The Lucifer Connection

Some thoughts on Eve, the Marys and Venus:

The name ‘Lucifer’ means ‘light bringer’ or ‘light bearer’ and was the alternative name of Venus, the Morning Star.




The Morning Star was called the Light Bringer because it heralded the arrival of the sun at dawn, the sun being the ultimate source of Light and Life.

For some reason, the Light Bringer and Knowledge became equated with Evil and “Lucifer” was also the name that has been given to the rebellious fallen angel who defied God in some traditions.



In the previous post, I discussed Edgar Cayce’s interpretation of the Garden of Eden story.

If you interpret his story symbolically rather than literally, it can be viewed as a reference to feminine intuition and wisdom where the Light Bringer shows Eve how to gain access to knowledge and her divine identity.

In Cayce’s version of the story, Eve is a soul who incarnated many times. Cayce believed that her last incarnation was that of Mary, the mother of Jesus.




The figure of Mary, whether it is the Immaculate Conception, (virgin) or the Magdalene (whore), is often linked with that of the goddess Isis, also known as the Black Madonna (mother).





And Isis is sometimes equated with the goddess Venus.

The goddess Venus was believed to be a powerful female creational force, a source of light and love. (Although as with all things, she also had a dark side or negative aspect) However, in this context, Lucifer/Venus, the Light Bringer is a source of enlightenment, universal love and illumination.



Throughout history, Lucifer, women, knowledge and the serpent (the symbol of wisdom) have all, at one time or another, become equated with Evil in the collective unconscious and suppressed in order to be replaced with the darkness and violent mysteries of the patriarchal religions.

Related Posts

Lucifer Lost

Legends of the Fall – Part Two

Pandora’s Box of Tricks

Saturn's Children

The mythical figure Saturn is also known as the Lord of Karma, Dweller on the Threshold, the “Grim Reaper” and Old Father Time.

In astrology, Saturn corresponds to father or authority figures.

According to the Gnostics, the biblical concept of the patriarchal God or Jehovah came from the image of the tyrannical Saturn.

Saturn and Jupiter

In mythology, the god Saturn became the ruler of the Universe after he castrated his father with a sickle (?!).

Saturn received a prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his sons. So each time his wife Rhea gave birth to a child, he would eat them to avert the threat.

Saturn managed to eat five of his offspring. But Rhea swapped the sixth child, Zeus, for a stone and wrapped the stone in “swaddling clothes”. Saturn ate the stone and Jupiter was spirited to safety.

Saturn was eventually overthrown by his son Jupiter who is known as Zeus in Greek mythology. Zeus started off as a kind of saviour/Jesus type when he overthrew his tyrannical father and ushered in a new order.

Saturn has Lunch

Francisco Goya aptly painted his famous picture of ‘Saturn devouring one of his sons’ directly onto his dining room wall.

In Goya's painting, Saturn has a look of terror in his eyes as he eats his child. He seems to be horrified by what he is doing but compelled to do it anyway.

Saturn Figures in the Bible

The child-eating Saturn myth can be likened to the paranoid babykilling kings that feature in the Bible.

In the Old Testament and the story of baby Moses, the Pharoah was afraid that the Hebrews would one day take over Egypt so ordered that all newborn Hebrew males be drowned in the River Nile.

Similarly in the New Testament, there is the Slaughter of the Innocents when King Herod received the prophecy about the newborn Messiah and ordered that all boys under the age of two be killed.

There is also the idea of fathers sacrificing their sons. Abraham is prepared to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, because God has commanded him to.

In the New Testament, God sacrifices his own son Jesus who cries out during his crucifixion, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

To return to astrology, as Saturn’s children, the physical bodies of the people of the Earth are consumed by Time and then eventually by Death. And on that cheerful note…

Related Posts

Saturn: Moons and Myths

Pan in Astrology

Pandora's Box of Tricks

Humans have created many myths to explain the somewhat unexplainable origins of evil on Earth.

One of the themes of the origin of evil has been the Creation of Woman.

This belief is deeply entrenched both consciously and unconsciously in most cultures not only in religion or social mores but also in myths, jokes (e.g. God said, "Woe unto you, man." And created Woe-man.") and proverbs (e.g. "A woman has the form of an angel, the heart of a serpent, and the mind of an ass.")

Eve and Pandora

In the culture of Christianity, Eve, and thus all women, have been blamed for plunging mankind into a vale of tears, because she listened to the serpent in the Garden of Eden and ate of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In the Genesis version of the creation of humanity, Eve is fashioned from one of Adam's ribs. Whether viewed symbolically or literally, this has been interpreted as woman being subordinate and inferior to man.

In the similar Greek myth, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Unlike Eve, she was not fashioned from one of man's ribs. She was created from water and earth by the god of craftmanship. She was given the gift of beauty from Aphrodite, the gift of music from Apollo, the gift of cunning from Hermes plus gifts from all the other gods.

Because of this, she was called All-Gifted. (pan - 'the great all' dora- 'gifted')

Some of the gifts bestowed on Pandora were rather dubious (such as the 'gift' of foolishness from Zeus and the 'gift' of curiosity from Hera).

The Pandora Legend

Unlike Eve, Pandora was not created to be a companion to man. Rather she was created by the gods expressly to be a punishment to mankind.

Pandora's unconscious purpose was to bring misery to the human race.

Before she was sent to Earth, the god Hermes gave her a beautiful jar (or box as it is now more famously known) and was instructed never to open it (but Hermes gave her the key anyway).

She was sent as a kind of 'honey trap' to the brother of Prometheus.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Against his brother's advice, Epimetheus was seduced by the beauty of Pandora and accepted this gift of a wife from the gods.

Pandora hid the jar so that she wouldn't be tempted to open it. First she put it in a storeroom, then she put it in a chest in the storeroom, then she buried the chest in the garden. So she did try.

Finally Pandora could no longer restrain herself and decided to peep into the box/jar.

The gods had each put a nasty gift into the box. So once opened, all kinds of sorrows were unleashed unto humanity: Sickness, Insanity, Pestilence, Vice, Greed, Crime, Death, Theft, Lies, Jealousy, and so on.

But all was not lost. Pandora managed to close the box before Elpis, the gift of hope could escape.

Alternative Versions

Just as the gods had all bestowed Pandora with divine gifts, each god had put a blessing in the box such as peace, abundance, health and so forth.

So when Pandora opened the box, all these blessings flew away and there was misery upon the earth.

There is also a version similar to Eve enticing Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit. In this version, Pandora persuades Epimetheus to open the box.

Related Posts

The Lucifer Connection

Saturn: Moons and Myths

The Creation of Man

The Curse of the Divided Self - Part III

Legends of the Fall - Part II

Saturn: Moons and Myths

In astrology, the negative aspect of the planet Saturn (named after the Roman god of agriculture) is said to be one of destruction, darkness and chaos.

Some of the names of Saturn's numerous moons reflect the dark side of this planet.

Prometheus was discovered in 1980.

This moon is named after the man who stole sacred fire from the gods and gave it to humankind. Zeus punished him by chaining him in Caucasus where an eagle (or vulture) would eat his liver. Each day his liver would be renewed so the punishment continued until the bird was killed.

Pandora was discovered in 1980.

This moon is named after the lady with the box.

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth sent by Jupiter (Zeus) as a punishment for Prometheus' theft of fire. She brought with her a box which contained illnesses, death and strife. When she opened the box out of curiosity, she unleashed a plague of disasters onto humanity.

Atlas was also discovered in 1980.

This moon is named after the Titan who is forced by Zeus (yes, him again) to bear the sky/heavens on his shoulders after he attempted to storm the heavens.

Janus was discovered in 1966.

Janus is named after the two-faced god of gates and doors (similar to Capricornus) . Janus is also the god of beginnings and endings. In Roman mythology, Janus sheltered Saturn when he was fleeing from Jupiter.

Mimas was discovered in 1789 and is named after one of the Titans. It is also known as Saturn I. Its nickname is "The Death Star" because of its resemblance to the Death Star in Star Wars movies.


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Pan in Astrology

Pandora's Box of Tricks

Saturn's Children

The Curse of the Divided Self - Part III

Pan in Astrology

The god Pan corresponds to the Planet Saturn and the star sign Capricorn.

Pan is the name of one of the moons of the planet Saturn. It was discovered in 1990 and it is known as a shepherd moon. Pan is the closest moon to Saturn. It is also called Saturn XVIII.

Capricornus (Latin for "horned male goat"), is one of the constellations of the Zodiac. The stars of this constellation can be connected to form an image with the head of a goat and the tail of a fish. It is often called the Sea Goat.

In Greek mythology, Capricornus was viewed as the "Gateway of the gods" and it was believed that human souls passed through Capricornus after death.

On the positive side, like the god Pan, Capricorn represents nature and the abundance of the Earth.

On the shadow side, Capricorn also represents governments, elitist hierarchical structures and excessive control.

The sign Capricorn is ruled by the Planet Saturn viewed by many as a force of destruction and chaos.

Related Posts

The god Pan

Saturn: Moons and Myths

Saturn's Children

The Collective Unconscious

The Jungian analyst, June Singer, wrote:

"The wonder of the collective unconscious is that it is all there, all the legend and the history of the human race, with its unexorcised demons and gentle saints, its mysteries and its wisdom, all with each one of us - a microcosm within the macrocosm. The exploration of this world is more challenging than the exploration of outer space."

The god Pan

Peter Pan is named after the god Pan in Greek mythology.

Pan was the god of desire, magic, creativity, sexuality, pan-ic and nightmares. He was said to haunt caves, mountains and streams and watch over shepherds. He also seduced young men with his pipes (pan-pipes, that is).

Pan’s father was the god Hermes (Thoth) and his mother was a wood nymph.

The word ‘Pan’ means ‘all’ or ‘everything’. He is also believed to be an aspect of the Green Man.

Pan had horns, hairy lower limbs and the feet of a goat.

The images of the god Pan later became the model for visual image for the Christian concept of the devil.

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Portraits of the Beast

Pan in Astrology

The Lost Boys

The Story So Far

I thought I'd take a moment to summarise what I've covered so far in this very young blog.

I've mostly - but not exclusively - been glancing at the portrayal of evil in films, literature, musicals and the theatre. (The Many Faces of Faust and Portraits of the Beast)

I've been exploring how evil is personified and noted that many portrayals of the Devil or figures of evil do not seem to be of the horned goat, pitchfork wielding, fire breathing type.

In fact, the Devil often wears an angelic mask or is portrayed as an ambiguous, seductive, or charming figure. (Portraits of the Beast)

I've also briefly explored how we try to "exorcise" our flaws by projecting them onto external hate figures or scapegoats in The Curse of the Divided Self and Beauty and the Beast.

One underlying motif that has crept into the posts almost unconsciously is the use of mirrors.

I've briefly touched on how mirrors are allegedly used by mind control experts for sinister purposes in order to induce their victims to dissociate so that they can be better programmed to perform sinister misdeeds.

Marilyn Monroe's love of mirrors and how she filled her house with mirrors from ceiling-to-floor (Mirror Mirror) is shared by Erik, the Phantom in the novel The Phantom of the Opera as his torture chamber is also filled with ceiling to floor mirrors.

(There is a belief among some conspiracy theorists that Monroe was the victim of mind control but I don't want to go there - at least not today)

In the Lloyd Webber version, the Phantom also uses the dressing room mirror to connect with Christine and lure her away.

The theme of mind control also connects with Svengali's hypnotic and fatal power over his victim Trilby.

I'll be looking more at Svengali and related topics shortly.

Beauty and the Beast

It's been said that every individual is made up of three different people:

• how you see yourself,
• how other people see you
• and how you really are
  

There is also the Shadow Self. This is the part of our self that we don't like others to see and that we like to pretend isn't really there.

The Shadow is a composite of our flaws, mistakes, fears, bad memories and 'sins'.

The Shadow Self is usually lurking behind a socially acceptable mask that is a paragon of conventional beauty.

It is often characterised in fiction as the 'mad woman in the attic' or the 'psycho behind the shower curtain'.

A lot of the time we see these parts of ourselves that we have rejected, reflected back to us in the behaviour of people we dislike or who irritate us, or in other social groups.

Sometimes other people in our lives or on our screens play out the fears and sins that we repress or are afraid of.

The Beast we fear is reproduced not only in the popular imagination but in the political arena and in society at large. For example, the so-called hoodies are like the new bogeymen.

The more that the dark side of our human nature is feared and repressed, the more it grows and is in some way expressed.

Jung, and other experts of the mind, advocate accepting the dark side of the personality in order to transform it for the better and to integrate it with our whole self.

If we are completely cut off from our dark side, a split occurs and the Shadow escapes from behind the prison of the beautiful mask and takes on a life of its own.

Jung said, "...when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate... when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves.”

Every character that appears in a person's dreams can be interpreted as being a part of the dreamer's own personality.

If fiction, movies, stories etc. are interpreted in the same way, then Beauty may be seen as the Beast, Marion Crane can be seen as another alter ego of Norman Bates and Christine, the "Angel of Music", can be seen as the Phantom.



Related Posts:

Portraits of the Beast

The Curse of the Divided Self

The Phantom of the Opera

Mirror Mirror

The previous post mentions the ghostly image of Marilyn Monroe which gazes out at people from the mirror in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Marilyn was said to have filled every room of her (first and last) home with “floor-to-ceiling” mirrors.

The inscription on the tiles of the doorstep of this home reads: Cursum Perficio. This can be translated as: “My Journey Ends here”, “I finish my course”, “I stay my course” or “My journey is over.”

But rumour has it that she continues to roam that home.

Mind control experts are said to employ the use of mirrors as part of their programming techniques. The mirror images act as a trigger, encouraging the guinea pig to dissociate from their own identity.

In symbolism and folklore, mirrors represent gateways or portals to other worlds. They are a common feature in paranormal or science fiction enabling characters to look out into other dimensions and- equally, but more spookily - to allow beings from other dimensions to look back in turn at them.

For example, the 90s New Zealand mini series, Mirror Mirror features a mirror which enables its young protagonists to travel between two time periods: 1919 and 1995.

A memorable early scene sees one girl from 1995 staring into the mirror at a girl from 1919 who is gazing back at her. Both are in the same bedroom sharing the same moment at different times.

The girl from 1919 can be interpreted (although it is not really specified in the story) as being a previous incarnation of the girl from 1995.

The story also features Alexei, the youngest son of Russia’s last Tsar, who is secretly rescued from the brutal fate of the rest of his family and hidden in New Zealand only to be held prisoner by his “saviour”. (His saviour/captor is played by the actor who was the first to portray Spiderman as a live action hero.)

We cannot see our own faces. We know the faces of others better than we know ourselves. So mirrors are both a curse and a blessing, reminding us of who we are and not who we imagine ourselves to be.

The universe is our mirror. It is the macrocosm which reflects back the microcosm of our thoughts, fears, desires and ambitions.

Our archetypes are celebrities or “stars” who live out our fantasies and fears on a larger than life plane and Our Gods Wear Spandex.

A quotation attributed to Anais Nin says: “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”