From: MarshaV (marshalz@charter.net)
Date: Sun Aug 07 2005 - 14:10:34 BST
From 'The WOMAN'S DICTIONARY of Symbols & Sacred Objects' by Barbara G.
Walker:
Pre-Hellenic Mother Goddesses often appeared holding lyres, both as a
symbol of the alter *horns*, and as a reminder that the musical sounds they
invented were said to have initiated the birth of the universe. According
to Scipio the Elder, the seven-stringed lyre was directly connected with
the heavens: "The spheres . . . produce seven distinct tones; the septenary
number is the nucleus of all that exists. And men, who know how to imitate
this celestial harmony with the lyre, have traced their way back to the
sublime realm.
One of the men most frequently credited with this ability was the highly
popular savior Orpheus, whose cult was a serious rival of early
Christianity and a model for many of its sacraments. Orpheus descended
into the underworld and returned, like Jesus, bearing the revelations
whereby his followers could achieve resurrection. The classic myth of
Orpheus's descent in search of his bride Eurydice was a red herring,
designed to conceal the fact that Eurydice was only another name of the
underground Goddess, Persephone, to whom Orphics prayed for a happy
afterlife. The Orphic Mysteries taught that the Goddess would make each
enlightened one "god instead of mortal." The *head* of Orpheus was
supposed to reside in a sacred *cave* and produce oracular speeches and
songs, like the head of Osiris at Abydos. The lyre that served as his
instrument of transcendence was placed in the stars, as the constellation
Lyra, which contains the brightest star of the summer, Vega. That the lyre
first produced the seven-toned "music of the spheres" became embedded in
European tradition and contributed to the formation of the present musical
scale.
Dear David,
Your paper was very good. You might even be said to have some of the
lyre's touch. But your telling of the Orphic story was very shallow. The
story is much older and much deeper than your telling. The story is about
something lost. The important question is: What's been lost??? What has
been lost in our patriarchal, anthropocentric lives and culture? It's our
connection to the FEMININE, the creative and dynamic experience. Until
there is cohesion between the masculine and the feminine humanity will
remain lost.
Marsha
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