People say “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle”. I think God gives us a lot more than we can handle on our own, but with Him we can get through it.
The sinister aspect of Saturn; the winter solstice; the death of the old year and birth of the new, dies natalis solis invicti, the birthday of the unconquerable sun; the passage from chaos to cosmos; the suspension of time.
The dead return during the twelve nights of the duration of Saturnalia.
It is also the time of the sacrifice of the old king, or his scapegoat, as waning fertility, and instigating the enthronement of the new king as virility.
The twelve days of chaos symbolize the patter of the coming months of the year.
The period of chaos is governed by the Lord of Misrule, or the King of the Bean and the Queen of the Pea.
Transvestism is a feature of the time of chaos in Saturnalia, orgies carnivals, etc. and signifies a form of return to chaos.
Babylon held the twelve days of duel between Chaos and Cosmos; in Christianity these are the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Like trees and flowers, plants symbolize death and resurrection; the life-force; the cycle of life.
Plant and flower symbolism is closely connected with the Great Mother, goddess of the earth, of fertility and vegetation; it is also associated with the fertility of the life-giving waters; the sap-filled plant is motherhood.
Plants and trees are often regarded as mythical ancestors and usually associated with the moon cult.
Plants or flowers which grow from the spilled blood of a god or hero represent the mystic union between man and plant and the birth of life from death, life flowing from one state to another, e.g. violets grew from the blood of Attis; wheat and herbs grew from the body of Osiris; and pomegranate from the blood of Dionysus, anemones from the blood of Adonis and red roses from the blood of Christ.
In Chinese symbolism the plant Polyporus lucidus is the plant of immortality and is the food of the Taoist genii or immortals.
[Source: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper]
And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit 2 Nephi 2:28
