zreligion: a brief description

(aka octavism/trimetrism)

(c) z$ 2022

created 12/20/2021 14:38 PST

updated 1/31/2021 12:51 PST

last updated 9/20/2022 19:01 PDT

contents

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prelude

• (what follows is an imperfect and incomplete description of my personal “religion”, readers are encouraged to do with it what they will)
• the reasons for the existence of my religion and its associated ritual practices are mainly the following (tho in truth I don’t really think I need to have reasons per se):
  • to mark the passage of time and prompt reflection
  • to remind me of the oneness and universal connectivity of existence
  • to prompt gratitude for the many gifts I’ve been given
  • and indirectly, to encourage nurturing of myself and others, and to inspire and guide personal growth and constructive action (but I don’t think these things should be the primary goals, this is a way of thinking about and being in the world, not prescriptive techniques for self-help or “personal development”, nor is it a framework for thinking about the nature of reality or the purpose of existence)
• what I call “one religion” is really two overlapping, interconnected systems: that of the 8 octaves (octavism), and that of the 3 mothers (trimetrism)
  • they are separate, but related and complimentary, as will hopefully be more clear after learning more about each

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divisions

• marking of time is the fundamental ritual
  • time is marked by multiple simultaneous cycles, most notably those of the sun (the year), the earth (the day), and the moon (the lunar month)
  • [semi-arbitrary] divisions of these cycles structure the experience of the passage of time and inspire rituals
• the year is divided into two parts: waxing and waning
  • waxing from the winter solstice to the summer solstice, winter and spring, days getting longer, warming up
  • waning for the rest of the year, summer and fall, days getting shorter, cooling down
• 8 dimensions, or octaves, describe and constitute the universe
  • (N.B.: I use “octave” to refer to both the 8 dimensions and the 8 roughly 6-week periods I associate with each one)
  • each octave is associated with a heavenly body (and deity, or set of related deities)
  • each octave represents one of 5 elements (earth, water, air, fire, and aether), or one of 4 aspects of life (male, female, young, and old)
    • (with one, Saturn, representing both an aspect and an element)
  • each has its own set of related qualities and associations, including a time of year, a time of day, day of the week, phase of the moon, part of the body, etc

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the octaves

• the 8 octaves are in 4 pairs of opposite polarity on 4 axes
  • the first axis is about light, heat, and energy (dark and light, night and day, cold and hot, wet and dry, too little and too much, asleep and awake, calm and excited), its turnings (the solstices) divide the year into waxing and waning halves
    • at the negative pole on the axis of light is the Moon, representing the element of water, that which is cold, wet, dark, calm, or periodic, that which flows and coalesces, quiescence, liquids, solitude, peace, loneliness, boredom, satiety, satisfaction, depression, apathy, the tides, the water in all living things
      • time of year: winter solstice, around Dec 21
      • time of day: midnight
      • phase of moon: new moon 🌑
      • day of week: monday
      • part of body: lumbar spine, belly
    • at the positive pole on the axis of light is the Sun, representing the element of fire, that which is hot, dry, or active, light, energy, combustion, transformation, reactions, ecstasy, anxiety, overstimulation, hunger, desire, lust, joy, rage, mania, psychosis, photosynthesis, metabolism
      • time of year: summer solstice, around Jun 21
      • time of day: noon
      • phase of moon: full moon 🌕
      • day of week: sunday
      • part of body: thoracic spine, chest, heart
  • the second axis is about place, distance, order, and fixity (here and there, near and far, below and above, under and over, fixed and fluid, order and chaos), its turnings (the equinoctes) divide each half of the year into quarters (i.e. [astronomical] seasons)
    • at the negative pole on the axis of place is Earth, representing the element of earth, that which is fixed, nearby, below, fundamental, simple, regular, ordered, bound, opaque, or stable, minerals, mountains, crystals, solids
      • time of year: spring equinox, around Mar 21
      • time of day: sunrise, around 6am
      • phase of moon: first quarter 🌓
      • day of week: every day :P
      • part of body: sacral spine, base of torso
    • at the positive pole on the axis of place is Jupiter, representing the element of air, that which is untethered, distant, above and all around, transparent, unstable, or capricious, chaos, entropy, mobility, complexity, winds, the atmosphere, the weather, gases
      • time of year: fall equinox, around Sep 21
      • time of day: sunset, around 6pm
      • phase of moon: last quarter 🌗
      • day of week: thursday
      • part of body: cervical spine, neck, throat, lungs
  • the third axis is about time, age, duration, change, and information (young and aged, new and old, future and past, start and end, now and forever, curiosity and wisdom, child and elder, birth and death), its turnings (the colder mid-seasons of fall and winter) mark the first and last non-solstice octaves
    • at the negative pole on the axis of time is Mercury, representing the aspect of youth, that which is new, immediate, instantaneous, short-lived, naïve, curious, stupid, or immature, beginnings, birth, the senses, information, learning, construction, development, creation
      • time of year: mid-winter, around Feb 1
      • time of day: late night/early morning, around 3am
      • phase of moon: waxing crescent 🌒
      • day of week: wednesday
      • part of body: viscerocranium aka face
    • at the positive pole on the axis of time is Saturn, representing the aspect of age and the element of aether, the sky and heavens and outer space, that which is ancient, primordial, long-lived, timeless, or epochal, maturation, wisdom, death, the void, decay, conclusion, destruction, plasmas, electromagnetism, radiation, and other unseen forces
      • time of year: mid-autumn, around Nov 1
      • time of day: evening, around 9pm
      • phase of moon: waning crescent 🌘
      • day of week: saturday
      • part of body: neurocranium aka skull
  • the fourth axis is about love, connection, and relation (woman and man, together and apart, convergence and divergence, parallel and serial, home and travel, receiving and giving, reflection and exploration, nurturing and guiding, adaptation and defiance, synthesis and antithesis, pull and push), its turnings (the warmer mid-seasons of spring and summer) mark the middle two non-solstice octaves
    • at the negative pole on the axis of love is Venus, representing the aspect of femaleness, convergence, flexibility, home, that which is native, passive, peaceful, defensive, maternal, familiar, or nourishing, healing, dependence, origins, collaboration, submission, equality, connection
      • time of year: mid-spring, around May 1
      • time of day: mid-morning, around 9am
      • phase of moon: waxing gibbous 🌔
      • day of week: friday
      • part of body: pelvis, lower inside of body, legs
    • at the positive pole on the axis of love is Mars, representing the aspect of maleness, divergence, rigidity, exploration, that which is lost, foreign, violent, aggressive, offensive, paternal, or challenging, novelty, injury, repair, independence, destinations, guardianship, striving, dominance, inequality, disconnection
      • time of year: mid-summer, around Aug 1
      • time of day: mid-afternoon, around 3pm
      • phase of moon: waning gibbous 🌖
      • day of week: tuesday
      • part of body: ribs, upper inside of body, arms
    • N.B.: this last axis I particularly don’t want to be misinterpreted as a rigid binary, or as equivalent to male/female sex or gender, but rather as a continuum of aspects of connection and relation that are present to different degrees in all people and relationships, nor should the male aspect be viewed as representing total isolation, antithetical to connection per se, but rather an essential half of the push and pull inherent to all connections
• (the degree to which each octave is literally associated with a heavenly body and/or deity is not important to me, and likely to vary across people, times, and contexts)
• it’s all very symmetrical you see
  • during the waxing part of the year the polarities are all negative:
    • 1. winter solstice - Moon - (-)light
    • 2. mid-winter - Mercury - (-)time
    • 3. spring equinox - Earth - (-)place
    • 4. mid-spring - Venus - (-)love
  • then they are all positive as the year wanes, with the axes after the first in reverse order:
    • 5. summer solstice - Sun - (+)light
    • 6. mid-summer - Mars - (+)love
    • 7. fall equinox - Jupiter - (+)place
    • 8. mid-fall - Saturn - (+)time
• at each octave turning, the rituals are nothing more complicated than thinking about the octave that is ending, and that which is starting, the aspects of each, what fits and doesn’t fit with one’s life, and above all marking change and the passage of time
  • alignments (e.g. when an octave’s time of year coincides with its lunar phase or its day of the week or any other associations) are additional opportunities for reflection and appreciation

mothers and miracles

• in addition to the 8 octaves, I also revere 3 mothers (akin to the druidic earth, sea, and sky, although this was originally a coincidence) that are related, but not synonymous, with the 3 most familiar octaves
  • starmother, associated with the sun, whose domain is the sky and heavens, space and the light and energy that permeate it, is the origin of everything familiar, the source and fuel, ancient and familiar and radiant
  • earthmother, associated with the earth, daughter of the sun, whose domain is the world we inhabit and everything made on, in, and of it, is the origin of substance, womb, home, and teacher, ubiquitous and beloved and forgettable
  • seamother, associated with the moon, daughter of the sun and the earth, whose domain is the great world ocean and all the water and living things upon the earth, is the origin of life, the vital essence, mysterious and powerful and singular
• I also think about 3 fundamental miracles, and associate each with a mother
  • (i) the miracle that anything exists at all, embodied by the starmother
  • (ii) the miracle that this particular universe is the one that exists, and that it is one coherent, connected whole, embodied by the earthmother
  • (iii) the miracle that life exists, and that I am alive to experience this universe, embodied by the seamother
  • (I have been known to refer to “god” as being roughly synonymous with the fact of these three universal miracles, though I concede that this doesn’t necessarily overlap with many others’ definitions of that particular concept)
• somewhat along these lines, the three mothers are also strongly associated with time, namely:
  • starmother - the past
  • earthmother - the present
  • seamother - the future
• honoring the 8 octaves and the 3 mothers are in some sense independent practices, and in other senses almost entirely overlapping
  • I focus on appreciation of the octaves one at a time, mainly during each one’s designated eighth of the yearly cycle, and around the turnings that mark each octave’s start and end, and I celebrate them as dimensions of reality that broaden and deepen my experience of existence, thus often inspiring awe and a sense of oneness with the great everything
    • more generally I associate the octaves with truth and knowledge, appreciating the natural world and my place within it
  • I try to include appreciation of all three of the mothers all year round, especially when obviously in their presence (e.g. on a bright day, before an awe-inspiring landform, or watching waves break by the sea) and when all three are present together, and I celebrate them as originators and ancestors (i.e. mothers) whose essences I carry within myself, thus often inspiring gratitude and a sense of connection to all other beings
    • more generally I associate the mothers with the social world, appreciating and accepting the family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers in my life, and how I relate to others, human and not, alive and inanimate, concrete and abstract
• comparing the 8 octaves and the 3 mothers in a more general sense
  • the 8 octaves are about the ”external” world, anchored in time, tools to understand one’s place and connections, the what, the how, the when, and the where, taking in the universe by aspects and parts
  • the 3 mothers are about ”internal” life, everpresent, tools to understand one’s origins and identity, the who, the why, the whence, and the whither, taking in the universe in simultaneous totality

3 facets

• more personally, I have what I originally thought of as 3 problems (3 deficiencies, 3 diagnoses), but which are really just 3 fundamental aspects of subjectivity, living in the world as a sentient human
  1. mood/emotion (~depression)
  2. focus/motivation (~adhd)
  3. fear/panic (~anxiety)
• and they are related to time
  1. mood relates to the past, the sum total of all experience up to now, rumination and reflection
  2. focus relates to the present, to current action
  3. anxiety relates to the future, fears, predictions, what could/would/should/might be
• thus they relate to mothers
  1. mood being about the sun, emotions being a basic fact of existence as a thinking being, the fuel for mental life, the product of all one’s experiences up to now
  2. focus being about the earth, specific actions, making order, connections to the coherent omniconnected world “out there”, rooted in and feeding back into the ground below
  3. anxiety being about the sea, fundamental to being a living, breathing, thinking, imagining being, capable of conceiving of futures, and therefore feeling some way about them
• and thus the mother’s might help guide out of times of strife
  1. sunmother reminds that mood comes from somewhere, everything up to now, not a black box or a foreign influence, but an evolving process with understandable inputs and interactions
  2. earthmother reminds that motivation is about specific connections, not some abstract substance to be deficient in, motivation comes from something anchored and likewise feeds back into something tangible
  3. seamother reminds that anxiety is life, basic to being able to envision the future, useful and fundamental, not something to be negated or exorcised, but a way of understanding and evaluating what isn’t yet but might be
• at the very least they give some nice imagery
  1. feeling depressed or apathetic, imagine the bright, warm rays of the sun shining down upon you, lending light, fire, and energy
  2. feeling unfocused or lacking motivation, imagine being rooted in the earth, anchored to something fast, structured, stable, and tangible
  3. feeling anxious or afraid, imagine ocean waves crashing, regularly, powerfully, mysteriously, full of life, never ending, never wavering

calendar

• the year begins on the winter solstice, around Dec 21
  • marking the start of the first, waxing half of the year
    • and the start of the first quarter, i.e. season, i.e. winter
      • and the start of the first octave, the octave of the moon or moonseighth or darkeighth (and the first of three motherseles¹, the seasele)
        • the night before the solstice (c. Dec 20) is winternight, marking the end of fall, the departure of saturn, and arrival of the moon
        • the festival of the solstice is yule
        • the december moon is the wintermoon
        • the month of december is erstwinter²
        • the january moon is the watermoon or darkmoon
        • the month of january is mo(o)nmonth
      • middlewinter (aka imbolc³) falls on Feb 1, marking the start of the second octave, the octave of mercury or wedneseighth⁴ or youngeighth
        • the night before (Jan 31) is darklast⁵, marking the departure of the moon, and arrival of mercury
        • the february moon is the youngmoon
        • the month of february is wednesmonth
    • the spring equinox (c. Mar 21) marks the start of the second quarter/season, i.e. spring or lenten⁶
      • and the start of the third octave, the octave of the earth or earth(s)eighth (and the second of three motherseles, the earthsele)
        • the night before the equinox (c. Mar 20) is springnight or lentennight, marking the end of winter, the departure of mercury, and arrival of the earth
        • the festival of the equinox is easter?⁷ (aka ostara⁸)
        • the march moon is the springmoon or lentenmoon
        • the month of march is erstspring or erstlenten
        • the april moon is the earthmoon
        • the month of april is earthsmonth
      • middlespring or middlelenten (aka beltane⁹) falls on May 1, marking the start of the fourth octave, the octave of venus or frieighth¹⁰ or sheeighth
        • the night before (Apr 31) is earthlast, marking the departure of the earth, and arrival of venus
        • the may moon is the shemoon
        • the month of may is frimonth
  • the summer solstice (c. Jun 21) marks the end of the waxing half and the start of the second, waning half of the year
    • and the start of the third quarter/season, i.e. summer
      • and the start of the fifth octave, the octave of the sun or sun(s)eighth or soleighth or lighteighth (and the third of three motherseles, the starsele)
        • the night before the solstice (c. Jun 20) is summernight, marking the end of spring, the departure of venus, and arrival of the sun
        • the festival of the solstice is lithe (aka litha)
        • the june moon is the summermoon
        • the month of june is erstsummer
        • the july moon is the firemoon or lightmoon
        • the month of july is sunmonth or summonth or solmonth
      • middlesummer (aka lughnasadh¹¹) falls on Aug 1, marking the start of the sixth octave, the octave of mars or tueseighth¹² or heeighth
        • the night before (July 31) is lightlast, marking the departure of the sun, and arrival of mars
        • the august moon is the hemoon
        • the month of may is tuesmonth
    • the fall equinox (c. Sep 21) marks the start of the fourth quarter/season, i.e. fall or harvest¹³
      • and the start of the seventh octave, the octave of jupiter or thurseighth¹⁴ or skyeighth
        • the night before the equinox (c. Sep 20) is fallnight or harvestnight, marking the end of summer, the departure of mars, and arrival of jupiter
        • the festival of the equinox is mabon? (aka mabon¹⁵)
        • the september moon is the fallmoon or harvestmoon
        • the month of september is erstfall or erstharvest
        • the october moon is the airmoon or windmoon or lyftmoon¹⁶ or skymoon
        • the month of october is thursmonth
      • middlefall or middleharvest (aka samhain¹⁷) falls on Nov 1, marking the start of the eighth and final octave, the octave of saturn or satureighth¹⁸ or oldeighth
        • the night before (Oct 31) is skylast (or airlast or windlast or lyftlast, aka halloween), marking the departure of jupiter, and arrival of saturn
        • the november moon is the oldmoon or aethermoon or heaven(s)moon¹⁹
        • the month of november is saturmonth

postlude

• (additional buzzwords to consider: observation, context, contingency, connection, contact, expansion, disruption, transcendence)
• proper observation of these practices is guaranteed to achieve nirvana eventually, or your money back!

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appendix

glossary

tables

summary table

below is an abbreviated version of the spreadsheet

tables of elements & aspects

table of elements

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table of element groupings

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table of aspects

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table of element/aspect words

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table of events

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table of dates

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table of deity/orb names

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table of alchemical associations

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spreadsheet