Greetings,
As it would be of no use for the reader to read through this blog without knowing a little bit about St. Philomena. This is what I will start of this blog writing about. This writing maybe a little different than what those that do know something about St. Philomena have read. The reason for this is because it is written from my own perspective in regards to her. Though I have not been initiated into any fraternity of St. Philomena or tradition of Voudon, I consider her one of my patron Spirits just the same. Sense I have started including St. Philomena in my Esoteric practices, it has taken sometime for her to actually start communicating with me in different ways. Some of which are through visions and direct voice in channeling and meditation sessions, after invocation of this Spirit, through certain rituals. It is my hope that through this blog, you yourself may be inspired to show a deeper interest in St. Philomena, if you have not already done so in your Spiritual walk. While this blog is not a complete coverage of everything relating to St. Philomena, I have tried to write it with a more modern and realistic approach that may relate to those of this day and age. It is however my suggestion that you also read other information found online in regards to St. Philomena, including that of her miracles and decided for yourself. You have to remember that the timeline when St. Philomena was here in this realm. It was one of great religious persecution, plagues, superstitions, wild claims, cover ups, wars, corruption, fear campaigns and deception in both religious and political movements. There was also more distinctive classes of people and the placing of people into categories. Which in turn gave certain privileges to some, but not so to the unfortunate others. It is the Spirit of St. Philomena that inspired me and guided me to write this blog. With this said, I will now go into some details in regards to the life of St. Philomena. As I say, this write up is not all there is to her story and I may write more on her in the coming future.
Philomena was born 10th January 291 AD under the name of Lumena.This took place on the Greek island of Corfu, in which her father ruled. As her father and mother were both of the Royal blood line of Greece, making Lumena a Greek Princess. At this time the Greeks and most certainly Lumena's family honoured the Olympian Gods and Goddess. Specifically the 12 major Gods and Godessess in the Olympian pantheon which are :
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia or Dionysus. Each one of these Gods and Goddess are connected to the 12 months of the year.
Their culture was full of beliefs, mythology and rituals of different kinds. This is what Lumena was brought up to believe in and honour till the age of 13 years old. When Lumena was at the age of 13 years, it is believed that she was converted to a form of Christian sect. This was due to her perents conversion and therefore she did also. From my own research into history, it would seem likely that their conversion was to a Gnostic form of Christian sect originating out of Zoroastrianism.
The ceremonies and rituals of the Greeks at the time were performed in front of altars. This was often in honour of the God and Goddess and their patron Deities. Upon the altar would be God and Goddess statues, food, drink and special objects in relation to the God and Goddess, patrons or type of ritual conducted. Sometimes Animal sacrifice was performed, with most of the meat then cooked, shared with the Deities and family, then eaten. It would have been more like a family BBQ on a weekend in honour of the dead, patron Deities and God and Goddess. Liberations of alcohol was also offered unto their Deities. They also took part in a ritual called "Pharmakos". A ritual that is very similar to the Jewish ritual involving the symbolism of a goat representing Azazel. It was a purification, cleansing and banishing ritual. There was a lot more ceremonies than this, I will leave it upto the reader to do more research for now. This was just to give the reader a bit of an idea of Lumena's early up bringing and Spiritual practices of her family.
The name Lumena means "An Illusion To The Light". In my own opinion, I took this to mean that the light source is not of it's own. You could say, a light reflection from another source, that the light of the Gods shone through her and radiated all around her. This to me also brings up thoughts of the Moon and how it is powerful in itself and yet, it gets its light from the Sun and the connection it has with the Moon Goddess. When Lumena converted to the Gnostic Christian sect, her perents changed her name to Philomena which means "Daughter Of Light". This right away brought up thoughts of the Roman Goddess of the Moon "Diana", and in Greece was called "Artemis". Roman Goddess Diana was the daughter of God Jupiter (Jove), which was under the name of the God Zeus in Greece. In fact at the time, the Greek and the Roman Gods and Goddesses were very similar, if not the same with different names. Artemis brother was a twin named Apollon, her father was Zeus and mother was Leto. If Philomena was named after Artemis/Diana, which is very possible for the times. Artemis was Goddess of wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity, hunting, archery and the Moon. Could these qualities be also attributed to Philomena? It was known that at the young age of 13 years old, the time of her closing over, she was a virgin. Also was she a twin of which she had a brother? Were the symbols of 3 arrows found with her, that I will talk about soon, really to do with her connection with hunting, rather than what the story of St. Philomena says? All of this is worth some serious thought, there is some very striking similarites and connections here. However, I do not have the answers to these questions at this point in time. Artemis symbols are the Bow, Arrows, Stag, Hunting Dogs and Moon, her personal animal is the Deer and Bear. Could these symbols be also attributed to St. Philomena...maybe? Artemis is the protector of young Children. St. Philomena is the protector of Children. Both are of Greek origin. Artemis mother and father found refuge on a small island near Delos, where she was born. St. Philomena was was born on a small island called Corfu.
Lumena is related to the family of names such as : Illuminate, Illuminati, Lux, Lucifer and more. All these names relate to "Light". Lumena (An Illusion Of Light), Philomena (Daughter Of Light), Lucifer (The Light Bearer). While on this subject, many think the ancient God Lucifer is connected to the planet named Venus. The ancient God Lucifer might be connected to the Goddess Venus, however not the planet under that name. The ancient God Lucifer is in fact a Solar Deity relating to our Sun. The Light Barer (Lucifer) is often also called "The Bringer Of Light” (the Sun). Diana's brother was in fact Lucifer (Apollo) and their daughter Aradia.
Aradia : The Gospel Of The Witches, chapter 3 says :
"Diana was the first created before all creation; in her were all things; out of herself, the first darkness, she divided herself; into darkness and light she was divided. Lucifer, her brother and son, herself and her other half, was the light. And when
Diana saw that the light was so beautiful, the light which was her other half, her brother Lucifer, she yearned for it with exceeding great desire. Wishing to receive the light again into her darkness, to swallow it up in rapture, in delight, she trembled with desire. This desire was the Dawn".
In the Bible there is some verses that many think is taking about a Babylonian king or Satan. But in fact it is talking about our Solar Sun. What a lot of people do not realize, is that when the letter O is used infront of a world in an English translation of the Bible, they are talking about our Solar Sun. For example the verses where the Bible is saying "O Lucifer" and another example is "O Lord". If you study this for yourself, you will see that some verses of the Bible say “O Lord”, some just say ”Lord” and others say ”LORD”, each of these words are written like this for a purpose. In fact, in at least one verse of the Bible the writing of ”LORD” and ”Lord” are in one one sentence, this is no error. In the verses where it talks about cutting down to the ground and weakening the nations. Its talking about harvest, crops, famine and trading of products between nations.
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart.“I will ascend to the heavens”; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the most high.
14
There are other connections here with Orion, Nephilim, Titans, Scorpio and more. Which I will leave maybe for another blog.
Picking up again with the story of Lumena. It was around the sametime that Lumena got converted to a Gnostic Christian sect and had a slight name change, as mentioned above. That she, along with her family traveled to Rome from their island in Greece. In the story we are told that it was due to the Emperor of Rome wanting to make war with her father. That he was going to Rome to ether make a deal with the Emperor or make a peace agreement. This maybe due to the conversion from the Greek Olympian Deities and rituals to the Gnostic Christian sect.
It is known by reading history that the Roman Emperor, Diocletian was a strong adverary against all forms of the Christian movement. Due to this he persecuted many people through murder and torture. As I have said above, Rome's religion was that of Jupiter and pantheon, much like that of Greece. In fact on looking at history Roman Emperor Diocletian often held speeches infront of a large statue of the God Jupiter (Jove). He also put his sword upto the light of the Sun. It is said that Jupiter was his patron God in which he held in high regard. History go's on to say that he saw himself as Jupiters representative on Earth at the time. That he was appointed by Jupiter and thought himself as the chosen one. History also shows that the Emperor of Rome had a large temple dedicated to Jupiter and Apollo (both Solar Deities).
The Emperors original name was Diocles, however when he came into power. He also changed his name to Emperor Gaius Aurelis Valerius Diocletian or just Diocletian for short.
I believe on researching history, that the Roman Emperor made a bribe with Philomena’s father. That he would offer some control of his Roman Empire, only if he could have his daughter for a bride. The father took the deal and traded his own daughter over to the Roman Emperor. However, Philomena was going to have none of this and resisted the Emperor everytime he made advances to her. With this the Roman Emperor was extremely angery at her response towards him.
So the Emperor of Rome, Diocletian threw Philomena in a large dungeon. Later on some of his army came into the dungeon where she was. They forced her onto her feet and stripped her almost naked. They then put her young body on a pole and wipped her hard as they could with a scourge. By the time they had finished, she was covered in blood, open wounds and a very weak body. She was in terror at her abusers, cold, crying and in extreme pain that was to hard to bare. In what must have seemed like a miracle, she survived after days and days of pain that would not end. Leaving her young skin forever badly scared. Not long after this, she was taken from the dungeon to what was to be her execution. This was a puplic event for all to see. The Roman Emperors guards put a very heavy anchor on her and tied it to her neck. They took her out on the river Tiber by boat and pushed her overboard into the deep water. However, she was able to slip out of the achor, once in the water. The heavy anchor then went to the muddy bottom, under the water. She swam to shore infront of many people who witnessed it and climbed up the muddy bank. Once she was at the top of the river bank, her body and clothes were completely dry from the heat of the Sun. When the Emperor of Rome got word of what happened, he was beside himself with rage. He then started making all kinds of claims and accusations, calling her a "Witch" and more. It is so hard to imagine the horror this young girl must have gone through at the hands of the Emperor Of The Roman Empire. But it did not stop there for this poor girl. The cruelty seemed for Philomena to have no end in sight. She was then twice more taken to a public event, in which she was marched through the streets of Rome while been shot at with arrows from the Emperors men. And again at both these times, death did not come to her. On one account the archers arrows, which were on fire, that where to kill Philomena. Blew back onto the archers killing them instead, most likely setting them on fire. By this time this teenager must have been in a terrible way and finding it hard to remain in a sane mind. Most likely wishing she could pass away, the intense pain, the humiliation in public....everything. This Emperor Of Rome was nothing but a monster.
He often joked to himself "I feel Jovius today" in acknowledgment to his delusional believes that he was Jupiters chosen one.
Finally after the Emperor could not kill Philomena. She was taken and beheaded by some soilders under orders from the Emperor Of Rome, another pubic event. Finially this poor girls tortured young life in this realm was over. She crossed over at 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon, August 10th, incidentally the time of Iesus's crucifixion. She was now free, at peace and safe from her tormentors at last, they could not hurt her anymore. And those Spirits on the otherside came and attented to her and made her very welcome.
The Angel that was said to be looking after Philomena while in the physical realm, was the Archangel Gabriel. This mighty Archangel also is one of the 4 Living Creatures, a guardian of the Watchtower of the element Water. This is along with others, a clear indication of Philomena’s connection with the Water element and Sun signs of Water, in which I am one. This then gives reason to believe Philomena is a patroness to all those under the Sun signs of Scorpio, Cancer and Pisces, who truthfully seek her. The Archangel is also connected with “Yesod” on the Kabbalah, Yesod is known as the “Foundation”.
It is also interesting, in relation to this, that the symbolism of the anchor seen with Philomena’s effigy is another clear connection to Water. One of it’s meanings, is that it provides stability in regards to emotions and keeping calm. While firmly placing your feet on a firm foundation.
Philomena was a Greek Princess, and always will be a Princess. She was just 13 years of age. As for Emperor Diocletian Of Rome, her abuser, her tormentor, predator, torturer and murderer. He was in his late 40s to early 50s at the time.
It is interesting to read in history that Emperor Diocletian forbade the use of torture if the truth could be brought out of their captives. And yet he we find him ordering his army to brutally show such torture to Philomena, a very young girl.
A nun who is believed to have had Spirit communication with Philomena, wrote this of the words Philomena said to her :
"I am the daughter of a Prince who governed a small state in Greece. My mother is also of Royal blood. My parents were without children".
I take this to mean that her parents had no more children after Philomena.
On May 24th or 25th 1802, in the Catacombs Of Priscilla, Rome, the remains of Philomena's broken body was found. Found also with her body was 3 stone tablets with words and symbols on it. Also a container of what is believed to be her dried blood. This was often what took place at a gave of an important person of Royal bloodline. The symbols found were 3 arrows, 2 anchors,1 palm leaf and 1 flower. The tests done on the body confirmed at it was of the age of 14 years old or 15 years old and female. In this case, most likely a virgin. In numerology, the numbers add up to 7.
The words found also on the tablets are :
Pax Te Cvm Fi Lvmena = "Daughter Of Light".
A feast is held for Philomena by those who have her as their patron on August 11th every year.
The name "Philomena" (Fee-Lo-May-Nah) is Latin in origin. The original inscription is written, Filumena. The word "Fila" is Latin for daughter. The word Lumena is Latin also, Light, Lamp, Lantern, Light Of The Day.
(Above is the image of Santa Filomena venerated in the “Church Of Saint Pius X, in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, South America).
Some of the things Philomena can help you with :
Making wrong doers do right and have a change of heart. Expectant mothers, problems with children, unhappiness in the home, sterility, sickness, real estate issues, money problems, food for the poor, mental illness, desperate situations. Blessings and protection. To help with rituals and Magickal work if you are a Priest or Priestess of the Craft. Fighting corruption and the corrupted. Bringing Illumination when in dark times. Help with depression and despair, to give hope and encouragement, to help see a situation more clearly. To bring about clarity to lies and deception of others. Expelling dark and negative Spirits. Helping the homeless and unfortunate, helping those in prison.
She is very powerful combined with Greek Goddesses, Moon Godesses, full Moons, Goddesses related to the Water element, water Elementals and Water Spirits in general. Goddesses of nature, forests, plants, crops. Iesus and other Solar Deities, both Gods and Goddesses.
Philomena is known as "The Wonder Worker". Those that have devotion to her will be rewarded.
Her candle colour is green, pink, light blue or white. Her offerings include : sweet cakes, pink cake, pink lemonade, candles, sweet drinks, cola, fruit juice, all soft drinks, perfume, lots of flowers, pink roses and carnations, lilies, make up, pastel silks, glitter, rosaries, pink or red and white beads home made (she loves you to make things for her) jewellery, marshmallows, french pastries, wipped cream with sugar in it, chocolate, lollies, toys, teddy's, fresh water (always) sweet smelling incense, anything a teenager would like basically, crystals, smooth stones from a river, sea shells, beach sand, beach water, river water. Stories read to her, saying good night to her and good morning, prayers to her, invocations to her, collecting things for her as gifts from nature, she likes pets/Animals (she does not mind pets around her shrine) and more.
Offering Philomena Tobacco and Alcohol is not appropriate, and she does not like any smoke other than sweet smelling incense or Frankincense and Myrrh incense.
Some of the things mentioned above you will not find else where online. As it is what I myself have added from my own connection with Philomena.
In the Voudon tradition Philomena comes under the name of Filomez. And in this tradition that I speak of she is considered a Loa or Lwa, which basically means African Spirit. As Filomez she is in the family of Lwa's called "Rada". Another Voudon Spirit under this family that you may have heard of is Papa/Pope/Father Legba. Papa Legba is a "Gatekeep" Spirit that opens the way for other Lwa's to come through into your rituals/ceremonies. It is he that must be spoken to with special words before any Lwa will come to you. If you do not do this and try and call to a lwa. They may not respond to you or worse, it could be dangerous to you and others in your house/life. They may see you as being very disrespectful towards them.
In the tradition of Voudon, Lwa Filomez is seen by some as the daughter of a Sea Merchant. As I have said above in this blog, she is connected with water. However, I find this is just one of the many conflicting stories I have chose to leave out of this blog. Not all from Voudon, but mostly from that of Catholicism. To me she is a Royal Princess.
Lwa Filomez also has her own Vevé, which is much like a Spirit seal or Sigil. It works like a doorway for her to come through into our world or you could say portal. I made one for her and hand panted it while playing African drumming in the background. I find that if you are able to make something rather than buy it. Your own energies will go into it, making it all the more powerful, and is an offering in and of itself unto Filomez. Not only this but it needs to be cleansed, charged and activated in a certian way. I myself also use her Vevé in meditation and channeling work with her. I have always had a fascination with Esoteric and religious symbols. If you wish to know more about a Spirit or Deity, their Sigil which is also their signature, will tell you. Provided you have learn't how to read the symbols. Ancient symbols are another form of communication and the Vevé is no different. Great knowledge can be found this way. In my own personal opinion, I feel that the Vevé of the Voudon Spirits have a Masonic influence to them, even maybe a Goetic one as well.
It is often common for Voudon Spirits to take possession of those in the ceremonies/rituals. However, very rarely will Lwa Filomez do this. On the rare chance that she does, she can often be found crawlling on her knees and if given flowers, will scatter them on the ground. She also may decide to start sweeping the ground with a broom, to remove all negativity from around the area. These things in themselves tell you a bit more about the kind of Spirit Philomena/Filomez is.
A short word on Spirit possession. There is a lot of bad rap in regards to this subject. This has been due in part to the film industry, sensational claims, wild accusations, exaggerated stories by both the Church and paranormal community. There is possession by both good and helpful Spirits, just as there is with unfriendly and violent/restless Spirits. In ancient times and still today in many Indigenous based cultures, Spirit possession is a very common practice. People allow many different Spirits to take possession of them fully or partially. All under the supervision of those in the ceremonies who have experience and can assist. A common form of possession is by letting the ancient Gods and Goddesses come down and speak through you. I also allow myself to be possessed by Spirits/Deities from time to time. When I talk about Spirits coming down into you. I'm talking about not just speaking through you. But having full control of your bodies actions, emotions, thoughts, personally, all of you. To the point where you may or many not know what happened to you afterwards. Most Traditional Craft Witches in ancient times were successful in doing this as well as Invocation and Evocation. Something that is almost forgotten in today’s modern Craft and the religion of Wicca. However, this form of practice is slowly taking place more in the Western World, due to the return of the Old Gods.
Back to what we were talking about. Remember that while I have mentioned some of Philomena's qualities and likes. This list is in no way limited to just these, it is to give you an idea based on experiences of others. The more you work with a Spirit the more you will come to know them and the more they will reveal to you...its like any relationship. This is how you come to find out a lot more from a Spirit than what people mention online. Maybe this is because they really do not know or they could be sworn to secrecy. Sometimes I will sit for hours just meditating or deeply contemplating on a symbol, without ever loosing concentration. This takes lots of practice that does not come over night.
Filomez/Philomena is also known to reveal things through dreams, so have a dream diary.
Filomez/Philomena's day is Saturday.
Now I wish to go into the channeling session I had with Lumena/Filomez/Philomena the other night. It was not a very long session at all, though it seemed like hours had gone by. Which I find is very common in my experiences. I wonder if any of my readers have also experienced this? There is also some missing time in which I had. The session was actually done with my eyes open the whole time while focusing on Philomena’s effigy. One minute I was doing this and then I find myself coming back to the awareness of the room. I do not know what happened or where I was for 20 minutes, but I do know that I was not asleep or drifting off. If I had someone to help bring me out of the state I was in, I would have gone much deeper. However, I do not know anyone that I completely trust to bring me back out of a session like that. Not all the information I was given, am I able to remember and therefore it has been lost. Unless I am told again, in which there is a good chance of this happening. I tried the best I could to take notes right after the session. As I was very tired afterwards, something's came back slowly and others were gone no matter how hard I tried to remember. To describe, it was like a dream I had that fades from memory every minute that go's by, if not written down straight away.
My partner said that she heard me talking to myself in my Magick room, very loud at times. However, she was not paying any attention to what I was saying to give me any feedback.
🌹Friday night channeling session 21st Feb. 2020🌹
First here is the invocation to Lwa Filomez that helped me with this result from the Voudon tradition.
"Mwen mande ki Lwa sa a,
Yo di mwen se mambo Filoméz
Filoméz bél fanm ki kote ou prale?
Filoméz bél fanm ki kote ou pralé?
Mwen prale nan so, mwen pral si-yen non mwen"
Translation into English :
"I ask who is this Loa, they told me it's Mambo Filoméz,
Filoméz beautiful woman where are you going?
Filoméz beautiful woman where are you going?
I'm going to the waterfall to sign my name".
Mambo is a Priestess of the Voudon tradition. Philomena is a Princess, Goddess and Priestess.
Short Session:
Philomena: I am not made up, I am a real person.
Me: Yes of course you are.
Philomena changes her image to a half white body and a half black body
Now Philomena has changed back to the effigy image
Now Philomena is standing up in a small boat, with enough room for just herself. She is using an oar to push herself along in the water, the water is very calm.
Philomena is wearing a Gold headband around her head, it is shining very bright.
Me: Are you happy with my offerings?
Philomena: Can you make me some whipped cream with some sugar sprinkled all over it?
Me: Most certainly.
Me: This is nice with sliced up banana, then the cream and sugar on top.
Philomena: I would like to try that.
Me: I will make it for you, however I do not have any cream at the moment. Would you be happy with just sliced banana, with sprinkled sugar on top?
Philomena: Yes
Me: I will make it with cream for you next time, that’s a promise.
Philomena: Okey
Me: Do you like the lollies I give you?
Philomena: And chocolates!!!
(I laughed)
Me: Yes and chocolates
I see a very bright Golden Crucifix shining in the position of Philomena’s Third Eye.
It’s turned into a White Dove, the Golden Crucifix has turned into a White Dove.
Me: I know the White Dove to be the symbol of Ishtar/ Inanna, the Goddess Of Heaven And Earth.
Philomena: The Holy Spirit came down like a Dove.
Me: I can see lots of the colour Grey around and behind you. It is fading out the Vevé that I made for you on the wall directly behind you. But everywhere else the Vevé is clear to see.
I then focused more closely on her head. I could see all the colours of the rainbow radiating in an outwards direction from her head.
Me: It’s like a fan
Philomena: Yes.
Philomena: It’s my energies radiating outwards from the statue you have as my representation.
(Though Philomena did not tell me, it was my thought afterwards. That the grey colour around her was the removal of unwanted energies. She was taking it into herself, while sending out her energies at the same time).
I now hear in my head the words and music of a song or hymn, that I have heard once before. I found myself singing along without even realising it at first.
Hymn :
On the wings of a snow white dove,
She sends her pure, sweet love.
A sign from above,
On the wings of a dove.
(I looked these words up later, to realise that this is a really old hymn. That it is actually different to what came through here. The verse that said “She sends her pure, sweet love” was written in the hymn as “He sends his pure, sweet love”. The “He” and “His”was replaced with “She” and “Her”).
Philomena was giving me some dates, but I am unable to remember what they were and what they are about. I also remember Philomena giving me the names of 3 countries. As for why, I am not sure? But I do remember clearly the names of the countries, because I looked them up and found they were all next to each other. The names of the countries Philomena gave me were : France, Belgian, Netherlands.
This was all I can remember of the communication session with Philomena.
(Above photo of Santa Filomena figure from the Archfraternity Of Santa Philomena blogspot. Link :
https://saintphilomenaph.weebly.com/santuario-santa-filumena-mugnano-italy.html)
Aradia : Gospel Of The Witches, Charles Leland can be found at this link :
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aradia-Gospel-Witches-Charles-Leland/dp/0919345107
For those that read and show an interest in this blog, thank you 🙏. Please share.
(All writing & pictures are copyright by Orion Silverstar 191, except where mentioned).
©️Orion Silverstar 191 - 2020.
