Beneath the pyramids of Giza

It has been a very interesting year so far about big discoveries. More controversial is the finding of giant structures beneath the pyramids of Giza. A team of European scientists used advanced radar technology and found a massive underground city beneath the pyramids. The enormous underground city complex is estimated to be over 6,500 feet. There are eight tall upright columns that are 2,100 feet beneath the pyramid of Khafre, extending deep into the earth, ending on giant platform cubes of 250 feet per side in length. Each column has a spiral stairway, from the cubic bases all the way up to the pyramid. 

Many have been excited about the discovery. To be honest, the actual discovery is at a significant time. The pyramids are amazing works of engineering and (in a way) artistic. These underground secrets though, while very mysterious, mind boggling and chilling also as it changes everything we've been taught about human history. The underground city looks very beautiful and it gives me a headache imagining how people so long ago built that. 

Some say it wasn't humans who built it, but is a natural geological feature! Or it's a spiritual plane that others have said could be the Halls of Amenti. This place is described in the Emerald Tablet of Thoth, as either a magical realm or a stargate, located deep in the earth and is a connection with the soul and physical realm. Others think this discovery of a hidden city under the pyramid of Giza is the Halls of Amenti. The columns are shaped like human DNA, spiralling stairs. Like passages from the soul journey and how one transitions from the earthly plane to the next realm. The sight of a tunnel at the gate of death, and the vivid wonder at ancient classical buildings, can make many question their own place in a world that they thought they knew. To see it makes people realise they never understood everything they thought they did. Let us wait and find out more to be unravelled about this latest discovery.

More on this: 

Hub Pages article on Halls of Amenti

The page on underground complex under Egypt's pyramids at Ancient Origins  

Storm Valkyrie

Happy Mothering Sunday

Today is Mothering Sunday, or Mother's Day, as celebrated in the UK and Ireland. Other countries also celebrate Mother's Day but during the Summer later on. Today is also the day which is the fourth after Lent. All this we have to be thankful and appreciate our mothers and grandmothers, whether biological, adopted or simply a role model, a nurturing mother is a gift. 

We can also thank the lady Constance Adelaide Smith for if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have a Mother's Day. She wanted a special day honouring mothers, and she revived the modern version of a Medieval observation. Constance wanted to recognise the Virgin Mother, Mother Nature and all "mothers of earthly homes". 

Happy Mothering Sunday!

Storm Valkyrie

Protection stones

 

There is a bunch of minerals and rocks that are able to ward off evil spirits but may have something interesting about them too. I shall mention it later on.  

Zircon is one of the most beautiful lustrous stones that can do this. It can also help with calm deep sleeps, for those who have insomnia they can slip a zircon under their pillow at night. It's believed zircon the gem is said to help those mental illness and to become energised, calm and clear headed. Zircon is associated with wisdom and good luck. In Medieval times, zircon was believed to protect against illnesses so people carried the stone with them on their travels. 

Tourmaline is a gemstone with many healing properties. It can influence a person's mindset and energy, helping to elevate a sense of self esteem, bringing stronger feelings of confidence. Therefore it's considered a stone used for bringing positivity, protection and can ward off evil spirits. Black tourmaline is the one that guards against negative energy. Green tourmaline heals the body and represents wood. 

Amethyst is a purple coloured stone that lowers anxiety and helps relieve emotional stress. It's used to protect against evil spirits. There are many healing properties in amethyst including helping someone to sleep well, improving mental illness and for emotional wellbeing. It wards off pain and it's able to reduce headaches. 

Smoky quartz is a good stone for emotional stability, as well as warding off evil spirits. The stone can help in building ones own confidence, feeling calm and relaxed, a focused mind, clear understanding and better inner peace. It's often used as a healer for multiple things from pain relief to fertility. 

Quartz is a crystal that looks stunning like ice and also can resemble a diamond. This is the most powerful healing stones, it can clear away negative energy, strengthen calmness of mind and body, spiritual growth, calmness and focused mind. It's used for mental and emotional stability, balance and calm. It purifies the body, getting rid of evil spirits and enhancing spiritual insight and clear meditation.

What these gemstones have in common is their significance to being popular healing stones with magical uses. They're used as relics, talismans and even protection against evil spirits. Surprisingly though they are all naturally radioactive. These gemstones have very tiny low level amounts of radiation that happened when they were formed deep in the ground which doesn't cause any harm. 

There are dangerous harmful gemstones that include samarskite (it contains uranium), autunite (also with uranium) and ekanite (it's got thorium. Also it aparrently wards off evil spirits!).  

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No snakes in Ireland

 

There is a story that Saint Patrick removed all of the snakes in Ireland. Some believe there never were any snakes in Ireland to begin with, and saying all of it is legend and nonsense. Let's see. It all began with the myth of Saint Patrick (shortened to St. Patrick), stood on top of a hill and sent all of the snakes into the sea. This was a turning point and symbol of the Christianisation of Ireland. Today St. Patrick is a patron saint of Ireland and they celebrate St. Patrick's Day. 

Ireland is an island separate from Britain, although they were once joined geographically. In the last Ice Age, there was a land bridge connecting both islands. By 12.000 BC that particular bridge had gone after rising sea levels, then it separated both islands. Long before then, both Ireland and Britain were connected to the main continent of Europe until about 6,100 BC. 

Many say that Ireland isn't the right place for snakes to live in due to the climate and temperature. However, Britain has got a native snake population. They believe snakes got there when both Ireland and Britain were joined physically to the bigger European continent. So one would wonder if snakes went to Britain, they would've gone to Ireland too, or did they? They also say that Ireland broke away from Europe before Britain did, which didn't give snakes a chance to colonise it. Britain and Ireland were also joined back then when it broke off from the main continent. Britain fell away from Europe in 6,100 BC according to The Conversation. Then Britain broke apart, one became Ireland, this happened 12,000 BC. 

There is no archaeological evidence of snakes ever living in Ireland. No snake fossils have been found there, which means Ireland didn't have any snakes to begin with. St. Patrick didn't send them away. This is what scientists have said. But Ireland has got a native reptile, a common lizard. Other types of reptiles found on fossil record in Ireland are two species of dinosaurs, Megalosaurus and Scelidosaurus. These bones were found on Ireland's Jurassic Coast or Antrim Coast. There's now even a dinosaur park in Kilkenny. 

What I will suggest is the connection of snakes in the St. Patrick myth to the old legends of dragons, as there are many in Irish mythology. The story of St. Patrick is symbolic of Christianity removing the old Pagan religion. Snakes have always been associated with evil in Christianity. Dragons in Irish myth include Cliodhna queen of the banshees and much more. 

Read Dragons of Ireland at The Circle of the Dragon. 

Ice Age Animals of Ireland at Bird Watch Ireland 

Storm Valkyrie

A lion with rabies

There is nobility amongst animals of the wilds. Among them, the lion always seems the one with a pride and golden roar. Take it or leave it. Heraldic lions and symbolism of lions from godlike Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia, to the friendly Cowardly Lion in the land of Oz, to the Simba family of "The Lion King", the monstrous Nemean lion and to the ones beaten by Heracles. 

There are the Chinese guardian lions, also called lion dogs or foo dogs. Guardians of imperial palaces and homes, made of stone, often in pairs to symbolise yin and yang. There are similar guardian lion duos called Shisa from the Ryukyu islands, and also the Komainu guardians of Japan. 

Sphinxes have lion and humanlike features, found in Egyptian as well as Greek mythologies. Magical lions tend to look more bizarre, such as the winged lions of myths from many places such as India, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia. Such winged lions are even found in stories of the Book of Daniel. The winged lion is a symbol of Saint Mark. 

Other weird looking lions are the griffin, chimera, sphinx, manticore, merlion, Pixiu, Yali and much more. Some are good and some are bad, others are neither. 

Evil lions as figures in folklore and fiction tend to be demonic. There is Ugallu the lion demon made by Tiamat. In today's culture she's associated with dragons as she's got many heads of dragons but in ancient Mesopotamian myth she was primordial goddess of the sea. In fiction there is the Lion of Night in A Song of Ice and Fire book series that brought the dreadful long night. 

Lions with rabies tend to be more aggressive and frightening to come across. They try to eat car tyres to get at passengers within. A pride of lions will be severely affected when its leader has got rabies.  

Storm Valkyrie       

Rose hip

The rose hip are fruits from a rose bush. These berries are found in many colours and when ripe, they can be red, orange, black and purple. They can be found all around the world in different temperatures, and they can even last into Winter. These berries become ready food for wild animals. Wild edible berries, rose hips are used in cooking, desserts, side dishes and jams. Rosy red sandwiches and cakes, biscuits and jelly. Rose-hips can be used to make tea, fruit juice and wine. People in prehistory began using rose hip berries to make jam. 

It's been associated with love. Rose-hips are popular in Iceland as these are considered berries that symbolise true love. In folklore, the belief in tying a red ribbon around a bunch of roses and rose bush sticks with rose hip berries on a Friday would attract love in a person's life. 

Rose hips have been used as a form of natural medicine to treat painful menstrual cycles in women, tummy aches, headaches and the flu. In England, rose hips were a treatment for scurvy. In America, indigenous tribes used rose hip berries to treat infections and other ailments. Some believe that the seeds of rose hips can protect against bad dreams. In Medieval times, rose hip berries were worn as amulets to protect against evil. Sometimes rose hips were used for naughty pranks. Mischief makers removed fibre from rose hip berries to make itching powder. 

Storm Valkyrie

A warm greeting

 

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

May everyone enjoy a lovely cherished time close to your heart.

XXX

Storm Valkyrie 

A parade of planets

 There is an alignment of planets in our night sky. Several of them, such as Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be visible to us. We could see it with the naked eye, unless there are clouds, but better still through a telescope. This big alignment is rare and also called a Planet Parade. It is like a carnival of the sky, which is a fun thing to see if you enjoy stargazing. Each planet in the solar system all travel on orbits, or individual paths, journeying around the sun. While we're here seeing them tonight lining up together, these planets are not actually doing this in space, its' just that our perspective can see them that way. The planets move at different speeds and they're the same distance away from each other as they've always been. The planet parade are not actually coming together to sit up there in the arena. It only appears this way when looking at it from down here on Earth.

So from now there will be six planets showing in the night sky. Later in February 2025 there will be a total of seven planets in the starry alignment when Mercury joins them. This also includes the moon so that makes it eight celestial bodies. This has happened at an important time, in January the first month of the Gregorian calendar and during celebrations of the Chinese New Year, significantly the Year of the Wood Snake. The planetary line will be in the form of a snake and the snake is symbolic of transformation, healing, wisdom and rebirth. 

The planetary parade has come also at the end of January after the destructive wildfires in California, unrest in the United Kingdom and the hostile events at the Gaza Strip. The planets lining together could be taken as a form of mystical time for balance. As there will be seven eventually, this is like the chakra system alignment. There's seven chakras for healing, yoga and meditation. The planet parade could also be taken as a different sort of meaning, if thinking another angle. It's not only just us looking at the planets on show, but the planets looking back at us! A symbolic event that might also be judgement. The planets (named after gods) will observe everything here on Earth.   

Storm Valkyrie 

Rain

 

The Clouds are shedding tears of joy,

They fall with rhythmic beat

Upon the earth, and soon destroy

Dust dunes and waves of heat.

Each falling drop enforcement bears

To river, lake and rill,

And sweet refreshment gladly shares

With wooded dell and hill.

Every flower, bud and leaf,

Each blossom, branch and tree

Distills the rain, 'tis my belief

To feed the honey bee.

I pity every wretch I find

Who, frowning in disdain,

Is deaf and dumb and also blind

To beauty in the rain.

Rain poem by Raymond Garfield Dandridge

Storm Valkyrie

Healing stones for the cold

While the cold winter months tend to feel forever, certain crystals help boost feeling positive. They include the clear quartz crystal, rose quartz, black tourmaline, topaz and garnet. These are just five of them. Crystals can be worn, placed in your pocket, under your pillow at night or even on your shelf. They can also work if you hold them in your hands and relax. 

Clear quartz is good at helping emotionally see the winter through as it also repels dark spirits and negativity. It heals and sooths which often encourages mental wellness during the dark cold months.

Rose quartz has many warm qualities that can help and heal through the cold, such as emotionally and physically. It's a crystal of love and compassion.

Black tourmaline is a guardian crystal that gets rid of bad dreams, also protection against evil spirits and harmful stray entities. This crystal is able to boost strength and immunity. It's a good crystal for shielding.

Topaz is strong and full of ice and fire, as the blue topaz is electric and icy, the yellow topaz is fire, which helps during winter.

Garnet is the birth stone of January and is a warm looking crystal that resembles a coal fire or a candle light. It generates a sense of comfort and also helps healing in winter that will also bring positivity.

Storm Valkyrie 

Winter stars

 

The land of Winter in the northern hemisphere finds the Auriga, the great wolf and the hunter. These appear as constant superstars in the night sky, crossing over in Winter's darkest north. Such stars appear bright and icy. In Greek mythology, the cluster of stars that make up Auriga is associated with the chariots, herds of goats and mythical beings. Its associated with hero Erichthonius of Athens, also with Myrtilus the son of Hermes, as well as Hippolytus the son of Theseus, and also Phaethon the son of Helios. These men have divine ancestry, and all of them connected to the chariot in some way. After they tragically died, they were placed among the stars. According to legend, Auriga was once a man, who was killed by his sister Medea and then scattered over the sea, appearing as the Milky Way. 

Within the house of Auriga star constellation is Capella the nymph who owned a nanny goat called Amalthea who adopted Zeus when he was an infant. Part of the Auriga is nicknamed the "kids" or Haedi, the offspring of Amalthea. There are as many as sixty stars of Auriga and its visible in winter months and seems a large pentagon shape.  

The hunter is also visible in the winter skies. This star constellation is called Orion, and his belt (also well named Orion's Belt) points towards Sirius. In Greek myth, Orion is a hunter and a giant who was the son of sea god Poseidon and a gorgon. He was set among the stars after his death, although his story is wild and epic. He threatened to destroy all animals but Gaia, the Earth goddess, struck him down with a deadly scorpion. Zeus turned Orion and the scorpion into star constellations opposing one another. 

I mentioned Sirius, one of the biggest stars of the constellation Canis Major. The constellation is called the Greater Dog, because it's beside a smaller companion of stars called Canis Minor or the Lesser Dog. Canis Major is visible in the winter northern skies, with it's sixty plus stars, the brightest being Sirius or the Dog Star (also "Wolf Star") as it's a binary star system. This constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor are believed to be two hunting dogs belonging to Orion. Many stories and names also include one about hunting dog Laelaps chasing a fox then both became glittering stars.

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Sources and links:

Wikipedia

Ancient Origins site on Sirius follow the link