..::In her primordial expression the Great Mother is she who has birthed the universe, the one from whose body the Cosmic Egg was born; keeper of animals, nature, and humankind. Among the Hebrews she was called Asherah or Ashtoreth, the Queen of Heaven, the wife of El.
Asherah was worshipped alongside El or Yahweh for centuries, and a Sumerian inscription, dating back as far as 1750 BCE, refers to Asherah as the wife of El...a much earlier version of Jehovah.
The term Elohim, meaning the 'gods' (plural), was one of the two names used in the first five books of the Bible or the Pentateuch, to designate the original creators of humankind.
The prefix El means 'the Radiant or Shining Ones' and was used in Akkadian Sumerian, and Old Welsh and Irish tongues.
The Anglo-Saxon version is Aelf, and the English is Elf, later associated with the immortal shining elves of Celtic legend::..
Tricia McCannon
Return of the Divine Sophia
. . . .
"Queen of Heaven, Goddess of the Universe,
The one who walked in terrible chaos,
and brought life by the law of love,
and out of chaos brought us harmony,
and from chaos She has led us by the hand."
Poem to Ishtar
* * * *
'Oooh..!' Emlyn couldn't help bending over Jack, who lay prostrate on the strange floor, curled up in a protective ball about himself; but Aleister held her back.
'Easy, Em.' Al approached Jack and gingerly knelt beside him.
Meanwhile, Daryl and Athena, the other two Returners, were holding onto one another nearby, watching Jack with confusion writ large upon them.
Aleister felt gently about Jack, checked his breathing and looked into his eyes which, when opened, stared ahead seeing nothing.
'Nothing broken.' He looked up at Daryl. 'Let's get him upstairs, shall we?'
Daryl rallied, and Emlyn went over to Athena, while the two men gently carted Jack's inert form up the staircase.
'Athena, can you walk?' The older woman nodded, still somewhat stunned. 'Let us get some hot tea into you, yes?'
To Emlyn's gaze, Athena and Jack were looking rather thinner than they had been; dark shadows now dwelt upon their gaunt faces.
They would be needing much more than tea.
. . . .
Later, with Jack safely installed on the parlor sofa,
Aleister pronounced him well enough, it seemed. He simply needed rest and nourishment. Nothing broken, with no wounds or bruises showing. 'Nothing seems to be wrong, physically...' Al assured them.
However, the good doctor had noted several puncture wounds about Jack's body which he found worrying. This he kept to himself for now.
'He will sleep for some time, which is what he most needs,'
Aleister told the others who were gathered in the kitchen
being ministered unto by Em who had made sure they'd plenty of sweet tea and had prepared hot porridge and fruit for Athena, who was getting some of her color back already, and sat spooning up her oats slowly and silently while Daryl watched her intently.
'You should eat as well, Daryl,' Em told him gently, pouring more tea.
'Hmm?' Daryl looked up at Emlyn as if noticing her for the first time. 'I, ah, perhaps later, Em, thank you...'
He frowned, as if still trying to gather his wits about him.
Em set an apple before him, which he bit into and chewed distractedly.
Aleister poured tea for himself, clearing his throat.
'Whatever you can tell us, about...all this, may be of some assistance in finding whatever we can do to aid Jack,' he said addressing Daryl.
Daryl sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair. 'Of course,' he frowned, rubbing his forehead. 'But, how did we get here?'
Al informed him of the fail safe addition to Jack's experimental time line and how it had been he, Aleister, who had returned them all here.
'Thank heavens for that, and for you, doctor,' Daryl appraised Al. He then related all that he had discovered about the alternate timeline and what had transpired whilst there.
He did not go into detail at once, but he took Aleister aside into the hallway out of earshot of the others to impart what Athena had uncovered regarding possible experimentation upon Jack by the Others whilst there.
After Daryl and Al checked on Jack once more; still sleeping seemingly peacefully with Dylan on the floor beside him, they returned to the kitchen.
Athena looked up and about her, then fixed Daryl with a pleading look: 'I want to go home. Home, Daryl, to my gatehouse...where I know it is safe...' she trailed off, looking down at the floor, feeling lost.
Daryl went to her, helped her up with an arm about her.
'Of course you do, cara...come, we're going home now. I will see you there safely.' He spared a glance toward Emlyn, then asked Al, 'You will let me know of any news with Jack? He should be all right for now?'
Al assured him this was so, and he would inform Daryl of any changes.
'Many thanks for all of your help,' Daryl regarded them all, looking intently toward Emlyn. Then, one arm supporting Athena, they both disappeared from view.
. . . .
In the days which followed, Jack slowly came round.
He seemed to have little memory of what had happened. Physically, he improved much with rest and food. But his memory was still a blank.
'It should return, over time,' Al told him. 'But, there would appear to be no lasting damage done by this...venture.'
Al, Jack and Emlyn were seated in the parlor together, catching up with one another.
'I really should return to Jethro's with his wagon. He will be wondering if I have absconded with the Piper...'
Em attempted a half smile.
Jack looked up and inquired casually, 'How is Jethro, Em? And Homer? You, were coming from up the hill, then?'
Em looked at Aleister. 'Yes, Jack. Jethro is well, but Homer is in rather a bad way...' She didn't know how much bad news to offer Jack so soon.
'I should head up there, as well, Emlyn,' Aleister decided.
'Jack, you seem to be well enough on your own here, now, yes?'
Jack protested that he wanted to come as well. 'I feel fine, Al, truly.' He reached down to give Dylan a pat, who was as happy to have Jack back as anyone. 'It would be grand to get out, fresh air and all...I would like to see the boys, and help Homer if I can.'
And so it was decided that Jack and Aleister would return Jethro's horse and cart up the hill to tend to Homer, while Emlyn would follow later with Al's Boreson to pick them up.
. . . .
Alone now, at Crowley House, Emlyn wondered what to do with herself. She sat at the kitchen table with tea, thinking. Em always thought better with a mug of sommat hard by.
Tea wasn't helping this time, however. So many changes lately! Should she stick to her original plan of heading to the City? Daryl was, she supposed, back in Massachusetts.
As he should be, she told herself. She hadn't so much felt betrayed by their leaving without telling her, just abandoned. For she loved Athena as a sister, truly. She didn't want to lose that fair lady as a friend. Or Daryl, either, the great fool...
Well, she couldn't blame Daryl for Jack and Athena's troubles this time. For once.
Should she head back to Arcadia and her Triad? Stay longer with Homer? He had Aleister now, and even Jack. And he had shown much improvement of late... And Jack, well, he seemed much as he ever had been, before this last upset.
Sighing, Em took her empty teapot to the sink. No more tea, she decided, her insides fairly floating in the brew. She gazed out the window, studying the skies...a cloudy day. It had turned colder at night now, she'd noticed.
Suddenly she heard a knock at the front door. My stars, who could this be?
Emlyn opened the door and was fair dumbstruck to behold Daryl standing there, big as life; as unexpected as finding the moon on one's doorstep.
'Good...afternoon, Emlyn. Ah, may I...enter?'
Em closed her mouth, and the door behind him, bidding him welcome. 'Yes! Of course, Daryl...do come in.' Goodness, she was flustered.
'Oh, Jack and Aleister aren't here...' she began.
Daryl turned about. 'He's...Jack is alright, isn't he?'
He gazed down at her, frown lines of worry obvious.
'Yes, yes, Daryl...he is well enough!' She escorted him into the parlor and took a seat upon the sofa as she motioned him to a chair. 'Sit. Everything is fine. They have gone up the hill to see Homer.'
It had seemed long since she had seen Daryl, been in his company. It was most odd for the two of them to be here, alone together. She hardly knew how to act.
'How is Athena?' She asked. Stick to basics.
Daryl sighed, leaned back in his seat and stared out of the windows. 'She is...recuperating.' He looked back to Em.
'It was rather a trial for her. She so badly wished to believe that All Was Now Well in our own time...' He shook his head slowly.
'I never had the faith either she or Jack had in this new timeline.'
'But, I thought that you and she went there, journeyed together with Jack?' Em had.
'No, no,' Daryl reported. 'She went with Jack, just the two of them. I had gone with them earlier, on a short recon, but I returned. Something about the place hadn't seemed right, to me.'
This was news, then. 'So, how did you wind up there, and then back here with them?' Em was still trying to piece this puzzle together.
Daryl grimaced, then stood, pacing the parlor and gazing out at the cloudy day, darkening now.
'I, ah...' he spared a darting glance Em's way, 'I hadn't planned on going there, actually. Didn't know they were in any trouble.'
Em set her mouth tight, bit her lip. Then, 'The Cup again, Daryl?' The blasted Thing again...
Daryl cleared his throat, shoved his hands in his pockets as he toured the parlor. 'Not only that, I'm afraid. I...came upon a singularly unique item through an old, acquaintance, of mine in the City. I brought it together with the Cup, however, to make this last journey.'
Em stood as well, grasping her hands together to keep from going for Daryl's throat. 'You KNOW that Cup is trouble, Daryl! Had you any idea of what this new...Thing, you acquired, would do alone, much less if paired with the thrice-damm'd Cup?!' She'd really had enough of Daryl's most dangerous games.
Daryl paused and considered Em for a moment. 'I rather thought you would be glad that I was there to offer aid to Jack and Athena...'
'Did you, then? How, exactly, did you aid them?' Em countered.
Daryl realised she had him there.
He looked down at the carpet, studying it intently.
'HAH! I knew it!' Em exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air, as she began to pace in turn.
'YOU--' She threw her hand out at him, as if dismissing a naughty child, '--had no idea where you were going or what would transpire, did you?'
Daryl, still studying carpet designs, slowly smiled a lopsided grin. '...Em,' he softly began, '...Would you benefit, rather, by a cup of tea, my dear?'
Em wheeled about and, grabbing a handy pillow, tossed it at her 'guardian's' head. It connected, and bounced off, leaving her earnestly wishing it had been a fine weighty rock instead.
'I am heartily sick of TEA!' Em informed him, and stormed out of the room.
Not good, Daryl mused.
. . . .
Following Emlyn into the kitchen, Daryl found her standing before the window, fuming at the gathering dark outside.
Poised behind her, gently he put his hands on her
shoulders. 'Don't be angry with me, cara...'
Em just sighed, then sat at the table.
'I'm not. It never does any good.'
Daryl seated himself across from her. 'After seeing to Athena and settling her back at the gatehouse, I stayed there with her a couple of days to make certain she would be all right,' he told her, running a hand through his hair ala Jack, and gazing out the window at the sky which had now begun to softly rain.
'Then, I decided that I should return to Nob Hill House and put away the...Items...,' he glanced at Em, '...to keep them out of anyone's way there. The Cup is fine when it isn't activated, but the new...Item, well, no one knows what it is capable of. It is still rather a conundrum.'
'I'm more tired of conundrums than I am of tea...' Em groused.
'Excellent!' Daryl exclaimed, standing. 'For you've not offered me any, and so I shall take the chore upon myself...if I may?'
Em waved a hand at him, 'Do what thou wilt...' she muttered.
Daryl paused. 'Where did you get that phrase?' He filled the kettle.
'Jack, of course.' Em decided that Daryl's novelty was wearing off and she felt tired suddenly. When would the man grow up?
Unconcerned, Daryl found the tea and prepared the pot.
'Eh, yes. Anyway. When I returned to the City, I found Rosa and Manuel there, who had stayed away from the study and were, thankfully, ignorant of the presence of the Items there...which are now safely stowed'
Pouring the hot water, Daryl covered the pot and rummaged about for cups. Taking this to the table, he resumed his seat across from Em.
'Sophie was there visiting, also.'
'Was she, now?' Em perked up, as Daryl poured. Oh, well, what's one more cup but enough to float a battleship.
'Indeed.' Daryl smiled. 'I rather like that girl. She has been studying at the Leeks' of late, with a cabal of Kabbalahists.' He hoped to crack Em's frosty veneer.
That earned a smile from Em at last. 'I can't believe there is anything out there that has escaped your all-inclusive intellect, Diego...'
--There's that smile, he thought.
'You would be surprised, mi Josephina...but, that's all my news to tell.' He sipped his tea. 'So, what are Jack and AL up to on the hill then?'
Emlyn decided to play along. She hadn't won the battle, but then she doubted she would. Daryl would remain Daryl forever and a day.
'Homer's health had deteriorated greatly. I stayed there and tended him for days...Jethro had been trying to get him to take the cure for ages, and at last, with help, they seemed to dry him out this time, for good we hope. He is doing much better now, finally,' Em sighed, then smiled tiredly.
'But I think that Jethro would made sure Homer won't return to his wicked ways. He has determined to destroy the still.'
Daryl's eyebrow lifted in acknowledgment of all this implied. 'Ah, so...hmm. Never a dull moment, eh, Em?'
Emlyn sipped her tea and watched the rain. Suddenly, she wished she was back by the bay. After all this drought, she was no longer put off by heavy weather. And she would like to see Sophie again, and the Leeks as well as Rosa and Manuel of course.
Daryl contemplated the clouds. 'Weather is turning. Well, it is nearly Winter Solstice once more...'
Em was startled out of her reverie. 'What?! You, are surely joking, Daryl!'
'Not at all, Em,' Daryl returned. 'It is December, you know.'
Emlyn didn't know. How long had she stayed at Jethro's? And now how long at Aleister's?
'Oh yes,' Daryl went on, 'everyone was talking about the Solstice party already...'
As disconcerting as it was to have found that, once more, time had gotten away from her, Em decided not to waste any more of it.
'I'd like to head back to the City, Daryl, soon, if I may? I would rather like to see my old friends and even make a trip back to the library...' Em mused, warming once more to the idea.
Daryl finished his tea, and stood. 'Certainly. Well, I should be off, myself. I'll come check on Jack again soon. But now, I've business back in the City.'
Emlyn accompanied him to the door, as if he would be leaving by such a mundane convenience. It was part of his game, which Em had come to realise, he played as if he were still on the stage. The Door was his Mark.
Feeling rather shy still, but glad they were friends once more, Em looked down, blushing.
Daryl lifted her chin with a gentle finger.
'I'll see you soon.'
And, in a flash; Exit: Daryl...quick off the Mark.
. . . .
WATCH AND LISTEN!!
Steve Earle: Copperhead Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaEJzoaYZk
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my Daddy and his Daddy before
You hardly ever saw grandaddy down here
He only come to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Same as my Daddy and his Daddy before
You hardly ever saw grandaddy down here
He only come to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted grandad bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
'fore my time but I've been told
He never come back from Copperhead Road
Now the revenue man wanted grandad bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
'fore my time but I've been told
He never come back from Copperhead Road
Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the mason's lodge
Johnson County sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
Bought it at an auction at the mason's lodge
Johnson County sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
Then the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wouldn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
Then the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wouldn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
I volunteered for the army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I'd take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I'd take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
Just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road
Now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Songwriters
EARLE, STEVE
EARLE, STEVE
Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Read more: Steve Earle - Copperhead Road Lyrics | MetroLyrics
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