Newar Microcosm, the Beautiful Lake Manifest

It is not age but pain that is killing me, destroying a memory that once was fairly good, enabling me to memorise over 400 cases, complete with various obiter dicta of presiding judges as well as the bare facts, names  and so on...  In any case, I know that some one once declared that Beauty and Terror are the stuff of which real gods are made.  Perhaps I can find the quote on the internet or perhaps it was something told me in a dream.  I do believe it is a good description of the Divine.

When I first saw photographs of this Sukunda lamp, I instantly felt it was an object of great power, reaching through the illusion of recorded image to seize me by the throat and inspire sheer terror in me as well as recognition of the beauty of the work itself.

It was this Sukunda lamp that showed me how one single object can be a book embracing an entire religion.  Symbols as potent and definitive as those carved on rocks by paleolithic humankind... they are Truth in code form and there often are different layers of significance.

Sadly, I think much of the meaning has been lost through the centuries.  Artists and craftsman place these symbols on spiritual and profane objects with only a small knowledge of the significance of each.  It is the same in the West where Christianity once was enshrined in the carvings on Cathedral walls and doors as in the written books few ever touched or understood.  Symbol is eternal and universal.  Words are so much less.  They are tools with which to conjure, to create little tales, inspire emotions and sway the masses or the enlightened variously but at the end of the day, they are chimerae.  Symbols are Eternal.

We start with the elemental Powers: Fire, Earth, Water and Air.  Some include Spirit in the list.  Others consider that something very different.  Magicians and witches create a circle of Power using these Elements...  the Sukunda Lamp, I believe, does much the same because it actually involves the Elements in its rituals whether in actual form or in symbol.

This particular Sukunda lamp was USED by the family that owned it, not occasionally as many are, but regularly.  The black residue left by the mustard oil burned in it is everywhere, not merely in the bowl where it was burned.

The bowl is the symbol of Water, the 'Beautiful Lake' from which these Lamps derived their name.  Within the bowl often, as here, is the symbol of the Lotus, believed to be in the very centre of the Lake.   Fill the bowl with oil or butter and light the flame and you have the sacred flame burning in the centre of the Sacred Lake.

The Naga serpents rise above the bowl, offering their protection.  I believe they originally represented a coelacanth or something of that nature, much like the Loch Ness monster who still is said to inhabit the depths of the loch in Scotland.  They were water snakes but not ordinary snakes.  They were considered magical... much like the dinosaurs who mutated in the minds of ancient humans to become the Unicorn and the Griffith of myth.   The Garuda, upon the wings of which the Gods travel and who is as well the sacred messenger of the gods, sits above the bowl.

The handle of this Sukunda is both serpent and dragon.  You can see the head of the dragon at the very base of the lamp.  The serpent skin rises to meet the seven serpents or seven-headed naga serpents that create their graceful parasol above.

This is no ordinary Sukunda though, containing only the basic symbols found in most lamps of its kind.  It has so much to offer.  Below the bowl is a pair of tantric lovers.  Surrounding the vessel is a necklace of grinning skulls, symbol of Kali and Shiva both.  Then there is the curious multi-headed figure dominating the entire lamp who appears to have two phalli.  In the original photographs I saw, I thought it might represent the family who had the lamp made but a closer view made it evident that it represented one of the gods.  This one has ten heads, making it possible that it is Rawan or Ravana, depicted with 10 heads, each one representing a branch of spiritual knowledge and moreover, said to have the nectar of immortality stored in his belly.  The god shown on this Sukunda has a prominent stomach and perhaps the two phalli represent spigots.  Hard to tell...  although I have many books on HIndu myth, it is difficult sometimes to find definitive details about the gods and their iconography.

Another beautiful aspect of this Sukunda is the bird perched on the top of the handle.  I do believe it must be a peacock rather than a vulture.  Instead of the two lions often shown on either side of the bowl, there are two creatures resembling goats or sheep carrying stupas it appears.  I have included photographs of all these details.  My hope is that some one will read this one day and respond.

As I clean items such as these painstakingly and slowly, the act of cleaning becomes a meditation.  As I wrote at the start, this Sukunda lamp terrified me from the outset.  I had vivid dreams after seeing photographs.  They were not entirely positive but were filled with power.  I did believe it was important at this point in my life to conquer my childhood fears of the Hindu and Buddhist icons that I encountered in Nepal.  This Sukunda lamp is by far the most powerful object I have encountered. 

THe grinning skulls that encircle it caught my attention at once.  I am not a person who dotes upon skulls.  I know many people love the Day of the Dead and the skulls made from pastries and sweets that are popular in Mexico.  Some people love skulls because of their association with the 'skull and crossbones' of pirates.  I do have a very small crystal skull somewhere.  I gave one to Freya as well when she was involved with 'Pirates of the Caribbean' as a child.  She wore it as a pendant for awhile but I kept mine locked away in a box.

Now the Sukunda with at least three dozen grinning death'sheads is before me, visible from my bed.  When I light it, the skulls glimmer, their eye sockets black with the residue from earlier offerings of mustard oil.  Many of the aspects of this lamp deal with mortality and death.  THe other side of this coin of course is immortality and rebirth.

The Devil and his Pitchfork

It is well-known that the Demons of today were the Gods of yesteryear.  When a new religion conquers a civilisation, one of two results usually occurs.  Either the old Gods intermarry or otherwise are incorporated into the pantheon of the new or they are transformed into the eternal enemies of the new Gods.  In the case of Christianity, Lucifer, Star of the Morning, the equivalent of Inanna, who was both Morning and Evening Star, Venus, became the Arch-Demon who forever would be at odds with the Virgin Mary and her Son.

The declaration of eternal emnity was made by a Christian writer who probably was under the influence of hallucinagenic drugs at the time.  The Book of Revelation is one that can be translated or interpreted in a thousand different ways and has been...Not that there is anything wrong with prophecies delivered under the influence.  The Oracle of Delphi did it, as did many other High Priests and Priestesses throughout the world.

On the other hand, why do we accept this vision of Satan as a red being with a tail and three-pronged Pitchfork officiating over the realm of the 'damned' which is a fire that cannot be quenched?  Why is this considered the personification of Evil?

Fire, like the Morning and Evening Star, once was worshipped as a God.  It was considered the ultimate Power, Pure and undefilable.  Lucifer was the 'Light-Bringer' as Prometheus who gave the power of fire to humankind, thus giving them the power to operate during the hours of darkness when otherwise they would be able to do nothing but sleep.  Fire allowed people to live in otherwise uninhabitable frozen wastelands as well.  How then did Lucifer who, like the other jinn, was made of pure, undefiled flame, become the Lord of all Evil?

Simple propaganda, so often mistaken for religion when indeed it is nothing more than a tool used by one group to gain control over the populace and wrest all power from another group.

Fire worship still is a characteristic of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion.  Fire and Water were the agents of purification and transformation.   The most ancient Fire Worship, like that of the ancient Germanic peoples, was not performed in any temple or building but in the open air.  Where the Germanic and Celtic peoples worshipped in sacred forests and groves, the Fire Worshippers gathered on mountaintops or hilltops to light bonfires.  Later, however, temples were built.

There are two different types of fires: wild and domestic.  A bonfire is a 'wild' fire, usually lit by and for the entire community.  The fire of the hearth is a domestic fire, lit and nurtured by a family.  In some religions, each is associated with a different deity but in the case of fire worshippers, both stem from the same sacred source.

In contemporary Iran, Zoroastrianism remains a vibrant faith, and one of the most famous Temples of Fire is that in Yazd where a fire has been lit continuously since 470 A.D.  Despite attempts to prohibit religious practices under Islamic governments, at least 10% of the population in Iran remain fire-worshippers.

In the old Vedic texts, Agni was the god of Fire and the Vedic poems are filled with references to him as well as the form that sacrifices should take.

To return to Lucifer and Satan, however, I believe that the Trident probably was the original form of the weapon that slew the Dragon or Sea Serpent rather than a Sword.   God only knows how long tridents were used, but they probably originally were fishing tools rather than arena weapons.  The gladiatorial pairing of Trident and Net in ancient Rome only mirrored older fishing practices.

A road development project in England near Carlisle uncovered a wooden trident.  Two wooden tridents dating back 6000 years are displayed in the Tullie Museum in Carlisle.  The tridents all were made from a single plank of mature Oak.  They are very heavy and would not have been practical either for fishing or for farming use.  They may have been ritual objects, rather like the standards carried by kings or chieftains.  At least that would be MY assumption given the fact that every trident from this period found in England to date has been almost identical and none of them would have made either good weapons or good tools.

It is not often that wooden objects of this age are found, as most deteriorate, but it makes sense that the earliest tridents would have been wooden rather than metal.  Stone would have been very difficult to shape except in the Thor's Hammer form which I believe had the same significance and function.

Lord Shiva, Bhairab, Lord of the Dance and God from Nepal

(The images shown above all represent Lord Shiva in his aspect as Bhairava or Bhairab.   The first is included because it shows the temple AFTER the big Earthquake. The last one is of the mural at the Temple of Chandeshwari)

Lord Shiva is extremely popular in Nepal and traditions state that he was born in Nepal.  His Festival is attended by millions who flock to Kathmandu from other parts of the land, India and other nations each year.  The usual ban on cannabis is lifted and intoxication, one the gifts of the God, is allowed to take possession of his devotees.

I think it is vital to be able to lose control once in awhile, to surrender the iron will that often imprisons us in the confines of our own minds, our anxieties and terrors.  Unfortunately, loss of control is terrifying in itself.  Whether a person simply is afraid of embarrassing or shaming himself or herself or afraid of losing his or her mind permanently, many of us cannot take the leap into the abyss, especially as we grow older.  There was a time when I feared nothing.  Now Fear is almost a constant companion, nipping at my heels, along with self-doubt and all the other enemies of courage that drag us down and hold us prisoner in our lives.  There is a need for Order and for common sense and everything else that keeps our lives running, but at the same time, it is only the very brave who are given glimpses of other realities and other worlds.

From my earliest childhood, I knew a deep desire to experience other realities and other worlds.  I believed that there was an unseen reality that was possibly as important as the one we could see and touch on a daily basis.  Dreams were my path to other realities and I still have very vivid dreams that actually connect to dreams from the past, of cities and people I never met or knew in this reality, but have become invested with their own 'dream' memories through the years.

Shiva is one of the most terrifying of the Gods, willing to rip aside all of the little safety measures we have placed round us, and all of our protective clothing and accoutrements.  Lord Shiva is the naked face of power.  Durga has the same function and power.  Nepal honours both.

It is Shiva in his aspect as Bhairab who terrified me as a child in Nepal.  I had nightmares about those masques that one sees everywhere.  I still find it difficult to look even at a photograph of Bhairab without trembling but this makes me aware of the need to obtain one and hang it in front of my bed where I am forced to confront it upon waking and communicate with it.  One of my daughter's mantras is 'Conquer your fears' and I salute her for it and aspire to do the same in my life, even as it grows increasingly difficult.  I yearn for FREEDOM from physical disability and lack of money and all the other earthly difficulties in my path and yet, if I were to be freed from FEAR, all of the rest would become trivial.

One of the most powerful symbols of Shiva is the Trisul or Trident.  Interestingly enough, it is the national symbol of the Ukraine as well.  It is a most ancient symbol, that three-pronged spearhead and is found throughout the ancient world, whether in the hands of the sea god Poseidon or in that of the Thunder God.

Below is the photograph of an Iron Trisul, Trident of Lord Shiva from Nepal.  What makes this one particularly of interest is the double axe motif or 'butterfly' beneath the trident.  The triangle in itself is a very potent symbol and one used prolifically by the Nepalese throughout their long history.  It can symbolise many different things, including the opening to the womb of the God or female.  The double axe was a symbol of ancient Crete, among others.  The trident actually was adopted by Christianity in the form of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I have included photographs of Thor's Hammer Mjolnir and the Ukrainian Trident as well.

Lord Shiva's Trisul

As you can see, the two ancient Western symbols of the Sky God are very stylised.  The Ukrainian symbol almost suggests a spear with wings, which is the symbol of Odhinn in the form of the Spear Gungnir that always returns to his hand.  The Ukrainian symbol is known as the Tryzub.

The origins of the Tryzub have been explained in many different ways but the consensus of opinion now is that it originally represented an anchor, a symbol found in Hindu tradition as well.  Going back to the association of the Sky or Thunder God with the Sea and his victory over the serpent, it makes sense that the weapon he wields would be based on an anchor.  Other theories promote a bird of prey, the gyrfalcon as the original symbol or a cross within a trident, but both Mjolnir and the Trysub do resemble an anchor in form.  The Tryzub, like Thor's Hammer definitely is a pre-Christian potent amulet.

In Eastern Europe, many amulets of anchors have been discovered from cultures that far predate the advent of Christianity.

Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, had the trident as his symbol, of course, and his weapon could cause earthquakes and tsunamis.

A few days later:  For all my research and years of working with symbols, the most obvious correspondence here eluded me completely:  The Trident of Shiva is the Pitchfork of the Devil of the West!  Lucifer, Star of the Morning, most powerful and beautiful of the Angels, predates the Christ and certainly is older than humankind.  In Islamic tradition, his name is Iblis and Allah after creating humans, ordered his favourite to prostrate himself (perform sajeda or ritual worship/respect) to Adam, the first of men.  Iblis refused, declaring that he and his race of Jinn were superior to humans as they were created from pure fire and humans were created from clay.  Thus was he cast forth from Paradise for his pride. 

Here we have many ancient powers translated to fit into biblical lore.  Fire is one of the most ancient of Gods in all traditions.  In India, it was Agni.  In Persia, Fire was worshipped for thousands of years and still is by some.  Clay is of Earth but according to ancient Mesopotamian myth, mankind was created from clay in order to be the servants of the Gods, no more and no less.  The race of Jinn, on the other hand, were sublime in their creation and were more than slaves.

So Lucifer, the Morning Star, is cast forth and becomes the ruler of the damned in Christianity, taking the name of Satan or in Arabic, Shaitan.  In medieval iconography, he is often depicted with the head and tail of a Goat.  Remember that Daksha, ancient Indian God who predated Shiva and whose daughter Sati was Shiva's first wife, had his head struck off and replaced with the head of a Goat.  His sin was one of pride as well.  He believed that his daughter deserved better than marriage to a god who had no dignity and lived a horrible life in the cremation grounds, unkempt and dirty.

He offered free choice of marriage partner to his daughter but, like the King in Sleeping Beauty, invited every one BUT Shiva.  Sati throws her marriage garland into the air, declaring it is for Shiva alone and the God appears with the garland round his neck.  Sati leaves with her husband and they live together happily.

Daksha cannot forget his hatred of Shiva, however and announces he will make the Great Horse Sacrifice, inviting ALL the Gods except, once again, Shiva.  Sati tells her husband she needs no invitation to attend her father's festival but Shiva warns her against the journey.  She goes, nevertheless and when no portion of the sacrifice is offered to Shiva, is heartbroken and furious by the insult to her spouse.  She tells her father that all but he adore and worship her Lord Shiva and that the only way for her to counter his insult to her Lord is to surrender her own life.  She throws herself into the Sacred Fire and dies.

Shiva in fury creates a demon from a lock of his hair who assaults Daksha and takes off his head.  After this, however, Shiva informs the other gods that Daksha was but an ignorant child and that he will restore life to him.  The head of Daksha was consumed by funeral flame and the god therefore replaces the human head with that of a Goat.

Shiva then strides across the earth with the body of his beloved Sati on his back or across his shoulders.  The Earth mourns with him.  All the crops and plants wither and nothing is nourished until Vishnu, to prevent total destruction of the Earth, hurls his discus at the corpse again and again, cutting it into 52 pieces.  Each piece drops to the ground at a different location and there rest forevermore.  Temples are built on each spot where a piece of the body of Sati rests.

Here then we have a tale that embodies many of the ancient themes of Sacrifice.  First there is the Sacrifice by Fire.  Then there is the cutting up of the body and the sowing of it in the Earth to return Life to the Earth.
Shiva's desolate journey of mourning is similar to that of the Great Goddess Demeter.  The Sacrifice of Sati is not that different from the ancient offerings of Virgin Goddesses, the daughters of Kings to appease a Monster or ancient god who was threatening or ravaging the kingdom.  One thinks of Andromeda and the Sea Serpent as one such Sacrifice.  The Sea Serpent of course is none other than that most ancient of Gods, Yamm,

The voluntary sacrifice of life by a wife later became enshrined in the practice of suttee in India wherein a widow would join her dead husband on the funeral pyre.  This is not a practice that is unique to India.  In ancient Germany and the Northern lands, a King or chieftain in death would be accompanied not only by his favourite horse and dogs but by his wife or wives and slave girls.  They would take or be given poison often before their throats were cut and then the entire grave (often a ship) would be consigned to the sacred flames.

Shiva mourns the death of his beloved Sati for a long time and shuts himself away in his abode in the Himalayas.  It is only when the spirit of Sati appears to him, promising to return in the form of the daughter of the Himalayas that he returns to the world.  In her second manifestation, Sati is Parvati or Uma.

This has little to do with the Trident as the symbol of Lord Shiva or the god-headed elder god as the father of his first wife, Sati, apart from the fact that often myths become muddled when they are taken abroad as well as by journeying through time, especially in ancient oral traditions.  Whatever the journey or mutations, there is no doubt whatsoever that the goat-headed Devil of Christianity who wields a three-pronged Pitchfork originally was a God.

The goat-headed One with the three-pronged Pitchwork remained a god in the West in Pagan Witches' rites.  There is the deity Baphomet, depicted sometimes with the head of a goat, although apparently the original Templars' Baphomet had little in common with the pagan deity later worshipped by the Witches and their Covens.  There is an association, far more ancient between Dionysus and the Goat.  Dionysus often was portrayed both as Bull and Goat.  Pan was depicted as part-human, part-goat as were the Satyrs.   They were not evil but were simply spirits of the vegetation, of leaf and grain, of field and forest and in particular, of the grapevine.  In ancient Canaan, there were servants of the gods in charge of the grapevines.  I have to look up the passage in the old epic that deals with them.

Gender Benders in Polytheistic Religions or The Significance of the Flyting of Loki

An old Northern tradition known as the 'flyting' consisted basically of the trading of insults between two individuals or characters in a poetic structure.  The Poetic Edda contains a few of these and one of the most famous is the 'Flyting of Loki' or 'Lokisenna'.

Odhin to Loki:  Winters eight wast thou under the earth
Milking the cows as a maid;
(Aye, and babes didst thou bear,
Unmanly thy soul must appear.)

Loki retorts:  They say thou with spells in Samsey once
Like witches with charms didst thou work;
And in witch's guise amongst men didst thou go
Unmanly thy soul must appear.

Dumezil, the famous comparative mythology expert, wrote copiously about his belief that the Northern religion stemmed directly from Indian Aryan roots.  I personally believe that the old Northern religion is a mixture of ancient native beliefs with the foreign Aryan traditions and myths.

Nonetheless, it is important to understand the entire basis of any sophisticated polytheistic religion which is far more complex and logical than supporters of monotheism would have one believe.

For a start, the 'gods and goddesses' in polytheism never are omnipotent or infinite but are ruled by an omnipotent, infinite Divine entity that cannot be described or reduced to any set of attributes or power, much like the Universe itself.  This is true of Hinduism, the ancient Greek and Roman religions and the old Norse religion, as well as others.

The 'lower' gods and goddesses, for want of a better word, are subject to as many rules, regulations, limitations and consequences as humankind and indeed are somewhat like humans in many respects, although they tend to be given higher rank as they have greater powers than ordinary humans and sometimes even have jurisdiction over the Elements.

Hinduism uses the term 'avatar' to denote different manifestations of the same power at different points in time or in response to different situations or threats to the existence of the world.  The ongoing confusion in Norse mythology between Frigga and Freyja may be due to the fact that, ab initio, they WERE the same Goddess in the forms of two different avatars.  Likewise, the fascinating Goddesses Gefjun and Gullveig are manifestations of Freyja.  Gefjun is mentioned in the Lokasenna.  Gullveig, a name that means 'Gold Greedy' was burned 3 times in the initial war between the Aesir and the Vanir and rose from the ashes like a phoenix each time according to the Voluspa.   She is Freyja of course, the Great Goddess.

The seer speaks of her:  'Now she remembers the War, the first in the world, when Gullveig was studded with spears; And in the Hall of the High One, she was burned, thrice burned, thrice reborn, often, many times and yet she lives.  She was called Heidhr when she came to a house, the Witch who saw many things.  She enchanted wands, Divined and enchanted what she could; In a trance she performed seidhr and brought delight to evil women.'

Seidr was the type of magic that was exclusively practiced by women and one of the insults in the Lokasenna deals with Odhinn's disguise as a female witch who practiced the art of seidhr.   The witch with the power to divine the future and empower runestaves or runic wands sat upon a three-legged stool traditionally to practice her art.  It was thought that Freyja taught the All-Father the mysteries of seidhr.

'Evil women' in this context probably means women who were willing to use dark magic to curse their enemies or otherwise use magic for acts of destruction rather than creation.   Alas, the Norse and Germanic myths and religious poems do not survive in their original uncorrupted form.  They only survive because Christian writers took an interest in writing them down for posterity.  Thus, they contain many moral judgements that probably lend inaccuracies to the texts.

This brings me to the Hindu gods and in particular, the great God Shiva in his form of Nataraja or 'Lord of the Dance' as well as his/her avatar Ardhanarisvara, explictly hermaphrodite.

There are many different iconic depictions of all the Hindu gods and goddesses but usually if you study a statue or drawing of the 'Dancing Shiva' or 'Lord of the Dance', you will see that the God wears two earrings of different design.  One is male and the other is female.  As Ardhanarisvara, half of the deity's body is male and the other half female.

In other words, gender is not as permanent in many polytheistic traditions as it is in Christianity, Islam or Judaism, the three 'monotheistic' traditions that rule modern and contemporary Western consciousness.

Actually, this makes perfect sense.  Why would any entity that has within it some of the powers of the Divine or Elements be limited to a specific gender?

In fact, the patriarchal social cultures that robbed women of their ancient equality with men and their social, economic and political powers probably were responsible for hardening the gender definitions in religion.  Ancient goddesses were able to teach the arts of war, rule the world and do almost anything a male could do.  Likewise, ancient gods often bore children and had the power to commit other deeds that are 'female' in nature.

The Lokasenna remembers epic events in the history of the gods and goddesses but has perverted the originals and made great, glorious deeds into shameful ones.

Freyja, the Great Fertility Goddess is described as 'wanton' rather than a force of Nature who shares her potency with males from different species, including humankind, dwarves and animals.  Odhinn is called 'unmanly' for his acquisition of the great female powers of Seidr, which are those of foretelling the future and casting and enchanting runes.  Rune power is Elemental Power to some extent as every Rune contains within it the seed of a particular natural force or element.  Loki, who bore possibly the most significant offspring of all in the forms of Sleipnir, Odhinn's eight-legged steed, the Midgard Serpent that encirlces the Earth, the Fenris Wolf and Hel, the Goddess who rules the lands of Death, is described as 'unmanly' and insulted again and again with that term.

Yet, this dovetails with the ancient form of Shiva as hermaphrodite, for it is the feminine side that is 'Shakti' or Divine Energy...

It is interesting to note, as an aside, that if you study statues of the Lord of the Dance, you often will find radiating serpents on either side of the god's head, almost as though his hair, flying in the wind, were made of living serpents.  Is this not the ancient Greek form of the Medusa whose glance could transform any one to stone?  And is not the transformation of a moving, breathing entity into stone a cessation of movement and time?  For the Lord of the Dance has power over time and movement, Creation and Destruction both.