Yew Mysteries Newsletter – Solstice 2020

The Yew Mysteries

The Yew Mysteries are of course centered around their subject — the yew tree!

These mysteries have been veiled from human consciousness for over two thousand years. Today they are returning to us. These mysteries are by no means easy to access. I have spent the last 27+ years working with the Mind of the Yew to develop language that is both subtle and supple enough to communicate their essence. The Yew Mysteries are in every way, 'living mysteries' — what do I mean by that? Every ancient yew that stands on Earth today is the living custodian of the mysteries of the Otherworld — mysteries that led to the emergence of the Earth. Every ancient yew reveals the form of those mysteries through the living gesture of its individual morphology and growth. We can say that the mystical morphology of an ancient yew reveals the workings of the Otherworld on Earth!

There are now several Yew Mysteries centers. The main centers are in Scotland, England and Wales. The Yew Mysteries also have a strong presence on the Pacific Northwest in USA. There are plans to bring the Yew Mysteries to Rhode Island. The mysteries gather where the yew calls.  You can find out more about the yew Mysteries here.

The Yew & the Otherworld

Within the Yew Mysteries I define the yew as an incarnated eternity on earth — a being whose consciousness is comparable to that of an Elohim. How did I arrive at such a startling and god-like conception of the yew?

Beneath an ancient yew in Scotland I was regularly drawn into a dark and infinitely expansive realm bearing no resemblance to the normal world. Within this realm I was able to 'hear' what I now refer to as the Mind of the Yew. Gradually I came to understand this realm as the (Celtic) Otherworld. The yew revealed that She had originally descended as an Elohim being from a cosmic-spiritual space into the Otherworld. (The notion of the gods descending into the Underworld is well attested to in Sumerian myth.)

The yew revealed that the Otherworld was and is an original cosmic-spiritual space that had been inverted — literally turned outside-in! Cosmic space became the Otherworld and out of this dynamic the Earth was born. The early Earth emerging out of the Otherworld was dark and mysterious.

The yew as an otherworldy Elohim being who has incarnated on the Earth is revealed in the story of the Settling of the Manor of Tara. In that medieval tale, a Shining One brings a magical branch bearing three fruits - nuts, apples and acorns - from the Otherworld. The berries from the branch are planted and grow into the five sacred trees of Ireland — all yews! The three fruits represent the three stages of development of the yew aril or berry.

Saturn

The mythology of the ancient world speaks of the early Earth as being ruled by a primordial sun bearing little resemblance to the solar orb we see in the sky today. That primal sun was Saturn. Saturn was known by many names including Elohim, Atum Ra, Kronos, Shamash, Zurvan, Osiris, Horus, Yama and Quetzacoatl to name but a few.

Saturn as sun was said to have resided in the celestial north. Atum Ra (Saturn) was described as the Firm Heart in the Sky, as the Great Father, cosmic pillar and as the stationary god in the north. Under the polar influence of Saturn, the early earth most likely existed for eons in a dreamy twilight realm. There was no division of time into night and day. There were no seasons. It has been conjectured that these phenomena were due to the behavior of Saturn's plasma sheath reflecting the planet's dark light back to the earth. The dark light of Saturn would also have saturated the earth with a homogenous warmth. Living bodies were more fluid and less physical beneath Saturn. Plant life on the earth was abundant during that time. The red spectrum light generated by Saturn was more conducive to photosynthesis in plant life than the harsh ultraviolet light of the current sun. (Interestingly, the bark of a yew can appear red and even purple after a heavy rain. The yew has also been referred to as 'the Red Tree.') The early earth under the influence of Saturn has been described as a Golden Age.

However, the heliosphere of what we currently understand as our solar system began to approach Saturn. With great cosmic upheaval, Saturn was violently displaced, and the Golden Age came to an end. (The idea that the earth had been coupled to a different sun is not only ancient. It appeared in 18th century where it was thought that the earth left its original sun at the time of the Noachian deluge. It then reappeared in 1977 with the work of Ralph Jeurgens who proposed the idea that the sun could capture a wayward planet. Even NASA scientists have said that the Earth did not form out of the same nebulous material that created the Sun.)

Saturn & Jupiter

We cannot know for certain, but it is possible that the earth briefly came under the influence of another star - Jupiter. (Both Saturn and Jupiter have been categorized as brown dwarf stars that even today give off more heat than they receive from the current sun.)

As Saturn seemed to descend below the horizon Jupiter emerged from the south. Jupiter can perhaps be understood as the herald of the massive solar system that was approaching the earth. However, to better understand Jupiter, we must first look at its relationship to Saturn.

According to mythology, Jupiter was the offspring of Saturn. Known as Zeus by the Greeks, Jupiter was known to the Babylonians as Marduk. Myth reveals that Marduk was sent to earth to defeat the dragon of Tiamat. A new order of existence was ushered in by Marduk. Within the Yew Mysteries, Jupiter-Marduk is more fully exemplified by the being of MichaEL — the great Archangel. The new order of existence is associated with the iron sword of Michael, iron being the incarnational metal. (Interestingly, the yew is also known as 'the iron wood.') Michael brings a new form of consciousness down to the Earth through the power of iron. The older dream-like consciousness of Saturn symbolized by the dragon is usurped by a new and increasingly more physicalized form of consciousness.

The brief rule of Jupiter was then supplanted by the solar orb we now see above us. This new development brought further materiality and the more individualized and over-specialized consciousness that dominates our planet today. (A detailed examination of the complexities and dynamics of these immense cosmic changes is beyond the scope of this newsletter. I recommend exploring the work of Immanuel Velikovsky, David Talbott, Dwardu Cardona and the Electric Universe Theory.)

Winter Solstice & Saturn

The Winter Solstice is an extremely important time for the Yew Mysteries. During the time of the Winter Solstice we come under the influence of the original sun — Saturn. We are therefore touched directly by the forces of the Otherworld. The tendency of the Earth during the winter months is to absorb spiritual — cosmic forces. Influences that worked from the outside during the spring and summer — forces that foster growth and blossoming in plants — are slowly drawn inward during Autumn to be fully absorbed by the Earth in Winter. At the Winter Solstice this indrawing process converges to become a potent still-point in Time. The solar orb is no longer the measure of time - its rhythmicity is broken for a period of three days. The rule of the solar orb is temporarily suspended — held in abeyance.

During bygone eras this phase of suspension and return of Saturn was widely celebrated. The Romans referred to this time as the festival of Saturnalia (23rd Dec.) Gifts were exchanged and trees were decorated. More significantly, roles were reversed during this time. Masters served slaves and there were mock kings called Lords of Misrule very much like our modern carnival characters. There were even older customs enacted with men dressing in animal hides - animal masks and women's clothes. These customs go back at least to Ancient Greece. What we see is a role reversal and a loosening of sexual identity. This is key to our understanding the dynamic of the Otherworld — the involution or reversal of cosmic forces in order to birth the Earth. This power of reversal and involution can be seen in many of the yew's gestures including its ability to switch sexual expression. What we are offered at the Winter Solstice is a relationship to the older world with Saturn as Sun, a world whose forces were still very much in potential, nothing being determined and everything yet possible. The Winter Solstice therefore reinvigorates the Earth with the original powers of the Otherworld.

Yule & Yew

The etymology of the word yule remains uncertain and is often associated with the old Saxon word for wheel, 'hweol.' However, when we make the actual sound of the word yule we literally 'hear' the original phonetic relationship between Yew and Yule.  The u sound is prevalent in many yew names. The old English Eow — 'yow', Irish Iur — 'ure', Scots gaelic Iubhar — 'yewar', and Yeu — 'yew.'

The Yule log was originally a retired tree that would be brought into the village to be burned at Xmas. The ashes of the burned tree were thought to possess high fertility powers. Pieces of Yule log were also saved to be burned during thunderstorms in order to protect homes.

Yew & Xmas

During the Middle Ages in Europe, the yew was chosen to represent the paradise tree in the mystery plays of Adam and Eve. In Germany and Switzerland this paradise tree became the indoor Christmas tree.

The first description of a Christmas tree dates back to 1789 with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Christmas tree as yew was popularized in England during the mid 19th century by German Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. However, the use of evergreen trees and wreaths to symbolize eternal life goes back to ancient Egypt, and can be found with the Hebrews, Hittites and Chinese. Placing gifts beneath a tree probably goes back to ancient Hittite tree rituals and this may be related to customs where the placenta of a newborn is hung in a tree. (Within the Yew Mysteries training we look closely at the mystical connections between the yew and the organ of the placenta.)

The Old Man of the North

How does Santa Claus fit into all of this? Santa is the old man who lives at the North Pole and who brings a sprig of evergreen to the children of men. This is the original 'shamanic' Santa who was related to an evergreen — most likely the yew.

Santa is in fact the primordial monarch residing in the celestial North, who like Osiris, Yama and Kronos spreads good fortune and gifts. As we saw, Osiris, Yama and Kronos were all names for Saturn in the ancient world. Therefore, our shamanic Santa is nothing other than the great monarch of the celestial north — Saturn, the original sun once again!

The Great Conjunction, Yew & the Solstice

To begin to understand how the conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter is related to the Winter Solstice and to the yew we must once again turn to the myths of the ancient world. We have already learned according to these myths that Saturn was the primordial sun, and that it may have been followed briefly by Jupiter before the solar orb and the solar system became dominant.

The Great Conjunction of the 2020 Winter Solstice represents a significant 'moment' where the original powers of Saturn and Jupiter converge while the rule of the current solar orb is suspended — while the sun is no longer measuring time. Through this conjunction, the healing and generative powers of the Otherworld become available on earth to an immensely high degree. During this time the incarnational (iron) forces of Michael (Marduk - Jupiter) merge with the formative powers and original Light of the Elohim.

This vital moment provides an immense opportunity to incarnate otherworldly forces as embodied forms of consciousness for the future. Humanity must firmly plant the seeds of these new forms of embodied consciousness NOW to be able to effectively oppose the exponential acceleration of a Transhumanist agenda that seeks to imprison the human soul (and the very soul of the Earth) in a pseudo-spiritual world of demonic - materialism. This Transhumanist agenda involves the merging of AI (Artificial Intelligence) with human biology to thereby weaken and ultimately destroy the unique identity and freedom of human beings to evolve. Some might see the groundwork for this as already underway with the Great Reset and Agenda 21.

However, we cannot oppose these dark agendas without a powerful teacher. No human being can assume this role. One of those teachers is the ancient yew. As an incarnate eternity on the Earth, the yew as an Elohim holds the formative light principles that can reform the human being in ways that will allow human spiritual-evolution to continue far beyond the grasp of the psychopaths and (not so) secret societies desperately seeking to control it. This is the work of the Yew Mysteries, a work that was re-initiated in modern times as the direct opposition to the demonic forces currently seeking to destroy mankind. The battle for human freedom has begun!