The Origins of Halloween: Season of the Crone

Excerpted from Man Made God 

By Barbara G. Walker

Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows, All Saints or Hallow-Eve is the season of the Crone.

In ancient paganism, the word Crone denoted an elder priestess or tribal matriarch; a cognate word is "crown," the symbol of a leader. The word was made pejorative when the Christian Church redefined all elder priestesses of the old religion as malevolent witches. Similarly, the word "hag" was once derived from Greek hagia—a holy woman—and also became a Christianized term for a witch.

The divine Crone was originally a part of the trinitarian Goddess, who appeared in Maiden, Mother and Crone forms, associated with the three phases of woman's life, the three phases of the moon and the annual cycles of nature.

Viewed as an underworld deity who cared for the dead, the Goddess as Crone ruled autumnal harvest festivals, when the spirits of dead ancestors could visit their descendants and share in the harvest feast. Among the Celts, the well-known "death's head at the feast" used to be an actual skull of an ancestor, set at the table to receive offerings, often with a candle set within it, to simulate the warmth of life and the light of vision.

The Man Who Is Awake

He is awake.

The victory is his.

He has conquered the world.

How can he lose the way

Who is beyond the way?

His eye is open

His foot is free.

Who can follow after him?

The world cannot reclaim him

Or lead him astray,

Nor can the poisoned net of desire hold him.

He is awake!

Take The Power Back

Take the power back

Bring that shit in!

Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry

Now check this out...

In the right light, study becomes insight

But the system that dissed us

Teaches us to read and right

Creative Destruction

"Please get out of the new world if you can't lend a hand, for the times they are a-changin' "— Bob Dylan, poet and songwriter

"When a Cycle has run its course, change is imminent."— Joseph Panek

Every Divine Principle within the realm of Nature has a specific purpose. 

One of the most basic Principles, and perhaps the one that is most universally ignored, is that of Creative Destruction.

Simply put, Creative Destruction is the razing, or tearing down, of the old in order to create the new. 

Individuals, organizations and civilizations who Choose to ignore this eternally repeating process of Nature are Destined to suffer the tragedies which accompany the Destructive end of a Cycle. Those who recognize, and understand,this Divine Principle are the ones who prosper from the Creative changes to which a new Cycle gives birth. 

The ancient teachings of civilizations and cultures throughout the world speak of the Principle of Creative Destruction in both their Mythology and Symbolism. 

A Tale Of Two Worlds

Do you ever play these funky little logic puzzle things? 

You might discover them when bored silly at the airport. 

Nothing mysterious; they give you a set of system rules which discipline you towards achieving a certain goal. It's perhaps not the most exciting thing in entertainment today.

I don't know. Maybe there's something more to this whole logic and reason deal than just killing time while in transit? 

Of course, we all naturally assume that we're being well-reasoned in our decision making, right? 

In fact, it can be argued that to some degree such associative, causal logic is inherently inescapable, effectively wired into our brains with respect to how we interpret and link our experiences. Yet, it's that very issue of degree that appears to be where the problems arise, as all too often the foundational premises upon which we frame our conclusions are indeed utterly faulty or without proper evidence to be considered factual to begin with.

Needless to say, being logical within a cognitive framework of the illogical only takes you so far. 

Wakefulness

Wakefulness is the way to life

The fool sleeps

As if he were already dead

But the master is awake

And he lives forever

He watches

He is clear

How happy he is!

For he sees that wakefulness is life

How happy he is

Following the path of the awakened

With great perseverance

He meditates, seeking

Freedom and happiness

So awake, reflect, watch

Work with care and attention

Live in the way

Wetiko

The Greatest Epidemic Sickness Known to Humanity

In the book Columbus and other Cannibals, indigenous author Jack D. Forbes lucidly explores a psychological disease that has been informing human self-destructive behavior that Native American people have known about for years.

After reading his book, it was clear to me that he was describing the same psycho-spiritual disease of the soul that I wrote about in my book, The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of our Collective Psychosis.

I introduce the idea that from the dawn of human history our species has fallen prey to a collective psychosis which I call malignant egophrenia. 

Speaking about this very same psychic epidemic, Forbes writes, 

"For several thousands of years human beings have suffered from a plague, a disease worse than leprosy, a sickness worse than malaria, a malady much more terrible than smallpox."