Scorpio
October
23 - November 21
*
"Be a lamp unto yourself….
And once you have found a single spark inside you,
You will become a flame, soon you will be a fire...
A fire that purifies, a fire that transforms,
A fire that gives you a new birth and a new being.
Be a lamp unto yourself."
Last words of Gautama, the Buddha
And once you have found a single spark inside you,
You will become a flame, soon you will be a fire...
A fire that purifies, a fire that transforms,
A fire that gives you a new birth and a new being.
Be a lamp unto yourself."
Last words of Gautama, the Buddha
2011 November Dates:
All Souls Day, Day of the Dead, Non-Christian dead remembered.
White Tara Day. Buddhist, Bodhisattva
of compassion and mercy,
Quatuor Coronati, Catholic
Feast
of Divine Justice - Source of just law, honoring Goddess-God as Maat-Thoth
(Egyptian); Goddess as
Themis (Greek), Justice
(Christian), and God as Forseti (Norse).
Thanksgiving Day, Secular United
States
Day of Parvati - Hindu Mother of the
Universe
Feast of Hathor – Egyptian
goddess also known as Sekmet, Lioness
and Sun Goddess,
the alternate of Bast, the Cat Goddess.
Last
Sunday of November begins Advent, the Festival of Lights for the Coming of the Light of the World -
Christian vigil for the birth of the Cosmic
Christ. Advent candles are lit.
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Native
American Moon: Full Beaver Moon,
beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. This is also called the
Frosty Moon. A time to prepare for the next step, be it winter or a step on our
life journey.
Wiccan
Moon: Mourning
Moon,
This is a time of washing away the baggage of the
past and letting it go. Leave behind bad habits and toxic relationships, and
get a fresh start for beginning the new year. Work on developing and
strengthening your connection with your Divine.
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Attributes:
Duality: Feminine
Element: Water
Position: Fixed
Symbol: The Scorpion
Ruling Planet: Pluto
Flower: Chrysanthemum
Gemstone: Malachite
Anatomy: Genitals
Best Foods: Calcium
sulphate, asparagus,
cauliflower, radishes,
onions, figs, black
cherries, coconuts.
Avoid: Avoid
stinging temper and
secretiveness.
Colors: Dark red, maroon
Action needed: Have courage to overcome
the fogs of glam our and enter into the real world.
Motto: “I Desire”
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Scorpio is a very
mystical sign. Scorpio can be intensely material or spiritual depending upon
the soul's development. One has a marked spiritualistic bent of mind; the other
is the pit of materialism. In either case, their external behavior is often at variance
with what is boiling within them. It creates divine discontent in the aspirant.
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Character:
Scorpio is a sign of
deep feelings and passions. It is also the sign of the warrior, but this is not
meant to be interpreted in terms of a mundane fighter on the physical plane --
more often the battle take place in the realm of feelings, deep within the sub
consciousness. It is there that Scorpio comes into contact with her dark
internal flaws, flaws she either learns to master or which preoccupy her to
such an extent that she risks depression. Feelings that originate in the soul
drive you forward, while passion and desire bewilders you. Every individual
with strong Scorpion influence in her horoscope must chose whether she is
willing to face reality as it is and to rid herself of the glamour that has
ruled her life until now, or, alternatively, to wander ever deeper into the
delusions created by uncontrolled passions.
Scorpio gives you
the courage you need to go into battle where you liberate yourself from glamor
and delusion. You are an emotional person with deep passions. Scorpio’s gift is
passion, the ability to enter deeply into the world of feelings, a fiery
intensity, the capacity to give everything of one’s feelings. The task and
challenge in your life is whether you have enough courage to face reality, and
refuse to let wishful thinking and fear rule your life.
But if passion takes
control of your life, it can blind and enslave you, and things may not turn out
as you had hoped. You risk leading a life torn between desire and antipathy,
intensive passions and aversion. Your great task is to find the true significance
of feelings, to understand them and learn to use them properly. The strong
feelings you possess can lead you to reality or take you deeper into the world
of glamor and bewilderment.
The life of a
Scorpio-person will therefore either take you further and further on a journey
into the world of fantasy, or, after having become disillusioned, drive you to
make an enormous effort to throw off the yoke of illusion and search for the
reality behind the outer veil. Be a brave warrior, find the true feelings inside
you, and learn to control them -- these are the lessons for the sign of
Scorpio.
Myths and Legends:
Scorpio is a time of trials – initiations, or fighting
the “Dragon”. It is our darkest hour before the dawn of the new year.
In
this modern world where group initiations are becoming more and more common, we
would do well to realize that part of our common work is to follow that same
process. United as a group we should be able to emerge from the Deep of the
Mother's Love to help the Earth make the right choices on her Path toward the
future.
We
do not always realize the arduous task the Great Ones have in keeping enough
balance on earth so it can survive all the trials and tribulations, to be
reborn as a new whole planet rising out of all her pain and suffering. It feels
like the purple veil of the Mother is protecting us, but also pushing us ahead
fearlessly in these processes of searches within and without.
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Queen of the West
We are coming closer to the end of the year and this month is dedicated
to the special influence of the Queen of the West, “Queen of the oceans, who
wield the power of the four horizons”. She assists earth and all her children in
continuing their way towards perfection. Just as water cleanses the body and re-calibrates
the energies in all things, this wondrous queen offers us a new beginning, a
clean start to enter into the darkest time of the year.
The Mother's power is always with us until we have given birth to the
child in our heart, so pure and innocent, who will bring Blessings and Peace on
Earth. But before the new seed can take root. We have
to go through the most purifying influence of the West. It is in the West that
the sun sets, it is the portal to the world of disnincarnation. Before we can
grow again and start a new cycle, we have to be reduced to our most simple
form.
Her influence puts us in the middle of the medicine wheel with all
creation to behold. We are in a period of intense change. We have finished our projects and now feel
empty. But we are still vibrating from the year behind us, so we anticipate
eagerly the tasks and joys to come.
It is the Mother in her aspect of Kali who helps us to become as nothing.
When we turn within ourselves, we do that in full trust of the Mother, knowing
that Her protection follows us wherever we go; even in the deep recesses of our
being. We are in a period of introspection, yet we can also experience new
forces, if we see the true essence of this sign. It is often thought of as the
sign of Initiation.
The hidden symbolism of Scorpio is the serpent that bites its tale to
arise as the eagle looking for the new Sun, in the deepening darkness of the
year. We have to go through this process of darkness, in which the inner fire
must glow and reduce our personalities to ashes before we can start anew. Probably
the rarest form of Scorpio is that of an Eagle. The arrangement of the stars of
the constellation bears as much resemblance to a flying bird as to a scorpion.
Scorpio, being the sign of occult initiation, the flying eagle--the king of
birds--represents the highest and most spiritual type of Scorpio, in which it
transcends the venomous scorpion of the earth.
It is once more the time, not only for deep contemplation, but to let go
of all self importance to lose ourselves in and to submit to the rectifying
power of the four elements, of the four horizons.
Our being is stripped of all its personal
importance and we stand, in the midst of our natural relations, as children of
earth and sky, in all our simplicity and nudity.
Thus in synthesized form we again pass through the four elements,
holding in the purifying fire of the West, only the bare essentials, or we could
say the seeds, the essence, of our experiences.
Her purifying fire burns away all the chaff and leaves us only the
golden seed of our being as “harvest” as well as the germ for a new beginning.
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All Saints Day, Samhain
Samhain is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. It comes from the medieval
Irish festival of Samhain (summer’s end) marking the end of the harvest, the
end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the
"darker half". It was celebrated over the course of several days, both as a festival
dedicated to the harvest and to the dead.
Traditionally, Samhain was time to
take stock of the herds and grain supplies, and decide which animals would need
to be slaughtered in order for the people and livestock to survive the winter.
This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise livestock. The
practical reasons are that meat will keep since the freeze has come and also the
summer grass is gone and free foraging is no longer possible.
With the Samhain bonfire ablaze, the
villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its
hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village
together. Often two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would
walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Sometimes the cattle and
other livestock would be driven between the fires, as well.
Gaelic custom of wearing costumes and
masks, was an attempt to copy the evil spirits or placate them. In Scotland the
dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces,
dressed in white. Candle lanterns (Gaelic: samhnag), carved from turnips
were part of the traditional festival. Large turnips were hollowed out, carved
with faces, placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.
Divination is a common folkloric
practice that has also survived in rural areas. According to Celtic lore,
Samhain is a time when the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead
are very thin. It is the time of the year when ancestors and other departed
souls are especially honored. A door or window may be opened to the west and
the beloved dead specifically invited to attend. Many leave a candle or other
light burning in a western window to guide the dead home. Divination for the
coming year is often done, whether in all solemnity or as games for the children.
The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing
with the deities of their choice.
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All Souls Day
At the beginning of this month there is strong protection from the Great
Hierarchies, who guide us - of course I am referring to All Saints Day and All
Souls Day. It is at this time that we can very easily be in contact with the
Hierarchy and receive Its blessing on the 1st of November, All Saints Day,
followed by All Soul's Day on the 2nd.
These are days when the veil between us
and those who are on the other side of the veil is so thin that we can almost
touch each other. This is why it is customary at Halloween to tell so many
stories of the contact between the two worlds.
It is with the protection of the Mother and Hierarchy that we can and
should make this
This
year the full moon of Scorpio brings us closer and emphasizes the important
link with those that went before us and to which we owe so much. It is also the
time to honor our Ancestors and feel the links they created for and with us and
which sometimes we will have to break in order to continue our flight to the
heights, free and unbounded by our past and heritage.
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White Tara Day
Tara (Sanskrit,
"star") is a Buddhist goddess popular in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia.
In Tibet, her name is Sgrol-ma, meaning "she who saves." The mantra
of Tara (om tare tuttare ture svaha) is the second most common mantra
heard after the mantra of Chenrezi (om mani padme hum).
As the goddess of universal compassion, Tara represents
virtuous and enlightened action. It is said that her empathy for all living
beings is stronger than a mother's love for her children. She also represents longevity,
protects earthly travel, and guards her followers on their spiritual journey to
enlightenment.
Before she was adopted by Buddhism, Tara was worshipped in
Hinduism as a manifestation of the goddess Parvati. According to Buddhist
tradition, Tara was born of the tears of compassion of the bodhisattva
Avalokiteshvara. It is said that as he wept when he looked upon the world of
suffering beings, his tears formed a lake in which a lotus sprung up. When the
lotus opened, the goddess Tara was revealed.
In Sanskrit,
Avalokitesvara is also known as Padmapāni ("Holder of the
Lotus") or Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World").In Chinese he is known
as Guānyīn. This bodhisattva was a originally a man who was so sensitive to the
suffering in the world that he refused to evolve spiritually but requested to
stay close to the world to comfort those who suffer. The Buddha heard his
request and allowed him to become female, manifesting as Tara or Quan yin.
Green Tara (Sanskrit: Syamatara;
Tibetan: Sgrol-ljang), filled with youthful vigor, is a goddess of
activity. She is the fierce form of Tara, but is still a savior-goddess of
compassion. She is the consort of Avalokiteshvara and considered by some to be
the original Tara. Like Avalokiteshvara, the Green Tara is believed to be an
emanation of the "self-born" Buddha Amitabha, and an image of
Amitabha is sometimes depicted in Tara's headdress.
Green Tara is shown in a posture of relaxed readiness for
action. While her left leg is folded in the contemplative position, her right
leg is outstretched, ready to spring into action.. In her hands she also holds
closed blue lotuses (utpalas), which symbolize purity and power. She is adorned
with the rich jewels of a bodhisattva.
She is worshipped for her ability to assist us to overcome
the most difficult of situations. Green Tara is intensely compassionate and
acts quickly to help those who call upon her.
White
Tara
White Tara (Sanskrit: Sitatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-dkar) is
sometimes called the Mother of all Buddhas and represents the motherly aspect
of compassion. Her white color signifies purity, wisdom and truth.
In iconography, White Tara often has seven eyes – in
addition to the usual two, she has a third eye on her forehead and one on each
of her hands and feet. This symbolizes her vigilance and ability to see all the
suffering in the world. The "Tara of Seven Eyes" is the form of the
goddess especially popular in Mongolia.
White Tara wears silk robes and scarves that leave her
slender torso and rounded breasts uncovered in the manner of ancient India.
Like the Green Tara, she is richly adorned with jewels. She is seated in the
diamond lotus position, with the soles of her feet pointed upward. Her posture
is one of grace and calm. In her left hand, White Tara holds an elaborate lotus
flower that contains three blooms. The first is in seed and represents the past
Buddha Kashyapa; the second is in full bloom and symbolizes the present Buddha
Shakyamuni; the third is ready to bloom and signifies the future Buddha
Maitreya. These symbolize that Tara is the essence of the three Buddhas.
In religious practice, White Tara is believed to help her
followers overcome obstacles, especially those that inhibit the practice of
religion. She is also associated with longevity.
Other
Taras
Tara is sometimes depicted in colors
and forms other than green and white. Tibetan temple banners frequently show 21
different Taras, colored white, red, and yellow. They can be shown grouped
around a central Green Tara. In her ferocious, blue form, invoked to destroy
enemies, she is known as Ugra-Tara, or Ekajata; as a red goddess of love,
Kurukulla; and as a protectress against snake bite, Janguli. The yellow Bhrkuti
is an angry Tara.
In Japan, Tara is a bodhisattva called Tarani Bosatsu. The
Japanese Tara embodies both the white and green forms of the Tibetan Tara, and
is usually only found on mandalas and temple banners. Tara is not often found
in China, only in her form as Quan Yin.
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Quatuor Coronati
Quatuor Coronati is Latin for the “Four Crowned Ones”.
In the book The Powers Behind the Church Year, Prof. Van der Stok
describes the Quatuor Coronati - as the rulers of the elements, the Lords of
Fire, the four great Protectors of humanity. They are the silent watchers, the
four columns of the Universe. They can be understood as the four archangels,
Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel. Silent Watchers are vast beings who hold
Worlds within Worlds in balance and maintain the interweaving of the grids in
our Universe. They see and feel everything. When
disturbances occur in they expand the grids so that everything can move freely
into their new positions within a totally New Paradigm. They observe everything
with neutrality and immense love and do not try to change anything, yet by
embodying a purity of heart and TRUE LOVE, they emanate a powerful stabilizing
influence.
They are present in other cultures as
the four elements or spokes of the Native American medicine wheel. They are the
four peoples, red, white, black and yellow. In China they are the Four Guardian
Kings as protectors of the four cardinal directions and are almost always found
at the entrance to monasteries and temples.They are the north, south, east and
west, our compass, our orientation, our way of traveling and not walking in
circles.
This is in keeping with these last
four months of the year in which each month is dedicated to an archangel, element
or pillar of the Universe. A highly advanced spiritual entity. (See chart
on the four elements).
The Quatuor Coronati Masonic Lodge,
No. 2076 (United Grand Lodge of England), was founded in 1884 by nine Brethren
who were intent on using an evidence-based approach to study Masonic history.
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Feast of Divine Justice
Divine Justice is a
goddess who has very ancient roots, she is represented as just law, honored as the Goddess-God
Maat-Thoth (Egyptian); or GoddessThemis (Greek), Justice (Christian), and God
Forseti (Norse).
Maat was the Egyptian
goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman, holding a
was scepter, the symbol of power, in one hand and an ankh, the symbol of
eternal life, in the other. Sometimes she is depicted with wings on each arm or
as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head. Images of Maat as a goddess are
recorded as early as the middle of the Old Kingdom (c. 2680 to 2190 BCE). Maat
has also been considered as an expression of Divine Wisdom.
After her role in
creation and continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos, her
primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took
place in the underworld, Duat. Her feather was the measure by which souls
(considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of
afterlife successfully. If your heart was as light as a feather you would pass
into eternal life.
A
heart which was unworthy was devoured by the goddess Ammit and its owner
condemned to remain in the Duat. The heart was considered the location of the
soul by ancient Egyptians. Those people with good and pure hearts were sent on
to Aaru.
The weighing of the heart, is pictured on
papyrus in the Book of the Dead and shows the jackal headed god Anubis weighing
the heart with the lioness Ammit seated nearby awaiting the results so she can
consume the hearts of those who failed.
Modern
justice is shown with a blindfold balancing the scales of truth and fairness. The
blindfold symbolizing the impartiality that justice should be given out
objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or
weakness. Justitia is represented with a set of scales suspended from her left
hand, by which she measures the strengths of a case's support and opposition.
She also carries a double-edged sword in her right hand, symbolizing the power
of Reason, which may be wielded either for or against any party. She is also
the zodiac sign of Virgo holding the balance in one hand and a sheaf of wheat
in the other, thus representing our agricultural roots.
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Thanksgiving Day
In this month we start to prepare
for the return of light – thanksgiving turns into the preparation of our spirit
and body to receive the message of light for the coming year (preparing the
manger).
Thanksgiving Day in America commemorates the celebratory
meal that the Puritans enjoyed with a tribe of Native Americans in the area of
Plymouth, Massachusetts. There can be little doubt that these early settlers
and their gracious hosts could possibly have envisioned the tremendous effect
that their small gathering continues to have upon our American psyche and
culture.
If we take a closer look at these settlers and their native
hosts gathered around several tables looking to give thanks to The Creator/God
for his many blessings upon them; many contemporary Americans may find this an
odd tradition. However, this practice of giving thanks to God while sharing a
meal has its origins in the Jewish Passover meal, which many scholars believe
Jesus was celebrating when He instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
(which is a Greek word for "thanksgiving") on Holy Thursday, the eve
of His crucifixion.
A wonderful family ritual is to have a feast on this day and
allow everyone to say one thing they are be grateful for that happened during this
past year. Invite friends to your table and let them know they are part of your
family. The future will be work in groups and we need to enlarge our circle of
friends.
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Day of Parvati
Parvati is the Hindu
Mother of the Universe, the triple goddess who divided herself into Sarasvati,
Lakshmi and Kali or the Three Mothers.
Navaratri
means a period of nine nights.
Starting
September 28, this is the last day of this celebration and it is dedicated to
the Divine Mother.
The
myth is that The Divine Mother, worshipped as the manifestation of all material
things, including food, became angry because she felt taken for granted. To
demonstrate the importance of her manifestation of all that is material she
disappeared from the world. Her disappearance brought time to a standstill and
the earth became barren. There was no food to be found anywhere and all beings
suffered from the pangs of hunger.
Seeing
all this suffering, Parvati was filled with compassion and reappeared in Kasi
and set up a Kitchen. Hearing about her return, Shiva ran to her and presented
his bowl in alms saying, "Now I realize that the material world, like the
spirit, cannot be dismissed as an illusion." Parvati smiled and fed Shiva
with her own hands. Since then Parvati is worshipped as Annapurna, the Goddess
of Nourishment.
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Feast of Hathor
Hathor
is the goddess of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She is depicted as
Sculptures
of Hathor show her with the head and sometimes just the ears of a cow. She can
be found wearing a sun disk with cobra between her horns.
Dendera, one of the best surviving temples, known as
Pr-Hathor (House of Hathor) or The House of the Sistrum, dates from circa 200BC. A wonderful zodiac ceiling
was found here. It is a circular zodiac centered around the north pole,
apparently originating from Greek sources designed on the ceiling of a chapel
dedicated to Osiris. It was sold to France in the early 20th century. A copy of
the zodiac is now there, with the original being preserved in the Louvre
Museum, Paris. (See introduction for further explanations).
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Conclusion
During this period of the year, the veil between
the worlds is thin and can easily be crossed, giving us the opportunity to
communicate and commune with the beings of worlds beyond. We can at this time
make very close contact with our deceased loved ones and at the same time
realize the validity and truth of our family’s heritage (karma) as our family’s
goals (dharma). Family ties and our own ego is our biggest obstacle to
spiritual advancement.
For some of us this contact brings happy memories, gratitude and insights
in the life of our ancestors, for others it is a painful and difficult time: a
time of forgiveness and detachment. For many of us, the links with our birth
family can be very traumatic and we have during our lifetime to transcend and
detach ourselves from a painful past of neglect and abuse or simply
indifference and materialistic pursuit of life. It is not a coincidence that
the celebration of All Saints day precedes All Souls day.
It is on All Saints day that we can open the communication with the
Great Beings who guide us, and having received Their Blessings. It is these
mentors who instigate and inspire our spiritual progress and the realization of
our soul consciousness. This connection is done through devotion and
dedication.
Having received the full measure of contact with Hierarchy on All Saints
’ Day it is easier for us to open our soul consciousness and from that point of
view look at our family ties and family karma and dharma on All Souls Day. This
gives us the opening to true forgiveness for the misunderstandings and pain
that may have been caused during our childhood. We can realize at the same time
that our souls have chosen our life paths and that the lessons learned where
necessary to detach ourselves from our birth family of this incarnation and we
can send love and understanding as well as deep gratitude to all those around
us for the love and guidance we have received.
May our legacy for future generations be the freedom gained through
understanding and forgiving by the power of Love, and a growing realization of
our True Parents and Ancestors.
In Hindu tantric art, this chakra chart has “the death of the old man”, note
the image of the little human falling away from the body near the heart. This is
the “letting go of firmly held beliefs, our attachment to emotions.
In order to follow the spiritual path it is necessary to become your own
guide. This is a time when we can conquer ourselves, our past, our family and
group karma and fly free into the space of the Mother's heaven. It is from here
that the new Light will descend into our hearts and souls and begin a new cycle
of light and life.
In Scorpio, we
can dive and immerse ourselves in the Waters of purification, of gestation,
leading to transformation, to a new life, the Birth of the new Light. It will
help us see clearly again where we should change, what we can do to be more
efficient in our work, balancing our inner search as we help our co-creatures
on the earth.
It is also important
that we mentally and spiritually link ourselves with the strength generated and
incarnated by all people of Good Will. More and more people are beginning to
realize that it is in the unity of all students , all aspirants and future
initiates, all Priests and Priestesses working for the incarnation of the
Divine Light, known by so many Names, that we can bring that "Peace which
passes understanding" on our planet.
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I love your writing! Thanks for sharing. Catelin
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