It has been a little while since I posted here, but it seemed highly relevant to do so as the wheel turns again. I have always loved Beltane and May – it is a very Luciferian period, with the light and warmth returning to the world here. Our little island is one of much seasonal variation – and with rather unstable weather patterns, nothing is ever really a given in good old Britannia.
I was taught one time by a great lady witch mentor of mine that it was practice within the coven tradition to follow a custom which saw the celebration of the eight sabbats held slightly later than the usual given dates. These would follow the old Julian calender and was ostensibly to allow for the energies of the season to become fully mature energetically speaking. This year, I was reminded of this by a very dreary, very misty actual May Day which did little to inspire confidence nor my abilities in putting pen to paper (or in this case, keys to keyboard). To say I felt somewhat deflated would be an understatement.
However, the other night it finally felt as if that shift did in fact finally occur. The electrical energy one can feel at this time of year as the land and air awakens is finally palpably present. This is reflected in the uptick in physical activity and mental acuity of the body, as if all the internal cobwebs are also being blown away.
With excellent weather throughout the day, I took this as my cue to finally get outside of the house and go for a lovely walk down to my usual spot by the ocean, the very same I detailed in the last blog post. This time however I set off to be there for sunset, instead of after dark. This trip was purely for enjoyment – not to fulfil any occult operation to be perfectly blunt. But often, if you keep on the look out for signs, you will often get very clear, unambiguous ones indeed. Sometimes, the gods and spirits come to you.
As such, a curious thing would indeed occur. My life has changed rather quickly in the last five months to say the least – bringing something into my life that I am very much grateful for. This has also necessitated a rethink in my greater plans, and to explore it would mean taking a very long, rather arduous trek across the globe. This had got my mind thinking – as any change will do, even the very good ones. It led to an initially unsettling feeling – one that I think many can relate to when something comes along that suddenly disrupts certain patterns that we have become accustomed to and push us out of a long enjoyed comfort zone.
As I walked back along the beach, with the gentle waves lapping the shores reflecting and refracting the pearlescent light of the sun, I realised that it was not some great level of reassurance I needed. Nor even confirmation – this the Gods had already provided in some ways, through more traditional, interpretative methods. What I really needed was their blessing – simple confirmation that they walked beside me in my decision to simply, act.
As this thought crossed my mind, something very interesting happened. In an almost occult symmetry, in an inversion of what happened at Samhain, a large shape swooped from behind me from the left, heading towards the setting sun. This form turned out to be that of a rather large Grey Heron! Those who have an occult background will already know that the Herron is connected in symbolic ways to the Gods of Light – and thus, to Lucifer.
Grey Heron, photographed by Tim Spouge
According to the beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians, the Bennu was a self-created being who was said to have played a role in the creation of the world. The Bennu was said to be the ba (i.e. the personality component of the soul) of the Solar God Ra. The Bennu bird was said to have flown over the waters of Nun that existed before creation, before landing on a rock and issuing a call that determined the nature of what was To Be. This symbolism of the creative force coming forth from the primordial void, is a very ancient one indeed that resonates with me and I’m sure, many others.
Some of the titles of the Bennu were “He Who Came Into Being by Himself”, as well as the “Lord of Jubilees” – a festival linked with the continued rule of the Pharaoh. This itself was centred around the belief that the Bennu was able to periodically renew itself like the sun was thought to do. The name Bennu itself is related to the Egyptian verb wbn, meaning “to rise in brilliance” or “to shine”.
It is speculated that the Bennu is also connected to the legend of the Phoenix. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote on the topic in the fifth century BC. He detailed that people of Heliopolis described the “phoenix” to him, describing that it was said to live for 500 years before dying, resuscitating, building a funerary egg with myrrh for the paternal corpse, and then carrying it to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. Herodotus goes on to give an account of the physical description of this bird likening it to an eagle with red and gold plumage, reminiscent of the sun.
Unfortunately, the real life giant heron of the region that this legend was undoubtedly inspired by, Ardea bennuides, has long gone instinct. Poignantly the cause, as is often the case, is that it was destroyed by human folly; likely overhunted to oblivion. The occult truth, carried by its related messenger however, was certainly not lost on me nor was its blessing.
The Ripley Scroll
The symbolism and what it urges us to do is striking and very important. It is this solar energy which we need to now bring into our lives to powerful effect. Many times I see people getting stuck in the nigredo stage of their personal, as well as occult, alchemy. Without the energies that are sent by the Perfect Red King of Sulphur, it can be all too easy to get lost, and become stuck in this very dangerous dissolutive state. We need to allow such energies in – to allow them to suffuse and change us, to stabilise and create us anew. This can take a lot of bravery when we have become lost and stuck; the only answer is to move away from stagnancy. Many times, the only thing we can do is choose to take the leap of faith, in order to successfully move forward. The Bennu is a messenger that this is more than possible, if we just follow its example – and I would encourage people in the Beltane season to put this energy to good use.
As I finish this small, but I feel important piece, I am ready to set off for the aforementioned rather grand trip. I hope that it will be transformative indeed – in many ways, it already has been. I take heart as well that upon my return, I can rest easy in the fact that the work with Lucifer for now, gives way to the earthing work with Belial. Thus, the final leg to create the initial stellar gates here at the Temple can finally be completed over the coming year – fulfilling a project some nine years in the making. As such, I feel incredibly blessed indeed.
I leave you, dear reader, with an excerpt from a translation of the Ripley Scroll. The Ripley Scroll is an extraordinary document, that is nearly 6 metres long. It is a heavily ciphered text that describes how to make the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. It is named after George Ripley, a medieval canon of Bridlington Priory, Yorkshire, who reputedly wrote a text known as The Compound of Alchymy – the creation of this particular scroll is often attributed to him as well hence its title. For those with the eyes to see, it is a rather interesting text indeed and I offer up one of the passages here for study as the sun continues to rise to its zenith.
‘Here is the last of the Red, and the beginning to put away the dead. The Elixir Vitae.
Take the father that Phoebus so high
That sit so high in majesty
With his beams that shines so bright
In all places wherever that he be
For he is father to all things
Maintainer of life to crop and root
And causeth nature for to spring
With the wife beginneth soothe
For he is salve to every sore
To bring about this prosperous work
Take good heed unto this lore
I say unto learned and unto clerk
And Homogenie is my name
Which God made with his own hand
And Magnesia is my dame
You shall verily understand.
Now I shall here begin
For to teach thee a ready way
Or else little shall thou win
Take good heed what I do say
Divide thou Phoebus in many parts
With his beams that be so bright
And this with nature him convert
The which is mirror of all light
This Phoebus hath full many a name
Which that is full hard to know
And but thou take the very same
The philosophers stone ye shall not know
Therefore I counsel ere ye begin
Know it well what it should be
And that is thick make it thin
For then it shall full well like thee
Now understand what I mean
And take good heed thereto
Our work else shall little be seen
And turn thee to much woe
As I have said this our lore
Many a name I wish he hath
Some behind and some before
As philosophers doth him give
In the sea without lees
Standeth the bird of Hermes
Eating his wings variable
And maketh himself yet full stable
When all his feathers be from him gone
He standeth still here as a stone
Here is now both white and red
And all so the stone to quicken the dead
All and some without fable
Both hard and soft and malleable
Understand now well and right
And thank you God of this sight
The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame.‘
~S~
The Luciferian Revolution 