THE FIRST REDE – DIVINITY IN NATURE
I, who am the Beauty of the Green Earth, and the White Moon among the
stars, and the Mystery of the Waters, and the Desire of the Heart of
Man, call unto thy soul.
Arise, and come unto me, for I am the Soul of Nature, who gives life
to the universe.
Moondaughter taught us that all of nature reflects the Lord and Lady. The God
and the Goddess, she said, can be seen in the natural world just as the Inner
Self of an artist can be seen in the lines and colors of her paintings. Thus,
she taught, it is the divine character of the Lord and Lady Themselves which
gives rise to the great polarities of nature
The Great Polarities and The Four Elements
Moondaughter saw all the Yins and Yangs of nature — from the positive and negative charges within the atom to the male and female characteristics within each individual — as reflections of that sexual polarity between Lord and Lady
which is the origin of all nature’s creatures. In addition, however,
Moondaughter taught us that a second set of polarities of Inner Self and Outer Self existed throughout nature. This polarity she called vertical in contrast to
horizontal polarity of male and female.
From a superficial view, the polarity of Inner Self and Outer Self might appear
to be a form of dualism, but this was not the case. Moondaughter did not view
Inner and Outer as utterly different in their natures. Rather, she viewed the
Outer Self as a second version of the Inner, the same pattern manifested in a
denser material.
It was in terms of the two great polarities that Moondaughter taught the meaning
of the four elements. Fire corresponds to the masculine Yang, which is balanced
by Water as the feminine Yin. Air corresponds to the invisible Inner Self, and
Earth to the visible Outer Self.
First Lessons in Magic
The simplest and most obvious manifestation of the Earth/Air polarity in human
beings is the relationship between mind and body. The nature of the body is
reflected in the mind, and the nature of the mind is reflected in the body.
Those divinatory sciences which, like palmistry, interpret the form of the body
make use of this correspondence — but the fact that the correspondence exists
does not guarantee the accuracy of any particular school of interpretation.
The Earth/Air polarity is also seen in the instinctual mind of animals and in
the response of plants to human feelings. Even atoms and molecules have an Inner
Self that can respond to emotion and will. When we do magic, we touch the Inner
Self of that which we would influence, and the effects of that touch are
reflected in that being’s Outer Self.
The Universe as a whole also has its Inner Self and Outer Self, which are the
two worlds between which we step in ritual. Thus the rationale for astrology is
not (as the skeptics claim) that the physical planets themselves somehow
influence us, but rather that patterns of the visible heavens are a reflection
of invisible patterns in the Inner World.
The Soul of Nature
Moondaughter taught that Earth and Air appear throughout nature because the Lord
and the Lady are Themselves beings of Earth and Air. Their Outer Selves are the
energy and matter which make up the material world, while Their Inner Selves are
Their ability to Know, to Will and to Love.
In another sense, nature as a whole — Earth and Air, Fire and Water — is the
Outer Self to the Lord and Lady, who are the Soul of Nature. Every one of Their
many children is a visible expression of the Their character.
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