13
Avalon and Glastonbury Tor. A death that wasn’t a death
Arthur was wounded, fighting Mordred, during the battle of Camlan. Mordred was either the son of Arthur and his half-sister, the enchantress Morgana Le Fey, being conceived by a bewitching, or he was his nephew.
The hatred Mordred bore Arthur, is attested to by the manner of his death. Arthur had driven his spear through Mordred, propelled by superhuman animus the younger man thrust his body further along its shaft, thereby able to deliver a blow with his sword, with such force; that it drove through Arthur’s helmet and into his brain.
In Le Morte D’Arthur, grievously wounded, Arthur is carried from the battle field by the knights Belvidere and Lucan, Lucan is badly injured himself. The effort Lucan’s expends in saving Arthur, opened further a wound in his belly, and he dies with part of his guts fallen out from his body.
Amid this horror, Arthur charges Belvidere, to return Excalibur to the lake from whence it came. But the knight, perhaps seeing the action, as a merciless full-stop at the end of the word ‘the end’, beyond which, with no Arthur, there is nothing; cannot throw the sword, that represents his king’s living might, into the lake. Desperate, Arthur charges him again, and this time the knight obeys his king. Then Arthur explains:
‘I will into the vale of Auylon to hele me of my grievous wounde,
And if thous here nevermore of me, pray for my soule!’31
‘I will into the vale of Avalon to heal me of my grievous wound,
And if you should never hear of me again, pray for my soul!’
Belvidere aids Arthur to board a barque, moored by the shore, on-board two women, one Morgana Le Fey, are waiting impatiently for the king. Impatiently, because of the delay caused, by the problem of the disposal of Excalibur. When the king is abroad, the ship sails into the mists of another world, leaving Belvidere behind – his king, his life as a knight of the Round Table, no more.
Avalon, derives from the Welsh Ynys Afallou meaning the ‘isle of apples’. It was also referred to as Ynys Wydryn ‘isle of glass’, the ‘glass’ referring to the water surrounding it. ‘The isle of apples which men call ‘The Fortunate Isle’, gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself, the fields there have no need of the ploughs of farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. . . And people live there a hundred years or more. . .’32
In this otherworldly paradise, Arthur is restored to health through the ministrations of nine sisters, the chief Morgana le Fey, the others named Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitona, Gilton, Tyronoe, Thiten and Thiton. William of Malmesbury c1095-c1143 the British historian and monk residing at Malmesbury Abbey said the name ‘Avalon’ was either derived from the many apples found there, or from Avalloc who lived there with his daughters.
Avalloc or Avallach, is a Celtic demi-god who ruled the Underworld, and he had a daughter called Modron, who is identified with Morgana Le Fey. The ‘Le Fey’ attached to her name, is from the French meaning ’the fairy’, and points to her supernatural origins. Avalon’s association with the Underworld, is also evident in it being portrayed in British and Celtic lore, as a meeting place of the dead. And of course, the apple, has already been revealed as a passport, for the journey of the souls of the dead to gain immortality. The daughters of Avollac, in this place of apples, where regeneration is offered to a fatally wounded king, also evokes the daughters of Atlas presiding over the apple tree of immortality of the Hesperides; and the journey of the souls of kings to Hyperborea, to live in an undying state.
These similarities between the mythology of Avalon and the mysteries of the First Religion, are not surprising in a land renowned, in its past, for the practice of that religion. This, I would contend, is the ancient source of its starry king and apple rich Avalon.
Avalon is strongly associated with Glastonbury Tor. A hill, 518ft in height, sitting majestically in the middle of the Somerset levels, with a terraced maze carved into its sides; it is another place of turnings.
Its name is thought to be derived from the Welsh Ynys Wydryn or Ynys Gutrin, both meaning ‘Isle of Glass’, again the ‘glass’ refers to water and it once having been surrounded by it. It was mainly shallow marshland – the water was drained in medieval times for farm land – with a channel created by the river Brue, used for the passage of boats. In those days, a defensive wall, Ponter’s Ball, was erected to the east of the Tor, with a bridge, known as Pomparles or Perilous Bridge, giving access to it. In one Arthurian account, it is from this bridge that Bedwyr (the Belvidere of Malory), upon the dying Arthur’s instruction, threw the sword Excalibur, returning it to the Lady of the Lake. The Lady of the Lake, is also thought to have her origins in Morgana Le Fey or Modron, so it can be seen how the mythology of both island places mirror each other.
Glastonbury Tor is said to be a doorway to the other world of the dead, which is supported by it once being surrounded by water (as the otherworldly Avalon), for a water source is usually connected to such Underworld entrances. It is also said to be the last resting place of Arthur. Of course, these elements, show how the mythology of the Tor and Avalon, have a common origin. They also reveal the Tor bears the hallmarks of a navel site and a World Pillar – through its starry king linked to the Underworld, and the Heavens, a role embodying a fount of immortality, mirrored in his regeneration in the land of apples. His embodying a fount of immortality, I feel sure is the origin of his death, being thought of, as a death that wasn’t a death.
There was a strong widely held belief amongst the Britons, that Arthur was not really dead. It caused strong emotions, John Withrington reports of an incident at Bodmin in 1113, when a local and a visiting French monk nearly came to blows over the issue. There was also a similar incident in a French monastery, between a visiting British monk and a resident French one – clearly the French knew how to get a British back up. In Hermann de Tournai’s 1146 ‘De Miraculis S. Mariae Loudness’, the belief is expressed of Arthur’s survival in the west of Britain.
This belief is present in John Lydgate’s ‘Fall of Princes’:
‘And repaire ageyn the Rounde Table;
Be prophecie Merlyn set the date,
Amonges princis kyng incomparable,
His seete ageyn in Carlioun translate. . .
His epitaphic recorded so certeyn;
Heer lith kyng Arthour, which shal regne ageyn.’33
And repair again the round table;
By Merlin’s prophecy set the date,
Amongst princes the king incomparable,
His seat again in Caerleon shall take. . .
His epitaph is a certain record;
Here lies Arthur, who shall reign again.
Thomas Malory in his Le Morte D’Arthur is a bit cagier about the issue, but at heart he appears to be convinced of the belief: ‘Yet some may say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead. . . I will not say it shall be so, but rather will say: here in this world he changed his life. But many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic Jacet Arthurus, Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus (Here lies Arthur, the Once and Furture King)’ 34
The belief that a great king or powerful figure, would return after death, is not restricted to Arthur. It was said of Emico Count of Leiningen the saviour of Christendom, King Harold II of England would return to rid his country of the Normans, a heartfelt belief considering the horrors visited on that island realm by William of Normandy; including deliberately inflicted starvation in which thousands died. William’s own end was equally horrible, he died neglected, and with no money to bury him it was down to a poor knight to foot the bill. But because of the time passed, the corpse had become so bloated, it was with great difficulty that it was forced into the coffin. The Emperor Charlemange is only sleeping in the depths of the Untersberg Mountain, ready to return. Frederick Barbarossa is fast asleep below the Kyffhauser hills in central Germany. Constantine XI Palaiologos the last ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire, is said to have turned to marble and is waiting underground, before his return as an immortal. King David of Israel is sleeping in a cave with his warriors, waiting to return to redeem his land.
Most of these figures embody the wish fulfilment of a conquered and suffering people, David like Harold, will return to rid his land of a foreign invader; the supernatural stepping in when the earthly fails. But Arthur is different, as Malory wrote he ‘changed’ his life while in this world. He can only be referring to his being a mortal man grievously, fatally wounded who changed that state, by sailing to the realm of Avalon to be healed. Thomas Malory, I believe, was implying that such a king, commanding the earthly and the otherworld, would have the ability to return.
In this tale of his return is the mythology of Arthur the World Pillar, a bridge between three realms, embodying a fount of immortality, he is an undying king – rex quondam, rex futurus.
It’s now time for the narrative to leave Britain. Ireland – another green isle – beckons and the Tuatha de Danaan who invaded its shores. But before heading in that direction, it needs to go to Egypt, for its there Danaus the ancestor of the Tuatha de Danaan was born – he was a far wanderer – an Irish tradition.
14
Danaus, Tuatha de Danaan and Ireland
In this eastern land lived Libya, daughter of Epaphus king of Egypt. Epaphus was one of a twin – the other was Memphis – born to Io by the god Zeus (busy again). Io’s second husband was Osiris, and Albion, according to Holinshed, is his nephew. Libya was the personification of the country of Libya in North Africa, and she was raped by the Titan Poseidon bearing him twin sons Belus (who in some cases is identified with the Babylonian god Bel or Baal Marduk) and Agenor. Belus, who became king of the Egyptian Thebiad region, in turn was the father of twins – Danaus and Aegyptus.
ZEUS – IO – OSIRIS —————
I I
————————— ALBION
I I
EPAPHUS – MEMPHIS
I
LIBYA – POSEIDON
I
————————–
I
BELUS AGENOR
I
———————
I I
DANAUS AEGYPTUS
Later Danaus quarreled with his brother, who wanted his fifty sons to marry the fifty daughters of Danaus. Robert Graves considers his fifty daughters, to be related to the number of priestesses, normally serving a Mother Goddess cult. He also thinks Danaus was at that time living near Lake Tritonis in Libya (now a salt marsh), when he decided to flee from his brother, and with the help of the goddess Athena; made the first boat and escaped. This honour, as I have written, is also accorded the Cabiri – they both have Titanic and antediluvian origins, which carries with it the mystique of the ship building skills of the ark that survived the flood.
But it does sounds strange, a Greek goddess helping this Egyptian. The explanation is found in the writings of the Greek geographer Pausannias c. 110 – c. 180, who records, upon entering her temple in Athens, he was confronted by a statue of the goddess with blue eyes. He enquired about the eye colour. He was told the blue eyes relate to a legend told by the Libyans, that she was a daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, her eyes the same colour as her father – perhaps both like the blue of the bluest sea. So, Athena belonged there, it was her land.
Danaus and his daughters sailed to the island of Rhodes, in the south-eastern Aegean, off the coast of present-day Turkey. It was on this island that a hundred and eight-foot-high statue of one of his Titan relatives, the sun god Helios, was erected. The statue’s body was made of iron bars over which plates of highly refined copper, looking like gold, was attached. It was called one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In its mythology the island was the sacred property of Helios, and when he married Rode, daughter of Poseidon, he named it after her.
Danaus moored his ship, and then his daughters – some sacrificing their lives in the process – raised a temple to Athena; and their father dedicated an image of the goddess in it. Was it another palladium? It’s time to look closely at this goddess, who in her embodiment as the palladium, has such a devastating effect on those who get close to her.
The story goes, when her mother Metis was pregnant with her, her father Zeus taking the fetus from her mother’s womb, put it in his own head. This unnatural action was occasioned by a prophecy that predicted a wondrous son, who would become king of gods and men, would be born to her. So, Zeus fearing this boy would usurp his role (keeping up a family tradition, his own father had swallowed him because of similar fears), decided not to swallow him, hoping instead by nurturing his growing life form in this way, it would create an intimate bond and the child would grow up under his will. In another myth, he is afraid the child will invent a weapon, more powerful than his thunderbolt.
But the predicted wondrous son, turned out to be a she. When Hephaestus, the Olympian god of fire, cleft Zeus’ skull in two, with a great axe (in some accounts its Prometheus the Titan who brought fire to earth); she sprang into radiant being from out of his cloven head, clad in bright armor and uttering a clarion cry of war, showering the island of Rhodes with gold. This radiant event, amazed Helios the sun god, who paused in driving the chariot of the sun; and he did not urge on his steeds again, until she had covered her blazing armour.
This Athena is all about radiant energy and fire, vying in its brilliance with the sun; a personification of the element fire, aided in her birth by the god of fire and metalwork. Born on an island belonging to the god of the sun, and a race that were called the sons of that god of fire.
The other Athena, the goddess of wisdom and intellect, has been tacked onto this basic fiery core of her being. I think, the Athena Danaus was worshipping on Rhodes, with all its fiery associations, was the goddess of the palladium.
When his people came ashore on Ireland. they brought with them four magical artifacts, two of which were a sword and spear of light. No one was said to be able to escape or resist the mightily blows of the sword of light, or the spear of light when used in battle. Such weapons, produced by a race that were clearly under her protection, makes one think that as well as helping with a bit of boat building, she also helped them design something, perhaps more powerful than her father’s thunderbolt (fulfilling one prediction) – based on the technology that produced the palladium
But to return to Danaus on Rhodes, he eventually sailed from there, and headed for Greece. He ended up in Argos in the Peloponnese – back to the land that houses the secret jewel of Arcadia. Argos a major stronghold in the region, built on a hill offering a strategic overview of the surrounding fertile plain of Argolis down below, was one of the oldest settlements in the region.
Danaus’ great-great grandmother Io, once resided in Argos, in unhappy circumstances. Hera, the wife of Zeus, accused him of being unfaithful with Io, he lied saying he never touch her (a first). He then turned Io into a horned white cow, and Hera put her under the guard of the hundred-eyed Argus Panoptes at Argos, who tethered her to an olive tree, around which the poor beast trod. The horned cow Io represents the moon, the horns symbolizing its waxing and waning phases . The hundred-eyed Argus represents the all-seeing eye, the sun. An olive tree was symbolic of the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden, a fount of immortality, a World Tree. It was therefore representative of the centre, the middle of the earth and the earth itself, around which Io the moon orbits. Argos is then a sacred navel site, that were often situated on hills, which would have given the city added religious significance, it might be the reason why Danaus chose it (later in the narrative another cosmic king will take such a city).
Argos, secure on its hill, was not the easiest place to approach, for a native Pelasgian, let alone an Egyptian Danaus. Well he did, and told the inhabitants and their king, that he was divinely appointed to rule there; and that the present king should abdicate his throne. He does make a point of saying Athena is supporting him. Does this mean he gave them a view of the light sword and spear, with which they were armed?
The king of Argos laughed in his face, but the inhabitants wanted to think the matter over, this shows how formidable an opponent he appeared to be. In the end they decided to overrule their king, and gave Danaus the city, because of an event that happened in the night. A wolf, boldly coming down from the hills, attacked a herd of cattle outside the city walls, and killed the leading bull. A peculiarly daunting feat for a wolf, although Danaus said it was the sun god Apollo, in the disguise of a wolf, who came to his aid. This they said was a sign that Danaus would take the throne by violence if opposed, and persuaded King Gelanor to resign.
Danaus built a great citadel on the hill, and he and his descendants became a powerful presence in the region. His daughters practiced the mysteries of Demeter, brought with them from Egypt and called Thesmophoria, and taught the rites to the native women. These rituals, according to Robert Graves, originally involved the severed genitals of a sacred king, carried in a basket, that later was replaced by phallic shaped loaves and live serpents. Rituals attached to phalli and Demeter were, as the narrative has uncovered, a feature of Cabiri rites, so this was the Egyptian version of the mysteries of the First Religion, the semi-divine race brought to Argos.
The ancient Greek tragedian Euripides 480-406 BC wrote concerning the Pelasgian inhabitants of Argos, that their king Danaus, had passed a decree, that they should no longer be called Pelasgians but Danai. So, from then on, the inhabitants of the region, referred to themselves as Danaan. It is from this name, that stems the Irish name for their descendants, who eventually invaded that far green isle: Tuatha de Danaan, thought to mean ‘people of the goddess Danu’ or ‘people of the god whose mother is Danu’, or ‘the divine tribe’ or ‘men of the god’. This Danu, the mother of the Tuatha de Danaan, also bearing the title Ana, is identified as Io.
Eventually the descendants of Danaus in Argos, who had peacefully invaded the land, were forced by new invaders to flee from the Peloponnese. Such is the way of the world. According ‘to an archaeologically plausible Irish tradition in the Book of Invasions, the Tuatha de Danaan had been driven northward from Greece because of an invasion from Syria and eventually reached Ireland by way of Denmark, to which they gave their own name (‘The Kingdom of the Danaans’)’35
This Egypto-Greek horde – Irish folk lore says they spoke Greek or was it all Greek to them – must have been something to look at, the tales of their arrival are full of magic and mystery. They came to the island in dark clouds, that covered a mountain to the west, and blocked out the sun for three days. Or black clouds were made by their burning their boats, to deter any retreat. They were said to have come ashore, carrying a great silken banner, emblazoned with a snake entwining a great staff. They eventually overcame the local inhabitants, the Firbolg, aided by the semi-divine Formorions, the remnants of a race of giants called Elohim, and said to be descended from Noah’s son Ham.
They stayed, the charred skeletons of their boats, emphasizing that this was now home. But the far wanderers were not done with wandering, because later their descendants were driven from the land to Scotland, except for those who retreated into the hollow hills – but I will come to that matter later.
The ancient Irish chronicles, the ‘Book of the Dun Cow’ and the ‘Book of Leister’, say it was thought the Danaan came from heaven, because of their great intelligence and the superior nature of their knowledge – true Titans. They were described as gods, but not gods, which is apt for a semi-divine race. They were said to be well versed in science, magic, letters and masonry. Later Christian writings considering their vast knowledge and superior attributes, thought they were fallen angels, banished from heaven for some great misdeed; and they also called them demons.
Their masonry reveals its origins in the Aegean, the doorways constructed of great stones with inclined jambs and bee-hive roofs. A bee-hive roof is constructed of a spiral of stone, overlapping in a circular course, the projecting edges are then cut away to provide a smooth surface. Throughout the ruins of their once mighty works is the evidence of cyclopean masonry, different shaped massive blocks of stones, built in irregular courses, and yet perfectly joined together without mortar – like odd shapes of an enormous jig-saw puzzle. They abound in doorways and in the substantial number of ancient towers.
This superhuman race brought items of power with them, I have already spoken of two, the sword and spear of light, the third was a magical cauldron of plenty, which never ran out of food; it could also heal any wound, and even restore life to the dead. A cauldron is a feminine object, symbolic of a womb, and therefore life giving; so, it explains why it should be called a source of life sustaining plenty, and physical regeneration.
The fourth object was a phallic stone Lia Fàil, called the ‘stone of destiny’, it was erected on the hill of Tara in County Meath, near the banks of the river Boyne; on the plain known in Irish tales as Brug na Boinne. It is the traditional burial place of Tuatha de Danaan kings, interred in three man-made prehistoric tumuli or burial mounds – the hollow hills of Irish faerie tales – at Dowth, New Grange and Knowth.
The Lia Fàil is a royal stone, a king was proclaimed on it, and it was said to roar under him; to indicate he was the right choice for monarch. The hill itself was said to be an entrance to the Underworld and was revered as a dwelling place of the gods.
The phallic stone on the hill of Tara, that later ages viewed as phallic solely in terms of fertility, the stone of kings, erected on a hill with the entrance to the Underworld (near a water source) beneath; and connected to the heavens and the realm of the gods – bears the symbolism of a royal axis mundi, a World Pillar; and lies behind the ancient custom of dividing the land symbolically into fifths coiced: ‘. . .the five fifths of Ireland’ refers to the political divisions of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster. Yes, you have counted correctly. There are only four coiced (‘fifths’) in Ireland. . . A region known as the Midhe (perhaps meaning ‘middle’ or ‘neck’), which incorporated the royal centre at Tara (Temair), was regarded as having pre-eminent status, and has for many centuries been popularly considered to be the fifth coiced. . .’36 Considering Midhe carries such meaning as ‘middle’ and ‘neck’, it’s not difficult to imagine, this central otherworldly region arose from the knowledge Tara was a navel site. It’s possible to think, for the ancient Irish, the hill of Tara, the pillar stone and the king – reflecting every other navel site being called the middle of the earth – was the axis mundi around which Ireland and the world revolved.
Such a hill as Tara was the origin of the hollow hills of Irish folk lore, where gorgeous palaces of the dead existed, an Elysium of joy and plenty. These mystic hills became known as sid a word possibly cognate of Latin sedes ’seats of gods’, and their divine inhabitants were called eás side, fir side, mná side ‘the people of the sid’ or ‘the sid’. The Tuatha de Danaan were said to be able to go underground, and speak with the side, who were their ancestors. This is to be expected, the Titanic race – accepting the immortality of the human soul – always engaged in ancestor worship, and communication with the dead.
This cultic practice lies at the heart of the myth, that when the Tuatha de Danaan’s lesser and defeated descendants fled the land, in the face of the invading Celts; some stayed behind in the hollow hills – ghosts amongst the landscape – and are the origins of the faerie folk of later times.
Marcus Keane, writing in the late nineteenth century, in ‘The Towers And Temples Of Ancient Ireland Their Origin And History’, chronicles his belief, one shared with a number of scholars of the period; that many of the ancient stone buildings and crosses (numerous being destroyed during his lifetime) of Ireland, thought to be Celtic and Christian in origin, were in fact constructed by the Tuatha de Danaan.
The book gives numerous examples of the ancient towers of Ireland, showing skillful cyclopedian masonry at the bottom and cruder work above, clearly a ruined base is being used as a foundation for the rebuilding of the tower. This is also evident in several Christian churches, where superior stone work is exhibited at the foundations, and lower parts of walls; the rest being completed with lesser skill, indicating a restoration. Also, the stone carvings decorating the superior masonry, found in churches and on stone crosses, depict images, mainly serpentine, that are alien indeed for any Christian and often Celtic interpretation.
The belief they originally were constructed or erected by the Tuatha de Danaan, is also supported by the fact that the Celts – invading the land after the Tuatha de Danaan – who emerged as a people c450 BC, only started to build structures in stone in the twelfth century; before this they mainly employed stone to make dry stone walls in a number of their hilltop fortifications, and decorated stonework appears late in their history. The ancient ruins of Ireland, having lost their Tuatha de Danaan pedigree, is doubtless because the Celts used the Danaan religious sites, like a hand fitting into a much-admired glove, such as Tara and Newgrange; as they did in Britain, which is why the erroneous belief arose that the Druids had built Stonehenge.
But my main interest ignited by the book, lies in the matter Marcus Keane highlights, of many stone crosses which are thought to show the crucified Christ, really do not facilitate a Christian interpretation. Not only does the figure purported to be Christ, lack any semblance to his normal depiction on the cross; but also, the accompanying iconography is not Christian in nature, including centaurs, war chariots, bulls and a plethora of serpents. One cross had on it, four naked men, their legs hooked together, their feet at the centre, looking like spokes in a wheel, and the left hand of each grasping the hair of the figure immediately preceding it; that might represent a sun wheel often depicted as a cross in a circle.
The arms and legs of the men ‘crucified’ upon the Irish crosses, unlike the figure of Christ nailed to his Roman cross, have only their feet bound together with a cord. On one cross at Monasterboice, a cord is running over the chest of the man, and under his arms. Also, their arms never rise above a right angle and are often downward pointing.
Many of the figures wore crowns, and there is compelling evidence according to Marcus Keane, of cases where the crown has been removed; for the head shows a rough finish; unlike the rest of the carving. There are two drawn examples of these crowned figures in his book, one from the cross of Tuam in County Galway, the other a gilt bronze figure unearthed on its own; with outstretched arms and a cord tied around its ankles. Both are wearing different versions of a crenellated crown, said to represent a battlement, worn by kings as far afield as Mesopotamia; and symbolizes the protection the king bestows on those cities, or regions under his rule. A mural crown, which is based on a turreted wall, was often depicted on goddesses who were considered to be a protector of a city, such as Aphrodite or Athena.
As Marcus Keane points out, these crosses, the strange iconography displayed on them, the nature of the figures standing, not hanging, with feet tied together, the crowns they wore; bears no resemblance to a Christian cross and the crucified Christ.
Considering the image of an Irish king on his cross, in the light of the cosmic kingship he fulfilled, I couldn’t help but think of the circle surrounding the equal-armed cross, as representing the circle of the earth, enclosing the four directions and the four coiceds of the land; and the circle of the zodiac around the cross-beams of heaven. Particularly as the celestial cross-beams carry solar significance, relating to the solar powers embodied in the king; hence the profusion of snake imagery upon the crosses. The crosses also have small house-like shapes, sitting atop the circle, which relates to the abode of the gods and God, presiding over the king’s cosmic role.
Annála na gCeithre Máistri ‘The Annuals of the Four Masters’, produced in 1616 in a Franciscan friary in County Leitrim, and is a compilation of earlier Irish works. In this work there is an account of a Celtic king, Simon Breac, having been crucified nine hundred years before the Christian era. Marcus thinks this is pure Celtic plagiarism and finds a record of a Simon Breac, who lived two thousand one hundred and thirty years before Christ. He was of the family of Neimhidh, members of a noted Tuatha de Danaan colony, who he suspects is the original crucified Simon.
When one considers the etymology of the name ‘Simon Breac’, it is heavily laden with solar snake symbolism. His name derives from samen the sun and brach speckled, meaning the ‘speckled sun’. ‘Speckled’ refers to a snake, most probably because of its individual dot-like scales, the ancient Greek heroes (from the semi-divine race) were associated with snakes and Photius c820-c891 the Byzantine scholar, refers to one as a speckled hero. At the battle of Salamis, a serpent which appeared amongst the Greek ships, was thought to be the hero Cychreus.
As I have written, the snake is the pre-eminent symbol of the sun – so, the name Simon Breac, snake-sun, is doubly laden with solar symbolism – which connects very powerfully to the serpentine imagery on the ancient crosses.
There is another meaning attached to ’speckled’ it can represent the starry sky, in that case, this sun is the sun of midnight – the cold sun which the king overpowers with reborn solar powers, becoming the Irish version of Alban Arthuon the light of Arthur.
Simon Breac – like Arthur – can be thought of as embodying the sun shining during the longest darkest night, bringing light to darkened souls and fertility to the earth. Simon Breac, hanging between Earth and Heaven, embodies the powerful regenerative solar forces of a kingly World Pillar – the wondrous light in darkness. To reinforce this view, there is a legend of Simon Breac, which connects him to the Lia Fàil stone.
In this legend Simon Breac, is the leader of a band of invading Scythians. The Scythian Empire, eighth century BC to second century AD, extended from south-east Europe and Asia, to the borders of Persia. They were said to have brought the stone to Ireland, the fatal stone, on which their kings were installed. Simon on board a ship during a tempest was pulling up its anchor from the bottom of the sea, to his surprise bringing with it from out of the murky depths, the stone Lia Fâil. In this legend the stone is the one the biblical Jacob used as a pillow, when he dreamed of a ladder going to heaven. This is a meaningful connection to make to the Lia Fâil stone, for I will show later in the narrative, Jacob’s pillow stone represents a kingly World Pillar.
From all these associations to Simon Breac, it is highly possible the name was a title, attached to the sacred role embodied by Tuatha-de-Danaan kings. The name Arthur can be viewed in the same light – there was more than one Arthur, there was more than one Simon Breac.
It is not hard to understand that when Christianity was firmly established on the Irish isle, not only were the ancient sacred buildings converted into Christian churches (a practice not restricted to Ireland), but also the ancient crosses with their Christ-like depictions – ironically now called Celtic – became employed as Christian crosses.
I have written of the abundance of snake imagery produced by that ancient race, and I am sure, the ‘snakes’ St Patrick was said to have rid Ireland of, were in truth symbolic of the successful repression of the ancient beliefs of the Irish. He was said to have been fasting for forty days on a hill – one can well imagine the nature of the hill, a tumulus he was trying to divest of its ancient power and Christianize – when he was attacked by snakes, who he drove into the sea. The symbolic interpretation of the legend, is supported by the fact, there never were snakes on Ireland.
There is an absence of snakes in Ireland’s fossil records, and the island remained bereft of snakes, until modern times, when people released pet snakes into the environment. According to the National Geographic, Ireland is among a handful of places world-wide – including New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica – that were originally snake free. The theory is, it was because of the recent Ice Age which made the island too cold for reptile survival, also its isolation by water from any mainland.
Patrick was said to have brought Christianity to Ireland, but this isn’t true, the faith was already established in the island; although some of its expressions, regarding freedom of worship, didn’t meet with Rome’s approval. St Patrick, its more truthful to say, firmly established a Roman form of Christianity. He was said to have destroyed a hundred and eighty volumes of ancient Irish theology but wasn’t averse to using their sacred places or their crosses, and indeed was said to have employed Druid priests in his mission.
One can imagine Danaus and his fifty daughters acting in the same way, with the people of Argos. But although the Christianity of Patrick triumphed, he didn’t do an excellent job, because the people who worshipped the snake as an emblem of something wonderful, are still there, powerful ghosts in the landscape – an intrinsic part of what is thought of as Ireland and its ‘Celtic’ cross.
The narrative will now leave these northern regions and return to the place where Danaus was born, Egypt, where Io and her husband Osiris reside.
15
Osiris
Osiris king of Egypt, according to the account of Plutarch c46-c120 the ancient Greek biographer and philosopher, was the son of Rhea, and her husband Cronos. Rhea herself was born of Uranus sky/heaven and Gaia, so she is also a Titan. And in the following narrative, Osiris will be revealed as a truly Titanic king.
Greek mythology states his wife was Io, but the Egyptians called her Isis. Although the Greeks, according to ancient authors Herodotus and Apollodorus, regarded them as different names for the same mythological figure. In fact, their myths are similar. They both are associated with the moon, manifest as white cows, the horns of which Isis wears as part of her headdress. They both searched for lost sons, in the case of Io, Epaphus the father of Libya, who was regarded as the embodiment of the Apis bull. They both were aided by the gods of knowledge, in one case the Greek Hermes, in the other Thoth.
The story goes that when Osiris was born a supernatural voice was heard in the land proclaiming ‘the good and great King Osiris has been born’. Upon becoming king, he applied himself to civilizing the inhabitants. He taught them the skills of agriculture, the secrets of erecting cyclopean masonry (still the wonder of the land today), gave them laws and moral codes; and instructed them in how to worship the gods.
Set the brother of Osiris being envious of his exulted position, hatched a plot against him; with a number of conspirators. They constructed a beautiful, ornate chest, made to the precise measurements of Osiris. Then at a banquet, Set, produced the chest and exclaimed that anyone who fitted exactly inside, could gain the desirable object as a prize. Everyone tried, but failed to fit it precisely, then Osiris took his turn. Of course, he was a perfect fit, but as he lay inside, his brother and his co-conspirators, threw themselves on the chest, closing the lid and imprisoned him within it. They then, where the mouth of the river Nile meets the sea, threw the chest into that watery expanse, thinking it would eventually sink, and they would be rid of it forever.
But it didn’t sink, it floated ashore – perhaps the sea understood the precious cargo it was carrying – and become entangled in the branches of a tamarisk tree, or in some accounts an acacia tree. The trunk of the tree gradually grew around it, and in time completely enclosed it. The tree was eventually cut down, and the trunk used as one of the pillars in the king’s palace at Byblos.
Grief stricken Isis, who all this time had been searching throughout the land for her husband’s body, discovered this history of the chest and its location. She found a way to be employed in the palace of the king at Byblos, as the nursemaid for the king’s son, and eventually managed to obtain the chest. She went into the desert with it, opened it, and embracing her husband’s corpse, wept over it profusely. She then hid it in a remote location.
But Set, hearing of these events, discovered it, and cut up the body of his brother into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis, hearing of this dreadful act, set about finding every piece of her husband’s dismembered body. She succeeded but failed to find his phallus. She then constructed an artificial one and animating it with her magical skills, attached it to her husband’s body; joined with him sexually and conceived their son Horus.
The dismemberment of Osiris and his phallus in the care of Isis who is a moon and fertility goddess, evokes the dismemberment of Zagreus; Selene the moon resurrecting him in the form of Dionysus, and his phallus in the care of Demeter goddess of the earth. The similarities arising from their common origin, in the First Religion.
Isis, to honour the magical event of Osiris’ resurrection and the conception of Horus, instituted a solemn annual festival, when a djed pillar symbolic of his phallus, called the backbone of Osiris; was raised up during a ritual ceremony.
In line with this aspect of his mythology, Osiris was regarded as a god of vegetation and fertility. In some depictions of him, he has a green face, or his recumbent body is a bed from which vegetation has grown tall. In the ‘Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus’, a djed column is depicted, surmounted with an ear of wheat
The raising of the djed pillar, was a rite also performed at the coronation of a king, when the king, taking the place of Horus, raised it signifying his embodiment of a font of fertility; and thereby capable of ensuring the continual prosperity of the land. And upon the ruling king’s jubilee, celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of his reign, during a festival called the Heb Seb, the pharaoh aided by priests, again raised up a djed pillar – proving his continual potency.
Horus the son of Osiris, also fared badly at the hands of his malignant uncle Set. When he was a child, Isis left him with attendants, and this is when Set appeared as a scorpion and stung Horus to death. Upon finding him dead, his distraught mother eventually appealed for help from the god Thoth, god of wisdom and magic. He answered her pleadings, and saying words of power, brought Horus back to life.
When Horus grew up, his father Osiris from the afterlife, instructed him in the use of arms; and he went forth to avenge his father’s murder, and engaged in battle with Set. It was an epic battle of the light against the dark, some say it was waged for days, some say centuries. Undefeated, but unable to secure victory over his uncle, Horus turned to Thoth the god of wisdom and magic for help and aid, and armoured with this he proved victorious over Set and took him prisoner. He left him in the care of Isis, but she through compassion set him free, incurring the anger of Horus.
The ungrateful Set continued to cause trouble for them both, and in the end, Horus triumphant in two battles, was the overall victor. This opposition and restraining of Set by Horus on earth, will be shown later in the narrative, to have a heavenly counterpart.
Osiris’ return to life after death, and producing his son Horus, also became a symbol for resurrection and rebirth into eternal life, as the Egyptologist E.A. Wallis Budge wrote of him: ‘For the Egyptians he was the god-man who suffered and died, rose again and reigned eternally in heaven.’ 37
He became lord of the Underworld and the dead, he sat in judgement on souls, allowing them entry into Sekhet-Hetepu an Egyptian Elysium Fields or Hyperborea, that would make any Welsh poet happy. A place where wonderful food and drink is freely available, none of it produced by toil, there is fruit from the Tree of Life, figs, grapes, a bread of eternity, drinks of oil and wine, and the beer of everlastingness to be consumed. The inhabitants, dressed in beautiful white apparel and sandals, sit in a field of peace with the gods themselves.
In his role as lord of the dead and immortal life, he became the embodiment of the Apis bull, who was called his soul. Depictions of this bull, like the Cretan bull, has a silver triangle on its forehead; perhaps an indication that this bull is the celestial one – between whose horns the death defying journey of the human soul was undertaken.
Earthly Apis bulls were kept at Memphis, in palatial surroundings, where they were pampered, enjoying hot baths, anointed with unguents and perfumes, feeding on the finest wheat and honey cakes, roasted or boiled geese; and drank water from a special well – the water of the Nile thought not to be good enough for him.
The tomb of Osiris was at Abydos, in depictions it resembles a raised platform, with stairs running either side of it, on the top stands the mummified figure of Osiris. These stairs reflect the ancient Egyptian belief, that the afterlife was ascended by way of a celestial ladder.
This stepped structure was said to represent the primeval hill, the mound from where all life began, when it rose up from the waters of Nun. Reflecting this, Osiris’ tomb at Abydos was surrounded by water, channeled there from the Nile. It was upon this hill that the creator god Atum formed himself, air, moisture, the Earth, Underworld, the sky and the gods: Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephtys and Horus the Elder. The primeval hill bears all the hallmarks of a navel site: being the point from which all things began, making it a centre of the world, linked to the Heavens and the Underworld. This conclusion is supported by ‘Studies in Egyptian Religion. Dedicated to Professor Jan Zandee’: ‘The expression navel of earth, probably was unknown in ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, according to de Buck, there are many Egyptian notions which showed so much essential resemblance with the notion ‘navel’ elsewhere that there cannot be any doubt about the identity of the ideas. 1. The first spot of the earth which rose out of the sinking waters was a hill. . . In Thebes this hill is called primeval hill (the place where Nun in the very beginning before heaven and earth and netherworld had arisen) 2. At Memphis, at his enthronement the king appears on a spot that first arose out of the primeval waters. 3. A related idea is that of an island in the middle of the sea where the sun rises. 4. A Temple is often called, the venerable hill of primeval times.’38
The tomb of Osiris being symbolic of the primeval hill, is also equated with the ben-ben stone, which itself is representative of this first mound. The centre of worship of the ben-benwas at Heliopolis, from the Greek meaning ‘sun city’, its ancient Egyptian name was On. It was atop the ben-ben stone that the bennubird, resembling a heron, in the West called the phoenix, was said to meet a fiery death. But from the ashes of its incinerated body, it was then reborn into renewed bright splendour – a never-ending cycle of miraculous rebirth from dead matter. This rebirth from dead matter, which mirrors Osiris’ own act of producing his son Horus, must be why the bennu or phoenix was called the manifestation of Osiris’ resurrection, his vitality and his heart.
The ben-ben stone was pyramidal in shape, and it topped every obelisk and pyramid. The great pyramid at Giza, is situated in the nome (district), whose chief god is Ptah – the god of masons, craftspeople and engineers. He is depicted as a mummified man, his hands emerging from the wrappings, holding a staff, and his prominent mythology depicts him as the manifestation of the primeval mound, which is proclaimed in his great name Ta-Tenen ’the risen land’. In his personification of the primeval mound, he was said to embody the Great Pyramid, which implies this pyramid at Giza is a giant ben-ben stone.
This consideration reminded me of the Egyptologist Dr I. E. S. Edwards, interpretation of the ancient Egyptian word for pyramid mer, which he thought may be based upon a compound word composed of m meaning ‘place’ or ‘instrument’, and the verb r meaning ‘to ascend’: therefore, a place of ascension, as Osiris ascended from his ben-ben stone tomb.
At Heliopolis the bennu bird was also said to undergo a fiery rebirth atop the sacred Ished tree, whose heart-shaped fruit was said to confer eternal life – the fruit was called the heart of Horus, the magical son of Osiris. This sacred tree was identified with the earthly, sweetly fragrant persea tree, and its heart-shaped fruit.
So, the mundane tomb of Osiris at Abydos, overlaid with this symbolism, is transformed into a glorious gateway to resurrection and eternal life, and a tree of immortality. Osiris standing atop this tomb, embodying the World Pillar of the navel site, linking Earth and the Underworld to the Heavens – where he presides over the northern star constellations, central to the mysteries of the First Religion. In a Hymn to Osiris, he is said to be:
‘Adored in the northern heavens, the stars that never diminish
Are under the seat of his face, his seats are the stairs which never rest.’
The ‘stars which never rest’ are the northern circumpolar stars, as I previously explained, the Egyptians also called them ‘unwearying’, as they appeared to perpetually revolve around the heavens. Horus in the hymn is referred to thus:
The lords of the north, the circle of the disk (zodiac),
are under his (Horus) plans. . .’ 39
The plans referred to, was the subduing of cosmic evil embodied in the Ursa Major star constellation, where the soul of Set was said to reside. His battle against his evil uncle on earth, has its cosmic counterpart in the skies.
Horus was also called the Morning Star – as was the bennu bird or phoenix – and was the god of the rising sun and a personification of light. The Morning Star, the Venus sun, the light in darkness of a perfected human soul, and it is this light and the light of the sun, the sun of reason and balance, that Horus embodies – when he faces the universal evil and chaos personified by his uncle
In ancient Egyptian star maps, Draco the Dragon is depicted as the hippopotamus goddess Hesamet or Reret, upon whose back sits a crocodile. In a depiction of the northern sky, found in the tomb of Seti I, Hesamet is shown holding onto a mooring post, attached to which are two lines running down from Ursa Major, the celestial wagon.
Ursa Major on ancient Egyptian star maps, is Mshtyw ‘the bull’s foreleg’ or Musketry ‘the plough’. It was either depicted as a foreleg with a bull’s head attached Plate 1 figure 5, or a complete bull. In the tomb of Seti I, it is the complete bull. Plate 1 figure 6 This Egyptian mooring post, guarded by Draco, of course evokes the post of the pole star, the axle rod around which the celestial wagon revolves. In other depictions, there appears to be two mooring posts, one of which Hesmet is grasping – this has led to the speculation that they represent the celestial and ecliptic poles.
Stood on the opposite side of the mooring post is Horus, in the depiction from Seti’s tomb, he holds a line through both upraised arms, that ends below the hoofs of the Ursa Major bull. In a depiction from the tomb of Pademenope, in western Thebes, Horus is shown holding a spear pointing at the constellation, but this time it’s depicted as a bull’s head atop a foreleg.
Clearly the plan of Horus is to directly confront, oppose, and control the embodiment of evil in Ursa Major – the light overcoming the darkness. So, for the Egyptians, cosmic and thereby earthly order, the right working of things, was a condition that needed to be constantly defended; in the face of the ever-present forces of chaos and darkness.
The roles of Osiris and Horus, outlined in their mythology, provided the template for Egyptian kingship. The new Horus king at his coronation standing upon a symbolic navel site, became the embodiment of a World Pillar. In the heavens he joined mystically with the first Horus, ensuring the defeat of cosmic evil and the continual right workings of things. On Earth, in raising the djed pillar, he ensured the prosperity of the land.
Upon death a Horus king was destined to become an Osiris, this transition wasn’t taken for granted; the pyramid texts reveal extensive rituals and heart-rending pleas, for the successful transition of the soul of the dead king into a heavenly Osiris. The Pyramid Texts were carved onto the walls of the pyramid of a fifth dynasty King Wenis and sixth dynasty rulers, dating from around 2300 BC, containing religious writings from epochs of far greater antiquity.
When Horus was victorious, his achieving eternal life amongst the stars, also maintained the continuing reign, emulating the first, of Osiris as king of the dead; thereby assuring the passage to immortality for all human souls. An eternal cycle of kingship, of being lord of the Earth and its continual fertility, the Underworld, the immortal dead and Heaven. However far the narrative travels in pursuit of the semi-divine race, the dead and their importance, the immortality of the human soul, remains a central motif.
So, all that I have revealed of ancient Egyptian kingship, shows them to be fulfilling basically the same model of cosmic kingship in the Middle East, as the semi-divine race established in western lands. But before the narrative forsakes Egypt completely, there is one important constellation I need to explore, found in their version of the celestial template behind kingship, and that is Orion; which will also be prominent as the narrative moves into Mesopotamia.
The dead Horus king who successfully became an Osiris, was said to join, and become one with the star constellation Sahu Orion – which the ancient Egyptians called the home of the gods, and the place where Osiris was born. This is revealed in the Pyramid Texts.
‘O Atum, this one here is your son Osiris
Whom you have caused to be restored that he may live. . .
In your name of Dweller in Orion, with a
Season in the sky and a season on the earth. . .
‘O Osiris, cross. . . to the horizon. . . to the place
where the gods were born and you were born with them. . .
Your sister is Sothis (Sirius) your offspring is the Morning Star. ’40
The ancients perceived the outline of a giant male figure, within its star pattern, with one raised arm holding aloft a club, while the lowered hand clutches the hide of a lion or bull. There are three stars in a row, in the middle of the figure, that are called Orion’s belt.
Orion is a prominent southern star constellation, lying partly within the Milky Way, extending to both sides of the celestial equator, entirely south of the ecliptic and so is visible around the world. It was used as an agricultural and sailing marker. When it was fully visible winter was coming, grape harvest was when Orion and Sirius were in mid-sky, and Arcturus in Boötes was rising in the first blush of morning. When Orion set it was time for sowing the fields; the morning setting of Orion and the Pleiades at the end of October, was a sign stormy weather and the end of halcyon days of good sailing.
There are some elements in the Orion found in Greek mythology, that appear to be based on the constellation’s celestial movements, when viewed from the earth. In one incident he was swimming across the Aegean towards Delos, fleeing from a monstrous scorpion. Orion was called the most handsome man alive, and the god Apollo, fearing his sister Artemis would fall for his charms, pointed out his head bobbing above the waves to her; saying it was the head of a villain. She took up her bow, shot an arrow and pierced the head of Orion and killed him. Robert Graves relates this to Orion and part of the Bow, in the constellation the ancient Greeks called the ‘Hound’ – slipping below the southern horizon, for two months, during spring.
In Greek mythology, Orion is called a mighty hunter, the son of Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of King Minos of Crete. This semi-divine son of Poseidon, with Titan blood coursing through his veins was, of course, of gigantic stature. Pindar called him of monstrous height, and the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus said he was a giant, but not a warrior, a lover of hunting and builder of mighty works. Homer in the Odyssey (XI. 310) said he was illustrious, the tallest and most beautiful of men, The Hebrews refer to his constellation as Gibbor meaning ‘giant’.
In Greek mythology there are two versions of his being set up in the stars. The first is performed by Zeus, after Orion was fatally stung by a scorpion. The second by the goddess Artemis, after she had accidentally killed him, in the incident I previously described.
So, this is the constellation the ancient Egyptians viewed, as the birthplace of the gods and Osiris. I wonder if this celestial giant – who in his mythology belonged to the giant Titan race – was viewed as the celestial template for their earthly expression? His role as celestial progenitor, was expressed by the ancient Egyptians in their calling the fertility god Min, an embodiment of the star constellation. In turn, Osiris was identified with Min, and hence Orion. Both Min and Osiris, mirroring Orion, are referred to as ‘gods of the raised arm’.
Depictions of Min show an ithyphallic figure, meaning he has an abnormally long penis, which juts out from his body. Plate 2 figure 1 This is how Osiris is shown in many depictions, although in E. A. Wallis Budge 1904 ‘The Ancient Egyptian Gods’ the phallus has been politely removed, and one can only know this is the nature of the figure by the words in the text. Min’s raised arm is depicted with an inverted flail, creating a V-shape over his hand.
The ceremonial flail and crook were held in the hands of Egyptian kings. The crook, the heqa spectre, a long stick with a hooked end, was said to represent a stylized shepherd’s crook, to indicate pharaoh as a good shepherd was provider of the safety, comfort and well-being of his people – his flock. The flail nekhakha, was a short rod with three beaded strands, ending in gold lozenge-shaped attachments. Because of its association with the crook, it has been called a shepherd’s whip, and then a fly whisk, or a threshing flail for grain to separate the seed from the chaff. It was also associated with sacred bulls, occasionally held by high priests.
Considering the ithyphallic nature of Min, I wonder if the flail resting over his upraised hand, its three strands splayed out, is a sacred esoteric symbol of an erect phallus, from which divine seed is being ejaculated? This would tie in well, with an instrument, used to separate seed from chaff. Also, the raised arm, penetrating the V of the flail, evokes an image of sexual congress
In ancient Egyptian depictions of Orion, he is shown holding aloft the flail with it resting over one shoulder, or it is carried horizontally across his thigh, in others it is absent. In one depiction his raised arm ends in an ankh, the sign for life, which also implies a procreative function. Perhaps the positioning, or absence of the flail in depictions, relates to the potency of the sign. When the flail is raised aloft, it is at the height of its power, when jutting horizontally from the celestial body the power lessens, and its absence, indicates the nadir of its powers.
To support the ancient Egyptian view of the phallic nature of the Orion constellation, the group of stars and nebula – a luminous birthing centre for new stars – hanging down, in a vertical line, between his legs; is viewed by many as his phallus. Although the phallus is conventionally called his sword, but I must say it’s a very strange place for it to hang. The Arabs recognized the star Saiph as representing his sword saifal-jabbar meaning ‘sword of the giant’, which marks his right foot.
Aside from his association with Osiris, Orion was said to be the heart of Horus, Horus is a solar god, and there are solar aspects to Orion. Orion was originally spelt Oarion which connects to the Hebrew root word for light, giving the name the meaning ‘coming forth as light’. The Akkadians called the constellation ‘The Light of Heaven’, a term they applied to the sun. The Boetians called him Candaon or Kandaom, which refers to the sun.
His solar nature, I discovered, has become part of esoteric thinking about the star constellation. In R J Stewart ’The Prophetic Vision of Merlin’ there is a sun-like depiction of Orion. The author states that an analogy can be drawn between the nature of Orion and the seven stars of the Pleiades, and the sun and its seven planets. Orion and the Pleiades are the fount of divine wisdom, intelligence, of which the sun and the seven planets are the exoteric expression.
The Pleiades, representing the seven-fold law through which cosmic intelligence expresses itself in the material universe, act as filtering agents of the wisdom flowing from the hidden sun Orion. This then manifests through the seven planets of our solar system – representing a harmonic scale of divine influences upon the earth. Is this why the ancient Greek Ovid compared Orion to Boötes? – the motivating power behind the northern constellation. And this must be why the ancient Egyptians called Orion the place where the gods were born, for in the ancient world the gods, agents of the divine realms, were always perceived as playing a part in shaping Earth affairs.
And if the ‘sword’ of his constellation is considered to be a phallus, then the ancients may have viewed its heavenly positioning, as powerful signs of how the divine was influencing earthly affairs. Mark Vidler in ‘The Star Mirror’ writes of the ‘sword’ (in this extract he refers to the sword as a dagger, so to make things clearer, I‘ve replaced it with sword) of Orion: ‘The (sword) of Orion is now (since the summer solstice in 2000) aligned on the celestial meridian – and thereby over the Earth’s meridian for the first time in recorded history. . . This event coincides with the arrival of the first Orion stars at their highest point, and the pole star reaching its highest point, and the brightest point of the sun reaching the raised limb of Orion. . . If (the sword) of Orion could be readily considered as a phallus, if so, its alignment on the meridian today is the first erection Orion has had for over 10,000 years. The phallic line of stars is now bolt upright, following the meridian of the Earth.’ 41
If Orion is considered in this light – a hidden pole of divine influence in the south – it can then be thought of as balancing the revealed pole of influence in the north, and between the two in perfect harmony, rising and setting in the east and west, lie the Pleiades. This motive power of Orion, the southern Boötes, is reflected in his mythology: he is called the roamer, the foot turning wanderer, either chasing the Lepus hare constellation, or fleeing around the world at the attack of the Scorpion constellation; or chasing the Pleiades sisters across the heavens.
Time to leave Egypt, and this amazing cosmic drama, and travel to ancient Mesopotamia, a region in south-west Asia, in present-day Iraq; between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The alluvial plains of this region are where the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria rose into being. When the narrative arrives, it will discover another of the semi-divine race – Nimrod.
cDt 