The Confirmation of the Tetrad

Today is a holiday not marked on the calendar (which is badly in need of an update, as there are new holy days, new Sancti, and further things which have shifted over the last six months when I last worked on it…it’s on the list of things to do before the end of July, certainly!), which arose last year in relation to the Tetrad–Panpsyche, Panhyle, Paneros, and Pancrates. I’m going to call it “the Confirmation of the Tetrad.”

Now, I know what you might be thinking…

No, that’s not a Catholic lesbian wedding, that’s a press shot of what “confirmation” is supposed to look like as a Catholic sacramental ritual. I’ve been to a few confirmations in my time (it’s a sacrament I never had–and in fact I specifically opted out of!), and it’s supposed to be this profound imparting of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to people, like when said Spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room at Pentecost in the form of tongues of flame. And, the modern ritual is about as flame-less and un-energetic as it is possible for something like this to be. (If you want some real fire in the elemental sense, listen to T. Thorn Coyle’s latest Elemental Castings podcast, with guest Gede Parma!) So, it’s not that kind of confirmation…and yet, perhaps it is.

The reason I call it the “Confirmation of the Tetrad,” and that I’m holding it on this day, is because this is the day last summer when I got an oracular response from a trusted oracle and friend–one of several in relation to the Tetrad–which came in response not to a specific question, but which clearly described the Tetrad and one of the lessons that their arrival has taught me. Getting confirmation on the viable existence of particular entities in relation to specific questions to oracles about them is one thing; getting confirmation on the viable existence of particular entities without having asked about them, and just having them show up and be described by the oracle in question as accurately as I’ve always seen them is something else again.

I wish there were something “more” and bigger that I could do for the Tetrad on this day, other than what I have planned–a short ritual, and then reading All-Soul, All-Body, All-Love, All-Power in ritual space–to myself/silently, unfortunately, as the place I’m living isn’t conducive to someone alone in a room reading something aloud. I’d like to expand out and do more art in relation to them, or have others do their own arts (at which they’re much better than I am!) in interpreting them. A time will come when much more of the latter will be possible, I’m quite certain; but in the meanwhile, it doesn’t feel like I can do a whole lot more for them than what I already have…which is why I’m eager to have other people come on board in their cultus.

So, as I’m getting this entry out “relatively” early today, I would encourage any of you who have any interest in the Tetrad, who do any work with queer deities or gender-variance in their spirituality, or who are devotees of any of their seventy-eight parents* (!?!), to take a moment today and just think of them, and to consider how they may have (or could) play a role in your own life and your own spiritual journey. What experiences have you had that resulted in your sense of being “All-Soul,” and finding your deepest and most authentic sense of identity (whether spiritually, in terms of gender or sexuality, etc.)? What things prevent you from being “All-Body,” and entering fully into embodiment and an energized engagement with your own materiality? What are the barriers to and triumphs of bringing “All-Love” into your life? How have you flirted with or fled from the sense of being in touch with and able to wield “All-Power”? These are just some of the questions you can ask about your own life that can give a sense of how the Tetrad–who are deities that are for everyone, not just trans and gender-variant people–have influenced your life, or could do so in the future in positive ways.

And, if you don’t have a copy of All-Soul, All-Body, All-Love, All-Power, but would like to get a bit more information to consider about the Tetrad as you honor them today or build toward future work with them, the following past entries from this blog may help you do that:

Gods, Magic, Myth, and Modernity (The original post that introduced the Tetrad.)
Further Emanations (An allegorical analysis of why the Tetrad were born in the order that they were.)
A Bonus Song for the Day (A hymn, to the tune of “We Three Kings,” that you can sing for the Tetrad in absence of anything else!)
Thinking on the Origins of Love (A further reflection on one of my dream experiences with Antinous and how it may have presaged the birth of the Tetrad several years before it occurred.)

And, if you enter “Tetrad” into the search feature at the top right corner of this blog’s sidebar, you might come up with all sorts of other possibilities for where they’ve connected to things I’ve talked about here, and where they thus may connect with your own spiritual workings as well!

[*: Given that they have seventy-eight parents/grandparents, and that is also the number of cards in a traditional tarot deck, I think a Tetrad-focused deck with seventy-eight "major god" cards, plus four suits of 1-10 for the stages in each of the Tetrad's lives, plus then four cards for the Tetrad themselves, and five for their foster-parents, might be a very interesting deck indeed! 127 cards only seems like a lot...!?! If anyone who is artistic would like to consider doing something of that nature, let me know!]

Praise to the Tetrad!:
Panpsyche the Divine Woman of Eagle and Air!
Panhyle the Divine Man of Bull and Earth!
Paneros the Divine Metagender of Serpent and Water!
Pancrates the Divine Pangender of Lion and Fire!

Praise to their many parents and grandparents!
Praise to their many children and grandchildren!

Praise to the Treískouroi for their begetting!:
Antinous, Polydeukion, and Lucius Marius Vitalis!

Praise to Pan for their conception!
Praise to Set for their birth!

Praise to the Oracles who knew them!
Praise to the dreamers who have seen them!

Praise to the Tetrad of blessed divine lineage,
and praise to all those who honor their names!