Tantric Mystery Dances

by Anja Heij

 
An endless row of small figures zigzags up the mountain in a snow-white Indian winter landscape. The Buddhist monastery of Likir in northern India lies on a Himalayan top and forms a colorful mandala in the midst of a virginal white world. I feel like a pilgrim on a sacred yet unknown journey. The other foreigners on their way up are a Dutch man who studies Tibetan Buddhism, and two young Germans who work as volunteers in an educational institute for the local people. Unlike the touristic Buddhist festivals in summertime this two days Tantric Winter Festival is very genuine. It is one of the highlights of the year for the Ladakhi people of this region.

Lasair

by Almut Wille

 
In Irish mythology, Lasair (“Flame”) is the eldest of three sisters, a goddess triad representing the growing, ripening and harvesting of crops. Lasair, goddess of the spring budding, has beautiful long black hair and wears a silver crown, silver jewelry and armbands. She lives in a Red Castle (another reminder of her fiery nature) with an orchard. The god Flann brought her the Rose of Sweetness that never withers, the Comb of Magnificence, and the Girdle of Truth.

What is Qabalah? by Aliester Crowley

Being Appendix A to Liber 777
Qabalah is: —
(a). A language fitted to describe certain classes of phenomena, and to express certain classes of ideas which excape regular phraseology. You might as well object to the technical terminology of chemistry.
(b). An unsectarian and elastic terminology by means of which it is possible to equate the mental processes of people apparently diverse owing to the constraint imposed upon them by the peculiarities of their literary expression. You might as well object to a lexicon, or a treatise on comparative religion.

CONCERNING DEATH

By Aleister Crowley

 
This issue published for Hymenaeus Alpha October 18, 14 e.n. (1918 e.v.) July 12, 81
e.n. (1985 e.v.)
Ordo Templi Orientis P.O Box 2303 Berkeley, CA 94702
(C) COPYRIGHT O.T.O. JULY 14, 1985 e.v.
Sun in Cancer Moon in Gemini AN 81 e.n.
*
.pa [From the “International” December 1917]
An Epistle of Baphomet to the Illustrious Damozel Ana Wright, Companion of the
Holy Graal, Shining Like the Moon.

Cerklicing

by Aldis Putelis

 
The Latvian god of fields and corn. Mentioned by a little known Jesuit under the name of Joannis Stribingius in his mission journey to Eastern Latvia in 1606. Describing the territory as having returned to paganism due to the lack of attention from the Christian church during the Livonian War, he lists the deities worshipped by these pagans under the leadership of “Pop” (curiously enough – a name used in Russian to designate an orthodox priest). The list comprises a god of sky/heavens (Latin “qui habet curam coeli”), then those of the earth, fertility and different particular animals.

Auseklis

by Aldis Putelis

 
Auseklis (ausma, “dawn”; aust “to dawn”) is a Latvian stellar (masculine) god. In astronomic interpretations usually understood as planet Venus (there is proof that Venus was called Lielais Auseklis – the Great Auseklis). He is connected with Meness (the moon), but also with Saule (the sun). In the myth of the heavenly wedding, he is one of the suitors of Saules meitas (along with Dieva deli, Meness, and other gods), but in some versions he is just one of the bride’s party. He might also be the only suitor, the mythic material is not clear enough because there is also a great number of texts with an obscure hint to Auseklis as the original bridegroom of Sun’s daughter, which is later stolen by Meness (Moon), in turn being punished by Saule or Perkons.

Goddess of the Black Stone

Alby Stone

 
Bob Trubshaw’s article on the Black Stone of Mecca was of great interest to myself, as I had already seen Rufus Camphausen’s original article on The Ka’bah at Mecca, and already had something of an interest in the subject. Camphausen, and now Bob Trubshaw, have done us all a great service by bringing this material to our attention in an accessible form, and presenting what is basically a strong and coherent case for the original pagan context of the Black Stone; but it is also apparent that there is a good deal more that could be said on the subject. Indeed, there are a number of points that really must be made, particularly with regard to the goddess Al’Lat, whose identity – and those of her old Meccan companions, Al’Uzza and Manat – is perhaps not as clear-cut as Rufus Camphausen has asserted, and as Bob Trubshaw has reported. There are more connections to be made, and these show the goddess of the Black Stone in a rather different light.

A threefold cosmos

Alby Stone

 
1930 was to prove something of a landmark year for mythologists and Indo-Europeanists. In the Journal Asiatique for that year, Georges Dumézil published an article on social structure in ancient Indian and Iranian cultures. He asserted that the early Indo-Iranians were formally divided into three social classes.