The Quest for Immortality

 

The Myth of Knit Mountain is not just a Tantric Love Rite undertaken by Woden; the myth itself embodies the search for immortality, the Quest for the Man-God. The symbolism involved tells us far more than the story itself. Woden shape-shifts into a Serpent which is an earthly-creature that moves upon the earth. He is then aided by Hama (Rati) or Ingwe (if we use the Vedic version where it is Agni who has this role) and enters the Sacred Mountain. Clearly, he enters at the base of the mountain. He sleeps with Gunlodd the Giantess for Three Nights, drunken with the Sacred Mean of Inspiration. With here help he shapes-shifts into an Eagle which is a bird of the heavens, that flies above in the skies. Through this rite he transforms from Man to Superman, from Man to the Man-God, from the Earth to the Divine. 

We could look at this as being the role of Woden alone, were it not for the clear intervention of Ingwe (we'll go for this as you will see) and the role of Gunlodd (The Feminine). To credit this to Woden alone is to miss the whole point of the myth. Clearly, the symbolism of the Serpent and the Eagle links to Yggdrasil - the World Tree. As does the role of Ratatosk, the Messenger of the Gods, who runs up and down the World Tree between the Serpent (Base) and the Eagle (Top). The Hawk between the Eyes of the Eagle is the 'Hawk-Eye' or 'Third Eye', which is opened through such a Tantric Rite. 

Why I have used the god Ingwe here, rather than using the name Hama, is that the essence of this Tantric Rite is the Rising of the Fire-Snake! The Fire-Snake (Ingwe) rises from the base of the Sacred Mountain, up through the Central Column (Spinal Column), awakening the 'Hawk's Eye', and thus transmuting The Hero into an Eagle. Through this process The Hero gains the Mead of Inspiration and also a Higher Consciousness whereby he becomes the Divine Hero. This can only be done through a Union with the Female - from this union flows the 'Nectar of the Gods'. 

It is usual to see Kundalini as a Goddess, but in my own opinion this idea of categorising everything into male-female may be helping us to miss the point of many things. By his name alone Ingwe is related to 'Fire' and to the 'Snake'. and he has associations with Venus - the Morning and Evening Star. But...his sister-wife is Freya who is also associated with 'Fire' and there is no doubt that somewhere we can find an association with the 'Snake' too. 

In the past I have equated Ingwe with the Solar Krist, and it seems that the term Krestos relates to Fire. Both the name Krist (Greek - 'Anointed') and Ingwe (Germanic - 'to anoint') realty to 'Fire' in some way, as we shall see. We know this of Ingwe through the Firestone where the 'Gift of Ing' is Fire. We also know that Krist is associated with Fire, since the 'Holy Ghost' or 'Holy Spirit' descends like a dove (dove = diver = an avatar). The 'Holy Ghost' or 'Holy Spirit' is always linked to Fire, as seen below -

I am one of these who follows the Armanen Masters in their rejection of 'Jesus Christ' and 'Christianity' but not in a rejection of the Solar Krist which is an Aryan Archetype. Rejecting the Christian Bible because of its distortions I am clear in, but not rejecting it as a symbolic work. When Krist is mounted and crucified on the Cross, this takes place at Golgotha - the 'Place of the Skull'. This simply refers to the 'Head-Centre'; Krist here has moved up to the 'Head-Centre' - Krist here is the Fire-Snake or Kundalini! This is at Easter, when the Light and Darkness are in balance, Krist arises from the 'Tomb' (his body), not resurrected in the flesh, but resurrected in his Astral Body - which his why his disciples are told not to touch him! The Krist has now achieved Krist-Hood or Immortality, has become a Superman or God-Man. We are no doubt missing some very important pieces of the Aryan Myth, no doubt removed by the Judaeo-Christian Church. The role of the Female is certainly missing here. 

The movement of the Fire-Snake starts in the area of the Sacrum & Coccyx, represented by the Nine Sacred Runes - Ac-AEsc-Yr-Ior-Ear-Cweorth-Calc-Stan-Gar (downwards). We do have a rune meaning 'Serpent' - Ior - and we do have a rune meaning 'Fire' - Cweorth. We also have the transformation from Earth (Ear) to Heaven (Cweorth). The Sacrum-Coccyx area is the 'Head of the Spear', since the spinal column is a downward-pointing spear-shape. We will leave this here, though there are many other important things to consider in this area.

In the same Aryan Myth we are introduced to the Myth of the Sacred Blood, since the prize of the quest undertaken by Woden is that of the Sacred Mead, itself being a product of the Blood of Kvasir. Kvasir was the 'Wisest of the Gods' so this is the Mead of Wisdom, but it has more qualities than that, since it inspires, and it is the Draught of Regeneration. 

 

"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a Pail of Water......" Jack is the Norse Hjuki, and Jill the Norse Bil, the latter being Bil the Dis, another name for Idunn. The Milky Way is named Bilfrost due to this being the road taken by Bil-Idunn when going to Asgard. Originally, the Sacred Mead was found on the Moon, guarded by the Moon-God. After a long series of adventures the Sacred Mead was given into the keeping of the Giant Suttung, and from there Woden stole it for the Gods. The same type of tale is told of the Soma in the Vedas, but there it is Agni that aids the theft.

From this we can see that it is Woden who undertakes the Quest for the Hidden Mead, and through this Woden attains Immortality by transmuting from the Serpent to the Eagle. It is through the Giantess Gunlodd that he achieves this, and the Sacred Mead is thus connected directly to the idea of Immortality, for not only does Woden steal the Mead, he actually drinks the Mead in the process. This, as shown, is linked to the Sacred Blood. Ingwe is the Fire-Snake that moves within Woden, transforming him from the Serpent to the Eagle: Ingwe is also the Sacred Blood that is the key to this transformation. The 'Gift of Ing' is FIRE, and this seems to be the key to these Mysteries. 

We can see this again in the Solar-Krist, where he becomes an 'Avatar', i.e. he becomes the vehicle of a God-Force. The vehicle for this is the 'Holy Ghost' or 'Holy Spirit' which is the 'Spirit of Fire'; I am certain that somewhere in the New Testament John the Baptist mentions that he baptises with Water, whist Krist baptises with Fire. 

NOTE - The 'Apkallu' or 'Seven Sages' that appear as images in many parts of the world, seemingly depicting figures of Wise Men who appeared after a Great Flood, all carry a 'pail' (some see this as a 'handbag' but I prefer the former due to the shape). They are also all standing in the Ac-Rune Stance, and in the above image we see the Sage holding a Pine Cone, clearly symbolic of the Pineal Gland and the 'Hawk's Eye'. Somewhere here, we have a link to the Ac-Rune and the Oak-Tree, or at least the Ac-orn (Acorn = A-Horn); now on writing this I am reminded of the 'horn' shown in the figure of Ratatosk -

It would seem here that the Acorn (Fruit of the Oak) is symbolic of the 'Horn', in this respect the Third Eye. This actually accords with the image of the Unicorn (= 'One Horn') which has a horn in the same place; these two symbols could well be interchangeable, and maybe the Unicorn became more commonly used in time.  The Unicorn is a White Horse, symbolic of Energy and Force, and here associated with the Moon rather than the Sun (it usually is anyway). 

This association between the Ac-Rune and The Moon was something that came up in a meditation on this rune by one of our WF Apprentices. This also suggests that the 'Pail' here contains the Sacred Mead, and guessing here this could well represent the process of regeneration after a Great Catastrophe. The essence of this seems to be - Fire-in-Water - thus associated with Ingwe.

The Pine Cone here could be symbolic of the loss of the use of the Pineal Gland, since this is how many legends refer to the Great Flood and the Sinking of Atlantis. This is why Woden undertakes such a quest, since it is in our time that the re-awakeing of the Third Eye starts to take place. Again, caution here, since this seems to be done at a physical level alone in some cases, but what we speak of here is a Spiritual Awakening.