Noise vs. Signal

Jupiter Painting Butterflies

“The butterflies are a symbol of the volatility of thought, while the rainbow denotes the evanescence of ideas.

Jupiter, portrayed while painting, alludes to the notion that each ordering principle needs a source of inspiration from the realm of ideas.

Mercury's gesture points to inspiration and to the initiatory silence that precedes spiritual, natural, or artistic creation.

Mercury mediates between the dimension of manifested things and that of the unmanifested. Quicksilver, the shape-shifting liquid metal that is named for him in English, is the element that best characterizes his changing, elusive nature.

The golden caduceus denotes the esoteric role of this god, endowed with the power of putting living men and women to sleep or reawakening them.”

Text from “Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art” by Matilde Battistini (2004).

Image: “Jupiter Painting Butterflies, or Mercury and Virtue” by Dosso Dossi (1524).

Venus Lucifera.

Iris

Iris, the Rainbow, is a messenger of the Gods, and like Mercury she carries the caduceus. She is the Halo of the Moon, and carries a Coat of Many Colours.

She is a Goddess of Light, and messenger (Angel) of Venus.

The God of Dreams, Morpheus, dreams of her.

“Dreaming of the Gods” (2024)

Illustrations from the Book of Babel.

The Marriage of the Sun (Spirit and Mind) and Moon (Soul and Body).

Nyx, Goddess of Night.

Circe, Goddess.

Assembly of the Gods

These archetypes exist in all beings, to a greater or lesser degree, and in different ratios to each other. At any given time one or more will be dominant. Balancing and integrating these energies is crucial in the process of expanding your awareness.

As well as being part of an individual’s psyche, they are also part of the Collective Psyche, and will speak to you if you listen. They speak in the form of insights, intuition, feelings and emotions that are associated with their sphere of influence.

“According to Carl Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts, as well as by archetypes: ancient primal symbols such as The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Trickster, the Shadow, the Tower, Water, and the Tree of Life.

Jung considered the collective unconscious to underpin and surround the unconscious mind. He believed that the concept of the collective unconscious helps to explain why similar themes occur in mythologies around the world. He argued that the collective unconscious had a profound influence on the lives of individuals, who lived out its symbols and clothed them in meaning through their experiences.” - Wikipedia.

“Ulysses et les sirènes” by Picasso (1946)

Proteus

You are Proteus, ever changing, lost in your many forms.

“Our Mercury, by virtue of his universal fiery spark of the light of nature, is beyond doubt Proteus, the sea god of the ancient pagan sages, who hath the key to the sea and ... power over all things.” - Heinrich Khunrath (1560 - 1605).