prince of fairy tales who marries the king's daughter. this legend is derived from certain customs among exogamic tribes, for which see "the golden bough. thus one europa, semele and others claimed that zeus- air<<zeus obtained air for his kingdom in the partition with hades, who took fire, and poseidon, who took water. shu is the egyptian god of the firmament. there is a great difficulty here, etymologically. zeus is connected with iao, abrasax, and the dental sibilant gods of the great mysteries, with the south and hadit, ada, set, saturn, adonai, attis, adonis; he is even the "jesus, slain with the lance, whose blood is collected in a cup. yet he is also to be identified with the oppo

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

ut what odds? once the right thought comes it will transcend any and all conceptions. the objection is as silly as the objection to illustrating geometry by diagrams, on the ground that printed lines are thick and so on. this is the imbecility of the "protestant" objection to images. what fools these mortals be! the greeks, too, after exhausting all their sublimest thoughts of zeus and hades and poseidon, found that they could not find a fitting image of the all, the supreme so they just carved a goat-man, saying: let this represent pan! also in the holiest place of the most secret temple there is an empty shrine. but whoso goes there in the first instance thinks; there is no god. he who goes there at the end, when he has adored all the other deities, knoweth that no god. 126 so also i g

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

great presiding one replied "let him proceed" happy and confident, hercules went on, sure of himself and with new courage for the search. now to the west he turned himself and, turning thus, he met disaster. he entered without thought upon the third great test and failure met him and for long delayed his steps. for there he met busiris, the great arch-deceiver, son of the waters, of close kin to poseidon. his is the work to bring delusion to the sons of men through words of seeming wisdom. he claims to know the truth and with quickness they believe. he speaks fair words saying "i am the teacher. to me is given knowledge of the truth and sacrifice for me. accept the way of life through me. i know, but no-one else. my truth is right. all other truth is wrong and false. hark to my words; sta

d be sought, sending him on his way alone and somewhat discouraged, with only a vague idea as to what he would have to do and where he would have to go. all he knew was that he had to turn south; a symbol of going back into the world, the opposite pole of spirit. he had no sooner done so than he met the serpent with whom he had to wrestle [known in mythology also as the giant, antaeus, the son of poseidon, god of waters, and gea, the earth. hence when in touch with the earth, his mother, he was invincible] in his search for the golden apples on the physical plane, hercules had to conquer, as do all disciples, glamor and illusion; for in the carrying forward of spiritual aspiration, the disciple is very apt to be taken in by astralism and lower psychism in one form or another. as hercules w

air, it became utterly weak and unable to defeat him. gemini is an air sign, a mutable or common sign. glamor is ever changing, ever taking one form or another. it concerns appearance and not reality, and the earth stands for appearances. having vanquished the serpent that stood in his way, hercules passed on in his search. his next encounter was with glamor in another form. busiris was a son of poseidon, the god of the waters, but his mother was a mere mortal. he claimed to be a great teacher. he was fluent in speech and captivating in what he said. he made great claims for himself, leading hercules to believe that he could show him the way, that he could lead him out into the light, and that he was the custodian of truth. hercules was completely deceived. little by little he fell under

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

uator, when it runs slower and tilts in every direction, there is a great disturbance on the face of the earth. the waters flow toward[[footnote(s[[footnote continued from previous page] portions of the submerged fourth-race continent which were "beyond the pillars of hercules" and which happened to keep above water after the general cataclysm. the last remnant of these- plato's atlantis, or the "poseidon (another substitute or rather a translation of the real name- was the last of it some 11,000 years ago. most of the correct names of the countries and islands of both continents are given in the puranas; but to mention them specially, as found in other more ancient works, such as the surya siddhanta, would necessitate too lengthy explanations. if, in earlier writings, the two seem to have

sidereal and cosmic glyphs. every astronomer- besides occultists and astrologers- knows that, figuratively, the astral light, the milky way, and also the path of the sun to the tropics of cancer and capricorn, as well as the circles of the sidereal or tropical year, were always called "serpents" in the allegorical and mystic phraseology of the adepts. this, cosmically, as well as metaphorically. poseidon is a "dragon "chozzar, called by the profane neptune (peratae gnostics; the "good and perfect serpent" the messiah of the naaseni, whose symbol in heaven is draco. but one ought to discriminate between the characters of this symbol. for instance: zoroastrian esotericism is identical with that of the secret doctrine; and when, as an example, we read in the vendidad complaints uttered again

ay* bailly thought he saw in this horse a twelve-oared ship. the secret doctrine teaches that the early third race built boats and flotillas before it built houses. but the "horse" though a much later animal, has, nevertheless, a more occult primitive meaning. the crocodile and the hippopotamus were held sacred and represented divine symbols, both with the ancient egyptians and with the mexicans. poseidon is, in homer, the god of the horse, and assumes that form himself to please ceres. arion, their progeny, is one of the aspects of that "horse" which is a cycle* the severed parts must be norway and other lands in the neighbourhood of the arctic circle[[vol. 2, page] 400 the secret doctrine "in the first beginnings of (human) life, the only dry land was on the right end* of the sphere, whe

, at all, even when it is compared with the animal depicted on the hindu zodiac. for it has the head and the fore-legs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish. hence the tenth sign of the zodiac has been taken variously to mean a shark, a dolphin, etc; as it is the vahan of varuna, the ocean god, and is often called, for this reason, jala-rupa or "water-form" the dolphin was the vehicle of poseidon-neptune with the greeks, and one with him, esoterically; and this "dolphin" is the "sea-dragon" as much as the crocodile of the sacred nile is the vehicle of horus, and horus himself "i am the fish and seat of the great horus of kemour" says the mummy-form god with the crocodile's head (ch. lxxxviii, 2 "book of the dead. with the peratae gnostics it is chozzar (neptune, who converts into

the fivefold chohans, having the soul of the five elements in them, water and ether predominating, and therefore their symbols were both aquatic and fiery "wisdom lies concealed under the couch of him who rests on the golden lotos (padma) floating on the water" in india it is vishnu (one of whose avatars was budha, as claimed in days of old. the prachetasas, the worshippers of narayana (who, like poseidon moved or dwelt over not under the waters, plunged into the depths of the ocean for their devotions and remained therein 10,000 years; and the prachetasas are ten exoterically, but five, esoterically "prachetas" is in sanskrit, the name of varuna, the water god, nereus, an aspect of the same as neptune, the prachetasas being thus identical with the "five ministers" of[[chozzar (poseidon) o

; the "fiery" connecting them with the fiery symbol- spiritually. for purposes of identity, let us remember that as the mother of the prachetasas was savarna, the daughter of the ocean, so was amphitrite the mother of neptune's mystic "ministers" now the reader is reminded that these "five ministers" are symbolized both in the dolphin, who had overcome the chaste amphitrite's unwillingness to wed poseidon, and in triton their son. the latter, whose body above the waist is that of a man and below a dolphin, a fish, is, again, most mysteriously connected with oannes, the babylonian dag, and further also with the (fish) avatar of vishnu, matsya, both teaching mortals wisdom. the dolphin, as every mythologist knows, was placed for his service by poseidon among the constellations, and became wi

r the first time, human kings and rulers. diodorus speaks of uranos as the first king of atlantis, confusing, either consciously or otherwise, the continents; but, as shown, plato indirectly corrects the statement. the first astronomical teacher of men was uranos, because he is one of the seven dhyan chohans of that second period or race. thus also in the second manvantara[[footnote(s* neptune or poseidon is the hindu idaspati, identical with narayana (the mover on the waters) or vishnu, and like this hindu god he is shown crossing the whole horizon in three steps. idaspati means also "the master of the waters* bailly's assertion that the 9,000 years mentioned by the egyptian priests do not represent "solar years" is groundless. bailly knew nothing of geology and its calculations; otherwis

tted and pardoned. in consequence of the last scholarly production of mr. gladstone in the nineteenth century "the greater gods of olympos" the ideas of the general public about greek mythology have been still further perverted and biassed. homer is credited with an inner thought, which is regarded by mr. gladstone as "the true key to the homeric conception" whereas this "key" was merely a blind. poseidon "is indeed essentially of the earth earthy. strong and self-asserting, sensual and intensely jealous and vindictive- but this is because he symbolises the spirit of the fourth root-race, the ruler of the seas, that race which lives above the surface of the seas[[limne, il. xxiv, 79, which is composed of the giants, the children of eurymedon, the race which is the father of polyphemus, the

ng, sensual and intensely jealous and vindictive- but this is because he symbolises the spirit of the fourth root-race, the ruler of the seas, that race which lives above the surface of the seas[[limne, il. xxiv, 79, which is composed of the giants, the children of eurymedon, the race which is the father of polyphemus, the titan and one-eyed cyclops. though zeus reigns over the fourth race, it is poseidon who rules, and who is the true key to the triad of the kronid brothers and to our human races. poseidon and nereus are one: the former the ruler or spirit of atlantis before the beginning of its submersion, the latter, after. neptune is the titanic strength of the living race; nereus, its spirit reincarnated in the subsequent fifth or aryan race: and this is what the great greek scholar o

e the events recorded in the book of the beginnings. the theological tradition identifies these nephilim with hairy men or satyrs, the latter being mythical in the fifth race and the former historical in both the fourth and fifth races. we have stated elsewhere what the prototypes of these satyrs were, and have spoken of the bestiality of the early and later atlantean race. what is the meaning of poseidon's amours under such a variety of animal forms? he became a dolphin to win amphitrite; a horse, to seduce ceres; a ram, to deceive theophane, etc, etc. poseidon is not only the personation of the spirit and race of atlantis, but also of the vices of these giants. gesenius and others devote an enormous space to the meaning of the word nephilim and explain very little. but esoteric records s

the antarctic the "ever living" and "the concealed; while the mediterranean, atlantic, pacific and other regions disappear and reappear in turn, into and above the great waters. from the first appearance of the great continent of lemuria, the three polar giants had been imprisoned in their circle by kronos. their gaol is surrounded by a wall of bronze, and the exit is through gates fabricated by poseidon (or neptune, hence by the seas, which they cannot cross; and it is in that damp region, where eternal darkness reigns, that the three brothers languish. the iliad (viii, 13) makes of it the tartaros. when the gods and titans rebelled in their turn against zeus- the deity of the fourth race- the father of the gods bethought himself of the imprisoned giants in order to conquer the gods and

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

nts knew and could distinguish the corporeal from the spiritual elements, in the forces of nature. the four-fold jupiter, as the four-faced brahma- the aerial, the fulgurant, the terrestrial, and the marine god- the lord and master of the four elements, may stand as a representative for the great cosmic gods of every nation. while passing power over the fire to hephaistos-vulcan, over the sea, to poseidon-neptune, and over the earth, to pluto-aidoneus- the aerial jove was all these; for aether, from the first, had pre-eminence over, and was the synthesis of, all the elements. tradition points to a grotto, a vast cave in the deserts of central asia, whereinto light pours through its four seemingly natural apertures or clefts placed crossways at the four cardinal points of the place. from no

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

as "mermen. it was said that if you fought with them, they changed shape and the legendary founders of athens, cecrops and his son, were said to be half-human-half-serpent amphibians. the greek god, tython, was another halfman- half-serpent figure with mythological connections to sirius, and both isis and 36 children of the matrix osiris were portayed with fish or serpent tails in some effigies. poseidon of the greeks and neptune of the romans were symbols of the same theme. the anunnaki (annedoti) seem to be very connected to water and their bloodlines use code names to this day that often relate to being "of the water. the major bloodline families appear to locate either in very hot regions, like texas, arizona, nevada, and california, or, more often, in cold damp places where there is

with which it is associated. some suggest that alcyone, the brightest star of the pleiades, is the pivotal centre of this part of the galaxy around which our sun and solar system orbit. cherokee and maya legend in north and central america and the greek historians, apollodorius and diodorus, are among those who refer to pleiadians visiting atlantis. the greeks said that pleiadians had mated with poseidon, a king of atlantis, and the offspring populated that society. diodorus said that two of the seven symbolic "sisters" of the pleiades, celoene and alcyone, had "laid with the most renowned heroes and gods and thus became the first ancestors of the larger portion of the race of human beings" nordic-reptilian interbreeding? the lyra constellation is widely associated in ufo research and the

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

he round towers are aligned with stars systems in the northern sky -especially draco.the connections between ireland and the berbers of morocco deserves a specialmention. they are a light-skinned mountain people, some blue-eyed and blond-haired. they are associated with the atlas mountains which are themselves associatedwith atlantis and named after atlas, a son of the legendary ruler of atlantis,poseidon. berber art has many similarities to the irish version and anyone speaking72gaelic could comfortably understand the berber tongue. the main berber clans likemtir, mtuga and mghill, are obvious origins or derivatives of the ireland-scottishmactier, macdougal and macghill. the term mac means children or child of and thearabs use the term bini, as in bini mtir, which means the same. missiona

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

ot show compassion upon thy wretched sol"[2] and in the history of pisentios, a bishop of coptos in the seventh century of our era, we have a series of details which reflect the tuat of the ancient egyptians in a remarkable manner. the bishop having taken up his abode in a tomb filled with mummies, causes one of them to tell his history.[3] after saying that his parents were greeks who worshipped poseidon, he states that when he was dying already the avenging angels came about him with iron knives and goads as sharp as spears, which they thrust into his sides, while they gnashed their teeth at him; when he opened his eyes, he saw death in all its manifold forms round about him; and at that moment angels without mercy came and dragged his wretched soul from his body, and tying it to the for

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

c descended the dioscuri, or cabiri, or corybantes, or samothraces. according to sanchoniathon, first built a complete ship and others descended from them who discovered medicine and charms. all this dates prior to babylon and the gods cabiri encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 234 of paganism, the elder of whom are next introduced in the generations. finally, sanchoniathon settles poseidon (neptune) and the cabiri at berytus, but not till circumcision, the sacrifice of human beings, and the portrayal of the gods had been introduced. he describes the cabiri as husbandmen and fishermen, which leads to the presumption that the people who worshiped those ancient gods were at length called by their name. the method of initiation unto the cult was as follows: the candidate for in

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

t undiscovered planets was proposed. such speculation was encouraged by the discovery of uranus and neptune and heralded the discovery of pluto (1930) and chiron (1977, a comet originally believed to be a planet. uranian astrology was unique in suggesting the existence of no less than eight hypothetical planets that were given the names cupido, hades, zeus, kronos, apollon, admetos, vulcanos, and poseidon. each of these planets was assigned its particular role in the chart. uranian astrology enjoyed its greatest success in germanspeaking countries during the first half of the twentieth century. it also gave birth to cosmobiology, an astrological system started by reinhold ebertin, one of witte s students. it has had little success outside of german-speaking countries, though witte s most i

FAUST

eze! hail, earth rich in mysteries! hail, fire, sea, whom we adore, hail, ye elements all four! act iii before the palace of menelaus in sparta helena. panthalis, leader of the chorus. helena enters with a chorus of captive trojan women. helena i, much admired and upbraided helena come from the strand where we but now have disembarked, still giddy from the restless rocking of the waves which with poseidon s favour and the strength of eurus bore us on their high reluctant backs from phrygia s plain returning to our native bays and fatherland. there on the shore with all his bravest warriors king menelaus knows the joy of safe return. but thou, o lofty dwelling, bid me welcome now, thou whom, when he came home again from pallas hill, my father tyndareus built near the slope and then adorned

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS B

al center. these letters should be painted in the white color of on the black background on which the entire pentagram symbol is painted. the top portion of the pentagram is symbolized by the scepter of hermes, the letter c, and the rays which issue forth from the five corner angles of the pentagram. the scepter of zeus, or jupiter, is emblematic of the left side, while the scepter of neptune and poseidon is emblematic of the right side of the pentagram. beyond the bottom two feet of the pentagram are the scepter of pluto, dis, orphaus hades in the o angle, and the scepter of demeter or ceres in the l angle. the letters of the pentagrammaton are drawn in their appropriate colors over the white rays which issue forth from the five corner angles. study the diagram well and let the z.a.m. con

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

ng fancy, that of the gods in person walking the earth unrecognised, and dropping in at the houses of mortals. even the odyssey 17, 485-7 alludes to such wanderings, in which is found the loftiest consecration of hospitality: a man will be loth to turn away a stranger, under whose guise a celestial god may be visiting him. a greek myth with details appears in the story of orion: three gods, zeus, poseidon, hermes (some say zeus, ares, hermes= donar, zio, wuotan) take lodging with hyrieus, and after being feasted, give him leave to ask a favour; he wishes for a son, and they create him one much in the same way as kvasir was engendered (p. 902, conf. 1025n. ovid s fasti 5, 495 535. hyginus 195 relates the same fable of the thracian byrseus. in the beautiful legend of philemon and baucis (ovi

to the sensuous mythologies lying in the great middle it is ill-adapted. an all-pervading idealistic distinction between a good and an evil spirit, ormuzd and ahriman^ is known neither to the indian and greek theologies, nor to the teutonic. before the might of the one all-governing god the kakodeemon's power fades away. then out of this unity there grow up trilogies (brahma, vishnu, siva; zeus, poseidon, pluto; wuotan, donar, fro; har, lafnhar, thri'si, dodecalogies, and the plenitude of pantheism. but it is to my mind a fundamental feature of polytheism, that the good and beneficent principle in the divine preponderates; only some isolated deities, subordinate to the whole, incline to the evil or hurtful, like the norse loki, whose nature even then is more on a par with that of hephgest

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

t graia (earth) the giantess, then erebus (corresp. to niflheim) and night; but gaia by herself brought forth uranus (sky) and seas and mountains, then other children by uranus, the last of them kronus the father of zeus and ancestor of all the gods. as the edda has a buri and borr before 03inn, so do uranus and kronus here come before zeus; with zeus and 03inn begins the race of gods proper, and poseidon and hades complete the fra ternal trio, like vili and ye. the enmity of gods and titans is therefore that of ases and giants; at the same time, there is just as much resemblance in the expulsion of the titans from heaven (theog. 813) to the fall of the rebel angels into the bottomless pit; so that to the giant element in the titans we may add a daemonic. when the works and days makes the

s death (see suppl. 2 notice stem. 119a: caftan koma sniofar ok anarir vindar, and the poetic de scriptions of winter in as. writers: andr. 1256-63. beow. 2258. 3 lond 611 skidfu, sn. 66; fold for skialfandi, 148. 4 schlegel s ind. bibl. no. 2. eaethquakes. walahalla. 817 tahitians: god shakes the earth; 1 the lettons: drebkuls beats the earth, and makes her tremble/ just as the greeks call their poseidon (neptune) ewoaiyaios, evvocrisas (see suppl. our forefathers thought of the sky not only as a roof to the earth (p. 698, but as a heavenly kingdom, the dwelling-place of gods and of blessed men whom they had taken up. the bridge of the heavenly bow leads into it (p. 732, so does the milky way (p. 356. we must first suppose all that to have happened which was told in chap. xix about the cr

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

offspring of the sun. the king was a suryavansi (a descendant of the solarrace, and he avowed himself a most faithful servant of the god, varuna, the greatest and most powerfuldeity in the rig-veda* but the god had denied male heirs to his worshipper, and this made the king veryunhappy* it is only much later in the orthodox pantheon and the symbolical polytheism of thebrahmans that varuna became poseidon or neptune- which he is now. in the vedas he isthe most ancient of the gods, identical with ouranos of the greek, that is to say apersonification of the celestial space and the infinite gods, the creator and ruler of heaven andearth, the king, the father and the master of the world, of gods and of men. hesiod's uranusand the greek zeus are one. nightmare talesthe blue lotus21 "alas" he wa

ISIS UNVEILED

nd rebuild it again in tkree days. between hia burial and alleged resurrection there intervened but one day the jewish sab- bath as he was buried on friday evening and rose to life at dawn on sunday. however, whatever oth^ circumstance may be regarded as a prophecy, the story of jonah cannot be made to answer the purpose 'big fish' is cetus, the latinized form of ketos (k^tos, and ketos is dagon, poseidon, the feminine form of it being keton atar-gatis the syrian goddess, and venus, of askalon" the figure or bust of der- ketos, or astarte, was generally represented on the prow of the ships. jonah (hebrew, for dove; a bird sacred to venus) fled to jaffa, where the god dagon, the man-fish, was worshiped, and dared not go to nineveh, v^icre the dose wag revered. hence some commentators believ

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

ncisco, ca: city lights books, 1985. hades in the contemporary period hades has become interchangeable with hell. however, the name originally referred to the greek god of the underworld and king of the dead. later hades became, by extension, the name of the land of the dead itself. hades was the son of rhea and chronos. after defeating the titans (the older gods, hades and his brothers, zeus and poseidon, divided the world among themselves. poseidon received the seas, zeus the sky, and hades the underworld. hades was considered so unfortunate that even the mention of his name was regarded as unlucky, and mythological tales about the god of the underworld are scant. the foundation for greek classical religion was set in the homeric poems, the iliad and the odyssey, which themselves were th

LIBER 777

r jhanas. persephone [adonis, psych 11 vaya-bhawana valkyries zeus 12. hermes 13 vision of chandra. artemis, hekat 14 success in bhaktioga freya aphrodit 15. athena 16 success in hathayoga, asana and prana-yama [her] 17. castor and pollux, apollo the diviner[[eros] 18. apollo the charioteer 19. demeter [borne by lions] 20 [attis] 21. zeus 22. themis, minos, aeacus and rhadamanthus 23 apo-bhawana. poseidon 24. ares[[apollo the pythean, thanatos] 25. apollo, artemis (hunters) 26. pan, priapus [erect hermes and bacchus] 27. tuisco ares[[athena] 28 [athena] ganymede 29. poseidon[[hermes psychopompos] 30 vision of surya. helios, apollo 31 agni-bhawana. hades 32 [athena] 32 bis prithiva-bhawana [demeter[[gaia] 31 bis vision of the higher self, prana-yama. we have insufficient knowledge of the at

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

but what odds? once the right thought comes it will transcend any and all conceptions. the objection is as silly as the objection to illustrating geometry by diagrams, on the ground that printed lines are thick.and so on. this is the imbecility of the .protestant. objection to images. what fools these mortals be! the greeks, too, after exhausting all their sublimest thoughts of zeus and hades and poseidon, found that they could not find a fitting image of the all, the supreme.so they just carved a goat-man, saying: let this represent pan! also in the holiest place of the most secret temple there is an empty shrine. but whoso goes there in the first instance thinks; there is no god. he who goes there at the end, when he has adored all the other deities, knoweth that no god. so also i go thr

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

continent. the description of the atlantean civilization given by plato in the critias may be summarized as follows. in the first ages the gods divided the earth among themselves, proportioning it according to their respective dignities. each became the peculiar deity of his own allotment and established therein temples to himself, ordained a priestcraft, and instituted a system of sacrifice. to poseidon was given the sea and the island continent of atlantis. in the midst of the island was a mountain which was the dwelling place of three earth-born primitive human beings--evenor; his wife, leucipe; and their only daughter, cleito. the maiden was very beautiful, and after the sudden death of her parents she was wooed by poseidon, who begat by her five pairs of male children. poseidon appor

mountain which was the dwelling place of three earth-born primitive human beings--evenor; his wife, leucipe; and their only daughter, cleito. the maiden was very beautiful, and after the sudden death of her parents she was wooed by poseidon, who begat by her five pairs of male children. poseidon apportioned his continent among these ten, and atlas, the eldest, he made overlord of the other nine. poseidon further called the country atlantis and the surrounding sea the atlantic in honor of atlas. before the birth of his ten sons, poseidon divided the continent and the coastwise sea into concentric zones of land and water, which were as perfect as though turned upon a lathe. two zones of land and three of water surrounded the central island, which poseidon caused to be irrigated with two spr

s metals were mined, wild animals domesticated, and perfumes distilled from its fragrant flowers. while enjoying the abundance natural to their semitropic location, the atlanteans employed themselves also in the erection of palaces, temples, and docks. they bridged the zones of sea and later dug a deep canal to connect the outer ocean with the central island, where stood the palaces and temple of poseidon, which excelled all other structures in magnificence. a network of bridges and canals was created by the atlanteans to unite the various parts of their kingdom. plato then describes the white, black, and red stones which they quarried from beneath their continent and used in the construction of public buildings and docks. they circumscribed each of the land zones with a wall, the outer wa

ruction of public buildings and docks. they circumscribed each of the land zones with a wall, the outer wall being covered with brass, the middle with tin, and the inner, which encompassed the citadel, with orichalch. the citadel, on the central island, contained the pal aces, temples, and other public buildings. in its center, surrounded by a wall of gold, was a sanctuary dedicated to cleito and poseidon. here the first ten princes of the island were born and here each year their descendants brought offerings. poseidon's own temple, its exterior entirely covered with silver and its pinnacles with gold, also stood within the citadel. the interior of the temple was of ivory, gold, silver, and orichalch, even to the pillars and floor. the temple contained a colossal statue of poseidon standi

d into sections, and in time of war each section supplied its quota of fighting men and chariots. the ten governments differed from each other in details concerning military requirements. each of the kings of atlantis had complete control over his own kingdom, but their mutual relationships were governed by a code engraved by the first ten kings on a column' of orichalch standing in the temple of poseidon. at alternate intervals of five and six years a pilgrimage was made to this temple that equal honor might be conferred upon both the odd and the even numbers. here, with appropriate sacrifice, each king renewed his click to enlarge the scheme of the universe according to the greeks and romans. from cartari's imagini degli dei degli antichi. by ascending successively through the fiery sphe

plato, asserted that the egyptian priests declared the story of atlantis to be written upon pillars which were still preserved circa 300 b.c (see beginnings or glimpses of vanished civilizations) ignatius donnelly, who gave the subject of atlantis profound study, believed that horses were first domesticated by the atlanteans, for which reason they have always been considered peculiarly sacred to poseidon (see atlantis) from a careful consideration of plato's description of atlantis it is evident that the story should not be regarded as wholly historical but rather as both allegorical and historical. origen, porphyry, proclus, iamblichus, and syrianus realized that the story concealed a profound philosophical mystery, but they disagreed as to the actual interpretation. plato's atlantis sym

symbolizes the threefold nature of both the universe and the human body. the ten kings of atlantis are the tetractys, or numbers, which are born as five pairs of opposites (consult theon of smyrna for the pythagorean doctrine of opposites) the numbers 1 to 10 rule every creature, and the numbers, in turn, are under the control of the monad, or 1- the eldest among them. with the trident scepter of poseidon these kings held sway over the inhabitants of the seven small and three great islands comprising atlantis. philosophically, the ten islands symbolize the triune powers of the superior deity and the seven regents who bow before his eternal throne. if atlantis be considered as the archetypal sphere, then its immersion signifies the descent of rational, organized consciousness into the illus

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

nds:and ninety days and nights the heavenly angels were contending in the world with the con-federate demons of the evil spirit and there are the commentaries of more modern sources also, from those illustriousones who have contributed to our present civilization. here are just a few examples.from ovids metamorphosis: giants attacked the very throne of heavenjove struck them down. three times had poseidon (neptune, ventured with stern countenance to thrust his arms outof the water; three times he was unable to endure the scorching heat of the air. from platos timaeus: in one day and one fatal night, there came mighty earthquakes and inundations thatengulfed that warlike peoples. the people, terrified, could hardly breathemouths were drenched in blood, heads wal-lowed in bloodthe face was m

aware of theparticular significance of july 4 as a cosmic event. the day was the second in the so-calleddog dayswhich begin on july 3. the dog days are so-called because they refer to the risingof the star sirius.this emphasis on the star sirius is singular since a name of the monarch of atlantis, posei-don, comes from the syllable po, meaning sirius and don meaning lord. even more sugges-tively, poseidon was the god of earthquakes and was said to be the creator of men. sirius also played a part in the moon landing of apollo 11. it appears that the eagle landedwhen the light from this star was the brightest. the landing also took place in july, when sir-ius is rising and visible from earth. ovason reveals that before the cameras filmed the atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulati

y set or seb. osiris is thesame as the peruvian god viracocha.giza and glastonburythere were altogether 80 pyramids in egypt. if the pyramid at giza is moved to the tropic of cancer,and then a line drawn to the northwest of 52 degrees, the apex will fall on the somerset zodiac, whichbecomes as it were, the capstone of the giza pyramid.horse powera term that goes all the way back to the worship of poseidon, the virile, aggressive, male earth shakerwhose symbol was the horse. a forgotten city called posideium, also known as mina, lies in to the northof lebanon in the turkish hatay. poseidons symbol was also the trident. this later became the thunder-bolt of zeus.moses and the burning bushjehovah announces himself as the god of thy father. it was not until the time of the prophet amos thatjeh

inventors of astronomy and erected certain pillars to warn the world of future events. hesays that in the process of time they became perverted, begat sons who made god their enemy, weredespisers of all that was good and were destroyed (p. 26)odysseus meets the fomoriansthe laestrygones were also a giant people, kinsmen of the cyclops, we are told, addicted to cannibal-ismand were worshippers of poseidon like the cyclops and cretans. can there be any serious doubtthat homer, whose geography may be said without hesitation to have been related to the regions of theatlantic ocean and in no sense whatever to the mediterranean, was describing the norsemen, dwellingin the northern parts of norway to which odysseus ship was blown, to the land of the midnight sun?sir william ridgeway, perhaps the

omparatively little in regard to the prehistoric science in weapons, including firearms,although it is manifest that they played the most vital part in ancient power politics, as we term it inmodern days, and the possession of the knowledge of metallurgy must have been one of the most urgentyet secret objects on the part of those who desire to rule the ancient world (p. 158)the fisher kingthis is poseidon, the god of atlantis.egypt under amenophisamenophis was an intensely dramatic era which culminated in a prolonged war, the invasion of hiscountry by vast and well-armed hordes, accompanied by meteorological events of a phenomenal char-acter, and finally ended in the great catastrophe which destroyed him and most of his nation (p. 160)amenophis on moseslet us deal wisely with them lest the

; and in a single day andnight of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of atlantis inlike manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. plato tells a more metaphysical version of theappendix c: suggested areas of research274atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation atlantis story in critias, where he describes the lost continent as the kingdom of poseidon, the godof the sea. this atlantis was a noble, sophisticated society that reigned in peace for centuries, untilits people became complacent and greedy. angered by their fall from grace, zeus chose to punishthem by destroying atlantis. although plato was the first to use the term atlantis, there are ante-cedents to the legend. in an egyptian legend which solon probably heard while travelin

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

tists will also freely refer to satan as ahriman (angra mainyu. ahriman is an ancient persian god who, according to legend, is wholly wicked and at war with his righteous brother ahura mazda. this ahriman resides in a gloomy underworld, and leads many demons. and then you have hades, from greek mythology. hades is the ruler of the underworld, and the brother of zeus. after a conflict where hades, poseidon, and zeus team up to defeat the titans (the older gods, these younger gods divided creation into three; zeus would rule heaven, poseidon would rule the sea, and hades would rule the underworld, which was the land of the dead. although the greek traditions do not mention a conflict between the two brothers zeus and hades, satanists do. i suspect that this is just another god and his evil b

d giants and demons. in babylonian legend, tiamat was called the monster of chaos, and waged war against the gods. finally marduk defeated tiamat, split her in two, and used her flesh to create the world. this battle between the angels and the older gods goes unmentioned in the biblical genesis account, but remains in the greek tradition. according to greek mythology zeus, along with his brothers poseidon and hades, defeated the older gods, called the titans, and banished them to tartarus (the greek underworld. these titans, who were the offspring of gaia (tiamat, once ruled the earth; their brutish nature corrupting and spoiling the planet. this race even attempted to make slaves and sport out of the angelic race, but jehovah and satan cast down the titans. it is also worth mentioning tha

with zeus and the other olympians in the war against the titans. in the night before a major battle between the olympians and the titans, hades put on his helmet of darkness that made him invisible, after which he crept into the enemy camp, and destroyed the titan s weapons. hades has a wife named persephone who dwells with him in the underworld. with the titans defeated, the three brothers zeus, poseidon, and hades divided creation between each other. zeus ruled the heavens, poseidon the seas, and hades would rule the underworld. and there hades rules today, upon a black throne. even the worst magicians will recommend against invoking or evoking hades, and even--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 80 the skillful emphasize extreme caution; hades is simply too chaotic and too powerful. his

MORALS AND DOGMA

aced the three great doctrines of ancient theosophy. they treated of god, man, and nature. dionusos, whose mysteries orpheus is said to have founded, was the god of nature, or of the moisture which is the life of nature, who prepares in darkness the return of life and vegetation, or who is himself the light and change evolving their varieties. he was theologically one with hermes, prometheus, and poseidon. in the egean islands he is butes, dardanus, himeros, or imbros. in crete he appears as iasius or zeus, whose worship remaining unveiled by the usual forms of mystery, betrayed to profane curiosity the symbols, which, if irreverently contemplated, were sure to be misunderstood. in asia he is the long-stoled bassareus coalescing with the sabazius of the phrygian corybantes: the same with t

tened to devour hesione and andromeda, and who for a time became the grave of hercules and jonah; and he corresponds with the obscure name of _rahab, whom jehovah is said in job to have transfixed and overcome. in the spring, the year or sun-god appears as mithras or europa mounted on the bull; but in the opposite half of the zodiac he rides the emblem of the waters, the winged horse of nestor or poseidon: and the serpent, rising heliacally at the autumnal equinox, besetting with poisonous influence the cold constellation sagittarius, is explained as the reptile in the path who "bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward" the same serpent, the oannes aphrenos or musaros of syncellus, was the midgard serpent which odin sunk beneath the sea, but which grew to such a size as to

same drama; and the mystic and heroic personifications, the god of nature and of art, seem, at some remote period, to have proceeded from a common source. their separation was one of form rather than of substance: and from the time when hercules obtained initiation from triptolemus, or pythagoras received orphic tenets, the two conceptions were tending to re-combine. it was said that dionusos or poseidon had preceded apollo in the oracular office; and dionusos continued to be esteemed in greek theology as healer and saviour, author of life and immortality. the dispersed pythagoreans "sons of apollo" immediately betook themselves to the orphic service of dionusos, and there are indications that there was always something dionysiac in the worship of apollo. dionusos is the sun, that liberat

urn, philo makes sanchoniathon say, had six sons, and by astarte seven daughters, the titanides. the persians adored ahura masda or ormuzd and the six amshaspands, the first three of whom were lords of the empires of light, fire, and splendor; the babylonians, bal and the gods; the chinese, shangti, and the six chief spirits; and the greeks, kronos, and the six great male gods, his progeny, zeus, poseidon, apollo, ares, hephaistos, and hermes; while the female deities were also seven: rhea, wife of kronos, here, athene, artemis, aphrodite, hestia, and demetei. in the orphic theogony, gaia produced the fourteen titans, seven male and seven female, kronos being the most potent of the males; and as the number _seven_ appears in these, nine by threes, or the triple triangle, is found in the th

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

ure, which therefore was chosen to symbolize the mother-goddess. he is the wandering knight of fairy tales who marries the kings daughter. this legend is derived from certain customs among exogamic tribes, for which see the golden bough. thus, once europa, semele and others claimed that zeus--air [inserted footnote* zeus obtained air for his kingdom in the partition with hades, who took fire, and poseidon, who took water. shu is the egyptian god of the firmament. there is a great difficulty here, etymologically. zeus is connected with iao, abrasax, and the dental sibilant gods of the great mysteries, with the south and hadit, adad, set, saturn, adonai, attis, adonis; he is even the "jesus, slain with the lance, whose blood is collected in a cup. yet he is also to be identified with the opp

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

the giants, completely defeated them, sending such as resisted his all-conquering arm down into the lowest depths of tartarus. second dynasty. cronus (saturn. cronus was the god of time in its sense of eternal duration. he married rhea, daughter of uranus and gaa, a very important divinity, to whom a special chapter will be devoted hereafter. their page 13 children were, three sons: aides (pluto, poseidon (neptune, zeus (jupiter, and three daughters: hestia (vesta, demeter (ceres, and hera (juno. cronus, having an uneasy conscience, was afraid that his children might one day rise up against his authority, and thus verify the prediction of his father [15]uranus. in order, therefore, to render the prophecy impossible of fulfilment, cronus swallowed each child as soon as it was born,[3] great

and his brother-titans took possession of mount othrys, and prepared for battle. the struggle was long and fierce, and at length zeus, finding that he was no nearer victory than before, bethought himself of the existence of the imprisoned giants, and knowing that they would be able to render him most powerful assistance, he hastened to liberate them. he also called to his aid the cyclops (sons of poseidon and amphitrite,[5] who had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads, and were called brontes (thunder, steropes (lightning, and pyracmon (fire-anvil. they promptly responded to his summons for help, and brought with them tremendous thunderbolts which the hecatoncheires, with their hundred hands, hurled down upon the enemy, at the same time raising mighty earthquakes, which swall

matron crowned with towers, seated in a chariot drawn by lions. division of the world. we will now return to zeus and his brothers, who, having gained a complete victory over their enemies, began to consider how the world, which they had [20]conquered, should be divided between them. at last it was settled by lot that zeus should reign supreme in heaven, whilst aides governed the lower world, and poseidon had full command over the sea, but the supremacy of zeus was recognized in all three kingdoms, in heaven, on earth (in which of course the sea was included, and under the earth. zeus held his court on the top of mount olympus, whose summit was beyond the clouds; the dominions of aides were the gloomy unknown regions below the earth; and poseidon reigned over the sea. it will be seen that

hat of zeus by the same great artist. this colossal statue was 39 feet high, and was composed of ivory and gold; its majestic beauty formed the chief attraction of the temple. it represented her standing erect, bearing her spear and shield; in her hand she held an image of nike, and at her feet there lay a serpent. the tree sacred to her was the olive, which she herself produced in a contest with poseidon. the olive-tree thus called into existence was preserved in the temple of erectheus, on the acropolis, and is said to have possessed such marvellous vitality, that when the persians burned it after sacking the town it immediately burst forth into new shoots. the principal festival held in honour of this divinity was the panathenaa. the owl, cock, and serpent were the animals sacred to her

5]into a laurel-bush. he sorrowfully crowned his head with its leaves, and declared, that in memory of his love, it should henceforth remain evergreen, and be held sacred to him. he next sought the love of marpessa, the daughter of evenus; but though her father approved his suit, the maiden preferred a youth named idas, who contrived to carry her off in a winged chariot which he had procured from poseidon. apollo pursued the fugitives, whom he quickly overtook, and forcibly seizing the bride, refused to resign her. zeus then interfered, and declared that marpessa herself must decide which of her lovers should claim her as his wife. after due reflection she accepted idas as her husband, judiciously concluding that although the attractions of the divine apollo were superior to those of her l

with depriving him of all power and dignity, and imposing on him a temporary servitude in the house of admetus, king of thessaly. apollo faithfully served his royal master for nine years in the humble capacity of a shepherd, and was treated by him with every kindness and consideration. during the period of his service the king sought the hand of alcestis, the beautiful daughter of pelias, son of poseidon; but her father declared that he would only resign her to the suitor who should succeed in yoking a lion and a wild boar to his chariot. by the aid of his divine herdsman, admetus accomplished this difficult task, and gained his bride. nor was this the only favour which the king received from the exiled god, for apollo obtained from [77]the fates the gift of immortality for his benefactor

e flower called after him the hyacinth. cyparissus had the misfortune to kill by accident one of apollo's favourite stags, which so preyed on his mind that he gradually pined away, and died of a broken heart. he was transformed by the god into a cypress-tree, which owes its name to this story. after these sad occurrences apollo quitted thessaly and repaired to phrygia, in asia minor, where he met poseidon, who, like himself, was in exile, and condemned [78]to a temporary servitude on earth. the two gods now entered the service of laomedon, king of troy, apollo undertaking to tend his flocks, and poseidon to build the walls of the city. but apollo also contributed his assistance in the erection of those wonderful walls, and, by the aid of his marvellous musical powers, the labours of his fe

, like himself, was in exile, and condemned [78]to a temporary servitude on earth. the two gods now entered the service of laomedon, king of troy, apollo undertaking to tend his flocks, and poseidon to build the walls of the city. but apollo also contributed his assistance in the erection of those wonderful walls, and, by the aid of his marvellous musical powers, the labours of his fellow-worker, poseidon, were rendered so light and easy that his otherwise arduous task advanced with astonishing celerity; for, as the master-hand of the god of music grasped the chords of his lyre,[30] the huge blocks of stone moved of their own accord, page 84 adjusting themselves with the utmost nicety into the places designed for them. but though apollo was so renowned in the art of music, there were two i

eities. he still, however, retained in rome his [101]greek attributes as god of fire, and unrivalled master of the art of working in metals, and was ranked among the twelve great gods of olympus, whose gilded statues were arranged consecutively along the forum. his roman name, vulcan, would seem to indicate a connection with the first great metal-working artificer of biblical history, tubal-cain. poseidon (neptune. poseidon was the son of kronos and rhea, and the brother of zeus. he was god of the sea, more particularly of the mediterranean, and, like the element over which he presided, was of a variable disposition, now violently agitated, and now calm and placid, for which reason he is sometimes represented by the poets as quiet and composed, and at others as disturbed and angry. page 11

of a variable disposition, now violently agitated, and now calm and placid, for which reason he is sometimes represented by the poets as quiet and composed, and at others as disturbed and angry. page 110 page 111 in the earliest ages of greek mythology, he merely symbolized the watery element; but in later times, as navigation and intercourse with other nations engendered greater traffic by sea, poseidon gained in importance, and came to be regarded as a distinct divinity, holding indisputable dominion over the sea, and over all sea-divinities, who acknowledged him as their sovereign ruler. he possessed the power of causing at will, mighty and destructive tempests, in which the billows rise mountains high, the wind becomes a hurricane, land and sea being enveloped in thick mists, whilst d

at will, mighty and destructive tempests, in which the billows rise mountains high, the wind becomes a hurricane, land and sea being enveloped in thick mists, whilst destruction assails the unfortunate mariners exposed to their fury. on the other hand, his alone was the power of stilling the angry [102]waves, of soothing the troubled waters, and granting safe voyages to mariners. for this reason, poseidon was always invoked and propitiated by a libation before a voyage was undertaken, and sacrifices and thanksgivings were gratefully offered to him after a safe and prosperous journey by sea. the symbol of his power was the fisherman's fork or trident,[37] by means of which he produced earthquakes, raised up islands from the bottom of the sea, and caused wells to spring forth out of the eart

eidon was always invoked and propitiated by a libation before a voyage was undertaken, and sacrifices and thanksgivings were gratefully offered to him after a safe and prosperous journey by sea. the symbol of his power was the fisherman's fork or trident,[37] by means of which he produced earthquakes, raised up islands from the bottom of the sea, and caused wells to spring forth out of the earth. poseidon was essentially the presiding deity over fishermen, and was on that account, more particularly worshipped and revered in countries bordering on the sea-coast, where fish naturally formed a staple commodity of trade. he was supposed to vent his displeasure by sending disastrous inundations, which completely destroyed whole countries, and were usually accompanied by terrible marine monsters

e was supposed to vent his displeasure by sending disastrous inundations, which completely destroyed whole countries, and were usually accompanied by terrible marine monsters, who swallowed up and devoured those whom the floods had spared. it is probable that these sea-monsters are the poetical figures which represent the demons of hunger and famine, necessarily accompanying a general inundation. poseidon is generally represented as resembling his brother zeus in features, height, and general aspect; but we miss in the countenance of the sea-god the kindness and benignity which so pleasingly distinguish his mighty brother. the eyes are bright and piercing, and the contour of the face somewhat sharper in its outline than that of zeus, thus corresponding, as it were, with his more angry and

here grew bright, pinky sea-weeds, mosses of all hues and shades, and tall grasses, which, growing upwards, formed emerald caves and grottoes such as the nereides love, whilst fish of various kinds playfully darted in and out, in the full enjoyment of their native element. nor was illumination wanting in this fairy-like region, which at night was lit up by the glow-worms of the deep. but although poseidon ruled with absolute power over the ocean and its inhabitants, he nevertheless bowed submissively to the will of the great ruler of olympus, and appeared at all times desirous of conciliating him. we [104]find him coming to his aid when emergency demanded, and frequently rendering him valuable assistance against his opponents. at the time when zeus was harassed by the attacks of the giants

. at the time when zeus was harassed by the attacks of the giants, he proved himself a most powerful ally, engaging in single combat with a hideous giant named polybotes, whom he followed over the sea, and at last succeeded in destroying, by hurling upon him the island of cos. these amicable relations between the brothers were, however, sometimes interrupted. thus, for instance, upon one occasion poseidon joined hera and athene in a secret conspiracy to seize upon the ruler of heaven, place him in fetters, and deprive him of the sovereign power. the conspiracy being discovered, hera, as the chief instigator of this sacrilegious attempt on the divine person of zeus, was severely chastised, and even beaten, by her enraged spouse, as a punishment for her rebellion and treachery, whilst poseid

the chief instigator of this sacrilegious attempt on the divine person of zeus, was severely chastised, and even beaten, by her enraged spouse, as a punishment for her rebellion and treachery, whilst poseidon was condemned, for the space of a whole year, to forego page 114 his dominion over the sea, and it was at this time that, in conjunction with apollo, he built for laomedon the walls of troy. poseidon married a sea-nymph named amphitrite, whom he wooed under the form of a dolphin. she afterwards became jealous of a beautiful maiden called scylla, who was beloved by poseidon, and in order to revenge herself she threw some herbs into a well where scylla was bathing, which had the effect of metamorphosing her into a monster of terrible aspect, having twelve feet, six heads with six long n

aving twelve feet, six heads with six long necks, and a voice which resembled the bark of a dog. this awful monster is said to have inhabited a cave at a very great height in the famous rock which still bears her name,[38] and was supposed to swoop down from her rocky eminence upon every ship that passed, and with each of her six heads to secure a victim. amphitrite is often represented assisting poseidon in attaching the sea-horses to his chariot [105] the cyclops, who have been already alluded to in the history of cronus, were the sons of poseidon and amphitrite. they were a wild race of gigantic growth, similar in their nature to the earth-born giants, and had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads. they led a lawless life, possessing neither social manners nor fear of the g

may be supposed, his addresses were not acceptable to the fair maiden, who rejected them in favour of a youth named acis, upon which polyphemus, with his usual barbarity, destroyed the life of his rival by throwing upon him a gigantic rock. the blood of the murdered acis, gushing out of the rock, formed a stream which still bears his name. triton, rhoda,[39] and benthesicyme were also children of poseidon and amphitrite. the sea-god was the father of two giant sons called otus and ephialtes.[40] when only nine years old they [106]were said to be twenty-seven cubits[41] in height and nine in breadth. these youthful giants were as rebellious as they were powerful, even presuming to threaten the gods themselves with hostilities. during the war of the gigantomachia, they endeavoured to scale h

n by piling mighty mountains one upon another. already had they succeeded in placing mount ossa on olympus and pelion on ossa, when this impious project was frustrated by apollo, who destroyed them with his arrows. it was supposed that had not their lives been thus cut off before reaching maturity, their sacrilegious designs would have been carried into effect. pelias and neleus were also sons of poseidon. their mother tyro was attached to the river-god enipeus, whose form poseidon assumed, and thus won her love. pelias became afterwards famous in the story of the argonauts, and neleus was the father of nestor, who was distinguished in the trojan war. the greeks believed that it was to poseidon they were indebted for the existence of the horse, which he is said to have produced in the foll

ro was attached to the river-god enipeus, whose form poseidon assumed, and thus won her love. pelias became afterwards famous in the story of the argonauts, and neleus was the father of nestor, who was distinguished in the trojan war. the greeks believed that it was to poseidon they were indebted for the existence of the horse, which he is said to have produced in the following manner: athene and poseidon both claiming the right to name cecropia (the ancient name of athens, a violent dispute arose, which was finally settled by an assembly of the olympian gods, who decided that whichever of the contending parties presented mankind with the most useful gift, should obtain the privilege of naming the city. upon this poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and the horse sprang forth in al

l gift, should obtain the privilege of naming the city. upon this poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and the horse sprang forth in all his untamed strength and graceful beauty. from the spot which athene touched page 116 with her wand, issued the olive-tree, whereupon the gods unanimously awarded to her the victory, declaring her gift to be the emblem of peace and plenty, whilst that of poseidon was thought to be the symbol of war and [107]bloodshed. athene accordingly called the city athens, after herself, and it has ever since retained this name. poseidon tamed the horse for the use of mankind, and was believed to have taught men the art of managing horses by the bridle. the isthmian games (so named because they were held on the isthmus of corinth, in which horse and chariot ra

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

rld, and helped and hindered mortals according to their whims. presided over by zeus (roman jupiter, ruler of heaven and earth, there were many gods and immortals of whom 12 are usually regarded as the most important: aphrodite (venus, apollo (apollo, ares (mars, artemis (diana, athena (minerva, demeter (ceres, dionysus (bacchus, hephaestus (vulcan, hera (juno, hermes (mercury, hestia (vesta, and poseidon (neptune. hades (pluto, zeus brother, ruled the underworld. these olympian gods succeeded earlier generations of gods. gaia (mother earth) was the first goddess, and bore the race of titans by her son uranus. the titans, led by cronos (saturn, seized power from uranus; and in turn were defeated by their own children, led by cronos son zeus. after the defeat of the titans, zeus and his bro

on (neptune. hades (pluto, zeus brother, ruled the underworld. these olympian gods succeeded earlier generations of gods. gaia (mother earth) was the first goddess, and bore the race of titans by her son uranus. the titans, led by cronos (saturn, seized power from uranus; and in turn were defeated by their own children, led by cronos son zeus. after the defeat of the titans, zeus and his brothers poseidon and hades drew lots for the governance of the sky, the sea, and the underworld. eros eros, the god of love, represented as a child or a youth, is usually said to be aphrodite s son. he is shown here as winged cherub, carrying his arrows of desire. aphrodite aphrodite (see pp. 26 27, the goddess of sexual love, was born from the foam after cronos cast his father s genitals into the sea. sh

e sea, and the underworld. eros eros, the god of love, represented as a child or a youth, is usually said to be aphrodite s son. he is shown here as winged cherub, carrying his arrows of desire. aphrodite aphrodite (see pp. 26 27, the goddess of sexual love, was born from the foam after cronos cast his father s genitals into the sea. she had power over everyone except hestia, athena, and artemis. poseidon poseidon was the god of the sea. he is shown here astride a fish, carrying his three-pronged trident. poseidon is particularly noted for his persecution of the hero odysseus (see pp. 64 65. persephone persephone was the daughter of demeter and zeus. she was seized by hades to be his bride in the underworld (see pp. 28 29. hestia hestia, zeus sister, was goddess of the hearth and a sworn v

f gaia and uranus (the earth and the sky. uranus hated his children and hid them in mother earth, causing her great pain. in revenge, she made cronos a sickle and encouraged him to kill his father. when he had done so, he then married his sister rhea, but fearful that his own children might rise against him, he swallowed them as soon as they were born: first hestia, then demeter, hera, hades, and poseidon. however, when her sixth child, zeus, was due, rhea gave birth to him at the dead of night, and entrusted him to the care of her mother gaia. she gave cronos a stone to swallow in the baby s stead. when zeus was grown, he asked to be made cronos cup-bearer. he mixed his father a powerful emetic, causing him to vomit up both the stone and the five older children. zeus then led his brothers

workshop and in a fury fashioned a net of metal so fine and light that it was almost invisible, yet so strong that it could not be broken. this he fastened to the bedposts and rafters in the bedroom. when aphrodite and ares next went to bed, the net was released and bound them so tightly that they were unable to escape. hephaestus then invited all the gods to come and laugh at the trapped lovers. poseidon (neptune, hermes (mercury, and helios came. hephaestus demanded that zeus (jupiter) should repay him all the gifts he had made in order to win aphrodite s hand, but in the end settled for a fine to be paid by ares. amid much laughter, poseidon offered to stand surety for the debt, and so the lovers were freed. golden goddess aphrodite is called golden by the poet hesiod. she is also calle

rsephone had given birth in fire to a divine child, the aeon; a beatific vision of the maiden herself; and the display of an ear of wheat, with its promise of new life. the mysteries were observed for 2,000 years; they came to an end when alaric, king of the goths, sacked eleusis in 396 ce. orpheus and eurydice 30 lord of the dead hades was made ruler of the dead when he and his brothers zeus and poseidon drew lots for the lordship of the sky, the sea, and the underworld. the earth was left as common territory, though hades rarely ventured there except when absolutely necessary as he did when he seized persephone to be his bride (see pp. 28 29. orpheus and eurydice orpheus was married to the nymph eurydice, whom he loved dearly. one day she was walking by the banks of a river when she met

terrifying, serpent-haired creatures who turned people to stone with a single glance. helped by athena (minerva) and hermes (mercury, perseus managed to cut off medusa s head and put it in a bag. flying home, aided by hermes winged sandals, he came upon andromeda, a beautiful ethiopian princess, chained to a rock and left as a living sacrifice for a sea monster to assuage the anger of the sea god poseidon (neptune. perseus fell in love, killed the monster, and married andromeda. on his return, polydectes, who presumed him dead, laughed scornfully when perseus told him he had brought medusa s head smiling grimly, perseus withdrew it from its bag and immediately polydectes was turned to stone. perseus perseus was one of the great greek heroes and, in his youth, accomplished daring deeds. of

invisible. bronze shield perseus carries a bronze shield, which was lent to him by athena. she warned him not to look at medusa directly, but to look at the reflection in the bronze shield, to avoid being turned into stone. athena later set medusa s head on the shield and carried it as part of her armor. vengeful nymphs the sea nymphs, or nereids, were offended by andromeda s mother and called on poseidon to avenge them. he sent a tidal wave and a terrible monster to maraud the coast of ethiopia. flesh-eating sea monster the sea monster ravaged the coast, devouring men, women, and children. an oracle had told the king that it could only be assuaged by the sacrifice of his daughter. perseus rescuing andromeda by charles-antoine coypel (1694 1752) this painting shows perseus about to rescue

lmet of invisibility, and a bag in which to put the gorgon s head. perseus and andromeda 47 chained maiden andromeda was chained to a rock on the phoenician coast as the final sacrifice to the monster. she was the daughter of cepheus, king of joppa, and his wife cassiopeia. boastful mother cassiopeia had boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, thus bringing down poseidon s vengeance upon the coast. divine father lightning in the sky shows the presence of zeus, who fathered perseus in a shower of gold. distraught father when king cepheus asked the oracle of horned ammon (that is, the egyptian god amun, here assimilated into classical myth) how to turn aside poseidon s anger, he was told that the only way was to sacrifice andromeda to the monster. so, to sa

ere assimilated into classical myth) how to turn aside poseidon s anger, he was told that the only way was to sacrifice andromeda to the monster. so, to save his people, he chained her to a rock for the monster to devour. monster adversary the sea monster, unaware that perseus could fly, attacked his shadow on the water, enabling perseus to swoop down and kill it using hermes sickle-shaped sword. poseidon was furious: not only had perseus rescued andromeda but he had killed medusa, one of poseidon s former lovers. when she died, his two unborn children rose up from her spilled blood the winged horse pegasus and the warrior chrysaor. although cepheus and cassiopeia pledged andromeda to perseus, she was already betrothed in marriage to her uncle phineas. nonetheless, her wedding to perseus w

nventor of boxing (see p. 60; navigating the clashing rocks, which moved and smashed anything in their way; and resisting the perilous charms of the sirens (see p. 64, when the bard orpheus drowned out their song with the beauty of his own music. theseus the hero 54 theseus the hero theseus was one of greece s most famous heroes. said to have had two fathers, king aegeus of athens and the sea god poseidon (roman neptune, he grew up unaware of who his father was. he showed heroic qualities even as a child when hercules (see pp. 50 51) visited and caused panic among the children by throwing his great lion skin over a stool, the seven-year-old theseus fetched an ax to confront the beast. when he was 16, theseus mother aethra told him that aegeus was his father. she led him to the altar of str

witch medea (see p. 53, had her suspicions and tried to poison him. she failed, aegeus recognized theseus as his son and heir, and medea and her son medus fled. the exploits of theseus this greek plate dates from c. 440 bce and depicts several of theseus exploits both along the road to athens and later in his career when he was recognized as aegeus son and heir to the athenian throne. the bull of poseidon the capture of the fierce white bull of poseidon was the first feat theseus achieved after coming to athens; some say he was sent by medea, who hoped he would be killed. since being brought over from crete by hercules (see p. 51, the bull had become wild again, and had killed many people. theseus seized it by the horns and dragged it through athens to the acropolis, where he sacrificed it

s nickname, the pine-bender. he would ask passers-by to help him hold the trees down, then let go, catapulting the unwary stranger into the air; or he would tie his quarry to two bent trees, and then release them, ripping his hapless victim in two. theseus served sinis in the same manner, and then took his daughter, perigune, as his lover. she bore him a son, melanippus. theseus iron club bull of poseidon theseus the hero 55 minotaur soon after theseus reached athens, the city had to send young men and women to crete to be fed to the minotaur, a monster half-man, half-bull. theseus volunteered, faced the monster, and killed him (see pp. 54 55. the bed of procrustes triumphant from defeating king cercyon, theseus came upon the giant procrustes (sinis father) who lived near the road to athen

ding fully armed and in the ensuing battle was killed. phaedra bore theseus two children but then she fell madly in love with her stepson hippolytus who, being a devotee of the virgin goddess artemis (diana, refused her. phaedra, afraid lest her secret would be revealed, broke down the door of her chamber, ripped her clothes, and accused him of rape. theseus, horrified, believed her and prayed to poseidon to avenge her. in response, poseidon sent a bull up from the waves to frighten hippolytus horses as he drove his chariot on the seashore. as planned, the horses panicked, hippolytus fell, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged to his death. artemis then revealed the truth to theseus and phaedra hanged herself in shame. shortly afterward, artemis persuaded asclepius (see p. 39) to

then revealed the truth to theseus and phaedra hanged herself in shame. shortly afterward, artemis persuaded asclepius (see p. 39) to bring hippolytus back to life; the romans said that in gratitude he instituted the cult of diana (artemis) at nemi. cercyon the minotaur 56 the minotaur the minotaur was the son of pasipha, the wife of king minos of crete, and a white bull belonging to the sea god poseidon (roman neptune. minos had deeply offended poseidon who, in revenge, caused pasipha to fall in love with the animal. the resulting offspring was the minotaur, a violent creature, halfman and half-bull, who ate human flesh. to hide his shame and protect his people, king minos asked the inventor daedalus to construct a labyrinth from which the monster would never be able to find its way out

ble fate. with the help of ariadne, the king s daughter who had fallen in love with him, he succeeded. he then set sail for athens with ariadne but left her on the island of naxos, where she married the god dionysus (see pp. 58 59. king minos was the son of europa by zeus (see p. 45; europa later married king asterius, who adopted minos as his heir. when he became king, minos prepared an altar to poseidon and prayed for a bull to emerge from the sea to be sacrificed. a beautiful white bull promptly appeared, but it was so handsome that minos took it for himself, and sacrificed a lesser animal in its stead. poseidon was furious and to avenge this slight made minos s wife, pasipha, fall in love with the white bull. tribute ship the black ship of mourning comes into harbor with the tribute of

ies pride and ostentation, and the eyes in its tail are those of the 100-eyed guard dog argus, killed by hermes in the furtherance of zeus love affair with the mortal princess io. persecutor of troy hera s fury when paris chose aphrodite knew no bounds, and she devoted all her energy to supporting the greeks in the war with troy. she even lay with zeus under the cover of a cloud in order to allow poseidon to assist the greeks unobserved. mount ida paris lived on mount ida tending his adoptive father s flocks. at this point he is married to oenone, daughter of the river god cebren, with whom he has a son corythus. but he abandoned her for helen without a second glance. herald s staff hermes staff is called a caduceus the two snakes attached themselves when hermes found them fighting and lai

his great-grandson brutus gathered and settled with the remains of the trojan race in britain, then inhabited by just a few giants. there he founded the city of new troy later known as london. odysseus returns home 64 odysseus returns home odysseus (roman ulysses, hero and king of ithaca, sacked several cities in thrace before sailing home after the trojan war. owing to the enmity of the sea god poseidon (neptune, his journey took ten years. his adventures included first landing on the island of the lotus eaters, where some of the crew were trapped in a trance, and then on the island of the cyclopes (see box, where several of the crew were devoured. it was odysseus blinding of the cyclops polyphemus poseidon s son that angered the sea god who subsequently blew odysseus off course, wrecked

o subsequently blew odysseus off course, wrecked his ships, and ultimately killed his entire crew. in his travels, odysseus indulged in two romantic interludes on the way the first with circe, an enchantress who had turned his crew into pigs, and the second with the sea nymph calypso, with whom he stayed for seven years before his longing for his home and wife moved the gods to pity. unbeknown to poseidon, athena (minerva) and the other gods helped odysseus build a raft and sail for home; but when poseidon discovered this he was enraged and wrecked the ship. odysseus was washed ashore where he was discovered by nausicaa, daughter of alcinous, king of the phaeacians, who at the cost of himself provoking poseidon s anger helped odysseus home to ithaca. odysseus and the sirens by herbert jame

family tree, starting with the union of the sky and earth, uranus and gaia, shows the relationships between the greek gods and goddesses mentioned in this book. the fourth generation became the deities of mount olympus and were the first to have children with mortals, thus mixing the divine and human bloodlines. the olympians were led by zeus, who was essentially a sky god. his brothers hades and poseidon ruled the underworld and the sea the earth was held in common. zeus is also called father of gods and men, and his love affairs too many to list here resulted in the birth of numerous gods and heroes. europa (mortal) ariadne phaedra minotaur (half-bull, half-man) x bull of poseidon king minos m pasipha leto (titan) callisto (nymph) maia (nymph) alcmene (mortal) dana (mortal) leda (mortal)

x coronis (nymph) artemis diana hermes mercury m daughter of dryops heracles hercules m hebe perseus m andromeda ares x pan faunus arco asclepius dionysus bacchus aphrodite x anchises helen m menelaus (mortal) x paris clytemnestra m agamemnon castor polydeuces pollux fates athena minerva aeneas eros cupid the nine muses cadmus m harmonia (mortal (goddess) theseus m ariadne m phaedra demeter ceres poseidon neptune x aethra (mortal) hades pluto hestia vesta hera juno m persephone proserpine hebe m heracles hercules ares eileithya mars zeus jupiter aristaeus m autono actaeon gaia x uranus titans giants other sea nymphs cyclopes leto eos helios selene luna epimetheus m pandora mnemosyne coeus x phoebe themis crius thea x hyperion prometheau1 the order of phosphorus introduction booklet 2003 2

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

n about the eighth century bce. homer s famous epic poems the iliad and the odyssey give order to the chaos of all the separate myths that existed at the time. an epic poem is a long narrative poem that relays the story of heroic deeds. homer explained the family relationships between the various gods, gave each one a title and a specific power or responsibility, such as zeus, as the supreme god; poseidon, the god of sea; or ares, the god of war. he also gave them very human qualities. homer is held responsible for raising twelve gods over the others and giving them mount olympus as their living place. this phase of greek religion is called homeric, after the poet. while homer s gods could sometimes be cruel or selfish, they all demonstrated a basic moral code, or rules for good behavior

lo s twin sister, and young men and girls held her sacred because she was a virgin. hermes was the messenger of the gods. apollo was the sun god and the god of music and prophesy, or predictions on the future. he also represented law and order, appearing in court in aeschylus s plays. hephaestus was the god of fire and crafts requiring fire, such as metalworking. he was also the god of volcanoes. poseidon was the god of the sea, but he was also god of horses and earthquakes. hestia was the goddess of the home and hearth. in that role, she served as the protectress of order within the family. although she was worshipped in households throughout greece, the center of her cult was at delphi, where her sacred hearth was kept. demeter was the goddess of agriculture and, some critics say, may ha

iduals petitioning for divine favor, it was much more important that the city or citystate as a whole benefit from the goodwill of the gods. each city-state had its own protecting god or goddess. for example, athens had athena as its patron goddess. one of the most famous greek temples, the parthenon, was built to serve as athena s seat of power on earth. hera was the patron goddess of argos, and poseidon the patron god of corinth. the patron goddess of rome was roma dea, who was not one of the olympian twelve but was nonetheless a very important goddess for roman citizens. priests and priestesses took care of these temples and supervised the official sacrifices to the gods and goddesses. some priestesses also served as oracles, persons who acted as a medium or messenger between the gods a

l gods emerged from chaos and brought order to the universe. the earth goddess, gaia, and the sky god, uranus, had children, including rhea and chronos. uranus, however, was afraid of his children s power, and he kept them locked in a cave until finally chronos challenged him and reestablished order in the universe. rhea and chronos then repeated the pattern: they had zeus, hestia, hera, demeter, poseidon, and hades. chronos, like his father before him, was afraid of his children and swallowed them as they were born. his mother hid the infant zeus, who later killed his father, cut his brothers and sisters out of the corpse, and then became king of all the gods, creating order from the madness of chronos s actions. world religions: almanac 223 greco-roman religion and philosophy though the

e. the largest and best known of these was the games at olympia that celebrated the major god, zeus. these have evolved into the modern-day olympic games. there were other similar religious athletic contests. the pythian games were held at delphi and were dedicated to apollo. these included musical competitions in addition to athletic ones. the isthmian games were held at corinth and dedicated to poseidon. each of these festivals included sacrifices and prayers to the gods. initially, the number of religious holidays in rome were small, but later in the roman empire so many festivals were adopted that there were more holidays than workdays per year. among the more important of the roman religious festivals were the saturnalia, lupercalia, equiria, and secular games. the saturnalia was cele

raphical record for people who lived in ancient times. early life plato was born in athens to a wealthy family. his father, according to diogenes, was named ariston, and was descended from a line of early kings of athens. his mother, perictione, likewise came from a notable line, which included the sixth-century bce legislator solon. family tradition held that they were descended from the sea god poseidon. plato had two older platonic love in modern-day times, even those who know little or nothing about plato are likely to be familiar with the expression platonic love or platonic relationship. when two people, generally members of the opposite sex, say that they have a platonic relationship, they mean that they are friends and are not involved romantically. plato, however, never used the t

ngdom for many years. odysseus fought at troy for ten years before he began his long journey home. at the start of the odyssey, odysseus has spent seven years on the island of ogygia. there, odysseus, the only greek who has not yet returned home from the war, is being held by calypso, a nymph who has cast a spell over him because she wants odysseus as her husband. odysseus had angered the sea god poseidon (the brother of zeus, the king of the gods) by blinding polyphemus the cyclops, poseidon s son. poseidon was responsible for making odysseus s return home so difficult. at the same time odysseus s wife, penelope, is being courted at home in ithaca by a large number of suitors, who feast and drink in odysseus s home at his expense and who each hope to marry penelope and become king. penelo

reputation, revenge, and power the first book of the odyssey introduces a number of themes that run through the poem. one is the value of maintaining a good reputation, both with humans and with the gods. this theme illustrates that the people of homer s time thought of their relationship with the gods in very human terms. book i states that odysseus is held in high regard by all the gods except poseidon. 74 world religions: primary sources the odyssey a second theme is the role of revenge in achieving justice. in ancient times, when societies did not have police, a court system, or prisons, individuals found justice for perceived wrongs themselves, and the gods, who had human characteristics, often helped them to do so. telemachus, the son of penelope and odysseus, is hesitant to take ac

ristics of the gods and the roles they play in human affairs as they were conceived by the ancient greeks. greek religion was polytheistic, meaning that the people believed in more than one god. chief among the greek gods is zeus, son of cronus, the king of the titans. on reaching adulthood, zeus leads a revolt against the titans and takes away the throne from cronus with the help of his brothers poseidon and hades. from his position on mount olympus, zeus observes the affairs of humans. he sees everything, governs all human actions, rewards good conduct and punishes evil, dispenses justice, and protects cities and homes. nonetheless, zeus recognizes that humans play a part in determining their own fates. in greek myth, numerous lesser gods and goddesses have their own spheres of influence

sel, practical insight, and cautious selfcontrol. world religions: primary sources 75 the odyssey things to remember while reading the excerpt from the odyssey: as the daughter of the sky god zeus, athena is one of the twelve olympians, the gods and goddesses who live on mount olympus. the other olympians, besides zeus and athena, include aphrodite, the goddess of love; hermes, the messenger god; poseidon, the god of the sea; and others. athena presents herself to telemachus in disguise. she enters ithaca in the form of mentes, one of odysseus s old friends, and meets with telemachus. she tells the prince that odysseus will return but that in the meantime telemachus has to stand up to the suitors who are the greek gods, depicted at their home on mount olympus, had many of the same passions

ut odysseus only, craving for his wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph calypso held, that fair goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord. but when now the year had come in the courses of the seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home to ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among his own; but all the gods had pity on him save poseidon, who raged continually against godlike odysseus, till be came to his own country. howbeit poseidon had now departed for the distant ethiopians, the ethiopians that are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where hyperion sinks and some where he rises. there he looked to receive his hetacomb of bulls and rams, there he made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods wer

thee free offering of sacrifice in the wide trojan land? wherefore wast thou then so wroth with him, o zeus? and zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her, and said, my child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? yea, how should i forget divine odysseus, who in understanding is beyond mortals and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to the deathless gods, who keep the wide heaven? nay, but it is poseidon, the girdler of the earth, that hath been wroth continually with quenchless anger for the cyclops sake whom he blinded of his eye, even godlike polyphemus whose power is mightiest amongst all the cyclopes. then the goddess, grey-eyed athene, answered him, and said: o father, our father cronides, throned in the highest, if indeed this thing is now well pleasing to the blessed gods, that wi

night through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he meditated in his heart upon the journey that athene had showed him. what happened next. books ii through iv of the odyssey depict the situation in ithaca, where penelope and telemachus attempt to hold on to their authority in odysseus s absence. in book v, zeus orders calypso to release odysseus, who sets out on a raft that is destroyed by his enemy, poseidon. odysseus washes ashore on the land of the phaeacians, portrayed in books vi marvelled: were amazed. harangue: to make a ranting speech. fain: unwilling. befal: happen to. waxeth: becomes. thralls: possessions. prospect: view. betook: took. pondering: thinking. doublet: jacket. bedstead: framework of a bed. 82 world religions: primary sources the odyssey through viii. books ix through xii

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

tis, was located in the center of a series of concentric rings that alternated between rings of water and land. the water rings served as canals for trade and helped form a series of natural defenses that made an invasion of atlantis extremely difficult. the city of atlantis, in the innermost circle, had palaces and temples where wise and powerful rulers lived. the ruling coalition descended from poseidon, the greek god of the sea. poseidon and clieto had five sets of twin sons, according to greek mythology, each of which was given a region of atlantis. atlas, the firstborn son, was given the largest province, which became the city of atlantis, a name that derives from atlas. the finest structure on the island, the temple of poseidon, honored the god and served as the home of the primary r

provided security and abundance. many groves provided solitude and beauty, racetracks were used for athletic competitions, and irrigation systems ensured great harvests. in plato fs account, the people of atlantis eventually became corrupt and greedy, putting selfish pursuits above the greater good. they began invading other lands with the idea of world domination. angered by these developments, poseidon set about destroying the civilization, battering the continent with earthquakes and floods until atlantis was swallowed up by the ocean. that description of the destruction of atlantis has been linked by some to other cataclysmic events.stories of a great deluge in the bible, the epic of gilgamesh, and flood myths in other societies. some contend that the end of the ice age between 12,000

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

it is by no means exhaustive, and would obviously also be dependent on the symbology adopted by the ritual participant: kether: a circlet of gold, or ritual crown. the parsley crown of the nemean games, sacred to zeus. chockmah: the twin feathers, or crown of thoth. binah: the crimson cap of concealment. chesed: the cardinals hat, or emperors crown. the pine crown of the isthmian games, sacred to poseidon. geburah: the war helm, or martial crown. the judges wig. tiphareth: the solar crown, cowl, or the wimple. the crown of thorns. the roman crown of roses. netzach: the laurel wreath of victory. hod: the caduceus crown or the mortar board. yesod: crowns of disguise; wigs and masques. the lunar crown. malkuth: the skull cap. the crown of wild olives of the olympian games, sacred to zeus. the

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

his is what the ancients represented in the myth of prometheus, immortalized by the devouring vulture, and destined to dethrone jupiter .the mysteries of magic, p. 120. such is the power of love, undaunted, infuriated in the cause of freedom, justice, and truth. charicles plunges into the waves of destiny, gand with his strenuous hands the emerald water gripped. h onward he swims striving against poseidon, god of the ocean, who heaps the sea foam against him, as he makes for the paphian isle to seek aid from the goddess of love; and in his blinding anger he sees her not, though she is by his side journeying homeward from rome. she raises the swimmer to her pearly car and carries him to her fair home, where in the following beautiful symbolic action she promises to restore him his lost love

WALLIS BUDGE E A LEGENDS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

and are of a nature quite different from, that of their divine donors. for 'tis not the abundance of their gold and silver, nor the command of the thunder, but wisdom and knowledge which constitute the power and happiness of those heavenly beings. it is therefore well observed by homer (iliad, xiii. 354, and indeed with more propriety than be usually talks of the gods, when, speaking of zeus and poseidon, he tells us that both were descended from the same parents, and born in the same region, but that zeus was the elder and knew most; plainly intimating thereby that the empire of the former was more august and honourable than that of his brother, as by means of his age he was his superior, and more advanced in wisdom and science. nay 'tis my opinion, i own, that even the blessedness of th

of the hieroglyphical representations themselves, such as "eat not in a chariot "sit not on a measure (choenix "plant not a palm-tree" and "stir not the fire with a sword in the house" and i myself am of the opinion that, when the pythagoreans appropriated the names of several of the gods to particular numbers, as that of apollo to the unit, of artemis to the duad, of athene to the seven, and of poseidon to the first cube, in this they allude to something which the founder of their sect saw in the egyptian temples, or to some ceremonies performed in them, or to some symbols there exhibited. thus, their great king and lord osiris is represented by the hieroglyphics for an eye and a sceptre,[fn#286] the name itself signifying "many-eyed" as we are told by some[fn#287] who would derive it fr

Return to Occult Library Index



Related Matches
adonis air ancient andromeda angels aphrodite apollo artemis athene atlantis atlas bacchus brother brothers bull child children cronus crown dead deities demeter diana divine earth egyptian elements father fire fish five form gaia giant giants god gods goddess gold golden greek greeks hades heaven hercules hermes horse human jupiter king kings kingdom legend lord male mars mercury minerva monster mortal mortals mother mount mountains mysteries mythology nature neptune nymph ocean odysseus order pan people persephone perseus plato pluto poseidon power rhea roman sacred sacrifice saturn sea seas secret serpent set seven ship sky sons spirit stone sun symbol temple temples three titans tree truth underworld venus vulcan war water waters white world youth zeus


http://www.hollywoodinsiders.net
MWLibCreator Ver.2 By:Michael Wynn