Golden Gardens

Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds

pipe dreams

© SANCTUS SABBATI

Maya Deren

"I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick."

Maya Deren (April 29, 1917, Kiev – October 13, 1961, New York City), born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s. Deren was also a choreographer, dancer, poet, writer and photographer. Her social circle included Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, John Cage, and Anaïs Nin.



When Maya Deren decided to make an ethnographic film in Haiti, she was criticized for abandoning avantgarde film where she had carved her place, but she was ready to expand to a new level as an artist. The Guggenheim grant enabled Deren to finance travel to Haiti in 1947 and to complete her film "Meditation on Violence". She went on three additional trips through 1954 to document and record the rituals of vodoun. A source of inspiration for ritual dance was Katherine Dunham who wrote her master’s thesis on Haitian dances in 1939, which Deren edited. Afterwards Deren wrote several articles on religious possession in dancing before her first trip to Haiti. Deren not only filmed, recorded and photographed many hours of vodoun ritual, but also participated in the ceremonies. She documented her knowledge and experience of Vodoun in Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (New York: Vanguard Press, 1953), edited by Joseph Campbell, which is considered a definitive source on the subject. Deren filmed 18,000 feet of Vodoun rituals and people she met in Haiti. The footage was incorporated into a posthumous documentary film Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti edited and produced by Teiji Itō and his wife Cherel Winett Itō.

Happy Holydaze

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why....I wish I knew about Krampus when I started telling my daughter Christmas tales! She could care less if I threaten her with the ol' "Santa will leave coal in your stocking" bit! But Krampus, now that's the kind of folklore we can use to keep naughty girls and boys in line! Did you know that before St. Nick employed elves to help him out, he was accompanied by the Devil? Krampus followed St. Nick around like a shadow. Good little children were rewarded with gifts and the bad ones were punished by Krampus! Sometimes Krampus will just give give you a good scare and a verbal warning! One could only hope...



In addition to the dreaded coal in the stocking, if you were just a little naughty you might get off with a swat on the ass! Or if you deserve a more severe punishment...Krampus might really rough you up!



But you know what happens to those really bad children!? He might throw you in his straw sack and steal you away into the forest...never to be heard from again!



In Austria and Germany, the tradition (which may vary slightly in different parts of the country) is that the boots of good children will be filled with goodies on December 6th by St. Nicholas. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus on the evening of December 5, and roam the streets with St. Nick frightening children (and adults) growling and shaking rusty chains and bells! The present day Krampus costume consists of wooden masks, sheep or goat's skin and horns. The tradition might also include slight spankings with a switch or tree branch by the Krampus, especially of young females! Meanwhile St. Nick hands out children candy, fruit and small toys! During these festivals St. Nick is accompanied by a whole gang!



Modern day Krampus Festivals are sometimes very dangerous, especially for women. Old tales say Krampus (a horny fertility god) is quite fond of sexually harassing women and slapping them on the behind. This leads to a lot of sexual misconduct on the streets by drunken men dressed as Krampus!



The Companion of St. Nicholas is associated with the story of Knecht Ruprecht (Saint Rupert), a wild foundling whom St. Nicholas raises from childhood. In some of the Ruprecht traditions, the children would be summoned to the door to perform tricks, such as a dance or singing a song to impress upon St. Nick and Ruprecht that they were indeed good children. Those who performed badly would be beaten soundly by Servant Ruprecht, and those who performed well were given a gift or some treats. Those who performed badly enough or had committed other misdeeds throughout the year were put into Ruprecht's sack and taken away, variously to Ruprecht’s home in the Black Forest. In other versions the children must be asleep, and would awake to find their shoes filled with either sweets, coal, or in some cases a stick. Over time, other customs developed: parents giving kids who misbehaved a stick instead of treats and saying that it was a warning from Nikolaus that "unless you improve by Christmas day, Nikolaus' black servant Ruprecht will come and beat you with the stick and you won't get any Christmas gifts." I read quite a few interesting articles about Krampus while searching the internet for images. However, most of them focused on the notion that Krampus and St. Nick eventually were merged into one character that we now recognize as Santa Claus. Santa now punishes naughty children and rewards the good ones. As you know, he has a list...and checks it twice!



Only a few articles suggested that Krampus has pre-Christian Pagan origins. One pointed torwards the "Wilde Man" of Germanic and Slavic folklore. These tales spawned stories like the Brothers Grimm tale entitled "De Wilde Mann" and Beauty and the Beast. The Wild Man, Woodwose is connected to devilish woodland spirits like Puck and the vegetal Green Man. So I would say that notion is misleading. Others suggest a connection to the mysterious "Horned God". But there are many horned god deities, so that really needs to be defined. When Neopagans refer to the "Horned God", they could be refering to one of several different horned dieties. One such archetype represents the personification of the life force energy in animals and the wilderness, fertility, sexual virility and the Hunt. Gods like Cernunnos, Pan, Faunus, and Innus are personified as being sex crazed or shown as having a large erect phallus. Fertility, fecundity and the symbolism of the phallus all denote a connection to the rites rituals, and celebrations of Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. (As does the aforementioned Wilde Man) So none of these references have any synchronicity with Krampus.



In some depictions, Krampus bears an uncanny resemblance to "The Devil". The Devil is still a vague reference as he is merely a modern personification of Evil. The Devil usually refers to Lucifer and Satan of the Bible. They are commonly lumped together into one entity. They are two entirely different spiritual beings however. In Hebrew ha-Satan is "the accuser" and Satan itself means "to overcome" — the one who challenged the religious faith of humans in the books of Job and Zechariah. Abrahamic religious belief systems other than Judaism relate this term to a rebellious fallen angel, devil, minor god and idol, or as an allegory for knowledge or the enlightenment of mankind. Another aspect of the Devil points torwards the Serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (e.g., “sexual knowing”) The Serpent in the Garden is more likely rooted in Ancient Sumerian texts and is actually Enlil (Ilu), Lord of the Air and Lord of the Command was said to have created an created an E.DIN, according to Sumerian texts.He was said to have descended from Heaven to Earth. Half brother of Enki (Ea), Lord of the Earth and Waters. The philosophy of Enki manifests and explains itself in pre-Christian Mesopotamian and Egyptian thought. Satan doesn't have any synchronicities with Krampus. So we're getting off track again here.

Let's talk about Lucifer! In Latin, the word "Lucifer", meaning "Light-Bringer" (from lux, lucis, "light", and ferre, "to bear, bring"), is a name for the "Eastern Star" or "Day Star". This usage stems from a particular interpretation, as a reference to a fallen angel, of a passage in the Bible (Isaiah 14:3-20) that speaks of someone who is given the name of "Day Star" (in Latin, Lucifer) as fallen from heaven. The same Latin word is used of the morning star in 2 Peter 1:19 and elsewhere with no relation to Satan. Lucifer is recognized by Occultists as the Father of Baphomet, and is represented as the Sabbatic Goat. Eliphas Lévi considered Baphomet to be a depiction of the absolute in symbolic form. Below is an illustration of Baphomet by Lévi. His depiction is similar to that of the Devil in early tarot cards.



Lévi wrote: "The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of hermetism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyn of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light ("Light-Bringer") of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast's head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyn arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences." The word Baphomet is said to be an Old French corruption and misspelling of the name Mahomet (Muhammad). Christianity claims that Muhammad is a false Prophet and therefore demonizes him and the followers of Islam (Peace). The name is a combination of two Greek words (baphe and metis) and meant 'absorption into wisdom.' I could go on and on about the origins of Baphomet, and synchronicities with other gods throughout different cultures, but I'll spare you the details. I just wanted to establish that Lucifer and Baphomet are one and the same...Lords of the Underworld.

So what does all this have to do with Christmas and why is Santa hanging out with Lucifer? Let's break it down, shall we? In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs either December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest, night of the year. (This is reversed during Summer Solstice) Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.



Again, in the Tarot the Devil Card is associated with the sign of Capricorn. Capricornus has been recognized as a goat since Babylonian and Chaldean times. Below is Occultist Aleister Crowley's version of the Devil, he states: "He is 'The Devil' of the Book of Thoth, and His emblem is BAPHOMET, the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection. He is therefore Life and Love. But moreover his letter is ayin, the Eye, so that he is Light; and his Zodiacal image is Capricornus, that leaping goat whose attribute is Liberty."



Santa Claus/St. Nick/Father Christmas is simply the personification of Winter Solstice accompanied by his servant and messenger Krampus the Horned God! Krampus the "Horned God" represents the movement of the Sun into Capricorn. Check out this image of Santa riding in on a Goat! The Horned God heralds the begining of Winter!



Winter Solstice is longest night of the year. (Again, after winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.) The Horned God not only heralds the beginning of Winter, but he carries the souls of the dead to the underworld. (Death here is symbolic of repressed sexual energy.) represents the of the "Dark night of the Soul" or the descent of Spirit into darkness. As the "Bringer of Light" he promises the return of the Sun (Enlightenment). The Horned Fertility God offers the secret of rebirth. Notice in Eliphas Lévi's illustration, Baphomet reveals the the caduceus or magic wand of Hermes (Mercury). His arms reveal the words "Solve" and "Coagula" In alchemy the term in Latin: SOLVE ET COAGULA means separate and join together or dissolve and coagulate (bind together)



The caduceus is comprised of two serpents coupling on an erected phallus, fertility symbol. The rod is a symbol of transforming alchemical power. The two serpents represent Union of Opposites (Sun/Moon) The snakes together with the sprouted wings depict the caduceus having an alchemical meaning of balance of duality, the alchemical process leading to unity. Even today, the symbol is often associated with medicine. Levi called his image “the Baphomet of Mendes” (Mendes is an ancient Egyptian city) "the Lord of Mendes", who was the soul of the Egyptian god Osiris, father of the "DIVINE CHILD", Horus...For Crowley, Baphomet is further a representative of the spiritual nature of the spermatozoa while also being symbolic of the "MAGICAL CHILD" produced as a result of sex magic. As such, Baphomet represents the Union of Opposites, especially as mystically personified in Beast and Babalon combined and biologically manifested with the sperm and egg united in the zygote. The birth of the Christ Child is a metaphor for Spiritual Rebirth. Enlightenment that comes after a period of Darkness (Ignorance) "Out of Darkness, Cometh Light" But it also quite literally points torward the return of the Sun in Summer Soltice.



Winter solstice festivals throughout all cultures in ancient and modern times celebrate the rebirth of the Great God (Christ), who is viewed as the newborn Solstice Sun. Most traditions include "festival of lights". Which celebrates the return of Sun or birth of the Son! Germanic Tribes lighted trees (Tannenbaum) and celebrated the fest of light (Lichtfest) around the shortest day of the year, December 21. Yule traditions include decorating a fir or spruce tree with candles, burning a Yule log, hanging mistletoe and holly branches, giving gifts, and general celebration and merriment. On Christmas an evergreen tree that is brought into a home is decorated with Christmas lights and colourful ornaments during the days around Christmas. An angel or a star is placed at the top of the tree, representing the Star of Bethlahem, Archangel Auriel. This is the North star that the Three Wise Men followed.



Remember, Lucifer "Bringer of Light" or "Morning Star"? If you look again at Eliphas Lévi's depiction of the Horned One, he has a 5-pointed Star on his forehead. "The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light" It is the Star of Adam Kadom. In the Qabala, Christ, the Logos, the only begotten son of God as found in Genesis 1: 1, not to be confused with the emanations of Adam Kadom (also called Adam or Eden) as found in Genesis 2 (consciousness) or Genesis 3 (matter and life) or Genesis 4 (humanity). Below you'll notice that the symbol for Lucifer is a 5-pointed star pointing downwards, representing the souls descent into darkness. Also shown is the Star of Adam Kadom, a 5-pointed star pointing up, representing Christ Consciousness...enlightement). That would indicate that the Devil as Christ's antagonist in the Bible really represents Man struggling within himself, his own Shadow. It's through the Union of this Duality that we achieve Spiritual Liberation!




See also:
Saturnalia
Sol Invictus

Mood Board: The Loo #2

Grow where you're planted? That's the question! Although I'd like to move to the West Coast for a while, but I figure I'll be in Chicago for a while longer so I'm going to finish fixing up my humble abode. You may remember my last bathroom Mood board...and here's the latest bathroom inspiration.

Unica Zürn ~ Orakel und Spektacle

"Unica Zürn (1916-1970), a German Surrealist painter/writer made a series of psychologically intense line drawings that combine Surrealist automatism with the mania of Outsider Art and a certain residue of contemporary experiments in psychedelic drugs. Erotic and trancelike, the works depict fantastic chimeras, bizarre creatures with double faces that represent multiplications of herself, either repeated across the page or set in intricate dream landscapes of mystic animals and otherworldly plant forms. Unica Zürn's “hallucinatory chimeras” prime examples of the surrealist technique of automatic drawing." A Stone for Unica Zurn



An excerpt from:
Dark Spring by Unica Zürn

Each time, she finds herself tormented by her terrible fear of the rattling skeleton of a huge gorilla, which she believes inhabits the house at night. The sole purpose of his existence is to strangle her to death. In passing, she looks, as she does every night, at the large Rubens painting depicting "The Rape of the Sabine Women." These two naked, rotund women remind her of her mother and fill her with loathing. But she adores the two dark, handsome robbers, who lift the women onto their rearing horses. She implores them to protect her from the gorilla. She idolizes a whole series of fictional heroes who return her gaze from the old, dark paintings that hang throughout the house. One of them reminds her of Douglas Fairbanks, whom she adored as a pirate and as the "Thief of Baghdad" in the movie theater at school. She is sorry she must be a girl. She wants to be a man, in his prime, with a black beard and flaming black eyes. But she is only a little girl whose body is bathed in sweat from fear of discovering the terrible gorilla in her room, under her bed. She is tortured by fears of the invisible.

Who knows whether or not the skeleton will crawl up the twines of ivy that grow on the wall below her window, and then slip into her room. His mass of hard and pointed bones will simply crush her inside her bed. Her fear turns into a catastrophe when she accidentally bumps into the sabers, which fall off the wall with a clatter in the dark. She runs to her room as fast as she can and slams the door shut behind her. She turns the key and bolts the door. One again, she has come out of this alive. Who knows what will happen tomorrow night?

Stacey Rozich

Stacey Rozich

Ödland

Zoophyte is the first vinyl 45 turns of Ödland. It celebrates the two years of existence of the group, on December 13, 2010, magic day of the Holy Lucie. Animal kingdoms and plant are studied in this disc, are confronted, exposed their respective strategies to preserve the life vis-a-vis chaos. On the first face, Cecidomyiidae is a species of scabious flies which reproduce at a tremendous speed, formant of fantastic families of famished females of sheets. Over the second face, one learns that the Flowering of the bamboos takes place only once per century at certain species to protect itself from the predatory ones, by submerging them under too full with food. At the XIXe century, one called Zoophyte the living beings which one could not distinguish if they were Animal or Vegetable. This disc of Ödland is located on this border, where mix the rites, the fight for survival and sexuality under the eye of Darwin. A vinyl invaluable, cordial, where Activité and Passivity are measured. Each of the 200 specimens is numbered and signed by the group.

metamorphosis delayed...

~ artist unknown

Zoe Arnold

Zoe Arnold

Ages Obel

Madeline Von Foerster

Madeline Von Foerster

Coming Soon!

© SANCTUS SABBATI
December 21, 2012

High Priestess ~ Lady Lavona
High Priest ~ to be announced

"The house of constipated reason must be infiltrated by art, by dreamers, by Vision. Find the others...find the others and then you'll know what to do" Terence McKenna

Related links: 2012, Mayan Prophecy: New Civilization, Quetzalcoatl

Psychomagic

This is part one of a conversation Daniel Pinchbeck had with the legenday filmmaker, author, and Tarot reader Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky is known for his occult masterpieces Holy Mountain and El Topo. This video, directed and edited by Bradley Smith, was filmed on an evening celebrating the release of Jodorowsky's latest book, Psychomagic: read an excerpt from the book here



"Psychomagic presents the shamanic and genealogical principles Jodorowsky discovered to create a healing therapy that could use the powers of dreams, art, and theater to empower individuals to heal wounds that in some cases had traveled through generations. The concrete and often surreal poetic actions Jodorowsky employs are part of an elaborate strategy intended to break apart the dysfunctional persona with whom the patient identifies in order to connect with a deeper self. That is when true transformation can manifest."

* 12/4/10 - I met Alejandro in the Underworld last night, preceded by a White Horse. He said this book was for you. He said you were about to make the biggest mistake of your life. He said you will carry this burden on the back of your black horse, alone, for the rest of your life. Maybe you reconsidered...maybe the Earth will hold her power? He said the book would provide you with all the answers you need.

Related link: Magnum Opus

curiouser and curiouser...

1. Heller Gallery ~ Steffen Dam 2. Ruven Afanador ~ Evoluzione della specie 3. Laura Zindel Ceramics

Creative Claythings

I'm finally getting back into the pottery studio this Winter! I'm hoping to purchase my own wheel and kiln someday but meanwhile I'm renting space at my local pottery studio. Last time around I made some simple wheel thrown pieces and some hand built dishes inspired by Stonehenge. Eventually I want to incoporate the Ogham, form an ancient Celtic magical alphabet, similar to the Norse runes or Futhark.



related link: Ugly Jugs

To whom it may concern,

It has been brought to my attention that people are photoshopping images found on my blog and elsewhere on the internet. The artwork below for example was something that I commissioned artist Nikki Pinder to do in 2007. She made a matching banner for my blog which at the time was called "Lady Lavona's Gypsy Soup". All artwork (commissions & collaborations) found on my blog, ect. with my name on it is owned by me and is protected under copyright laws the artist possesses.

laTeeFah wRiGht, LadeePuPPette

"ShrouDed in maGic, tHis loa can be traGic! asK him a favour, good moJo to savOr..."



kil studios

reshaping my life...

Tina Imel Fine Art

O BABALON

Javier Piñón’s 2010 exhibition of collages is built around depictions of the highly charged image of the earth goddess Babalon, her attendants, priestesses and their mystical terrain unfolding in a narrative of liberation, sensuality, death and rejuvenation. Together the female players act as warrior protectorates and elusive guards of mysterious natural rites, often in what appears to be an acts of sacrifice or sensual oblation. The densely rendered surroundings are a culmination of the singularly meticulous technical approach of the artist, carving and sculpting his original two dimensional source materials into optically accurate, air-tight backdrops that seem to heave and breathe with expectation.

Inspirations...

Cabinet of Curiosities of Bonnier de la Mosson

Coming Soon to Catbird NYC

I'm packing up another wholesale order of Supernatural Butterfly Specimen Necklaces for Catbird NYC. Just in time for the Holidaze!



A delicate butterfly wing rests in a tiny glass specimen vial (approx. 1.5 inches) and hangs on a bronze chain (approx. 30 inches.) Butterfly is a powerful symbol in myth and religion representing the Soul. Call upon the butterfly for guidance in transformation and happiness. She brings with her messages of change, joy, love, and freedom. Listen to Butterfly's gentle requests that we dance to the natural rhythms of life. Allow yourself to emerge from your cocoon transformed into a bright and beautiful free spirit! *Please note...no butterflies are harmed to make this jewelry. Specimens are obtained from a butterfly sanctuary where they are collected after expiring naturally*