Happy Navasard lovers - Navasard is the Ancient Armenian New Year which is celebrated August 11 - Sept 9. On the night of August 10, Armenians gather at “Zorats Qarer” Karahunj in English known as Stonehenge (discovered more than 8000 years ago) to watch the rise of Orion’s Belt. Orion’s constellation is also known as the Constellation of Hayk. Hayk Nahapet is the father of Armenia. According to legendary tales, Hayk defeated the Babylonian tyrant Bel and marked the beginning of Hayasdan (Republic of Armenia).
Karahunj dates over 7500 years old and was used as an astronomical observatory.
Navasard’s etymology is Nav meaning new and Sard meaning year. It is the day of celebrating the seven main Armenian gods and honoring them. According to the legend Armenian Gods would come down and bathe in the Aratsani River and watch the mortals make sacrifices for them. According to the ancient Armenian calendar, which had 12 30-day months and 1 month that had 5 days, Aug 6-10. This additional month was called “Avelyats” which translates to additional. Therefore, Navasard is celebrated on Aug 11
A couple of months ago when I was in Athens, before falling asleep in a trans state I had this strong urge to visit Karahunj during Navasard and collect Karahunj’s essence my first Gem essence. And today with great joy and excitement I made that a reality. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life to this date. My phone died so I don’t have many pictures from the night. We arrived at Karahunj around sunset on Aug 10 and we set up our tent. We met an incredible Armenian family and an Italian couple who joined us on our journey of welcoming Navasard. And of course, the names of the women were Nane (Goddess of War and Wisdom) and Anahit (Armenian Goddess of Fertility and Healing) We sang many songs and broke bread(ate homemade Gatta together, drank herbal tea from the mountains of Armenia, and shared laughs and stories together. The night was pure magick. At 4 am, thousands of Armenians gathered with their teas and blankets and watched the rise of Hayk’s constellation. We danced, sang, and honored our pagan roots.
When I saw that many people I felt a resistance to making the essence. I decided not to fight it and continue being present and enjoying this magickal night. I had been dreaming of being at Karahunj on Navasard for a while. After watching the rise of Orion’s belt we made more herbal tea and sipped on it. As we were sipping on it I found a stone calling my name and decided it was time to collect the essence. On our way to Karahunj, we stopped at Areni Caves where I found the most magickal obsidian stone. I used this stone as a protective stone while collecting the essence of Karahunj. I started making the essence around 4:35 am and left it until sunrise. It was a waning Crescent in Gemini and Jupiter in Taurus were visible and active participants in the alchemization process of this essence. We all spent some time around the essence as it was being alchemized to send our gratitude and tune in to the medicine of this essence. I invited folks to put their hands around the bowl to tune in to its medicine and some keywords that were used were Fresh, tranquility, ease(mental and physical), heaviness, power, and sun to describe what they felt as they tuned in to the energy of the essence.
I can’t wait to introduce this essence to the world. The launch date is during Scorpio Szn
