Red Athena

I've been rolling around in the delightful rediscovery of a particular Greek myth that has me contemplating all the big things like life, death, love, patriarchy and how certain cycles repeat themselves in our lives on so many levels and at different times and yet can be represented and described in one spiritual story. One thing that is clearer to me than ever is that god myths were not told to explain the Divine to us, they were written to describe our Selves to us and how we react to the Divine in us within the context of our own lives.

I've actually got a whole other blog post started that delves into some of the cool (to me) stuff that's popping into and out of my head, but its gonna be so big I think its gonna have to be posted in sections, otherwise nobody would sit down and read the whole thing.

In the meantime, I had a kick ass thought occur to me in the shower this morning and thought I'd share. Here's the background: for a while I've been contemplating finding an image of a male god that I can live with so I started re-studying some of the Greek myths and I found out something interesting in the connection to the Greek deities and their Roman counterparts. Most people (for the most part correctly) assume that the Greek gods were wholesale assimilated into the Roman culture and that the stories about them differed very little between the two cultures. For example, Aphrodite and Venus are pretty much one and the same entity with the same relationships, actions and tales. The same goes for Artemis and Diana, Athena and Minerva, Zeus and Jupiter. While you'll find differences in the details, the Greek and Roman worship of these characters was pretty much the same.

There was one major exception to this rule and that was the Greek god Aries and his Roman counterpart Mars.  The Romans loved Mars. They worshiped him as a great Savior, a great leader in peace and war times. The reason is that he was butt-kicking warrior and a brilliant military strategist - but he strategized for peace. He loved the arts and music and partying and making babies. (He had more demi-god children than Jupiter/Zeus!) The Romans built temples and shrines for him all over the place, there were initiate mystery programs and priesthoods dedicated solely to his service. 

Not so with Aries. There were no known temples, and very few literary or historical references to him. He was the "he who must not be named" of his time. They were terrified of him. Like Mars he was a brutal warrior, but not a general. He killed for the sake of killing, started wars for the sake of warring and was completely consumed in bloodlust. His only sexual/romantic relationship outside of the rape and pillage scene was with Aphrodite. (There's one I'm gonna have to delve into at another time.)

At the time I was reading about this it occurred to me that huge sections of the American populace seem to worship less at the feet of the Christian Savior and more at the beck and call of Aries. Not just as a nation either, so many people, both on the news and in my own life, are so friggin' angry about the most trivial things. We've become a nation of angry people, war mongering amongst each other over our right to be right.

So, back to the shower this morning......my astrological sign is Aries and I was considering how I would much rather channel some strategic creative Mars energy into my life rather than the blood thirsty animal instincts of Aries. And suddenly, kind of casually, I remembered that the only one in any of the stories who could ever stop Aries from opening a can of divine whoop ass on humanity was Athena. OK - divine pause in the forward motion of time here. The only one who could stop the war mongering Aries was Athena. 

Blink blink. Remember when the Dalai Lama said the only hope the world has, the only ones capable of saving humanity was Western Women?  And doesn't that thought both thrill you with hope and terrify you as to what your responsibility for participation in such forward motion might mean?

So, Athena......the perfect balance of male and female energy inside a female body. Unstoppable on the battle field, and like a mama tiger, especially brutal if you hurt someone she loved. Brilliant military strategist and the best wool spinner and weaver in the universe. She was the patron of all the homemaking crafts, gave the people the olive tree so they could sustain their families, and helped anyone who was interested in higher education. She was the goddess of wisdom AND the goddess of war. She knew how to sit, learn and create, and how to take explosive action. She was totally whole and complete unto herself. She was creative pussy power united with strong and unbending heart power.


Athena, give us Grace. Broaden and sharpen our minds. Unleash our creativity and ingenuity. Make our weaving fingers nimble and our armor strong. Sharpen our wits and our swords. Lighten our anger with patience and wisdom. Teach us to never walk away or close our mouths when our world is at stake. Show each of us our own individual balance of male and female so that we will never doubt our own divinity.

How am I gonna change the world? The same way anyone ever has - one thought at a time, one step at a time, one action at a time and starting in the only thing I truly have any control over - my own thoughts, steps and actions. Channeling as much Red Athena power as possible......................

Have the Reddest Day Ever -

In Grace,

Kell