Showing posts with label Poseidon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poseidon. Show all posts

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Poseidon

Po-seidon (Ruler or Power of Sidon) is a pan-Mediterranean sea god, from East to West. 


Here is the link to the sea deity page:     http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/sea-gods.html

Poseidon is not merely emotion, he is a source of life giving fresh water, fertilizer of the Earth (Medusa, Demeter,
Athene, Aphrodite, etc.), the Earthshaker who brings earthquakes, etc., the god of storms (his horse son Pihassos/Pegasus
carries lightning for Zeus, too), tsunamis, hurricanes, and drought; the giver of good fishing, seaweeds, and trading 'luck', bounty,
abundance; wine, oils, pearls, coral, shells, sea amber, ambergris, purple & rose dyes from the sea snails of Phoenicia;
the god of sailors, shipping, harbors, horses, horsemen, and horse culture,  a god of action and adventure.

Poseidon is a god of political power, chiefs, admirals, and kings.   Armies with cavalry and navies were counted among
his followers.  He is the god of the sea and the earth, a god of action and passion, one who demands respect and
remembrance, as his punishment of Odysseus showed us.  Poseidon also allied himself with Hera against Zeus, in both
the rebellion of Olympos (by binding Zeus) and with the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Poseidon energy is forthright and open about needs, wants, desires, and necessity.  Poseidon can be courteous or brutal.
The mysterious part of planet Neptune in astrology draws upon the mythic powers or energies of shape-shifter water gods, like Thetis, Proteus and Nereus (acting, deception, conflict, struggle, and 'distorting' or 'shaping' the truth); while the emotion, passion, storminess, sailors, ships, fish and sea-related things, and horsiness are Poseidon.

Planet Neptune's assignment of 'dreams & visions' also includes the mythic/mystic aspects of Hypnos and Somnolos,
healing of Asklepios (via dream incubation), the music and hypnotic sway of Orpheus, dancing of the Muses, while the
intoxicating energy of planet Neptune is Dionysian.  Neptune is quite a collective of deity energies!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Muses, Mountains, and Family of Poseidon

The mountain of the Muses, Helicon, is also sacred to Helios, sun god, later subsumed into Apollo, a hunter and protector god of oaths/truth, honor, and revenge as well as other attributes (the lyre or kithara was played by Apollo and Artemis).  Apollon became  a sunlight god as well as companion of the Muses.  He replaced Helios at his mountain, home of the Muses. 

The Muses

Mnemosyne, one of the Elder Mousai

As you scroll down the Muses page, you will see a menu on the left that  lists many pages of Muse related information. ["Index of Muses Pages"]

Mnemosyne is their mother and Helios is their cousin.  Helios is cousin to Leto, mother of Apollo, too. 

A helicon is also a spiral tuba!  Helicoidal is a spiral form - Helios 'circles' the Earth, but there is movement from north to south and back again, thus the connection of Helios to a spiral form as well as a circle.  Heliogram is communication via flashing sunlight off of mirrors.  Heliotherapy is using sunlight to heal.

Heliozoa are microscopic single celled aquatic animals.  They have spherical shells with fine radiating 'spikes' or needles.  Their name is derived from "Helio-" 'sun, solar', and "zooion", 'animal'.  This is  a good illustration of how spirals are connected to Helios with his circular seeming orbit that is really a spiral because of the Earth's motion around the Sun. 

The Hippocrene Spring or Fountain is opened by the white horse of the Sun, who flies high in the sky.  (Other "Greek" gods also from Anatolia include Medusa, Pegasus, Artemis, Leto, Rhea/Kybele, Zeus, aspects of Hera, Aphrodite, etc., etc.)

It is also known that the lunar connection is 'seen' via the crescent hooves, white like the moon.  Some are not white though, like these Pegasos Aithiopikos:

  The hippocampus is important in consciousness and magickal or meditative work.  It has a connection to the Muses, and thus to Pegasus, the most famous of Poseidon's animal children.

Poseidon is the god of the horse in Hellenic myth.  Horses came with migrants, invaders, and colonists from Asia, and were also brought by ship to islands.  Thus Poseidon is a 'father' of horses, bringing them to different peoples and lands.

Poseidon is the "husband of Da", or Don, goddess of the Earth.  She evolves into Da-Mater, a younger child-bearing age version of Dea Mater, Mother of the Gods.  She is an aspect of her Mother, Rhea, even as Kore is an aspect of Demeter.  A different theory is that his name means "Lord of the Waters".

here is the Poseidon page on Theoi.com.

Demeter is also a mare goddess.  Poseidon raped her in horse form, and she became Demeter Erinys "Furious", and gave birth to the goddess Despoina, "She Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken". 

Despoina is the embodiment of innocence and violation, peace and rage,  giver of gifts and shuns the impious and wicked.  She is likely a prototype of Persephone,and her shrines were in Arcadia.  Her brother is the horse Arion.

Pegasus has a brother, Khrysaor.

Their mother is Medusa, boar toothed and bristled, snake haired, and winged. She/they are likely an aspect of Athene, also winged and associated with snakes and aggressive, war-like behavior..  This is from the Gorgon page:


Greek Name

Transliteration

Latin Spelling


Translation
Medousa
Medoush
           Medousa
           Medousê
     Medusa
     Medusa
Guardian, Queen
(medeôn)
Eurualh                   Euryalê                 Euryale  Wide-Stepping (euryalê) *
Sqennw
Sqeinw
             Sthennô
             Stheinô
Sthenno Strong (sthenos)

Medusa is Queen, Potnia.  Potnos or Pos-eidon is Lord.

Gorgons are considered storm-bringers, winds, etc. and exhibit powers similar to Poseidon. 

Pegasos is the beauty and warmth of the spring, the rain that makes the earth flourish and the warm breeze that encourages things to grow.  He carries thunderbolts and lightning for his uncle Zeus.

Athene had Poseidon as a consort in ancient times and a suitor in her 'virgin' times.  Athene had a son, Erichthonios, half serpent, half man, by Hephaestus (Ptah).  If she were a pure maiden, she would not have intercourse.  A virgin is a free woman, unmarried and unbound by marital "propriety" or the laws of men. Unmarried does not mean infertile or chaste.  Virgin means no man rules her.  Her similarities to Anat may be instructive to more ancient ways of perceiving or depicting this goddess.  Anat is also a "pure maiden", a back-handed way to address the headstrong goddess.

The Libyans believed that Poseidon was the father of Athene and that Tritonis was her mother. (Lake Tritonis - also part of her connection with Neith or Egypt.) Her Greek mother, Metis, is probably a Greek version of Ma'at in her Wisdom aspect.

The serpent haired Lamia is also a daughter of Poseidon and Tritonis. Lamia is similar to Medusa in form and parentage.
 
Khrysaor is also a title of Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, and Demeter. Khrysaor has a half-brother in the skies named Orion, son of Poseidon.

Khrysaor is associated with the constellation of the winged boar, now called Ursa Major.  Demeter Khrysaoros (golden blade) accepted pig sacrifices to ensure a fruitful planting of the newly harvested grain. 
Poseidon also accepted boar or pig sacrifices.

Arion has a sister, Despoina.   Despoina is also a title of Demeter, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Hekate.
She is horse headed on a human body.  She is accompanied by a serpent (mother symbol) and a dolphin (father symbol).

Bellerophon is possibly a son of Poseidon also.

Here is a link to pages of Greek Constellations.

  Click HERE for a good article that explains more about the Anatolian-Greek mythic, cultural, and
linguistic connections.

The energies of Pegasus are as much about the hidden Poseidon-Neptune-water-freedom-victory energy,
Poseidon Consort of the Mother as fertile, generous, abundant enlivener, and Medusa as Queen, the hidden or repressed Mother aspect of the  warrior goddess who is transformed into an apotropaic demon that repels evil,  remaining a decorative element on city walls and fulfilling a function as a protective aspect of the City Goddess. Protector, Helper, Liberator, Giver of the Waters of Truth and Beauty, Bringer of Rain in Spring, Inspiration, and Lightning.

Divine Horse and Horse God materials

thanks to Demetria for suggesting these books and articles:


Poseidon is a horse deity many of us are most familiar with .  This article is titled,
"Poseidon the Horse God and the Early Indo-Europeans". (Google Docs)

Magnificent Horses Bring the Chi of Wealth, Courage, & Power


Thracian - Dacian inscriptions for horsemen -about 3/4 of the way down the page.
The Language of the Thracians" -

Macedonian (Thracian) -
more on the mezana or horseman of Thrace,
now part of Macedonia and Bulgaria.  Look about halfway down the page.
It explores many linguistic connections, including between Albanian and Basque words
for horse.  The Basque are the last remaining native Europeans who do NOT speak
an Indo-European language.  It also relates to the Iliad and the Odyssey, bringing us back to the world that knew of Poseidon, the name Mezana (a local Zeus horse god),


the ancient goddess Mezana, Mantas, Mantra, Mentes, Mendes, etc.
who was a city patron goddess and  a nursing donkey mother.

Norse - Medieval horse cult - Frey, Sleipnir, Valhalla, Christianity, burials, etc.

"They sang for horses: the impact of the horse on Navajo & Apache folklore":

"Eat not this flesh: food avoidances from prehistory to the present" -  prohibition and taboo re: eating horses - Excerpt Chapter - "Horseflesh"-

The Sumerians and the Gemini Twins - Sumerian and astronomical interpretations as
origins of the divine horse-twins & solar chariots in Indo-European mythology.

There's plenty more in Google Books and Docs.  Just type in the horse name
or deity of your choice, and see how it goes.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Poseidon

Poseidon is the "husband of Da", or Don, goddess of the Earth.  She evolves into Da-Mater, a younger child-bearing age version of Dea Mater, Mother of the Gods.    She is an aspect of her Mother, Rhea, even as Kore is an aspect of Demeter.  A  different theory is that his name means "Lord of the Waters".


View the Poseidon page on Theoi.com.

The energies of Pegasus are as much about the hidden Poseidon-Neptune-water-freedom-victory energy,
Poseidon Consort of the Mother as fertile, generous, abundant enlivener, and Medusa as Queen, the hidden or repressed Mother aspect of the warrior goddess who is transformed into an apotropaic demon that repels evil,
remaining a decorative element on city walls and fulfilling a function as a protective aspect of the City Goddess.
Protector, Helper, Liberator, Giver of the Waters of Truth and Beauty, Bringer of Rain in Spring, Inspiration, and Lightning.


--Demetria

Friday, February 4, 2011

Pegasus

Pegasus is the son of Medusa and Poseidon.  His name means "fountain horse."  He is the creator of inspirational springs, and is friend of The Muses.

Below are some articles about Pegasus:

Historical Pegasus

Pegasus, Memory, the Brain, and the Muses

Wikipedia Article With Pedigree of Pegasus