The 12 Zodiacal Signs and their legends.

THE 12 ZODIACAL SIGNS AND THEIR LEGENDS

Hi my dear readers, I am here leaving you a brief introduction of the origin of the zodiac. This is a shorthand version of what I have read along with many different textbooks, to help you better understand the origin of each zodiacal signs on your future studies.

Signs of Fire

Aries

This Sign ruled by Mars represents the ram that accompanied him during his trip with Phrixus and Helle when they left their native country for Colchis, later this ram happened to become the famous Golden Fleece of Jason and Argonauts. Aries gets its name from Ares the Greek god of war that the Romans worshiped under the name of Mars, ruling planet of Aries.

Leo

This Sun-ruled Sign represents the Lion of Nemea, a creature of unknown origin whose skin was impenetrable, Hercules was sent by Hera to kill the Lion and had to strangle him and then skin him with his own hands to assassinate him. Hercules dressed the lion's skin as a shield and symbol of glory until the end of his days.

Sagittarius

This Sign ruled by Jupiter represents the Centaur Chiron, known as the medic of the medics, tired of his condition of immortal, decided to change it by the salvation of Prometheus. When the deal was formalized, Prometheus asked, "Why did you do it? Now that you're dead, no matter how tired you are, you will not be able to change it ..."

Earth Signs

Taurus

This Sign ruled by Venus represents the form adopted by God Zeus (a white bull with gold horns) to distract and abduct Europa, Zeus mingled with the cattle while Europa and her entourage picked flowers near the beach, she saw the Bull and caressed his sides and, noting that he was meek, she mounted on him. Zeus took advantage of this opportunity: he ran to the sea and swam to the island of Crete carrying Europe on his back. Already in Crete, Zeus revealed his true identity, and Europa became the first queen of the island. Zeus recreated the shape of the white bull in the stars that are now known as the constellation Taurus.

Virgo

This Sign ruled by Mercury represents Astrea, the virgin Goddess, and daughter of Zeus and Themis. She helped her father as a bearer of lightning during the war with the Titans. In return for her loyalty, Zeus raised her to the sky and placed her among the stars, giving rise to this constellation and end to the presence of humans of the last immortal of the Golden Age.

* Curious note: Until 1970 it was believed that Virgo was ruled by the mythical and non-existent Vulcan planet.

Capricorn

This sign governed by Saturn is the representation of the Amalthea Goat, which nursed Zeus when his mother Rhea hid it from the sight of his father Cronus who wanted to devour him. After time passed, the now adult Zeus fought against the Titans wearing an armor made with the skin of this mythical goat, which later becomes the Aegis, the shield of Zeus forged by Hephaestus, god of fire. First Zeus donated this shield to Apollo, and then to his daughter Athena, goddess of war. The astrological sign presents a hybrid animal: a goat with the fish tail that symbolizes the nutritive waters where the being is born to raise to the highest degree of spirituality.

Air Signs

Gemini

This Sign governed by Mercury represents the twins Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus. The tale is Zeus transformed into a swan seduced the Goddess Nemesis who, under the spell of the "King of the Gods", laid an egg from which the twins were born. Pollux was immortal, not so his brother Castor. When Castor died, Pollux offered his immortality to save his brother.

Libra

This Sign governed by Venus is the representation of the scale of Dikē, the Goddess of Justice who carried a balance of gold given to her by Zeus to judge the souls of the warriors, a myth is now diffused according to which the balance represents Julius Caesar carrying it together with his sword.

* Note: The Myth of Julius Caesar might consider wrong because by the time Greece was taken by the Romans and were very ancient representations carved temples with the constellation of Libra being represented by a balance was common.

Aquarius

This sign ruled by Uranus is the representation of the Greek legend of Ganymede, the cupbearer of the gods and pourer of Olympus. The young Ganymede was a hero and a Trojan prince (Not Greek) was prominent and renowned for his incredible beauty. Zeus impressed by the perfect male figure of the young man became an eagle and kidnapped him on Mount Ida in Phrygia (now Turkey) and took him to Olympus to become one of his lovers. The father of Ganymede missed his now immortal son so much that Zeus created the constellation of Aquarius in his honor.

Water Signs

Cancer

This sign ruled by the Moon represents a giant desert sands crab that was sent by the same Goddess Hera to help the Lernaean Hydra in its task of murdering Heracles in a fierce battle that lasted 7 days and 7 Nights. It was so impressive the work of the monster invoked by the Goddess that she elevated it to the sky to turn him into the constellation.

Scorpio

This sign ruled by Pluto represents an old legend according to which the Goddess Artemis (The Moon) was hunting in the forests and, when she is seen by the giant Orion, this one chases her in the middle of the night trying to abuse of her. Artemis, to defend herself, claimed for the help of a small scorpion which was trampled by the gigantic hunter and immediately was poisoned, when they died both by Artemis, she asked her father Zeus to place them in the sky and him, placed them in front of another so that they no longer fight. When the constellation of Scorpio rises from the horizon, the constellation of Orion hides on the other side fleeing of the animal that caused his death.

Pisces

This sign ruled by Neptune represents the gods Ares (God of War) and Aphrodite (Goddess of Love) fleeing the Olympus rivers transformed into fish during the war against the Titans. The Titan Typhoon chased them to the limits of Greece where a fisherman catches them in a small basket and they swim side by side in opposite directions. At the end of the Olympian war, Zeus drew this memory in the sky symbolizing what that humble man who helped the Gods saw in his basket.

A Church on Pagan soil and its History

THE LIFE OF SAINT OLAF AND HIS CHURCH IN NORWAY

St. Olaf of Norway, a Saint erected in Innocent Blood

Year 995 A.D. Is born in Ringerike, Norway Olaf II (Óláfr Haraldsson) of Viking origin. At the age of 11 the young pagan Olaf begins to be part of the expeditions and looting of nearby towns between the Baltic States and the British Isles, even getting to participate In the sacking of Canterbury in 1011.

After spending the next 2 decades traveling between Spain, France and Norway looting and venturing into new territories, Olaf makes the decision to be Ruler of Norway, trying to achieve it on two occasions that only result in his flight from combat. During a period of rest in Normandy (France) Olaf, blinded by the fortunes of Christian kings and popes, decides to convert to Christianity, leaving behind the old customs of his family and his people, even being baptized and naming his son Magnus in Honor to Charlemagne, because of his fascination with the stories of the new world.

Olaf happens to be recognized by the Christian authorities like the new great king of Norway, will take advantage of its condition of influential figure to obtain the conversion to the Christianity in the Country, Olaf participates openly in the battles of Svolder, Nesjar, Viken, Agder and Trondelag . Strongly supported by the Church and the kings of the West, Olaf becomes King of all Norway, tries to wed (due to a diplomatic agreement) to the princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, although this does not materialize, finally marrying with Ingegerd's sister, Princess Astrid.

As the recognized leader of Norway, Olaf goes on to proclaim the "law of Christ," a law consisting of compulsory baptism for all Norwegian families and each of their members as well as "passing visitors" as merchants and artisans arriving from other countries. Under the "law of Christ" the immediate death penalty is promoted and without the right to negotiate, and even the mutilation of members is established for the younger children of pagans who decide to not convert to Christianity.

According to the Church, Olaf prohibited in Norway polygamy, rape, abduction of women and abandonment of newborns, which in fact were by law to be baptized and delivered to the church immediately. The dead were to be buried in holy ground next to the churches and not in stone compartments in the woods as was the case in pagan traditions. It was also decided to deny burial under any religion to all those individuals considered criminals, traitors, murderers, suicides, pagans and others. In order to enforce his laws, King Olaf brought four bishops from England and allocated a large part of the taxes to the construction of ostentatious churches throughout the Norwegian territory even though at that time it was one of the countries where more people died of hunger daily.

On July 29, 1030, Olaf dies in the battle of Stiklestad, his body was buried next to a nearby river and the following year he is exhumed and transferred to the interior of a chapel erected in his name to be canonized and considered Olaf, the Patron Saint of Norway.

The Church of San Olaf
A Church built on consecrated pagan soil

The Church of St. Olaf in Estonia was built between the 11th and 12th centuries in the center of the Scandinavian community of the old city of Tallinn even before Denmark conquered the city in 1219. Tallinn as much of pre-Christianity Europe Was a pagan territory consecrated to the tradition of forest and nature deities, in fact just where the great Church of San Olaf stands today was a thick forest that was a place of concealment for the pagans during the rebellions against the imposition of Christianity.

The Church that was built in this territory has never lasted in its religious tradition, initially forming part of the "Western tradition of united Christianity" (now the Roman Catholic Church), after the time of reform, the Church becomes Lutheran, during the Soviet Occupation became a point of surveillance of the KGB where in addition it is believed that they tortured spies and "curious". From 1950 the Church is occupied by the Baptist congregation of Tallinn.

The church is considered by many Pagans and Neopagans as a place consecrated to the Old religion that even today, being occupied by the Christian Church refuses to accept the presence of the same in that place. For those who believe that "lightning never falls twice in one place", the Church of San Olaf has been struck by lightning not one or two but a total of ten times and has been completely burned on at least three occasions Different in the last centuries without mentioning that it has suffered from multiple "controlled fires" in its interior of unknown origin more than a dozen times.

There is also a legend about the construction of this building; The citizens of Tallinn wanted to build the tallest church in the world, but there being a curse that would ensure the death of the one who finished building, so no one was willing to do the work. One day a stranger appeared and asked for a large sum of money to do so. When the city could not pay this sum, the foreigner proposed the following challenge: If they found out his name, he would forgive them the debt. For this the talineses sent a spy to his house that heard the name of Olev in a song that sang his wife. They waited for the foreigner to finish the construction and when he was putting the cross on the tower shouted from below, "Olev the cross is askew!", he got scared and fell to the ground, a toad and a snake coming out of his mouth, which denoted the Demonic possession of this man. This fact is reflected in a mural painting of one of the sides of the church.

Elhoim Leafar, Blessings...

Other forms of Magic - Wicca! Love & Soul

Other forms of Magic - Wicca! Love & Soul

Eastern & Western Magic

Magic and sorcery in different countries of the world have developed positively and with the passing of the years have been changing and evolving slowly but steadily, have been divided, and have taken thousands of shapes for each village, with names and characteristics suitable for each region.

English magic and the sorcery of Japan keep many differences between them, but also endless similarities, perhaps because it is a legacy of our oldest towns, or the gift of an old and ephemeral race of Atlanteans or Lemurians who perished and left us their greater knowledge.

In England, as in much of the European territory abound fairy tales, legends of witches and divination practices. Especially in the latter branch there is a great approach, as it is the comprehensive study of Tarot or the reading or tea leaves, as well as English astrological movement that has made a great contribution to the culture of astrology around the “New World”.

"Every man and woman is a star" - Image from #Pinterest

The reading of the tea leaves is native to the Roma people, such as the Tarot that despite being more recognized in the Americas and Spain, we must not forget that its early exponents were the Egyptians, French and English, (Such a coincidence that so similar forms of divination are developed in two very distant and totally different regions).

In Japan, the art of witchcraft is more common in Shinto temples and new streams of Buddhism more linked to mysticism than to personal development as in their respective origins. In Japan, China and Taiwan, we get a true influx of priests and modern shamans, practitioners of traditional religion of Japan, which is worthy to take credit for their unconditional way to rank the spirits, as the Kami (spirits who have evolved to the point of being compared to gods) and Shikigami (suffering souls who are to turn into terrible demons) or the Oni (those dark deities that folklore has mistaken with Ogres).

From both sides we find a development  in a remarkable approach in the use of spirits for all kinds of practices beyond the Greek sorcery where each magician looks for the power inside himself.  Japanese and English arts of divination have this feature, before each practice the respective invocation to the familiar spirits of the soothsayer or  practitioner is done and then they proceed to divination.

Magic Circle by J W Waterhouse, 1886. It is in the Tate Gallery (London, United Kingdom)

An example of the above is the famous Ouija, the popular table spirits of European origin who became known worldwide during World War I, which also has its respective Japanese equivalent, the Kokkuri, a paper tablet with numbers and Chinese letters used to guess the good fortune with the use of a coin and is common practice in modern Shinto temples by the Itako (priestesses with the task of caring temples and away evil spirits).

During recent years, amid political, religious and social conflicts, it is quite common to note as thousands of people that find no satisfactory answers or feel empty and deluded in their own homes of religion are directed towards the ancient religions and the old belief to find  in this way inner peace between so much discord.

Due to these changes the curiosity that leads to intense days of spiritual study emerges and this in turn tends to be linked to different branches of Witchcraft and Wizardry, like alchemy and Shamanism in some cases, without realizing that they all have links and they all have items parallel to each other such as polytheistic concepts, belief in reincarnation beyond the desired immortality and immutable use of magic to solve all kinds of situations.

Bobo masqueraders. Upper Volta (Burkina Faso)/ Post stamped 1966 || Scanned postcard; publisher Roland Marie.

Eastern Magic has as a solid foundation the mythology, the philosophy and religions that have been taking shape in the Far East. These focus mainly in the domain of spirits and demons, who are  attributed with a more real perception than we can understand, and in the spiritual realm through the recitation of mantras and incantations, control breathing and mental power in the pursuit of a solution to all our concerns of mundane origin.

Western Magic is a compilation of distantly eastern influences, a strong structure of Hebrew Kabbalistic tradition and the belief of a magical tradition from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, adorned with elements of traditional folk magic and real knowledge of the effects of certain plants and other elements on health.

In retrospect, two forms of elemental magic quite different from each other, but anyway, absolute Magic under different names. An African man and a German woman can certainly look different, but they don't stop being a same race and species with talents and needs.

African Moon Goddess by Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa

Magic in Africa & Japan

Magic, for the most part of Africa is referred to as “Voodoo” and over the Centuries has led to the point of being catalogued as a strong religion with millions of followers. A spiritual movement very similar to this is found in Brazil under names like “Umbanda”, “Candomblé” and “Kimbanda”, all or polytheistic pagan character. These combine their own form of indigenous African spiritualism and Shamanism sometimes with mysticism from Oceania.

Africans keep a faithful belief on the existence of an Omniscient Supreme God with great power that keeps his realm over a known group of minor Deities, whose have domain over diverse natural or human aspects such as the sea, volcanoes, love and wealth.

In Africa it is common to worship spirits and deities in different forms like the sun, tiger, moon and snakes. They have a significant pantheon of Deities and believe in the “loas”, wise spirits who are sometimes violent and frightening, other times  protective. They are the spirits of the dead and are summoned for divination and rituals for health.

On the other hand magic and sorcery in Japan lie in the belief of the Kami, (spirits evolved enough)  gods, demigods and geniuses, its power comes from the Japanese traditional Shamanism, old Buddhist legends and the constant practice of purification and spiritualism.

A common practice in northern Japan as in much of China's traditional Shamanism, is based on coexistence with the spirits of the home, possession of souls and the projection of dark entities which are handled with paper talismans called Ofuda.

A different stream of divination and mysticism has also been created around the practices of Buddhism and Hinduism. This is the clear result of a cultural exchange in the Japanese region also due Magi and believers who usually visit the region and leave constancy therefore their various practices.


Book: "Wicca! Love & Soul"
Author: Elhoim Leafar © Copyright
Available in: CreateSpace   Amazon Kindle   Barnes&Noble

What Is Magic? - Wicca! Love & Soul

What Is Magic?
From book: Wicca! Love & Soul

Magic, that great word that we have been hearing since very young, a word rich in history and meanings, a name shrouded in mysteries and illusions, comes from the Persian “Magush” meaning “to have the power”. This term was developed by the old Persian priestly line conceived by great Astrologers and Shamans of the Old Era.

Magic constituted the basis of the practices of priesthood in the of ancient Babylon. The whole story was imbued with great magicians, sorcerers, priests, witches and druids from Rome, Greece, Egypt, China, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, France and England and in most of the West and East of the Ancient World.

Magic has always been associated with the history of medieval Europe. It has been in countless stories, fairy tales and in recent years is the basic theme of the most successful films and TV series. Magic not only opens the possibility for a unknown world rich in stories, characters and myths of all species, it also gives us the power to make our personal goals a reality and make our dreams palpable.

Alchemy, Astrology, Shamanism, all they are part of the same universal tissue and they all act separately or together for a common good. Magic will not make you a millionaire, but will help to cover the costs. With faith you can put a roof over your head and if you desire it hard enough, it can bring that special person you expect to share the rest of your life and prolong your life and that of your loved ones.

We cal it Magic, we call it Spirit, we call it even Karma or Energy to all of this set of elements that exist around us since the world began. Since its inception, it has been adored, admired and studied in all religions and spiritual movements. Those who deny it, only fear it and they live their gray monotonous and cautionary lives, where they conform to rejoice in repeating the same acts day after day without being able to distinguish all that is hidden in front of themselves, seeking how to fill that emptiness inside their own ignorance and pride does not allow them to fill.

Those who recognize the existence of a superior spirituality can learn to use it, have the opportunity to live surrounded by great moments of happiness, for to use the power hidden in each one to attract love and good fortune does not violate any universal rule.

Magic teaches you to be happy at the worst times, teaches you that you are not alone at any moment and you live surrounded by countless ethereal beings willing to listen and help today, tomorrow and always. The Magic that you carry in you will take care of you and guide you by the good track, and by far you fail you will be taken by the hand of the Creator Spirit and he will take you back to the path of good magician to progress, learn and evolve.

Being in love with the simple fact of life is not crazy, on the contrary, it is to intimate with the most ingenious secrets of creation and to understand this unknown world that we have before our eyes but from young age we have been taught taught to deny  its existence. The real goals of the Magicians are to know everything around them and to use these tools to provide shelter to their concerns helping their relatives and themselves.

We can find this mysterious energy in every places and molecules in the universe as well as in the breathing of people, in the process of growth of people and plants, in the success and glory, in health, in love, in wealth and in the singing of birds, in the light and in the dark and in the eternal balance of things.

Magic is invisible and untouchable. To know the magic is to know the world and to know yourself. To understand it is to understand part of the essential workings of everything that happens around us. Magic is in absolutely every action we take, in every sense and each phase of the moon, from the simple act of making a wish on a star to the sacred act of blessing our power tools, all this is possible thanks to the mastery of this inner energy and understanding of the spirits around us.


Book: "Wicca! Love & Soul"
Author: Elhoim Leafar © Copyright
Available in: CreateSpace   Amazon Kindle   Barnes&Noble