As the Sun opposed Pluto, illuminating the ongoing evolution of Capricorn through the return of the Sacred Feminine, I meditated on the true Nature of freedom and independence. Revelations were given by Royal Venus who flew by on her Leo throne to share a story from long ago...
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The hunter lept from his horse and charged into the thicket after his prey. Arthur burst through to a clearing on the other side, but the hart was nowhere in sight. He was instead greeted by a dark knight who, in the language of the time said, "you're fooked, Arthur."
"Who are you to, sir, to speak in such foul manor to your King and how has he offended you?"
"I am Gromer-Somer Jour and you have unlawfully awarded my family's land to your nephew Gawain. You will pay dearly for believing all in this world is free for the King's taking. Now, prepare yourself for death!"
Sir Gromer rushed forth, sword drawn. Arthur reached for his blade to meet the knight in battle, but the thick branches of the briar had pulled Excalibur from his side. Fortunately, these were the days of chivalry and honor and so the King managed to stop his attacker with words. "Surely, you cannot slay an unarmed man. Any shred of honor you hold will be stripped by such a foul act."
Gromer-Somer knew this to be true, but he had no intentions of letting Arthur off easily and said as much. "I will not release you for your luck alone, Arthur. Since conditions do not allow battle by sword, your life will be bound to your success in a battle of intellect. I will task you with a riddle to solve. You will return to this very clearing twelve months from this day with the answer. You will come unarmed with sword as you are now, but if you are not armed with the answer to my riddle, you will indeed give your life to my blade that day. Agree to these terms or die now."
Clearly, Arthur had no choice to accept. "You have my word as a knight of the Round Table. Now, speak this riddle.
"What does woman want?" inquired Sir Gromer.
"Man, I have no bloody idea! Now stop wasting my time, and tell me the riddle you task me to solve."
"That is the riddle, Arthur... What does woman want?"
Arthur realized he was quite stuffed. Who could possibly know what woman wants? Well, this was certainly not the first time he was up against a seemingly impossible challenge. He would direct the entirety of his burning will to solving this mystery. It probably couldn't hurt his marriage anyway. King Arthur gave promise to return in one year's time and retreated to the briar to collect his sword and return to Camelot.
He spoke only to his nephew Gawain of his perilous meeting with Sir Gromer-Somer Jour. Gawain, who was said to be the finest bachelor of Arthur's Table, joined his King on a year-long search for the answer to this riddle. They travled lands far and wide asking kings and queens, dames, damsels, dudes, maidens, magicians, merchants, and everyone else with ear to hear and tongue to speak, "what does woman want?" They even asked thieves and priests.
They were told many reasonable answers such as "true love," "fame," "undeniable beauty," "puppies!," "power," "purpose," and "eternal youth, " but Arthur knew in his heart, he had not found the solution to the riddle. The last grains of sand appeared to be rapidly descending through the narrows of the hour glass called life, but just as he was near to giving in to the wicked death the fates seemed to have woven for him, a woman named Dame Ragnell rode up and told him she knew the answer that would spare him. It's hard to believe this woman could possibly help. Here's how Venus described her:
Dame Ragnell's face was red and covered with snot, her mouth huge, and all her teeth yellow, hanging over her lips. Her bleary eyes were greater than a ball, and her cheeks were as broad as women’s hips. She had a hump on her back, her neck was long and thick, and her hair clotted into a heap. She was made like a barrel, with shoulders a yard wide and hanging breasts that were large enough to be a horse’s load. She smelled of the sea at low tide. No tongue can tell of the foulness and ugliness of that lady. She could truly make eyes close forever.
"How could this troll of a woman possibly know what woman wants?" thought Arthur, but he was of course willing to entertain anything at this late hour. "Do tell, fair maiden, what is your name and what is the answer that will save me?"
"My name is Dame Ragnell and my answer does not come without a price."
"Name it. Anything in my kingdom shall be yours if I survive to give it."
"I will have the hand of your nephew Sir Gawain in marriage."
Ouch! Arthur pulled his nephew aside and whispered, "Look, man, don't sweat it. There's no way I would do this to you."
Gawain's response brightened Arthur's heart. "My Uncle, ,my King, I love you as much as I love myself. Of course, I will marry this (clears his throat) woman to spare your life."
"Your words lift my soul, young nephew. You are a true knight of the Round Table. I'll tell you what... I will try every other answer we received when I meet Gromer at the clearing tomorrow. If none of those spare my life, I will resort to the words Dame Ragnell gives.
And this is just what happened. Arthur traveled to the briar and walked through to the clearing where Sir Gromer-Somer Jour was waiting for him. "I see you are a man of your word, Arthur. Now, give me the answer to the riddle or give your life instead."
"The answer is Puppies!"
"Are you fooking serious? No, not puppies. Guess again." Gromer unsheathed his sword.
"True love."
"A valiant effort, but no."
"Fame, fortune, eternal youth."
"Not close. That's all you've got?" Gromer waved his sword through the air.
"Purpose, power."
"Perhaps closer to truth, but neither are the word that will spare your life." The knight approached.
"Enjoy your last breath, King Arthur. Now, you die!" The sword cut swiftly through the air, but stopped abruptly as Arthur softly spoke Dame Ragnell's answer...
"Sovereignty."
The knight stood still and speechless for a minute. Then he sheathed his sword in frustration and retreated saying, "you must have met my troll of a sister!"
Arthur returned to Camelot with his head intact, but now of course he knew he must marry his nephew Gawain, the finest bachelor of his Round Table, to Troll Ragnell.
Arthur and Guinevere plotted a super secretive wedding deep in the dark recesses of an unknown cave, but Ragnell was having none of that. "This is a Royal wedding, Arthur, and it will be held in courtly fashion," she said.
So all of camelot was invited, the trumpets trumpeted, the heralds heralded, the wine flowed freely. At the ensuing banquet, Dane Ragnell consumed more than a warrior's share to say the least. She practically snorted barels of wine and inhaled cheese and whole cakes. She lifted a live boar, carved it with her tusks, and swallowed fatty piece after bloddy piece until the entire animal had disappeared into the depths of trolldom. There are many more disgusting details I'll spare you of. Cut to the honeymoon suite...
Gawain could hardly look upon her. In fact, he had his back turned, but he mustered all of his honor and strength, all of the bravery and chivalry required for one to earn a seat at the Round Table. He took a deep breath and said, "my bride, I will give you much more than that."
He turned to her, opened his eyes, and was utterly astonished to see, standing before him, the most beautiful woman he had ever gazed upon.
Dame Ragnell noticed the shock on his face and looked down upon herself smiling. "Ahhh Gawain, your honor, your chivalry, your bravery has half-released me from my curse. So here's the deal... I can be my true self, the beautiful woman you see before you now half of the time and, the other half, I will take the form of the troll you met. Now husband, it's up to you to decide which by day and which by night.
Gawain wrestled with this decision for quite some time. He could either boost his ego with the pride of carrying the fairest maiden in the land on his arm by day and share his bed with a troll or he could suffer the shame of walking the days with a troll for a wife, but return to this radiant beauty in his bedchambers. The pros and cons of each seemed evenly balanced. He pondered and pondered until his good heart revealed the only correct answer.
"My beautiful wife. I leave it up to you to decide."
Which, of course, released Dame Ragnell from her curse entirely because Gawain had given her...
Sovereignty.
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Sovereignty is also the correct answer to the riddle I had tasked myself to solve... "what is the true Nature of freedom and independence?" So many of us have given our sovereignty to kings and priests, to bankers, bosses, and anchormen. "Who will build the roads? Who will stock the markets? Who will keep the lights lit, the water flowing, and the tanks full? Who will protect us from the tear-ists?" we ask as we willingly give our freedom to the force of our adopted fathers.
I believe we will only find true independence, by first realizing un-dependence.
Richard Buckminster Fuller, one of the greatest geniuses to walk the face of this fair Earth, once said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
I can't say what this new model looks like exactly, but I believe it starts with the declaration of our spiritual sovereignty. We rapidly release ourselves from the chains we once consented to as we purge the pills and poisons and unplug ourselves from that shite being sold as news and entertainment. When we become undependent of the empire, a new model will arise so why vote for the Donkey or the Elephant when you can vote for the Lion?
The Lion is you.
Undependently Yours (okay... working on it),
Astrolonaut
www.MoreThanAstrology.com