juliecucciawatts
Princess of Cups
Full Moon in Sagittarius
Princess of Cups shows the beautiful and moody Berenice IV Epiphaneia, eldest daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena. In the last years of Ptolemy XII’s reign, Egypt becomes politically unstable. Generations of Ptolemy rulers since Alexander have squandered much of their acquired wealth. With riots in Alexandria over the annexing of Cyprus to Rome and terrified of the people’s passion, Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes flees to Rome in September of 58 BCE, leaving his wife Cleopatra VI Tryphaena and daughter Berenice IV in charge. While Auletes is in self-exile, Berenice gets her first taste of power, enjoying the worship of Alexandrians hoping to touch the hem of her dress and be healed. In the meantime, Rome is quickly gobbling up power in the area and Philip II Philoromaeus, the deposed prince of Syria, sees an opportunity to regain power and tries to take the Ptolemaic throne via a quick marriage to Princess Berenice, promising to make her Queen. Though Berenice is intrigued, Aulus Gabinius the new Roman governor of Syria, doesn’t want an alliance between the monarchs of Syria and Egypt and stops the marriage. The idea of being Queen of Egypt has made an impression and the following summer 57 BCE Berenice usurps the throne, making herself Pharaoh and threatening any who dare defy her. To assume full authority in Egypt, Berenice is expected to have a male co-regent so the next summer 56 BCE she weds a different Syrian prince Seleucus VII Kybiosaktes, the son of Antiochus X Eusebesand and her cousin Cleopatra V Selene. However Seleucus is assassinated before their wedding night ends, many believing Berenice herself had him strangled to remain sole ruler, and marries a new husband, Archelaus (high priest of Comana Cappadocia), that same year, though he does not act as co-regent.
With the support of the new Roman governor of Syria Aulus Gabinius, Ptolemy XII Auletes returns to Alexandria in 55 BCE and condemns Berenice and her new groom to death for treason. This tragic history expresses the quintessential hero/villain scenario and duly represents the full moon in Sagittarius. Auletes, and to large extent Berenice, is the two faced god, a friend that turns on you, an enemy who does you a favor. Auletes makes a deal with the Romans and sacrifices his daughter to seal the covenant.
The symbols in Berenice’s darkened chambers, such as the image found in the mosaic tiles, hint at the rites of the Women’s Blood Mysteries and thus the Sekhemet mythologies. This furious, uncompromising goddess Sekhemet is surely connected to the Women’s Blood Mysteries. One of the most ancient goddesses of Egypt, Sekhemet’s origin can be traced to the Wadjet or sacred snake. She is connected to the Nile itself- water is often compared to a snake, and the lotus. The dual nature of Sekhemet the destroyer and her alter ego Hathor, the lactating, gestating cow goddess, gives us clues to the nature of life on the river. During flood stage, as the heat of the sun reaches its peak, the Nile waters change from green-blue to red due to the silt washing down from Africa’s highlands. A culture in tune with nature, fertility, and sexuality honors women’s cycles through sacred rites. The story of Ra and Sekhemet discloses the source of the rites of blood changing into wine. Rites such as these are later reflected in the mythologies of the Mystery Religion gods of death and resurrection- Osiris, Dionysus, and Jesus.
Story of Ra and Sekhemet
Sekhemet, the oldest of goddesses, goddess of the burning summer sun, wasn’t always just daughter of Ra but is fundamental to the Mystery Religions. She is the key of both the sun and the moon of day and night of light and shadow…
In a time before time Ra, supreme god of the daytime sky, grew angry because mankind wasn’t paying him enough respect. He called to his daughter and eye, Sekhemet, to act out his revenge. Sekhemet leaped into the world and began ravaging mankind with such rage and fury that the gods, and even Ra himself, wished her to stop. Ra employed Thoth to distract Sekhemet from her vengeful rampage and bloodlust. Thoth, in his guise as baboon, replaced the blood on the ground with wine and in the morning when Sekhemet lapped at the blood on the ground she drank the wine instead. This made the goddess sleepy and dossal and soon she lied down and fell to sleep, no longer in the mood to seek retribution on mankind.
Besides the act of blood turning to wine (or wine turning to blood as told in the Christian religion) in Egypt, the Mystery Religions of blood and wine can be found in the stories of Dionysus (Roman Bacchus). Dionysus is the God of Wine and an agricultural/fertility god and sometimes the cause of frenzied madness leading to savage killing. In one story Dionysus is torn to shreds after witnessing women’s sacred secret rituals. Wine, like Sekhemet, has positive and negative aspects causing people to act warmly as well as disgracefully. The dual nature of wine is mirrored by the duality of its god. Dionysus characterizes his own dual nature in the loss of his identity after being torn apart by the priestesses. The stories of Dionysus and Sekhemet share in common the innate struggle of duality within the psyche of man: “Envy, lust, sensuality, deceit, and all known vices are the negative, 'dark' aspect of the unconscious, which can manifest itself in two ways. In the positive sense, it appears as a 'spirit of nature', creatively animating Man, things, and the world. It is the 'chthonic spirit' that has been mentioned so often in this chapter. In the negative sense, the unconscious (that same spirit) manifests itself as a spirit of evil, as a drive to destroy." Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols
Most ancient Egyptian mythos are quite explicit in their descriptions of bodily functions including the fiery attitude of the menstruating female and the dossal attitude of the lactating and gestating female. These female rites of birth and bleeding are kept separate from the male rituals.
Card meaning: In a reading this card represents a strong willed and impassioned woman, her emotions getting the better of her. She is either your dearest friend or your most ruthless and vindictive rival, depending on the current status with her. At times she can seem heartlessly self-interested, cool, aloof, and even pretentious. Her innate dual nature also makes her a healing presence, a genius, vast resource, and visionary. There are certain people who remain a paradox of mystery and one having this birth placement of Full Moon in Sagittarius is one. Perhaps it is the blending of fire and water elements that make these paradoxical natives so hard to pin down.
©2013 Julie Cuccia-Watts
Full Moon in Sagittarius
Princess of Cups shows the beautiful and moody Berenice IV Epiphaneia, eldest daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena. In the last years of Ptolemy XII’s reign, Egypt becomes politically unstable. Generations of Ptolemy rulers since Alexander have squandered much of their acquired wealth. With riots in Alexandria over the annexing of Cyprus to Rome and terrified of the people’s passion, Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes flees to Rome in September of 58 BCE, leaving his wife Cleopatra VI Tryphaena and daughter Berenice IV in charge. While Auletes is in self-exile, Berenice gets her first taste of power, enjoying the worship of Alexandrians hoping to touch the hem of her dress and be healed. In the meantime, Rome is quickly gobbling up power in the area and Philip II Philoromaeus, the deposed prince of Syria, sees an opportunity to regain power and tries to take the Ptolemaic throne via a quick marriage to Princess Berenice, promising to make her Queen. Though Berenice is intrigued, Aulus Gabinius the new Roman governor of Syria, doesn’t want an alliance between the monarchs of Syria and Egypt and stops the marriage. The idea of being Queen of Egypt has made an impression and the following summer 57 BCE Berenice usurps the throne, making herself Pharaoh and threatening any who dare defy her. To assume full authority in Egypt, Berenice is expected to have a male co-regent so the next summer 56 BCE she weds a different Syrian prince Seleucus VII Kybiosaktes, the son of Antiochus X Eusebesand and her cousin Cleopatra V Selene. However Seleucus is assassinated before their wedding night ends, many believing Berenice herself had him strangled to remain sole ruler, and marries a new husband, Archelaus (high priest of Comana Cappadocia), that same year, though he does not act as co-regent.
With the support of the new Roman governor of Syria Aulus Gabinius, Ptolemy XII Auletes returns to Alexandria in 55 BCE and condemns Berenice and her new groom to death for treason. This tragic history expresses the quintessential hero/villain scenario and duly represents the full moon in Sagittarius. Auletes, and to large extent Berenice, is the two faced god, a friend that turns on you, an enemy who does you a favor. Auletes makes a deal with the Romans and sacrifices his daughter to seal the covenant.
The symbols in Berenice’s darkened chambers, such as the image found in the mosaic tiles, hint at the rites of the Women’s Blood Mysteries and thus the Sekhemet mythologies. This furious, uncompromising goddess Sekhemet is surely connected to the Women’s Blood Mysteries. One of the most ancient goddesses of Egypt, Sekhemet’s origin can be traced to the Wadjet or sacred snake. She is connected to the Nile itself- water is often compared to a snake, and the lotus. The dual nature of Sekhemet the destroyer and her alter ego Hathor, the lactating, gestating cow goddess, gives us clues to the nature of life on the river. During flood stage, as the heat of the sun reaches its peak, the Nile waters change from green-blue to red due to the silt washing down from Africa’s highlands. A culture in tune with nature, fertility, and sexuality honors women’s cycles through sacred rites. The story of Ra and Sekhemet discloses the source of the rites of blood changing into wine. Rites such as these are later reflected in the mythologies of the Mystery Religion gods of death and resurrection- Osiris, Dionysus, and Jesus.
Story of Ra and Sekhemet
Sekhemet, the oldest of goddesses, goddess of the burning summer sun, wasn’t always just daughter of Ra but is fundamental to the Mystery Religions. She is the key of both the sun and the moon of day and night of light and shadow…
In a time before time Ra, supreme god of the daytime sky, grew angry because mankind wasn’t paying him enough respect. He called to his daughter and eye, Sekhemet, to act out his revenge. Sekhemet leaped into the world and began ravaging mankind with such rage and fury that the gods, and even Ra himself, wished her to stop. Ra employed Thoth to distract Sekhemet from her vengeful rampage and bloodlust. Thoth, in his guise as baboon, replaced the blood on the ground with wine and in the morning when Sekhemet lapped at the blood on the ground she drank the wine instead. This made the goddess sleepy and dossal and soon she lied down and fell to sleep, no longer in the mood to seek retribution on mankind.
Besides the act of blood turning to wine (or wine turning to blood as told in the Christian religion) in Egypt, the Mystery Religions of blood and wine can be found in the stories of Dionysus (Roman Bacchus). Dionysus is the God of Wine and an agricultural/fertility god and sometimes the cause of frenzied madness leading to savage killing. In one story Dionysus is torn to shreds after witnessing women’s sacred secret rituals. Wine, like Sekhemet, has positive and negative aspects causing people to act warmly as well as disgracefully. The dual nature of wine is mirrored by the duality of its god. Dionysus characterizes his own dual nature in the loss of his identity after being torn apart by the priestesses. The stories of Dionysus and Sekhemet share in common the innate struggle of duality within the psyche of man: “Envy, lust, sensuality, deceit, and all known vices are the negative, 'dark' aspect of the unconscious, which can manifest itself in two ways. In the positive sense, it appears as a 'spirit of nature', creatively animating Man, things, and the world. It is the 'chthonic spirit' that has been mentioned so often in this chapter. In the negative sense, the unconscious (that same spirit) manifests itself as a spirit of evil, as a drive to destroy." Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols
Most ancient Egyptian mythos are quite explicit in their descriptions of bodily functions including the fiery attitude of the menstruating female and the dossal attitude of the lactating and gestating female. These female rites of birth and bleeding are kept separate from the male rituals.
Card meaning: In a reading this card represents a strong willed and impassioned woman, her emotions getting the better of her. She is either your dearest friend or your most ruthless and vindictive rival, depending on the current status with her. At times she can seem heartlessly self-interested, cool, aloof, and even pretentious. Her innate dual nature also makes her a healing presence, a genius, vast resource, and visionary. There are certain people who remain a paradox of mystery and one having this birth placement of Full Moon in Sagittarius is one. Perhaps it is the blending of fire and water elements that make these paradoxical natives so hard to pin down.
©2013 Julie Cuccia-Watts
