This was an extremely hard season to be guided as to what creature of the animal kingdom to honor. I wanted to honor the butterfly for it was the totem that our priestess sister Barbara received in Shasta the same evening our group received the butterfly in our prayer group as she connected to us.. but that was in last season. The group's last prayer circle received the dragonfly and I felt that would do and was preparing the text for it until... Our All Soul's evening gathering here in our home in Hawaii. Mind you there are not many critters here on the islands so I can't base the decisions of the animal kingdom from where I live. There are dragonflies though. But I must offer you a talk-story as the Hawaiians call it... an explanation in a story. I find all indigenous peoples share this practice in common and also wise elder sages.

Here goes... After our feast celebration dinner on All Soul's evening, the 8 of us gathered around our central alter to begin our evening's ritual. We live up 4500 feet from the sea and it usually is cooler here but that evening it was rather warm so I left the front door open. I had just finished lighting the 8 candles on our alter and a black beetle flew up above the alter and high up to the ceiling. We live in a 2 story geodesic dome home so the ceiling is very high. We lost track of it because we were ready to continue on with our ritual. Mind you we have no traditional critters in Hawaii where we live for it is usually much colder. No geckos, no roaches, but spiders and some chickens and a visiting wild boar lately. It's just too cold for a beetle so that was a surprise and we weren't sure really what it was. I had just read ancient Egyptian text which was a restoration rite for my beloved friend Barbara and for all of us that wished renewal in our own bodies when Marcus, my husband, saw something black beside one of the books we use and thought it was a piece binding broken off the book. I picked it up and saw a black beetle and it looked quite dead. We realized then what the flying insect was and also we were quite astonished as to seeing this powerful symbolic totem in our midst's after such a rite. So I wrapped the 'dead' beetle in a napkin and when we were through with the ceremony I was going to place it outside.

A few moments into our ritual another beetle flies up over the alter once more and up to the ceiling but this time it flies back

down towards our circle and drops dead by our friend Sapphire's feet. I thought for sure it got too close to the flames of the alter and died. It was rather perplexing. I went to pick it up but it had regained its energy and flew out of the house. That was that, well we eventually closed our ceremony, all went home and I cleaned up the house. Before going to bed I decided to go back to the napkin near the alter to let the deceased beetle outside but there was no beetle wrapped inside. I realized that the beetle flying above us was one and the same. It was such a powerful contributor to our evening and I went upstairs in amazement as to the significance of its presence during our ritual. It was a literal example of the dead and resurrection process right before our eyes. It could have been coincidence or putting an idea with what I think I may believe, but it mysteriously happened. Perhaps it was witnessed back in ancient Egypt during a rite as well. Who knows but it was very clear the I was to honor its significance here this season.

Another thought just came through my consicousness...is this the reason the Beetles named themselves the Beetles? It seems their music constantly is resurrected and each member has been resurrected even after the death of the group many times over. Quite interesting.

So, there are thousands of species of beetles in the world but the beetle significant to ancient Egypt is the Scarabaeoidea Coleoptera. They like the warmer and tropical climates, (along the Nile it is lush and looks quite tropical), so I can imagine in the forests here on the Big Island there would be beetles. I do know there is a Japanese beetle that looks very similar and in the same family. Yet, the Scarabaeoidea Coleoptera is the dung beetle and earth burrowing beetle. This beetle uses dung to hold and incubate their eggs and larvae underground. (re birthing process in the underworld, death to transformation?!) How this happens is the beetle will take a portion of dung and roll it until it becomes a ball. It mates and some species actually stay together to watch over the offspring until they fly out of the dung when matured, but this is a process. Once the ball is the right size for the couple, the female is fertilized and she lays her eggs in the dung. The dung is used not only to incubate the eggs but also as food for the larvae. This is all underground so the removal of the dung from the fields of cattle is a great contribution to

sanitation and the environment.By burying and consuming dung, they improve
nutrient cycling and soil structure. They also protect livestock, such as cattle, by removing the dung which, if left, could provide habitat for pests such as flies. Therefore, many countries have introduced the creature for the benefit of animal husbandry. In developing countries, the beetle is especially important as an adjunct for improving standards of hygiene. The American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the United States cattle industry an estimated US$380 million annually through burying above-ground livestock feces.

Photo of a brown Scarabaeoidea Coleoptera

In ancient Egypt the process of the dung rolling was observed and it became associated with the god Kheperi/he who has come into being.The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it, again, the next day. Some New Kingdom
royal tombs exhibit a threefold image of the sun god, with the beetle as symbol of the morning sun. Plutarch even mentioned in his patriarchal attitude that there were no female beetles, that the male propagated himself by injecting his own semen into the dung and thus it all happened. Yet we all know this to a fallacy as biology and science has revealed. Yet I'll have to inject my own matriarchal thoughts from a spiritual side...that as our ritual was in tribute to a beloved friend, a woman, and on All Soul's eve as the Goddess being the ruler of this time of the season; I would like to say that the 'feminine' deity and her act of resurrection is the power of the times for now at least. Not to negate the import of the male and the sun's energy. The night and its cloak are of great significance with the death process of release and letting go as an example through the symbol of the cow's dung used. Those things that are of no use can be honored yet utilized in a way far beyond our imagination to be the catalyst for rebirth.

The dung roller

The image of the scarab, conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in
ancient Egyptian religious and funerary art. When I was in Egypt I spent about a month there and the image of the scarab and the flying ascending Khepera was indeed amazingly grand and spectacular. If anyone has had the opportunity to visit the traveling King Tut's treasure you would have been able to see pieces I was able to see in the Cairo museum that inspired my painting of the Khepera in which I saw in a vision before I left for Egypt. Another magnificence piece was a black granite carved image in Luxor of the scarab and only a couple were left on pedestals. They were about 5 feet long and about 4 feet wide. I was never able to see them too well but they were weathered looking from my perspective. Well, after I left Egypt I spent about a month in the British Isles and in London in the British Museum was a most exquisite original piece taken from Luxor. It was astounding. As were the other magnificent pieces the British museum as on exhibit. Zahi Hawass famed Egyptian archeologist of over 35 years, who I was able to sit in a lecture when in Egypt, has asked that the treasures of the world be returned to their own homes. This request has incited other ancient cultures in attempting to recall their national treasures as well. We will see how this fares as we step into our future.

One other aspect I wanted to mention about the scarab as a talisman. There were many finds of scarab images carved in a type of green glass over the hearts of the deceased. This was meant to be weighed against the feather of truth during the final judgment. The amulets were often inscribed with a prayer from the Book of the Dead which entreated the heart to, "do not stand as a witness against me."

In closing, let us remember and listen to our hearts in our lives for our individual selves alone; and to allow our hearts to guide us during this time where only its truth is sure.

link to cards and prints

Divine Khepera by Diveena

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