Esoteric Alabama or, How I learned to stop Worrying and Love Planet Vulcan

I've said before that Birmingham Alabama is one of my favorite towns. I've been traveling her roads quite a bit lately, and I've begun to notice something; there a great many very notable statues and works of art here that have a high mythic or esoteric significance. You'll find these kinds of buildings and art in most towns, but in Birmingham, they REALLY jump out at you.
Birmingham is especially proud of a giant sculptre called Vulcan. And in fact, that's just what it is. An enormous likeness of the god Vulcan, also called Hephestus. Birmingham Alabama's Vulcan has the distinction of being the world's tallest iron sculpture. It was produced as a gift to the Magic City ( Birminghams' nickname, and another nod to the esoteric, which may be the subject of a future post)
He was designed in 1924 by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Masetti. Vulcan is the Roman god of fire, and of the forge. The reason given for the statue's existence in Birmingham is that for many decades the city was a tremendous center of steel production. In legend, Vulcan wrought metal with his mighty hammer and anvil.
Of course I joke when I call Birmingham planet Vulcan. There's a lot more going on there than just this enormous Greek god. But this particular piece of work occupies a high place of honor in the city. It sits perched high above the valley on top of Red Mountain, much higher than any of the city's buildings. He's more or less Birmingham's official mascot, and he's very hard to miss.
Author and mythology researcher William Henry believes that most mythic figures and buildings in modern cities are built to convey a hidden, sometimes mystic message. He and I don't proceed from the same philosophical foundations- but I absolutely agree with him on this point. Read more about his assertions here. (He does a darn fine job of analyzing one of my other favorite cities, Nashville, TN )
Henry contends that figures like the massive Vulcan and other mythic personages are placed to send us a message...to convey thougts and ideas that go far beyond the mundane. What were the city fathers who so honored mighty Vulcan really trying to say?
It's a question I bear in mind as I ponder another mythic creature which also inhabits a high place of honor in the Birmingham skyline.
Occult researcher and commentator Freeman says U.S. cities feature large numbers of statues which represent female deities or goddess figures. She is often called the Great Goddess. And she comes in many forms. Wanna see one? Just go downtown to your local county or Federal courthouse. You'll see her with blindfold and scales. Look on top of the dome of your state capitol. Perhaps there she carries a scale and a sword. Go get a sandwich at Panera Bread, or check that silver dollar in your pocket. She is practically everywhere.
Freeman spells this out in a excerpt from one of his most recent web articles:

"If we consider the symbolism used by the brotherhood, the symbols most prevalent, go to the goddess. In America, we call her Columbia. In England she is known as Brittania, hence British Columbia. In the past she has been known as Semiramis, Ishtar, Anat, Asherah, Isis, Minerva, Aphrodite, Venus, et al. Now, let's look at the goddess symbolism. She is known as a triple goddess, trinities relate to her. In the Tarot the 3rd major arcana is the Empress. She is symbolized as a phoenix rising and is known as the eye goddess. As Venus, she is symbolized by a shell and a pentagram. Most of the goddess' have connections with the merfolk. Isis in the egyptian pantheon, is a symbol of Sirius, a recently re-discovered trinary star system..." Very heady stuff, yes. But the truth of these symbols is far more compelling than a passing glance will reveal. And far more important.
If we follow this idea, then Birmingham Alabama posseses a spectacular example of this goddess. The locals call her Lady Electra. She's the 23 foot tall, gold-plated statue which stands on tiptoe high atop the Alabama Power building downtown. There's nothing else quite like her in the state. The golden figure is four times taller than the average man. Clutching lightning bolts in each fist, the nude figure seems to be the very pinnacle of feminine power and pagan majesty. They call her Electra now, but an article on the statue tells us sculptor Edward Field Sanford Jr. originally entitled her the " Divinity of Light". Because of her brilliance to the eye and her high elevation above the city, she's really more compelling than even Vulcan. But what's even more important, is that she fits the continuing pattern visible in all of our cities of any size. She's literally a shining example of the female deity. The goddess held aloft. Whom do we adore? What do we really worship? To answer this question in a city like Birmingham, maybe all you gotta do is look up.

Through a Glass Darkly- Again

I started this blog with a reference to the famous bible verse, but I thought it would be good to refer to it again because it seems so appropriate here.
Not to abuse the beautiful scripture, which basically says that we'll understand the things we see better once the Lord returns and fulfills his final purpose on Earth.
Here's how the Bible puts it:
"Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." I Cor. 13:12 ( KJV)

The glass mentioned refers to a dark or smokey mirror. To me, many things in daily life seem that way.
Some things just aren't obvious on first viewing. I think that's especailly true with many American cities. The symbols and monuments in civic settings can be especially deceptive, as a friend has so clearly pointed out to me over the last several days.
Recently, as he and I were tooling around Nashville, one of my favorite cities, he pointed out that the city's Bicentennial Mall took on a whole new perspective depending how one views it.
The Bicentennial mall isn't a shopping center. Rather, it's a large, linear styled park, a lot like the Mall in Washington DC.

It's pleasant enough to walk through. But if you view it from the elevated height of the State Capitol building, it takes on quite another shape. As seen from the balcony of the capitol, the mall, which stretches to the west of the capitol for nine acres and then terminates in a rotunda, looks an awful lot like a pyramid, with a glowing circle at the top. It immediately puts you in mind of the pyramid and illuminated eye on the back of the dollar bill. It was clear to us because of this and several other clues, that the mall was Masonically inpspired.

But there's much, much more here. Apparently, the mall is a close copy of an ancient land form called the Pillar of the Immortals. You can see more about this assertion on a fascinating website by new age author William Henry here (http://williamhenry.net/stargateprk.htm)
Henry is familiar with Nashville. He says its Bicentennial Mall is extraordinary ( he calls it StarGate Park ) It seems its designers fashioned it in such a way that it's highly symbolic, and, if you believe in such things, can act as a focusing mechanism for psychic energy. And I thought it was just a nice place to have lunch!
But there are LOTS of things like that here in the Music City. Music City. Music. Musica. Now there's a controversial word!
At least it is in Nashville. Musica is actally a giant bronze sculpture which stands thirty feet tall. ( perhaps the largest bronze sculpture in America ) It's composed of nine nude figures many with limbs interlocked, all dancing around in a sort of ' Ring around the Rosies' fashion. Study the figure's faces. Study thier gestures, and you may come to the conlcusion that there's an orgiastic quality to their frolic. Really. I also personally feel that the piece does put off a 'vibe', if you will. An odd sensation one might feel that goes beyond just what the piece looks like. Viewing the sculpture in person can have a potent effect.

So, what does that have to do with music? That's what Nashville residents have been asking since the piece was first erected. The sculptor, Alan Lequire says this about Musica-

"An artistic idea often seems to miraculously and spontaneously burst forth. This is what happens in the sculpture, and the title MUSICA suggest this since it refers to all the 'arts of the muses.'"

There are plenty of Nashville residents who can't see any connection between the sculpture and thier idea of music. However, the sculpture does seem to have a lot to do with the supernatural. The sculptor has also been quoted as saying the figures are earth-spirits. Little gods and goddesses. Somehow, they burst forth from the earth, eager to celebrate the joy of dance and music and all that it means. A little esoteric for Nashville, I would think. But maybe not.

Sculptor Alan Lequire ( left ) has produced another very notable piece. The massive Statue of Athena is located inside Nashville’s replica of the Parthenon. Nashville’s Parthenon is a near exact copy of the original in Athens, Greece. That centuries-old building has been in ruins since the 1960’s, but is currently being rebuilt. But if you want to know what the original will look like when completed, just look at it’s mirror twin in Nashville.

The giant gilded statue of Athena, located inside, also a perfect historic replica of the original. As I did research for this article, I ran across the following quote from a visitor who posted thier impressions of the statue in an online forum:
"I went to the Parthenon in Nashville, TN over the weekend. This building is amazing. It is an exact replica of the original (so they say) and inside of it is a statue of the Goddess Athena. I believe they said it was 41 feet tall. With her shield to her side and Nike in her hand. On the shield are pictures of many Gods/Goddesses.
I was overwhelmed. As we turned the corner to where She is I had to keep myself from crying and falling at her feet. I stood in awe and really felt as though I was in Her presence."

I guess I'm not the only one who feels these sculptures are powerful.

It could be said that Athena was the favored Goddess of the Greeks. They feared Zeus, and admired Apollo. But Athena was mother and warrior, all in one. Dangerous, but approachable. Today, she sits in all her ancient, gilded glory at the Centennial Park in west Nashville. Why?
Athens Greece is of course named for the goddess Pallas Athena. It is her favorite city, and was THE center in the ancient world for the worship and devotion of the goddess. As a curious coincidence, Nashville’s nickname just happens to be “ The Athens of the South”.
The figures of worship and meditation we’ve mentioned in this article have all been built within the last ten years. No doubt more are planned.
I've been doing an informal survey of my other favorite towns like Atlanta Georiga, Savannah Georgia, Birmingham Alabama, and others. All of them seem to have structures and massive artworks that seem to whisper a secret, underlying reality.
Nashville has a reputation for having lots of Christian churches, and Tennessee is often referred to as the Buckle of the Bible Belt. But Nashville's costly, gilded and larger-than-life monuments of spirits, goddesses and 'sacred structures' seem to say she also has a very powerful Pagan side too. They could just be scattered, unrelated expressions of art. But I think it's more likely that they're connected on some level. Perhaps a spiritual one. Whatever else they are, they definitely allow us to see The Music City more clearly as we gaze at that smokey mirror.