I'm a little late in the game but I wanted to start working with the Pagan Blog Project.
What is The Pagan Blog Project? (The Short Answer)
This project is a way to spend a full year dedicating time each week very specifically to studying, reflecting, and sharing your spiritual and magickal path. The project consists of a single blog post each week posted on your blog each Friday for the year of 2012 that will involve a topic that relates to Paganism, Witchcraft, magick, spirituality, and so on. You can use your posts to share your views on a topic, to talk about your own personal experiences, or to act as a catalyst to research a subject that you may not know much about and then share what you learn and how you feel about that. Each week there is a specific prompt for you to work with in writing your post, a prompt that will focus on a letter of the alphabet each week providing you a framework for your writing as well as a common thread for all participants to share in.
Great, I love it! How do I sign up?
- Click on the 2013 Pagan Bloggers tab to list your blog for the Project. Follow the simple instructions in the link generator to add yourself to the Project.
- Join the Forums. Introduce yourself and your blog to everyone in the group.
- Grab one of the buttons or banners and post it to your blog!
- Right click and select “Save As” to save the picture to your computer. Then upload it to your own website or blog and link it back to this page (http://www.paganblogproject.com).
- Tag your posts! When you post your weekly post as part of the Pagan Blog Project, be sure to tag it as “Pagan Blog Project”. If you share your posts on Twitter be sure to use the hashtag #PaganBlogProject.
(the above was taken from the Pagan Blog Project site and not my own writing)
So, since I'm late in the game, I'm on Week 4 and letter B
B is for Babalon
Their eyes on my body become
hands on my flesh.
Grabbing, panting,
hungry for more than simple release.
Their body speaks to my body
desperate longing
starvation
alienation
shame, fear, hate.
My body speaks back,
fulfillment, abundance
connection
acceptance
lovelustdesirefire
Yes yes honey, you are sick and twisted and broken and wrong
and oh boy do you make me hot
Come, share some of that pain with me.
Come on.
Come in.
Come for me.
And they do.
~ a segment from 'Whore' A poem for Babylon, by Raven's Boy
Wikipedia explains Babalon (not to be confused with Babylon, the city):
Babalon (also known as The Scarlet Woman, The Great Mother or The Mother of Abominations) is a goddess found in the mystical system of Thelema, which was established in 1904 with English author and occultist Aleister Crowley's writing of The Book of the Law. In her most abstract form, she represents the female sexual impulse and the liberated woman; although she can also be identified with Mother Earth, in her most fertile sense. At the same time, Crowley believed that Babalon had an earthly aspect in the form of a spiritual office, which could be filled by actual women—usually as a counterpart to his own identification as "To Mega Therion" (The Great Beast)—whose duty was then to help manifest the energies of the current Aeon of Horus.
Her consort is Chaos, the "Father of Life" and the male form of the Creative Principle. Babalon is often described as being girt with a sword and riding the Beast. She is often referred to as a sacred whore, and her primary symbol is the Chalice or Graal.
As Crowley wrote in his The Book of Thoth, "she rides astride the Beast; in her left hand she holds the reins, representing the passion which unites them. In her right she holds aloft the cup, the Holy Grail aflame with love and death. In this cup are mingled the elements of the sacrament of the Aeon".
The following correspondences are from Thelemepedia, which connect Babalon with Binah:
Qabalistic Attributions
Key Scale: 3
Name: Binah (Understanding)
Astrology: Saturn
Godforms
Thelemic: Babalon
Egyptian (selection): Maut, Isis, Nephthys
Egyptian (practical): Nephthys
Hindu: Bhavani (all forms of Sakti), Prana (as Force), Yoni
Scandinavian: Frigga
Greek: Cybele, Demeter, Rhea, Heré, [Psyché, Kronos]
Roman: Juno, Cybele, Hecate
Christian: The Virgin Mary
Colors
King Scale: Crimson
Queen Scale: Black
Emperor Scale: Dark brown
Empress Scale: Grey flecked pink
Material Correspondences
Animals: Woman [Bee]
Plant: Cypress, Opium Poppy [Lotus, Lily, Ivy]
Precious Stone: Star Sapphire, Pearl
Perfume: Myrrh, Civet
Vegetable Drug: Belladonna, Soma
Mineral Drug: Silver
Alchemical Metal: Iron
Magick & Mysticism
Element: Root of Water
Magical Weapons: Yoni, the Outer Robe of Concealment [The Cup, the Shining Star] (#)
Chakra: Visuddhi (Larynx)
Forty Buddhist Meditations: Compassion
Magical Power: The Vision of Sorrow [Vision of Wonder]
System of Taoism: Kwan-se-on, The Yin and Khwan
An amazing article about Babalon and the Thelemic - Pagan connection was written by Ankh af na Khonsu:
I had used Babalon’s symbol of the seven pointed star of even points inscribed with name באבאלענ as a portal to her astral plane and the passage quoted above was only a small portion of my communication with her. The vision made certain prognostications about my progress on the magickal path that later came to fruition and it was for these results that I had primarily recalled this particular operation, until the conversation mentioned above.
The feminine principal that is revered in both Thelema and by witches is the cycle of the feminine lifespan from the virginal Artemis, through the potently fertile Mother Goddesses and finally the crones that mark the approach of the dark moon and the potential for rebirth. This cycle is also replicated in the four feminine forms that are represented in the Thelemite feminine spiritual hierarchy as Nu is purely feminine and precedes the appearance of the male principal of Hadit which is the first emanation from the Ain Soph Aur.
Miscellaneous
Babalon Rising Festival 2013 - speakers this year include Donald M. Kraig, David Campbell, Frater Usul, Mgdlyn M.
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