The Raptor

Keyword: Ecstasy

The Raptor is a hawk-headed man, radiating light. Behind him is the sun, the inner Sun at Midnight, which rises from within him. In the surface world the sun is relatively above and in the sky, though in fact the creator and centre of the solar system. In the Underworld the sun is deep within, and is the light found through the sacred body. This body is all matter, the universal expression of the Element of Earth. Thus it is the human body, the body of the land, and the body of the planet, as well as the star which we know as our sun.

The Raptor and The Maiden are a balanced pair. While she embodies the virgin within, he embodies the aroused fire. They are not sexual stereotypes, but the potential feminine and masculine within us all, within each man and woman. Men have The Maiden within, and women have The Raptor within, just as men may be The Raptor and women The Maiden. The hawk-headed man is found as an image in deep meditation upon the Inner Fire, and embodies the gods of the ancient world such as Horus, Gwalchmai (the Celtic Hawk of May) and the aroused power that inflames prophets and seers, hence the association of the hawk with the group of ecstatic prophets known as 'Merlin' (from Merddyn in Welsh).

In a personal reading or vision The Raptor reveals the awakened and aroused heart, the fiery outgoing power of illumination, warmth and passion. The passion may be sexual or transcendent incandescent light and radiant energy. The Raptor is the liberating power of rapture and exaltation that arises from within ourselves. This power is inherent and active in men and women, though it will vary from person to person according to gender, sexuality and the life phase or inner season at the time of reading.

On a deeper level, the hawk-headed man both implies and empowers the arousal of the Inner Fire. While The Maiden guards the secret of conserving and renewing the inner forces, The Raptor reveals the secret of bringing those forces fully alive within us, through conscious arousal. In spiritual disciplines both The Maiden and The Raptor may overshadow or flow through us enabling their particular power within us; they may also teach us how to be unique and sexually balanced individuals through the stilling and arousal of the Inner Fire.

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