SUBLUNAR SPACE - canary islands

Sublunar Sublimity

2025-06-23T15:30:00+02:00

In this essay, I want to unpack the personal gnosis that emerged from my initiation into the sphere of the Moon in early 2021 — partly to make sense of the waves this experience set in motion over the past few years, and partly to share my notes with others who may find echoes of their own path. The insights that surfaced don't immediately align neatly with the Moon's typical associations, and I believe they offer a perspective worth exploring.

Lunatic Fringe

When I did my lunar initiation I lived in a house that was basically a row of caves carved into the basalt rock in the arid and rural volcanic slopes in the South of Tenerife. Sleeping in a cave gives you a very different quality and depth of sleep and in my case resulted in very vivid dreams.

During that time I was researching and practicing the Gateway Experience¹ developed by the Monroe Institute through a series of guided audio sessions called Hemi-Sync Tapes that helps practitioners enter altered states of consciousness through a technique using binaural beats to synchronize brain hemispheres. The tapes aim to facilitate out-of-body experiences, deep meditation, enhanced focus, and exploration of non-physical realms by progressively training the mind to enter expanded states of awareness. Every day I tried to get into an altered state by following the guided meditations on the first tape, with varying and overall unsatisfactory results.

Part of the reason why I wanted to initiate into the sphere of the moon at this point was the expectation of improving my research experience. I remembered reading that this initiation had helped other seekers improve their clairvoyant faculties, scrying abilities, and general intuitive skills.

What unfolded instead was a mirror turned inward, revealing a completely hidden terrain I didn't yet have a name for.

I performed the initiation ritual in something of a rush, with only about 15 minutes of preparation after a stressful morning running errands across half the island and just before a friend was due to visit. For suffumigation, I chose the local herb incienso (Artemisia canariensis), which grows abundantly in this part of the island and whose scent helped calm me. What stood out and had not occurred with any of the other Seven Spheres except Helios was a vivid inner image: an angelic being, seated in a contemplative pose, holding a long staff in one hand, with a large cape, shawl, or flowing fabric billowing behind him in the wind.

A few hours after my ritual, I had more friends over for barbecue and beers. Normally I slip easily into the role of the attentive host, managing the atmosphere and keeping things flowing. But something had shifted. My attention turned inward — or rather, toward one person in particular, let's call her M. I became acutely aware of M.'s rising discomfort, not just observing it but feeling it with an unfamiliar intensity. I couldn't perform my usual role. It was as if the ritual had altered my consciousness.

M., with her sun, and ascendant in Cancer, quite literally embodies lunar energy. That evening, it felt like I was seeing the world through her eyes — emotionally attuned, sensitive to atmosphere, and unwilling to override what felt wrong. When she unexpectedly ended the night by asking everyone to go home — calmly, and clearly — I was stunned. It completely broke the flow of social expectations, but it also felt right and necessary.

A memory surfaced: years ago, during a loud and boozy birthday dinner with a former partner's family, I had suddenly quietly disassociated, then got up and walked straight out into the night, completely overwhelmed. I hadn't thought of that moment in years, but now it returned with new clarity.

After sharing this with M. in the conversations that followed, we began speaking more openly about how we move through the world — about forgetfulness, fractured attention, procrastination, sensory overwhelm.

In the following weeks, I found myself diving into a series of rabbit holes — reading, researching, listening, watching — anything that could help me make sense of what was stirring inside me. Each discovery peeled back another layer of my past. I began revisiting old memories, moments I had long tucked away or brushed off, and saw them in an entirely new light. What once seemed like personal failings or quirks, of which some I had learned to mask, now began to take on a different shape — patterns, signs, clues that had been there all my life without me realizing it.

What had begun as an external initiation was becoming an inward unveiling. Maybe this wasn't just empathy. Maybe it was recognition of something completely new. I started to suspect that I have what the world of mental health professionals calls "ADHD", perhaps even with traces of "Autism".

I have struggled in the last years with associating the intense transformation of my self-perception with the Lunar initiation because of the lack of classic lunar archetypes. It initially felt coincidental and totally unrelated. Instead of unlocking psychic abilities or dream visions in the way I had hoped for, it seemed to draw me into something far subtler — into the realm of perception itself.

That's when I turned to astrology.

Drawing Down the Moon

In Hellenistic astrology, the Moon is closely related to sleep, dreams, and the imaginal realm — acting as a mirror or mediator and the ruler of the dream-state, which is fluid, symbolic, and emotionally charged.

The Greek Titan goddess Selene (Luna) embodies the orb of the moon and its constant change. She is the sister of the sun, Helios and the dawn, Eos. Her great love is the beautiful human shepherd prince Endymion who was granted eternal youth and immortality by Zeus and placed in a state of eternal slumber. His heavenly bride consorts with him every night.²

It is important to understand that being the planet closest to Earth the ancients also saw the Moon as much more tied with one's physical incarnation and physical body as opposed to one's mental or spiritual body. It governs moisture, change, and rhythm — all qualities tied to biological cycles.

This primal physicality is reflected in another lunar goddess often syncretized with Selene: Artemis, embodying the skill of hunting, wild animals, and the hostility of wilderness itself. She is an independent free woman who does not need any partner and is one of the three Greek goddesses over whom Aphrodite has no power. Surrounded by her nymphs she delights in hunting and punishes harshly those who cross her.³

The Moon represents the hardcoded unconscious assumptions we've carried since the beginning — deeply rooted attitudes absorbed from our parents, inherited instinctual tendencies, and, most significantly, psychological patterns shaped by our earliest childhood experiences, both nurturing and wounding.

The action of the Moon tends to be unconscious. Either it is part of the structure of the self that has not been examined (though it influences our thinking and perception every minute of the day), or it relates to experiences that were very early, even prenatal, and which are therefore not conscious.⁶

In my chart, these aspects are amplified by the Moon being placed in her domicile in Cancer and in the fourth house — the Hypogeion, or "under the earth." This position anchors her influence deep in the foundations of life: ancestry, home, and inner identity.

Being the lowest of the celestial spheres the Moon is also seen as a transmitter of images from the divine or astral realms above to the human soul in the sublunar realms below.

This aspect of existing in and being able to pass through different realms is best personified by the third great Hellenic Moon goddess Hecate, associated with crossroads, night, magic, witchcraft, and the underworld. She is also often syncretized with Selene, especially in Helleno-Kemetic magical texts.

Hecate is widely accepted as a goddess of the fringes, ambivalent and polymorphous in essence, evading conventional boundaries and clear definition. She is generally represented as three-formed, triple-bodied, or triple-faced, having one head of a dog, one of a serpent, and one of a horse. In other representations, her animal heads include those of a cow and a boar. Hecate is associated with borders, thresholds, crossroads, the 'between' and, by extension, realms outside or beyond the world of the living.⁴

The astrological associations of the Moon are informed by the mythological narratives of the goddesses embodied by the planet. Studying them helped me contextualize my initiatory experience with lunar archetypes and better understand their relation to a way of being in the world that is commonly labeled as 'neurodivergent'.

Masks of Selene

Regina nemorum, sola quae montes colis et una solis montibus coleris dea, conuerte tristes ominum in melius minas. O magna siluas inter et lucos dea, clarumque caeli sidus et noctis decus, cuius relucet mundus alterna uice, Hecate triformis, en ades coeptis fauens.⁷

Though often rather seen as a tale of desire and longing, the myth of Selene and Endymion also speaks to the discovery of love, beauty, and meaning in quiet presence, receptive stillness, and the liminal space of dreams and inward journeys. It resonates with my life-long tendency to introversion, quietly indulging in and getting a lot of joy out of my own weird special interests.

The goddess Artemis embodies a refusal to conform to social norms of affection, gender roles, or civility. Her fierceness and autonomy resonate with my own experiences of emotional intensity that defies domestication. I have always had a strong urge for autonomy and fierce resistance to normative social rules, often to my disadvantage but always with a strong inner feeling of satisfaction.

Her dominion over crossroads, thresholds, and liminal spaces makes Hecate the most potent archetype for neurodivergent experience. Her triple form not only alludes to the concept of masking⁵ but resists categorization and reflects a consciousness that is multifaceted, paradoxical, and attuned to multiple realities at once. As a goddess of liminality she dwells at the edges of normative perception, navigating unseen paths, and inhabiting states that are neither one thing nor another.

In many ways, I recognize myself in this archetype. I adapt easily to changing environments and enjoy moving fluidly between different social circles. I either daydream or hyperfocus. I am drawn to cutting edge novelty, yet desperately haunted by overwhelming nostalgia, often drifting between realms — caught in the tides of past and future. My fascination with liminal spaces and fringe ideas now finds full expression in the weird magical journey I'm walking today.

All three lunar goddesses clearly resonate with different aspects of neurodivergence — one through introversion and fluid states of consciousness, the other through non-normative sovereignty and instinct, and the third through liminality, and a polymorphous identity.

Looking back, I see now that the Moon initiation absolutely nailed it.

Lunar Landing

My newly awakened Lunar awareness didn't give me the clarity I thought I was seeking — it gave me something subtler, and ultimately more profound: a new way of seeing.

What I once labeled as weakness or failure now feels more like a shifting tide — the ebb and flow of focus, energy, connection, and presence. Traits I had spent years trying to correct or conceal now appear as signatures of lunar archetypes: sensitivity to mood, to memory, to atmosphere; a porousness to the inner and outer worlds alike.

This new awareness doesn't erase the past, but it allows me to feel it differently — to inhabit it with more softness and more nuance. It also won't change the future. This isn't resolution — the Moon doesn't resolve. It constantly moves, reflects, transforms.

But it provides light in the darkness — enough to navigate by.

CIA Document: Document and Analysis of the Gateway Process ↩
Information about Selene on theoi.com ↩
Information about Artemis on theoi.com ↩
Information about Hecate on theoi.com ↩
Article on Masking by the UK's National Autistic Society ↩
Hand, Robert. Horoscope symbols. Schiffer+ ORM, 1997. pg. 52 ↩
"O queen of the groves (Artemis), thou who in solitude lovest thy mountain-haunts, and who upon the solitary mountains art alone held holy, change for the better these dark, ill-omened threats. O great goddess of the woods and groves, bright orb of heaven (Selene), glory of the night, by whose changing beams the universe shines clear, O three-formed Hecate, lo, thou art at hand, favouring our undertaking." Seneca, Phaedra 406 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) ↩

Call of the Siren

2025-06-11T19:30:00+02:00

From the banks of a canal in Berlin where I first gave offerings to an unseen current, through Tenerife's black-lava crucible where I was broken and re-forged, to the fragrant slopes of Mount Carmel I now roam, this essay tries to make sense of the occult aspects of migration. It pulls on the threads of personal metamorphosis, aquatic star goddesses who kept surfacing along the way, and the realization that landscape can replace ritual.

The Other Lady

In retrospect I can't help but acknowledge that my relocation two years ago feels like it was a logical continuation of some kind of magical pilgrimage. What had started as a devotional routine to the river spirit of Berlin years ago has in fact been a slow and steady accumulation of Saturnian forces that eventually culminated in taking the pandemic as a doorway out of a stale life. Following the lure of the dark god I took my family and journeyed to Tenerife just to have my continental ego shattered on his black lava anvil in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Ore smelted under the watchful eyes of various divine feminine hypostases, and forged into a more brittle yet purer neurodivergent me.

Saturn's syncretized Phoenician form of Baal-Hammon is physically present on every inch of the Canarian isle itself, from the black cliffs across the pine forests to the bleak volcanic mountain tops. His female consort Tanit materializes as the local divine mother, the Virgin of Candelaria, with whom I had formed a relationship throughout the years that could be described as 'disorganized attachment'¹: a deep desire for connection, yet at the same time, fearing it. The Blessed Virgin of Candelaria has accompanied me as a protective spirit since my introduction to her in 2018 and especially during my three year ritual journey of planetary self-initiation.

Looking back at that time of living on Tenerife I find it compelling that the other great Mother Mary that is fiercely venerated by the locals, especially in the town Puerto de la Cruz I lived in for two years — is La Virgen del Carmen, Stella Maris — the star of the sea, protectress of seafarers and fishermen². Just like with La Virgen de la Candelaria, her local cult carries undercurrents that feel deeply pagan.

Every year on Tuesday before her feast day on the 16th of July her statue is taken out of the local shrine at the church of Matriz de Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia and carried to the port in a procession. Sweets and chocolate are distributed among the tens of thousands of spectators who came to attend from across the Canary islands and beyond. The brotherhood of fishermen and sailors chant "La Salve Marinera"³ and the icon is carried out into the ocean on a boat and sometimes accompanied by other decorated vessels. She is then returned to the land and brought back to her shrine in another large procession that ends with fireworks.

Both the ritual of her death and rebirth like return from the sea and her association with the 'Star of the Sea' strongly resonate with the star and sea imagery of an older goddess with vast popularity: Aphrodite/Venus. The goddess born from the foam of the sea⁴, Aphrodite also bears the title of Ourania (Οὐρανία = heavenly) or "Queen of Heaven", and is associated with "spiritual love". It is mirrored in the symbol most strongly associated with Our Lady of Mount Carmel: the brown scapular⁵, a wearable devotional item signifying spiritual commitment. To top it off, both are strongly associated with the "morning star"⁶ — one manifests as the bright planet Venus, the other is venerated as "Stella Maris" — the star of the sea.

Chasing the Star

In late 2021 I briefly lived in shared house in the town of La Orotava just above Puerto de la Cruz. It was here in this room that I felt compelled to perform my initiation into the planetary mysteries of Venus. One of the reasons for this was the very curious coincidence that my furnished room had a large tapestry above the bed: a very unique artistic rendition⁷ of the 17th Major Arcana Tarot card "The Star"⁸. It shows a nude woman emerging out of a body of water that is up to her waist, raising both hands up in a praising gesture towards a radiant star surrounded by constellations. In the water in front of her is a pink lotus flower. Among some magical symbols next to her is the astrological symbol of Venus. It was the most venusian version of the Star card I had ever come across. As a bonus it has the number 80 on it which I immediately interpreted as matching my birth year.

In most Tarot decks the depicted star on the Star card has eight points. This calls into mind a very old iconic Mesopotamian symbol: the eight pointed Star of Ishtar⁹ specifically associated with the planet Venus.

In scholarly circles it is widely believed¹⁰¹¹ that Aphrodite is a later syncretic form of this exact same ancient Near Eastern goddess Ishtar (also known as Astarte, ʿAttart, or Innana). They share many syncretisms, even more so in her popular form as Aphrodite Pandemos (Πάνδημος = common to all the people), namely sexuality, procreation, beauty, and sensual pleasures (aspects that Our Lady of Mount Carmel is clearly missing for very uniquely Catholic reasons 😹).

What Astarte does have very much in common with our Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel though, is her geographic place of origin: the Levant. The earliest record of Astarte is from the 3rd millennium BC kingdom of Ebla¹² southwest of today's Syrian city of Aleppo. Although her cult spread across Syria, Canaan, Cyprus, coastal Palestine and even parts of Egypt, the major centers of her worship during the Iron Age were the Phoenician city-states of Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos (all in today's Lebanon).

Our Lady of Mount Carmel was conceived as the "Lady of the Place" by Christian hermits who lived on the Carmel hills in the North of Israel and later formed the Carmelite Order and the Stella Maris Monastery¹³ overlooking the city of Haifa. It was on this same hill that according to scripture the Abrahamic prophet and wizard Elijah¹⁴ had dwelled in a cave and famously challenged and defeated the local prophets of Ba'al and Astarte in a magical battle. The Bible doesn't explicitly mention Astarte in this context but instead another related goddess:

Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.²³

Often falsely conflated with Astarte the other great Levantine goddess Asherah¹⁵ is more of a primordial mother of the gods and a nature and fertility goddess, but with deep connections to the sea as her son is Yam, the sea itself and her epithet is "Lady of the Sea". Her cult was widespread throughout ancient Israel and there are even controversial traces of her being considered the consort of the Hebrew god YHVH¹⁶ himself. Our Lady of Mount Carmel obviously also syncretizes many of Asherah's aspects which ties her even stronger to the sacred geography of the mountain range.

One of the surprising results of my Venus ritual had been an immediate and growing appreciation of someone I did not expect at all in such a Hermetic framework: Jesus Christ. I was puzzled by it back then, but now, after unraveling all the above mentioned intertwined threads of the divine feminine it makes a lot of sense: channeling Venus in my local Canarian context at the time inevitably resonated with the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel in all of her syncretic aspects.

But the surprise connection runs even deeper. The morning star is not only the celestial body of Aphrodite and Astarte, but also one of the self-designations Jesus uses:

I am the root, the descendant of David — the bright morning star.²⁴

This Venusian current runs even earlier into the Christian story than most of us realize. According to some astronomical studies¹⁷, the Star of Bethlehem itself may have been the bright heliacal rising of Venus precisely on the day of the Jewish New Year (the day ancient Israel and Mesopotamia celebrated the enthronement of the king). This celestial occurrence matches the moment of September 1st, 2 BCE at 4:30 a.m. local time in Bethlehem. If this reading holds any truth, it means that Venus not only marks the Christ's spiritual identity but also quite literally signaled his earthly arrival.

Meet me on Mount Carmel

Looking back I see my Venus initiation the pivot point of my personal process of transformation and physical relocation. It was at this moment that the forces of Saturn passed the baton of my destiny on to Venusian ones. In the same way I had followed the former from Berlin to the Canary island of Tenerife I would now follow the latter from her remote Canarian shrine to her original stomping grounds: Mount Carmel.

That's exactly where my family and I moved to in early 2023: a small rural village situated on the actual Carmel mountain range just south of Haifa — into a half abandoned house of my wife's long deceased grandparents. The area is much greener, quieter and more provincial than the hectic urban center of the country where most people live. Most of Israel's Arab citizens live up here¹⁸ and coexistence is a daily lived reality. Of course that doesn't mean it's easy and chill, but those terms don't apply to the Middle East anyway.

I have begun to love Haifa. It's a weird and confusing place with neighborhoods sprinkled among hilltops, glued to the side of the mountain, tucked into canyons and valleys and crammed between the steep cliffs and the sea. It's easy to get lost and navigating the ups and downs constantly messes up your internal map of the place. The tragic normality of ongoing missile or drone incursion threats led to a semi-permanent jamming of the GPS signal in various neighborhoods¹⁹, so in many places the internal map and analog navigation is all you have. Getting lost is a feature of the place. Wherever I go I encounter Orthodox Jews, Christian Arabs, Druze, Ahmadi Arabs, Ba'hais, secular Russians, American expats, punks, drunks, surfers, hippies, and hipsters that work in IT. It's a crazy, exhausting, beautiful mix.

It is telling that one of Haifa's neighborhoods right by the sea that is frequented by surfers has the name Bat Galim²⁰ ("daughter of the waves") and that a certain beach in Kyriat Yam in the city's north is repeatedly haunted by mermaid sightings²¹ ²². This is sea goddess territory.

I remember a few months back I finally visited the Stella Maris monastery, excited to form a relationship with the famous Lady of this place but then found that I was not really able to vibe with her despite (or maybe because of?) the meaning-laden holiness of this landscape. I felt weirdly disconnected, not really able to relate. It just felt a bit awkward. What was happening? Probably oversaturation.

Magical Materialism

What I mostly enjoy is my new hermit life with long walks alone on the vast and empty sand beaches, through the olive groves near our village, or the wild bushland and forests of the Carmel. It has become my daily spiritual practice and self-care routine. It amuses me now that in the very secular Berlin I used to have a fairly regular ritual habit with daily planetary prayers and monthly headless rites but since I am here in the literal "Holy Land" — one of the most excessively religious places in the world — my need for any kind of ritual habit has completely faded.

On some days when I am out and about and I feel that my mind wanders off too far into the realms of mundane monkey anxieties I resort to cycling my favorite mantra borrowed from the Hesychasts that always manages to pull me back into the present:

Kyrie Iesou Christe, eleison me

(Reciting the beginning up to the comma inhaling, and the end exhaling.)

I feel like I lost my need to shift to an imaginal ceremonial mindset to fulfill my own spiritual yearnings. It feels like pretentious cosplay to me now. Oversaturation. I remember that some mystical traditions — Gnostic, Sufi, and Eastern Orthodox among them — suggest that the true original sin was not disobedience, but distraction: the moment humanity fell out of direct presence and into fragmentation of attention. Rather than a single act, the Fall is seen as a loss of unified awareness of the Divine, a collapse into mental chatter and separation. As a neurodivergent, this is a topic I am painfully aware of.

Each morning the Carmel wind reminds me that geography can be liturgy. The thyme-scented air and the dusty light are my incense. Drifting through landscape is prayer. You just have to pay attention.

Here I wear no scapular but the salt on my skin, and it is enough.

The pilgrimage continues where it began: a body besides water. Each wave on the beach of Carmel is the same murky Berlin current, the same Atlantic surge on black lava cliffs — the siren never stopped luring me "home" — only changed shoreline.

Attachment Project Blog article on Avoidant Attachment Style ↩
Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Wikipedia ↩
The hymn "La Salve Marinera" with lyrics and translation ↩
Aphrodite's birth myth on Theoi ↩
Info on the Brown Scapular from Sisters of Carmel ↩
Wikipedia article on the planet Venus in different cultures ↩
Full Samiramay Tarot Deck (digital) on Vera Petruk's page ↩
Weird Studies podcast episode on The Star card ↩
Star of Ishtar Wikipedia article ↩
Info on Ištar and Aphrodite at the Melammu Project ↩
Sugimoto, David T. Transformation of a Goddess: Ishtar-Astarte-Aphrodite. Vol. 263. Academic Press/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014. Archive ↩
Archi, Alfonso. Ebla and its archives: Texts, history, and society. de Gruyter, 2015. ↩
Official Website of the Stella Maris monastery ↩
Mary and Elijah on the Carmelites website ↩
The Goddess Asherah: Queen of Heaven, Mother of Creation by Deanna Riddick on Medium ↩
Smith, Mark S. "God male and female in the Old Testament: Yahweh and his “Asherah”." Theological Studies 48.2 (1987): 333-340. ↩
The Star of Bethlehem from an astronomical and astrological perspective by Dieter Koch, Astrodienst ↩
Arab citizens of Israel Wikipedia article ↩
Why GPS can't find you in Haifa — article on GLOBES ↩
Wikipedia page of Bat Galim ↩
Jerusalem Post article from August 11, 2009 about mermaid sightings ↩
ynet article NBC: Kiryat Yam mermaid might be real from April 5, 2010 ↩
1 Kings 18:19 ↩
Revelation 22:16 ↩

Dark Night of the Soul

2023-07-10T19:30:00+02:00

This is the most difficult article I've written so far. I have less mental capacities to write than I used to and so much has happened since we set sails to our escape journey at the end of 2020. Little did I know that it would turn into a real odyssey.

I have written extensively about some of my experiences of planetary self-initiation in the past but I have come to realize that the further I progessed through the spheres the more meaningful and personal they became. It feels almost inappropriate to make all the details public here, due to their very personal nature and because they coincided with a difficult period of depression and crisis that took quite some time and effort to get out of. But I will try to briefly touch on them because they might actually be the most important magical experiences of my life.

The last time I had been through a similar personal upheaval and depression was over a decade ago around the time of my Saturn Return (while being completely ignorant of that concept). Back then I managed to shed several layers of self-perceived expectations and societal pressure that had kept my authentic self in confinement and came out of it feeling more like a grownup than before.

This time it was different. Not only in terms of the darkness and confusion I had to push through, as well as the mind-blowing levels of self-realization, but especially due to the magnitude of traumatizing fallout that directly influenced my immediate family. It's one thing to live through a period of depression by yourself, but when you are embedded in a family unit and have responsibilities as a spouse and parent, it is impossible to protect your loved ones from getting hurt.

Thus Spoke the Goddesses

Past planetary initiations had taught me about my relationship with my parents and the need for personal sovereignty (Jupiter), about the temporality of life and nonlinearity of time (Saturn), the art of war and listening to my instincts (Mars). They were all mind-blowing and exciting. In contrast, the initiations of the feminine planets I went through while living on the Canary Island of Tenerife turned out to be deeply soul shattering.

I had been especially looking forward to my Lunar initiation ritual, naively hoping it would help me get more lucid dreams or better psychic skills. Instead, the luminary goddess made me realize that significant parts of my past life had been a self-deceptive lie and that I actually tick all the boxes of an ADHD diagnosis while leaning heavily into the Autism spectrum. How's that for a surprise?

Facing Venus was something I had been scared of ever since starting the 7 spheres cycle, mainly due to the frightening experiences my mage friend Aaron of Charm the Water had gone through but I had to eventually do it and the ritual timing coincided with a very difficult relationship crisis. With equal intensity to her lunar kin the goddess of love and beauty made me ask myself very uncomfortable questions about my interpersonal experiences and abilities that both directly tied into my newly discovered neurodiversity. On the upside - and very weird for a pagan goddess - my venusian initiation resulted in a sudden felt sense of closeness to - wait for it - I still can't really comprehend it: Jesus Christ.

Into the Abyss

So here I was, displaced on a volcanic saturnian island in the middle of the Atlantic. Grappling with mental health issues, questioning my whole past life, having lost my career and general faith in humanity during a raging pandemic, having no friends and a shattered marriage apparently wasn't enough: I conducted Covid-19 during a short trip to Romania and infected my family when I returned. It hit us hard. My wife the hardest. I don't know how we all managed to not lose our minds completely and I really have problems recalling memories of that time. It was grim.

Three months after having officially recovered from Covid-19 I almost drowned from attempting to swim in the sea. My physical condition was at its worst ever, I could barely breathe and it all really bummed me out. When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February 2022 it was the cherry on the despair cake and I lost it. I drifted off into a serious depression of which I barely recall anything besides fractions of images. I was suffering heavy post-Covid symptoms, overwhelming fatigue, a brainfog so intense I was unable to read or write properly.

In the months that followed, my wife - who miraculously hadn't left me - somehow managed to drag us all off the island and we spent several weeks traveling. We met my parents on their holidays on the neighbor island of Fuerteventura, we also traveled all our former homes, reconnecting with family and friends and it felt like collecting long forgotten shards of my soul.

Tikkun Atzmi

I wandered the endless white beaches of Fuerteventura, drowning in nostalgia from childhood vacation memories, reliving the bliss of those magical times, letting months of stuck tears flow.

I walked the streets of Berlin with a never before encountered intense sense of placeness. I ritually visited every house and neighborhood I had lived in for the past 20 years. I was overwhelmed by forgotten memories, almost breaking down on several occasions, finding myself crying, finally integrating grief and loss of past failed relationships and old friends.

I wandered through the forests around my hometown, in awe of the intensity of how much 'home' this place felt, reconnecting with my parents and friends from teenage times. We ended up spending several weeks in Heidelberg and I couldn't shake the feeling that immersing myself in this ancestral place contributed a lot to my recovery. I finished the seven Spheres with Mercury at his temple on the same mountain I had started the planetary journey three years earlier.

It was during that time that we decided to close this weird liminal chapter of our life and leave Tenerife for good. What had started as a hopeful and optimistic escape had turned out to be a dark underworld journey in the middle of a tropical paradise. And like every heroes journey it felt crucial to finish it properly and to return home. But what does 'home' even mean when you are a mixed background family? This had been one of our primary discussions in the last two years: where is our home? Where do we want to live? Where is our 'Ithaka' to return to?

We stayed on the island for just a few more weeks, wrapping up our life there and eventuall left the same way we had arrived - by land and sea - like Odysseus.

We arrived back in our old home of Berlin and rediscovered all of our belongings we had left behind two years before. Everything felt eerily familiar yet foreign and distant. In an almost manic tour de force we managed to get rid of the majority of our stuff, renovate the old flat and sublet it to a friend of ours - all within a month - and we took off to open a new chapter in a new place - yet another chapter of uncertainty but with ancestral ties: my wife's homeland, the holy land, Israel.

Solve et Coagula

I am still in the midst of an ongoing and probably never-ending process of re-framing and integrating my own past, re-adjusting my life to my newly realized neurodiversity and attempting to put it all into context. It's been a wild ride so far. My (also neurodiverse) wife and I have managed to reconcile and rebuild trust and are working through a ton of past baggage, both individual and common. Meanwhile I got the diagnosis of a liver condition resulting in raised cholesterole levels that might be the result of genetic disposition and long-covid. I take medication for that and since doing so I have been feeling much better physically. Also my brainfog has lifted to the point where I can read books again and write a few paragraphs of text. Overall I am hopeful and positive about the future and despite the intensity of dark experiences during the last two years I am grateful and in awe about the deep transformations I am going through. Jung called the process 'individuation', alchemists called it 'Magnum Opus', the 'Great Work' and now I know that 'great' refers to the incomprehensible heaviness of the 'work', the sacrifices and traumas one can endure on the way to a more authentic self.

I thank the planetary spirits, the gods and the theotokos for heeding my calls and pushing me through this magical adventure, the labyrinth of self-discovery that without proper divine help has the potential to merely become what's commonly referred to as 'midlife crisis'.

To Ram Through

2021-05-02T16:30:00+02:00

This is a half a year late quick report of personal gnosis that followed my initiation into the sphere of Mars right before he went retrograde in August 2020. I learned about the art of war, energy management, and to follow my instincts.

I admit it wasn't the best Astrological election to do my initiation into the sphere of Mars on Tuesday, August 18th. Mars was squaring Saturn, but also in a trine with a combust Mercury. But it was a New Moon and Aries was rising during the hour of Mars. I followed my intuition and just did it. My tropical sun-sign is Aries, so is my sidereal ascendant as well as my Lot of Daemon. So far, martian space weather has been mostly auspicious in my life.

I got myself into the right mood by listening to some war-glorifying electronic anthems from the local anti-german subculture, like "Alles musz in Flammen stehen" ("Everything must be in flames") by Das Flug, or Björn Peng's "We Do" and the theme of one of my favourite post-apocalyptic b-movies "Hardware". As soundtrack for the initiation itself I chose an organ arrangement of Gustav Holst's "Mars. Bringer of War".

My libation of choice was a deep port wine and I was excited to fumigate some of the Canarian dragonblood I had harvested on Tenerife some years ago. I decorated the altar with my taiji practice broadsword and a selection of corresponding Tarot cards: Ace of Wands, The Chariot, The Tower, ...The Force? I hesitated with the latter because it represents a more feminine yin form of martian energy but it made me think of Athena, the sister of Ares, symbolizing a more disciplined, strategic side of war. I wasn't sure about it, so I put it back into the card box.

Utilizing my Psithemius table of practice the invocation of Samael went smoothly. Like in my first use of the device for my solar initiation I got visual feedback again this time: the silhouette of a staff or spear wielding man appeared in front of my inner eye while gazing into the crystal.

Getting Things Done

I did not expect to have instant effects from the ritual, but already from the next day I had a burst of energy that lasted for a good week. I followed an urge to clear out our basement, a project I had successfully postponed over and over for months already. I also finally felt very motivated to start working on renovating our newly purchased transporter to turn it into a campervan. I worked on it almost every day.

A few days later things got weird. At 5 in the morning I was woken up by an obnoxious digital sounding noise. It came from my phone that was charging in the kitchen. It was an alarm. But the phone showed no indicator, no snooze button, no sign of the usual alarm interface. It stopped when I hit the volume down button. Then I saw that the phone was actually set to fully silent - even the alarms. It shouldn't have made any sound. Weird! When I went back to bed, slightly confused and annoyed, my daughter E suddenly started to giggle and cackle in her sleep. It creeped the hell out of me. Later that day I was sitting on the couch in our living room and opened a letter from the Police. Allegedly I had bumped into someone's car while pulling out of a parking lot. I was devastated and scared of the legal consequences. Suddenly my daughter came to me with a proud face to show me something she had done. I almost fell off the couch...

She handed me the Force card of my tarot deck, cleanly cut into two halves and the rounded corners clipped off. I should have known better but instead I yelled at her and she started crying. Of course she didn't know or understand what she had done. I was confused. I clearly remember having put this card back into its box. How did she get it? And how come it was the exact one I had so hesitated with? It struck me like an answer: "No, not this card is not Mars!"

And in combination with the letter from the Police! Samael clearly teaching some lessons here. I guessed this was about obedience, honoring rules and questioning my relationship with authorities. Things I have always had difficulties with.

The Art of War

The core martian teachings unfolded in the following weeks. But due to privacy concerns regarding a client I work as a consultant for I cannot go into any of the juicy details. All I can vaguely disclose is they had experienced an internal breach of trust that resulted in a power struggle destabilizing the whole company. Suddenly and out of nowhere my technical expertise was needed, but in more ways than anticipated. I found myself placed in the role of a war-general: assuming and predicting the next steps of the enemy and working on strategies to anticipate them.

My bursts of energy of the first week after the rite had been focused on my own personal projects, random and not very controled. Now I learned that directing martian energies towards a greater goal beyond mere personal gain and satisfaction seems to exponentially amplify them. My martial personality traits bloomed as never before and I felt contented to a whole new level.

This chapter lasted almost the whole Mars retrograde phase but ended in a glorious victory. The internal enemy was defeated, their actions repelled and retaliated. I was high from pride, the client both as surprised by my skills as I was and very satisfied by my work. Soon after, we agreed on a long term commitment. I felt very lucky, because the pandemic had killed my 15 year career from one day to another and I really needed a new job anyway.

Ovine Instincts

The other "thing" that happened in the aftermath of my Mars initiation was more of a process than an event. It started out as just a subtle but then day after day increasing irrational feeling of panic and looming danger. I got very anxious about it but at the same time it also felt eerily familiar.

In the the last decade I have already learned to trust my general instincts and gut feelings about life decisions more than my rational faculties. Ever since treading an enchanted path I tend to attribute this subtle "knowing" to my "higher self", "daimon", or my "guardian angel". When I found out that the planetary ruler of my astrological lot of daimon (Aries) is Mars I wasn't surprised at all. This intuitive force has always felt that way to me.

The growing anxiety felt exactly like that. Almost animal-like. An ovine precognition of imminent danger. And it was clearly related to the pandemic. Day after day I felt a stronger urge that we must escape Berlin as fast as possible, or else...

I talked to my wife about it and she trusted me. We came up with a crazy plan. Our initial incentive to buy a van and convert it into a camper was to travel France, Spain, and Portugal. We even did a test camping trip through the South of Germany in July and really loved it. Well, then pandemic related travel restrictions were put in place, so we had to ditch that whole idea. Now it was back on the table, but modified. Not "travel" but "escape".

At this point we didn't really know what to escape from but we knew where to: The Canary Islands.

That in itself seemed quite crazy: drive to an archipelago off the coast of Morocco, almost 4000km away, by car?! Mars didn't think it was crazy, so that's what we ended up doing...but that's going to be the content of another article.

Postscriptum

The police sent a letter a few weeks later that the case was dropped. And eventually also my intuition was right. After we left Berlin, lockdown measures got implemented, all childcare and schools closed. Most flights cancelled. Travel restricted. We would have been stuck in a locked down metropolis during a cold and dark winter with a bored and anxious child without kindergarten to go to and without friends to meet. Thanks to Mars we avoided a mental health crisis.

Canary Capricorn

2020-03-02T20:45:00+01:00

This is a detailed report of strange days full of pine tree portals, morning glory vines, tachycardia, synchronicities and personal gnosis that preceded (or retroactively followed) my initiation into the sphere of Saturn during a vacation with my wife and daughter on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

Escaping Winter

In the last years the time after Christmas has always been quite a downer. Berlin falls into a mode of total greyness that just makes you want to hibernate. Usually my freelance economy is also hibernating during that time when there are no jobs around. For this year my partner T. and I decided to escape this misery and booked vacations on my beloved Canary archipelago - first a couple of days on the chthonic gods' black rock altar manifested as the island of Lanzarote and then three weeks on the sacred island of Tenerife. We prepared for relaxed weeks, but ended up in wonderland...

A few days after we arrived on Tenerife things became very strange. It all started on a Wednesday, two days after we arrived by sea with a ferry from Lanzarote. The trip between the islands was beautiful but also wavy and quite long. All tired and unnerved from the journey we arrived at a small and quite cold little hut in the mountains of La Esperanza. The hut was cute but had no heating, just a malfunctioning fireside. That Wednesday we all decided to go for a walk in the forest which according to the map was only minutes away. Remembering the ancient pine trees we had visited last time we came to this island, I let my offline-map-app Osmand show me all points of interest of the "tree" category and chose the closest one to our house.

Ten minutes later we found ourselves in a stunningly beautiful forest of mostly pine trees with eucalyptus groves and small leaved shrubbery on hilly ground covered in an endless carpet of pine needles. The walk was very soothing and gave us back a sense of peace of mind. We eventually arrived at our waypoint marker: a really creepy and old pine tree that must have barely survived a wildfire. Its trunk was hollowed out and from the remaining black bark dripped thousands of threads of golden resin. The bottom part of the trunk was so thoroughly burnt from all sides it created a hole you could see through to the other side, large enough for a person to crawl through.

Baal's Portal

Well, that's what we did, jokingly calling it a "gateway to another dimension". First I, then my wife T. and a bit more hesitantly, my 3 years old daughter E. stepped through the tree trunk. It was fun! Before leaving I decided I wanted a branch from the tree to keep as a magic wand because maybe the old pine had been struck by lightning which is supposed to be the perfect magically charged wood for wands. I circled the tree four times and threw a small log at one of the branches that broke off. The branch was not as straight as I had hoped for but was a bit crooked like a sickle, but I kept it anyway.

We walked a bit further, had a small picnic and started our way back to the car. Making our way through a bushy and narrow path downhill my daughter started to get a bit tired and bored and made up one of her roleplaying games. She declared: "I am Juno now! You have to call me Juno, OK?” I smiled and nodded and we continued our descent. Suddenly I remembered that the ancient mother goddess who was venerated by the aboriginal population of the Canarian archipelago and who had been syncretized into the Catholic patron saint Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria was assumed to have been the Catharginian goddess Tanit, whom the Romans dubbed "Juno Caelestis." What a curious synchronicity!

In the following night I had a strange dream involving a village road that we needed to urgently pass through and that it had something to do with Saturn. We needed to pick up a brown rental car of the type "Reverend" and it was a brown SUV stretch-limousine. The pick-up location was at a wide sandy beach and there were plenty of people wearing suits wildly racing stretch-limousines across the sand and performing wheelies and other tricks. It was loud and stormy. I looked along the beach and saw a body of a woman lying face down in the wet sand, white roaring waves breaking violently around her. Suddenly a humanoid giant emerged out of the whitewater and carefully picked up the body. The woman was was my wife! I ran to the giant as fast as I could. T. was confused but seemed fine. I thanked the giant and suddenly had a moment of realization. I looked at her, saying "If they are on our side, this must be really important!" Then I woke up.

Horned Gods

I obsessively thought about the "Saturn" part all day long. I just couldn't shake it off. In the evening I did a search for "Saturn" in my collected research documents folder on my computer related to myths and archaeological findings of the Canary Islands and found an interesting paper¹ I had not read yet. It was about a curious theory that the Canaries must have been visited by Christian missionaries before the official arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the late 14th century, because the aboriginal population mainly venerated a heavenly creator god and his holy mother when encountered. The author found this a too curious coincidence and looked into what numinous creatures local folklore had declared "devils" like in so many other Christianized areas of Europe where the previous pagan gods were either syncretized into Saints or declared evil demons. He found matching stories about "wooly goat or sheep like creatures" with "red eyes" an on one island a "wooly black haired man" who were usually appeased on mountain tops with offerings of milk and butter. The author's theory was that this was probably their god before they started believing in a transcendental heavenly father. He related the goaty god to Baal-Hammon, who was the other prime deity next to Tanit worshipped in Catharge and throughout many areas of North Africa, primarily by Berber tribes. In the paper¹ it was mentioned that the Romans saw in Baal-Hammon a form of Saturn.¹

Mind blown, I went to bed and thought a lot about everything I had learned. Then it dawned on me: Saturn! Kronos! Baal-Hammon! My dream and the forest walk suddenly made sense in an uncanny way. The pine tree is considered a Saturnian creature. The branch I had broken off: it looked like a scythe! My daughter suddenly coming up with the name "Juno". Tanit!

The next days were weirdly interwoven with synchronicities. I felt strangely disconnected from life and seemed to experience everything from a weird observer perspective. I obsessively started to think about doing a ritual for Saturn or Baal-Hammon. Maybe using the Trithemius method from "Seven Spheres"? I didn't have my "table of practice" with me. I would need to make one. I needed materials, incenses, candles, corresponding plants... The moment I had just finished this last thought I just finished parking our car next to a park in the city of La Laguna and almost fell into a gigantic hedge completely overgrown by purple Morning Glory vines. There it is! A Saturnian plant! We walked through the city and past a large mural sculpture made from plastic trash. It was a black crow! A Saturnian animal! Needless to say that I noticed SUVs everywhere we drove to, all in this weird brown color like the one in my dream.

One afternoon we took a walk along the large meadows surrounding the little house we had rented for our vacation. Suddenly a large flock of sheep entered our neighboring field with their archaic looking shepherd and his dogs. Half of the livestock were sheep, the other half a strange looking breed of black and very wooly goats with very long corkscrew-like horns. "Baal-Hammon" I thought. The "wooly goat god" of the Canaries. Also "Capricorn" popped into my mind. Of course. The sun just entered the sidereal zodiac sign of Capricorn, home of the planet Saturn who would also join his sign in the upcoming days. This was too much!

At night I couldn't sleep well. Something really bothered me. It was the fact that the Catharginian cults of Tanit and Baal-Hammon were tightly connected to human sacrifice, specifically child sacrifice. Followers had allegedly offered their firstborns to their gods, unless the whole story was just Greek, Jewish and later Christian propaganda. Nobody really knows. But it bothered me a lot, being a father and all. I did not want to go that path of syncretizing Saturn with Baal-Hammon. It just felt: wrong! In the night I had a nightmare of which the only image I remembered upon waking in panic was holding the limp body of my daughter in my hands.

Another evening my wife and I had a long and serious talk about our current life. It was a talk that had been long overdue. About our financial situation. About our job situation and occupational outlooks. About the lack of overview over our assets. About living from day to day, the lack of perspective and planning. About stability and getting our shit together. It was good. We also had more and more serious talks about what we want in our life. About where we want to live our life. About how much we loved it here and whether we want to stay in Berlin or relocate to the Canary Islands. A once wild dream suddenly became a concrete topic that needed attention, consideration, planning. Saturn in Capricorn. It all felt appropriate and weirdly controlled, as if external forces made us finally have these talks.

Transience

I felt very light-headed and dizzy one early evening and went to bed earlier than usual. I felt weirdly sick. My body was completely exhausted, but my mind was highly alert. I took this as an opportunity to try to induce "sleep paralysis" and attempt and out of body experience. It didn't fully work. I was able to shift my awareness around in the room and even push it outside of the house, but wasn't sure how much of it was just vivid imagination. It was a strange evening and I had feverish repetitive dreams that night without actually having a fever. The following evening our daughter seemed extraordinarily restless and crazy. Even for a three and a half year old. She was clumsy and whiny and when my wife took her on her lap to comfort her she suddenly said: "her heart seems very fast!". I put my ear on our daughter's chest and counted. 22 in 6 seconds. Holy Shit. A heart rate of 220 beats per minute! We calmed her down and went to bed, hoping for her pulse to slow down during her sleep.

It didn't.

The next day we rushed to the hospital. The closest one was the University Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. How appropriate, I thought. We were treated nicely and with patience, although the emergency ward was completely overcrowded and in chaos. Nobody spoke English or German, yet we managed with my very limited Spanish. The very young doctors in the pediatric section did an electrocardiogram and gave our little one a shot of adenosine. A heart reset. It stops the heart for a moment. It is a very scary thought. But it works. It did work. Her little heart reset to normal speed and we were very relieved. She was very scared and confused. Poor thing.

Apparently she had relapsed into a fairly common heart condition she had as a small baby which she was supposed to be cured from a long time ago. During the next 6 hours staying in the hospital for observation so many things went through my mind. About parenthood and responsibility. About not taking things for granted. About more awareness of risks. About protecting my child better from insensible doctors. About fear of loss and parental anxieties. It was hell. But my daughter loved it. So much attention and hours of cartoons.

Eventually we could go home. When I left the building to get our car I saw a rainbow in the sky above the city. Problem was that I couldn't find our car anymore. Where had I parked it? I randomly walked up and down the small roads around the hospital. They all looked the same. Then I saw the rainbow again, at the end of a small street. I took a turn and walked towards it to get a better look and suddenly there it was in front of me: our car!

Temporality

That evening I was scared to the bones. Baal-Hammon. Saturn. Child sacrifice. A moment of death before the heart resets. My nightmare of holding my limp daughter. It was way too much. I wanted it all to stop. I suddenly felt almost compelled to do a ritual. Not to start something, but to stop it. The next day I gave my wife a day off to recover from the stress and I took my daughter to Puerto de la Cruz, to do something nice, buy her ice-cream, visit some playground. The secondary objective was to go to the local Esoteric shop and a paper shop to buy ritual accessories. A quartz crystal. Storax incense. Black paper. Silver pen. It had to be done.

At some pont it hit me! Saturn! Father of time! Of course! I realized that everything that happened in the last days had the strange taste of initiation to it. I remembered the Jovial initiation I did last year. The feeling of outside perspective on my own life. The sparks of inspiration. The lessons and emotions. All the weird synchronicities that happened after I initiated into the sphere of Jupiter. This was the same but different. Why did all of this happen BEFORE my initiation ritual and not AFTER? Why? Because Saturn rules time! He can do whatever the fuck he wants with it. Why not reverse it and let the initiation ritual ripple into the past instead of the future, or why not both ways? It was crystal clear to me now that I had to do the ritual as soon as possible. I decided to do it on the 25th of January. New Moon in sidereal Capricorn, sun also, and Saturn just entering his home sign too. Plus it was a Saturday. Perfect space weather. I asked my Tarot whether it was a good election and what to expect.

To my defense: it wasn't just me who felt this omnipresent looming weirdness. T. felt it too. Ever since we crawled through that creepy tree, she said. Oh god, that tree. It was true. Like another dimension! We decided that we needed to go back and crawl through it again – this time from the other side! And we were not joking.

On Friday and especially on Saturday I felt awful. Very depressed and sad for no apparent reason, anxious and clumsy and very snappy. Tired and unnerved we barely managed to go back to the tree, but we did. It had to be done. I circled it four times, this time clockwise, and all three of us climbed back through the gaping hole in the charred trunk.

We suddenly felt very relieved and strangely happy and walked back to the car.

Calling Qaftsiel

In the evening I packed all my ritual accessories I had gathered and prepared in the days before and got into the car around sunset. I drove down the village road to a hedge I had spotted before. Overgrown by Morning Glory! I harvested a few vines with the purple flowers and hit the road uphill towards the mountain. It was pitch black as I drove up the serpentine roads through the forest. After cancelling a hike up to the mountain top due to the darkness and also deciding not to use a cave near the road due to unbearable urine stench I spontaneously opted for a manmade cave I had marked on my phone-map a few days before. It was just off an easy to find hiking path and should be doable even in the darkness.

I was a bit scared walking through the forest at night but I felt excitement and an urge to push through with the plan. I climbed down a steep hill into a small valley in total darkness, slipping on the pine needles and mossy rocks. My phone reception went dead. I should have left my coordinates. Fuck it. Let's do it. I eventually found the cave! It was a small horizontal mine shaft from old attempts to dig a tunnel for water. There are thousands of these on the island. This one was around a meter in diameter and just two meters deep into the rock. But it was dry and clean and fortunately too inaccessible to be used as a toilet. It was perfect!

I set up my altar and table of practice, decorated it with the flowers and checked the time. Almost an hour left until the appropriate planetary hour of Saturn. I crawled back out and sat down on a rock. I closed the flashlight and looked around. Complete darkness. Complete silence. Just the wind in the treetops and omg, the stars!

I was mesmerized by the beauty of the night-sky. The Pleiades were right above my head and I saw a satellite pass by when I looked up. I stared into the sky for a long time lying on my back enjoying each moment that seemed like eternity. Then it was time for the ritual.

It took quite a while. I started with the day's prayer of my ongoing novena to La Virgen de La Candelaria and did a full Headless Rite following my usual new moon routine. The cave filled up with the incense smoke and hummed in resonance with the frequency of my voice while I recited the prayers of the Seven Spheres protocol. I was an amazing feeling.

After I was done I had such an intense feeling of relief and peace of mind that I got high from it. Absolute Clarity.

I somehow made it back to the car and drove home. The remaining days on the island were dominated by peacefulness and joy. Hardly have I felt so happy and clear minded. My family too.

Cold and dry in the head. Capricorn season.

Wipf, Karl A. "Der sogenannte Hochgottglaube der Altkanarier." Almogaren 15 (1984): 45-76. ↩↩↩

Three Wise Kings

2019-01-15T20:00:00+01:00

(version 2.0 updated 6/01/2020)

The Three Magi, or Drei Könige as they are called here in Germany, were my favourite characters in the Christmas tale when I was a kid: their names seemed so foreign and exotic and hey: they followed a star and ended up being the first ones to visit baby Jesus and brought him gold and other stuff that I didn't even understand. Couldn't get any more magical than that for my taste.

My best memories of the Christmas season were from the times when my parents took us to the Canary Island of Fuerteventura. Not only could we spent the days playing naked on the beach while everyone back home was freezing, but also Christmas itself was very different: We just celebrated it in our small family circle without having to fulfill any grandparents', aunts' and uncles' expectations, no boring church visits, no carols we had to sing, and so on. I was looking forward to Epiphany during those holidays, because that's when the local Spanish kids received their presents delivered by the Three Magi. The Magi would come riding into town on real camels, tossing candies to the children awaiting them in awe and escorted by police cars playing "Feliz Navidad" from their megaphones!

Anyway, ever since I found myself on this magical journey I had rediscovered my interest in the Three Kings and had consecrated a piece of chalk on the last two annual Epiphany days to mark our house's door with the C + M + B initials for protection. Last year I was very excited to find out that Dr. Al Cummins has written a whole book on the Three Magi that also includes some practical chapters about devotional and magical items to make. Of course I had to have it...and gifted the book to myself as a Christmas present. This last Epiphany I found myself working all day on producing Three Kings Oil, Three Kings Chalk, and a protective talisman, as described in Al's book ¹.

The most fascinating item for me covered in the book is a seal from the Folger Manuscript Vb.26 (aka. "Book of Oberon", pg. 372 ²) that features the Three Magi's names and a SATOR square. The original manuscript's talisman description reads: "to be delivered from all fear, and against shot to be further off". In his book Dr. Al proposed it to also be used as a kind of magic circle or plate for objects to be consecrated in the Three Kings names ¹.

Having never heard of a connection between the Three Magi and the SATOR square, I did a bit of research and found some intriguing bits of information: in a group of Byzantine churches from 900 CE in Cappadocia, mural decorations name the shepherds who came to adore the Christ-child as Sator, Arepo, Teneton, in another one Peratoras ³. According to a Byzantine bible of an earlier period ⁴ and also as reported by 16th century philologist Isaac Casaubon, the names Ator, Sator, and Peratoras were supposedly the names of the Three Magi ³.

Of course their alleged names have been many throughout the ages depending on who you asked: Apellus, Amerus, Damascus; Megalath, Galgalath, Saracin; Dionysius, Rusticus, Eleutherius; Enoch, Elijah, Melchidezek; Hôrmîzdah, Îzgarad, Perôzâdh; Bathezora, Melchior, Thaddias; and many more ³. As we know, the ones that have prevailed in the West were: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Nevertheless I had found a promising connection to the SATOR square.

In his book Dr. Al suggests to draw the seal on a plate in golden colour, which I also considered. But eventually I followed a gut-feeling and decided to draw it on a sheet of Egyptian papyrus instead. Iwas satisfied with the outcome:

The accompanying consecration ritual Dr. Al proposes includes burning three candles with the Magi's names carved into them and sprinkling circles of rue and hyssop around the square ¹. I could not obtain any rue on the days before Epiphany and because I wanted it to be more "Middle Eastern" - to suit the papyrus vibe - I diverged from that, skipped the herbs and candles completely and went "full Egyptian" by burning incense instead: As a representation of the Three Magi I arranged three sticks of incense (Frankincense, Myrrh, Aloeswood) in a triangle formation in a bowl of Natron which I placed in front of a thick white candle, representing the star / Christ. I recited Psalm 72, Matthew 2:1-12, Psalms 51 and 22. The consecration of my Epiphany materia magica went really well and felt quite powerful.

Because it was also New Moon I did my monthly Stele of Jeu operation right after that, but with the slight variation of adding "Hear me and turn away this restraining spirit, in the names of Caspar Melchior and Balthasar" to the exorcism part. I had been a bit wary about even doing the Headless Rite because this New Moon was also a Solar Eclipse and the Sun conjunct Saturn, but after the whole day dedicated to the Three Magi I felt quite protected and empowered enough to do it anyways (the talisman that "delivered from fear"?).

Also, Epiphany coincided with the sun entering the headless / disk-headed Decan Kenmu, - a powerful synchronicity to the Eclipse near the headless south-node Ketu - it felt like the most auspicious headlessness moment, so I felt compelled to do it whatever it takes...also because of a powerful synchronicity that happened a few days before.

Synchronicity

The next day, a jaw-dropping synchronicity sent shivers down my spine when this blog post from the Coptic Magical Papyri research-project popped up in my Facebook feed about an Egyptian papyrus named "P. CtYBR inv. 1792" dated to the 6th or early 7th century CE that features several magical sequences, most promintently a SATOR SQUARE (!!!) in its center and next to that the Coptic names of the THREE MAGI (!!!): Melchior, Thaddias, and Bethezora! Below the magical sequences is written:

"+ Christ was born on the 29th of Khoiak. He came down upon the earth, and he rebuked all of the venomous crawling things. Your word is the lamp of my feet, oh Lord, and the light of my way."

Coincidence or not, I was left with the feeling that this was a confirmation of yesterday's work!

Update: Some months later I re-created the phylactery myself. Here are the instructions:

Use the SATOR and ALPHA-LEŌN magic square on papyrus. Optionally add the Coptic names of the Three Magi and/or the psalms below.

Σ Α Τ Ο Ρ
Α Ρ Ε Π Ο
Τ Ε Ν Ε Τ
Ο Π Ε Ρ Α
Ρ Ο Τ Α Σ

Α Λ Φ Α
Λ Ε Ω Ν
Φ Ω Ν Η
Α Ν Η Ρ

Μελχιωρ, Θαδδιας, Βαθηζωρα

(Melchiōr, Thaddias, Bathēzōra)

Λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου καὶ φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις μου

(Psalm 118-105: Your word is the lamp of my feet, oh Lord, and the light of my way)

ἐπὶ ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα

(Psalm 90-13Thou shalt tread on the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample on the lion and dragon)

Prayers to the Three Magi

These prayers are referenced in Dr. Al's book. They first one is a beautiful adoration and the second one a powerful petition. I dug up the originals and translated the second one also into German

Prayer of Epiphany

Latin original: En omnipotens astrorum conditor • Qui incar nationem tuam praeclari sideris testimonio indicasti • Quod uidentes magi oblatis maiestatem tuam muñe ribus adorauerunt • Propterea gratias agendo of feram tibi hostiam laudis ac deprecor concede mihi propitius ut in mea semper mente appareat stella iustitiae • et in tua confessione meus thesaurus sit domine mi iesu christe Amen ⁶

English: O Almighty Creator of the Heavens, who revealed thy incarnation by the testimony of a bright heavenly star, which seeing, the Magi adored thy Majesty with the offering of gifts: in thanksgiving therefore, I offer thee the sacrifice of praise and graciously beseech thee to grant to me that in my mind the star of righteousness may always appear, and that my treasure may be confessing thee, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¹

German: Oh allmächtiger Schöpfer des Himmels, der seine Menschwerdung durch das Zeugnis eines hellen himmlischen Sterns offenbarte, dem die Weisen durch Opfergaben Verehrung erwiesen, lasse in meinem Geist immer der Stern der Gerechtigkeit erscheinen und dass mein Schatz dich, Herr Jesus Christus, bekenne. Amen.

Je Vous Requer

Anglo-Norman original: Je vous requer, Jaspar, Melchior, e Baltazar, rois coronez, que Jesum alastes quere quant il fust né de la virge Marie, par icel douçour que vous vers ly ustes quant vous quere ly alastes, e pur cele joye que vous ustes quant ly trovastes e vos douns ly offristes, que vous me consilez de ce dont je vous requer sicome Dieu vous oy e vos offrendres resçust. Verroi Dieu, auxi come lur offrendres reçustes, recevez huy ma oreisoun pur lur amour; e auxi come l’estoille lur apparust en orient, que lur mena a vous al lu qu’il urent grantment desire, auxi, Sire Dieu, aemplez mon desir a leesse e joie. Otreiez moi que je puisse avoir e vere ce que mon cuer desyre, a la loenge Dieu e ma Dame seinte Marie. Amen. ⁷

English translation: I entreat you, Jaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, crowned kings, who went to seek Jesus when he was born of the Virgin Mary, for that sweetness you felt toward him when you went to seek him, and for that joy you felt when you found him and offered him your gifts, that you advise me regarding that which I ask you inasmuch as God hears you and accepted your gifts. True God, as you accepted their gifts, may you accept today my prayer on account of their love; and as the star appeared to them in the east, which led them to you in the place they had so greatly desired, so too, Lord God, you filled my desire for gladness and joy. Grant me that I may have and behold what my heart desires, for the praise of God and my Lady Saint Mary. Amen. ⁷

German translation: Ich flehe Euch an, Caspar, Melchior und Balthasar, gekrönte Könige, die sich zu Jesus begaben, als er von der Jungfrau Maria geboren wurde, bei der Süße, die Ihr ihm gegenüber empfandet, als Ihr ihn aufsuchtet, und bei Eurer Freude, als Ihr ihn fandet und ihm Eure Gaben darbrachtet, mir Rat zu geben hinsichtlich dem, was ich Euch frage, genauso wie Gott Euch anhört und Eure Gaben annahm. Wahrer Gott, wie Du ihre Gaben entgegennahmst, so mögst Du heute mein Gebet ob ihrer Liebe annehmen. Und wie ihnen der Stern im Osten erschien, der sie zu Dir an den Ort führte, nach dem sie sich so sehr sehnten, genau so erfülle mir, Herr Gott, auch mein Verlangen nach Fröhlichkeit und Wonne. Gewähre mir, dass ich bekommen und erblicken werde, was mein Herz begehrt, beim Lob Gottes und meiner heiligen Jungfrau Maria.

Coptic Hymn

This unique Coptic hymn is said during the Paramoun of the Nativity feast. An analysis of the hymn reveals unique characteristics. This hymn is one of the few hymns in the Coptic Church that has no translation. The unique usage of Greek, Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic suggests that the hymn was written in Upper Egypt in Late Sahidic.⁵

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Yestermeje

Coptic: ⲓⲥⲑⲉⲣⲙⲉⲅⲓ ⲁϥⲉⲛⲉ: ⲫⲁⲥⲓⲗⲉⲟⲥ ⲫⲣⲟⲓ ⲁⲛⲟⲛ: ⲕⲉⲕⲁⲡⲡⲉⲥⲓ ⲉⲫⲏⲗⲉ: ⲇⲉⲩⲇⲉ ⲡⲣⲟⲥⲕⲉⲛⲓⲥⲟⲙⲉⲛ: ⲇⲉⲩⲇⲉ ⲥⲑⲓⲛⲧⲁⲉⲡⲁⲅⲓⲥ.

ⲃⲁⲝⲓⲟ ⲃⲁⲫⲟⲛϩ ⲉⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ: ⲡⲉⲣⲣⲟⲩ ⲉⲧϩⲏⲧ ⲛⲛⲓⲉⲛⲉϩ: ⲉⲛⲓⲫⲩⲗⲏ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲙⲡⲕⲁϩⲓ: ⲉⲛⲁⲓ ⲧⲏⲣⲉⲛ ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩⲱϣⲧ: ⲙⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ ⲉⲧϣⲉⲡⲙⲕⲁϩ.

ⲫⲗⲉⲡⲓ ⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ ⲇⲉ ⲑⲁⲩⲙⲉ: ⲍⲱⲓ ⲛⲉⲛⲓ ⲉⲧⲁⲉⲗⲗⲟⲥⲁ (ⲉⲧⲉⲉⲗⲗⲟⲥⲁ): ⲉⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲧⲁⲥϣⲟⲩⲣⲉ (ⲉⲩⲧⲁⲥϣⲟⲩⲣⲉ): ⲑⲉⲟⲛⲁⲛ ⲙⲙⲟⲛ ⲛⲧⲁⲥ ⲉⲡⲉ: ⲕⲉ ⲛⲛⲁⲕⲝⲁⲥⲓ (ⲛⲛⲁⲕⲝⲱⲥⲓ) ⲁϫⲓⲁ.

ⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ ϫⲟⲩϣⲧ ⲉⲛⲓϣⲫⲏⲣⲓ: ⲉⲫⲟⲛϩ ⲛⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲧⲁⲩ ϯⲱⲟⲩ: ⲉⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ ⲛⲛⲁⲩⲇⲱⲣⲟⲛ: ⲉⲩϩⲱⲥ ⲙⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲉⲃⲉⲧϫⲫⲟϥ: ⲧϣⲉⲡⲉⲟⲩⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧⲉⲛⲧⲟⲩⲁⲓ.

ⲓⲧⲟⲩⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲕⲁⲩⲥⲁ: ⲕⲉⲏⲑⲏⲟⲩ ⲛⲛⲁⲛⲧⲣⲟⲡⲓⲥ: ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ :ⲉⲟⲥ ⲉⲛⲓⲫⲩⲗⲏ: ⲙⲁⲑⲁⲑⲟⲛ ⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ: ⲑⲟⲛⲧⲟⲕⲟⲧⲟⲩ ⲉⲙⲙⲁⲛⲟⲩⲏⲗ.

ⲁⲥⲓϯ ⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲥ ⲛϣⲱⲡⲉ: ⲁϥⲟϫ ⲙⲡⲉⲛⲛⲟⲧⲉⲛ ⲧⲉϥⲛⲣⲟⲙⲁ (ⲧⲉϥⲛⲣⲟⲙⲉ): ⲁⲩⲫⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲁϥϣⲁⲛⲟⲩⲟⲛ: ϫⲉ ⲙⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ: ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲧϣⲡⲱ ⲛⲉⲙⲙⲁⲛⲟⲩⲏⲗ.

ⲛⲁϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲟⲥ ⲕⲉ ⲓⲡⲟⲙⲉⲛⲓ: ⲓⲛⲉ (ⲓⲛⲁ) ⲛⲧⲟⲩ ⲑⲁⲩⲙⲁⲑⲁⲑⲟ: ⲱⲟⲩ ⲙⲫⲟⲟⲩ ⲁⲩⲗⲁⲕⲥⲁⲩⲧⲏⲥ (ⲁⲩⲗⲁⲕⲥⲉⲩⲧⲏⲥ): ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲓ ⲉⲛⲓⲫⲏⲗⲉ ⲧⲉⲥⲧⲏⲥ: ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲙⲁⲕⲁⲣⲓⲍⲟⲙⲉⲛ ⲁⲩⲧⲟⲩ (ⲉⲩⲧⲟⲩ).

ⲃⲣⲡ (ⲃⲱⲣⲡ) ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁⲧⲁ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥϣⲱⲡⲉ: ⲱϣ ⲙⲙⲟϥⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲑⲁⲩⲙⲁ: ⲡⲁⲛⲧⲁϥⲱϣ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲛqⲏⲧϥ: ⲱⲛⲓⲇⲉⲗⲉ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲙⲡⲕⲁϩⲓ: ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛ ⲙⲁⲕⲁⲣⲓⲍⲓⲛ ⲙⲙⲟⲥ.

ⲣⲉϥⲧⲟⲥ ⲛⲧⲟⲩ ⲁⲁⲣⲟⲛ: ⲥⲉⲛⲧⲟⲩ ⲁⲅⲉⲛⲛⲉⲧⲟⲩ (ⲉⲅⲉⲛⲛⲉⲧⲟⲩ): ⲧⲉⲛⲛⲉⲥⲕⲗⲓⲑⲟⲥ ⲁⲗⲱⲥⲱ (ⲉⲗⲱⲥⲱ): ⲉⲡⲉⲛ ⲧⲟⲛϥⲣⲉⲟⲛ: ⲧⲁⲩⲧⲉ (ⲧⲟⲩⲧⲉ) ⲡⲣⲟⲥ ⲕⲉⲛⲓⲥⲱⲙⲉⲛ.

ⲧϣⲉⲣⲟϥ (ⲧϣⲁⲣⲟϥ) ⲛϩⲁⲛϫⲓϫ ⲛⲁⲁⲣⲟⲛ: ⲟⲩϣⲫⲏⲣⲓ ⲙⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲛⲁϥⲕⲗⲁⲑⲟⲥ (ⲛⲁϥⲕⲗⲉⲑⲟⲥ): ⲙⲃⲉⲣⲣⲉⲡⲓ ⲣⲉϥϯϩⲟ: ⲧⲉⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ ⲛϩⲉⲃⲣⲓⲟⲥ (ⲛϩⲁⲃⲣⲓⲟⲥ): ⲁⲙⲟⲓ ⲧⲉⲛⲧⲏⲣⲉⲛ ⲛⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩⲱϣⲧ.

ⲫⲟⲥ ⲁⲕϥⲟⲑⲉⲥ ⲉⲛⲓⲧⲉⲗⲉⲛ: ⲕⲉⲣⲁⲛ ⲡⲉⲡⲗⲓⲣⲓⲑⲓⲙⲁ: ⲧⲥⲁⲗⲗⲁⲧⲉⲥ ⲙⲁⲧⲉⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ: ⲟⲩⲉⲡⲟⲩⲧⲉⲛ ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲥⲱⲙⲉⲛ: ϯⲙⲡⲉⲣⲣⲟⲥⲓⲁ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲩ.

ⲡⲓⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗqⲉⲛ ⲡⲓⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ: ⲁϥⲙⲟϩ ⲧⲏⲣⲉⲛ ⲛⲣⲉϣⲁ: ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲁⲗⲓⲛ ⲱ ⲛⲓⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ: ⲁⲛⲓⲁⲑⲛⲁϩⲧⲉ ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲛⲉϩⲧⲉ: ⲉⲑⲃⲉ ⲡϫⲓⲛⲓ ⲙⲡⲓⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ.⁵

Coptic Transliteration: isthermegi afene: phasileos phroi anon: kekappesi ephêle: deude proskenisomen: deude sthintaepagis.

baksio baphonh enimagos: perrou ethêt nnieneh: eniphulê têrou mpkahi: enai têren tenouôšt: mpentaumasf etšepmkah.

phlepi magos de thaume: zôi neni etaellosa (eteellosa): enimagos autasšoure (eutasšoure): theonan mmon ntas epe: ke nnakksasi (nnakksôsi) ajia.

nimagos joušt enišphêri: ephonh nnau etau tiôou: enimagos nnaudôron: euhôs mphnouti pentebetjphof: tšepeounak petentouai.

itouparthenos tekausa: keêthêou nnantropis: logos :eos eniphulê: mathathon mustêrion: thontokotou emmanouêl.

asiti parthenos nte pas nšôpe: afoj mpennoten tefnroma (tefnrome): auphnoute afšanouon: je mmustêrion: penetšpô nemmanouêl.

nacois kurios ke ipomeni: ine (ina) ntou thaumathatho: ôou mphoou aulaksautês (aulakseutês): pasoi eniphêle testês: marenmakarizomen autou (eutou).

brp (bôrp) pneumata pentafšôpe: ôš mmofpe pithauma: pantafôš ouoh nqêtf: ônidele têrou mpkahi: maren makarizin mmos.

reftos ntou aaron: sentou agennetou (egennetou): tennesklithos alôsô (elôsô): epen tonfreon: taute (toute) pros kenisômen.

tšerof (tšarof) nhanjij naaron: oušphêri mpneuma nafklathos (nafklethos): mberrepi reftiho: tenimagos nhebrios (nhabrios): amoi tentêren ntenouôšt.

phos akfothes enitelen: keran peplirithima: tsallates matemagos: ouepouten pisteusômen: timperrosia nte ouristou.

piouôini ebolqen piouôini: afmoh têren nreša: narialin ô nimagos: aniathnahte marennehte: ethbe pjini mpiristos.

English Translation: In the summer, the Magi offered the king understanding and worship. Come worship. Come sing strong.

Worthily, the Magi forever changed the hearts of all the tribes of the earth. These, and us all, worship Him who was born and who suffered.

The Magi looked. Truly the Living made the Magi speechless when He became God. There is no reed mat worthy of the holiness.

The Magi saw the signs revealed to them when they glorified. The Magi offered their gifts praising God who was born, who received them and whom we glorify.

And a virgin, (gave birth?) to the Incarnate Word of God. The tribes were instructed of the mystery of the Theotokos of Emmanuel.

The Ancient Being came to the virgin. She gave birth to our Mighty God. God revealed the mystery of Emmanuel that was set in motion

My Lord, the patient Lord, the Physician of wondrous glory - today He lowered himself to the tribes. Come let us bless (Him) with them.

Send the spirit (of the Magi) that came to proclaim Him. And (that) truth that was proclaimed is in Him. All you tribes of the earth, let us bless Him."

The Rod of Aaron (blossomed and gave?) birth (while also?) destroying (the unbelief?) of our hearts. Come, worship.

The censer in Aaron's hands is a spiritual sign. Its new branches are the Hebrew inquirers, the Magi, All of us come to worship.

The Light from Light has filled us all with joy. Sing O Magi. The unbelievers - let them believe because of the Coming of Christ.⁵

Novene der Heiligen Jungfrau von Candelaria

2018-08-05T20:30:00+02:00

Version 2.1 - 06/08/2018

Übersetzung der Novene an die Jungfrau von Candelaria aus dem Englischen und Spanischen ins Deutsche von Sublunar Space und frei verfügbar unter Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Lizenz.

Am besten startet man die Novene, so dass ihr letzter Tag auf eine der beiden Gedenktage der Jungfrau von Candelaria fällt, den 2. Februar oder 14./15. August.

Vorbereitendes Gebet

Liebe Jungfrau von Candelaria, wir versammeln uns mit Dir. Wir schenken Dir unsere Hingabe und unsere Liebe. Nimm sie an, unsere Mutter. Lass uns über Deine Tugenden nachdenken und lehre uns, sie nachzuahmen. Mögen wir Dir jeden Tag mehr ähneln, um dem Herrn zu gefallen, wie Du es getan hast und so in Frieden und Freude leben und um dann mit Dir die ewige Glückseligkeit der Herrlichkeit zu teilen. Amen.

Oh, Jungfrau von Candelaria, über allen Geschöpfen gesegnete. Wir beten, dass Deine Seele heute bei uns sein wird, um unsere Anbetung für Gott zu bezeugen.
Die ganze Erde erhebt sich für unsere geliebte Dame.
Erbarme Dich denen, die auf Dich vertrauen, Du bist der Hafen der Erlösung.
Beschütze uns vor allen Gefahren, besonders vor Stürmen, Wind und Hagel und ewiger Verdammnis.
Oh, Maria, unsere Hoffnung, unser Schutz und unser Beistand, zeige uns den Weg zu Jesus.
Gott erlöse Dich, Maria.

Tägliche Gebete

Erster Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria, die in den Augen Gottes rein war: Du warst bereit, wie ein Sünder gereinigt zu werden, um uns zu lehren, wie wichtig es ist, in Gottes Gnade zu leben. Wir wollen es Dir gleichtun und auch versuchen, dem Leben in Gottes Augen gebührende Bedeutung zu geben, obwohl wir uns selbst demütigen müssen, um unsere Sünden in der Beichte zu erkennen. Amen.

Zweiter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria, die, obwohl sie voller Heiligkeit ist, sich dennoch im Tempel offenbart hat, um das Gesetz Gottes zu erfüllen: lass uns es Dir gleichtun und mache, dass auch wir unseren Tempel lieben und ihn mehr und mehr als einen Ort unserer Annäherung an Gott betrachten. Amen.

Dritter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria, die nicht zögerte, Ihren Sohn Jesus in die Hände Simeons zu legen, wissend, wie er im Tempel für die Gnade betete, den Erlöser zu sehen, damit auch wir seufzend danach verlangen Christus in unserem Herzen zu haben und so überbringe es Gott. Amen.

Vierter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria: die, nachdem sie ihren Sohn Jesus im Tempel vorgestellt hat, die Verkündigung ihrer Schmerzen gehört und sie als den Willen Gottes akzeptiert hat, lass uns nicht dieses Schwert werden und unsere Sünden die Ursache deiner Sorgen. Amen.

Fünfter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria: Du, die nicht im Tempel erschienen ist und niemals auf ihre Stellung als Mutter Gottes Bezug genommen hat, um die Wichtigkeit und den Wert der Demut zu demonstrieren, lass uns ewige Selbstbezogenheit beiseite legen und mögen wir nach Deinem Vorbild in Wertschätzung der Demut wachsen. Amen.

Sechster Tag

Oh selige Jungfrau von Candelaria: Wir beten, dass Du für uns von Deinem geliebten Sohn, unserem Herrn Jesus Christus, die Gnade erlangst, Deine Tugenden nachzuahmen, die Gebote zu halten und vom Schrecken der Todsünde abgestoßen zu werden. Eines Tages werden wir uns ewig im Himmel freuen. Amen.

Siebter Tag

Liebe Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria: im Bewusstsein unserer Schwächen kommen wir zu Dir, damit Du für uns die Gnade unseres Herrn Jesus Christus erlangst, ein Leben führen zu können, welches unserer christlichen Berufung würdig ist, um Deine Tugenden nachzuahmen und als Belohnung das ewige Leben zu erhalten. Amen.

Achter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria, durch Deine jungfräuliche Reinheit, Deine unbefleckte Empfängnis und Dein Vorrecht als Mutter Gottes, erlange für mich von Deinem geliebten Sohn Demut, Gelassenheit, Reinheit des Herzens, des Körpers und des Geistes, heilige Beharrlichkeit im Guten, die Gabe des Gebets, ein heiliges Leben und eine herrliche Ewigkeit. Amen.

Neunter Tag

Unbefleckte Jungfrau von Candelaria: Durch Deinen Gehorsam gegenüber dem Vater, der sich unseres Stolzes und unserer Arroganz bewusst ist, bitten wir Dich, uns zu helfen, den Willen Gottes anzunehmen, damit unser ganzes Leben ein erneuertes Ja zum Willen des Ewigen Vaters werden kann. Amen.

Schlussgebet

Wir danken dir, unsere heilige Jungfrau und Mutter. Wir sind Deine Kinder und wir geben uns in Deine Hände, damit Du uns erziehst und uns zu wahren Kindern Gottes, heiligen und frohen Christen zu machen. Amen.

Ehre sei dem Vater und dem Sohn und dem Heiligen Geist.
Wie es am Anfang war, jetzt und für immer und ewig. Amen.

Heilige Jungfrau von Candelaria.
Bete für uns. (dreimal)

Räucherung

Als passendes begleitendes Räucherwerk empfehle ich kanarische Kräuter, z.B. die aus meinem anderen Artikel, oder getrocknete "smudge-sticks" aus Kanarischem Beifuß, oder natürlich einfach Weihrauch.

Diosa Madre Chaxiraxi

2018-06-14T11:30:00+02:00

Version 1.2 - 14/06/2018

Introduction

I was baptised and raised Protestant and have always been puzzled by and admired Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin. During my spiritual journey I have always been drawn more towards the old pagan goddesses and archetypes of the feminine divine, who seemed to have more depth than merely praising the Catholic virtues of "immaculate virginity" or "divine motherhood" and the Neopagan analog of "Maiden, Mother, and Crone" that always felt way too patriachic to me.

It was the outstanding book "The Black Virgin" by Jean Hani that blew my mind, explained and "jailbroke" the "Marian Mysteries" for me. After I had finished it I finally understood the underlying forces of this archetype and immediately felt an urge to connect to her, the "Primordial Mother", the "Shekhinah", "Shakti", "Magna Mater", the "Yin" in the cosmic duality of "Yin and Yang" in her Christian form as Blessed Virgin Maria.

Through my life-long connection to the magic of the Canary Islands I eventually found a form of her that I could very much relate to and connect with and I am happy I got to meet her "in person" on a vacation I did this year.

Before the Beginning of things Thou didst exist in the form of a Darkness which is beyond both speech and mind, and of Thee by the creative desire of the Supreme Brahman was the entire Universe born. This Universe, from the great principle of Mahat down to the gross elements, has been created by Thee, since Brahman Cause of all causes is but the instrumental Cause. It is the Ever-existent, Changeless, Omnipresent, Pure Intelligence unattached to, yet existing in and enveloping all things. It acts not, neither does It enjoy. It moves not, neither is It motionless. It is the Truth and Knowledge, without beginning or end, Ineffable and Incomprehensible. (Mahanirvana Tantra, Chapter 4, 24-28)

This article is about the patron saint of the Canary Islands, the Virgen de la Candelaria and how she is a syncretized form of an older Guanche goddess called Chaxiraxi. For better contextual understanding and my interest in her form of the Blessed Virgin Mary, please check my other article.

Pronunciation Note: The Guanche terms and names in this article are written in a phonetic way suitable for English speakers, but consider the following rules:

"ch" (t͡ʃ) pronounced like the "ch" in "leach"
"sh" (ʃ) pronounced like the "sh" in "sheep"
"gh" (ɣ) is a bit more difficult as it does not exist in English and it is pronounced like the "g" in the Spanish word "amigo" or the Portugese word "agora" or the German word "damalige" or the "γ" in the Greek word "γάλα". In Spanish representations of Guanche language it was usually written as an "x".

La Morenita

Once upon a time, long before the Canary Islands were even known to the Christian world (approximately during the 14th century) two Guanche herdsmen pasturing their flocks had to cross a sandy beach going towards a ravine when suddenly their sheep were frightened and turned back. One of the shepherds went forward to see what had frightened the flock and saw a dark figure standing on a rock, holding an infant. He took a stone and raised his arm threatening that he would throw it. At that moment he was paralyzed and stiff and could not move his arm anymore. The shepherds were puzzled about this and came close to the figure, a statue of a woman holding a baby. Still unsure whether it was alive or not one of them tried to cut one of the statue's fingers with a sharp tool and miraculously only found himself cutting his own until he was bleeding.

[...] the most important element concerning the origin of Black Virgins is the collection of legends explaining in it terms of a miraculous 'discovery'. Nine times out of ten these statues were found, thanks to a supernatural sign, underground, in a tree, flowering bush, spring, lake, well, or foundation. And eight times out of ten it was an ox that made the discovery [...] (The Black Virgin, pg. 15) (1)

The two herdsmen went straight to their Mencey (king) to report what had happened and he was so curious about this, that he ordered them to go and bring this figure to him. When they carried the statue back to him their stiff arm and cut finger were suddently healed. The Mencey and his followers concluded that this visitor must be something supernatural or divine and the statue was put into the Mencey's cave palace at Chinguaro.

Decades later when some of the islands were already in Spanish hands, the Mencey of Güímar learned from a baptized Guanche who came from Mahorata (Fuerteventura) who the depicted lady was. Not knowing anything about Christian faith they still understood the identity of the icon and called her "atch mayes wayya ghi raghi āhghuran ashshaman" - "the mother of him, the spirit that is sustenance of the universe. Sparkling one. Heavenly one." - short "Chaghiraghi" (Spanish: "Chaxiraxi"). The statue was moved from the Mencey's cave to Achbinico, a lava cave right next to the sea.

From the reports about this legends from later missionaries and Spanish historians it usually seems that the Guanches had picked up veneration of the Virgin Mary as something completely new that would replace their pagan beliefs, and that the Achbinico cave was established for this spiritual purpose. But according to carbon-14 dating of ashes found in the cave it had been used for ritual purposes for already at least 3,000 years and had a sacred eternal fire like the Vesta in Rome.

A stone stele known as "Stone of Taganana" was found in a different village on Tenerife that featured engravings of symbols, and most prominently the symbolic representation of the Catharginian goddess Tanit. So it is obvious to assume that the Guanches already had a concept of a primordial mother goddess they called "Chaghiraghi" and saw in the found statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary a fitting representation of an already venerated female divine principle. This goddess even had a herd of over six hundred goats under her protection who had their own grazing land forbidden to be trespassed by anyone and rams from that herd were used as sacrifice - something that resonates with ancient Phoenician cults, but also with the mediterranean goddess Artemis, to whom goats were sacred before the bear became important in more Northern areas (6). A number of names and by-names of Artemis/Astarte has an uncanny overlap with personal names (Artemi, Artendeyfa) and locatives (Artejeita, Artagayda, Aritarime, Artaos, Artenara) on the Canary Islands, as well as the royal title Guanarteme (guan arteme = "Man of Artemis") which Menceys of Gran Canaria carried (6). All evidence that the mother goddess was present for millennia on the Canaries before she took the form of La Morenita.

...the Virgin Mary recapitulates and stores the ancient figure of the neolithic Great Mother, which, over the course of time, had deteriorated in some of its materialized forms [...]. The spiritual message that the pre-Christian figures were no longer able to deliver passed over to Mary, in whom the total truth burned anew through the eternal symbols she salvaged, a truth that is [...] an essential element of every religious conception (The Black Virgin, pg. 69) (1)

The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary became known as the "Lady of Candelaria" and she became and remained until today a strongly venerated patron saint of the Canary Islands. She is one of the enigmatic "Black Madonnas" also found all across Europe, built from a dark, almost black wood, and thus her nickname among the Spanish until today is "La Morenita" ("the little brown one").

Under its benefic aspect, [...] black symbolizes mystery, the inexpressible and ineffable, and inwardness, particularly in connection with Knowledge. Obviously, the black representations of the Virgin should be considered under this latter aspect, and immediately we recognize in the symbolism of the color black the principal characteristics and attributes of the Virgin [...]. First and foremost, we have the chthonic character of Mary as she is likened to the earth, for black evokes not only its surface, which more often than not is dark, but more especially its inwardness, its mysterious depth, which is revealed at the surface in grottoes and caverns, those privileged places of manifestation of the Virgin, and their ritual substitutes, crypts. These places recall the womb of the earth, where life develops in darkness, and thus immediately refers us to the maternal womb; we could also say to the womb of the waters, whose depths are the image of the dark Primordial Waters. The maternal womb is related to the mystery of life, the gestation of wheat in the earth being the image of that of the embryo in the belly of the mother. The blackness of the earth, like that of deep waters, also has two senses: its visible color, or inwardness, and the mystery of the hidden gestation of life. (The Black Virgin, pg. 85-86) (1)

Symbols and Codes

The Lady of Candelaria has her name from the tall green candle that she carries in her left hand (Axis Mundi?!). The 16th century Historian Alonso di Espinosa described La Morenita in detail:

This image is of carved work and perfectly finished, the like of which I have never seen in my life. It is almost five palmos (1 meter) in stature, and the pedestal on which its feet are placed has a thickness of two dedos. It is of reddish wood, not very heavy, close-grained, but it is not known to what tree it belongs. The face is very perfectly proportioned to the body, rather long, the eyes grand and so placed, that in whatever direction a man may be they look as if they were fixed on him. Such gravity and majesty is represented in them, and in the face, that no one can look at them fixedly without his shoulders rising and his hair standing on end. (2)

An interesting feature of the figure is that infant Jesus is holding a bird in his hands. It alludes to the interpretation of it symbolizing the Holy Spirit, but my mage friend Ricardo pointed out to me that it could also relate to a chapter in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphical text about the wizardy youth of Jesus:

This little child Jesus when he was five years old was playing at the ford of a brook [...] And having made soft clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when he did these things. [...] And Joseph came to the place and saw: and cried out to him, saying: Wherefore doest thou these things on the Sabbath, which it is not lawful to do? But Jesus clapped his hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: Go! and the sparrows took their flight and went away chirping. (Infancy Gospel of Thomas, II. 1-3)

The Virgen de la Candelaria had letters engraved in the carved drapery that puzzled people for centuries as it doesn't make any sense in any known liturgical language and the words were assumed to be secrets written in a code. The meaning was unknown until 2007, when the Spanish philologist specialized on North African Tamazight language, Ignacio Reyes decoded their meanings (3):

In the waistband of the neck:
Text: TIEPFSEPMERI
Pronounciation: Ti yebb f sǎb Meri
Translation: The Father protected by the Virgin Mary.

In the left sleeve:
Text: LPVRINENIPEPNEIFANT
Pronounciation: Lbu rinni bǎb nə ǎfa ənt
Translation: Be gracious in the victory Lord of the original eternal light.

In the lower part of the tunic:
Text: EAFM IRENINI FMEAREI
Pronounciation: Ê af-m irenni f-əme arey
Translation: Oh, your find increases the protection against superstition!

In the belt:
Text: NARMPRLMOTARE
Pronounciation: Narəm əbər ɣər muttar
Translation: Sharing food is a duty towards the needy

On the mantle, on the right arm:
Text: OLM INRANFR IAEBNPFM RFVEN NVINAPIMLIFINVIPI NIPIAN
Pronounciation: Ul-m yən ǎr anfər Iaeb ənubi f-m ǎr fwen. Nwi-ina bib am əliffi n wibbib. Ni bi-an.
Translation: Your heart, the place of the treasure more important, Yahweh child over you, luminous treasure. A weight in our consciousness is like a pile that is carried on our backs. Dominate that load.

On the border of the left hand:
Text: FVPMIRNA ENVPMTI EPNMPIR VRVIVINRN APVIMFRI PIVNIAN NTRHN
Pronounciation: Ffu b-mirna. Ǝnubi am ti ewen am bir ur wiwi-n rn, abu i məfri. Bib-wən əyyan nut ərɣun.
Translation: Dawn, great power. The child, like the father and the path of perfection, avoid illness, they are a balm for the person who suffers. Your only weight must be a bright candle.

In the back, in the tail:
Text: NBIMEI ANNEIPERFMIVIFVF
Pronounciation: Nəbbi y əməyyi, An-năy əberref mi əwif Uf
Translation: We welcome the ignorant pagan. We will forgive the offense that is fear of the Sublime.

Abduction and Disappearance

The Lord of the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, Sancho de Herrera, heard of the legendary Virgen de la Candelaria and he wanted to possess her and was convinced that she should belong to the Christians who understood how to appreciate and venerate her, while the Guanches, being a people without God, did not possess that knowledge. The Mencey of Güímar denied his request of transferring the statue to his island, so Sancho de Herrera plotted a kidnapping. The seizure was successful and La Morenita found a new home in the church of San Salvador on Lanzarote where she was venerated with great joy and devotion. But Lady Morenita did not like it.

For in the morning of the day after they had very joyfully received the image, they found it turned with its face to the wall and its back to the people, which was no small mortification for them. They turned it with its face to the people, but as often as they did so, it was found next morning with its back to them. The people consulted together and determined to have processions, public prayers and penances, that the Lord might see fit to let them have that sacred image, for they knew better how to serve and venerate it than the gentile Guanches where it had made its first appearance. But God was not served by listening to them, and another course was ordained. In order to undeceive them, a noisome and pestilential sickness was sent, of which many persons died. (2)

Sancho de Herrera decided to bring La Candelaria back to her original cave, but when he arrived there nobody believed him that the statue had been stolen, because she had been seen by the locals in her usual spot all the time - to them she had never been absent!

Decades later, after all of the Canary Islands and their autochtonous inhabitants had been brutally murdered, raped and forced into submission and conversion to the Christian faith by the Spanish overlords, the Lady of Candelaria was moved into a larger home a stone-throw away from her cave, the Basilica de la Virgen de Candelaria that better suited the growing number of pilgrims and which featured more pomp that seemed more appropriate to the new servants of La Morenita. A small chapel was built in front of the Achbinico cave entrance and dedicated to Saint Blas.

The Black Lady seemed to not really have liked her new home. She had to bear with it for a few centuries, but in the year 1826 a big storm hit Tenerife that created such rivers of water coming down from the mountains that it flooded the Basilica and washed the statue of the Lady of Candelaria into the sea. Back to where she had risen from five hundred years before.

Whoso knows my essence in the water of the inner sea, Attains he the Goddess’s abode. (Devi Upanishad, 7)

Spirit on a Mission

The Basilica was rebuilt and a new statue was made to replace the lost icon. A bronze copy of the original icon of la Morenita was made and put in her old spot in the Achbinico cave as a memorial. It is a quite strong image, because the bronze is all black and her famous gaze has been replicated in an uncanny way it gave me chills when I saw it.

The rebirth did not lessen the passionate devotion she enjoys up until today, not only on the Canaries, but across the world, especially in the Americas and the Philippines, to which Canarian migrants had taken their cult along with them. In the Cathedral of San Fernando of Texas, USA is a replica of the Virgin of Candelaria, which is accurate to the venerated in the Canary Islands. This is because the city of San Antonio was founded by Canarians. She is widely venerated in South America and the Caribbean, Bolivia, Medellín, Puerto Rico, and she is the patroness of Western Visayas and Negros Occidental in the Philippines.

In Cuban Santería, the Virgin of Candelaria is identified with Oyá as well as Oba. In Brazilian Candomblé, the Virgin of Candelaria is identified with Oshun. For the indigenous people in the Andes, she is identified with the Pachamama.

The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. (Proverbs 8:22-31)

Stella Maris

The Catholic Feast Day of La Candelaria is on Candlemas (February 2nd) and on the Canary Islands she is celebrated mainly on August 15th.

Both dates are roughly in sync with the heliacal setting and rising of the brightest star of the Southern Hemisphere, Canopus. This ties her back nicely into the ancient Guanche / Berber cult of Chaghiraghi / Tanit for whom this star is the mother of him, the spirit that is sustenance of the universe. A similar association exists also in other parts of the world:

Atutuahi is the star Canopus, hymned as ‘the Mother of the Moon and Stars.’ Sometimes male, Atutuahi is one of the primary stars used by the Polynesians for open ocean navigation, equivalent to the Northern Hemisphere’s Pole Star. (Star.ships) (4)

Christian Conspiracy

Today it is taken for granted that the original image of La Candelaria with the amazigh inscriptions on her drapery was left on the beach in Tenerife on purpose by very early missionary friars of the Islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. And for their planned mission to fully unfold, they used the aforementioned Guanche that had been captured before, then "Christianized", and finally returned to their land to tell his people about the Virgin Mary: the one today known as Anton the Guanche Monk.

Depending on who you ask, their conspiracy was a success and turned the heathens into devote followers of the BVM, or it failed because the inhabitants of Tenerife simply continued their already ancient cult of Chaghiraghi now disguised under the embroidered mantle of the Virgin of Candelaria. In the end it does not matter, because from the spirits perspective the Primordial Mother prevailed, flourished and spread across the globe.

Dialing up La Candelaria

Aside of inhaling the island's omnipresent magic on every step I took on our vacation on Tenerife, through the lava deserts, pine and laurel forests and black beaches, I had some rituals planned to connect to the local spirits and Queen Chaghiraghi herself. I prayed the novena to la Morenita for nine days in a row and visited her on the last day to give praise and do the last prayer in front of her. It was a quite touching moment.

I did some research about fragments from the Guanche language and found some that can be used as "barbarous words". I added them to known prayers to the Virgin de Candelaria, which you can find below. To stick with the strictly Catholic originals, just omit the Guanche parts.

Prayers to Chaghiraghi

Oh, atch mayes wayya ghi raghi ahghuran ashshaman (a), Oh Lady of Candles, Oh Great Mother, blessed above all creatures, I pray that your soul is now with me as I give tribute of my worship to the Creator.

Achuhuraghan achuhukanak, A atti chchash shagren sha ondi, Wassksad anti ishachcha-ana, onan-da er ar-i (b)

Virgen de la Candelaria, we come to you with the trust and simplicity of children. We arrived with our anxieties and hopes, our joys and sorrows, with the fatigue of work and the weight of our sins; with all that we are and have.

Virgen de la Candelaria, You are the first carrier of Light, which is Christ; You are our Mother; You wrangling us with Christ the Saviour; You are our hope, comfort and joy; You accompany us in the city, the desert, the valleys, the mines, and the sea; You are our star on the way to the Father; You are our footpath to meet Jesus.

Virgen de la Candelaria, Virgin Mother of God, hear our prayers, bless our homes, obtain for work and health; teach us to hear the word of your Son and to live it every day, obedient to the Holy Spirit. We know to build a nation of brotherhood in our Church and in our land. Amen.

And here a shorter prayer:

Atch mayes wayya ghi raghi ahghuran ashshaman (a),
Our Lady of Candles, give me a mother’s protection
for I need your watchful care.
Comfort me in my discouragements,
solace me in my fatigues,
raise me after my falls,
reward me for my successes.

Our Lady of Candles, bearer of Jesus, the Light of the world,
please obtain for me this favor… (silently mention your petition here).
I shall always rely on your help,
to be what Jesus wants me to be.
Achwayaghiragh (c),
I am His; I am yours, my good Mother. Amen.

Translations of the 'barbarous words':

(a) the mother of him, the spirit that is sustenance of the universe. Sparkling one. Heavenly one.
(b) Here is this that is in the fiery or bright, here is this one that is in the rain, from the rising of the sun to its sunset the Name of Yahweh is praised
(c) here is the spirit that (is) sustenance (or support) of the universe

Instead of these, also other prayers can be used to address the mother goddess, for examples Orphic Hymns (5) to Hera, Rhea, Gaia, or any other of the desired forms of the archetype, but most self-evidently the hymn of Meter Theon:

(The Fumigation from a Variety of Odoriferous Substances.) Mother of Gods [Meter Theon], great nurse of all, draw near, divinely honored, and regard my prayer: Throned on a car, by lions drawn along, by bull-destroying lions, swift and strong, Thou swayest the sceptre of the pole divine, and the world's middle seat, much-famed, is thine. Hence earth is thine, and needy mortals share their constant food, from thy protecting care: From thee at first both Gods and men arose; from thee, the sea and every river flows. Vesta [Hestia], and source of good, thy name we find to mortal men rejoicing to be kind; For every good to give, thy soul delights; come, mighty power, propitious to our rites, All-taming, blessed, Phrygian saviour, come, Saturn's [Kronos'] great queen, rejoicing in the drum. Celestial, ancient, life-supporting maid, fanatic Goddess, give thy suppliant aid; With joyful aspect on our incense shine, and, pleased, accept the sacrifice divine. (5)

Another beautiful option is the Prayer to Tanit taken from the English translation of Gustave Flaubert's "Salammbô" by M. Walter Dunne:

Oh Tanit, white deity, goodness fecund, oh mirror of purity, send in severity your beams on the world. Your radiant chariot is in horror of sombre night. So mysterious monsters, as soon as you appear, return to the desolate gloom. How lightly you slip through the clouds moist and clear. The golden stars in the firmament. like a flock gently go where you guide them. You reign on the ocean where the wave mounts on high; fill the air with thy splendor, carpeting earth with flowers, at the bottom of the sea the pearl. The crowd madly in love follows thee, enchantress. You take them in your course, changing as you do every day, only more youthful tomorrow. Oh, Tanit, white goddess, goodness fecund, oh, mirror of purity, send in severity your beams on the world.

Novena to the Blessed Virgin of Candelaria

(Based on this with translated additions from here)

Novenas are prayed on nine days in a row, optimal is the same hour of the day on each of the nine days. Start each with the Opening Prayer followed by the day's prayer and finish with the Closing Prayer.

Opening Prayer

Dear Virgen de la Candelaria: we gather together with you. We bring our devotion and our love. Accept it, our Mother. Let us contemplate your virtues and teach us to imitate them. May we resemble you more each day, to please the Lord as you did and live like this, in peace and joy and then come to share with you the eternal bliss of glory. Amen.

Day 1

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria: you who being pure in the sight of God, were yet willing to be purified like a sinner to teach us the importance of living in God's grace, grant that we, in imitation of you, seek to give due importance to being purified in the eyes of God, even though we should humble ourselves to recognize our sins in confession. Amen.

Day 2

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria, who, being full of holiness have nevertheless presented yourself at the temple to fulfill the Law of God, grant that we, in imitation of you, come to love our church and consider it more each day as a place to approach God. Amen.

Day 3

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria: you who did not hesitate to put your son Jesus into the hands of Simeon, knowing how he prayed in the temple for the grace of seeing the Redeemer grant that we too may sigh to have Christ in our heart so that you may hand it to God. Amen.

Day 4

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria: You who upon presenting your son Jesus in the temple heard the announcement of your pain and accepted it as the will of God, grant, that we shall not become that prophesied sword and our sins the cause of your pain. Amen.

Day 5

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria, You who neither upon presenting yourself in the temple nor at any time thereafter invoked your condition as Mother of God, demonstrating the importance and value of humility, let us put aside everlasting self-concern and based on your example may we grow in appreciation of humility. Amen.

Day 6

Oh Blessed Lady of Candelaria: we pray that you obtain for us from your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ the grace to imitate your virtues, keep the commandments and be repelled by the horror of mortal sin. So one day we will rejoice eternally in heaven. Amen.

Day 7

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria: aware of our weaknesses, we come to you, so that you may obtain for us the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be able to lead a life worthy of our Christian vocation, to imitate your virtues and thus obtain the reward of eternal life. Amen.

Day 8

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria, through your virginal purity, your immaculate conception and your prerogative as Mother of God, obtain for me from your beloved son, humility, serenity, purity of heart, body and spirit, holy perseverance in what is good, the gift of prayer, a holy life and glorious eternity. Amen.

Day 9

Immaculate Lady of Candelaria; by your obedience to the Father, aware of our pride and arrogance, we beseech you to assist us to accept the will of God, so that our whole life may become a renewed Yes to the will of the Eternal Father. Amen.

Closing Prayer

We thank you, our Mother and Lady. We are your children and we put ourselves in your hands, so that you educate us and make us true children of God, holy and joyful Christians. Amen.

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Blessed Virgin of Candelaria. Pray for us. (3 times)

Incense

A suitable incense for all invocations would be an ancient Guanche mix of Canarian herbs, which you can find in my other article, or dried "smudge-sticks" of Artemisia thuscula, or simply frankincense.

Other

Here is a beautiful poetic piece I found on the website of the Order of the Black Madonna about the spirit of the Lady of Candelaria that I resonate well with.

Bibliography

(1) Hani, Jean. "La Vierge noire et le mystère marial". Trédaniel, 1995. / "The Black Virgin - A Marian Mystery". Sophia Perennis, 2008.

(2) Espinosa, Alonso de. "The Guanches of Tenerife, the holy image of Our Lady of Candelaria, and the Spanish conquest and settlement", 16th cent; Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir, 1830-1916

(3) Reyes García, Ignacio. "La madre del cielo. Estudio de filología ínsuloamazighe." (2007).

(4) White, Gordon. Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits. Scarlet Imprint / Bibliothèque Rouge. Kindle Edition.

(5) The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.

(6) Caridad Arias, Joaquin. "Artemis-Astarte". Die Göttin in der vorspanischen kanarischen Kultur. Almogaren 32-33. Wien 2002

Spirits of Achinet

2018-06-09T20:00:00+02:00

Islas Canarias

My parents have been in love with the Canary Islands since they first visited together in 1977. My father had already explored its largest island, Tenerife in 1972. Back then it was just the beginning of tourism there and most of the infrastructure was in a quite desolate state after Franco's rule. It was a time where just a few people visited, also because of a political independence struggle involving terrorist attacks. In the early 1980s Spain eventually granted autonomy status to the archipelago and tourism started booming.

From 1977 until today my parents visit their favourite of the islands, Fuerteventura, at least once a year, so since I was born in 1980 until I was 16 I also naturally came with them.

The white beaches contrasted with jagged black lava cliffs, the untamed Atlantic ocean, colourful but bleak basalt deserts and the neverending strong wind feel like a second home to me and this is such a strong feeling that I really start missing the place if I don't visit regularly myself.

After having started this journey of expanding my mindspace into the realms of spirituality and enchantment and thinking in a more and more animist way, exploring and conceptualizing spirits of place and their influence on and coexistence with us, I have instinctively also begun to wrap my head around the Canaries and the fixed place they inhabit in my heart.

So, this year our summer vacation destination was chosen to be Tenerife, the largest and most populated of the seven islands, as well as most diverse in its landscape, history and lore around its spirits and gods. This two weeks long holiday with my wife and my daughter was not only for exploration, recreation and relaxation, but also a kind of pilgrimage to the ocean bathed lava rock archipelago inside myself, to meet the archetypal mother goddess.

To fully understand what I mean by that and to get a glimpse of the magic that I experience wherever I am on the islands, let's go back in history and put some light on the world of the native human and nonhuman inhabitants of the archipelago before it became a Spanish colony...

The Guanches

According to the latest findings, the Canary Islands have been inhabited by humans dating back to the 6th century BC. The indigenous people is commonly called The Guanches, although strictly speaking this term just refers to the inhabitants of the island of Tenerife in their own language (Guan = people, Chinet = name of the Island of Tenerife).

Academia and the internet are full of wild speculations around the origin of this race, ranging from "Celtic seafarers", to "White Aryan survivors of Atlantis", but if we can trust materialist science for a moment, mitochondrial DNA analyses confirmed a North West African origin for their ancestors, related to the Amazigh, or their more known name: Berbers.

A more recent term used in Spanish for the natives of the Canary Islands and for their language is insulo-amazigh ("island Berbers").

Records by the first missionaries and later conquerors describe the aboriginal inhabitants to have been a simple and primitive race of sheep-herders who lived in caves and had no knowledge of seafaring. Of course seen through the Catholic Spanish imperialist eyes this description does not surprise.

The Guanches had a political system of hereditary autocracy on some islands, on others it was elective. There seemed to have been almost an 'over-governance' considering the size of the islands and their populations (Star.Ships hypothesis, anyone? (2)). When the Castilians arrived in Tenerife for example, it was divided into nine small kingdoms (menceyatos), each ruled by a king or Mencey.

I won't go into more details about the Guanche civilisation itself, since much can be found about them online, but instead cover their spirituality a bit:

Canarian Spirits

(Guanche names of deities and spirits given in their Spanish writing and thus also pronunciation)

Their Supreme Creator God was Achaman ("the skies"), and besides him they venerated the sun deity Magec or Mageb, possibly a goddess ("mother of brightness") and the moon god Achuguayo ("father of time"). The sun as a goddess and her consort moon as an old man ruling over time also seem to have been widespread among other neolithic Berber people around North Africa. In Guanche cosmology the world was held together by an Axis Mundi, some pillar-shaped rocks were venerated on all of the islands, but it mainly manifested as the 3718 meters high volcano mountain on Teneriffa, the Teide. According to their legends, Achaman's black adversary Guayota ("the destroyer") once captured and kidnapped Magec, locked her into the volcano and turned the world into darkness. The people then prayed to Achaman for help and he rescued Magec and in turn imprisoned Guayota in the volcano where he is ever since, continuing trying to influence the world commanding his evil spirits, who appear sometimes as black wooly dogs with red eyes, the Tibicenas. (1)

A belief the insulo-amazigh also shared with continental Kabyle berbers was that through a series of specific places: cracks in the ground, caves, certain trees, and so on, evil forces from the netherworld could manifest, which often had to be counteracted. In order to do so, magical objects were placed into or close to these gateways. Many of these talismanic items have been discovered everywhere in the islands, mostly ceramics of diverse morphology, objects for domestic use, often very small in size. In North Africa, women go to these places and hide talismans, draw sigils or utter invocations to neutralize the evil, or ask favors from the "geniuses" or spirits. It is assumed that the Guanches had similar rituals to counteract the Tibicena demons or request help of their benevolent counterparts, the Maxios, guardians and spirits of specific places, who often also became helpful domestic spirits. (1)

It is unclear what the Guanches belief of an afterlife was. Some of the missionaries reported Guanche myths that evildoers would be imprisoned in the Teide volcano. When members of the nobility or higher classes died they were mummified in a complicated process and believed to become gods. They were placed into sacred caves and communicated with by sleeping next to their bodies and have their spirits visit in dreams. (1)

Missing Links

One of the many unsolved mysteries of the Canaries are the step-pyramids found in different places, most prominently in Güímar on Tenerife. The famous Danish anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl was so impressed by them that he spent the rest of his life on the island. He claims that they must be the missing link between the pyramids of Egypt and the ones in Middle and South America. Most of academia doesn't believe in his theory and claim that the pyramids on the Canaries are "simply rock piles". I think the truth probably lies somewhere closer to Heyerdahl's hypothesis, because they have precise east-west alignments and look a lot like ritual places, although they look way less symmetrical and are much smaller than the step-pyramids in the Americas.

The Guanches apparently could read and write. Many petroglyphs could be found on rocks across all islands, some using a variant of the very intriguing Tifinagh alphabet still used by Berbers today, but most of them using a system of rune-like letters probably distant relatives of the Phoenician alphabet. German researchers have collected petroglyphs from Mahorata (Fuerteventure and Lanzarote) of the so-called Sinicava type in the early 1990s and afro-philologist Gerhard Böhm (3) matched them with the existing Canarian phonemes and came up with a translation of the letters that can be written from left-to-right or right-to-left:

A, Â/E/O, I/J, U/W, T/D, DH, K, GH, Q, P, F, L, R, S/SH

In total not much could be preserved and reported of the old insulo-amazigh culture and knowledge, because in cases where they did not Christianize and assimilate to the Spanish overlords, they got either killed or sold as slaves to more distant colonies. Nevertheless, until today many of their traditions seem to live on as hidden undercurrents and in between the lines of mainstream culture. A few years ago a neopagan recronstructivist Church of the Guanche People was founded as a cult of the ancient goddess Chaxiraxi.

Chaxiraxi

The biggest spiritual impact on the Guanches happened a few decades before the Spanish arrived. If you like the idea of a "spirit on a mission" it also marked the survival of their own gods into syncretization with Christianity: The Blessed Virgin of Candelaria. You can read all about her history and how to connect with her in my next post:

Diosa Madre Chaxiraxi

Suffumigation

In some of the aforementioned excavated ceramic bowls used for offerings and as protection against evil spirits some remains of ashes were found and analyzed (1). They resulted from burning a mixture of different endemic herbs found on the island. Here is the full list of the found herbs, in case you visit the place and want to recreate a magical Guanche incense yourself, like I did:

If that is too complicated to obtain, then you can also use the plant with the obvious local name Incienso (Artemisia thuscula), a Canarian variant of mugwort with a strong and distinct Anise smell that surrounds you everywhere you go on the island, at least at the end of May when I visited. It has been and is still used as a popular incense.

Bibliography

(1) Tejera Gaspar, Antonio. "La religión de los guanches : mitos, ritos y leyendas". Ediciones Idea, 2011

(2) White, Gordon. Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits. Scarlet Imprint / Bibliothèque Rouge. Kindle Edition.

(3) Böhm, Gerhard. "Sprache und Geschichte im Kanarischen Archipel", "Bd. 2. Sprachdenkmäler: Punisch und Berberisch: Kanarisch". AFRO-PUB, 1996.