Samhain - The Tradition and its Transformation

“At no other time does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.” - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Cézanne

Summer has drawn to a close; the nights are noticeably longer and the days, shorter; the wind is considerably colder, and there is far less green in our wonderful landscape than there was just a few weeks ago. Autumn has come, and with it comes a shift in consciousness, a change in the air, something tangible but nigh impossible to put into words. Suddenly you can sense something different, when you step out of your front door as evening falls and you feel the thick buzz in the air, you smell the mildest hints of wood smoke and notice that everything has an odd tinge of orangey-grey. There is an absence of birdsong which is unsettling yet soothing at the same time, and in the twilight you start to see shapes, people, animals, moving in the corners of your vision, only to turn and find the streets deserted. Autumn is a time beyond time, a space between worlds, where our senses come alive and we are awakened to what our world truly looks like behind the curtain of illusion.

Autumn marks the beginning of the 'Dark Half' of the wheel of the year, with the end of the fair summer weather, the slow death of surrounding flora, and the reaping of crops. A this time as the winds begin to circle in from the north, heards of cattle and sheep are brought inside to wait out the winter, leaving the land appearing barren and lifeless. The Autumnal Equinox, known to the Irish Celts as Lughnasadh, is the point at which the night and day are of exactly equal length, when the sun and the moon share the sky as equals. This balance between night and day is mirrored in the human condition, as we feel compelled to withdraw from the outside world, to go within and contemplate ourselves and the world around us and our place within it. The Equinox, in Greek Mythology, is symbolised by the kidnap of Persephone by Hades, and the death of the Earth as Persephone's mother, Diana, retreats in mourning to find her. In Celtic myth, Lugh, the Sun God, mourns the death of his mother, Ethniu, ending a tenuous truce between the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians at this time, the darkness of impending winter represented by the ensuing war with between the two tribes.

The Tuatha De Danann

Following the 'descent into the underworld', we finally arrive at Samhain, or 'Summer's End', the Celtic New Year; traditionally celebrated over three successive days beginning on or around the end of October (some believe this depends of the nearest full or new moon), Samhain, pronounced 'Sow-en' is thought to be the time of year when the 'veil' between this world and the Otherworld (the afterlife, known to the Celts as Avalon, the realm of the Fae-Folk) is at its thinnest, allowing us to perceive and communicate with spirits of the dead. In Greek myth it is the time when Persephone agrees to marry Hades and rule beside him in the Underworld, consolidating the hold of darkness over the living world above. As a side note to this, it is believed by some Hellenic Pagans that Persephone, in her role as queen of the underworld and guide of the dead, takes on the name of Hekate, the Matroness of witches and necromancers. Typical associations with Samhain are the colours black and orange, black representing the dark night of impending winter, and orange representing the promise of the return of the sun in the spring. Plants such as corn, berries, apples, root vegetables etc. are all significant to Samhain as they represent the last harvest before the winter. Animals such as spiders, bats, owls, toads and wolves are all attributed to Samhain as they are primarily nocturnal creatures and correspond to this season of darkness, introspection and change. Other Deities associated with Samhain include Cernnunos the Horned God, who governs the dark half of nature, the cycles of death and rebirth, and oversees the balance between predator and prey, Ariannrod who is a Matron of Witches and The Morrigan who is a goddess of Magic, war, change, death and rebirth due to her role in overthrowing the Fomorians in the Irish Myth cycle. Samhain currently falls under the starsign of Scorpio, making it a time for self reflection under the watery influence of the sign, but also for manifestation of desires and ending of conflicts due to the firey, aggressive nature of the scorpion.

So, how would Samhain have been celebrated back in ancient times, and how has it changedin today's society? What connection is there, if any, to the commercial secular holiday of Halloween? There are many theories surrounding each of these questions, many of which contradict one another, but from my reading, as well as from general observation, contemplation and conversation, I have a few thoughts of my own which I will share with you now. To begin, Samhain began (as far as historical records suggest) in Ireland as far back as 2000bc. The falling of the last fruits and the reaping of the last harvests were celebrated with feasts to give thanks to the Goddess for the abundance of the Earth which would see the European inhabitants through the harshness of winter. In Irish Celtic myth, when the land was ruled by the Fomorians, they demanded payment from their subjects amounting to two thirds of all of their crops, livestock and children born each year. Julius Caesar writes at length about the widespread animal and human sacrifice amongst the Gaulish and Celtic tribes which may have arisen from this legend, though this cannot be fully relied upon given the bias of the source, with Caesar leading military campaigns to annex their lands at the time. What is to be relied upon is that people would light huge bonfires at this time of year and fuel it with objects and possessions which no longer served them in an act of ritual cleansing, doing away with the old to make way for the new. Offerings of grain, or home-baked bread were cast into the fire in thanks to the Goddess, and it is indeed possible that a share of meat from slaughtered livestock may also have been offered. Later in history, the middle English would leave offerings of bread, milk, honey and wine on their porches or window sills for a similar purpose.

Ritual bonfires were set at Samhain to burn away old energy and invite ancestral spirits

The association with death is easy to pinpoint; in the Northern Hemisphere, everything is dying, flowers and trees, even insects are dying on mass, and birds are migrating while land based animals are going into hibernation. Everything has a spirit, so when plants and animals begin to die in such great numbers at the same time, these spirits are released, clouding the air with the energy they emit, and as this energy transgresses the dimensional barrier between this world and those beyond our perception, a part of our consciousness is carried with it, granting us a glimpse of what lies after death, and bringing us closer to the divine, albeit in a rather morbid way. The image of death as the 'grim reaper' also has its root in the autumnal celebration of Samhain, for as humans reap the bounty of what we have sown, so too do the Gods reap the souls that they have helps to make manifest, clearing space for new life to flourish and grow. It is important to note that death is never something to shy away from of be fearful of, for in death there is always a renewal of life elsewhere; as the Northern Hemisphere dies with its autumn, the Southern Hemisphere is given life in its spring time. It is this continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth which is celebrated at Samhain, and with our perception of subtle energy at its peak, it is a time to honour those who have passed before us. One of the ancient traditions would be to ritually invite the spirits of the ancestors into the home and make offerings of food and drink to them; in return the spirits of ancestors would communicate with their living descendants and offer guidance for the coming year. Of course, there was always a worry that other spirits would also return to settle differences or reap revenge upon one who had wronged them in life, so a common practice was to carve frightening faces into turnips or potatoes and place them in doorways or windows to ward off the unwelcome spirits, a practice which was adopted into Medieval Gothic architecture with the use of gargoyles. As time went on and the worship of the old Pagan Gods dwindled, this practice, and that of leaving food and drink on the doorstep, endured as a means of placating the wandering and potentially mischievous spirits of the dead.

An example of a traditional carved turnip

As well as honouring the spirits of human ancestors, the original celebrants of Samhain also honoured the spirits of animals, the spirits of the slaughtered livestock in thanks for giving their lives to sustain the family or community, the spirits of horses and mules for their hard labour, and the spirits of dogs and hounds for guarding the homestead and aiding in the hunt. The practice of animal reverence was not limited to the Celts, however; the ancient Egyptians worshiped cats as sacred and believed that they were guardians of the underworld, preventing the dead from returning to the realm of the living and guiding departed souls on their journey through the afterlife. The ancient Greeks worshiped the Bull and saw it as a symbol of the cosmic life-giver, ritually slaughtering bulls every year to ensure good harvest for the following year. The practice can also be found in the Norse and Native American cultures with animal totems and animal spirits as guides for the living, many tribes claiming kinship to one animal or another based on their shared traits. At Samhain, the living animals would be treated with even more care and respect than at any other time of year, given a share of food or drink and sometimes brought inside the home as equal members of the family.

Other traditional celebratory acts included dressing up, sometimes in honour of the Gods, sometimes as animals and other times to reenact the old folk tales. Of course, storytelling would have been a huge part of Samhain, recounting the old legends of their ancestors, sharing stories of deceased loved ones, and reminding one another of shared heritage and memories. During the Middle Ages, children would go from house to house begging for food and drink, which eventually gave rise to what is now called 'Trick-or-Treat', and it became common for candles to be placed in the windows of the home to guide the spirits of the ancestors back to their living relatives. This, when combined with the carving of vegetables, gave rise to the Jack O' Lantern, though this has developed its own modern folk tale surrounding the tradition from the Irish Catholic tale of "Jack of the Lanterns" or "Stingy Jack", a man punished for deceiving both God and the Devil to prolong his life.

Stingy Jack, traversing purgatory with his turnip lantern.

So what has changed over the centuries? When it comes to Samhain, not much; some of the ancient European traditions surrounding the Sabbat have survived and are still practiced by pagans today, albeit as a modern interpretation based on limited historical sources, as well as animal sacrifice having been widely abandoned and replaced with symbolic gestures to equal effect. The changes to how people commonly celebrate Samhain are largely cosmetic, merely resulting in slight renaming of individual practices or symbolic imagery, but the core values of the Sabbat have remained the same. However, any attempt to reconcile the ancient celebration of Samhain with the modern holiday of Halloween may prove difficult, given the rise of the consumerist society in which we now find ourselves. Trick or Treat has devolved into the pass time of doting parents and impertinent children, scavenging confectioneries from their neighbours, thus trivialising the plight of the children who originated the tradition to acquire food to fill their otherwise empty bellies.

Party games such as "Apple Bobbing" have become popular, though the importance of the apple seems to be generally unknown; the apple is a fruit sacred to the Roman Goddess Pomona, a deity of fruitful abundance associated with orchards, so at this time of the last harvest, it is easy to see how the apple was adopted into modern celebrations at this time of year. However, the act of "bobbing" for apples has a much darker history, rooted in the brutal inquisition and witch trials between the 12th and 18th centuries; suspected witches would be repeatedly submerged underwater for increasingly long periods of time as a means of interrogation, resulting either in a confession or drowning. This was also a means of "testing" to see if the accused really was a witch or not; if the accused drowned, she was innocent, but if she survived, she was guilty of using dark magic to avoid drowning. A similar game, also using apples, involves the fruits being suspended on strings from the ceiling as participants attempt to bite them whilst blindfolded; again, deriving from the hanging of suspected witches.

By far the greatest deviation of the modern Halloween from the original Samhain is the season's typical association with "evil" and horror culture. As many of you may know, Halloween earns its name from the Christian festival of All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day which originally was celebrated around August but was moved to coincide with the well established Pagan festivals in Europe at the time. Over the centuries, indigenous European paganism was either stamped out by the church or absorbed into it, and with the rise of Protestantism in the 15oos, the was a concerted effort by these new Lutheran radicals to purge the pagan elements within the established Catholic doctrine in order to "purify" the church. This continued into the New World with the establishment of the Puritan settlements, in which fear of witches reached fever pitch, and later in attempts to remove old pagan aspects from society such as animal worship and communing with the dead, societal focus shifted to portraying the supernatural as something to be feared and hated. This much is plain to see in modern society, with Ghosts being something to keep away from the home, stories of the supernatural being used to frighten children before bedtime, the return of the dead being mixed up with zombie culture (which is in and of itself a perversion of African American Hoodoo practice) and reduced to depictions of half-rotten, brain-eating monsters, and the night of deepest darkness being twisted into a prime night for murder and depravity rather than introspection and self healing. The sanctity of death has been manipulated into something grotesque, cheap and commercially lucrative, playing on humanity's desire to explore the darkness within ourselves, to explore death and experience the shadow side of nature, but presenting it in such a way as to make it laughable to most, fearful to others and deplorable to a select few who use it as a spring board to demonize pagans and witches by claiming that Halloween, with all of its negative attributes, is somehow synonymous with the Sacred Sabbat of Samhain. Maybe it is a stretch to say that a heavily Christianised society, now abandoning all faith in favour of material empiricism, seeks to devalue and undermine the ancient rites of our ancestors with such a cheap and vile imitation of one of the most important celebrations of our ancestors, but there it is; it is my oppinion that this devolution is part of a conscious effort to paint pagan practices such as magic, necromancy and divination as inherently evil.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, let us remember what Samhain is truly about; it is about getting in touch with those parts of our minds and souls which lie neglected and unloved for most of the year, our shadow selves, and bringing those aspects of our being into the light to be understood and worked with. It is about letting go of those things in life which hold us back from being our most authentic selves, addictions, toxic relationships, dead end jobs, bad habits, general clutter and disorder, so that we can move forward and grow. It is about laying old dreams to rest and setting new goals for the coming year, new aspirations, new ideas, new projects, and setting out to make those ideas manifest. It is about remembering where we come from so that we have a better idea as to where we are going, about honouring those who have walked these paths before us and left their footprints for us to follow. It is about recognising and honouring the sovereignty and majesty of nature in all of its aspects, bowing to the inevitability of physical death and communing with those who have made that passage already, to better prepare ourselves for the journey ahead. It is about being grateful for what we have and optimistic about what we have yet to receive. It is about knowing the self, knowing the Earth, knowing the plants and the animals, knowing the stars, knowing the spirits in all things, and most importantly about loving all of that.

A Samhain altar to past loved ones by Jillian Lauren. 

Samhain is the perfect time to work spellcraft, so before I finish this article, here are a few ideas for activities to conduct on this wonderful occasion:

1. Bake some hearth-bread as an offering to your ancestors; leave a portion of it on your doorstep to invite the spirits to come to you. If your are familiar with the concept of Kitchen-Witchery then blessing each of the ingredients and chanting invocations as you mix them can really add to the potency of the offering, making the simple act of baking bread a work of spellcraft. 
2. Set up a Samhain altar (if you haven't already); this should be located in an area of the home which is special to you, such as the bedroom or an area of the living room where you feel most comfortable. Fill the altar with plants associated with the season, and perhaps include symolic representations of animals you see as significant to you. If you know the totem animal/s of your family, use this as a means of paying tribute to them. 
3. Start a journal; journaling is a really great way of externalising all of our thoughts and emotions, clearing out blockages, creating order from chaos and helping ideas to take form. You could keep track of your dreams and analyse the symbolic meanings within them to better understand your motivations and subconscious aspiriations. 
4. Meditation; introspective working is extremely effective at this time of year, as our world aligns with the darkness and repose of winter. Start with basic breathing exercises to reduce mental traffic, then try simple visualisations such as colours or symbols. Use music to assist in visualisation (preferably nothing with lyrics as this can be a distraction) and attempt to commune with your ancestors/spirit guides in this meditative state. For more information on this, see one of my previous articles, Travelling Through the Ether - A Mystical Experience.
5. Clear out your home; ritual cleansing will allow you to release much of what you hold on to and help you see what you take for granted. The Witch's broomstick was originally used for this purpose, clearing out the old to make way for the new, both physically and psychically. Perhaps set up a yard/car-boot sale to clear away any old, unwanted or unused items or clothes, or just box it up and take it to a charity shop. One of the best things to do, however, is to gift some old items which may have held sentimental value, to a friend or loved one, as Samhain is just as much about giving.
6. Get out into Nature; the weather may be turning against us now, but that shouldn't discourage us from getting outdoors. Wrap up warm and waterproof and go on an adventure! Wander into the woods or through the park or go for a drive into the countryside. Appreciate the visual changes in nature around you. Talk to the trees and the animals you see, sit and listen to the wind, feel the energy of nature and try to merge with it. Perhaps take an offering to leave for the spirits of the land, the Fae-Folk, for they can be valuable friends to have when trying to manifest our dreams into reality!
7. Make some Magick! Anything can be an act of Magick, so long as there is pure intention and direction behind the action. If you want to let go of something or someone, choose something to represent what it is you want to let go of, mark it as the chosen symbol of your desire, focus on it and pour all of your Will into it. Speak an affirmation to yourself to consolidate the intention in your mind, then either cast the chosen object into the sea or a river to carry it away from you, or perhaps burn it with the intention of purging and purifying yourself of it. If you wish to manifest something into your life, write the intention down, again, pouring all of your Will and belief into it, visualise it becoming a reality, and bury it in the earth with a seed or bulb; as the plant grows, so too does your wish grow and come to fruition. The more you nurture the plant and help it grow, the more your nurture your dreams into reality.

Basic Ritual setup for spellcraft.

I hope that this article has given you some ideas for your own Samhain celebrations. Thank you for reading! Please share this article if you found it informative, and please visit my Facebook page "The Wandering Hermit" for more content. Many blessings to you this Samhain. Have a wonderful Sabbat and may your Gods be with you!

Enki Endymion. O(

Ode to Odin

Odin, Who is the wild wanderer, wise,

From Bor and Jord, you took your rise,

With Villi and Ve, great Ymir slain,

By brothers' hands, his blood did rain

In Ginnungagap to form the seas,

And from his hair you fashioned trees, 

And mountains grown from jagged bone,

Thus Midgard born, our earthly home.

Great Odin, Lord of knowledge, Hail!

From hearth to Helheim, you travail,

One eye you gave in sacrifice,

To guide the blind towards the light,

With Thought and Memory close at hand,

And faithful wolves to scour the land,

And sacred Gungnir at your side,

Leave no quarter for truth to hide.

King of warriors, swift and strong,

Hero of many a mead-hall song,

Conqueror of frost giant foe,

Standing firm through Niflheim snow,

Great architect of Fenrir's bonds,

Sole wielder of the magick wand,

Unraveller of the Norns' great ill,

Who hung yourself from Yggdrasil,

To know the Runes for Gods and man,

Oh banisher of Jormungandr.

The Allfather of man and maid,

And in whose name all debts are paid,

To you I offer praise and love,

To Asgard's golden halls above

Old Ymir's skull, that darkening sky,

For crops and cows and men must die.

But until that day when last we meet,

At Vallahah's lofty seat,

I'll fight my best, and come what may,

Find glory on my dying day,

For when Lord Heimdallr sounds the call

For Ragnarok, and one and all

Vacate the homes and take up arms,

To fight for kith and kin and farms,

I'll be there too, to honour you,

Let Baldr's sacrifice be ours.

When Fenrir breaks his bonds at last,

And Midgard to the dark is cast,

And Baldr wakes from Hel's repose,

As Volva's prophesy supposed,

Through me your legend shall endure still,

From birth to birth, as was your Will,

And in your name I will prevail,

Praise be to Odin, Allfather, Hail!

The Universal Man as God - Self Centrist Symbolism in the Crucifixion of Christ and the Sacrificed Gods

“Esoterically, the Hanged Man is the human spirit which is suspended from heaven by a single thread. Wisdom, not death, is the reward for this voluntary sacrifice during which the human soul, suspended above the world of illusion, and meditating upon its unreality, is rewarded by the achievement of self-realization.” ~Manly P. Hall

In recent discourses with a friend and fellow practitioner, we came upon the sticky subject of polytheism versus monotheism, since my friend is a Christian Mystic but is sympathetic to the ancient pagan traditions of southern and western Europe and Scandinavia. While we agreed that all religions, the Abrahamic faiths included, can be seen as both polytheistic and monotheistic, there was some contention as to whether or not the higher powers were truly external or whether they reside within and emanate from the human consciousness. My friend defends the idea of the Abrahamic perception of God as a sentient first cause, while I have come to know this source principal as an unconscious force which can only be labelled as Chaos, from which the creative principals and forces of the energetic universe emerged as points of order, just as weather patterns emerge from formless fluctuations of geomagnetic energy. It is further my contention that these primordial consciousnesses group together to form a coherent whole, symbolised by the golden spiral from which all structures in nature arise, not unlike a council of deities working together to form the physical world. These forces of nature are unique in their individuation and can exist separately from the larger cosmic order, so rather than the pantheon emerging as creations or emanations from a single conscious being, they instead arise fully formed and sovereign from Chaos and subsequently form God by choosing to collaborate with one another.

The next stage in this cosmic evolution is the creation of man, which we again agreed was intentional and in harmony with the physical universe, but again the only difference being whether or not these creating forces should be thought of as Angels or as individual sovereign Gods. My belief leans more to the latter, and I furthermore believe that these sovereign Gods each have human avatars through which they act. I have always held the belief that 'Free Will' as it is typically perceived, is an illusion; this is because, although we as individuals make choices, sometimes against the sound advice of others and our own better judgement, I feel that no matter what decision we make in life we will always come to the same predestined conclusions as laid out by our individual sovereign God prior to our incarnation. This appears to be in direct contradiction to the Abrahamic model in which the one God sets out a plan for the individual as part of a grander whole, but grants Free Will to the individual as a test of their faith, to gauge how close or how far they get to fulfilling their role in the grand design. On the contrary, I feel that each person's personal God sets a destination, with key events along the way and, possible via non-linear time, is able to perceive the outcome of every possible choice, placing obstacles or helping hands at strategic points to guide us in the right direction, with contingency plans in place if the wrong decision is made. Therefore, all choices we make have already been made by us in advance of us being born on this Earth. The end result of the journey however is the collective experience of other people and subsequently their unique individual Gods to add to the grand spiraling outpouring of creation which we have come to call the one God. As for where the pantheons of old fit into this model, I believe that they are the primordial creative or destructive principals which are present in all aspects of nature, formless and unknowable until they interact with us through the prism of human consciousness, at which point they are given form, meaning and character for us to better understand them and apply that understanding in the physical universe. I employ the Jungian model of 'The Gods' as archetypal facets of the human psyche, but include the additional layer of them being the result of external forces being changed and given form by their interaction with the human consciousness. Therefore, every individual has their own Hermes which represents a part of their own mind or spiritual being, but this only manifests because there is an objective natural principal which is symbiotic with this psychological/spiritual facet, resulting from the unification of pre-existing human consciousnesses which form the patterns in nature...

A lot to take in, I know. Suffice to say that I believe that the 'Objective Universe' was created by the collective consciousness that is Us, the Human race, having arisen at random out of Chaos long before we manifested here physically. I would also elaborate upon this point and state that the 'Objective Universe' is in fact, an amalgamation of the collective individual 'Subjective Universes' created by every single man and woman in their God state, which would explain why every person sees 'the world' slightly differently, with the physiological factors attributed to this difference in perception being a result, rather than the cause, of it. So my point in this article is that, in the words of Aleister Crowley, "every man and every woman is a star", and that every star is a Universe with the man or woman at the centre. This ideology did not begin with Mr Crowley, but has been present in cultures all around the globe throughout human history, so much so that it might possibly be the root perennial truth in all traditions. It would take me a lifetime to adequately demonstrate this by explaining each tradition and its symbolism, so for the sake of ease or writing and reading on your part, I will focus on the most widely recognised religious symbolic representation, that of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ as shown through Catholic mysticism.

Much debate abounds as to whether or not Jesus of Nazareth was a real historical figure or a creation by the early Catholic Church; personally I accept both to be true, for indeed the common image of Jesus Christ is taken directly from the Ptolemaic image of Serapis, an amalgam of the images of Osiris and Apis to draw the Egyptian people into the belief of a single God embodied in Ptolemy I. However I also believe that as the social and political climate of Europe and Asia Minor evolved, the Roman Church in its infancy required a new, more palatable image to represent the already established view of 'the Man as God', and so chose a man of repute and advanced spiritual understanding to embody that image. Thus the Roman Church instituted the staged martyrdom of this individual, as well as his apparent miraculous resurrection to elevate him to a position of divinity in the eyes of the uninitiated, as a living demonstration of the potential power bestowed upon those who follow his teachings, which at their heart are Thelemic in nature. Jesus' ultimate act of self sacrifice to save humanity from their sins is the most explicit representation of 'the Man as God' which I will outline henceforth.

Let us begin with the symbolism of the cross. some of the earliest and most common depictions of crosses are found in western Europe, and are usually in the form of having arms of equal length, encompassed by a circle. This cross was representative of the sun, with the arms as the rays of light spreading out to touch the four corners of the known Universe as symbolised by the circle. The Celtic sun cross also therefore was representative of the four cardinal directions by which ancient peoples measured the four seasons via the position of the sun on the solstices and equinoxes. In the Middle ages with an upsurge in indigenous ritual practice being applied through a Christian lens, the sun cross came to also represent the four primordial elements of creation as known to the ancient Greeks, Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Since at the earliest point in the recorded human history of western Europe and the near east, it was widely accepted that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe with the sun orbiting around it, the solar cross may have also been interpreted as signifying the circle as the orbital path of the sun and the cross as the lateral and vertical planes of the Earth. The cross also presents itself in Qabbalistic Jewish Mysticism through the Sephirothic Tree of Life. This version of the cross is that which is most commonly associated with Christianity, that which has the lower arm longer than the other three arms, and is revealed when one traces the paths between the Sephirothic spheres of Malkuth and Kether, forming the vertical axis, with Chokhmah and Binah forming the horizontal axis. At the point where these lines overlap is found the elusive 'ghost sphere', known as Darth, which is a point of contention between various branches of Qabbalistic thought regarding its existence and significance. When one considers the position of Darth on the tree, one can quickly understand its significance, for it can represent the state of being in harmony between one's creative feminine and destructive masculine archetypes, as well as in balance between one's higher faculties and lower nature. Tipareth is the sphere which epitomises contentment and harmony with the physical world, and Kether is the sphere of the God-head or higher Self, and so Darth can thus be seen as the sphere of the enlightened individual, connected to their God, in balance between their masculine and feminine attributes and at peace in themselves and with the world around them.

Continuing on the subject of Qabbalah, the cross is given even greater significance when we consider Qabbalah's connection to mathematics and geometry. The word 'Qabbalah' was transliterated into 'Kaaba Al Allah' or the 'Cube of God' with the advent of Islam in the sixth century AD. The Kaaba is the most holy relic to the Muslim people and is situated in their most holy city of Mecca. The Kaaba was said to have been sacred to the pre-Hebrew tribes who inhabited the area from as early as 7,500 BC, and was later held to be sacred by the Hebrews until the invasion of the Mohammedans, who proceeded to tear down the statues of the old pagan deities whilst devoting the Kaaba to the 'One True God'. The importance of the Cube to Muslims and Jews alike is evident even today, as Jewish high priests adorn their heads with head dresses which feature a cube situated over the forehead, which in far eastern traditions is referred to as the 'Third Eye'. The Cube, though not the only form to be held as sacred by the Jews, is of high importance due to its mathematical value; it is the most stable of the five Platonic Solids, with six faces, twelve edges and all angles of 90°. The common element throughout the Cube is the number 3, or rather multiples thereof, for 3 has great numerological significance in all cultures around the world, being a number of creation, manifestation and growth, as seen in the Celtic Triquerta which symbolises the three quarters of the solar year spent in pregnancy, and the Trinity in which the forces of Light and Shadow, Chaos and Order, come together to give rise to the natural world, the union of opposites to create something new. However, the earliest depictions of the crucifixion of Christ show yet another form of the cross,

known as the Tau cross, so named due to its resemblance to the nineteenth letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. a link exists between the Tau cross and the Christian cross arising from the Cube, and that is the number 3. In ancient Greek and Hebrew, letters were also attributed with a numerical value; the value of Tau, which is equivalent to 'Tav' or 'Taf' in Hebrew, is 300. If 3 is the root of the dimensions of the Cube, and one divides that number by itself to find the square root, one is left with 1.732, which is extremely close to the value of Phi (1.618) and deviates by just 0.114%, therefore the Cube and by extension the cross is symbolic of the mathematical foundation of the physical Universe. It is also worth noting that Tau ­­is now used in quantum physics to calculate differential spaces, the bending of space and light in gravitational fields as seen with toroidal motions in the cosmos; as I have mentioned in a previous article, I believe it is possible that each person has their own universe which emanates from within and expands outwards before returning to its singularity within the individual in a toroidal motion, ad it is precisely this which embues the cross with so much importance to the self-centrist model of the universe.

Now that we have established the self-centrist interpretation of the cross, let us now look at the image of Christ as a symbol. As I mentioned earlier, the common portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth actually predates the era in which he is said to have lived, and has its origin in the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt as the image of Serapis. The image was fashioned from the likeness of Pharaoh Ptolemy I, who sought to consolidate his grip on power by converting the masses from Polytheism to a belief in a single God for whom he was the sole chosen representative. Serapis was created as an amalgam of Osiris, the King of the heavens, and Apis, the solar Bull, which at the time were the source of much conflict between members of the priesthood in Memphis as to which of them should be regarded as preeminent. Apis was viewed as an avatar of the sun and therefore a lesser aspect of Ra who had been worshiped for centuries, whilst Osiris was seen in the constellation of Orion and was the anointer of kings, as well as the gateway to the afterlife through which Pharaohs passed to face their trials to take their place as Gods. The merging of the two figures was an attempt to reconcile the schism, and although it did not receive much endorsement from the government, it succeeded in laying the groundwork for a monotheistic faith centered around a God of healing and resurrection, somewhat similar to Jesus. The similarities between the death of Jesus and the death of Osiris are the most interesting, however; Osiris is betrayed by one he trusts, his twin brother, Set, just as Jesus is betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot. Osiris then goes through a series of tribulations before he is eventually laid to rest by his wife and sister, Isis, just as Jesus goes through the stations of the cross before being laid to rest by Mary Magdalene. Finally, Osiris is reborn as Horus who succeeds in overthrowing Set and ascends to become the sun God, Ra, in the same way that Jesus is resurrected and ascends to heaven as the one God. By examining the symbolic representation of each deity in the story of Osiris we can establish the message which is then transferred into the Christian teachings with the crucifixion. Osiris represents Order, and Set embodies Chaos; each has their feminine counterpart in Isis and Nepthys, and so the male deities represent the limiting aspects of Order and Chaos whilst the female equivalents embody the potentiality of each universal principle. Osiris is tricked into entering a coffin which fits him perfectly, signifying self sabotage and the downfall of the ordered self through lapse in judgement. the coffin is then dumped in the Nile which represents the fast flowing current of cause and effect resulting from the lapse in judgement, and life subsequently carrying the self along to an uncertain destination.Next, the coffin becomes caught in the roots of a papyrus tree which envelopes it; this is symbolic of a grounding realisation or life lesson resulting from the mistake and the personal growth which results from it. The tree is cut down and used as the central pillar in the temple of a Hittite king, which has its parallel in Freemasonic symbolism with the pillars or king Solomon's temple and the establishment of the self as a house for the divine. The return of Osiris is secured by Isis, but upon his return, he is murdered by Set, symbolic of the false self being destroyed, and dismembered into fourteen pieces which could be seen from a Jungian perspective as being the fourteen facets of the unconscious mind, which would indicate that Osiris is undergoing an internal transformation by analysing and piecing together the seemingly disparate aspects of the self into a cohesive whole. Isis and Nepthys succeed in retrieving thirteen of the fourteen pieces, for the phallus piece was devoured by a fish, which suggests a relinquishing of the base nature which no longer benefits the individual, but are able to reconstruct Osiris to a suitable state for Isis to replace his missing phallus with one of pure gold and impregnate herself with his essence through which he is reborn as Horus. This entire story describes the journey of the self through the tribulations of life, to know what it is to die and be reborn with the knowledge that one can overcome any and all adversity and ascend to Godhood. It also conveys the simple fact that, despite one's inherent ability to influence the world in accordance with Will, one is still suceptible to the influence of Chaos, that which is absolute and precedes all things. This, too, is the message conveyed in the crucifixion, but with the elaboration upon the position of man at the centre of one's universe with ultimate control over their own destiny in the physical world.

Prior to the arrest and execution of Jesus, there is an occasion in which Jesus actually prophecies that a time will come when Judas must betray him, and actually advises him to do so, for it is God's will. So, too, does Jesus also state at the last supper that Peter will disown him and deny any association to Jesus before the cockerel crowed the following morning. This is an indication of one of two things; either Jesus knew that his actions in proclaiming himself the Messiah would get him killed and accepted this as the Will of something greater than himself, or he actually planned to be arrested, which would make both Peter and Judas knowing participants in Jesus' ultimate act of "sacrifice". In either case, when one considered that on the cross, Jesus cries out to God, "why have you forsaken me?", it is indicative of his genuine belief in the Will of a higher power. Jesus, at this point, is a man who has not truly accepted his own divinity, and still views it as his God-given destiny to die to save humanity from their sins. Only when he overcomes his fear and doubt and accepts his position while embracing forgiveness for those who condemned him, does he become the God-man. At the moment of his " death", it is written that the veil of the temple was rent in two, which symbolises the veil of illusion between man and God being torn away and Jesus knowing his place in his own universe. He is then speared in the side with the spear of Longinus, a parallel to the story of Odin which I will link back shortly.

In both the story of Osiris and the story of Jesus, both know that they will be murdered by those who envy their power, and both know that they will be betrayed by someone close to them, and yet they willfully submit themselves to situations which result in their deaths. This teaches us that we must expect others, even our friends and family, to resent our personal power, and that even when they do and seek our downfall, we me must not yield to their Will, even through love for those people. The Law of Thelema conveys this clearly, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under Will." Secondly, both figures endure a period of extreme hardship, interspersed with acts of kindness towards them, which demonstrates that life cannot be all good or all bad, and both the best and worst of times can be touched by the opposite. It also teaches us to not be proud and to accept aid when it is offered, for without it we fall victim to our own self sabotaging attitude which can only be born out of insecurity and self doubt. Thirdly, both characters "die" and are resurrected or reborn after 3 days, which indicates that they have reached a new level of consciousness, for the analogy of death and rebirth over a three day period is used to describe initiation into the mystery traditions of the ancient world, as seen with the story of Lazarus whom Jesus brings 'back from the dead' after three days. Could it be, then, that Jesus simply reached the next level of Self Awareness and was consequently initiated into a higher degree of the Mysteries? The fourth similarity between the two figures is that they are both healed by their female counterparts; Isis puts Osiris back together to an extent sufficient for her to conceive Horus by partaking in his spiritual essence, and Mary embalms Jesus and lays him in the tomb, protecting his body until he rises again. The intervention of the sacred feminine in both stories outlines the importance of balance between the masculine and feminine archetypes of the Self in order to reach a state of true love and acceptance of the Self, including all of its flaws. A man who cannot connect to his sacred feminine will never be able to love and nurture himself, and a woman who is out of touch with her divine masculine will have trouble sticking up for herself. The primary element which sets these two stories apart from that of Odin's sacrifice is that the sacred feminine is found in another person, the soul mate/twin flame who balances out the male protagonists and compensates for what they lack in order for them to achieve the state of Godhood, whereas Odin does not receive any such help and finds this understanding within himself.

Returning to the crucifixion, the message of Christ to all mankind is epitomised in the single iconic image of Jesus suspended on the cross. As mentioned earlier, the cross represents the material world, the Earth and everything around it in the known universe. Christ, representing the 'Universal Man' teaches us that he is just like anybody else, and that every single man and woman is their own Christ, their own saviour, their own God. He demonstrates this earlier when he walks upon the waters; Peter exits the boat at Jesus behest and he too walks upon the water with his mentor, and it is only when he questions how he is able to do it that he sinks. At first is appears that he questions his faith in Jesus to keep him above water, but in actuality he question his faith in his own ability, for it is written "But when he saw the wind he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out 'Lord, save me!'" after which Jesus says to Peter "Ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" It is our own fears which prevent us from attempting what others say is impossible, and so, to show to his followers that they need not fear death or the judgement of others, Jesus willingly submits himself to be suspended on the cross. In the symbol we see the individual, the Self, suspended at the centre of the world, marking the place of the individual at the centre of one's own existence, one's own universe, and in the act of sacrificing the Self to one's Self, one learns that while at the centre of one's own universe, they are responsible for everyone and everything within it. The crucifixion is designed to instill the notion that we are solely reponsible for our own actions and decisions, and through the Karma that we create for ourselves, we inadvertently influence the 'external' events which either help or hinder us on our journey down the path of life. It reinforces the teaching of 'Do unto others as you would have done unto you', as well as 'Love they neighbour', for we are all, each an every one of us, our own God, and therefore, we must respect each other as sovereign beings of equally creative and destructive power. We must each take full responsibility for our words, actions, thoughts and feelings, for they shape our individual realities, and as those realities overlap and interact with one another to create the collective reality we experience together, they affect the individual realities of every other person we have contact with. This is why humanity is said to have been made 'in God's image' and why we are all 'sons and daughters of the most high'. This might also account for humanity's "fall from grace", as whilst in Eden, humanity had no concept of Good and Evil, i.e. right and wrong, and therefore had no concept of failure or doubt, and so were capable of anything, and only after they learn shame are they cast out into the mundane or "fallen world" which we know today. Follow Jesus' example, put yourself at the centre of your world, accept what you cannot change, do not trouble yourself to satisfy other people if their Will is in direct contradiction to your own, but also, be mindful, be respectful, be responsible and channel all of your being into manifesting the best possible world for yourself and for those you love, for "Love is the Law, Love under Will".

In the case of Odin, he too suspends himself from Yggdrasil in order to learn the secrets of the Runes. If one has read Norse mythology, one learns that the Norns carved the Runes into the trunk of Yggdrasil in order to curse humanity with mortality in revenge for the death of their brother, Ymir, the primordial Jottun who shaped the worlds out of the Ginnungagap. The Runes represent the lives and destinies of men, and Odin believed that by understanding the Runes, he might understand the workings of fate so as to break the curse of the Norns and overcome death. The only way to do this was to hang himself upon the universal tree and gaze into the misty waters of Chaos, upon the surface of which he saw the reflection of the Runes and learned how to work with them to control his fate and the fates of all who dwelt in the worlds of Yggdrasil. The spear, Gungnir, like the spear of Longinus, is thrust through the side of Odin and pierces his heart, signifying the projection of his Will into the deepest reaches of his being, and this when combined with the act of peering into the primordial waters, represent the darkest and most mysterious depths of self contemplation and meditation. When the Runes reveal themselves to Odin, he feels them reverberate within him, which indicates that the secret to power to control one's own destiny already exists within the Self, and that it can be discovered by truly knowing one's Self. The ultimate sacrifice is that of our fears and attachments, as well as our expectations and preconceived notions of what constitutes the Self, of what makes us who we are; sometimes we have to let go of, or figuratively 'kill' the illusion of who we are in order to realise our true potential as divine beings. Upon the revelation of the Runes, Odin removes Gungnir from his side and releases himself from the tree with no help from any of his kith or kin. This is what sets Odin's story apart from those of Jesus and Osiris, for he is his own saviour and requires no help in his tribulations. To some, this may elevate Odin's story above the others, however, I have found that sometimes, union with one's other half, our soul mates or twin flames, is necessary or at the very least beneficial for us to become the best version of ourselves, for sometimes, if left unchecked, the divine Self can devolve from being 'Self-centred' to 'Selfish', a distinction which is difficult to make for some people. Regardless of preference, this is why I have been so drawn to the Norse tradition in recent years, for it teaches determination, resilience and self-reliance, as well as respect and compassion for others in times of peace. As someone who lacked self worth and confidence in my own abilities, the Norse tradition has been a fantastic teacher for me and has aided me greatly in coming to know myself. This, in conjunction with the Alchemical and Magickal teachings of Aleister Crowley, has allowed me to question everything I once thought defined me, and to overcome it all to be reborn as the God of my own universe.

There is a saying in Freemasonry, "Without my brothers around me, I am but a point within a circle." There is nothing wrong with being a single point within a single circle, but when all of our circles join together, they make up the Flower of Life. Together, we are the Universe which we share; together, we are 'God'.

I hope that this article touches upon some helpful ideas and aids you on your path. May you find your truest Self, discover your divine power and become your own God. I bid you a good day or night wherever you are in the Collective world, and may your God/Gods be with you.

Enki Endymion. O(

When Atheists Attack - A Discourse in Defense of Faith

As a spiritualist, I often find my hackle rising whilst working out in the everyday world of atheists and cynics. While working in my second job as a barman, just a few days ago, I overheard a conversation between three of the regulars who had been deep in discussion about the ever looming issue of terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Naturally I was eager to hear what they had to say on the matter, having an interest in what motivates people to act as they do, and so I stopped what I was doing to participate in the discussion. I soon wished I hadn't...

"Religion is causing all of the problems in the world!" stated one man who I'll refer to as 'Bill'. I found this proclamation more than rousing for the argumentative facet of my being, and so took up the banner in defense of Faith in general.

"Well, Religion isn't really, is it? People are the cause of the problems, the conflict etc. Religion is merely the scapegoat for all of humanity's wrongdoing, the most convenient excuse that we as a species has adopted to justify the barbarism we perpetrate against one another". Of course, when conversing with middle-aged drunken workmen who know nothing beyond the confines of their work-a-day life, a rational response is not sufficient to sway their opinions in one's favour. and so patron no. 2, who I'll name 'Charlie', chimed in, "It's religion's fault that people do mad things like blow themselves up! If they hadn't been brainwashed by religion into thinking they'll go to heaven for killing people, then it wouldn't happen. Religion is evil, that's what I think!"

Wow... I am powerless to resist your truly flawless logic, sir; for Religion is suddenly a sentient 'thing' capable of brainwashing the masses into doing its bidding. "No," I replied, "People are evil. Religion is simply a means by which greedy, power hungry, murderous megalomaniacs appeal to the minds of those who share their wickedness. Such people who are susceptible to this kind of manipulation are only drawn to religion because they recognise their wickedness and hatred and wish to purge themselves of it but are unable to do so due to their own weak Will." Again, reason failed to breach the walls of human ignorance, and so I was met with this rebuttal...

"No, seriously, what kind of person believes that if they blow themselves up then they'll go to a magical place in the sky where they'll have ninety-six virgins waiting for them? It's stupid!" said Bill haughtily. My veins were starting to run hot with frustration at their lack of deep thought on the matter, but I kept my poker face and replied, "Firstly, heaven is not believed to be a physical place in the sky, but rather another dimension or energetic world which exists within every fabric of this world. Secondly its seventy-two virgins, seventy-two being a sacred number adopted from the Hebrew traditions for the seventy-two names of God and its relevance to the mathematics of natural formations; but you would know this if you would actually take the time and effort to educate yourself and research what you criticise so readily."

Now drunk no. 3, John, decided to have his say, "Well, I think we should do away with religion anyway. Science proves religion wrong every day so why do stupid people cling to it?" Can you guess what my response to this was? Suffice to say that 'calm' was a word fading from my vocabulary at this point. "Because religion isn't the same as dogma; people are brainwashed by manipulating the dogmatic teachings of a religion, but most ignore the dogma and focus on the faith aspect which is the important part. Furthermore, science, at its cutting-edge point at the frontier of quantum physics, and also in astral physics is actually serving to corroborate much of what is written about in the Abrahamic texts. Besides, if we simply do away with religion then humanity will find another excuse to destroy each other, be it land disputes, fighting for non-renewable resources, or the same dogmatic, narrow-minded, hate-fueled ignorance but centered around race or sexuality or political stance etc. Religion solves just as many problems as it 'creates', so disposing of it won't fix anything."

Now the true heart of the issue emerged, the propensity of people to blame all aspects of religion because they personally don't agree with it in general. Bill piped up, "Well I'm an atheist, so I don't have that problem." This gave me all the ammunition I needed to launch my counter attack in defense of faith. "Ah Atheism, the most dangerous religion on the planet, that one." The three looked at me, puzzled, so I elaborated. "Religion, though it has been twisted into a system of socio-political control, provides a moral framework for a majority of people. Studies have already demonstrated that those who ascribe to a set faith have higher IQs than self proclaimed atheists, and that materialistic atheism, i.e. a general lack of belief in a supreme primordial creating consciousness or anything beyond the confines of what can be empirically demonstrated through experimentation, is in fact a form of mental illness, exhibiting the same neuro-chemical markers as the likes of schizophrenia! Religion sets rules, which are based on the social climate of the time and the area in which they are formed, which is why they started out primitive and backwards, but have subsequently evolved and modernised. They teach people to respect themselves and others, to do no harm and to care for the world, to refrain from selfish thoughts and actions, to refrain from lifestyles and practices which are detrimental to mental or physical well being, and they give people something to strive for, something to care about and some hope for the future, even in the face of their own mortality; what does atheism preach? It preaches that there is no creator, there is no design in the universe, there is nothing before or after death, that everything in existence is accidental, everything is meaningless, life has no purpose, and ultimately that because there is nothing after death, we need not fear judgement for our wrongdoing. It strips mankind of its sovereignty, its purpose, its compassion and its accountability. It permits the individual to pursue a life of material gain at any cost, even to the environment or human life, to do as they please with absolute impunity, because 'why bother sticking to the rules? Might as well live life while you can regardless of the consequences!' That is more destructive than any religious dogma I can think of, lacking all reason or real contemplative value, and responsible for more wars than those perpetrated in the name of any God."

I hit a nerve, having inadvertently (or rather intentionally) calling the men not only stupid, but also psychotic. The response was expected and typically focused on only one of the many points conveyed. "Religious people aren't smarter! Even if you're not a Muslim, Christians have to stupid to believe that Jesus went to heaven on a winged white horse! Nothing in history has ever even existed like that, winged white horses never have! So it's all rubbish!" Not only did Charlie unknowingly imply that any winged horse that wasn't white could have existed, he also completely missed the key point in any theological discussion regarding scripture; the stories are not to be taken literally! I made this point transparent. "Has it ever crossed your mind that the winged white horse might actually be symbolic? That the story could be an allegory for something much more profound yet credible, happening in the individual's mind? Even if Jesus wasn't an real person in history, though archaeological evidence suggests that he was, he is still a character formed to represent the 'Universal Man', that is to say, a character whom any ordinary person can try to relate to. His journey and teachings are to guide people in a certain way of living to achieve a state of happiness and oneness with everything in the universe, and so the winged white horse is used to represent the ascent of the physical man to a state of transcendence through a change in thought process and lifestyle. Even the crucifixion is used to teach sacrifice for the betterment of others, to submit yourself to hardship in order to fully take responsibility for your actions and your own life. If you actually thought about what you are saying the you might understand this and not say such things." John seemed to agree with this way of thinking, Billy seemed contemplative on the subject, but Charlie was unwavering in his admonishment of religion and spirituality in general, stating that it obviously doesn't work or else people wouldn't be killing each other in the name of God. Having come full circle I felt unable to muster the Will to bash my head against the proverbial brick wall any longer, and resigned myself to going about my duties on the bar. A similar discussion played out just last night, albeit considerably shorter, with no frustration and a more constructive outcome, after a young american joked that he had been raised a Catholic until he was old enough to actually think for himself. We parted on good terms having reached an agreement that people just need to look deeper into anything and everything they are told rather than taking it at face value, and we laughed about the fossilised specimens of intellectual Darwinism with whom I had conversed previously.

It seems that no matter how hard we try to spread knowledge, how strongly we stand against the tide of ignorance in western society, or how aptly we convey reason to the unenlightened multitudes, we will always be met with disdain, ridicule, adversity, and people who simply don't know and refuse to learn. Do not follow my example; keep cool, collected and keep the flame of compassion burning in your hearts. Do not allow yourselves to be troubled by other people's lack of understanding, or lose your temper when others lose theirs. We are not put on this Earth to make everyone understand or accept us or our views, and we were not put here to care about what they think. I hope this give some people the stockpile of responses necessary to combat opposition from others, and perhaps it can help some people find a way to deal with talking about their faith openly to family or friends by whom they may feel judged. Whatever you gain from this discourse, I hope it helps. Have a good day or night, wherever you are in the world, and may your Gods be with you.

Enki Endymion. O(

The 3am Discourses, Conversations and Ruminations in the Dead of Night - Mathematics in Nature

My most recent late night discussion with my wife began on the topic of how people push us to follow certain paths in life simply to draw benefit for themselves. I have always loved music and wanted to pursue music as my life path for many years; however, over time I was pulled away from following this dream by a series of unfortunate life circumstances, and settled into an average work-a-day life just to get by. Some people in my life have repeatedly tried to push me to pursue that dream, even though doing so would now be detrimental to the life and security I have built over the years; and to all external appearance, these people only want to see me succeed and be happy, but I have come to understand that one person in particular has an ulterior motive for their 'encouragement', for through me pursuing and mastering a working understanding of musical theory, I would then be in a position to fill in gaps in that person's knowledge of the divine mathematics of all musical systems, which the individual has struggled with for many years.

The primary example of this musical mathematics presented itself in the circle of fifths, a diagrammatic representation of the formation of chords in both major and minor scales. the circle is depicted with twelve notes around its circumference representing all of the sharp and flat notes constituting the major scale, and another twelve notes on the inside circumference of the circle representing those sharps and flats in the minor scale. The major scale typically begins with the key note of 'C' at the top of the circle, followed by 'G' in the 1 o'clock position, then 'D', and so on. the structure of chords can be determined by tracing a line across the area of the circle, joining each of the notes which make up the chord, and in doing so, geometric shapes are created. Also, the fact that there are twenty-four notes in the circle in total, but two of them are the key note 'B natural' which does not factor into the formation of any major key chord structures, means that only twenty-two notes are regarded as 'active'. This coupled with the fact that there are seven notes in an octave (the eighth being the same as the first not in the scale), gives us the enigmatic ratio of 22/7. Michael Hayes writes in his groundbreaking book The Infinite Harmony, that 22/7 is the first whole number ratio arising from Pi, since 22÷7=3.142857, and is 0.001% accurate to the true value of Pi (3.141592).

This led us on to discussing the relationship between Pi and Phi (1.61803), and their presence in all natural organic and inorganic structures. We found it interesting that whilst Pi has its whole number representation in the circle of fifths and the ratio of 22/7, Phi has its whole number equivalent in the Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers (i.e. 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21 etc). Pi holds the root to forming geometric shapes whilst Phi holds the root of the Golden Spiral, which is present in everything from microscopic sea life, to the proportions of the human body, to weather systems and spiral-arm galaxies. The even more intriguing aspect to these mathematical works of art is that they are fractal in nature, meaning that they are self replicating in accordance with their own mathematical law, reproducing the same shapes of patterns within and from themselves to infinity. My other observation was that, at least in the case of 22/7, the sequence of decimals appears to decrease in value as it progresses (3.142857142856142855 etc). This got us thinking about how when one tries to draw a circle around a square, then repeat this on a larger scale whilst adhering to the Phi ratio, the corners of the square will not touch the inner circumference of the circle as it did the first time. Only on the fourth repetition do the two shapes reunite perfectly before falling out of alignment again until the seventh repetition, though not as far out of alignment as they were before. This is another visual demonstration of the fundamental laws of natural formations, that absolute perfection is non-existent despite the initial appearance of it. However, just as the shapes grow further apart before realigning, all things in nature correct themselves in order to realign with a pre-existing principle of natural order, all things adjust and adapt their imperfections to achieve a state closer to perfection than what they had before. In the same way, the decimal numbers in 22/7 decrease to come ever closer to a more rational number, a more complete or whole number. It is mathematics' way of striving to achieve perfection, oneness with itself, trying to return to a single point of unity with everything. Just as numbers refine themselves, and geometric shapes fall in and out of alignment to finer and finer degrees, all natural structures, be they people, animals, plants, minerals, weather patterns, sub-atomic formations etc., they will always strive for unity with all other things in existence, all strive for perfection in accordance with the laws of Phi and Pi, the thumb print of the Gods, the tell-tale signs of intelligent design in the universe.

And with that soul-stirring realisation, my wife paused with a satisfied look on her face and concluded the discussion with, "...and that's why we need to poo!" I could not control my laughter, nor could I understand how this was relevant; but she laid my confusion and hysterics to rest by explaining that all things need to take in pat of something else to sustain themselves, an exchange of energy, and in recompense, all things excrete waste which then serves in sustaining something else. Nature takes our imperfections and uses them to the advantage of other living things in the constant pursuit of universal unity and perfection. So folks, if you're ever wondering why everybody poops, you know it's all because of mathematics! Thank you for reading this article. I hope it was helpful and/or interesting. To all of you, have a good day or night, wherever you are in the world, and may the Gods be with you!

Enki Endymion. O(