Juxtaposition
May. 16th, 2013 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
satya_firestoneIn writing about Ardunakh, and then B/Pelatin, I noticed some similarities in symbolism to more traditional/familiar Sabbats, namely Beltane and Imbolc, respectively. I discussed this with my High Priestess. We read over the rest of the Sorgae Sabeod/ts, plotted them on a diagram with the traditional Sabbats, and soon after had a discussion with our Coven as a whole about the implications. These are our findings.
[Note that I'm using lowercase-t "traditional" here; I am not saying that these Sabbats belong to any specific Wiccan or other religious/spiritual capital-T Tradition, nor that the Sabbats and their symbolism are the sole propriety of (British) Traditional Wicca. I only mean to say they are established and known and recognizable in paths already in existence. The Sorgae Sabeot/ds, as you will see, both are and are not.]
[Click to enlarge.]
B/Pelatin is the essence of potentiality, and the second phase of the year begins at Soven. Both these ideas are applicable to Imbolc, as it is the time of potential and traditional beginning of Spring, the year's second season.
Ardunakh is a time of creative energy, infusing us with passion and purpose, while Salanakh expresses the knowledge of hidden mystery. Energy, passion, and purpose are traditional keywords for Beltane, and the "hidden mystery" easily refers to the power of Divine Union expressed and celebrated at that time.
At Lamasu we begin to understand the chain that will bind us to the physical, and Vol’ka brings to the fore the challenges of life in the worldly realm. Lammas is the beginnings of the harvest/slaughter, and we need food to live through the Winter. This ties to Lamasu in that food is a physical need that is not as well understood when it is plentiful, and Vol'ka, being in the physical half of the year, indeed brings that need to the fore.
Vestraven expresses spiritual fulfillment and final renewal, when we Draw West God. Ostraven sets the stage for the next Wasteland, when the God-King forgets link between Himself and the land, as He must. Also at this time, "We Draw North God [Ianos], the God who looks both from the land of the Dead and to the land of the Living, and Southwest Goddess, the devourer who clears the way for new creation." The connections to traditional Samhain are obvious, as it is the traditional New Year's, and time of the Horned God's Wild Hunt.
There is astronomical data that supports this "reduction" in the year's celebrations. The Greater and Lesser Sabbats we're now familiar with, used to occur on the same dates. "...5,000 years ago, the vernal equinox was close to the star Aldebaran of Taurus. Now...it has shifted...to somewhere in the constellation of Pisces." (Source) So the astronomical event known as the Spring Equinox was in Taurus (now early May, with Beltane), the Summer Solstice was in Leo (early August with Lammas), the Fall Equinox was in Scorpio (early November with Samhain), and the Winter Solstice was in Aquarius (early February with Imbolc).
We can see that the Sorgae Sabeot/ds align in symbolism to the Greater Sabbats only, effectively every other one. This actually relates to something my High Priest came up with many years ago; that what we think of as the Wiccan yearly cycle actually makes more sense spread over two years.
Notice that in my diagram, Imbolc and the Sorgae Soven, the date of which is October 31, align in symbolism. This supports the idea of the Goddess' descent occuring at "either" time, because perhaps, in this way, it is both.
This two year cycle also means that in a given year, we have two such lifecycles occuring at once. Two Gods, two Goddesses, moving through Their processions simultaneously, one a matter of steps behind the other. So, the Sun God who willl be born at Yule of 2013 c.e., was just conceived this past March. He both is and is not the Sun God who was born at Yule of 2012; the 2012 God has not yet reached maturity, and will help concieve the 2014 Sun God in a year's time, and the 2013 God will conceive the 2015 God, and so on.
However, the Sun God is still the same entity/archetype every year. There's just a lot more going on than fits into one of our human years. The Gods are not bound by our reckoning of Time, and so He would experience each and every occurance, and still become His own father.
We have pondered whether this means we should only celebrate half the Sabbats or Sabeot/ds in a given calendar year on the dates of the Greater Sabbats (and the other half the next year, on the same dates), but have not experimented with that in practice. Another thought of mine is to possiblely celebrate four Wiccan Sabbats and four Sorgae Sabeot/ds in one cycle, and then in the next, celebrate the others (I envision an alternating schedule: B/Pelatin, Midsummer, Lamasu, Fall Equinox, Soven, Yule, Vol'ka, and Spring Equinox; then Beltane, Ardunakh, Lammas, Vestraven, Samhain, Salanakh, Imbolc, and Ostraven). But however our practice may or may not be affected by this, perhaps it is why the more traditional/familiar Wiccan Sabbats and the Sorgae Sabeot/ds overlap as they do, to account for both processions.
[Note that I'm using lowercase-t "traditional" here; I am not saying that these Sabbats belong to any specific Wiccan or other religious/spiritual capital-T Tradition, nor that the Sabbats and their symbolism are the sole propriety of (British) Traditional Wicca. I only mean to say they are established and known and recognizable in paths already in existence. The Sorgae Sabeot/ds, as you will see, both are and are not.]
[Click to enlarge.]
B/Pelatin is the essence of potentiality, and the second phase of the year begins at Soven. Both these ideas are applicable to Imbolc, as it is the time of potential and traditional beginning of Spring, the year's second season.
Ardunakh is a time of creative energy, infusing us with passion and purpose, while Salanakh expresses the knowledge of hidden mystery. Energy, passion, and purpose are traditional keywords for Beltane, and the "hidden mystery" easily refers to the power of Divine Union expressed and celebrated at that time.
At Lamasu we begin to understand the chain that will bind us to the physical, and Vol’ka brings to the fore the challenges of life in the worldly realm. Lammas is the beginnings of the harvest/slaughter, and we need food to live through the Winter. This ties to Lamasu in that food is a physical need that is not as well understood when it is plentiful, and Vol'ka, being in the physical half of the year, indeed brings that need to the fore.
Vestraven expresses spiritual fulfillment and final renewal, when we Draw West God. Ostraven sets the stage for the next Wasteland, when the God-King forgets link between Himself and the land, as He must. Also at this time, "We Draw North God [Ianos], the God who looks both from the land of the Dead and to the land of the Living, and Southwest Goddess, the devourer who clears the way for new creation." The connections to traditional Samhain are obvious, as it is the traditional New Year's, and time of the Horned God's Wild Hunt.
There is astronomical data that supports this "reduction" in the year's celebrations. The Greater and Lesser Sabbats we're now familiar with, used to occur on the same dates. "...5,000 years ago, the vernal equinox was close to the star Aldebaran of Taurus. Now...it has shifted...to somewhere in the constellation of Pisces." (Source) So the astronomical event known as the Spring Equinox was in Taurus (now early May, with Beltane), the Summer Solstice was in Leo (early August with Lammas), the Fall Equinox was in Scorpio (early November with Samhain), and the Winter Solstice was in Aquarius (early February with Imbolc).
We can see that the Sorgae Sabeot/ds align in symbolism to the Greater Sabbats only, effectively every other one. This actually relates to something my High Priest came up with many years ago; that what we think of as the Wiccan yearly cycle actually makes more sense spread over two years.
The first year deals with the Sun God:
The God is born at Yule.
He is the Light of Life at Spring Equinox,
He is at his height of power at Midsummer.
He dies at Fall Equinox.
The Second year, the God is Lord of the Underworld. It is less active than the first year, for it takes place primarily in the Land of the Dead.
He becomes crowned as Lord of the Underworld at Samhain.
He is firelight/potential at Imbolc.
At some point*, the Goddess descends into the Underworld, and at Spring Equinox, the Underworld God impregnates Her with the next incarnation of the Sun God.
He is reborn nine months later at the next Yule to begin His next cycle.
In Her cycle, the Goddess is young at Beltane, and the mature Mother at Lammas.
She descends to the Underworld, like Persephone, *either at Samhain, or possibly Imbolc (both of these can be seen as containing imagery from other descent mythology, such as Ishtar/Inanna).
In any case, She is impregnated the following Spring Equinox, to give birth to the new God at Yule.
Notice that in my diagram, Imbolc and the Sorgae Soven, the date of which is October 31, align in symbolism. This supports the idea of the Goddess' descent occuring at "either" time, because perhaps, in this way, it is both.
This two year cycle also means that in a given year, we have two such lifecycles occuring at once. Two Gods, two Goddesses, moving through Their processions simultaneously, one a matter of steps behind the other. So, the Sun God who willl be born at Yule of 2013 c.e., was just conceived this past March. He both is and is not the Sun God who was born at Yule of 2012; the 2012 God has not yet reached maturity, and will help concieve the 2014 Sun God in a year's time, and the 2013 God will conceive the 2015 God, and so on.
However, the Sun God is still the same entity/archetype every year. There's just a lot more going on than fits into one of our human years. The Gods are not bound by our reckoning of Time, and so He would experience each and every occurance, and still become His own father.
We have pondered whether this means we should only celebrate half the Sabbats or Sabeot/ds in a given calendar year on the dates of the Greater Sabbats (and the other half the next year, on the same dates), but have not experimented with that in practice. Another thought of mine is to possiblely celebrate four Wiccan Sabbats and four Sorgae Sabeot/ds in one cycle, and then in the next, celebrate the others (I envision an alternating schedule: B/Pelatin, Midsummer, Lamasu, Fall Equinox, Soven, Yule, Vol'ka, and Spring Equinox; then Beltane, Ardunakh, Lammas, Vestraven, Samhain, Salanakh, Imbolc, and Ostraven). But however our practice may or may not be affected by this, perhaps it is why the more traditional/familiar Wiccan Sabbats and the Sorgae Sabeot/ds overlap as they do, to account for both processions.