Good Sanguem to all
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:09 pm
March 24 is Sanguem or Dies Sanguinis (Day of Blood) in the ancient faith devoted to Cybele, the Magna Mater or Great Mother. A day of mourning and fasting to commemorate the self-castration and death of Attis beneath a pine tree. It is, also, the date on which new priests, or Galli, would be initiated by castrating themselves.
The actual castration and death of Attis was celebrated on March 22, Arbor Intrat, with the carrying of a sacred pine tree with an effigy of Attis strapped to it. This was then buried.
March 25 is the joyous feast of Hilaria, when Attis is reborn. It was celebrated with feasting and dancing.
The faith of the Great Mother can be clearly traced as far back as the 8th century BCE in Anatolia. Some archaeologists and religious scholars believe that its origin is at the beginning of the Neolithic Era many hundreds of years earlier.
The birth of Attis, the son of Cybele, was celebrated on December 25th centuries before the date was dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth. The faith centered on Cybele spread widely across the ancient world, from Britain in the west through Persia in the east. It spread from Africa in the south to Germania in the north. There were many local versions of the conception of Attis, my favorite of which has Cybele as a hermaphroditic diety who removes her male parts and casts them to the earth. They sprout as an almond tree. Later the woman Nana picked (testicle-shaped) almonds from the tree and one entered her womb and caused the pregnancy.
In time Nanas son was born. As Attis grew, his beauty was godlike, and Cybele, then fell in love with him. But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king's daughter. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals.
Attis was resurrected and became Cybeles eunuch attendant guiding her great chariot drawn by two lions. Since he had castrated himself beneath a pine tree, the evergreen pine became the symbol of Attis and was used for decorations both on the date of his birth and at Sanguem.
The Vatican was built on top of the largest temple to Cybele in Rome. Many theologians believe that the emphasis on Mary is an adoption of Cybele into Christianity and the site where the severed genitals of new priests were buried is now covered by the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
Some would interpret the Mother of Harlots in the 17th chapter of Revelation as a Christian renunciation of Cybele. The beasts are the tame lions who drew her chariot and the blood is the blood of the castrations of Attis and her priests.
The actual castration and death of Attis was celebrated on March 22, Arbor Intrat, with the carrying of a sacred pine tree with an effigy of Attis strapped to it. This was then buried.
March 25 is the joyous feast of Hilaria, when Attis is reborn. It was celebrated with feasting and dancing.
The faith of the Great Mother can be clearly traced as far back as the 8th century BCE in Anatolia. Some archaeologists and religious scholars believe that its origin is at the beginning of the Neolithic Era many hundreds of years earlier.
The birth of Attis, the son of Cybele, was celebrated on December 25th centuries before the date was dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth. The faith centered on Cybele spread widely across the ancient world, from Britain in the west through Persia in the east. It spread from Africa in the south to Germania in the north. There were many local versions of the conception of Attis, my favorite of which has Cybele as a hermaphroditic diety who removes her male parts and casts them to the earth. They sprout as an almond tree. Later the woman Nana picked (testicle-shaped) almonds from the tree and one entered her womb and caused the pregnancy.
In time Nanas son was born. As Attis grew, his beauty was godlike, and Cybele, then fell in love with him. But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king's daughter. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals.
Attis was resurrected and became Cybeles eunuch attendant guiding her great chariot drawn by two lions. Since he had castrated himself beneath a pine tree, the evergreen pine became the symbol of Attis and was used for decorations both on the date of his birth and at Sanguem.
The Vatican was built on top of the largest temple to Cybele in Rome. Many theologians believe that the emphasis on Mary is an adoption of Cybele into Christianity and the site where the severed genitals of new priests were buried is now covered by the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
Some would interpret the Mother of Harlots in the 17th chapter of Revelation as a Christian renunciation of Cybele. The beasts are the tame lions who drew her chariot and the blood is the blood of the castrations of Attis and her priests.