Greetings and good evening. It’s not all that often that I get to sing to myself like crazy on a porch in a massive thunderstorm on a Thursday — and on the eve of the Lectisternia, besides!
The audio file is new as of a few minutes ago, singing the Thomas Taylor translation of the Orphic Hymn to Jupiter to my own tune, while the thunderstorm rolled by — the poem below is several years old, and part of my practice of calendar-based celebrations that I’ve decided to release at this time.
September 13 – Lectisternia
Great Zeus, great Hera, and Athena great,
Heaven’s king and queen, and wise advisor!:
Well do you rule what you did not create.
Strong is your command, with none the wiser,
Since so deep and so able comes your rule
That all obey your decrees without thought,
And do your bidding without compulsion.
Thus anyone can be your perfect tool,
Through whom your wishes in the world are wrought
To churn great destinies into motion.Yet we in turn call forth your three-fold form —
Gray-bearded king, white-armed queen, maiden fair:
We tell the tales that keep you safe from harm;
We speak you solid, from dreams and thin air.
By our prayers alone can you master fate,
Else Zeus’s will should move not to its end.
Then should men dwell in realms of random chance.
You rule us when we open myth’s great gate.
Then none turns aside from what you intend;
You set in order both dancers and dance.Thus we by our strength grant you your power,
And through your great power you make us strong.
We are the roots to your gracious flower,
And your bright bloom inspires us to song.
Your three-fold form rules us by our praises,
And your law heartens us to seek glory.
So life builds, through causality and choice.
Athena, Hera, and Zeus: the roses
Of our lives blossom as in a story,
When we speak our desires through your voice.
May you all have a lovely eve of the Lectisternia, and may your day tomorrow be full of the triple benefits of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva — right rulership, gracious counsel, and manifest intellect in service to the highest good!
[…] because I know that it’s Saturday, and Jupiter’s day is Thursday, and yesterday was the Lectisternalia. Still, it’s the right season, and I’m hoping that the gift of a mountain will count […]
Andrew, your song brightened my morning! Was it an impromptu tune, or one you’d worked out before?
I had no idea that September 13 had any such associations, but I’m happy to learn of them, as it happens to be my birthday. 🙂 Actually, the Jupiter connection is quite a pleasing one to me. Jupiter/Zeus has coincidentally connected to a couple of pivotal moments in my life. Clearly I should try to learn more.
It’s one I worked out several months ago, after Rufus Opus and John Michael Greer turned me on to the work of Thomas Taylor. I’ve learned or composed tunes for the seven planetary hymns, as well as composing my own poetry for the seven classical planets and for the Nones, Ides and Kalends in my own calendar.
I have to say, I’m not very good at reading coincidences. I wish I were better. I learned about the Lectisternalia from a very brief entry in Nigel Pennick’s Pagan Book of Days, but I must admit I don’t know much more than that, and this hymn was extrapolated from the entry in there.
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