House of the Rising Sun
Several nights ago, in the throes of a fever (thanks to the flu circling our home for weeks), I had an intense dream. In the way of dream strangeness, the light was indistinct but available, that weird combination of other- and underworld, making itself a character in the unfolding story.
I was in my past, standing before a dilapidated house in a wildly overgrown yard, saddened that a place once loved as home was now abandoned and so badly neglected. Nearly unrecognizable.
I left my son in the car with instructions to stay put (for his safety), and wandered cautiously in. I saw old furniture rotting where it stood (or had tumbled down), walls darkened with time, mold and exposure to the elements.
As I moved into what was once the kitchen, I was startled and stunned into paralyzed motionlessness when a giant golden lion padded in on huge silent paws. He noticed me, but seemed disinterested in my presence.
Breathing slowly in relief that he didn’t seem inclined to attack me, I considered my next move. But in the next moment, a second lion appeared. This one was anything but disinterested. He moved more quickly, glaring at me before suddenly leaping on the first lion, killing it instantly before beginning to devour it before my eyes.
It was graphic, sudden and terrifying. All I could think about was fleeing, getting to my child still in the car (I hoped), and getting out of there.
The aggressive lion knew I was there but made no move toward me as I fled the scene. I raced back to my car, checked on my son, and started the car to drive away, when I promptly woke up.
. . .
It was one of those dreams that stays with you like a fragrance burned in your nose throughout the days to follow. It just really bothered me. I finally sat down with it, journaled, and pulled some tarot cards to gain some insight. Where it led and what evolved was beautiful, humbling and inspiring; a solstice benediction that spoke of resurrection, returning light and the unending cycle of life, death and rebirth.
. . .
In ancient Egypt, the god Aker was depicted as twin lions, Duaj (yesterday) and Sefer (tomorrow). They would gaze out in opposite directions, holding the horizon line and rising sun between their strong backs.
the horizon guarded by the god Aker, from the papyrus of Ani, British Museum
Aker carried the soul of the slain Osiris beneath his womb as it traveled the underworld, before being reborn as the rising sun. Aker was also the one who gave birth to Kepheri, the sacred scarab beetle who carried the sun through the underworld in order to deliver it to the day and the light once more.
Hathor, herself, was worshipped as a lion in her aspect as the purifying, terrifying Sekhmet, and her name (Hathor/ Het-Her/ Het-Hert) translates to ‘house of Horus’, ‘house of the above’. She was originally a sun goddess, the eye of Ra. Her most recognizable symbol, the sun disk held between two horns, came to be revered within the protective horns of the wild auroch cow roaming the land. But first, there were lions of time guarding the portal to the rising sun.
House of the Rising Sun by Meinrad Craighead
"This image is based on the Egyptian goddess called Hathor, she's actually holding a line, which is the great above, and she's standing on a line which is the great below. So that she is the above line, she is the below line. She carries all of the sun and the moon, the planets, everything in her body. Midway is sky and water, so she, her water, her feet reach down to the depth of the watery abyss and up into the height of the great above. And this is also based on another Egyptian myth about the goose that laid the golden egg…
And this is another common creation story. The understanding of all of creation as an egg which breaks open, and everything that is spills out and then finds its place in the universe. These are the sacred yellow beans associated with this particular goddess. So, this midway point. She is the great above. She is the great below."
Meinrad Craighead, From Praying with Images, Day 2, Lecture 2
In the northern hemisphere, we ritualize and honor the returning of the light at the winter solstice of December, feeling into all we’ve left behind to the dark night, the past we’ve traveled through and out of for something else, something other. While the sun has walked the underworld journey in the womb of Aker, escorted by twin lions Duaj and Sefer, yesterday and tomorrow, we have remained with the present in each evolving moment, holding the tensions between our past and future.
Maybe the past holds pain we’re glad to be rid of. Or perhaps there is nostalgia for what we remember as being simpler, sweeter, kinder times. Most likely, there is some of both. What we have left behind us is, for most if not every one of us, a blending of pains and pleasures that we turn over like river-rubbed pebbles worn smooth with time and friction.
At this holy night of deep dark hours, we can look at those stones in our palms, smell their dense soil, taste their cool hardness against our tongue, and remember. We can mourn the losses, weep over what is finished forever, and place them into the ground to rest and return to their source. This is the sacred work of the dark. Relinquishment.
In the morning, the light is reborn. Sefer (Tomorrow) steps forward and devours Duaj (Yesterday), always. It is not always pleasant, and it is not always tame. But every moment birthed is a new opportunity for life to reveal her gifts. And every gift offered is perfectly suited to our current human need, soul call and deepest heart desire.
What is offered to us in the rising sun of the winter solstice is resurrection, rebirth, and renewal. We won’t be allowed to return to what was. That is not the way of rebirth. It is a new day, with new opportunities and new requirements. New skills will be necessary to traverse new lands.
As we are collectively moving into new times on this planet, it will take all our enthusiasm, grit and resilience to create a future worth handing over to our precious children. For myself, I am encouraged by the fact that ancient peoples and divine guides have been preparing our psyches for this great work for millenia, through stories, dreams and synchronicities that are ever-unfolding deeper layers, preparing our hearts and minds for the transformation in consciousness that only Love can bring about.