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Further
Into the Depths of
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 |
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in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles
of
Narnia |
Witchcraft and Pagan
Practices and Characters
Page 8
Page 1 Introduction
Page 2 Theological beliefs
Page 3 The Chronicles of Narnia
Page 4 Liquor, Tobacco and
Drugs
Page 5 Sun Worship
Page 7 Dionysus, Bacchus, Silenus and the Maenads
No one under 18 without parental permission, please.
Page 9 Luciferianism and the Secret Doctrine
p.
205 of Prince Caspian - "Then three or four of the Red Dwarfs
came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile, which
first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a woodland bonfire
on midsummer night ought to do. And everyone sat down in a wide
circle around it.
"Then Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began
a dance, far wilder than the dance of the trees, not merely a dance
for fun and beauty (though it was that too) but a magic dance of plenty,
and where their hands touched, and where their feet fell, the feast
came into existence -- sides of roasted meat that filled the grove
with delicious smell, and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes, honey and
many-coloured sugars and cream as think as porridge, and as smooth as
still water, peaches, nectarines, pomegranates, pears, grapes,
strawberries, raspberries -- pyramids and cataracts of fruit. Then,
in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers, wreathed with ivy, came the
wines; dark, thick ones like syrups of mulberry juice, and clear red
ones like red jellies liquefied, and yellow wines and green wines and
yellowy-green and greenish-yellow." [Emphasis added.]
First off, we have Red Dwarfs lighting the fire, and that the fire is for "midsummer night." The fact that they are Red Dwarfs, meaning they have red hair, may not seem significant at a glance, but it emphasizes that nothing is lost on Lewis for symbolism.
Red hair, according to Cirlot's book, symbolizes the lower regions -- hell. (This is a good reason to stop the myth of the "red head's fiery temper," by the way.) Midsummer night is the night for the sun-god's death and temporary descent into hell, so Lewis has the Red Dwarfs light the fire.
Next, we note that it says a woodland bonfire on midsummer night. Not just A fire and not just A midsummer night. This is the real thing. The worship of the sun-god. The burning of the bones from the sacrifices in the bonfire (bone-fire) on the summer solstice, an high day of witchcraft.
Everyone sits in a circle around it. Again a symbol of the sun and a powerful witchcraft symbol.
The wild, magic dance of plenty. Another pagan/witchy thing. They are famous for their magic dances.
Pomegranates are a symbol of fertility, and according to the Greeks sprang from the blood of Dionysos. (Cirlot, pg. 261)
The fruit is stacked in a pyramid - a powerful withcraft/Luciferian/Masonic symbol.
To be continued.
by Mary Van Nattan
background and graphics by mary vannattan