Good Friday

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. It is associated with the head and the symbol of Aries is the Ram or Sheep. The theme of sacrifice pervades the religions of the ancient Middle East at this time of the year. Fixed to both the Sun and Moon, these ancient rituals acknowledge the new year through the reemergence of the light in the Northern Hemisphere, after its greatest point of diminution - the winter solstice. After this point, we breathe easier. All around us the signs of plenty begin. Spring greens are in abundance - cleavers, nettles, ramsons - eggs are laid, new animals are born. The lamb is sacrificed in the hope of the good years ahead - the first signs of plenty given to the gods to ensure a good harvest in six months time.

In Christian mythology, Jesus became both the lamb, as well as the scapegoat - the one whose death took away our sins. Our failings, our mistakes. The slate is wiped. And this is the best part - after 3 days, he comes back - so all is forgiven.

The original psychopomp - the person who traveled to Hell and back - was Inanna - the symbol for Virgo. There she actually dies and it is faith and love that restores her to the upper world, changed. There are other characters in mythology which also undergo a period in the underworld - both willingly and unwillingly. Persephone who is abducted by her uncle, Hades. Once again, her yearly arrival back to the upper world is the start of spring. We undergo this yearly and for me, yearly, it becomes a little more poignant.

Perhaps because more and more people whom I have been friends with or are close to - we are all a little closer to a more permanent journey to leave this Earth.

This wonderful planet with all its miracles - who could bear to leave it? Not even those who have had a chance to. They keep returning, keep holding on to the possibility of once again seeing the beauty which has been bestowed...

And so the wheel turns - we are here once again. This week I told the story of the abduction of Persephone twice. I could not help think of the violence which took place. It is a myth which I lived with so deeply during the lockdown. The sense of violation. And when the weather was so beautiful that May, the injustice and the stupidity of it all. People need to listen to more stories so that what fills their heads in not statsitics and nonsense. So that they develop a resilience to be able to live life more realistically.