The Winged Serpent:

Seeing the Divine Twins

By Anaar
All the Gods are Feri Gods, so we say. But in order to begin to understand this,
we must look to their origins. The Feri Gods are not separate entities but are
unified into one center, the Star Goddess who gave birth to all living matter.
The Star Goddess took unto Herself Two Bright Spirits and perfected them into
God with Her birth. They are the Son, Lover and Dual Consort of the Mother.
The
Goddess
is
the
Divine
Twin
to
the
God.
Typically, one Twin is described as the Blue Bird. This Bird is the loci of the
heavenly plane, and is generally pleasant and easy-going. His personality
characteristics are those that we humans value highly. The other Twin is seen
as a Black Serpent, who may or may not be His Lover. This Serpent is the loci
of the earthly plane, and is generally unpleasant and acerbic. His personality
characteristics are those that we humans fear most, though He is not evil. Both
beings are sacred in their own right. Together, they are most often visualized
as a peacock with a serpent twined around his ankle. He is the Winged
Serpent, the Blue God, Living Rainbow.
The God of Feri are twins but they are one, not separate entities. They are
identical, either one or both can occupy the place of God. The Divine Twins can
function alone or as a pair. Alone, they may function as a male, but are
actually both male and female in each entity. The Twins may also be both
female, or a male and a female. To place further confusion on the matter, the
Divine twins represent a polarity. The polarity may be great or small, and are
often in opposition. In fact, The Divine Twins as represented in other cultures
are often seen to be rivals or adversaries.
The mystery of the Divine Twins is the most difficult Feri deity to fully
comprehend. How is one to resolve the apparent paradox of the Gods who are
fully opposite and yet completely the same? Through years of research, I have
found no verbal explanation that is satisfying. It is only through my sacred
visual practice that I can begin to understand Him.
To begin, The Winged Serpent may be seen as the combination of the twins, as
in two candle flames blended into one1. To demonstrate, light two candles of
differing color. Name each candle according to the divine nature of the colors.
Now bring the flames of the candles together to form a single flame. There in
that single flame lies the Winged Serpent. Yet it is a single flame with two
wicks.
I recently realized that I was practicing seeing the Winged Serpent before I

even entered the Craft. There is a teaching in the visual arts called negative
space. It is better to show you first, then explain the theory.
Imagine that it is late autumn, a warm afternoon. You are lying beneath a bare
tree, head on the ground near its trunk, looking up at the blue sky. It is a
bright clear day. The warmth of the sun on your face is pleasant and relaxing.
The smell of the leaves under your body is still fresh.
See the leafless branches above you. Notice how the branches are creating
lovely lines against that clear blue sky. It is so beautiful that you take a section
of those branches and frame it in your mind, as if it were a painting. Now you
find yourself mentally tracing the lines of the branches. Taking your time, you
slowly trace each curve, turn and bump. You close your eyes to see the lines
you have mentally traced. It fades from your mind as you open your eyes.
A gust of wind swings the branches. As it settles you find the same frame. As a
game, this time you mentally trace the shapes between the branches.
Carefully, you trace the same curves, turns and bumps, concentrating only on
the shapes of the sky between the branches. It surprises you to find that as
you close your eyes, the lines are similar, but not the same.
Positive space is the shape of your subject matter, in this case the individual
branches. Negative space is what is between the subject matter, the shapes
between the branches where you can see the sky. Negative space is not
empty it is quite alive and is essential to any image. Artists are trained to
look at both the positive and negative space.
Find a bare tree and try to make the two drawings yourself. One of the bare
limbs, and one of the sky shapes. You will find two similar but quite distinct
drawings. Yet the subject remains the same, it has not changed. It is simply
your psycho-spiritual orientation to the subject that is different. Your physical
perspective is the same, the tree has not moved.

Now take a look at Fig.12. Relax your

vision and concentrate on the image.
Some of you may be familiar with it.
What do you see? You will see either a
young woman or an older one. If you
are having trouble seeing both, the
mouth of the older woman is the
choker for the young woman. The
young womans ears are the eyes of
the older woman. There are two beings
but only one drawing. Is it one or the
other? Is it both or neither? Attempt to
see both figures at the same time.
Enlarge the figure to a manageable
size. Choose either the older or the
younger woman, it does not matter for
this experiment. Take some correction
tape or whiteout and erase the image
that does not apply to your choice.
What is left of the image? Would you
call the image complete?
I believe3 Victor was not discussing a
paradox, but something greater than
that. I believe Victor was attempting to
describe a radical holism, which is
indeed a true mystery. This holism is
natural within the Gods, but is a state
of being scarcely approachable within
ourselves. That is why it is so difficult
for
us
to
understand.
Visual
experiments such as I have shared
with you barely scratch the surface.
Each individual has qualities to be admired and qualities to be worked on. In
many of us, these opposing qualities war with each other. To embody The
Winged Serpent is to live in harmony with the dichotomy within ourselves,
without contradiction. It is not a middle state of being, a compromised life; but
a total state of being, without shame and doubt. Devotion to the Blue God
allows our internal lion to lie down with our lamb.
NOTES:
1.
Oral
Tradition,
Victor
Anderson
2.
E.G.
Boring
3. I say I believe, but I do not know. This mystery was not explained to me by Victor in quite
this way. This approach I have stumbled upon myself. I remind myself that Victor always
insisted that we do not rely merely upon belief, but must look to Nature for Truth.