tale of Hera. While I remain unaligned with any God or Goddess in particular I
do often acknowledge their constant "intervention" of the natural course of
events. In my own personal legend such interventions have led me into a
love/hate relationship with the essence of deities and their appearances in the
lives of mortals. Which I think happens more times than not and most mortals
never even realize it. That cloak and dagger tactic they tend to is something
that gets on my nerves. I do however make note of the times and places where
they appear and keep a close eye on how events unfold after such an appearance.
If they come to favor the quest then I acknowledge the aid and pay my dues. If
not, then I have no qualms what so ever about being defiant, even to a God.
My core perspective of paganism in general is based in ancient Europe rather
than traditions the likes of the Native Americans for example. My view is that
just because I was born in the United States does not mean that I should explore
the native practices of my birth land. While I know that I have some native
blood in me, I'm not a Native American, nor will I pretend to be just because
they're so close and of my ingrained into my local culture. And I do not
include Native American beliefs in my point of view of being witchcraft. It's
not witchcraft. It may be paganism by Mr. Webster's definition but what did he
know?
My spiritual compos points east and my most active spiritual muse peaks at
ancient Greece. I don't know why, don't really need to know. If I did it may
taint the raw instinct and hinder many of my abilities, abilities which I
sometimes ponder over during the exploration of myself. Mostly because I simply
do not know where the bulk of the information I put out to the world comes from.
I don't study ancient history and spiritual philosophy. I simply know it. And in
times when I don't relay the information or try to keep it to myself it feels
like I'm full which later leads to really bad headaches and all kinds of
physical pains. When I write, like now, off the top of my head, when I let go
and pass on whatever is coming into me, I feel better and the pain subsides.
I have also found that if I go for extended periods of time without the practice
or implementation of magic in my daily life, or to achieve an outstanding task,
things begin to manifest seemingly on their own. Which I have concluded means
that if I don't use it, I leak. Those uncontrolled spills attract things like
moths to a flame which come in to lap up the energy like thirsty wild dogs.
That's when they find me and I run into trouble. By using my abilities I don't
"light up" and attract them so much. Or the ones I do attract are just bottom
feeders that are easy enough to ward off or dispatch. (Yes, I kill them.)
I don't really subscribe to the idea of reincarnation so much as I do blood
memories or what in modern times is usually called cellular memory. I tend to
think that I am not a reincarnation of some ancient person but related to one.
My abilities as a pagan writer and witch are simple remnants left in my blood
from someone in my bloodline. And again, I don't know who it was or where in
time they were. I don't need to know because if I did I may ignore the gifts
given and the current quest in a quest to discover more about them than myself.
All that being said we get back to Hera. She is the only deity I have some sort
of odd emotional connection to and it is not always a good one. There is an
unknown history there; be it with one of my ancient ancestors or just me
personally. Maybe I got her attention somewhere along the way, maybe someone
connected to me did. Whatever the cause she appears more than any other. And it
was such an appearance that led to everything that happened in the Den and many
things that remain untold. From shutting the Den down to the waking up and
writing of the enigmatic Dirge itself it was all small steps in a process, all
preparation for a new journey. The key that unlocked all of the new revelations
and the perception of the quest itself was a feather.
Not long after I was mused to place a modern representation of Hera on the Den
homepage I found a peacock feather by the main fountain in Lisocia (the Denian
gardens). I don't believe in coincidences. I took the feather and placed in on
the alter in my room and left it alone figuring that the message would reveal
itself. It did in a thousand ways and here we are.
Since then two more peacock feathers have been added to the décor of my room,
these two crowning the headboard of my bed in a random musing of turning my bed
itself into an alter of sorts; which included doing much more to it than just
adding feathers to the headboard. But here's the rub: the whole bit goes against
my distrust of the gods.
The feather comes three fold just as there are now three feathers. First, a
peacock is one of Hera's sacred animals and probably the widest known. One of
the least known is a royal lion. Odd hu? Others include the cuckoo, and the
hawk. As the myth goes, Argos Paneptos was a hundred eyed giant charged by Hera
with Guardianship over a nymph. Upon his murder Hera honored her guardian and
his service by placing his eyes into the feathers of a peacock with the
knowledge and possibly a trick on mortals that anything the eyes of her guardian
sees she sees herself. Because of the connected sight the colors of the eye is
tinted by the color of Hera's eyes, an unforeseen side effect that remains as
the only evidence of her presence within them, that as far as I am aware of was
never really revealed until about two seconds ago. And since we're telling
secrets here we might as well also mention that by accepting a peacock feather
and bringing it into your home, no magic shielding or prayers, location or
alignments can hinder Hera from popping in unannounced whenever she takes the
fancy. What more did you expect out of a power craved goddess? Not to mention
her deep seeded mistrust of men in general who she wholeheartedly believes to be
whores. So, ladies, if for any reason you believe you man may be cheating on you
just get a peacock feather. She'll grant your vengeance for you in a heartbeat.
He might end up killed but hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned. She's not
allowed to punish Zeus any more so she takes her wrath out on mortals in his
stead. Bit of a history there too.
So, the feather is an open invite. It's also a nexus point from which her
influence and messages can more easily flow. The product to date of which has
been the Dirge, the course of the things that will be chronicled here in the
Den, and a few more personal matters that I don't have permission to mention
yet. And if you are trying to add any of this up and wondering why I am spilling
Hera's secrets all over the internet yet waiting for permission to say something
more, the answer is because I am not waiting for Hera's permission to do
anything. She knows me well enough to know that I don't seek the consent of the
gods any more than I pray for interventions. Hell, I don't even worship them. I
just acknowledge them. Which may very well be the key to gaining their
attention, I don't know.
Point is, she sees, I see, you see. See how things work out?
Now, Hera being Hera, while she does pull some nasty crap on those she tastes a
distaste to she also aids those she takes favor with for whatever reason. And
that is her link to the Den and its history. She took an interest in one of our
past tales. And it is that past tale which plots the course for the Dirge.
This transcends my personal quest that already has an end goal and has already
begun into things and lessons I find along the way; such as the Labyrinth
article. This isn't something that I can just do. It is a long and difficult
journey to the end which a lot of challenges that need to not be overcome so
much as defeated. The "Eye of Hera" is a physical object that I'm set to find
but doesn't have the inherent magic as one might expect from a
magical-thing-a-ma-jig that is suppose to aid in journeys. It's an "I'll know it
I when I find it" thing that has to be consecrated and ritualized before it is
of any use. A fact that I think is stupid because I think rituals are stupid.
Apparently Hera gets a kick out of them from time to time though, especially
when done by someone with my point of view on the matter. I can live with the
favor for a favor thing though. It's just a means to an end.
Trouble is that what I'm facing in the future can't be intervened upon by any
deity. They can help me get there but after that I'm on my own, sort of. I'll be
able to use the wisdom and insights gleaned along the way, the artifacts and
weapons I obtain. But the most important of anything is the headless drive to
prevail. There are things and tests that can and will cause pain. So, anger and
rage become important. Not because they are right or wrong but because they
offer a measure of protection. Rage, if used properly, can make you completely
unaware of the pain you're in. It gives you an edge than nothing else can grant.
That was what I found at the center of the labyrinth, the power of rage.
Now, I move on to the next place on the map. Where ever that may be, in search
of three sisters who have no intention of having an audience with me to talk
about a few of the issues brought up in the past. The past doesn't matter. What
matters is the future and finishing this quest whether they like it or not.
They've beaten me twice before and there are already signs that they know I'm
coming again. I expect they will be changing their tactics. This entire journey
is so that I can change mine.
And we travel on.
