80.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

The hellhound had three heads. Cerberus, another hybrid, Ancient Greek, monster, part dog, serpent, snake with the lions claw, guarded the entrance to the underworld or Hades, to prevent the dead from escaping and the living from entering. The three heads face three ways, the future, the past and the present. The guard to the underworld is of the nature of a guard to the unconscious and a fear of dreams, where Hypnos can take you down the river of sleep, to the eternal Lethe of forgetfulness. The vicious hellhound devours the passage to Hell. The underworld doubles up as a passage to the afterlife or Heaven for the blessed and a realm not known on Earth. Cerberus had the role of making you fearful of the realm of death. The realm of the living is where we need frequent. We face the way of the Sun.

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79.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

When we consider the riddle of the Sphinx, it takes us to monstrous proportions. So, we further consider the mythological monster in Ancient Greek mythology. The Sphinx is considered as a monster with human face: that of a woman, body of a lion; that of a lioness cub, eagle wings to the hawk wing with the the sting of a serpent's tail. The Sphinx, guarding the Greek city of Thebes, asked the following riddle, to travellers to allow them free passage and devoured anyone unable to answer correctly: "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four footed and two footed and three footed?" The riddle has us crawling around all fours until lunch, obeying the Sun god until dusk and then, journeying on our pilgrimage home. So, given the location of the Sphinx, what was the entrance key or answer to the riddle of the Sphinx? Whether or not you are good for business or simply human. The monster of the Sphinx does recommend what it is to be a human being and for Oedipus the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx was "man". When we have accomplished something of note, we feel as proud as the goddess lion head will allow, as playful as a lion cub and our wings take us to Heaven for the sting in our tail. The Sphinx with the serpent's tail lost her head. 

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78.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

Monsters are quite often concerned with the primal forces of the psyche. The unconscious takes us to such a deep passageway, that even the monsters themselves would be fearful to tread. Often monsters are all twisted and turning, and writhing, so heavily, in unwelcome places, that we almost need the psychiatrists couch to separate them from Hell. One such monster was the Ancient Greek, Chimera. Described in, The Iliad, by Homer as: "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire." Chimera had monster siblings of Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The Chimera was killed by Bellerophon riding Pegasus, the winged horse who could fly and was born at the slaying of his mother, Medusa, another monster from the deep. These gods, monsters and goddesses are thought to have evolved from Ancient Egyptian deities. Such creatures of legend evolve from a human consciousness of the self and are so thoroughly immersed in human emotions, spirituality, sexuality, ritual and prayer that we need to find another god or figure out the riddle of the Sphinx. The snake of the devil, would find a better home, in Freudian analysis. 

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77.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

Latent monsters, such as the snake headed monster Medusa, are there as a protector, averting the evil gaze and ideas of men, turning onlookers to stone. Beheaded by Perseus, Pegasus was born, flying from Medusa's body to Heaven. Medusa, once a beautiful mortal, was turned snakey monster and a mirrored reflection killed her. Anubis, on the other hand, was the father of the snake goddess, Kebechet, her cooling water was to purify the spirits of the dead as a protection of the body before mummification. An afterlife takes you to the life of the Spirit, weighing heavily on the crossing to the underworld. Chthonic monsters take us to the depths of the sea while gods traverse the entrance of another domain and we fly with Pegasus up the mountain, up to Heaven. Thunder and lightening greet us up there, on top of the mountain and we feel blessed by Zeus, as souls take the pathways of rivers to find infinity. Monsters and creatures from the abyss take us on another pathway to Hell. We greet ourselves there, in a half denial of the self, the unconscious, where latent monsters should be left alone to dwell to protect our inner self and take the last boat ride to infinity. Part god, monster and primal inner self, we are made aware of death, so, we can find Heaven. Let monsters live in the deep. 

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76.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

Passages to the underworld are a common theme with Ancient Greek gods and some have stemmed from earlier times of history, they started with Ancient Egyptian mythology. A god such as Anubis was thought of as being a god of the dead, for he participated in sacred ceremonies of mummification. The pathway of the souls through the underworld was also the responsibility of the god, Hermes, for the Ancient Greeks and later a cult was formed of a god combining both duties, this god was named "Hermanubis". A gateway to the souls needed attendants and for the Ancient Egyptians, the afterlife was your sacred home and a Heaven for a weighted heart. Another duty of the god Anubis was to weigh the hearts of the dead, to see who was suitable for the afterlife. A big heart is weighted.

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75.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

We follow the tree of love up to where the birds reside, in the treetops. God then takes us up to the cliff tops where the hawks nest to visit the Greek goddess of Night, Hypnos. In Ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of sleep had two hawk wings on either side of her head, to swoop down to those endowed with night, to gently brush a human being with sleep via the tip of the wing and the goddess of the Night, Morpheus, the goddess of dream was to follow. Dreams are the sleep of reason. Gods, also, had the capacity to transpire nightmares. Night is the night of reason. The goddess of sleep, Hypnos, is the goddess of darkness and related to the Night. We breathe. The unconscious is the reflection of the self and why we sleep. We sleep for reason or a conscious rationality. Hypnos is often equated with the wrong side of darkness by people who take the goddess to Hell and leave her there as the powerful goddess is related to death, our final resting place and Night, so, place your night in sleep, an unconscious infinity of reason. God bless sleep.

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74.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

When we think about the red blood of fate we become tree. Daphne is the tree of our blood for we are the roots of God and he is our tree in Heaven. We are left facing the tree of fate. With our face, facing our limbs and branches, our feet stand on the Earth. We are Earth for we are the Earth of God. Daphne is our flowering tree for we are the vessel of life. Our blood is our tree for we are love in the face of Creation. Flowers take us to a deeper understanding of ourselves, they flower and we love. Tree flowers take you to an understanding of Daphne, a complex position of the self as tree in the garden of love. Trees loved Daphne and when we flower, the gods protect us. Blood in the creation of the self is a tree in love with God, we draw our blood as the stems and branches draw nourishment through the trunk. Sunlight to starlight and both nourish the leaves. We are Earth for we are love. Daphne is the tree of love.

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73.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

We grow like the wind and that is our destiny. Fate is for the gods to decide. We measure the length for this is our destiny. The gods make the cut. Gods cut the threads of fate. Our fate is so immersed in our life that the tree roots become entangled. Fate goes hand in hand with God as leaves face the sky with leaves and deciduous trees glisten in the sunlight. Our branches are our stems for we are roots of the earth. Love transpires like sap after fallen branches. Flowering trees blossom in the Spring. Our trees are our love for we are God. When God is our tree of fate, we are the limbs for the fates are the tree and our foundation is the roots. The three fates use their measuring stick for love is fate. We spin our fate as the tree grows its leaves and branches are akin to this, for we are love in the limbs. Our limb is our tree of fate.

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72.

Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

When you view the horizon line between the open sea and the sky, your mind is taken to the line between a consciousness of where we go at death and an unconsciousness of Heaven. Sleep and death is the watery domain. God is in Heaven in the infinite awareness of the self, for we contemplate our death this way. The vista is a view of where God needs to take you to love. The unconsciousness of the sea and infinity of the self is where you would find God, the self, love, death and the angels of the sea. Our Spirit follows the water and our soul plunges the depths of the ocean to find solace. The line of the horizon journeys forth like a fate line where life and death are immersed in the sea. The infinite takes us to the unconscious and we trespass our destiny. We are destined for love.

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Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

Other marine mammals are not always kindly thought about but have a majestic purpose for God. For example, sharks are quite commonly seen in shallow waters, near where the surf breaks upon the shore and this is a good feeding ground, and protective place for female sharks rearing their young. Sharks are built with a protective mechanism of several layers of teeth in really powerful jaws for eating a bigger kind of deep-sea fish. Unfortunately, human beings often do not respect the shark's breeding grounds and are savagely attacked. These beautiful Divine creatures of the deep are mammals for God's Divine purpose and should be left alone as a gracing of the sea. Sharks take you to the infinite with the length of their tails. Several species of shark are noted in the wild and are decorated accordingly by God's Divine landscape, for protection. One almost feels, the light coloured spots, certain varieties acquire, are as an indication of the light of God at sea. The protective brushstrokes of God's Divine hand are so the sharks are invisible and look like dappled sunlight on the sea. There, in the sea, the infinite takes you to God. The sea.

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Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

It takes a penguin about a day or eight hours, to swim twenty nautical miles (thirty-seven kilometres) and sometimes penguins have to swim this far to a safer feeding ground. Penguins can swim very long distances, from their mating grounds, to feed their young and one parent penguin, has to stay, with the young, for protection from predators. Unfortunately, penguins can be eaten by sea lions and seals, so, sometimes do not return to feed their young. Penguins usually mate for life and if they lose either their young or a mate, they can get depressed and commit suicide, they will wander off in the opposite direction of the rookery, to die of starvation. Few animals simply give up, for the survival instinct is stronger than death or dying. Penguins, not too unlike their human companions, die of a broken heart. Other sole mating bird species are simply lonely after a mate dies. Penguins cannot cope with the loneliness. Infinity is love.

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Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

Seals are playful in the sea as they roll, tumble and play near the surface of the water, fishing, bathing and swimming to the gods delight. Worshipping the Sun, seals often sunbake on the rocks and beaches, nearby. Seals appear to lead a blessed life in God's infinite ocean. The sea, like the sky, takes you to an infinite comprehension of what God could mean. As we contemplate the sea and the seals, among the other marine mammals frequenting the ocean, we feel the need to journey with the seals from one fishing place to another. Riding through the infinite sea, with the seals in view, takes the journey of the mind to the subliminal. The unconscious and the sea are often evaluated in a similar sea of emotions in dreams. With the depth of the ocean in view, our conscious awareness of the sea reflects the unconscious. We mathematically equate infinity.

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Nicole Page-Smith, 2015

If we swim with the dolphins and submerge ourselves down into the depths of the ocean, then we come up feeling like Neptune has taken us on a ride, on the back of a mermaid, to the entrance of the gates of the sea. The sea is our entrance to Heaven and dolphins like other sea mammals have the key. Our mind wanders to stories of the sea and ancient mythology from Ancient Greek literature, where gods and monsters frequent a magical realism. Dolphins are seafarers who navigate and travel alongside ships, they are also, often seen as communicating. The dolphins are communicating, often with a strange chirping sound to people on board the ships but mainly to their own kind of mammals, under the sea, with sonar. Their sole purpose, as dolphins, appears to be to investigate and gage the level of danger, from a foreign vessel in their waters, almost like coastguards of the sea, for other marine life. All animals have a purpose for God, in their own environment. We submerge again, with the dolphins, right to the bottom of the sea and enter their world, with our imaginings. This cycle of eternity take us to infinity with the cycle of life of the sea. God bless the sea.

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