The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Erected in Rhodes to commemorate the successful defense of the city after a yearlong siege by Demetrius I, a Macedonian King. When Ptolemy sent a relief force in 304 BC, Demetris abandoned his attack and retreated. The jubilant Rhodians collected the abandoned weaponry left behind by their assailants, repurposing the metals and trading siege equipment for gold and silver. They decided to invest the proceeds in memorializing their victory- creating a massive statue upon the shoreline both to celebrate their triumph, and a ..read more

Imagine this: you are a poet, a singer, and a harpist. Perhaps your father was a Thracian king; perhaps he was Olympian God Apollo Himself, either way, your mother was Calliope, chief among the Muses; this gives you “song [power] over rocks, trees, and wild beasts” (Medea 543, Iphigenia in Aulis 1211, Bacchae 561, Cyclops 646, all plays by Euripides). Your name is Orpheus, and your artistic gifts border on the magical. This is why Jason invited you to join his crew on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece. But that’s a different story. * When your wife dies on your wedding night (probably fr ..read more

When it comes to Hindu/Muslim antagonism, nothing stokes the fires quite like the topic of Rama, the second most popular Avatar of Vishnu (statistically speaking, first-place goes to Krishna, but given they are manifestations of the same deity, it’s akin to arguing over whom your favorite Doctor Who is; they’re all the Doctor, even the cringey ones). One of the most contentious issues has to do with Ayodhya, the purported birthplace of Rama, a location where the early 16th century Mogul Emperor Babur decided to erect a Mosque, an act which has had violent ramifications up through the 21st cent ..read more

Geryon was the grandson of the gorgon Medusa. His father, Chrysaor, was born from blood as Perseus separated Medusa’s head from her body, and the children she conceived by her rapist Poseidon sprung free from the gaping wound in her neck. And when Perseus cut off her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so called because he was born near the springs (pegae) of Ocean; and that other, because he held a golden blade (aor) in his hands. Hesiod- Theogony, 281-285 Chrysaor’s consort was, Callirrhoe, daughter of Oceanus, the primal titan god of the fresh waters that c ..read more

Amongst Synchronicity Conspiracists (and yes, dear reader, such beasties do exist), 23 stands as an exalted number. Here’s a short list of things that 23 minded people like to shout-out about: Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. The earth rotates completely every 23 hours, 56 minutes. The axis of the plane of the Earth is 23.5 degrees. The human biorhythm cycle is 23 days. The pattern of DNA shows irregular connections at every 23rd section. Blood circulates the body on average every 23 seconds. There are 23 letters in the Latin alp ..read more

Every child knows magnets are cool. There’s an entire industry based on affixing the little bugger’s unending stream of artwork unto unsuspecting fridges. There are, of course, a few other applications; MRIs, Superconductors, Particle Colliders… And navigation. Yes, magnets are cool, but there’s also something downright magical about them… * Sometime in what we call the 12th century A.D. (C.E. if you prefer), Chinese and Europeans made an important observation: Loadstones (a nice descriptive term for magnets) always aligned themselves to Polaris, the North Star (incidentally linked with the Ta ..read more

Tara (Meaning Star, specifically the North Star; c.f. astara to astra) is a unique Bodhisattva, in that she, like Kwan-Yin (to whom she is closely related) is female. Buddhism, like many practices of the time, was fairly andro-centric; the emergence of a feminine power is worth noting. However, Tara’s rise to prominence is primarily a Tibetan-Tantric phenomenon; Tantra has always given women a place of prominence, especially in the Shakta tradition (Shakta’s worship Shakti, Shiva’s consort, as their primary divinity). Regardless of her origins, she is visualized in at least twenty-one distinct ..read more

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Germany is a protected UNESCO World heritage site. Dotted with ancient castles and fortresses which were largely abandoned by the 17th Century this area became an important cultural landscape, both as a record of human history, and for the many artistic expressions it inspired during the 19th Century romantic movement. As the picturesque river rounds a bend near the town of Sankt Goarshausen it begins to narrow and The Loreley (also known as Lorelei) is a large grey rock cliff formation that looms above this treacherous section of water infa ..read more

I ended pt. 1 by stating that we would examine life during and after the Flood, and how Deucalion and Pyrrha repopulated the planet without any of that pesky incest stuff (that stuff that is implied when starting a species over with just two individuals). So let’s get to it: If you recall, Deucalion was the son of the Titan Promethius, the Forward Looker. Deucalion’s wife Pyrhha (the Fiery One, presumably a redhead), was also his cousin, being the daughter of Epimethius (The One Who Looks Around) and his cursed gift of a wife, Pandora. Now, if you recall, Zeus, the Head of the Olympians, had g ..read more

Shhh… Put your ear to the ground, and listen. It’s a faint sound, all year round… Sawing, constant sawing. They Toil throughout the seasons, a band of co-conspirators. Sawing away at the Roots of the Tree of Life. The Axis Mundi, the Pole of the World. Who are they, and why would they do this? They are the Kallikantzaros. And they do this because… Some creatures just want to burn down the whole damned world. * And so they saw, and they saw, and they saw, certain that they are about to fell the Mighty Tree. And so sure are they of their victory That when the Winter Solstice breaks, and the Sun ..read more