Stoicism

... but the sun soon shines: Xerones

Stoicism

A Greek philosophical school founded by Zeno of Citium, c. 300 BCE.

The Stoics believed that mankind is superior to animals by virtue of our reason. The good life is lived in accord with nature and evil is understood as an unpleasant aspect of nature.

It was deemed appropriate to know about the existence of evil and therefore control one’s reaction to it.

For Stoics the Greek gods were seen as cosmic forces, a view resembling a modern approach to mythology.

Life after death was generally not believed in; however, the Stoics did subscribe to an eternal return, an idea mentioned in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche.

The philosopher Epictetus, the Roman statesman Seneca and Emporer Marcus Aurelius are usually regarded as Stoics.

» Heap of Sand Paradox, Hellenistic, Logos, Suicide

essential works of stoicism: CHRIS DRUMM

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Square Cross

puxador quadrado: Pedro Dias

Square Cross

The square cross is sometimes called the ‘primordial cross‘ because it’s found in diverse cultures and is rich in symbolism.

Generally speaking, it denotes a spatial orientation–a center with forces coming in and going out.

The square cross links ideas of the circle and the square. It’s been used as a symbol for the meeting of heaven and earth (China) and also for an alleged ‘umbilical chord’ of the cosmos.

The square cross has also been connected to the Biblical Eden (Paradise) on account of the four rivers flowing outward from it. Moreover, it symbolizes a meeting point between the living and the dead.

But this just touches on countless motifs associated with this cross.

In Christian usage, we find the square Greek Cross and a modified form in the Jerusalem Cross, an emblem of the early Christian Crusaders. The insignia of Godfrey de Bouillon, the first ruler of Jerusalem after defeating the Muslims in 1099, was the Jerusalem Cross which he wore without fail.

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Siva (or Shiva)

Shiva: true2source

Siva / Shiva (Skt: kind, friendly)

A major Hindu god who, according to the dominant theory, evolved out of the mythology of the conquering Aryans in the Indian sub-continent.

A bit of a latecomer, Siva nevertheless replaced the earlier Vedic storm god Rudra by becoming part the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Visnu and Siva.

In popular folk mythology, Brahma is said to have created the universe, Visnu preserves it and Siva, through his cosmic dance, destroys it.

But this is only a general outline, for Siva first created Brahma and Visnu. And instead of merely destroying, Siva also regulates the universe.

In an incident with the Pine Forest Sages, Siva breaks the sages’ excessive meditation by literally seducing their wives. Otherwise, the tapas (Skt: heat, or spiritual force) generated by the sages’ prolonged and intense concentration would have disrupted the cosmic balance.

While sexually enticing their wives, Siva quite intentionally angers the Sages, disrupts their meditation and diffuses their excessive spiritual power.

Siva is not only a trickster, however.

The Other Side of Siva: Taran Rampersad

With his third eye, depicted vertically on his forehead, he emits deathly rays of fire, not unlike the ‘phasers’ of Star Trek. Siva’s death ray incinerates demonic opponents residing in highly volatile spiritual realms.

But Siva’s third eye has a more passive aspect, symbolizing the locus of spiritual ’seeing’ and peace. Siva’s third eye is sometimes, perhaps inaccurately, equated with Jesus’ teaching, “Let thine eye be single” (Matthew 6:22, Luke 11:34).

Siva is often depicted in temple carvings ityaphallically (i.e. with erect phallus). His linga (Skt: phallus) symbolizes his control over his divine creative power, just as in Hinduism the female yoni (Skt: vagina) represents the cosmic source or life-giving aspects of the divinity.

Siva also rides the sacred bull, Nandi and has a blue throat due to his partial ingestion of a poison which otherwise would have destroyed the universe.

His wife is Parvati and he’s said to reside at Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas.

Siva Thandavam: Velachery Balu / Balasubramanian G Velu

In Hindu devotional cults and Western popular spiritualism, Siva is, perhaps uncritically, identified with supposedly ‘active male energy’ that must be united with the Shakti – ‘passive female’ energy – to effect a union of these complementary cosmic energies within an given individual or couple–i.e. balancing the Shiva-Shakti.

» Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs), Anima, Animus, AUM, Chakras, Death and Resurrection, Ganesha, Homeopathy, Kali, Karma Transfer, Linga, Nandi, Parvati, Ramanuja, Shakti, Tantra, Tapas, Underworld, Vishnu, Yin-Yang, Yoni

On the Web:

• Other excellent CCL pics of Siva / Shiva (so many we had a hard time choosing for the above!):  http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=shiva&l=cc&ss=2&ct=6&mt=all&w=all&adv=1

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true2source

Sita

Sita Sings the Blues originally uploaded by litherland

Sita (Skt: furrow).

Sita is depicted in the Hindu Veda as an agricultural deity.

In the puranic epic, the Ramayana, she is the daughter of King Janaka and Rama’s wife. Abducted by the demon Ravana to an island in the south (which some believe is Sri Lanka), Sita maintains her fidelity to Rama while he and his half brother, Lakshmana, embark on a journey to liberate her.

Once this is accomplished, Rama is crowned as King yet bends to popular opinion at home, which wrongly supposes that Sita slept with Ravana.

As a result, Rama doesn’t accept Sita since a ruler’s wife must be above suspicion.

As with most myths, there are at least two different endings to the epic. And both of these alternate endings asserting Sita’s fidelity.

In one variant Sita is banished to the forest for 15 years to raise her two children and is recalled once public opinion at home cools down.

Declaring her innocence, Sita invokes the Earth Mother as witness. The Earth Mother affirms Sita’s loyalty but swallows her whole, much to the distress of the doubting Rama.

In the other variant, Lakshmana kindles a fire (on the request of Rama) and Sita is ordered into the flames. The fire-god Agni arises from the flames and adorns Sita with a crown, proclaiming her innocence. Rama then enters the fire and he and Sita are suddenly transported to a heavenly realm where they’ll remain for 14 years, after which time they’ll return to rule the Earth.

According to a Jain version of the tale, Sita is the daughter of Ravana. Not unlike the twist of fate found in the story of Oedipus, Sita is abandoned at birth because it has been foretold that she’ll destroy her father’s kingdom.

In contemporary India, Sita is widely regarded as exemplifying the honorable wife and mother. Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty is set to play Sita in her next film, Hanuman.

» Abyss, Hero, Jainism, Mahabharata, Puranas, Rama, Ramayana

On the Web:

• Modern adaptation under CC license:
  

• Sita Sings the Blues (2008): Full feature can be downloaded in high res from archive.org.

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Serpent

Serpent to Rain by roctopus

Serpent

The serpent is a symbol found in most mythological and religious traditions around the world.

Similarities in meaning exist as do important differences.

In Jewish and Christian accounts of Eden, the serpent is the “most subtle” of all creatures that tempts Eve into disobeying God’s command to not eat of the tree of knowledge. Eve then seduces Adam into eating and mankind is expelled from the Garden of Eden and cursed to forever suffer and work.

The Biblical Leviathan was a great sea serpent, “the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1).

In India, the kundalini (Skt: coiled like a snake) represents serpent power that is awakened by carefully opening a series of chakras (body/psyche points of power).

India also has a naga cult with widespread devotees who worship a demi-god cobra with a human face.

The snake is also regarded as a healer in some Native American traditions.

Serpent devouring a man (Detail from Aztec calendar)

In Mexican mythological art, a giant serpent is often depicted as swallowing a human being, usually head-first.

Australian aboriginal myths also talk of the serpent “swallowing up people and animals” (Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia ed. Richard Cavendish, 2003, Time Warner Books, p. 211).

This might bear a symbolic relation to the Biblical notion that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). That is, the inferior aspects of the human personality must be purged, symbolically devoured or sent to hell so the superior may further develop.

The logo for contemporary western medicine is a snake coiled around a pole, a symbol derived from ancient Greece, as evident in engravings of Aesculapius, c. 100 BCE, where a serpent is coiled around his staff. This symbol is often mistakenly linked to the Greek Caduceus, displayed in myth as a two serpents wound around a staff, sometimes with wings.

The psychiatrist Carl Jung was interested in the Ouroboric serpent, a symbol derived from Gnosticism in which the snake forms a circle by biting its own tail. For Jung this is a mandala, symbolizing his understanding of self wholeness.

The above examples only scratch the surface of serpent symbolism, a topic too diverse to treat adequately here. Nevertheless, J. E. Cirlot suggests that one commonality present among numerous serpent symbols is the representation of psychic energy. And Philip Gardiner argues that snake symbolism as a whole is dualistic, containing elements of salvation and destruction.

» Apollo, Kundalini, Persephone, Shakti

• Articles and Reviews about “serpent” at earthpages.org » http://epages.wordpress.com/?s=serpent

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Saturn

Font de Saturn, Jardins de Versailles by Sebastià Giralt

Saturn

In Roman myth Saturnus was an agricultural god of blight and sowing. The Romans likened him to the Greek god Cronus.

His annual festival was Saturnalia, originally held on December 17^th. This popular festival was later held from December 17-23.

The early Christians transformed Saturnalia when setting the date of the birth of Christ–that is, Christmas.

Some scholars and theologians say this happened because local and surrounding inhabitants were accustomed to gathering and celebrating at this time, making it a logical and convenient time to celebrate Christmas. » Aquarius

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Tammuz

Gilgamesh by litmuse

Tammuz

According to the Gilgamesh epic, Tammuz is a dead Babylonian god of vegetation residing in the underworld and adored by his sister Ishtar and her counterpart in Syria, Astarte.

Tammuz returned from the underworld for a brief duration on a yearly basis. His yearly descent to the underworld was met with mourning and funeral ceremonies.

As with so many dying and rising gods in world mythology, anthropologists believe that the myth of Tammuz represents the agricultural cycle.

Gilgamesh is the Story by Benry Yip

But the myth also bears a psychological interpretation. Residing in the underworld could represent a quiet, contemplative life.

Yearly moments of ‘return’ could symbolize necessary periods of interaction with those adhering to a given culture’s understanding of everyday life.

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Vulcan

041/366: Vulcan

Originally uploaded by mosesxan

Vulcan

In earliest Roman mythology, Vulcan was the god of destructive fire, particularly that of a volcano.

His temple was usually at the outskirts of a city, attended to by a priest (flamen). And his festival, Volcanalia, was celebrated on August 23.

When the Volcanalia also paid homage to the Nymphs and other deities, live fish were thrown into a fire as a sacrificial offering to Vulcan.

In the Greece during the classical period Vulcan became Hephaestus the master blacksmith.

In his giant forge at Mount Olympus he fashioned the armor and shield of Achilles, as well as Cupid’s arrows and Jupiter’s thunderbolts.

He was depicted lame and his offspring were usually ugly.

In the American TV and film productions of Star Trek, Vulcan is the home planet and the alien race to which Mr. Spock belongs.

Originally a highly savage and barbaric race, Vulcans almost destroyed themselves in the ancient past. They overcame global disaster by repressing all emotion in favor of highly developed logic.

Star Trek Vulcans have supra-human strength and intellect but are less adept at creative, intuitive problem solving.

Vulcan Stranger

Originally uploaded by blakeemrys

In keeping with Carl Jung’s idea that mythic symbols represent and evoke the numinous, spiritual aspects of the unconscious mind, it seems likely that Star Trek creators chose the mythic name of Vulcan, hoping it would resonate with Western viewers and the archetypal images they’re familiar with.

In this larger sense, then, Mr. Spock and his people may be regarded as a continuation of the original Roman myth.

» Romulans, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Original Series, T’Pol

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Vishnu

Vishnu backlit

Originally uploaded by JotoLo02

Vishnu

In Hinduism Vishnu is the second deity of the Hindu Trimurti (i.e. triad) of Brahma, Visnu, and Siva.

He rides the great eagle Garuda with his consort, the goddess of prosperity and good fortune, Lakshmi, at his side.

Hindus believe that the universe passes through endless cycles of creation and destruction.

While Brahma is seen as the creator of the universe, Vishnu is the benevolent preserver and Siva is at times regarded as the cosmic destroyer.

Vishnu is said to have had nine incarnations (avatars) on Earth, including Krishna. The tenth avatar, Kalki, is yet to come and will ride on a white horse.

It is believed that Kalki will reestablish dharma in our present age of alleged moral decline, the Kali-yuga.

On the World Wide Web

• The incarnations of Visnu at http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/vishnu.htm

» AUM , Avatar, Underworld, Visistadvaita, Yuga

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Venus

Birth of Venus

Originally uploaded by Sandruz

Venus

In Roman mythology Venus is the parallel to the Greek Aphrodite, although Venus is more somewhat more subdued than Aprhodite.

Venus is a goddess of seduction and, in one group of rites and myth, she is associated with Roman wine fesitvals (Vinalia) and thus regarded as a mediator between Jupiter and the Roman people.

She is also the mother of Aeneas, who according to the poet Vergil is the founder of Rome.

And she was the lover of Mars, who with the mortal Rhea Silva begat the twin brothers Romulus and Remus.

Since Rome was named after Romulus, who after disposing of Remus became the first ruler of Rome, Venus plays a kind of dual role in the founding of Rome. As such, she was given a solemnity among the Romans that Aphrodite did not enjoy among the Greeks.

Venus’ first known temple was built shortly after 295 BCE. And despite New Age and Jungian attempts to treat her as some pristine archetype, and others to link her to the Indian Vedic term for desire, her historical roots remain obscure.

However, it’s clear that her character did develop, as most mythic entities do, along with sociopolitical changes in Rome. The influential aristocrat Sulla called her his “Protectress” and by the time of the Roman Empire, Venus was incorporated into the official pantheon.

In astronomy Venus is the second planet from the sun. Due to its brightness, Venus looks like a star and is accordingly called the “morning star” or “evening star.”

» Aliens, Aphrodite, Cupid, Earth, Ishtar, Libra, Taurus

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