Nuit of the Milky Way,
Alchemical Journeys of the Questing Twins
Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson
Ritual 9. Realm of Sagittarius: The Aspiring Centaur
We Look Within Ourselves
THE TEMPLE OF ALCHEMY
Priestess/Priest Alchemist: (to Twin Apprentices) You have an important task. You are required to blend the aerial ideals of Libra with the hidden deeps of the oceans of Scorpio. Successfully to accomplish this, to unite the subliminal and the unconscious mind, spirit and soul . . . you need to come down to earth! Only within the hidden sun of our earth can you find the self-knowledge that comes from practical experience of earthly life. Let us seek the aid of the Goddess Terra of our earth!
ORACLE OF THE GODDESS TERRA OF ROME
Priestess: (Invocation) Holy Mother of us all, we dwell by Thy sufferance upon the wide earth: all creatures that fly and run and swim are under Thy sway. The sacred elements of earth form Thy Body and Thy mighty aura encompasses us as a protective veil. But now we dread the destruction we wreak upon Thy Being. Aid us to change the hearts of those who destroy Thy children and Thy life.
Oracle: Fear not for Me! For if, through immature folly, My destructive sons break My crust irretrievably, causing My inner fires to erupt, for Me this would be a glorious rebirth into a greater orbit! I should encircle the sun in splendour as a far flying comet. In truth, it is not for Me - whom you have trodden underfoot with neglect - for whom you fear, but for yourselves and your works. For what can the students do when they have destroyed their classroom? Yet that which is threatened is suddenly appreciated! So many of you return to My Nature and seek My initiation. Know that heaven and the stars are without, but they are also within Me and within Yourselves! My Inner Sun shines radiantly as My heart's love, and in the depths My Holy Centres glow with myriad ever-changing colours. These are guarded by the two-coiled fiery Dragon-Goddess Tiamat. The first quest to be undertaken by the seeker is not without but within My Being. For within are all your lost treasures, the records of your past lives. The pilgrim soul may through Me live again through each stage of evolving consciousness, as does a child within the womb.
Descend into the Abyss, but only with My Vocation. Without My unmistakable call you will surely perish from fear! Bring with you the Lamp of Truth, and in your hearts love for even those of my children who appear to you as terrible of aspect. You will face and pass through molten sulfurous green lakes, rivers of fire and finally, face all-revealing Light. Know that in My womb rests the lost paradise you seek, and within it is the Tree. The time comes to each of you when the forbidden fruit is freely given to you. And the gifts thereof give you knowledge of past epochs and the rise and fall of planets and the realization of your own latent divinity. Yet even knowledge is not enough. For wisdom to be won you must taste of the ever renewing Tree of creative Love. Come to Me without fear, but only when I call you Home.
Priestess Alchemist: (to Aiden) To find the inner fire of your earth, which glows within our bodies, you need to leave our Solar Iseum and pass through the Gateway of Sagittarius in the Northwest of the Temple of the Zodiac. We will accompany your trance journey. Report to us if you are able.
Aiden: Curious. I feel uninspired by the earth. It’s always there somehow. * * * Oh, I like the Sagittarius gateway though! I’ve always adored horses - literally. It is guarded by two magnificent centaurs - can they be alive? One is golden, on the right and the other is black on he left - he has a beard. How soaringly high they are! One forgets how high a man is on a horse. However, I wonder will they let me pass - for they have arrows aimed - but not at me. How curious. They aim at each other. So I can slip by unnoticed.
Oh how wonderful! I am in a glade full of beautiful men and women in Greek costume. I’ve always longed to take part in ancient Greek Mysteries. As you know for me the more secret the better! And this is exciting - because it is nowadays! I observe a pile of modern T-shirts and denims. A lovely young girl tells me to robe myself in a tunic. I am doing this. * * * I am hurrying, because someone is beating out an hypnotic rhythm and flutes are playing. I long to join the dance * * * Long Pause * * * This is the most glorious dance I’ve ever enjoyed! Yes - nymphs and satyrs and fauns dance with me, and to crown it all, Pan appears, the Great God Himself! He is aloft, His horned hoofs delicately balanced on a rock. Men and women throng around the Horned God. They reach Him in pairs. They listen for a few seconds to His flute music - but then vanish! For a moment the lovers stand on the rock with the God in a state of bliss. Then they dissolve in strange emerald and violet light leaving behind a rush of heady scent of exotic plants.
A beautiful nymph is asking me to join her forever, as her twin soul, promising indescribable ecstasy, but I ask nervously where do the devotees go? Another reveller, a young man, tells me that those who vanish enter into the total reality of the cosmos. They become a dewdrop joining the shining seas of space: a living atom in everlasting joy. I suddenly feel panic. The young girls are closing in on me. Their arms encircle me as they draw me towards the God. They tell me that Pan Himself eternally sacrifices Himself with every death, and so must we offer ourselves in sacrifice, so that we too enjoy His rebirth throughout Nature.
Suddenly I remember the centaurs. I call for spiritual help. A white horse appears and I rush towards him and mount. I gallop at top speed. I have no wish to make part of Nature’s omelet. The horse brings me higher and higher up a mountain and around me I see innumerable stars. I long to reach them and so attain spiritual illumination. I have called to the Light. I offer myself * * * but to my horror, I see that the horse is making for a precipice. Then I remember the Irish legend of the Pouka, the faery horse that lures its riders over a precipice to death . . . Now I know why this is happening. The White Horse has mighty wings. He can fly. I cannot.
I find myself falling and falling and falling. * * * The Light has disappeared and I am in total overwhelming darkness. I call upon my Mother . . . I feel warm arms around me and there is a glow like a sun within me. I hear a voice, strangely both far away and yet within me: "My son, you have returned. You have come down to earth!" We hug each other. I am safe. * * * Slowly I am coming back to you all. I know the Mother never deserts us, even though we leave Her. She is forever in our hearts.
The Company are pleased with Aiden’s discovery and agree that he has gained his degree through the Ritual of Sagittarius. Reports are shared and thoughts of Love and Healing are sent forth. Thanks are given to Terra, our Mother.
End of Rite.
Note: When working with the rituals in "Nuit of the Milky Way", a Priestess/Priest Alchemist has the following choices. They may:
(1) use the rites presented in the book, or,
(2) create their own rites based on the Oracles presented in the book.
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