Post by Mysti on Aug 11, 2007 12:13:27 GMT -5
Blood Mysteries - Magick & Perspective
If I command the moon it will come down
And if I wish to withhold the day
Night will linger over my head
And again,
If I wish to embark on the sea
I need no ship
And if I wish to fly through the air
I am freed from my weight
- Ancient Greek Papyrus
She is acknowledged, and worshipped in many contemporary cultures,
by diverse names and in many aspects. She is the Goddess -
counterpart to the God, and equally important to spiritual balance
in today's world.
The first association made with the word "Goddess" is usually the
images of primitive fertility goddesses, which are found scattered
over Europe, images which are thought to be among the first
representations of the divine known to humankind. In searching for
Her we undertake a journey into that part of our own psyche, which
resonates to the call of the wise.
However, She is not only the inspiration of dead civilizations, nor
an historical curiosity - seeking the Goddess is not a reversion to
the primitive, but rather an identification with a multi-faceted
symbol. She means many different things to those who choose Her as
artistic patron, or as inspiration for their creative work and
spirituality.
If we are inspired by myth, we are drawn to examine the roles of men
and women in the society, which gave rise to the myth. Among the
earliest cultures, images of fertile women and of the hunt were
crafted in stone and clay, in ochre painted on cave walls and carved
into the rock. They are representations of two human needs -
children to increase the tribe and food to sustain it - arguably the
oldest representations of deity. The images are important in their
own right, for beyond the necessity for water, food Shelter and
companionship, these early people sought to express their concept of
forces in nature, which shaped their lives. Like all good art, it
crosses cultural barriers and evokes feelings, which are relevant
today, because we are still connected to the same human needs.
Today, priestesses and priests of the Goddess add their knowledge of
psychology to the experience of history, to create a new worship
from an ancient wisdom. They celebrate the Goddess in religious
rites, yet they also draw parallels between the myths of the Goddess
and the phases of human life - just as some people relate to the
myth of Persephone in the Rites of Eleusis and perceive that it
tells the tale of the Maiden (Persephone), the Mother (Demeter) and
the Crone (Hekate).
A triumvirate of maiden, mother and crone is, in modern paganism,
related to the phases of the moon, corresponding to first crescent,
full moon, waning moon and dark moon. The process of birth through
growth, maturity, aging and death is also connected to the aspects
of the goddess, though the aspects are called by many diverse names
from as many different pantheons.
THE MAIDEN
In dreams, the Maiden often represents the potential self, the
person we are becoming, and a possibility not yet real. Something
has been conceived - a new attitude or idea, the seeds of a poem, an
unknown strength, the courage to resist, or create or die.
There is a place within us which contains the Maiden - complete unto
ourselves, virgin, we proceed from a willingness to meet every
stranger as another deity in disguise. The Kore in Greek Myth can
represent the potential within us all. We seek Her power, in the
willingness to enter initiation, to abandon perceptions, to enter
the realm of the unknown. She is the Maiden who lives in harmony
with nature, who is reckless and restless about rules and
restrictions. She is the Kore, stolen away by death into the
underworld where She undergoes the transformation knowledge brings.
She is stolen, dispossessed of Her innocence to become the initiate
who is Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.
The knowledge gained in this journey, from child-woman to ruler of
the dark mysteries of the underworld, marks a separation from the
mother in the individuation process; severed from the complacency of
childhood, we face our own decisions and trials. We take risks -
sometimes risks that are not wise ones - but all these risks and
adventures make us who we will become. We are reminded that a
willingness to face our own mortality and effect the transformation
of an initiatory experience marks our ability to complete the cycle
of personal spiritual growth. The Maiden awakens us to the potential
and creative strengths that slumber in the underworld of our own
psyche.
THE MOTHER
The Mother is nurturing, creative and gives of Her substance to the
world. She embraces the principles of returning and recycling
energy. Through Her, the gifts borne by the Maiden are transformed
in the crucible of mature realization.
The Mother can be perceived as our nurturing self, complete, but
also a companion. She reaches beyond the singular to contain a
multitude of possibilities. She is the relating principle, able to
encompass a relationship of equals, to create and to build strength
in Herself and others. Giving of Herself, She receives in return the
freedom to fill Her cup with new dreams. The Mother has many images -
She is the serpent and the butterfly Goddess; She is the deer, the
bear, the wolf or the sow and is mistress of the art of
transformation. Her association with these creatures is not totemic;
She is not a woman with the characteristics and strengths of an
animal. Instead, She is the creature or the Goddess. Part of these
tales of transformation speaks of metamorphic change, dispossession
and the process of alienation. Many myths tell of a Goddess who, in
the dark of night, or at certain times, transforms or is transformed
by some magic process (not always by choice) into a mythic beast.
Her offspring are referred tor as foals, cubs or kids and are more
powerful than their (often) mortal fathers in that they have the
blood of faerie and the power to transform themselves. These myths
are part of our Heritage, where the realm between the worlds exerts
its attraction and speaks to us of spiritual truths.
Red is the color of the Mother - blood of birth, of the menstrual
flow that Heralds the sea change at puberty and heats the blood in
passion. It also represents blood drawn by Her or owed to Her in
battle. It is no co-incidence that love Goddesses are often also
warrior Goddesses; their language is that of the blood, the water of
life. She teaches us that duration and ripening, of ideas and
maturity, are important; She emphasizes that we must free our
children and ideas to blossom in their own way. Until we have given
of ourselves, we cannot either return to the Maiden within and learn
things from a new perspective, or move into the realm of the Crone,
who is the weaver of dreams.
THE CRONE
The Crone is the queen of the shades, dark mistress of the night.
She gathers the strands of our realizations and weaves a many-
colored tapestry to illustrate our lives. As a midwife and
timekeeper, She attends each birth and cuts the cord that binds us
to the Mother. She is priestess and seer, weaver of magic and tide,
who holds the spindle and measures the thread of our lifespan,
weaving it into the web for a certain time and then releasing us to
the regeneration of death.
As ruler of the crossroads, She is the giver and taker of gifts. She
may grant us everything we desire or withhold it. She may wear all
the faces of the Goddess simultaneously and is often portrayed as a
serpent with many heads or as a medusa. She is that which we most
fear and are most fascinated with - the realm of death. She leads
the initiate into the depths of their own renewal in
Her role as teacher of the mysteries. She is found in the twilight
world, as wise women are often portrayed, or on the edge of a
forest, a river, and the sea or in an isolated cave. This makes Her
a figure of dreams and magic. When we seek Her power within us, we
challenge the boundaries of life and are "out on the edge" of
reality. Her, the balance is precarious but She teaches us to
synthesize realizations from the knowledge we glean from experience
of life. Some of Her powers are those of the Fates, the Norns, and
the Muses. She is also seen as a spirit of the wind and of wild
places where things may be transformed into their opposites. As
such, She can as easily change Her form and be seen as a woman of
any age She chooses.
She is wanderer and oracle, Herbalist and shape shifter, wild woman
of the wilds. She moves between the worlds of humankind and the
elder gods freely and without restriction for She is a creature of
all places, not just one physical realm. Where the Maiden can be
seen as encompassing potential, and the Mother contains all
fulfillments, the Crone rejoices in release from ties. Her knowledge
of that which binds makes Her the ruler of cord magic and spinning.
She apprehends the lessons of past, present and future and leads us
into the mysteries of renewal.
A MODERN PRACTICE
The Triple Goddess who manifests as Maiden, Mother and Crone, is one
of the forces worshipped in the Old Earth Religion and in modern
Paganism and Wicca. She is the creator / preserver / destroyer who
interacts with other multi-faceted deities.
We borrow from cultures of the distant past a concept of pattern, an
ordered progression of changes within the individual and within
society. Whether we perceive the Goddess as the primal female aspect
of our own nature or as an aspect of deity; or indeed, as the
creative principle of the universe, we can relate to imagery of the
Goddess and find reflections of Her cycles in our own bodies. The
process of change and growth that occurs in our life is echoed in
the myths of the Goddess, from various cultures, which stress
connection with nature and cultural rhythms. The theme of the
Goddess leads to an examination of the role of deity in our everyday
lives and, in turn, an exploration of the inspiration provided by
spiritual or religious principles.
Now and again in the world individuals seek personal inspiration
from the environment and express that connection through art, music,
dance and ritual. We create the fragile strands of a cultural web
and call on the many aspects of deity who are part of our
spirituality.
The Goddess has many names and is as real to Her Priestesses and
Priests today as She was in remote history. We call on the ancient
wisdom, on the Lady who has changed Her shape to fit the needs of
Earth's children. We worship and celebrate in open fields and groves
of trees, in suburban living rooms and city parks, carrying a wild
magic in our hearts and a willingness to undergo transformation and
challenges in the names of the deities we worship.
The Goddess is once more honored in all Her aspects and finds a
place in our hearts and our daily lives. Her power is seen in
nature, in the depth of sacred pools and in the pull of the tides of
earth and sea. The Mystery lives within us and is known by many
names; we all carry Her within us, whatever our gender or age.
As an individual, I am poised between the faces of deity - between
the underworld of dreams, myth and creativity on the one hand and
the realm of thought, action and self-__expression on the other. As
priestess and woman I flow along the edge of the blade, a precarious
but exhilarating balance - celebrating deity and life.
Author Unknown
Lahanna
If I command the moon it will come down
And if I wish to withhold the day
Night will linger over my head
And again,
If I wish to embark on the sea
I need no ship
And if I wish to fly through the air
I am freed from my weight
- Ancient Greek Papyrus
She is acknowledged, and worshipped in many contemporary cultures,
by diverse names and in many aspects. She is the Goddess -
counterpart to the God, and equally important to spiritual balance
in today's world.
The first association made with the word "Goddess" is usually the
images of primitive fertility goddesses, which are found scattered
over Europe, images which are thought to be among the first
representations of the divine known to humankind. In searching for
Her we undertake a journey into that part of our own psyche, which
resonates to the call of the wise.
However, She is not only the inspiration of dead civilizations, nor
an historical curiosity - seeking the Goddess is not a reversion to
the primitive, but rather an identification with a multi-faceted
symbol. She means many different things to those who choose Her as
artistic patron, or as inspiration for their creative work and
spirituality.
If we are inspired by myth, we are drawn to examine the roles of men
and women in the society, which gave rise to the myth. Among the
earliest cultures, images of fertile women and of the hunt were
crafted in stone and clay, in ochre painted on cave walls and carved
into the rock. They are representations of two human needs -
children to increase the tribe and food to sustain it - arguably the
oldest representations of deity. The images are important in their
own right, for beyond the necessity for water, food Shelter and
companionship, these early people sought to express their concept of
forces in nature, which shaped their lives. Like all good art, it
crosses cultural barriers and evokes feelings, which are relevant
today, because we are still connected to the same human needs.
Today, priestesses and priests of the Goddess add their knowledge of
psychology to the experience of history, to create a new worship
from an ancient wisdom. They celebrate the Goddess in religious
rites, yet they also draw parallels between the myths of the Goddess
and the phases of human life - just as some people relate to the
myth of Persephone in the Rites of Eleusis and perceive that it
tells the tale of the Maiden (Persephone), the Mother (Demeter) and
the Crone (Hekate).
A triumvirate of maiden, mother and crone is, in modern paganism,
related to the phases of the moon, corresponding to first crescent,
full moon, waning moon and dark moon. The process of birth through
growth, maturity, aging and death is also connected to the aspects
of the goddess, though the aspects are called by many diverse names
from as many different pantheons.
THE MAIDEN
In dreams, the Maiden often represents the potential self, the
person we are becoming, and a possibility not yet real. Something
has been conceived - a new attitude or idea, the seeds of a poem, an
unknown strength, the courage to resist, or create or die.
There is a place within us which contains the Maiden - complete unto
ourselves, virgin, we proceed from a willingness to meet every
stranger as another deity in disguise. The Kore in Greek Myth can
represent the potential within us all. We seek Her power, in the
willingness to enter initiation, to abandon perceptions, to enter
the realm of the unknown. She is the Maiden who lives in harmony
with nature, who is reckless and restless about rules and
restrictions. She is the Kore, stolen away by death into the
underworld where She undergoes the transformation knowledge brings.
She is stolen, dispossessed of Her innocence to become the initiate
who is Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.
The knowledge gained in this journey, from child-woman to ruler of
the dark mysteries of the underworld, marks a separation from the
mother in the individuation process; severed from the complacency of
childhood, we face our own decisions and trials. We take risks -
sometimes risks that are not wise ones - but all these risks and
adventures make us who we will become. We are reminded that a
willingness to face our own mortality and effect the transformation
of an initiatory experience marks our ability to complete the cycle
of personal spiritual growth. The Maiden awakens us to the potential
and creative strengths that slumber in the underworld of our own
psyche.
THE MOTHER
The Mother is nurturing, creative and gives of Her substance to the
world. She embraces the principles of returning and recycling
energy. Through Her, the gifts borne by the Maiden are transformed
in the crucible of mature realization.
The Mother can be perceived as our nurturing self, complete, but
also a companion. She reaches beyond the singular to contain a
multitude of possibilities. She is the relating principle, able to
encompass a relationship of equals, to create and to build strength
in Herself and others. Giving of Herself, She receives in return the
freedom to fill Her cup with new dreams. The Mother has many images -
She is the serpent and the butterfly Goddess; She is the deer, the
bear, the wolf or the sow and is mistress of the art of
transformation. Her association with these creatures is not totemic;
She is not a woman with the characteristics and strengths of an
animal. Instead, She is the creature or the Goddess. Part of these
tales of transformation speaks of metamorphic change, dispossession
and the process of alienation. Many myths tell of a Goddess who, in
the dark of night, or at certain times, transforms or is transformed
by some magic process (not always by choice) into a mythic beast.
Her offspring are referred tor as foals, cubs or kids and are more
powerful than their (often) mortal fathers in that they have the
blood of faerie and the power to transform themselves. These myths
are part of our Heritage, where the realm between the worlds exerts
its attraction and speaks to us of spiritual truths.
Red is the color of the Mother - blood of birth, of the menstrual
flow that Heralds the sea change at puberty and heats the blood in
passion. It also represents blood drawn by Her or owed to Her in
battle. It is no co-incidence that love Goddesses are often also
warrior Goddesses; their language is that of the blood, the water of
life. She teaches us that duration and ripening, of ideas and
maturity, are important; She emphasizes that we must free our
children and ideas to blossom in their own way. Until we have given
of ourselves, we cannot either return to the Maiden within and learn
things from a new perspective, or move into the realm of the Crone,
who is the weaver of dreams.
THE CRONE
The Crone is the queen of the shades, dark mistress of the night.
She gathers the strands of our realizations and weaves a many-
colored tapestry to illustrate our lives. As a midwife and
timekeeper, She attends each birth and cuts the cord that binds us
to the Mother. She is priestess and seer, weaver of magic and tide,
who holds the spindle and measures the thread of our lifespan,
weaving it into the web for a certain time and then releasing us to
the regeneration of death.
As ruler of the crossroads, She is the giver and taker of gifts. She
may grant us everything we desire or withhold it. She may wear all
the faces of the Goddess simultaneously and is often portrayed as a
serpent with many heads or as a medusa. She is that which we most
fear and are most fascinated with - the realm of death. She leads
the initiate into the depths of their own renewal in
Her role as teacher of the mysteries. She is found in the twilight
world, as wise women are often portrayed, or on the edge of a
forest, a river, and the sea or in an isolated cave. This makes Her
a figure of dreams and magic. When we seek Her power within us, we
challenge the boundaries of life and are "out on the edge" of
reality. Her, the balance is precarious but She teaches us to
synthesize realizations from the knowledge we glean from experience
of life. Some of Her powers are those of the Fates, the Norns, and
the Muses. She is also seen as a spirit of the wind and of wild
places where things may be transformed into their opposites. As
such, She can as easily change Her form and be seen as a woman of
any age She chooses.
She is wanderer and oracle, Herbalist and shape shifter, wild woman
of the wilds. She moves between the worlds of humankind and the
elder gods freely and without restriction for She is a creature of
all places, not just one physical realm. Where the Maiden can be
seen as encompassing potential, and the Mother contains all
fulfillments, the Crone rejoices in release from ties. Her knowledge
of that which binds makes Her the ruler of cord magic and spinning.
She apprehends the lessons of past, present and future and leads us
into the mysteries of renewal.
A MODERN PRACTICE
The Triple Goddess who manifests as Maiden, Mother and Crone, is one
of the forces worshipped in the Old Earth Religion and in modern
Paganism and Wicca. She is the creator / preserver / destroyer who
interacts with other multi-faceted deities.
We borrow from cultures of the distant past a concept of pattern, an
ordered progression of changes within the individual and within
society. Whether we perceive the Goddess as the primal female aspect
of our own nature or as an aspect of deity; or indeed, as the
creative principle of the universe, we can relate to imagery of the
Goddess and find reflections of Her cycles in our own bodies. The
process of change and growth that occurs in our life is echoed in
the myths of the Goddess, from various cultures, which stress
connection with nature and cultural rhythms. The theme of the
Goddess leads to an examination of the role of deity in our everyday
lives and, in turn, an exploration of the inspiration provided by
spiritual or religious principles.
Now and again in the world individuals seek personal inspiration
from the environment and express that connection through art, music,
dance and ritual. We create the fragile strands of a cultural web
and call on the many aspects of deity who are part of our
spirituality.
The Goddess has many names and is as real to Her Priestesses and
Priests today as She was in remote history. We call on the ancient
wisdom, on the Lady who has changed Her shape to fit the needs of
Earth's children. We worship and celebrate in open fields and groves
of trees, in suburban living rooms and city parks, carrying a wild
magic in our hearts and a willingness to undergo transformation and
challenges in the names of the deities we worship.
The Goddess is once more honored in all Her aspects and finds a
place in our hearts and our daily lives. Her power is seen in
nature, in the depth of sacred pools and in the pull of the tides of
earth and sea. The Mystery lives within us and is known by many
names; we all carry Her within us, whatever our gender or age.
As an individual, I am poised between the faces of deity - between
the underworld of dreams, myth and creativity on the one hand and
the realm of thought, action and self-__expression on the other. As
priestess and woman I flow along the edge of the blade, a precarious
but exhilarating balance - celebrating deity and life.
Author Unknown
Lahanna