Sexuality is important in I Am Lilith - as a mythological figure, she's famous for her powerful sexuality and association with fertility matters, although these have been presented in a mostly negative way through history that marked her as a demoness.
My novel is set in a feminine-ruled world, where women's sexuality is the pinnacle of sacredness. All aspects are abundantly enjoyed as wholesome acts of worship of the Great Mother Inanna. Can you imagine - or remember, somewhere deep in your soul - a world like this?
Lilith is associated with snakes, and in the novel the sacred snakey 13th star sign of Ophiuchus (Oh-few-kuss) and Lilith's beloved green snake, Yasmin, are important to the story.
The constellation of Ophiuchus depicts a snake bearer wrangling a snake, and is associated with the kundalini energy that must rise to return us to our unified state.
Snakes represent fertility or creative life force, including sexual energy. As snakes shed their skin, they're symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality and healing. They're also feared as dangerous and devilish, a sign of death rather than life. Their meaning is rife with duality... are they good or bad?
What I didn't realise until recently is that Ophiuchus is actually more than one constellation, and in that we see how this set up is all about transcending duality.
Ophiuchus is considered together with the Serpens constellation, which is made up of two disconnected parts of a snake (Serpens Caput, the serpent's head, and Serpens Cauda, the tail), with the serpent bearer, known as Ophiuchus (or in Greek mythology, a healer guy called Asclepius) in the middle. The imagery for Ophiuchus shows a man holding a serpent, but perhaps it was originally a woman. When you consider the higher meaning, it doesn’t matter.
The snake halves represent duality - poison and cure, feminine and masculine, hot and cold, or any other expression of opposites. The serpent bearer has the ability to unify these dualities but it's quite a wrangle, as we incarnates know. The ins'n'outs bring creative friction, but it isn’t limited to physical sex—it's about creation at all levels.
In I Am Lilith, the sexuality carries this level of meaning, with the characters in the process of understanding that for spiritual unity to actualise, masculine and feminine must unite.
Of course, one isn't on top of the other. Well, at least not in a metaphysical sense. Being on top or not is a big deal in the myth of Lilith, as she refused to let Adam be on top. The struggle is symbolic of the separation, and eventual reuniting, of the feminine and masculine.
As we now go beyond separation consciousness and back to our true state of unity - in alignment with galactic movements turning Earth to face the galactic centre and its light once more - Ophiuchus is due back in town. I believe it will become increasingly known and embraced as a sign of the times.
I didn't initially write about Ophiuchus in I Am Lilith, but the universe brought me the message loud'n'clear that it was important. It's only natural that Lilith be born under the 13th star sign of Ophiuchus and that the society she rules worships the snake and its place in the skies.
The big question - does your star sign change?
Does acknowledging that Ophiuchus touches the sun's ecliptical path change your star sign, usually moving it to the preceding sign?
Only if you use an astrology system that incorporates Ophiuchus, and there aren't many in action at this time. More than one system can be used to understand something, so you can continue to see your chart through the eyes of the system that's been used to explain it, and/or use another system for a new perspective. An apple seen from its side is the same object as when viewed from above, but you get a different look at it.
I haven't learned to use Ophiuchus yet, as I would need to learn eastern or sidereal astrology which is very different to western. Who knows, maybe I will.
For now, Ophiuchus is just edging its way back into human consciousness, its archetypal meanings long missing. We need to get to know it again on our way to a full embrace.
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