Well after the hot mad revelries of the past month of Leo and a taste of everything you could find to explore and experience, how do you feel? Perhaps you had a hard time absorbing everything. Do you want to retreat to heal from your hang-over and sift through the experiences you’ve had.

The Leo time is a sensationally heady and exhilarating one. This sensation is known as being hopelessly enmeshed in the coils of the serpent of desire. The physical output demanded a great loss of creative esse and procreative substance. . To be beguiled by sensation results in a loss of life! Some of that divine energy we experienced and used should have been withheld now for the spiritual involution. The physical/animal put it out in pleasure and the spirit/man demands that it be pulled in for the manufacturing of esse - essence! The in-drawing essence concentrates into the kernel, seed, oils and essences. It cannot be wasted. Hey! I’m not asking you be a monk! But some balance could lead us onto something bigger!

We are now beginning the fall of the year. The harvest is now here and the fruits have been picked from the tree, the wheat and rice harvested and the good separated from the chaff. The leaves and grasses now turn to a magnificent yellow/orange, the color of the Virgo Fall period. When we get to Libra, the orange, Scorpio the orange/red and Sagittarius the red to violets appear.

Virgo has been represented by many goddesses, namely Athena, Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite, Venus, Hathor, Astarte, Bede, Beltis and Ceridwen once again showing that she is just another aspect of the female energy. Males experience her too! In India she was Kanae, mother of the great Krishna, sitting before a fire. In Persia she was the virgin in maiden neatness. She is also Persephone, daughter of Demeter or Ceres (cereal), who is the oldest allegorical representation of innocence and virtue. In Egypt she was identified with Isis, with wheat ears in her hand that she dropped to form the milky way or clasping the young Horus the infant southern sun god. She later became the virgin Mary.

The sign of Virgo was often unfortunate and barren. No surprise here! Who plants seeds in the Fall? They would fall on a barren landscape. This is not the time of year to start new life outwardly. It is the reaping, purifying, conserving and incubating time. Even squirrels store nuts for the winter!

Physically Virgo has rulership over the solar plexus and the small intestine The solar plexus is a great network of nerves and ganglia that lies behind the stomach. It is a lower brain. Once again Mercury has rulership over this sign showing the influence over this nerve center. The fact that it is called solar reflects the orange color of the sun and consciousness. Indeed we get ‘gut’ feelings here as cosmic consciousness penetrates this plexus. It also responds to the sympathetic nervous system as a receiving and broadcasting station. You will reflect the sun energy internally to the degree you agree to receive it!

We spoke about the navel as the center of the spiritual circle in the Leo posting. In fact the word nave means the hub of a wheel. The solar plexus has twelve main ganglia and these are associated with the twelve signs of the Zodiac which is a wheel. The navel has a maritime connotation and indeed, a gestating baby ‘ark’ is tied and docked to the Mother ship by the umbilicus at the navel and floats in an ocean! An umbilicus is ‘omphalos’ in Greek and means the hub or navel of the world. Indeed wherever you are - is the center of the world and the center of the Goddess’ body! The omphalos concentrates the cosmic Mother’s essence, thus the baby or Earth is nurtured. The Hebrew name is beth-el which means “dwelling place of the God” The Hebrew name for the virgin is Bethulah; beth meaning house or place and ulah meaning pure water. Virgin means the place of pure water. Bethlehem means house of bread. Click on the image at left for a larger view.

Omphale was the Lydian goddess of the Hub. The navel stone. She enslaves Heracles (sun) and sets him to work at her spinning wheel. He performed the twelve labors of the zodiac. Omphale was the consumer of sun kings and replaced the son/sun at the winter solstice. (This is a virgin birth!) Heracles’ father was Apollo brother/bridegroom to Artemis the moon who was sometimes incarnate in the navel stone. The Omphalos is the masculine center and the navel the female. Virgo is barren to impregnation but fertile to spiritual penetration. Virgo must be pure and unadulterated in order for the important chemical processes working in the bowels. A combustion is taking place to allow a purification so we can identify who you are! What is left when you weed out and eliminate the way of life that does not support you? The Sun brings about the distillation for the birth of ‘self.’ Who are you? The small intestine is the place where our food and nutrients are extracted from what we eat to circulate in the blood stream to feed the body. The quality and purity of which is dependent upon what you put in your mouth!

The Virgo virgin Mary births Jesus who is Joshua, son of Nun. Nun in Hebrew is fish or cosmic life germ or psycho-physical germ seed. Jesus was the fisher king of the fishermen. The Hebrew character נ means fish and the symbol attached to the letter M being the symbol for Virgo, means Jesus son of Mary - or fish son of the cosmic water that is formed in the solar plexus when the energy is perfected.

Now we come to a very important part of this interpretation. Virgo rules oils and oil metabolism in the body. Taking into account the opposite of Virgo is Pisces - a watery ocean sign which also rules outer oils and essences, we now have the Virgo oils which rule the inner essences. Esse means TO BE - your essential part. Jesus’ feet (Pisces) were anointed with oil by Mary Magdalene (Virgo.) Christ means to be anointed or oiled. (Are you thinking of those sardines in a can?) The Magdalene later becomes the widow.

The essence that is now concentrated in the body and gives birth to new life is the life force that has gone through initiation. In the Masonic mysteries this ritual is for the initiate who gave up the old life and is reborn as the son of the widow. The widow means that no man or fertilizer is present. This is an internal process and a union with Spirit. Without going into a long ramble here, the thirteenth degree of Freemasonry is the Royal Arch of Solomon and the candidate becomes the Knight of the Sacred Vault (Arcanum) - where? In the bowels of the earth or abdomen. The candidate, when asked where he is must reply -

            “I am in the bowels of the earth where the light of the sun is not needed”.

The sun, now being drawn so deep into the center, will have no reflective light - why? Because now the individual IS THE LIGHT OR SON/SUN. This concentration of rich precious oil and essence is stored in the marrow of bones and baths the fish/cells. A light cannot shine without oil in the lamp or a candle to burn without the wax. It is a source of the most magnificent fuel. The degree of purity is dependent on the individual’s life style. The oil can be thick and sludgy and fatty or fine, pure and light. The better the oil, the better the light. It allows you to glow! Can you understand the tyranny of the petroleum oil men and the rape of Mother Earth? What quality of oil is being produced? And why have we reached peak oil production on the planet?

The vestal virgins duty was to keep the fire of the temple (your body) always burning and dedicated their purity to the male spiritual consciousness. Isn’t that what Nuns (fish) do? The virgin Virgo is the only one who can give birth to a son and still remain a Virgin. She gives birth once every year to a divine son when the necessary work is consummated. In nature, Ceres produces the seeds and for the bread of life which is the “Good boy” seated in the Virgin’s lap. This ‘Good boy’ will become the phoenix that will rise in Scorpio and starts the train of immortality through tests facilitated by the physical body and the genetic line. Now lets get to the cell salt under Virgo’s rulership and maybe everything will become clear.

The salt is Kali sulph or sulphate of potassium. From this salt, all things are obtained and in fact is an aspect of oil itself. It is the highest concentrated essence in the body. The essence is the marrow, pith, pit or kernel which contains the vital and essential part. By the way another word for marrow is Mary! The marrow is in fact the Virgo BREAD.   Now remember the story of the loaves and fishes that I mentioned in Pisces? Well!..............................................Are you beginning to catch on?

The most refined oil in the body is probably found within the spinal cord. That is why a spinal tap is the procedure for harvesting genetic material. This is the fuel that keeps the light aflame in the head. Refer to the candle picture above. Now do these symbols ring an esoteric bell?

Oil is the product of a perfect thing and is a fuel, solvent, lubricator and purifier. It can neutralize poison .Lymph glands require an adequate supply of oil. The potassium combined with sulphur form oil or Kali sulph. The potassium content makes it highly electric. There is dense amount of oil in sheep and sheep fat. We allocated the sign of the Ram and Ewe to Aries and oil to Virgo who creates the ‘Lamb of God’ and it is stated that The Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world. I am rushing out right now to take my Omega fish oils!

A lack of this salt can make one have a clogged,suffocated feeling. As Virgo is opposite Pisces which gave us the ability to take in oxygen, we then have to have the fuel to sustain the flame. So a lack can make one feel breathless. In some cases it causes hot flashes and burning sensation in parts of the body. Oils and fats are necessary to make hormones, male and female, so a lack of the oils can show up as feeling old, oxygen starved and weary. Other symptoms are neuralgias of the face, certain cancers, a dislike of hot drinks, lack of thirst, gastric fever, cystitis, bronchitis, skin hot dry and harsh. Also rheumatic pains in joints or blood poisoning. Imagine driving a car without lubrication. It would run hot and seize up. You are not greased for ease!

Now here is a wonderful piece of information. In the fourteenth century Potassium Sulphate was called ARCANUM. (Secret box or chest or enclosing a secret). It is an elixir of great secret power! Look at the word OIL. Once again we have “IO” (X) which means to increase. (Refer back to previous chapters.) And L which is Lamed - ox-goad. A rough translation is that oil multiplies and allows movement. Actually the I and O is Alpha and Omega. X in Hebrew is Samekh or stomach!

The Tarot card for Virgo is the Hermit (someone who retreats to work in silence and achieve perfection.) This is where we get the word ‘hermetic’ - from Hermes the magician. He holds a light indicating his truth. He is the healer, in service and work. He will be modest, fussy and critical in order to reach perfection. He is the initiate who found his light. The energy of this sign is one of science, arts and research. The painting is called “Philosopher with an open book” by Rembrandt. The picture suggests illumination penetrating the darkness of ignorance and the spiral stairs represent a return to the womb as one internalizes self. The painter knew the hermetic arts!

Kali Sulph was also known as Sal Duplicatum which means to increase or double. (Its crystals have a double six-sided pyramid and crystallizes in a rhombic or spinning form or magic wheel. This Kali Sulph creates the seed and multiplies a hundred fold. So the son of the virgin is the seed or concentrated marrow that allows multiplication. Keep in mind also sperm and egg production!

I want to tell you an astounding story. Some years ago I met a very important man whose son was born with a malformed digestive system. He was distraught. The child was not able to process food and was wasting away. Luckily he came across an old fashioned healing technique which was to rub the baby all over with olive oil several times a day. He did this constantly and successfully kept the child alive until it was big and strong enough to be able to sustain surgery. Can you imagine the power of an olive oil rub? The nutrients being absorbed through the skin into the cells. I have other friends who swear by olive oil and castor oil heat packs on parts of the body where troubles have appeared.

There are a slew of instances where we use oils and waxes. We wax our furniture to preserve it. We wax our surf boards. We cook in oil, as it reaches a higher temperature slower than butter.

We oil and wax our skin to protect against the elements. In the spring mothers gave their children a dose of castor oil to flush out impurities. Ducks and birds have wax on their feathers to prevent sinking and to normalize their temperature in all weathers. We use flushing oils in our cars and suntan oils to prevent moisture loss on the skin. We use wax sealers when preserving the season’s harvest in the pickle and jam jars. Fruits are waxed in the fall for longevity. The oils preserve our hormones for a harmonic life. We have ear wax, oily hair and skin. We wax poetic and the moon waxes and wanes. We worry about burning the midnight oil and we perfume our bodies. Our floors get a waxy buildup. There are good oils and rancid oils and ambrosias and nectars and when we die we embalm the body. Oil penetrates and transforms.

In alchemy the Philosopher’s Stone had to be covered in wax before it could be turned into Gold!

Is this a good clue?

In closing look to the symbol of the bee and honey. The bees in Masonry were symbols of diligence and labor for the common good. This brought true happiness and prosperity. The honey was a symbol of wisdom which one was to extract from daily life. The Bee is sacred to Venus and is a feminine symbol. They represented the female generative power. The bee builds a waxy honey-comb that contains many holes that are 6 sided (6 is a Venus number.) The product of the hard labor of the bees from the sweet smelling flowers of nature, is the concentrated nectar - honey.

When you tuck your little one into bed and read the stories of Winnie the Poo - know that the Big Bear guarded our Pole Star. (The Bear constellation was sometimes called a Bier or coffin that contained a secret) At some time in the past the planet lost its center and we all had to leave Eden, the land of milk and honey. So if Poo reaches into the honey pot now and again for a scoop of the precious nectar, we can forgive him don’t you think?

From honey we will get the honeymoon or moonhoney in Libra next month. We will hear the music of the spheres etched into our waxy recording devices. The reapers and harvesters sang songs as they traveled home having received an ear of corn from the Goddess. What will happen when we discover we want a physical connection with another plus a union with the ALL THAT IS?......see October!