Initiating the Journey- Beauty Queen/Horses

Sacrifice for the Underworld

The first track on the album Boys for Pele is actually two songs. Beauty Queen and Horses.  These songs are how I enter into the underworld to find my fire and power. 

Beauty Queen/Horses Lyrics

Hah... hah... ha-ha. She's a Beauty Queen.

Ha... in my sweet bean bag in the street,

Take it down out to the laundry scene...

Don't know why she's in my hand.

Can't figure what it is, but...

I lie, lie, lie again.

I go me some horses to ride on, to ride on.

They say that your demons can't go there.

So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on,

As long as your army keeps perfectly still.

And maybe I'll find me a sailor, a tailor.

And maybe together we'll make mother well.

So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on,

As long as your army keeps perfectly still.

An you showed me the meadow, and milkwood, and silkwood.

And you would if I would, but you never would.

So I chased down your posies, your pansies in my hosies,

Then opened my hands and they were empty then.

Off with Superfly sniffing a Sharpie pen, honey it's Bill and Ben.

Off with Superfly counting your

bees, oh me, honey like one, two, three.

The camera is rolling, it's easy like one, two, three.

And if there is a way to find you I will find you.

But will you find me if Neil makes me a tree.

An afro, a Pharaoh, I can't go you said so.

And but threads that are golden don't break easily.

So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on.

They say that your demons can't go there.

So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on.

As long as your army keeps perfectly still,

Keeps perfectly still, keeps perfectly still.

As I am using the songs as a key for my own journey I am not wholly interested in what Tori says the lyrics mean, but what and how I connect with them. As I said in an earlier post, I may skip or ignore certain songs, and that goes for the lyrics as well. So keeping that in mind I want to focus on the subject of Horses, and Pharaohs; and in turn the idea of beauty. 

Knowing that Tori invokes many Goddesses throughout this album that is where I am drawn to. These two songs brought up two specific Goddesses for me. Epona and Isis. 

Epona

The Goddesses name is derived from the Celtic word for Horse. Her worship was well known and spread through the Celtic and Gaulish lands. Epona is never represented without a horse. The imagery connects Epona with Fertility. Epona is also connected with Sovereignty and the Underworld.  She was also known to protect cavalrymen. (As long as your army keeps perfectly still).

The other Goddess that I found connected to within the song is Isis

Isis

Isis the Egyptian Goddess who is the protective mother of Horus and wife of Osiris is commonly shown as a woman seated on a throne. She is known as "The Throne Mother"; showing her sovereignty over Egypt and even the Kings of Egypt.
Isis is a warrior Goddess as well as a Goddess of the Underworld. Isis goes to the underworld to find all of Osiris's body parts to piece him back together. When Horus and Seth fight one another int eh form of hippopotamuses Isis intervenes by stabbing Seth with her magical harpoon. However, she spares him when he reminds her that they are siblings. Horus feeling betrayed by Isis cuts his mother's head off. Yet, this is not enough to kill Isis. The Gods give Isis a new head; now she wears the head of a cow. This symbol usually represented fertility and land sovereignty. 

Connection to the Song 

My main focus with both of these Goddesses leading through the song and initiating the journey is their connection to the Underworld. Both Goddess are tied to the Underworld in their respective cultures. They are both warrior Goddesses. They do not go forward in to the underworld unprepared. Epona can lead armies on the land, and calm the battles. She will help guide my hand, mind, and mouth to know when to strike and when to be silent. Isis searched to put her husband back together again, and so I am going to use her power to piece myself back together through this journey.

The Ritual

Items needed:

Chthonic Cordial

Chalice

3 white candles

Imagery of Isis and Epona

Tori Amos songs Beauty Queen/Horses

The ritual will be conducted tomorrow night on the full moon of March, 2019.

I will be sitting on the floor of my loft area with the three white candles in the form of a triangle before me. In the center of the triangle will be the Imagery of the Goddesses and the Chalice and Cordial. 

Breathe deeply a few times to relax and focus. 

(I do not normally cast a circle before starting spells or ritual, but since I am initiating an underworld journey i will at this time just for any added protection I might need during this ritual.)

Cast the circle, and light the candles. Make the intention statement:

" I, Ian Allan, am initiating the underworld journey through Isis and through Epona to search for and fight for my power and my light."

Turn on the song and allow it to fill the space and build the energy. Get up and dance or sway whatever I feel led to do. 

When the song ends return to the candles. 

Pour a little of the cordial into the chalice and raise it in a toast to Isis while focusing on the imagery, say: 

"Isis, hear me. I call you here to witness my journey. Lend me your power, your intellect, your grace to piece myself back to wholeness."

Drink the cordial

Turn focus to Epona. Pour another drink of the Cordial into the Chalice. Raise it in a toast to Epona while focusing on her imagery, say:

"Epona, hear me. I call you here to witness my journey. Lend me your sovereignty and your strength while I march forward in this journey."

Drink the Cordial.

Touch each piece of imagery and feel their powers surging through my body. 

Sit in power for a while. 

Pour another drink of the Cordial. Raise it in a toast to the Spirit World, say:

"And so it begins. I accept this journey and what it entails."

Drink the Cordial. 

Thank the Goddesses for attending and giving of their energies. Extinguish the flames, and return the imagery back to where it belongs. 

Step outside and make an offering of the cordial to the underworld and the Goddesses by pouring a drink into the chalice and pouring it on to the ground. 

And so it begins!