The late U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was known to many as the "Raging Bull". His sudden death this week synchronistically aligns with the sacrificial Bull-slaying rituals of the ancient Mystery cults.
The Tauroctony scene (shown below) is the the central icon of the Mithraic Mystery cults. It depicts Mithras killing a Bull with a short sword. Other major identifying elements always present in the scene are a dog, a serpent, and a scorpion.
An analysis of the circumstances surrounding Holbrooke's death indicates that all the required elements for a Tauroctony scene were present.
Mithras' Sword - Frank Ruggiero has been appointed to replace the late Holbrooke. Ruggiero is is the Italian version of the Germanic name Roger meaning "renown for his sword".
The Dog and the Serpant - Ruggiero stated that both he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were with Holbrooke at the time of his aortic dissection. This identifies them as the Dog and the Serpent shown leaping toward the Bull's wounds in the Tauroctony scene.
The Scorpion - Hillary Clinton also plays a dual role in the scene. In the Tarot she resonates The High Priestess card. The High Priestess reversed can indicate all the negative aspects of the astrological sign of Scorpio. She is the vengeful Scorpion desmasculating the Bull.
This dynamic is reflected in the fact that Holbrooke was a frontrunner for his dream job of U.S. Secretary of State in 2008 until Clinton struck a deal with the Obama administration to appoint her to the position.
Synchromystically, Holbrooke's death can also be tied to the retirement of Larry King (born 11/19/1933), the long-time host of CNN talk show Larry King Live.
In the Roman Empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries, Taurobolium was a Bull-killing cult act performed by initiates of the Mysteries of Magna Mater.
The Bull was chased and overcome prior to being sacrificed to ensure the regeneration and purification of the Emperor and the Empire.
In 1994, Larry King infamously provided live TV coverage of the police "chasing" O.J. Simpson's white Bronco (NOTE: a Mechanical Bull is also known as a Bucking Bronco).
King's trademark suspenders and EYEglasses identify him as one of the two initiates kneeling before the High Priest/Emperor on The Hierophant tarot card.
In another nice sync, The Hierophant is also associated with occult initiations and is ruled by the astrological symbol Taurus, the Bull. Crowley's version of the card (below, right) even features a Tauroctony motif.
Although The Hierophant follows The Emperor in the major arcane of the Tarot, together they represent one power structure working in tandem through politics (the religion of the Government).
In this sense, Larry King as one of the Hierophant's initiates represents the EYE of the public helping to reinforce the Emperor's politics on the world.
Larry King Live was broadcast all over the world on CNN International.
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| CNN International Logo as compared to an inverted Scorpio symbol. |
The show's significant impact on world views was even noted by Richard Holbrooke himself. He was quoted as telling King:
"I know that your program is watched carefully in Belgrade, probably the most watched program available to the leadership in Belgrade, and I hope they hear your suggestion and respond positively to it.”
If King is the archetypal EYE of public politics, then Holbrooke was, as an article in TIME called him, the "Archetype of American Diplomacy".
His dying mission was to end the war in Afghanistan and he was notoriously dogged in his lifelong pursuit of world peace.
Holbrooke's struggle links synchromystically to the 1980 movie classic Raging Bull starring Robert De Niro as failed boxing prizefighter Jake LaMotta.
Eleleth at the Kosmos Idikos blog confirms De Niro's connection to the Bull/Beast. He writes:
Robert De Niro, as a personification of the Beast (the dark, masculine Ego), is lost and adrift in the world, desperately searching for the Beauty--that is, the feminine principle of Love--that ever eludes his grasp.
Like De Niro's character Jake LaMotta, Holbrooke is the failed prizefighter who dies with his hard fought efforts to bring the principle of Love/Peace to Afghanistan unfulfilled.
The name LaMotta also means "dweller by a fortified stronghold" which links Holbrooke to The Five of Cups in the Tarot and syncs with the Five (V) of The Hierophant card.
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| Holbrooke and Afghan President Hamid Karzai |
On 10/11/2010 Karzai was interviewed via satellite on Larry King Live.
In the interview King tows the "Emperor's" line by suggesting the Taliban is an "undefeatable force", Obama's drawdown of troops is tantamount to abandonment, and Karzai is a delusional manic depressive.
Richard Holbrooke died on 12/13/10. Three days later on 12/16/10 Larry King retired at the age of 77, ending his show after 25 (2+5=7) years on air.
British journalist and TV personality Piers Morgan has been selected to replace King on CNN.
Piers Morgan was born Piers O'Meara on 3/30/1965 (3/3/11=33) and his name (Piers=pierce) is yet another sync wink to the sacrificial "piercing" or stabbing of the Bull.
We can also find a synchromystic link to him in historical fantasy author Katherine Kurtz's (K2) series of Deryni novels.
One of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms in the Deryni series is named Meara, and Kurtz's two most recent books are In the King's Service (2003) and Childe Morgan (2006).
On January 1, 2011 (11/11), Piers Morgan will "fill the King's suspenders", thus sealing his place as the second initiate on The Hierophant tarot card---the Childe Morgan in the King's service.
Rutter wrote:
"We might even justifiably say that the taurobolium, rather than a rite effectual in itself was a symbol of paganism. It was a rite apparently forbidden by the Christian emperors and thus became a hallmark of the pagan nobility in their final struggle..."
Therefore, the Bull sacrifice can be seen as an act of defiance against God, a move by The Powers that Be born of desperation at seeing the Political, Religious, and Economic control structures they have so careful crafted now at risk of crumbling.
The Zoroastrian tradition speaks of the "destructive spirit" Ahriman (aka Angra Mainyu).
Ahriman slays the Primal Bull...but the battle goes on, with mankind caught in the middle, whose duty it remains to withstand the forces of evil through good thoughts, words and deeds.
The Raging Bull has died and the Larry King Live(s). Who will prevail in this battle?
Special Thanks and Recommended Reading:
Special thanks to Eleleth at the Kosmos Idikos blog for his Tarot insights.
Everything about this post is incredible, in the best sense of the word. I was really amazed by this whole Holbrooke thing, since I wrote the post on Robert De Niro on the 11th, two days before his death. And this part seems especially ominous:
ReplyDeleteThe supreme task of the masculine Ego, as we have seen, is to unveil the Goddess, annihilating himself in the process ...
The Goddess (the Sibyl!!!) is, of course, the Magna Mater that our Raging Bull must sacrifice himself for.
So now we have two personifications of the Raging Bull who submitted themselves to "ego death"! With Captain Beefheart we have both the Beast (the beef) and Beauty (the heart), all nicely synchromystically connecting with the number 69. In the Kabbalah, the 6th sphere (Tiphareth, meaning "Beauty") refers to the heart, while the 9th sphere (Yesod, meaning "Foundation") refers to the genitals--i.e., the virile energy of the bull. 69 would be the number of Beauty and the Beast--the Beefheart. But 9 is merely 6 upside-down, which is part of the symbolism behind the Hanged Man.
The lion on the Strength card has the number "666" hidden in his mane--the number of Nero/Niro. Michael pointed out to me that Julian "Assange" can be read as "ass anger," as in another raging beast.
I knew Larry King's suspenders looked familiar! Crowley's version of the Hierophant features a Tauroctony, just to bring everything full-circle. (Perhaps you knew that.)
And since the bull is associated with virility, the bull-slaying seems to have the same significance as the tiger depicted in your previous MJ/Shiva post (i.e., a symbol of "lust"). Zosimos of Panopolis (circa 300 AD) wrote that the Mithraic mystery is wholly alchemical.
Thanks for the shoutout!
@Eleleth...thanks so much for your comment. I was quite nervous about my very first foray into trying to include some Tarot analysis, but once I began writing all the pieces just started coming together.
ReplyDeleteI'd already published this before I checked the news threads and read about Captain Beefheart's death also at the age at 69. I literally got a shiver up my spine. And I didn't even think about Julian Assange relating...Whoa, synchronistically that's like a whole bull/beast sacrificial festival going on.
You're right, I need to add a pic of Crowley's Hierophant card with the Bull motif (I saw it on your blog, but I forgot to include it).
All in all, I read that The Five of Cups can be kind of foreboding, but I actually see it as hopeful since 2 of the 5 cups are still standing.
Then on MSNBC Friday night Chris Matthews gave a special commentary on how well President Obama is doing as a leader considering that he only has a "pair of 2's in his hand. I thought that was a greatly optimistic sync of the 2's.