The symbol above is a combination of Alpha, Omega, Venus, Ares, and Mercury.
It is featured on the back and within the series.
Omega is upright with Mercury and Venus as one entity, held up with the feet of Alpha infused with Ares. This symbol recognizes the Matriarchal reverence found in the law of nature.
When you watch nature, in the animal kingdom, the most revered concept by all participants, unequivocally is the importance of mother and childbirth. Everything in nature is designed around obtaining the blessing of the female, having the union of two, and revering and protecting the mother and child. In the insect world, the female reigns supreme, the male often offers himself as a sacrifice.
The only time this is not so is when a male chooses to dominate a new territory and slaughters the opposing males and children of their progeny. The females are still sacred, once established the law resumes.
In the plant world, reproduction happens by parthenogenesis, so the sacred union of two is not required. Even so, community, connection, and the relationship between mother and child are of great importance to the health and survival of any plant species.
Not so much in the human world. In Human society, the reverence for women and childbirth is so low on the ladder of importance that as a societal ideology it barely exists. Up until very recently, men maintained the seat of control. Marriage was a concept designed so that men could own the freedom of women, keep track of the lineage and obtain wealth from other families through the union of their sons to other women. Nearly all established societal-based religions have a male creator. Nature is conceived as a never-ending resource rather than an environment we are a part of. Possession takes prevalence over nurture.
Unfortunately, even though common society believes by being atheist they are free from the constraints of religious dogma, the fact is, they are not.
The way that society develops is completely determined by the philosophy, ideology, and beliefs of the community. The dramatic difference between death-fearing cultures to death revering cultures, for example, is significant. That one concept alone sculpts the entire viewpoint and forward-thinking of that society.
Another basic example: how different is Eastern to Western thinking?
The point is that after nearly 2-4000 years of patriarchal religious institutionalized thought we, as a people, are trapped in the ideologies created by that religious viewpoint. These are the roots from which all common society has grown. It affects everything, from the way you measure time, the meaning of words, cultural customs, defining status, views on racism, sexism, gender equality, the fact that you tick or cross something, your societal role, and more.
There is one natural occurrence that follows our patriarchal world society. Ironically in the time of corona, another system is obvious, that of the parasite. A parasite usurps the host, multiplies rapidly until the host is destroyed, and then moves to another host or dies.
With the current societal vogue of thinking history is bunk reading is boring, and capitalism is king, it is sad to learn that many now believe that this line of thinking always was. That Patriarchy always was and has been the way society functions. Has the Parasitical nature of humanity always been the established system? No!
Since the dawn of humankind and until the patriarchal development and hostile take-over around 3000 bce -600ad, society observed nature and was indeed equally Matriarchal and, societally egalitarian.
This doesn’t mean that women had sole rulership over men, as some zealous academics try and claim matriarchal society does. It means the values society had were based on the nurturing aspects of a goddess rather than a warring aspect of a god. There are many matriarchal societies today in Asia, America, and Africa. All are gender-egalitarian societies, many of them are fully egalitarian, with “no hierarchies, classes, nor domination of one gender by the other. Most academics exclude egalitarian societies from the concept of “matriarchy”. In the view of Dr. Goettner-Abendroth, Barbera G Walker, and Marija Gimbutas, they are mistaken in doing so.
Counting, time recording, and the basic forms of science and medicine all began with women and the worship of the Moon. Ancient cultures realized the importance of menstrual time and fluid, the birth process. They saw how this mirrored in all creation and linked to the movements affected by the Moon. The first markings and art are first attributed to the animal kingdom, the power and magic of femininity, and then, the hunt. It has even been suggested Neanderthals had shrines revering the moon and the Goddess. If we travel 27 000 years ahead, Archaeologists have shown that the Hebrews worshipped the Goddesses Asherah and Astarte as much as the countries around Israel. The Aramaic people had a wife/Queen of God, his equal.
The Egyptian society was at large, a Matrilineal society, The Celtic people, Germanic people, Early Greek cultures, Native American cultures, Asian cultures, etc were also egalitarian. With the patriarchal regime, the His-story of Mythology, the meaning of words, symbols, and societal roles were subverted. You can see this with the rise of Yahweh, of Amon Hotep II, and of course Christianity.
Christianity is the most obvious as history has recorded the slaughter of pagan belief, the burning and erasing of history and culture, which still goes on today with religious ‘archeologists’ found to have rubbed cave paintings off the walls of historic sites. ‘Terrorists’ or religious extremists blowing up and decimating ancient archeological sites. All in the name of protecting the legacy of their one true God. How did the Goddess teachings survive?
The Goddess teachings became the Mysteries.
The Roman Empire took control of Christianity, turning it into a government institution of fear and control. Hence why the emphasis is placed on the old testament (Yahweh)and not the new testament (Jesus, Mystery teachings). The Mystery schools were persecuted, lost public funding, so they went underground, and their teachings became known as the Occult, which means hidden knowledge. It is known that the academics of the ancient world, through mystery school initiation would travel and communicate with other cultures that embraced the teachings. The Greeks and Egyptians quite often cross-pollinated ideas. During the Roman/Christian oppression, the Egyptians and Greeks would write their teachings in a mix of Greek, Latin, and Coptic to keep their thoughts secret from prying eyes. It is interesting to note that, pre-roman control, early Christians used the sign of the Ankh as their cross instead of the crucifix, suggesting that they too followed the mystery teachings of a matriarchal system.
Another example of coded Mystery teachings hidden in plain sight is in Alchemy.
Alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used to reference the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile. Greek philosophers became interested in the Egyptian ways. Greek views of how matter is made of the four elements of nature – Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, were merged with the Egyptian sacred science. The result was Khemia, the Greek word for Egypt. Egypt was occupied by Arabs in the 7th Century, so they added ‘al-‘ to the word Khemia. Al-Khemia meaning ‘the Black Land’ is now seen as a possible origin for the word alchemy. So Alchemy is a combination of Egyptian and Greek Mystery school teachings.
Alchemy was an important part of the Occult movement. By claiming to work at either turning base metal into gold or finding the elixir of immortal life, Alchemists successfully studied ancient text, practiced pagan rituals, or conducted scientific research escaping persecution by the Church. (Alchemists made important discoveries in chemistry, medicine, mineralogy, and pharmacology). Knowledge is power, so the Church wanted it.
So why the brief history lesson of Matriarchal Goddess worshipping societies?
These teachings are the fundamental basis behind most of the symbolic artwork of the Tarot.
If we believe any of the magical implications heralded to the beginnings of divination in tarot, by either Crowley’s idea of Egyptian origin, The Freemason or Templar origin, Golden dawn with Greek Hermeticism order. They all come together in an underlining theme of Goddess worship and the undeniable recognition of the sacred feminine.
So with that in mind, a theme that reoccurs is the idea of a cosmic womb, that all life is created in.
A sacred river from which life flows, it can be red for menstrual or clear for birthing waters. You see this represented in the Nile, the Styx, the Danu, the Tigris, and Euphrates, symbolically the red carpet, the cup or vessel, the Aboriginal rainbow snake, and of course the Moon. ‘
The word menstruation is etymologically related to the moon. The terms menstruation and menses derive from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and the roots of the English words month and moon.’ Allen, Kevin (2007). The Reluctant Hypothesis: A History of Discourse Surrounding the Lunar Phase Method of Regulating Conception. This of course leads to the Vagina symbolism, a doorway to another realm for souls and life. Who better to be a guardian of this knowledge but a High priestess?
All of this leads to the idea that then becomes the teachings of the initiation mysteries spanning from ancient Mesopotamia with Inanna/Ishtar, Demuzid/Tammuz, and Ereshkigal, to Egypt with Isis, Osiris and Seth, India with Kalima and Shiva, and ancient Greece with Persephone, Hekate, Demeter, and Hades. Even, dare I say it, Jesus and his Mary’s.
This idea is not only based around the ideas of calming the forces of chaos, the bringing of the seasons, and a sacred union, but also the idea that the laws of nature are still important. In short, Man’s role is to protect, honor, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the mother and child. Not only going to work to support the family (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but on a spiritual, fundamental level. This means supporting, understanding, and standing up for the premise of nature, nurture, and equality over possession, warring, and dominion.
Back to the symbol.
This symbol embodies all these ideas and is inspired by the works of Barbara G. Walker.
The alpha and omega are the be-all and end-all. In many pagan cultures, the soul is born from the rivers of a goddess, lives, dies, and then returns. If not the rivers, then the soul is born and eaten by the Goddess. One reference states ‘Greek mystics were “born again” out of the river Styx, otherwise known as Alpha, “the Beginning.” This river wound seven times through the earth’s interior and emerged at a yonic shrine near the city of Clitor (Greek kleitorios) sacred to the Great Mother.
Styx was the blood-stream from the earth’s vagina.’ Livre The sacred theory of the earth: containing an account of the origin of the earth … Burnet, Thomas.
Looking further into this another definition of ἄλφα was the meaning of ‘arising above’. The letter A being the shape of a mountain with a waterline or horizon line across it. The concept of arising is at the essence of divinity and immortality. Aei- means ever, always, eternity, immortal, perpetual, everlasting, literally “arising essence (of) divine-power.” Aiei- means: everlasting, perpetual, literally “arising divine-power essence.”
To the Greeks, life arising from death is as natural as a dying plant’s seeds falling to the ground in autumn and sprouting into new plants in spring.- excerpt from Greek Alphabet: Unlock the Secrets · Catherine R. Proppe This is also in line with Celtic cultures definitions, The word alp or alpa, in Pictish, Irish, Germanic, early Dutch and can be traced back earlier to other Indo-European cultures all have a connection to the idea of mountains rising above.
This is a more Nurturing concept of the letter A, it also shows that the mystery teachings of Ancient Greece may have been leaning towards reincarnation. In mythology, the dead would drink from the river Lethe- (river of unmindfulness) so that they would forget their mortal life, end their ego and face the last death. Mystics were trying to be reborn with their memories intact.
So the idea of Alpha being masculine, plowing the fields, Ox as the first derivative of the letter A, when we see most cultures started as Matriarchal doesn’t quite fit. If A is truly the beginning, the beginning is birth- feminine. One point that could lend to the accepted origins of alpha being an Ox or cow is the connection to the Egyptian Hieroglyph. According to traditional sources, Alpha came from the Phoenician version of Aleph, which they sourced from the Egyptian letter that resembled or was a cow head. If this symbol indeed symbolized beginning, then is it not possible that this derived from their cow-headed goddess Hathor who was ‘the mother of all gods’. Who ‘arose’ from the river Nile to replenish the world? An idea to ponder.
However, the beginning is also the active force of becoming- masculine. The sun rises in the morning from the womb of creation. So it is dual, both in unity support each other Mother supports and loves the child to grow healthy and strong, the child, in turn, uses the strength to support and love the mother.
In the symbol, Alpha is the beginning giving birth to Ares the active force Ares and alpha become one in unity a strong child/family using its legs to help support and raise its mother Omega
Omega may not always have been the last letter of the Greek alphabet. It has been suggested that it was included later, however, the other letter Sami or ϡ, parakuisma, also dropped from the alphabet. This also puts into question our current view of alpha and omega as a concept that has always been.
The Omega resembles the Greek symbol of the MAIANDROS. This symbol or pattern is related to the infinite time of the cosmos, infinity has no end or beginning it is eternal. So when it is omega: the end (omega being one loop in the pattern) it is the end of your time in the infinite timeline of the cosmos.
Omega is a circle with a hole at the base, like half an hourglass, again reiterating, you are running out of time. Being that Omega is linked to cosmos and time it is also potentially a symbol of the womb.
If we go to Egypt, the Goddess Nut makes the symbol of omega. She is a representation of the cosmos and time. When you measure the time of the moon you use the Omega.
the Omega symbol was used to predict when an eclipse would occur. The symbol itself wasn’t referred to as ‘Omega’ but appeared the same and represented the lunar ascending nodes ( ½ path of the moon.) The symbol was flipped the other way to represent descending nodes. The same symbol can be found in the libra symbol representing the September equinox, the point where the sun descends southwards.
So if Omega is the infinite end and beginning of the cosmos the source of all things then this idea leads to another theory that the symbol represents a vagina, the ovaries, and the vesica pisces. The vagina creates electrical waves, these open and stimulates contraction; they also cultivate the activation of the orgasm.
This is electrical resistance, being the measure of current passing through a conductor. The act of friction creates vibration to stimulate an explosion that births light/life. This can be found when thinking of the omega symbol representing Ohm – sacred resonance- harmony of the earth. It also represents electrical resistance and the first depiction of the infinite number. This ties in nicely with Hermetic beliefs about vibration creating everything in the universe.
So in our symbol Omega, our goddess embodies Venus- love, Once again love is the law. Nurture.
When the Templars first met the Suphi, they asked “What happened to Eden?” The Suphi explained, when the people of the middle east abandoned the goddess the lands became unfertile and barren. There is a perpetual tie with patriarchal ideologies resulting in the removal of trees. In history, it seems to be, trees were removed as they were an active symbol of paganism and the goddess. This, of course, results in flattened lands with no sustenance. There is no nurturing of the land, resources are just there to take. So with Venus and omega supported by our alpha-Ares, we now have a society that believes love is the law, Nurture is better than possession, they are in unity to preserve the world they are a part of. Now they are acting as a whole, they are in tune with the cosmos and can gain Sophia-gnosis. (wisdom of the supreme creatrix)
This is represented by Mercury.
Mercury plays an important role in Alchemy and Hermetic mysticism as the God Hermes. He is the messenger between worlds, taking instructions or teaching from the Goddesses and passing them down to the world. Hermes conflates with Thoth who also originally took the knowledge of Seshat and passed it on to the Egyptians. It is interesting to note, the symbolic meaning of the letters in the Greek alphabet follows the Hermetic ideas of sacred geometry and the creation of the cosmos.
1. αλφα- arising- beginning, 2. βῆτα- basis- oroskopos- arising where, the basis for why, 3. γάμμα- generative-by birth; earth; women; knowledge; and (creative) writing,4. δέλτα- directed-trajectory-directs the current, 5. ἒ ψιλόν- essence-the quintessence, 6. ϝαῦ/δίγαμμα- wed-to- married,7. ζῆτα- spark-spark-of-life etc. Now take the numbers and compare this to the Tarot!
The Greeks considered the alphabet the language of Γλαυκώπις Αθήνη (Athena with glittering eyes), A gift from the Goddess of Wisdom, a view shared by the Freemasons.
This symbolism can be seen in nearly all Freemason artwork, Alchemical artwork, and, of course, Tarot symbolism. So the symbol shows an eternal rotation of life, death, and nurture to create a loving matriarchal society open to gain wisdom from the great creatrix whose womb we reside in.
This symbol is the embodiment, I believe of the symbology and artwork of the Tarot. The Tarot is a system of wisdom, learning, and self-improvement. Which results in a better community, stemming from the ancient mystery teachings of matriarchal/egalitarian societies.
I want to go back a little to the idea of ‘the teachings of the initiation mysteries spanning from ancient Mesopotamia with Inanna/Ishtar, Demuzid/Tammuz, and Ereshkigal, etc’
I know on reading this, there may be those who feel this is a bit much. That there’s no point in going back to the old ways.
What the old ways show us is that males always have a role in a matriarchal system. Males are the support. We die for those we love; we protect and self-sacrifice when needed, we honor, teach and be strong for our community. Like Tammuz, like Osiris, Like Shiva, like Odin, like Prometheus, like Solomon, and yes, even Jesus. All these men died protecting or propagating the Sophia, the wisdom and knowledge of love and nurture for the benefit of the whole community.
Aleister Crowley had a theory about the ages. That we began with the age of mother, then we were in the age of the father. He believed we were going to pass over into the age of Horus- the child. The child has the ability to use the strengths of both parents to make a stronger future.
I think that time is near.
With this in mind, I welcome you to enjoy my interpretation of the Tarot.
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