Big Top ~ Circe

Chapter 15
Big Top

Circe

- chapter index -
pg. 1 - Big Top | pg. 2 - Echoes of Camels and Needles | pg. 3 - The Crimson King
pg. 4 - Beelzebub | pg. 5 - Demon est Deus Inversus | pg. 6 - Prophets Chained for Burning Masks
pg. 7 - Kundalini | pg. 8 - The Dweller on the Threshold | pg. 9 - The Alchemical Wedding
pg. 10 - The Woman Clothed with the Sun | pg. 11 - Circe | pg. 12 - Ouroboros
pg. 13 - And there a Swan is Born | pg. 14 - Spiral

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There is still one more important point to make about Circe, the Goddess and the Church.

"The word "Church" comes from the Goddess "Circe" which is where we get the word "Circle" or "Circus."

- Religion

"From a Bible Dictionary by William Smith, L.L.D. we find: "church. 1. The derivation of the word is generally said to be from the Greek kuriakon, 'belonging to the Lord.' But the derivation has been too hastily assumed. It is probably connected with Kirk, the Latin circus - because the congregations were gathered in circles."

- "Church": From God or from Man?
by Dusty Owens

"Her name Kirke, which means hawk; it is the feminine form of kirkos, which means a circling predator, usually a bird of prey, but sometimes a wolf, or simply a circle (cf. Latin circus, circulus)"

- XVII. Luna - Selene - Moon (17, 18)
by John Opsopoaus

"Those who assert that the first (circus) spectacle was exhibited by Circe, ...maintain also the name of circus was derived from her."

- The Shows, or De Spectaculis
by Tertullian

Circe is Maya, the Whore of Babylon, the physical World, the deceiver, the Cirkus.

"Circe, the Homeric witch, gave her name to the 'Circus' (a ring of animals)..."

...Animals such as the zebras, seals, fish, chameleons, elephants, lions, stallions, baboons, german shepherds ("We're not Rin Tin Tin! "We have not been transformed by Circe [the world] into animals!"), lizards, bears, swans and peacocks of Lizard .

"...and the 'Circle' was her place of operation. By her bewitchment she was able to transform all who landed on her isle into animals. This island resided in the west and was identified with the Moon, all symbols of the Unconscious."

- circle of the goddess:
gateway between worlds
by Tim Hartridge

Note that Circe's island "resided in the west", the realm of Sensation. The direction of Intuition is east ("Bid me face the east").

"One ought to beware of prostitutes

It is said the powers of Circe, offspring to the Sun, were
so great that she turned many men into strange
monsters. Picus, tamer of horses, is proof, likewise
biform Scylla, and the Ithacans, pigs after they drank the
wine. Circe, by her famous name, discloses the
prostitute, and whoever loves her, loses the reason of
his mind."

- Alciato's Book of Emblems
Emblem 76

"By casting her magic circle, the sorceress Circe circles her prey, like the unconscious mind circling and spiraling toward the integrated Self, which attracts it like a magnet (Jung, P&A 217). A touch of her wand transforms one to an animal, which ...is the ideal form for the journey to the distant mountains.

The demands of the Moon Mistress cannot be ignored; whereas the moon's previous incarnation (4.High Priestess) invited quiet introspection...,"

( In the Wake of Poseidon )

"...17.Moon churns the unconscious depths, and calls up primitive images that cannot be ignored, like the cold-blooded creature crawling from the sea. This is a potent source of inspiration and creativity, but it can be overwhelming. Truly, the situation of 17.Moon demands that we follow the way of the animals, for this is the first trump in which no human appears. Here, like the shape-shifting shaman...,"

( The Entry of the Chameleons )

"...we must become wild beasts, and make the Dionysian plunge into the waters of the collective unconscious, newly agitated in 16.Star. (Gar 276; Pollack I.113-4, 116)"

- The Pythagorean Tarot
by John Opsopaus

As noted earlier, Circe represents the destructive aspect of the goddess which is equivalent to Kali, the dark presence of Dawn Song .

"Like Kali, Circe was considered the death-bird "kirkos" (a circling of falcons) because she encircles her "victims" within her home before enchanting them. A falcon's cry is "circ-circ", and sometimes considered Circe's magical song which controls both creation and dissolution."

(i.e. the Cycle of Necessity)

"From the same root comes the Latin word circus or cirque, orginally an enclosure for funerary games. Her identification with birds..."

(Such as the swan and peacock.)

"...is important because birds are said to have ability to travel freely between the realms of heaven and earth; possessors of occult secrets, givers of omens, angelic messengers and carriers of the spirit or soul."

- Circe: One Journey Goddess
by Krishanna J. Spencer

And so the album ends with a circus image, Big Top , forming a circle/circe/circus connecting the end to the beginning ( Cirkus ) and creating an image of the ouroboros, the Great Mother from whom we came and to whom we shall return.

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