The swastika is
the symbol of Ganesha, the god of mysteries. Ganesha is the guardian of the
gate which leads to the coiled snake-goddess and of the bull or phallus which
she encircles. In the human body, the strait gate leading to the earth centre,
or snake-goddess, is the anus. It is here that the centre of Ganesha is found,
the guardian of gates and mysteries, and servant of the goddess. Beyond, is
situated the labyrinth of entrails, those tortuous paths leading to all the
vital organs, which are examined by the augur during the sacrifice. The Yogi
who succeeds in awakening the coiled-up energy may, with its help, reach one
after another of the centres where the higher forms of life and subtle powers
dwell. This will make him a "hero" (vīra), the master of all the
energies latent both in and outside himself, and will allow him to dominate
the dark forces of elementary nature in order to obtain intelligence and
divine light. To do all this, he must traverse the interior labyrinth, the
physical form of which is the intestinal maze in which the different subtle
centres are concealed.
Alain
Danielou, Shiva
and Dionysos,
p.123
There is a whole
ritual connected with anal penetration through the narrow gate opening on to
the labyrinth (in man, the intestine). In Tantric Yoga, the centre of Ganesha
- the guardian of gates - is found in the region of the rectum. The male
organ, in directly penetrating the area of coiled-up energy (Kundalini), may
help its brutal awakening and thus provoke a state of enlightenment and sudden
perception of realities of a transcendental order. Hence this act may play an
important part in initiation. "This probably explains one male initiation
ritual, widespread among primitive people but rarely recorded frankly by
Western observers. . ., during which adult male initiates have anal
intercourse with novices. . . Such a custom may well lie behind the homosexual
eroticism actively encouraged among the Classical Greeks."(
P. Rawson, Primitive Erotic Art, p. 48.)
The performance of this act is one of the accusations brought against
Dionysiac organizations by their detractors, and also against certain
initiatory groups in the Christian and Islamic world. It involves a technical
process, analogous to the use of certain drugs, which by means of direct
action, affects the internal organs connected with the subtle centre.
Alain
Danielou,
Shiva and
Dionysos.
p.122
"Another
aspect of the dual nature of Mercurius is his characterization as senex
and puer. The figure of Hermes as an old man, attested by archaeology,
brings him into direct relation with Saturn - a relationship which plays a
considerable role in alchemy (see infra, pars. 274 ff). Mercurius truly
consists of the most extreme opposites; on the one hand he is undoubtedly akin
to the godhead, on the other he is found in sewers. Rosinus (Zosimos) even
calls him the terminus ani.41 In the Bundahish, 42 the anus of Garotman
is "like hell on earth."
