Cute Cypriot Ceramics

How cute is this Early Bronze Age red polished jug with figural decoration from Pyrgos? Yes, it is indeed cute. Ancient Cyprus seems to have a lot of cute ceramic objects. A while ago I posted a really cute little model shrine which is a perfect example of such things. The ceramic featured above is part of an exhibition of Cypriot objects that is being held at the National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, up until May 2011. So all you Americans can go see it much easier than I can. There are 200 artefacts on display in this exhibition, including this jug. When I first saw it, on the cover of the CAARI newsletter, I thought the projecing "spikes" were intended to evoke bovine horns - which may very well be correct - but as you can see in the second image, those horns are pouring spouts. This does not preclude simultaneously being "horns". I must admit that I don't know much about this object and can only speculate that it is some sort of ritual libation tool or offering. Here's a little article here, the jug certainly seems to feature a lot in the promotion of the exhibition. So, happy viewing.

Precession and the Zodiac

I’m a Capricorn......Right? The Precession of the Equinoxes and the individual’s Horoscope.

By Caroline Tully.

The phenomenon termed “Precession of the Equinoxes” concerns the shift over the years which has resulted in the Zodiac signs no longer occupying precisely the position in relation to the Earth that they occupied several thousand years ago. Precession occurs because of the wobble of the Earth’s axis caused by the combined gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun which causes movement of the Earth akin to that of a gyroscope, forming a complete circle over 25,000 years. Because of this precession the 30-degree divisions called the Zodiac Signs do not now coincide with the actual constellations which they represent. Today the astronomical point known as “the first point of Aries” or 0 degrees Aries, is actually to be found around 7 degrees of the previous sign of Pisces. This makes a difference of 23 degrees. This supposedly does not affect Western Astrological theory as Western Astrologers use the constellation’s names to denote 30 degree areas of the ecliptic, the Sun’s apparent path around the Earth, rather than the constellations themselves. Western Astrologers argue that the system is not devalued by this phenomenon, however, as I will demonstrate, Precession of the Equinoxes can make a big difference to an individual’s Sun sign and Natal horoscope.

There is a fundamental difference between the Zodiac used in Hindu Astrology and the one used in the Western system. The Zodiac is an imaginary sphere of 360 degrees encircling the heavens inside of which the Sun, Moon and planets travel in their orbits. This circular space is divided into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees each, known as the Zodiac Signs. At one time, these signs corresponded to actual fixed star constellations, however, due to the Precession of the Equinox, which moves at a an average rate of 50-and-a-quarter seconds per year, or 1 degree every seventy-two years, the same connection between the Zodiac Signs and the constellations no longer exists. Because this difference adds up to around 23 degrees, when a Westerner refers to the Sun being in 15 degrees of Libra for instance, the statement is technically inaccurate, because the Sun, after being backed up by 23 degrees, would actually reside in Virgo.

The system that Western Astrologers use which is unrelated to the constellations is called the Tropical Zodiac. The older and more traditional Zodiac employed by the Hindus, where there is no difference between a star constellation and the sign name given to it is called the Sidereal Zodiac. To find the Sidereal position of a planet when looking in a Tropical (Western) ephemeris, 23 degrees will have to be subtracted from the planet’s position in a sign to give the actual, Sidereal location. Obviously our Western Horoscopes as we know them are “out” by 23 degrees which therefore changes the degree of every planet in the Horoscope and may move some planets into a different sign.

I will use my own Natal chart as an example. My Sun, in the Tropical system, is at 24degrees Capricorn. In the Sidereal system, 23 degrees are subtracted from my Sun’s position and the result is 1 degree Capricorn. My Sun is still in Capricorn, but if I had been say, 15 degrees Capricorn instead of 24 degrees, and subtracted 23 degrees to get a Sidereal position, my Sun would have become 22 degrees Sagittarius! This changes everything. My Sun would have actually moved into a completely different sign, and so anyone with a planet degree of less than 23 degrees in a sign will find that planet in a different sign when the Sidereal system is applied to their Horoscopes. This is most noticeable with the Sun sign as it is the sign most people identify with when we talk about “our horoscope”. I won’t have an Astrological “identity crisis” when I apply the Sidereal Zodiac to my Sun’s position because it is still in Capricorn – barely – but when I apply the Sidereal Zodiac to my Moon’s position I get a bit of a surprise.

In the Tropical position, my Moon is situated at 15 degrees of Scorpio. I fancy this position as I like to flatter myself with the Scorpionic traits such as an interest in the Occult, a relentless searcher into hidden realms and a deep, complicated type of person. After subtracting the 23 degrees from my Tropical Moon’s position however, I am alarmed to discover that my spooky, Scorpionic Moon has become a nice, helpful 22 degrees of fashion-designing Libra! My Ascendant, the sign on the horizon at the time of birth, in the Tropical Zodiac is at 25 degrees of Virgo, after adjusting to the Sidereal Zodiac, I am still in Virgo but only by 2 degrees. Everything else in my Horoscope progresses backwards into the previous sign. So the ACTUAL positions of the planets in your Sidereal Horoscope are NOT the same as those that you might find on your familiar Natal chart: they have all moved backwards by 23degrees.

The first scientific description of the cycle of Precession is credited to Hipparchus (2nd century BCE). As well as changing one’s Horoscope, Precession of the Equinoxes is also what determines what is known as the Astrological “Great Year”. It is generally agreed by Astrologers that it takes around 25,000 years for the wobbling axis of the Earth to make one revolution causing a “Great Year”, thus a different Zodiac sign is said to rule each period of around 2000 years within that “Great Year” of 25,000 years. These 2000 year periods are called “Great Months”. In recent decades, the concept of Precession has taken root in the popular imagination of the New Age with the supposed dawning of the Age of Aquarius. However, the assumption that we are at the dawning of this Great Age owes very little to the observation of the sky. Since about 100 BCE, the Equinox point has slowly been making its way through the constellation of Pisces and is only now beginning its progress through the second fish of the Pisces pair. It will not reach the same degree of longitude as the star Beta Piscium at the head of the fish until around CE 2813. The point of the Vernal Equinox is currently at Iota Piscis, which is around the center of the second fish in the Pisces constellation.

For readers who would like to obtain their own Sidereal Horoscope to compare with their Tropical, Western chart, I suggest that if you know your planet’s positions, just subtract 23 degrees from each position, which will often cause a planet to regress into its previous sign, or buy an Ephemeris which is a book with the Tropical positions of the planets in the signs and then subtract the 23 degrees, or find an Astrologer who calculates Sidereal charts. Some Western Astrologers have adopted the Sidereal Zodiac method, however it is usually thought of as an esoteric practice in a Western context.

COLLABORATIVE ARTIST–WEAVER PROJECTS IN MAJOR COLLECTIONS

I worked as a Gobelin style tapestry weaver at the Australian Tapestry Workshop for 14 years where we used haute lisse looms to create mural sized, as well as domestic, small and even miniature woven tapestries. I started in 1996, just after I graduated from a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Monash University, had a year off in 2000 for Maternity Leave, and then worked up until early 2010 after which I left to do a full time PhD in Aegean Archaeology at the University of Melbourne. During my time at the Workshop I worked in collaboration with artists and other weavers, and sometimes alone, on many projects. The above pics are of Emma Sulzer, Louise King and myself when we were working on the Nyankulya Watson project. This was the second-last tapestry I worked on for the ATW. I've listed a pile of other projects that I did over the years here:

Yvonne Boag, Bush Scene, Victorian International School in Shahjah, United Arab Emirates. 2009.

Nyankulya Watson, Ngayuku Ngura (This is my country), Australian Embassy, Rome. 2009.

Robert Ingpen. Birds of the Clarence II, private client. 2008.

David Larwill, At the Box, Foxtel, Sydney. 2008.

Belinda Fox, Messenger. Australian Tapestry Workshop collection. 2008.

Roger Kemp Tapestry Suite, Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria. 2007.

Peggy Nappangardi Jones, Green and Yellow Cocky, private collection. 2007.

Rosella Namok, private collection. 2006.

Irene Barberis, Neon Excerpt, private collection. 2005.

Gulammohammed Sheik, Mappamundi, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne Collection. 2005.

John Young, Open World, Nanjing Library, China. 2005.

Chris Pyett, Misericordia, Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. 2005.

Christine Johnson, Australian Tapestry Workshop collection. 2004.

Robert Ingpen, Melbourne Cricket Ground Tapestry, Melbourne. 2003.

Arlene Textaqueen, Textanudes, Collection of the Australian Tapestry Workshop. 2003.

Reg Mombassa, Ned Kelly Approaches Albury in a Stolen Truck, State Library of Victoria. 2002.

Reg Mombassa. Alone in the Bush, Federation Tapestries, Melbourne Museum. 2001.

Mirka Mora, Home Sweet Home, Federation Tapestries, Melbourne Museum. 2001.

Murray Walker, Federation Tapestries, Melbourne Museum. 2001.

William Barak, Dancing scene of figures with boomerangs and people in possum skin cloaks in And Now Exploration and Settlement are Underway, Federation Tapestries, Melbourne Museum. 2001.

Patrick Heron, private collection. 1999.

Chris Pyett, Morning Skies, private collection. 1997.

Ken Done, Twenty-Eight Views of the Opera House, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. 1997.

Kristen Hedlam, Night Garden, Crown Casino Melbourne, High Rollers Room. 1995.

Jon Bannenberg, Theran Frescoes, Private Yacht. 1994.

Celia Rosser, Banksia Serrata, Monash University. 1994.

Australian Lughnasad

Australian Lughnasad falls on the 1st of February (or, to be strict according to the stars, the 4th February). Gemini is high in the eastern night sky, followed subsequently by Cancer, and Leo's brightest star appears low on the horizon. In the south of Australia, this is late summer, often much hotter than Litha itself, and bushfire danger is high. Some birds begin to fly north, bogong moths emerge and are preyed upon by kestrels, the beautiful gum emperor caterpillars inhabit eucalypts, native trout spawn, and Tasmanian devils begin mating.

In northern Australia it is the time of the late monsoon. In January, February and March, the weather can manifest in furious cyclones that may last for several days, bringing torrential rains. Forests can be devastated, large trees uprooted or stripped of nearly all their foliage, and animals have difficulty finding food. The heavy thunderstorms mean that the land is readily flooded. It is the maximum growth period for native vegetables although they are not ready to harvest, magpie geese and brolgas lay their eggs, estuarine crocodiles hatch, and platypus juveniles venture out of their burows for the first time.

Lughnasad. The drums beat out a steady pulse as we move deosil within the circle's boundary, round and round we dance. Hands rise, clash the cymbals, shake the tambourine. Arms outstretched, whirl on the spot, hair streaming. Oscillating between two poles of consciousness: the drums a lulling heartbeat, the percussion a harsh awakening. Drum--clash, step--whirl, rise--plunge, relax--tense, calm--storm.

Into the circle spin Bushfire and Cyclone, volatile deities of the season. One clad in raggedy red, the other in tattered dark blue, costumes trailing behind them like two Chinese dragons. Travelling widdershins, dancing separately and then together, they rush the perimeter, circling the edge and returning to the centre, creating a chaotic vortex of energy.

Arms linked, we dance back-to-back, the ground tilts, the sky is inverted, and the elements mix in the topsy-turvy world of the sabbat.

It's confirmed that I'm Confirmed

Well, yesterday I went before the Chambre Ardente (I just cannot resist mentioning one of my favourite, unrelated in any way, pieces of witchcraft history here: the Affair of the Poisons, it has absolutely nothing to do with this post except for the evocative name of the chamber! I guess I just have to romanticise and Gothicise everything out of all proportion, all of the time!). This 'chambre' consisted of two archaeologists and a historian and I was in there in order to be assessed in regards to my first year of PhD research. In the US it's called 'Defending your Dissertation' I think. We call it 'Confirmation' as it means you become a confirmed PhD candidate rather than a probationer. The exprience was a bit like an initiation, but only really in regards to waiting outside the 'temple', entering it, being grilled, going out to the Chamber of Reflection while further mysteries occurred within the chambre, coming back into the temple, some further grilling, and then success! Now I understand what Ronald Hutton was saying in one of his books - I think it was 'Witches, Druids and King Arthur' - about academia being a kind of secret society into which one penetrates through ascending grades, and I'm paraphrasing of course, as I'm too lazy to look up the reference, even though the book is not 2 meters away. Anyway, I'm decorating this post with a Mark Ryden animated tree, as that's what my PhD topic is on, but in the prehistoric Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

Fire and Water

Well, if the news reports are anything to go by - and they definately are - Australia at this time of the year is certainly living up to the seasons according to my southern hemisphere sabbat calendar [pictured]. While it's a bit early for Lughnasad here - only two weeks early - a large amount of Australia is being severely flooded, primarily in the north, but also in the south. Only two summers ago it was being severely burned. Both extremes, I suggest in my chapter on the southern hemisphere sabbats in 'Practising the Witch's Craft', are aspects of our Lughnasad.

It is a season of extremes and contradictions. Bushfires in the south and cyclones in the north threaten to engulf the land, and yet, the water regenerates the indigenous plant life and so too does the bushfire: many native seeds require burning before germination. Life and death dance upon the same ground. This is a time to appreciate the inscrutable wisdom and power of nature. Earth is the cauldron and all beings are transmuted by her alchemy.

Crowley and Liber AL article

Huzzah! My article, 'Walk Like an Egyptian: Egypt as Authority in Aleister Crowley's Reception of The Book of the Law ' that I've been talking about for quite a while is now available in electronic version. (You need a subscription or a university or other library that can get it for you). So, please do read it and tell me what you think.