What was “The Palladium”? Why did its possession mean preserving the land where it was guarded? As a child I was fascinated by a description in “The Iliad” of “The Luck of Troy”, and how the cunning Odysseus - whose father was both thief and king – stole it! And so Troy fell, its people massacred or enslaved – and the Greeks had “The Luck of Troy”. My brother said it was believed to be a figure of The Goddess.

I tracked its magical story. The Trojans, it was said, deceived the Greeks with a false “Luck” – the Goddess Venus Herself gave the true Icon to her lover, Anchises, who in turn gave it to his son Aeneas. And we all know that Aenaes founded Rome, and so the Roman Empire. Then I noticed a parallel history. The Greek hero Theseus solved the Mystery of the Labyrinth of Crete and fled with King Minos’ daughter – and I imagine, The Luck itself, or a sister of the Luck.

What was it like? Venus gave the Icon to Rome; Pallas Athena, Guardian of Odysseus, to Athens. Here it was called “The Palladium” after her Name of Power, Pallas. I think I found my own answer in the British Museum. Here was a drawing of the mighty statue of Pallas Athena, erected to overlook the Bay of Athens. What I noticed was that this was a Cretan statue. It was not in the Greek style but was derived from an earlier Minoan figure. There was a serpent coiled beneath her shield – The Gorgon. But above all she was a fractal. She held a replica of herself, called Nike, Victory. Allow this figure to hold a replica of herself also, and you have a diminishing figure through the spheres of being, reaching atomic level. But, using your imagination, you could see, if you believed in Goddesses and Gods who filled the sky, a mighty Goddess holding Pallas Athena in one hand!

So the figure overlooking the sea could represent evolving life through multi-dimensional existence. We not only evolve physically, but also through the spheres of consciousness. As above, so below. Every human, every insect, every atom is represented through the planes.

What happened to this Fractal Goddess Icon? It had to be a Goddess, whether you call it “The Luck of Troy,” “The Palladium,” or “The Grael,” because only a woman could reproduce herself by giving birth of a daughter. Her fulfillment was to give birth to her polarity, a boy. The Goal of the Eleusinian, Sufi and Gnostic paths is to give birth to one’s Inner Self. Maybe Leonardo was painting the mystery of Mona Lisa’s pregnancy – showing her and her future child. I am also reminded of his famous Cartoon of the Virgin sitting with her child on the lap of her Divine Mother whose radiant face and raised hand points the inner way to realisation.

Many mystic practitioners, especially alchemists, followed the path of spiritual transformation, not through scientific methods, by enhancing consciousness. Among these were idealists of the 18th century Enlightenment. It was the French who presented their allies the American Republicans with the Statue of Liberty, now dominating New York harbor. They knew what they were doing ***

I have painted a five-fold Palladium myself, superimposing it over a silver Piscean Madonna… She has vermilion hair, very long, and she holds her baby girl, also with long red hair. The baby holds a doll with spiky red hair. The doll holds a mini-doll ***

She is Brigid holding Bride: Magdalene holding Sophia. Something was lacking. Were we only to diminish in consciousness? No! So I painted giant hands coming out of a tumultuous sky, enfolding the figure in a maternal embrace.

How may we explore other realms of consciousness? As I thought this, I realised we in Ireland inherit the gifts of The Sidhe – The “Shee” – a parallel evolution who ascend in consciousness not through biological development but through the sacred elements. For instance the Goddess Cerridwen of Wales offers Inspiration, Prophecy and Shape-shifting through her magical cauldron. In Scotland Pressine gives us knowledge of the past, Melusine of France bestows dragon magic, Kundalini – Palestrine access to the Many-coloured land, the astral plane, and Melior gives vitality. The Tuatha De Dana give their four treasures relating to the elements. And every land has its Sidhe – the Gandavas and Apsanas of India, the Valkyrie of the Norse, the Peris of Persia, the peoples of the Elements of all lands, into a rainbow harmony with humans, to save our planet – our mutual home.

To change the lesser, you need to contact the greater. So to form a starry network we need to contact the divine inhabitants of the stars – whether Deities, Angels, The Sidhe. We ourselves are “the Missing Link” between apes and perfected humanity. We can ourselves discover our own fractals, bringing our greater and our lesser selves into conscious relationship. We shall learn to manage our own germs and viruses! Self-heal ourselves, and we heal the world.