Space is an Altar: Psyche Out

A grim and ominous week of war and stellar sorcery, all coinciding with a "Ring of Fire" eclipse? Sure sounds apocalyptic to me. How about you?

Before we start, I just want to mention that The Endless American Midnight is finally available on Kindle. A lot of folks have asked me to do so and I'm happy to say that their ship has finally come in. 

You can get it here in the US, here in the UK, here in Canada, here in Australia and here in Germany. 

That said, let's look to the Heavens.... 

PSYCHE-DELIC SOLUTION

So it seems that the 716th anniversary of the suppression of the Knights Templar did not go unobserved by our friends at Not A Space Agency. Let's have a look.

NASA has launched its first mission to a mysterious world made largely of metal, on a journey to find out whether the asteroid is the exposed core of an early planetary building block from the beginning of the solar system.

The Psyche mission lifted off at 10:19 a.m. ET Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Psyche will be the first of many upcoming NASA science missions slated to launch aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket.

The mission, named for the 16 Psyche asteroid it will observe, will travel about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) over the next six years to reach the space rock, located in the outer part of the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, said David Oh, Psyche chief engineer for operations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.''

Gosh, seems to me there was another story about something floating around the asteroid belt recently. 

Let's dive a little deeper into this whole Psyche thing...

Psyche is the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings. The name Psyche means "soul" in Greek and was commonly referred to as such in Roman mythology as well, though direct translation is Anima (Latin word for "soul").

Getting all sorts of Jung ping off this one, right? 

It also calls to mind that MKULTRA witch doctor Ewen Donald Cameron studied in the Burgholzi, where Jung once taught. As I've said, I have grave doubts about the whole MONARCH business but there's considerable evidence that butterfly symbolism was used in these programs.

Our old friend Apuleius (of Lucifer's Technologies fame) even makes an appearance in our little production as well.

She was born a mortal woman eventually granted immortality, with beauty that rivaled even Aphrodite, goddess of love. Psyche is known from the novel called The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphoses, written by the Roman philosopher and orator Apuleius in the 2nd century. In the myth, she was given multiple trials in order to be with her beloved, Eros, also known as Cupid, god of physical love and desire and son of Aphrodite.

Getting some Cinderella vibes here, too. Maybe because both stories date back to Ancient Greece. 

Meanwhile, both of her elder sisters were jealous of her beauty. Still, they eventually went on to marry kings and left to be with their husbands. Although everyone kept admiring Psyche's beauty, it became apparent that she couldn't find a suitor because they were happy to just worship her instead of ask her hand in marriage. 

And wouldn't you just know it? Another old friend makes a cameo: 

The king and queen, deeply disturbed by this, decided to consult the Oracle of Delphi, also known as Pythia, at the Temple of Apollo for answers. 

Apollo, speaking through the Oracle, said "Despair, king. Your daughter will marry a beast even the gods fear. Dress her in funeral clothes and take her to the tallest rock spire in the kingdom. There, she shall meet her doom." The king returned heartbroken, but obeyed the god's orders."

Greek myths are such downers, I swear.

The story of Cupid and Psyche also brings two more of our old pals back into frame...

From The Guardian:

The remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as a live-action movie, opening next week, is likely to be one of the hit films of 2017.

To begin with, it was not a fairy story but the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche, featuring the first action heroine in literature. According to Apuleius’s The Golden Ass, Psyche’s beauty incites the anger of Venus, who commands her son Cupid to punish her. Instead, he is smitten. 

Offered up on Apollo’s command as a sacrifice to a monster by her father the king, Psyche is carried off to a beautiful palace where she spends every night in darkness with a lover she promises never to look upon, who she assumes to be the monster.

When she is persuaded to kill him, the candle she smuggles in to the room reveals her lover to be Cupid, who flees, angered by Psyche’s betrayal. The unhappy Psyche must win him back by going on a quest to placate the jealous Venus.

Will wonders never cease?

This story seems a bit familiar as well...

Aphrodite gave Psyche her third task: gather the black waters from the River Styx in a crystal cup the goddess had given her. Arriving near the river, Psyche once again began to despair, for getting to the river itself meant climbing up a treacherous cliff and risking her life. 

This time, it was Zeus who took pity on the girl and sent his eagle to retrieve the water for her in the crystal cup, thus successfully completing the third task. 

Why does this sound familiar, you ask? Back to the Belle of our cosmic Beauty and the Beast:

REVELATION 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.

REVELATION 12:15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 

I can't help but think of the Eridanus Void when I think about the River Styx. For what should be obvious reasons.

Wait: another old friend enters the Psyche Pstory? Amazing.

Let's go to the tape, Bob:

Psyche was given a golden box and ordered to travel to the Underworld to retrieve a bit of beauty possessed by Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. Psyche, believing this last task was impossible, once again decided to take her own life. She climbed a tall tower and prepared to jump, but the tower spoke and instructed Psyche to go to the border of Sparta where she can find a passageway to the Underworld. 

Upon arriving, Psyche was surprised to find that Persephone willingly filled the box with her beauty. However, on her way back to give Aphrodite the box, curiosity once again overcame her and she opened it. Instead of finding a sample of beauty, she found a cloud of darkness that put her in a deep sleep. 

That particular episode should remind any mythology buff of Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, where she came face to face with Erishkegal, the Persephone of Sumerian myth (give or take). 

Don't look now, but yet ANOTHER familiar theme pops up in yesterday's space ritual:

In both ancient and later art, Cupid is often shown riding a dolphin. On ancient Roman sarcophagi, the image may represent the soul's journey, originally associated with Dionysian religion.  

That particular icon was also the maguffin of a 1957 picture that brought the luscious Etruscan, Shekinah Garlandio, to the hungry eyes of US movie goers. And here we go with the stellar symbolism again:

Phaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discovers an ancient brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes.  

 

A refresher for the uninitiated.

And sure enough, that particular film has a theme song. Which, oddly enough, sounds not totally unlike a recent prophetic proclamation.

There's a tale that they tell of a dolphin

And a boy made of gold.

With the shells and the pearls in the deep,

He has lain many years fast asleep

What they tell of the boy on a dolphin,

Who can say if it's true?

Should he rise from the depths of the ocean,

Any wish that you wish may come true.

You say "he's only a statue, 

and what can a statue achieve?"

And yet, while I'm gazing at you,

My heart tells my head to believe.

If the boy whom the gods have enchanted

Should arise from the sea,

And the wish of my heart could be granted,

I would wish that you loved only me. 

Interesting lyrics in that context.

OTHER SPACELY NEWS

One of my legions of very helpful readers pointed out there was another supernova this year, this one announced just a few weeks ago.

And bearing in mind the association with Psyche and the River Styx, this supernova was spotted on the other side of Eridanus from SN1987A, and right next to the theorized gateway to a parallel universe of the Eridanus void.

TREES AGAIN

Bearing in mind the grim and foreboding omen of the Sycamore Gap, a story hit the wires on Friday the 13th about a prehistoric solar storm. Just in time for today's black hole sun:

Ancient Solar Storm Discovered In Tree Rings Reveals 'Catastrophic' Event 14,000 Years Ago

 

Friday, Oct 13, 2023  

A new study, based on the analysis of growth rings in ancient trees, suggests that the most powerful solar storm on record slammed into Earth approximately 14,300 years ago. Should a storm of that intensity strike today, modern society would instantly collapse. 

Speaking of the black hole sun: 

What is a ring of fire eclipse?

In a total eclipse, the moon is close enough to Earth that it completely blocks the sun. “Ring of fire” is a nickname given to an annular solar eclipse, an eclipse in which the moon does not completely overlap the sun and therefore leaves a ring of visible sunlight around the moon’s shadow.

The last time an annular solar eclipse crossed the United States was May 20, 2012, per the Great American Eclipse, and the next won’t happen for at least another 10 years. On April 8, 2024, those in parts of the northeastern United States will be able to see a total solar eclipse.

Of course, it's just pissing down rain here, as it always is during every eclipse.  But in light of this being The Secret Sun, this is where my brain automatically goes (and probably yours as well)...

Yes, I couldn't help but think of the deluxe edition reissue of Superunknown, since they added a ring of fire to the cover art. Also, Matt Mahurin's depiction of Chris Cornell (the Horned Christ) set my mind to this fella...

... who also features in the Psyche pStory.

See what I mean?

Gosh, maybe some day we'll figure out who or what resonates strongly with Chris Cornell, butterflies, dolphins, the Pythia, Persephone, asteroids AND Elon Musk, not to mention Ten Thirteen, eclipses and World War Three. 

Wouldn't that be the day?

Maybe these fine folks know the answer to our quandary. Whaddya think, Mr. Coyote?

Bonus gNineties Gnostalgia.

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