hi toyin et al,
toyin adepoju <[log in to unmask]>,
> A powerful,original,modern creation of what could be understood as an
> underworld initiation in a Western context is Carolyn Hillyer's *Oracle of
> Nights* and its accompanying musical production *Cave of Elders*. It works
> through a visualization,accompanied by evocative poetic text, that
> correlates progression within a sequence of caves with female biology and
> female biological cycles.
<snip>
I don't think that i saw this practical reference mentioned:
R.J. Stewart, "The Underworld Initiation"
in combination with the Matthews' "The Western Way", these
were strongly recommended to me as valuable study materials
by California Gardnerian witches in the 1990s, giving me
the impression that some Underworld symbolism/ritualism
were being emphasized. there were, also, within Outer Court
instructions, several variants on visualizations ritualized
which featured Underworld themes, whether in associated
with Inanna, or Demeter/Persephone, or with the Faerie.
I wrote one of these myself intending to encounter an
Underworld Dragon encounter.
my impression is that at least in my general involvements
(SFBay Area, 1970s-2000), these were a more mature and
less violent complement to the Dungeons and Dragons hack
and slash explorations of Underground group storytelling
role-playing adventures which preceded this in my teens,
and, in combination, constituted quite a heavy emphasis
on Underworld imaginative or ritual engagements.
nagasiva yronwode ([log in to unmask]), Director
YIPPIE*! -- http://www.yronwode.org/
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*Yronwode Institution for the Preservation
and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
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