Contemplating The Eternal Flames On Mount Olympos
by Anja Heij / AeonGlobe.com
Twenty mountains on planet Earth bear the name Olympos, being the dwelling of the gods. On Mount Olympos burns the eternal fire of creation and this sign of a bond between the gods and the humans is kept alive and still spread around as the flame on the Olympic Games.
In the region Lycia in Turkey we find a remarkable natural phenomenon: a high mountain from which small fires spring to 1 to 3 feet high. This phenomenon has been recorded for at least 4000 years. One can extinguish the small fires, but the natural gas inside the mountain will light them again in minutes. Although the mountain now goes by the Turkish name Tahtali Dag, in older days it formed part of the Greek civilization, was non-surprisingly called Mount Olympos, and in the neighbourhood one can visit the ruins of the ancient city of Olympos (founded around 300 BC). I believe this is the real Mount Olympos the cronicles speak of. The place must be volcanic; on my way up to the mount I found obsidian, black vulcanic stone.
An interesting myth, told by Homer, Hesiod and other ancient writers, explains the natural eternal flames as follows: A female monster of divine origin terrorized the region. The creature was three-headed. On the front it was a lioness, in the middle she was a goat, and the rear was formed by a snake-dragon. It spit fire from all her heads and she was said to be invincible. Chimaera was her name, which is translated as She-Goat in old Greek. One day the gallant Lycian hero Bellopheron offered to slay her. The intelligent war-goddess Athena helped him. Seated on the winged horse Pegasus he attacked the fiery monster from above. He drove the lead tip of his spear into the mouth of the monster, where the lead melted and choked the creature. Thus he drove her back into the earth where she still spits fire, and this is why you will see small fires coming out of the holes on top of Mount Olympos.
This myth speaks of life inside the earth. I have understood that there are indeed many underground bases in Turkey. There are also famous underground cities in this country, like the 4 and 5-floors deep cities in Cappadocia. I felt very good on top of Mount Olympos; I could have stayed there all day long. I would not be surprised if this place was a crossing of ley-lines: meridians and power-points of the earth. The Chimaera was a creation of divine, super-natural origin. Old records describe more creatures consisting of different genetic structures, like mermaids (half human-half dolfin), the minotaur (half man-half bull), the centaur (half man-half horse) or the satyr (man-goat). The gods seem to be extra-terrestrials who did some genetic engineering. Outlandish: no, we are almost that far ourselves right now. And let's be honest: part of our brain is the reptilian or limbic brain, governing basis emotions. Which is physical proof of genetic engineering of human beings by the gods, being more advanced beings from other star systems.
What could the myth of the Chimaera mean? Here are some possibilities:
1. A no-nonsense explanation: at the base of this 2366 meters high mountain lots of snakes lived, in the middle the lush vegetation formed a nice habitat for goats, and the bare top with the flames all around reminds of the hairs of a lion.
2. An astronomical explanation: As Stephen Wilk writes "In this interpretation, the constellation Perseus is Bellerophon, and the constellation Cetus is the Chimaera. How did Bellerophon kill the Chimaera? Riding on Pegasus, he peppered the monster with arrows ("darts"), then finally thrust a lump of lead into its mouth, which melted from the fiery breath, killing it. The arrows are, I contend, the Perseid meteorites. One interpretation of the named Bellerophon is that it derives from Greek for "dart thrower", which would be very appropriate. The lump of molten lead is the star Mira, which turns bright red in the belly of the beast once a year. Finally, I note that the constellation of Aries, the ram, is right above that of Cetus. Here, I suspect, is here that outre image of a monster with a goat's head on its back comes from.
3. A seasonal explanation: "in the old days one worked with three seasons. The lion stands for spring, the goat for summer and the snake for winter." This one makes no sense to me. Lion, with its strong relationship to warmth, fire and abundance, in my opinion belongs to the summer. The goat, with her great sexuality and fertility, is a representation of spring to my taste. Why is there no autumn, and why is the snake related to wintertime? Snakes are much more known in warm regions on earth than northern-wintery regions.
4. An elemental-astrological explanation (my own): the lion (Sun) stands for fire, the goat (Saturn) represents earth and the slimy, flexible snake is the water element. The hero conquers this monster with his winged horse from the sky, thus from the air element. Meaning: a human being reaches his/her full potential once the mind/thought process (air) governs the physics (earth) / emotions (water) and lust/desire (fire). In other words: we become fully human once self-mastery takes place, and we accept that we possess parts of all realms but as a whole are much more than these separate parts.
As above, so below. All explanations could contain truth at various levels of existence. Greek myths tend to explain astronomical constellations.
The volcanic Olympos also was the home of Hephaistos/Vulcanos, the physical crippled god who was such good in creating beautiful artefacts from metals that he was restored to the Olympos, in nearness of the chief-god Zeus/Jupiter. Hephaistos of course resides at vulcanoes, natural smith's places.
The myth of Bellopheron and the Chimaera is a nice precursor for the Christian St. George who slays the dragon on his horse with a lance. Which signifies conquering the small ego (dragon) by the conscious human being (the saint).
The tale of the Chimaera has been important in ancient times. It shows by the many coins with depictions of the monster on one side and the dove (peace symbol) on the other side. And it becomes clear by the 5th century AD bronze statue of absolute beauty of the Chimaera from Etruscan times, as displayed in the archeological museum of Florence nowadays.
I came to a stunning discovery when I took a look again at the eleventh card of Crowley's Thoth Tarot. Usually this card, representing strength, depicts a young woman who looks fearless into the mouth of a lion. In old days this was tarot card number 8. Magician Crowley exchanged cards 8 and 11, making 8 Justice/Adjustment and 11 Lust/Strength. What we see on his card nr. 11 is an ecstatic naked woman, riding a lion-like beast with 7 heads, including a head on the tail. Although the literature describes she is riding a lion, I now know she is riding the Beast which is the Chimaera, and actually she is part of it. The card shows a lion with 6 heads: an angel, saint, poet, adulteress, warrior, satyr - and a lion-serpent tail. Crowley was an intelligent, artistic, great magickal and ego-centric figure who was in for a joke. Actually I feel that his extension of the three heads of the Chimaera to seven suits his ideas of himself. The middle goat-head of the Chimaera has been replaced by the passionate woman. The Chimaera is a She-Goat, which animal symbolizes the nature force of sexuality like in the goat-headed god Pan, therefore a woman fully surrendering to her sexuality instead of a goat would not surprise me. The Lust-card is a card of great power and beauty and it teaches an important lesson: Surrender yourself to all the forces of creation, fully accept and enjoy who you are with your bestial, human and divine side, and then you can offer the grail of wholeness to the universe to the fullest. Why did he change the card numbers: 8 symbolizes transformation, but 11 signifies the higher spiritual plane and illumination.
So don't be afraid of any terror or any fiery monster; with the expressed eternal flame of love and life in your being you are invincible and everything is possible.
Anja Heij is a graduated homoeopath/naturopath and certified reiki master. In 1996 she graduated in (medical) astrology, classical homoeopathy, anatomy/pathology, dietetics, herbology, naturopathy, iridology and Bach flower remedies. She has practiced reiki since 1979 and is a reiki master in the following systems: Usui Shiki Ryoho, Karuna Ki and Violet Flame Reiki. Since 1994 she has worked with the tarot, magick, meditation, visualization and affirmation, rituals, the pendulum, and knowledge derived from correspondences and symbolism. She has been influenced by enlightened masters like Andrew Cohen and Isaac Shapiro and by Tibetan (Tantra) Buddhism. Visit her website at http://www.AeonGlobe.com, email AeonGlobe@AeonGlobe.com or write AeonGlobe, Standerdmolen 75, 1135 LP Edam, The Netherlands
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