.: Food for Centaurs :.
...On the Mars/Chiron square under feline fullmoonlight
There's an old story about a young tiger raised by goats. His mother died while giving birth to him and dad was never around. And so, naturally, he thought he was a goat. Similar to the Ugly Duckling, yet different in a crucial way: swans and ducks live similar lives; tigers and goats do not! The story’s climax occurs when the young tiger meets an adult male tiger on the hunt who gives him the taste of meat and then discovers his true self—"tiger" becomes Tiger!
The 19th Century Hindu mystic Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to tell this story to speak to the nature of our awakening but also display the importance of teachers in our lives. We may think we are awake, but are we? Do we really think for ourselves? Are we unafraid to be ourselves with the risk of backlash from the crowd? And what is our relationship to teachers? All good questions for this tale and the Mars/Chiron square today under this Leo Full Moon (tiger version).
Just outside Athens, up the slopes of Mt. Pelion is where we find Chiron's cave. In the ancient world, it was a wild kind of hero factory where Kings and the gods alike would bring their children to be raised by the well-traveled centaur; today, it is a place that you can visit—both in reality and in the imagination—to get in touch with the power of Mars. The training alone must be akin to BUD/S. The diet: brutally strict. The medicine: bitter, yet full of visions. The teachings are always hard to process. The result: to truly meet one's destiny! (money back guaranteed).
The dynamic between Mars/Chiron has fascinated me from the beginning of my studies of astrology. There is something ancient about the pair, seemingly braided tightly with archetypal twine into one another. They need each other. Without Mars, Chiron would have no wound, nor purpose; Without Chiron, Mars would be like a young male elephant losing it in musth, overdosing on his own testosterone. Again, today they are square to one another (15º Cap/Aries). The lessons orbit around our capacity to be well-trained while remaining wild.
With the endless hours of content online these days, it's not hard to circumvent feeling the need for a teacher. We can feel like we've become an expert from listening to someone’s entire catalog of content and still not be any closer to the truth of our destiny. It seems destiny too is braided with that magical thread. Teacher needs student, like Master & protege´, like hunting tigers, and elephants going through intense pubescence. We think it has to be in person, but we live digitally now, so it can be both. And do we need to know them? Maybe not? Do they need to be human? Can we have AI mentors? Maybe...n...o...?
The square brings up such questions. Wherever it falls in our chart will tip us off to where the hard lesson of the day will be taught. If you'd like Chiron to go easy on you, offering up his favorite food is never a bad idea. Rumor has it that he's a mycophile:
An excerpt from Robert Graves' book on the subject:
In the chapter "Centaurs' Food" Graves supports the Wassons' claim that hallucinatory agents were used in the Eleusinian Mysteries with citations of ancient Greek poetry, plays, statuary, and vase art.
Excerpt(s): The meaning of "ambrosia," the food of the gods, like "nectar," their drink is: "that which confers immortality." ... At this point, I wrote down the Greek words of the ambrosia recipe, as follows, one underneath the other:
MELI
UDOR
KARPOS
ELAIOS
TUROS
ALPHITANext I wrote down the nectar recipe, namely honey, water, and fruit:
MELI
UDOR
KARPOS
And also, while I was about it, the recipe for kukeon [Demeter's drink during her search for Persephone] ...MINTHAION
UDOR
KUKOMENON
ALPHITOS ...So, if mushrooms were ambrosia, and if ambrosia was mushrooms, be pleased to examine those three sets of initial letters-M-U-K-E-T-A; M-U-K; M-U-K-A. You are at liberty to call me crazy, but I read them as three clear examples of ogham (which was what the ancient Irish bards called the device of spelling out a secret word by using the initial letters of other ordinary words). MUKETA answers the question: "What do the gods eat?"; for MUKETA is the accusative of MUKES ("mushroom"). ... MUKA is an earlier form of the word MUKES ("mushroom"). (pages 264-265)
Facts:
Jan 25th: Mars square Chiron (15º Capricorn/Aries)
*if you'd like to learn more about Chiron, I recently packaged all the classes I've ever taught on the subject, making them available on my site (below)
Eudaimonia,
Adam
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Omg Adam! My Pisces mind had to read this last part about Muketamuk muka like 15 times to figure out what in the heck was happening😆. Felt like some sort of etymological algorithim tripping my brain up!🤣 interesting about the mushrooms. I can see the relationship between cold damp caves and mushrooms. Mars crossed my Mars last year and during the heat of the summer I went outside one morning and thought the kids had stuck carrots in the ground everywhere. Turns out they were stinkhorn mushrooms. Interesting to look at but dont get too close🤢. It actually has all sorts or medicinal uses even a roman love drink with honey added in as well. Honestly never thought to look that up till now. Reminds me too of things like my pawpaws. The indigenous used to hang rotting meat from the limbs to attract more flies because they are pollimated by flies. Its a very very old tree, possibly before the time of bees when flies and beetles where the rulers of the insect pollinating. world.
“The lessons orbit around our capacity to be well-trained while remaining wild.” Story of my life. I appreciate how you hold space with your words. Great questions. I think I’ll take a little nibble from a piece of special mushroom chocolate tonight. 🏹 🤠🌌