Bugs 'N' Fish 'N' God

[poliphilo]

The scarab beetle scuttles through the desert rolling a ball of dirt. The ancient Egyptians saw this and were reminded of the sun's progress through the sky. So the scarab became a symbol of the Sun God and ,by extension, of immortality.

It must be one of the oddest freaks of religious symbolism.

But then the early Christians used to represent Christ as a fish. This has nothing to do with any analogy between the two, but rests on an acronym. The Greek word Ichthus, meaning fish, gives us
I- Iesous
Ch- Chreistos
Th- Theou
U- Uios
S- Soter
which translates as "Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour."

Yesterday a big old house fly- hairy black carapace, red eyes, legs with suckers at the end- flew down and plonked itself on my monitor screen. My first thought was, "get away from me, you nasty, shit-eating monster." My second thought was, "so life comes back from the long sleep of winter".

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

It must be one of the oddest freaks of religious symbolism.

Erh... Isn't the cross rather freaky? The crucifixes always scared me when I was a kid...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes.

But it has a kind of in yer face grandeur.

Beetles are just so....small.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

A cross is just so... Horrifying... LOL

The classic comparison would be to the guillotine or the electric chair; imagine that around the neck of fair, young maidens or hung on a bedroom wall. Both would be sort of scary...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I quite fancy a guillotine on a silver chain.

I would wear it to proclaim my devotion to the ideals of the French Revolution and the deathless memory of Robespierre, "the sea-green incorruptible".

I wonder where I can find one.....

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

How about this one? Sure, it isn't silver, but the closest I could get... (Currently highest bid: $103.50 LOL)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Neat, but not at that price.

Besides I don't wear gold.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Good grief! Is it a working unit?!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I imagine one could use it to cut cigars.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I have a silver winged scarab ring with a lapis lazuli stone that I've worn for 24 years. It is a unique work of art. Kephera (or in some spellings Xepera) means "Becoming", and the process of becoming.

A Thelemic website describes a powerful mantra that reminds the magus that they are always in the process of Becoming.

For me, the scarab (and the ankh) are powerful symbols of wisdom and insight.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of "becoming."

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Like the ageless Intelligence of the universe, you can interact with either realm, and you are in a place of your own making between them"-
I like this.

I've never felt comfortable around the Egyptian gods. I'm a Hellene and unsure of the etiquette.

The one exception is Isis, whom I approach through The Golden Ass.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I've always had an affinity for Egyptian gods. I seem to resonate with Thoth, Kephera, and Sekhmet. I do not belong to any Kemitic recon groups, though- I have what can be called a 'direct line' to some of them. I do not abuse it- and more often, they call on me, rather than me call on them.

And yes, I do feel like I create my own place to speak to both worlds- or other worlds. And I'm not even a shaman. They just start talking to me. And teaching me.