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No-one
knows for certain how or why the Titans are so named. Scholars
suggest the least unlikely
meaning of the word in antiquity for TITAN is 'honoured ones'.
Their origins are even more uncertain, though the old poet
Hesiod claimed they were the first born...when earth and sky
united.
Iapetus is one of
the Titans; his brothers and sisters include Cronos, Oceanus and
Theia.
There is little information about Iapetus
beyond Hesiod's description as one of the first deities created
when earth and sky united. But, says historian Rose: 'This much may be taken as fairly certain, that the Titans are very
ancient figures, little worshipped anywhere in historical
Greece, and belonging to a past so remote that the earliest
Greeks of whose opinions we have any certain knowledge saw them
with a haze of extreme antiquity...It is generally agreed that
the Titans are nature-powers of some sort.'
Chances are
Iapetus was worshipped upon the islands of and
bordering the Pacific ocean.
On first
encounter with Iapetus he appeared from a blinding flash of red
light.
He is a dark-skinned God, not African black,
but light-brown and he has long straight shoulder-length hair. He is a
huge God with steel-grey piercing eyes and stands very tall. He
chooses to appear as a man in his mid 40s, either native
American or Polynesian. Iapetus is ferocious:
"I am the
mighty Iapetus. You pay me homage. It is long overdue by many
centuries. You are brave mortals to invite me here. I am strong
and I am cruel and I am powerful. Paying homage to me will do
good for you and for others; providing courage and strength are
shown in tests I may choose to give. Yes I have been neglected
and you will make up for that neglect."
In extreme terms,
Iapetus' tests are V extreme to severely dangerous. But there is a positive side, and even gentleness.
"You
will gain strength through this and the realisation that we who
have been forgotten for so long do expect recognition and
respect. I am fierce yet kindly."
Team-members tell
of their experiences with Iapetus as horror between fainting.
Sometimes he twirls you round on a long lasso so fast while
crushing you to the ground, just for openers; other times
Iapetus gives you walls of fire and hills of hot coals to climb.
Occasionally he relents.
Temple
Diaries Iapetus
Festival
of Iapetus - March
24th
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