Category: Articles

Celebrating Other Spirituality 365 Days A Year – Nones of March/Junonalia/Phra Buddha Bat Fair

March 6th

Nones of March/Junonalia/Phra Buddha Bat Fair

 

In ancient ROme, Nones (in Latin, “Nonae”) were the nine days before the Ides (the 7th in long months and the 5th in other months) when the holidays for the month were announced. Junonalia honored the Goddess Juno with a procession of 27 girls, dressed in long flowing robes, accompanied by an image of the Goddess carved from the wood of a cypress tree.

On this day in Thailiand, the annul bat fair is held in honor of the Buddha’s footprint. The festival features folk dancing and traditional handcrafts. Local shrines and statues are honored with food, flowers and personal offerings of thread and yard.

Friday Is Ruled by Venus

Friday Is Ruled by Venus

Archangel: Anael

Candle colour: Green or pink

Incenses: Rose or geranium

Crystals: Jade or rose quartz

Use Fridays for spells for love, fidelity, healing, for anything to do with beauty, the arts and crafts and for all spells concerning the environment.

Where possible, work in any enclosed beautiful place outdoors, for example a botanical garden, a field, park or your own garden – even in a circle of plants indoors.

The Witches Correspondence for Friday, March 7th

The Witches Correspondence for Friday, March 7th

 

Magickal Intentions: Love, Romance, Marriage, Sexual Matters, Physical Beauty, Friendship and Partnerships, Strangers and Heart
Incense: Strawberry, Sandalwood, Rose, Saffron and Vanilla
Planet: Venus
Sign: Libra and Taurus
Angel: Ariel
Colors: Green, Pink, Aqua
Herbs/Plants: Pink Rose, Ivy, Birch, Heather, Clematis, Sage, Violet and Water Lilly Stones: Rose Quartz, Moonstone, Pink Tourmaline, Peridot, Emerald and Jade
Oil: (Venus) Cardamom, Palmrosa, Rose, Yarrow

Friday belongs to Venus, and its energies are warm, sensuous, and fulfilling. Efforts that involve any type of pleasure, comfort, and luxury, as well as the arts, music, or aroma (incense and perfume) works well on this day. As Venus lends its sensuous influences to the energies of this day, use it for any magical work that deals with matters of the heart.

The Witches Almanac for Friday, March 7th

The Witches Almanac for Friday, March 7th

Friday (Venus): Love, friendship, reconciliation and beauty.

Bird and Arbor Day

 

Waxing Moon

The Waxing Moon is the ideal time for magick to draw things toward you.

Moon Phase: First Quarter

Moon Sign: Gemini

Gemini: Things begun now are easily changed by outside influence. Time for shortcuts, communication, games and fun.

Incense: Orchid

Color: Coral

TGIF! IT IS FINALLY FANTASTIC FRIDAY, dear brothers & sisters!

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

Goddess wise and strong
Help me to achieve my goals
Let me choose wisely
To improve myself
And make my future shine
With happiness and fulfillment
In all those areas
That matter most to me
Let me be focused
In the pursuit of my goals
But not driven
Let me be healthy
In the pursuit of my goals
And seek balance
Let me succeed in my goals
With your help and guidance
 
 
So Mote It Be.

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for March 6th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Haven’t you heard someone say, after experiencing something either good or bad, “I knew it was going to be that way.” And perhaps the conviction was very strong that certain conditions would take a definite turn. But much of the time we say it not out of conviction, but resignedly, agreeing beforehand that something will be a certain way, and usually with dire overtones.

It used to be believed that we had no power to control anything coming to us. We were mere victims of circumstances, almost like stones waiting to be kicked aside. But we were taught, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.”

We must not be so presumptuous as to believe we know everything there is to know about the workings of the mind. But we attract a great many of our problems simply by dwelling on them in our thoughts.

Premonition, or “knowing” things are going to be a certain way, is merely giving us a little time to head off the trouble. Such things should be a challenge, not an accepted rule. “Know” better until you believe it into conviction and into being.

 

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Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – March 6

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – March 6

“And there are Four Corners of the Earth that we talk about, the Four Colors of people, and the Four Winds. You see the winds-they are spirits.”

–Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN

The Elders teach us about the four directions. If we learn about direction, we also learn about attention, about focus, and about power. Each direction has spiritual power. In the morning, go outside, face the East and get still; then, listen to your thoughts. After you have done this for a while, turn and face the West. Get quiet once again and listen to your thoughts. Did your thinking change when you changed direction?

Great Spirit, teach me the power of the four directions.

March 6 – Daily Feast

March 6 – Daily Feast

Remember when you do anything, there will be someone that will find fault, no matter what you do. The pleasure of an unhappy person is to find something wrong in others to salve his own discontent. The Cherokees believe that tests sharpen their wit and help them, a s qua dv, win or triumph over opposite powers. It would be beneath them to accept criticism as something they must overcome. The Cherokees flick it off like, to is, pesky mosquitos. We all try to understand our differences of opinion, to care what effect we cause in other people. But the bane of anyone’s existence is ignorance – our own. We want more than anything to correct what we know is wrong. And what we find wrong in others may be a reflection of our own wrongs.

~ May the white man and the Indian speak truth to each other today. ~

BLACKFOOT

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Daily Motivator for March 6th – Willingness to learn

Willingness to learn

Look back at everything you did yesterday and ask yourself this simple but powerful question. What worked, and what didn’t?

The way to improve and to become more effective is to learn. The way to learn is to take the time to look at what actually happened.

You don’t need some celebrated guru to reveal to you how to improve your work. You just need the willingness to learn from what you’ve done.

Instead of getting angry or frustrated about your failures, choose to learn from them. Instead of getting boastful or complacent about your successes, make the choice to learn from them.

Learn what helps you, what holds you back, what makes you more effective and what slows you down. Learn from your encounters, your experiences, your joys, your setbacks and from the surprising twists that life often takes.

In everything is the valuable opportunity to learn if you’ll simply decide to do so. Learn from it all, and make each day better than the one before.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

The Daily OM For March 6th – Two Sides of the Same Moon

Two Sides of the Same Moon
Ritual Moon

by Madisyn Taylor

As our ancestors once did we can honor the cycles of the moon with rituals that help connect us to a more natural life.

The moon waxes and wanes in the night sky, always following the same cyclical pattern, lighting the darkness with its luminous glow. It has been this way as long as the earth has been here. The same moon grew from dark to full and back again, catching the eyes of our grandparents, our great grandparents, and those at the beginning of humanity. The moon guided our ancestors in the planting, sowing, and reaping of their crops, and we can be inspired to observe and honor these same cycles today with simple rituals that help connect us to the natural ebb and flow of life energy.

Dark moons and new moons represent polar moments of beginning and realization in the arc of the moon’s phases. When the moon is dark, we might take time to meditate on emptiness, the fertile ground in which seeds take root. A simple ritual for acknowledging this potent phase of the moon would be to write down new plans and ideas that present themselves and keep them in a moon journal. Looking back over a year of dark moons, you may be amazed to see which seeds have blossomed. Full moons symbolize completion and fulfillment, the realization of the seed, and they are times of celebration. They are a great time to gather friends and family to partake in a communal feast acknowledging the apex of another monthly cycle. Your full moon journal might track the full moons of an entire year with a recounting of the gathering—the menu, the guest list, and any other observations you feel inspired to make.

Honoring the dark and full moons with these simple rituals brings our year into a new kind of focus. As we acknowledge the flow of the moon’s cycles, we become more comfortable with the changing nature of our earthly lives, making our peace with each phase, and with the shifting from emptiness to fullness and back again. We strengthen our connection to the universe in which we live and find peace in both emptiness and fullness, each of which are natural and necessary—two sides of the same moon.

The Daily OM

The Changing Role of Men in Wicca

The Changing Role of Men in Wicca

Author:   Morgan Ravenwood 

It is unfortunate but too often true that male Wiccans find themselves relegated to a passive, almost non-existent role in Wicca and many other Pagan traditions, thereby depriving their female counterparts of some potentially useful interaction, observations and teachings.

While many Wiccan women would defend this stance by pointing out that the Abrahamic faiths are male-centered and that they came to Paganism to avoid being forced to submit to male authority, they fail to realize that any faith that places emphasis on one gender over another is simply out of balance and deprives its members of both spiritual satisfaction and education.

We Wiccans must remember that it was a man, Gerald Gardiner, who originally gave birth and identity to the faith we practice today. However, he didn’t do so all by himself—he a lot of help and encouragement from women such as Doreen Valiente. Perhaps that is why the Gardnerian tradition has always promoted gender equality. Since then there have been some notable male Pagans such as Stuart Farrar, Oberon Zell, Isaac Bonewits, and more recently, Kerr Cuhulain and Christopher Penczak (who has written a great deal about gay Wiccans, whose numbers continue to grow) whose knowledge and experience have benefited us all.

A quick overview of some of the major Wiccan traditions certainly doesn’t inspire a man to want to join most of them unless he is willing to play a subordinate—and submissive- –role. While ones such as the various Druid groups and the Alexandrian and Gardnerian traditions seem to be more welcoming to the male practitioner, others such as the Dianic and Avalonian traditions are strictly matrifocal with no male participation at all. There are endless lists of Wiccan female-only groups on the web as opposed to barely a handful for men. All of this amounts to the same kind of sexism practiced by the mainstream religions, and is just as counter-productive.

We are all familiar with the concept of the Triple Goddess, which is of course worshiped by male and female Wiccans alike. While most female Wiccans relate the phases of the Goddess to our own lives, how do we apply this to the God, and in so doing, contemplate how this concept can be applied to men?

In my long years of study and correspondence with other practitioners, I have learned quite a bit from some very wise male Pagans. I recently asked some of them their opinions on this, and actually got some pretty similar answers, though one male friend said, “I hadn’t really ever thought about it!”

I can’t help but feeling that that is a very great shame indeed.

Equal gender identification really isn’t that difficult when you think about it. When we see the young Goddess as the Maiden, we could see her male counterpart as the Youth/Warrior/Student. As She reaches Her Mother stage, Her consort matures into the Father/Warrior/Hunter.

Opinions vary on when a woman has aged sufficiently to regard herself (and be regarded by others) as a “Crone, ” but on the other side of the coin, we again have her consort becoming an Elder/Sage/Grandfather. Though male Wiccans revere and venerate the Goddess in these various incarnations, might they not feel a little more comfortable if the God was given equal consideration?

Those female Wiccans who may belong to covens who worship the Goddess to the exclusion of the God might feel a little more in balance also.

When we look at the history of Paganism we find a large number of male deities such as Cernunnos, Dagda, Lugh, Cuchulainn, Pan, Osiris, Zeus, Apollo, and so many more. In ritual, particularly when petitioning for a special purpose, it is wise to aim such petitions towards a deity who may have certain characteristics particular to the object of the petition.

Male Wiccans especially may have certain issues that they feel more comfortable sharing with a male deity as opposed to a female one. That doesn’t mean, however, that they would (or should) eliminate worship of the Goddess in Her many forms—on the contrary, the male Wiccans of my acquaintance are very devoted to Her.

As in everything, balance and moderation are the keys.

We need look no further than our own Wheel of the Year to understand how important the God is to our religion. From Yule, when we celebrate the birth of the God, to Samhain, when He dies and prepares to be born yet again at Yule, our Sabbats are ironically centered on the God, with the Goddess both assisting and participating in a supporting (but no less important) role.

Consequently, it seems illogical and counter-productive to relegate the God along with male practitioners to a minor role in other Wiccan rites. While I am certainly not advocating the dissolution of all female-only covens, I DO encourage them to give some serious consideration to allowing serious male practitioners to participate in their rites. This would present many opportunities for fellowship and the sharing of knowledge, which would surely outweigh any perceived disadvantages.

The Religioustolerance.org website contains Edain McCoy’s description of the worship of Wiccan deities thusly: “We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God, who together created all that is, was, or will be. We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation.” And yet, the same article also says, “Wiccans celebrate the sexual polarity of nature.

For example, the fertilizing rain is one manifestation of the male principle; the nurturing earth symbolizes the female. Females are respected as equal (and sometimes at a slightly higher rank) to males. A priestess is often the most senior person among covens — a local group of Wiccans. They aim for a female-male balance in most of their covens (local groups), although men are typically in the minority.”

The last sentence really reinforces the imbalance that exists in Wiccan practice and brings up a salient point: perhaps if more men chose to become involved in Wicca, it would drive up the numbers of Wiccan adherents and consequently make us more of a force to be reckoned with. The days of “broom closet” Wicca are coming to a close and we are already seeing the benefits such as the V.A. approval of the pentacle on the headstones of Wiccan veterans.

However, we must keep in mind that in order for more men to become interested in Wicca, they must be allowed equal consideration and status.

It’s a concept whose time has come.

The Anatomy of Magical Power

The Anatomy of Magical Power

Author:   Iritar 

In my teaching, there are some key basic elements to each and every pagan’s spiritual path that emphasize the power of each practitioner. Whether you are just starting your path or have been on your journey for many years, it is important to return to these basics in order to grow past hurdles when you feel that every corner is filled with roadblocks that impede your growth.

Visualization

I cannot stress this enough. Practicing and maintaining good visualization exercises helps to construct energies within yourself and from the divine source (s) you follow. Without being able to see that energy, you are not capable of casting circles, putting up spiritual defenses or see your magic being sent out.

Meditation

This goes hand in hand with visualization. By following one of two meditation techniques (and swapping between them as you feel led) you can let your higher self and the powers that be guide you around the roadblocks. Using proper meditation techniques such as getting comfortable, setting the atmosphere with incense, candles and music will allow you to get better results.

With Focused Meditation, you are looking to direct your energy for a purpose whether that is health, peace, love, etc. This is where you retain an image within your mind, whether moving like a movie or still like a photo. Focused Meditation is also a good place to instill commands to yourself that will accelerate specific tasks to “snap you into it”.

For Christians, Psalms 23 and the Lord’s Prayer are two distinct ways for them to immediately focus on peace, spiritual defense and assurance. By reciting these passages, it allows them to take a predetermined “emotion” and resurrect that emotion instantaneously without a lot of prop and circumstance.

Pagans can do the same. I use a reinforcement phrase in my meditation that will allow me to instantly surround myself with spiritual defense. I use the phrase, “Shields Up”. Although I’m not a Trekkie, I use the visualization of the defense shield from the series as a way of protection. As I performed the visualizations of those shields in my meditation for self-protection, I reinforced this with the phrase. This allows me to quickly throw up my spiritual defenses without much focus in everyday life.

Another form of meditation is Intuitive Meditation. This is a free form style meditation where you don’t focus at all like intentionally daydreaming. You should protect yourself before you begin by putting up your defenses and then clear your mind briefly. I usually visualize a white sheet of paper with no lines for the canvas of my meditation, holding it in my mind for a few minutes. Allow your eyes to unfocused and relax. As the images come in, allow them to flow and pay attention to everything you see. Usually these images will show you what you should work towards, reveal the mysteries in your life and even allow you to see what’s ahead of you.

After your meditation is done, document them in your journal and you can plan Focused Meditation sessions to examine what you need to more closely.

Emotional and Spiritual Balance for Protection

Building off the visualization exercises and meditation, you need to protect yourself from negative energies and spiritual attacks. Not all attacks are within the physical or from a being you know. Some negative forces are drawn to your spiritual light like beetles to lights in the darkness.

Follow the codes of Harm None and understand the Law of Three. All indoctrinations have variations of these principles. The easy explanation is what you send out will come back with a punch. Do what you will, avoid imposing against someone’s will even with good intent.

I usually ask permission from people when doing spell work from them. If I chose not to disclose my spiritual beliefs to someone, I ask them if I can pray for their need in my own way to request that permission.

Avoid the negativity; you don’t need it in your life.

Rites and Ritual

Follow the codes of your coven if you are in one, but also establish your own practices. Do what feels right from you when communing spiritually one on one with your deities. Some people need detailed ritual work to enter that communion where the magic flows; others can instantly open themselves up by simply asking their deities to stop by for a visit.

If you are a solitary practitioner, establish your own journals and Book of Shadows. Read and study, but if you feel restraint in following a ritual like not being able to remember the exact words of someone else’s ritual you read, make your own.

The issue at hand is that if it feels like work and you cannot break through, then it is work. I associate this much fun to doing my taxes. Ritual should never be a burden.

Spells

If you are just beginning your life path, it is good to look at samples of other people’s spells. This can help you find your own structure and what you need to be successful in your practice. I strongly encourage creating your own spells as simple or as complex as you need. You can chose to incorporate what elements are right for you such as what kind of incense to use, if any, calling the elements, herbs and recitals.

If you are in a group or coven, ask them for guidance and learn group spells and rites. This will instill harmony in group spell works and communion.

Resist Pride and Envy

No one has all the answers or they wouldn’t be here. No matter how powerful you feel that you have become or how close your walk is with your deities, understand that you still have something to learn. Avoid competing with other practitioners and don’t measure yourself against them.

Each of us is on a personal journey. We should never look down upon another because what they need to know will be revealed to them when they are ready. You can offer a general word of assurance and aid if needed, but do not feel that you have to tell them what they need to do unless you perceive they are asking for your help.

Be open to share with others, but if you encounter opposition to the knowledge you share, know where to end it peacefully. Avoid challenges by weighing those challenges against your beliefs and avoid debates. If the emotions start feeling tense during a conversation where questions are arising, you are going to far. Stop, center yourself and listen willingly to the other part. If they are wrong, they will discover this themselves even if it means the hard way. That is their path.

Fear that someone is trying to take control of your group (even if they are) will become self-defeating. Use your protection guards and wards. Speak truth and do not seek to tear others down. This is a good way to weed out the deceit and negativity from the group. Those remaining will become more enlightened and grow by leaps and bounds.

Conclusion

Que Se, Que Se. What will be will be. Don’t lose focus on your spiritual path and start will the basics if you are feeling stagnant. Avoid negativity and realize it when you are the source of it. Discharge it and get rid of it.

Avoid feelings of guilt, betrayal and loss. If you are having problems with these, address them with meditations and reinforce their removal through spells and rites that are of your construction.

Blessed Be,
Iritar

The Myths of Modern Paganism

The Myths of Modern Paganism

Author:   Widsith 

“What’s history? Nothing but a legend on which all agree” – Napoleon Bonaparte.

As the title may suggest, this essay will deal mainly with history, or if I should be more precise, it’ll deal with some prevailing myths and urban legends among the global Neopagan community. I would like, however, to state beforehand that I am no historian of any sort; all I can claim to be is an ardent critic of the way people tend to perceive history. However, if there are any factual errors, I would be more than glad to be notified of them.

History, as opposed to what some may think, is not written in order to teach us of what happened in the past. Frankly, it’s relatively rare to find a history book that has no ulterior motives regarding anything. The reason for that, as I believe you all know, is that history was recorded mostly by those who managed to survive it. Thus it is not uncommon to find alterations and perversions of facts. You could find that in the Bible as well as in the writings of any notable historian, such as Tacitus or Josephus; it cannot be avoided.

However, I am not here to talk of such alterations, as I will not be discussing the suppression of Pagans by their Monotheistic counterparts, or vice versa. Much had been written and said about this topic without me adding to it. I will however write about some of the modern, Neo-Pagan myths, ranging from the supposed historicity of Wicca to the fictitious Mists of Avalon.

I often hear pagans uttering some statements regarding how old their religion is, and about their traditions being passed down orally for hundreds of years from father to son, or through covens, apprenticeship, etc. Needless to say, many of these claims are fabrications. Most, if not all, of the Western Pagan religions — from which the Wiccans, Asatruars, the Neo-Druids, and many others claim descent — were extinct by the late Middle Ages, if not much earlier. Although there were many aspects from the old religions blended into folklore (which in some cases survived up to modern times) , reconstructing these ancient religions precisely is impossible. I could recount here the history of Christianity and Islam and their bloody wars of destruction against the old religions, however, that would be unnecessary. There’s very little doubt that by the 1900’s, when the Neopagan movement began to surface, other than some old folktales and traditions, nothing remained of the old religions.

However, I see no problem in reconstructing these old religions per se. We’ll just never know for sure if the folk traditions the modern forms are based upon are actually remnants of an old pagan past, or on the contrary, simply modern costuming. My main problem concerns the falsehoods some people spread about Neopagan history. It’s no longer a problem about “who wrote it down”; the problem is that many of these things simply never happened.

Let’s take the Witch craze, for example. I have heard people say that it was basically a campaign by the Church, all for the extermination of an old European Pagan Religion. Of course, this is not true. The Witch craze was not directed against any supposed “witchcraft religion” because there simply wasn’t any witchcraft religion at that time. The entire concept of this supposedly historical religion originated in the 19th century among some anthropologists; however, it was soon discarded until Gerald Gardner picked it up and created the Wiccan Creation Myth.

Then there is the popular concept of an old widespread ‘Goddess religion’. It is true that Pagan cultures had some respect for the feminine aspects however there was no widespread Goddess-worshipping religion. Moreover, the entire concept of a triple Goddess, which encompasses everything (or as I prefer referring to it – the MMC – maiden, mother, crone) , never existed before the advent of Neopaganism (Yes, there were triple Gods and Goddesses, but they were not of the MMC type by all means) . There were some historical cults favoring female deities, however, none of them (from whatever we know of them) seem like their modern counterparts.

And lastly, there is the book, The Mists Of Avalon. When I first read it, I loved it. I truly think that it’s an important book, mainly because of its message. However, seeing the use made of the tale by so many, I felt dismayed at first, and enraged afterwards. The Mists of Avalon, as you all should know, is not history, and they never will be. Morgan Le Fey is likely nothing but a literary figure (although she might have some Pagan origin as the Welsh Modron) , and Avalon was never an island, nor had there been an order of druidesses in Glastonbury Tor. The entire legend connecting Glastonbury Tor with the mythical Avallach originated in the 11th century, when the English were warring with the Welsh, and most of what we know as the Arthurian Saga is the literary creation of Geoffry from Monmouth. Although he did incorporate many old folktales of Arthur in his tales, he had, as many others did on those days, invented parts of his story while claiming them to be older.

There is no problem in people following a religion that is other than yours, as long as they don’t harm other people in the process. The problem is that people choose to distort, and sometimes, even reinvent history in order to justify their religion. Even the oldest of religions were once new, so there’s no need for emerging new ones to fill in their blanks with a fictitious history. However, we still do it. (The answer to the question “why do we rely on mythologies to justify whatever we do?” will not be answered in this essay.)

I will conclude with a simple call for all of you out there: do not distort history. Simply, do not do it. What you’re doing is not presenting the ‘other side’ of history; you are attempting to rewrite it. I beg you, please do some research.

And may the universe bless you all.

The Matter Of Faith

The Matter Of Faith

Author:   RuneWolf   

Faith, simply put, is trust.

Some Pagans have a negative reaction to the entire concept of faith, because it has become synonymous in our culture with one particular brand of faith: Christian. But I submit that, whether one is Christian or Pagan or whatever, faith is the root and foundation of any serious spiritual life. Christian faith and Pagan faith may differ radically, but I believe that faith itself, that is to say trust, is indispensable in any genuine relationship with the Divine, however we may understand It. If I have no trust in my Goddess and my God, then I am simply going through the motions of being a Witch, and I might as well just declare myself an atheist and get it over with.

From my experience as a nominal Christian in my youth, and from my observations since then, it seems that Christian faith is an almost fanatical trust that God or Jesus will deliver the faithful from the tribulations of this life, and secure that person a place in Paradise in the afterlife. Pagan faith, on the other hand – at least as I practice it – is an implicit trust that my Goddess and my God will always help me to find within myself the resources to deal with the trials of life. A large part of my spiritual life as a Witch is spent opening myself to the various ways in which the Divine communicates with me in the course of my daily life, so that when a crisis does occur, the lines of communication are already open.

These two types of faith may be labeled “passive” and “active, ” and objectively neither is really superior to the other. I do, however, have my personal opinions and preferences.

Faced with a crisis, a Christian will tend to pray and “put things in God’s hand, ” trusting that their Lord will set things right. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as most negative situations are beyond our human control anyway, and the more we meddle, trying to “fix” things, the worse the situation gets, and the more stressful it becomes. “Getting out of our own way” by turning the matter over to a spiritual power, and trusting that the situation will work out, may indeed be the best course of action, and in this situation, faith becomes the psychic buffer that allows someone to let circumstances run their course without living in constant anxiety. Using their version of prayer and having deep faith in their Lord and Savior, the Christian is effectively working magic, if one defines magic as “changing consciousness at will.”

Speaking solely for myself, I believe that this type of faith ultimately disempowers the individual. Like a child who never escapes the apron strings, the practitioner of passive faith learns nothing from the challenges of life, and can only meet each new challenge as the last was met, with passivity and an abdication of responsibility.

Active faith, on the other hand, encourages – even demands – that the individual take responsibility and take action, even if that action is taking no action at all. This last may seem a bit paradoxical, but it is really an important and subtle point. A practitioner of passive faith may take no action by default – the matter has been turned over to God, and there is no further need for personal action. Indeed, continuing to struggle after invoking Divine intercession could be seen as a denial of faith. The practitioner of active faith, on the other hand, may elect to take no action, but only after appropriate contemplation of the situation, and due consultation with the Gods. In this context, taking no action becomes a choice, perhaps just one among many.

There is a Jewish proverb that says: “Pray as if everything depends on God, act as if everything depends on you.” I think this is a beautiful and concise definition of active faith, one that is both eminently mystical and logically practical, and it is the manner in which I strive to live my life as a Witch.

One important function of faith, in the spiritual or religious sense, is indeed to satisfy deep psychological needs. My faith, my trust, that my Goddess and God are always with me helps me to feel secure, appreciated and loved unconditionally, often in the face of insecurity, rejection and hatred. My Deities do not eliminate the negative circumstances willy-nilly. Rather, They provide the guidance whereby I find within myself the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual resources to deal with those negative circumstances. I do not hide behind Them, but I know They are “watching my back.”

For many people, Pagan and non-Pagan, this sense of “Divine parenting” is all that is required of faith. Many people can accept it and practice it simply because it is a tenet of their chosen religion, and it is so effective in their lives that they never find the need to go deeper.

For some of us, however, the matter of faith runs much deeper, into realms that are difficult to address via the cumbersome medium of the spoken or written word, and the linchpin of this difference is often the “spiritual experience.”

I have heard it said that there is a difference between “faith” and “belief.” One is said to have faith when one trusts in something that cannot be or has not been proven. One believes in something that one has directly experienced. Today, the words are synonymous to me, largely because I have been fortunate enough to have had two powerful “spiritual experiences” in my Pagan life. Members of 12 Step fellowships often refer to these as “burning bushes;” the immediate and undeniable manifestation of Divine presence in our ordinary reality. Before the first such event, I had “faith” in the Gods because that was what a good Pagan was “supposed” to do. Actually, it was simply a matter of fitting the spiritual beliefs that I had developed on my own into the Pagan context. But still, I took it “on faith” that the Gods were real, as I had not yet had direct experience of Them. After my first spiritual experience, I believed in the Gods the same way I believed in my ’92 Taurus, for They were suddenly just as “real” and just as “present” in my life.

Faith and belief have their own logic, if one can call it that, and it is certainly fractal in nature. I think, at times, we grasp that logic in a brief and tentative manner. Ultimately, however, it eludes examination and defeats definition. Nor is it necessary, for me at least, to know “how” or “why” it works. It is enough that I have faith, belief and trust in my Deities. These, along with willingness, are the doors through which They enter my life, that we may dance together.

In Their Service…

RuneWolf

The Witches’ Goddess (An Abbreviated List of World Goddesses)

The Witches’ Goddess

(An Abbreviated List of World Goddesses)

From
The Witches’ Goddess

By Janet and Stewart Farrar *
Aditi: (‘Limitless’)  Hindu Mother Goddess, self-formed, the Cosmic Matrix. Mother of the Sun God Mitra and the Moon God Varuna.

Ambika:  Hindu, ‘the generatrix,’ wife of Shiva or of Rudra.

Annapurna:  Hindu.  Goddess who provides food; she lives on top of Mount Annapurna.

Aphrodite: (‘Foam-Born’)  Greek Goddess of sexual love.  She was born of the bloody foam of the sea where Cronus threw the genitals of his father Uranus after castrating him.  Married, on Zeus’s orders, to the lame Smith God Hephaestus, and unfaithful to him with the war God Ares.  She was in fact an ancient East Mediterranean Goddess and can be equated with Astarte.

Arachne:  Greek Spider Goddess.  A Lydian girl skilled in weaving, she dared to challenge Athene to compete with her.  The contest was held, and Arachne’s work was faultless:  impudently, it portrayed some of the Gods’ less reputable deeds, including Athene’s father Zeus abducting Europa.  Furious, Athene turned her into a spider, doomed eternally to spin thread drawn from her own body. But the Spider Goddess is more archetypal than this story suggests:  spinning and weaving the pattern of destiny like the Moerae or the Norns, and enthroned in the middle of her spiral-pathed stronghold like Arianrhod.  Athene here represents Athenian patriarchal thinking, trying to discipline earlier Goddess-concepts.

Aradia:  Italian (Tuscany) Witch Goddess,  surviving there into this century. Daughter of Diana and Diana’s brother Lucifer (i.e. of the Moon and Sun), she came to Earth to teach the witches her mother’s magic.

Ariadne:  Cretan and Greek.  The daughter of King Minos of Crete, who with her cunning thread helped Theseus find his way into the labyrinth to kill the Minotaur, and out again.  She eloped with him, but he abandoned her on the island of Naxos.  She was consoled by Dionysus, who in her Naxos cult was regarded as her consort.

Arianrhod:  (‘Silver Wheel’)  Major Welsh Goddess.  Mother of Llew Llau Gyffes by her brother Gwydion.  Her consort Nwyvre (‘Sky, Space, Firmament’) has survived in name only.  Caer Arianrhod is the circumpolar stars, to which souls withdraw between incarnations; she is thus a Goddess of reincarnation. Honoured at the Full Moon.

Artemis:  Greek Nature and Moon Goddess.  Daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo (though a day older).  She probably absorbed a pre-Indo-European Sun Goddess, and her twinning in classical legend with the Sun God Apollo may stem from this.  The Greeks assimilated her to a pre-Greek mistress of wild beasts.  Bears were sacred to her, and she was associated with the constellation Ursa Major.

Astarte:  Canaanite version of Ishtar; fertility goddess.  Chief goddess of Tyre and Sidon.  Astarte was also the Greek form of the name Ashtart.  Tends to merge with Asherat and Anat, and with the Egyptian Hathor.  She came to Egypt; Rameses II built a temple honoring her, and she and Isis were said to be firm friends.

Athena:  Greek, a Warrior Goddess, yet also one of intelligence and the arts of peace.  Protector of towns, above all of Athens.

Banshee:  (Bean Sidhe , ‘Woman Fairy’) Irish.  Attached to old Irish families (‘the O’s and the Mac’s’), she can be heard keening sorrowfully near the house when a member of the family is about to die.  Still very much believed in, and heard.

Bast:  Egytian Cat Goddess of Bubastis in the Delta.  Originally lion-headed, she represented the beneficient power of the Sun, in contrast to Sekhmet who personified its destructive power.

Bean-Nighe:  (‘Washing Woman’)  Scottish and Irish.  Haunts lonely streams washing the bloodstained garments of those about to die.

Befana:  (‘Epiphany’)  Italian Witch Fairy who flies her broomstick on Twelfth Night to come down chimneys and bring presents to children.

Binah:  (‘Understanding’)  Hebrew.  The Supernal Mother, third Sephirah of the Cabalistic Tree of Life.  She takes the raw directionless energy of Chokmah, the Supernal Father (the second Sephira), and gives it form and manifestation; she is thus both the Bright Mother, Aima (nourishing) and the Dark Mother, Ama (constricting).

Bona Dea: (‘Good Goddess’)  Roman Earth Goddess of Fertility, worshipped only by women; even statues of men were covered where her rites took place.

Brighid, Brigid, Brigit, Brid:  Irish Goddess of Fertility and Inspiration, daughter of the Dagda; called ‘the poetess.’  Often triple (‘The Three Brigids’).  Her characteristics, legends and holy places were taken over by the historical St Bridget.

Cailleach Beine Brick:  A Scottish legendary witch probably recalling an earlier local goddess.

Callisto:  (‘Most Beautiful’)  Greek Moon Goddess, to whom the she-bear was sacred in Arcadia.  Envisaged as the axle on which everything turns, and thus connected with the Ursa Major constellation.  Linked with Artemis, often called Artemis Callisto.

Carman:  Irish.  Wexford Goddess, whence Gaelic name of Wexford, Loch Garman (Loch gCarman).

Cerridwen:  Welsh Mother, Moon and Grain Goddess, wife of Tegid and mother of Creirwy (the most beautiful girl in the world) and Avagdu (the ugliest boy). Owner of an inexhaustible cauldron called Amen, in which she made a magic draught called ‘greal’ (‘Grail?’) from six plants, which gave inspiration and knowledge.  Mother of Taliesen, greatest of all Welsh bards.  Most of her legends emphasize the terrifying aspect of the Dark Mother; yet her cauldron is the source of wisdom and inspiration.

Cliona of the Fair Hair:  Irish.  South Munster Goddess of great beauty, daughter of Gebann the Druid, of the Tuatha De Danaan.  Connected with the O’Keefe family.

Clota:  Scottish.  Goddess of the River Clyde.

Cybele:  Greek.  Originally Phrygian, finally merged with Rhea.  Goddess of Caverns, of the Earth in its primitive state; worshipped on mountain tops. Ruled over wild beasts.  Also a Bee Goddess.

Dakini:  Hindu.  One of the Six Goddess Governing the Six Bodily Substances; the others being Hakini, Kakini, Lakini, Rakini and Sakini.

Dana, Danu:  The major Irish Mother Goddess, who gave her name to the Tuatha De Danann (‘Peoples of the Goddess Dana’), the last but one occupiers of Ireland in the mytholigical cycle.

Demeter: (‘Earth-Goddess-Mother’) Greek goddess of the fruitful Earth, especially of barley.  Daughter of Cronus and Rhea.  Her brother Zeus, tricking her in the form of a bull, made her the mother of Persephone.

Diana:  Roman equivalent of the Greek Moon and Nature Goddess Artemis, and rapidly acquired all her characteristics.  Like Artemis, classically regarded as virgin but originally a Sacrificial-Mating Goddess.

Dione:  Phoenician/Greek.  Also known as Baltis.  A Nature or Earth Goddess, overlapping with Diana and Danae.  Daughter of Uranus and Gaia.  Married her brother Cronus, who gave her the city of Byblos.

Discordia:  Roman Goddess of Discord and Strife, who preceeded the chariot of Mars.  Greek equivalent Eris.

Ereshkigal:  (‘Queen of the Great Below’)  Assyro-Babylonian Goddess of the Underworld, sister of Ishtar (Inanna).  Known as ‘Star of Lamentation,’ or sometimes simply as Allatu (‘The Goddess’).

Eris:  Greek goddess of Discord.

Erin:  Irish.  One of the Three Queens of the Tuatha De Danann,  daughters of the Dagda, who asked that Ireland be named after them.

Frigg, Freya:  (‘Well-Beloved, Spouse, Lady’) Most revered of the Teutonic Goddesses.  Wife and sister of Odin.

Gaia:  (‘Earth’) The ‘deep-breasted,’ the primordial Greek Earth Mother, the first being to emerge from Chaos.  She was regarded as creating the universe, the first race of gods, and humankind.

Glaisrig, Glaistig:  A Scottish Undine, beautiul and seductive, but a goat from the waist down (which she hides under a long green dress).   She lures men to dance with her and then sucks their blood.  Yet she can be benign, looking after children or old people or herding cattle for farmers.

Gorgons, The:  Greek.  Three daughters of Phorcys and his sister Ceto.  Winged monsters with hair of serpents, they turned men to stone by their gaze.  They were Euryale and Stheno, who were immortal, and Medusa who was mortal and killed by Perseus.

Grian:  (‘Sun’) Irish.  A Fairy Queen with a court on Pallas Green Hill, Co. Tipperary.  Also a general Goddess symbol.

Gruagach, The:  (‘The Long-Haired One’) Scottish.  Female fairy to whom the dairymaids used to pour libations of milk into a hollow stone.

Gwenhwyfar, Guinevere, Gueneva:  Arthur’s queen.  Traces of Triple Goddess.

Hathor:  Egyptian.  An ancient Sky Goddess; Ra’s daughter by Nut, or his wife; sometimes the wife or mother of Horus the Elder, Goddess of pleasure, joy, love, music and dancing.  Protectress of women and embodiment of the finest female qualities.

Hecate:  Greek, originally Thracian and pre-Olympian; at the same time a Moon Goddess, and Underworld Goddess and a Goddess of magic.

Hel, Hela:  Teutonic Goddess of the kingdom of the dead, not considered as a place of punishment.  Daughter of Loki and Angurboda, and sister of the Midgard serpent of the ocean encircling the Earth, and of the devouring Fenris-wolf. Half her face was totally black.

Hestia:  (‘Hearth’) Greek.  First daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and oldest of the Olympians.  Goddess of domestic fire and of the home in general.  Poseidon and Apollo both wanted to marry her but she placed herself under Zeus’protection as eternally virgin.  She received the first morsel of every sacrifice.  Roman equivalent Vesta.

Inanna:  (‘Lady of Heaven’) Sumerian Queen of Heaven, Mother Goddess to whom the Semitic Ishtar was assimilated.

Isis:  Egyptian.  The most complete flowering of the Goddess concept in human history.  Daughter of Earth God Geb and Sky Goddess Nut.

Kali:  Hindu, Tibetan, Nepalese.  Often called Kali Ma (‘the Black Mother’).  A terrible but necessary destroyer, particularly of demons, but also a powerful creative force, much misunderstood in the West.

Kundalini:  (‘Coiled’)  Hindu.  The feminine Serpent Force, especially in its relation to organic and inorganic matter; the universal life-force of which electricity and magnetism are mere manifestations.  Envisaged as moving in a left-handed spiral, when aroused in the human body, from the base of the spine up to the brain.

Lady of the Lake:  Arthurian.  In some legends Vivienne (or Viviane); in others, Vivienne was the daughter of the Lady of the Lake by Dylan, son of Arianrhod and Gwydion.  In Thomas Mallory, the Lady of the Lake is called Nimue.

Lakshmi:  Hindu Goddess of good fortune and plenty, and the personification of beauty.

Leannan Sidhe:  Irish fairy lover, succubus.  In the Isle of Man she is malevolent and vampiric.

Lilith:  In Hebrew legend, she was Adam’s first wife, who would not subordinate herself to him and was turned into a demoness.
Lorelei:  German.  A beautiful siren who sat on a cliff above the Rhine, luring boatmen to their death with her songs.

Luna:  The Roman Moon Goddess, identified with Diana and the Greek Selene.

Malkuth:  (‘The Kingdom’) Hebrew.  Personification of Earth, of the Earth-soul; the goddess in actual manifestation.

Mary Magdalene:  Hebrew.  Held in Christian tradition to have been a reformed prostitute; but there are no biblical grounds for this whatsoever.

Maya:  Hindu.  The Goddess of Nature, the universal creatress.

Medusa:  Greek.  The only mortal member of the three Gorgons.  Her hair was turned to serpents by Athene because she dared to claim equal beauty with hers. Her gaze turned men to stone.

Minerva:  Roman.  Wife of Jupiter, forming a triad with his other wife, Juno.

Morgan: (‘Of the Sea’)  Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay; but would seem to be a much older Goddess, possibly the Glastonbury Tor one, for her island is Avalon.

Neith:  Egyptian.  A very ancient Delta Goddess, protectress of Sais; her emblem was the crossed arrows of a predynastic clan.

Nemesis:  Greek. Daughter of Erebus and Nyx.  Goddess of divine anger, against mortals who offended the moral law, broke taboos or achieved too much happiness or wealth.

Nicneven:  Scottish Samhain Witch Goddess.  Tradition places her night according to the old (Julian) calendar, on 10 November.

Nimue:  Arthurian.  Thomas Mallory’s name for the Lady of the Lake.

Nostiluca:  Gaulish Witch Goddess.

Oshun and Oya:  Nigerian, Yoruba tribe and Brizilian Voodoo.  Sisters, daughters of Yemaja, and wives of the Thunder God Shango.  Oshun was beautiful and Oya plain, and there was jealousy between them.  Goddesses respectively of the rivers Oshun and Niger.

Pandora:  (‘Gift of All’)  The Greek Eve,  fashioned in clay by Hephaestus on Zeus’ orders to punish Prometheus for having stolen fire from heaven.  Her name means that each God or Goddess gave her an appropriate gift.  Zeus gave her a box which she must not open.  She did open it, and all the evils that plague humankind came out of it.  All that was left at the bottom was Hope.

Persephone:  Greek and Phoenician.  Originally a purely Underworld Goddess, became a corn-seed Goddess, daughter of Demeter.

Pythia:  (‘Pythoness’) Greek.  Serpent Goddess, daughter of Gaia.

Rhiannon:  (‘Great, or Divine, Queen’). Welsh fertility and Otherworld Goddess.

Sarasvati:  Hindu.  Wife of Brahma, born of his body.  Goddess of speech, music, wisdom, knowledge and the arts.

Sekhmet:  (‘The Powerful’) Egyptian Lioness-Goddess, Eye of Ra who was her father.  Wife of Ptah as Goddess of the Memphite triad, and mother of Nefertum, God of the setting Sun (later replaced by Imhotep).

Selene:  Greek Moon Goddess, daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios (the Sun) and Eos (Dawn); though sometimes said to be the daughter of Zeus or of Helios.

Sophia:  (‘Wisdom’)  A Gnostic Aeon; but Wisdom personified as female was earlier also characteristic of Hebrew and Greek-Hebrew thinking.

Tailtiu:  Irish.  Foster-mother of Lugh,  who instituted the Tailtean Games, central event of the Festival of Lughnasadh (1 August), in her memory.

Tara:  (‘Radiating’) Hindu Star Goddess, wife of Brihaspati (identified with the planet Jupiter), teacher of the Gods.

Tenemit:  Egyptian Underworld Goddess, who gave ale to the deceased.

Tiamat:  Assyro-Babylonian Primordial Sea Mother Goddess, the mass of salt waters, who with her mate Apsu (the sweet waters) begat the original chaotic world and who also symbolized it and ruled it.

Ulupi:  Hindu.  A Serpent Goddess, one of the Nagis, dwelling in Patala, the lowest level of the Underworld.

Valkyries, The:  Teutonic.  In late Scandinavian myth, they brought the souls of those slain in battle to Odin.

Venus:  Roman.  Originally a Goddess of Spring and protectress of vegetation and gardens, was a minor deity till she became assimilated to the Greek Aphrodite in the second century BC.

Vesta:  (‘Torch, Candle’) Roman Goddess of fire, both domestic and ritual. Daughter of Saturn and Ops.  Domestically she presided over the hearth and the preparation of meals.

Virgin Mary, The:  Mother of Jesus.

Vivienne, Viviane:  Arthurian.  Sometimes referred to as the Lady of the Lake, sometimes as the Lady’s daughter.

Yesod:  (‘Foundation’) Hebrew.  Ninth Sephira of the Cabalistic Tree of Life, sphere of the Moon and of the astral plane.

Zobiana:  A medieval Witch Goddess name.

* Reprinted with permission from the authors.

BEING CALLED TO A PARTICULAR DEITY

BEING CALLED TO A PARTICULAR DEITY

I recall someone talking about a feeling of being called to a given deity, and how to know this was for real, and how to go about making it Signed and Official(tm) and all that . . . I thought I’d give out with few (yeah, right) words as to my own experiences this way.

I’m pretty much a believer in the notion that a person is best served by following their natural inclinations on some ways. I found my own Craft name this way — I just sort of waited until I found the “right” name. I waited until I got a handle on what I was like at that time (it may change in the future) and at that point, saw the name as the proper noun that described what I was, the word for my inner nature.

It’s not a name in any but the most basic sense — a description of what I *am*. It’s no more a “chosen” name that an apple “chooses” to be called an apple. It’s simply the name we have for the thing.

Finding a deity figure is similar, and the one that fits you is often different from time to time. Don’t look for one that you like and say, “I want to dedicate myself to that one.” Look inside yourself and see what’s there — and don’t lie or hide anything. Honesty is needed here. Know yourself, and then see if you can find a deity matchup for what you see. This is what I mean by seeing what your own natural inclinations are and then going with them. Oftentimes, the deity will just sort of fall into place with no effort, like a dewdrop rolling off a leaf. It just finds the proper time and bango — it happens. Very zen, actually. This is similar — if you relax and just know yourself, the deity will fall into place with no effort. Well, enough effort to read books and research so that you’ll be able to know him or her when you see them. But research isn’t effort — it’s fun!

My own deities are a bit odd — the moirae from the Mycenean/Greek pantheon are good, as is the Minoan god Kouros. (Never let it be said that your deity has to be the same gender!)

Anyway, the only advice I can give you is to know yourself and then when you see your deity you’ll recognize him or her as the right one. Choosing one that isn’t a good fit is a bad idea.

BELIEFS OF GODDESS WORSHIP

BELIEFS OF GODDESS WORSHIP

Christianity teaches that God is transcendent, is separate from nature, and is represented to humankind through masculine imagery. Witchcraft holds a
pantheistic view of God. God is nature, therefore God is in all things and all things are a part of God. However, this God is in actuality a goddess.

A fundamental belief in Goddess Worship is the idea that the goddess predates
the male God. The goddess is the giver of all life and is found in all of
creation. The importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed. The image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy,and our anger as purifying. Through the Goddess, we can discover our strength,enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions.

The modern Goddess movement is an attempt to integrate the feminine back into
the world as we know it. This means bringing the Goddess out of the shadows and back into the limelight where she belongs. Part of most modern Goddess
traditions is the idea that Goddess exists within and around everything in
creation. Therefore, if Goddess is sacred, then so is the Earth, so our bodies, etc. Moreover, the relationship between all of these things is equally sacred. Therefore, not only do we need to revere the creations of the Goddess, we must revere the relationship and the systems that Goddess has created, for they each have their purpose. The problem is that we don’t always know what the true system is anymore because our society is so corrupted by the patriarchy. For example, if we only examine the system as it exists today, we might come to the conclusion that women’s place within the system is necessarily subservient to the men in the system. Naturally, eco-feminists would laugh at this idea. First of all, eco-feminism maintains that the natural order of things is not linked by hierarchical value, so the very notion of men governing women is absurd. The nature of things would require reciprocal communication and integral networking.

In light of this, then, Goddess religion asserts that Goddess and God cannot be viewed separately, but rather as a network of energies that work together to better the entire network.

Goddess Archetypes:

THE MAIDEN
The Maiden is the first aspect of the Goddess, presented to us as a young woman,blossoming into womanhood, exploring her sexuality and learning of her beauty.She is most often depicted as a teenaged girl or a woman in her very early twenties.

Unlike the images of young women in many patrifocal religions, the Maiden is not necessarily depicted as a virgin in most Goddess traditions. In Catholicism,Mary is depicted not only as a virgin maiden, but continues to be a virgin throughout the duration of her lifetime, regardless of the fact that she was married and gave birth to a child. This has more to do with the taint patrifocal religions assign female sexuality than anything else. But because women’s sexuality is not denigrated in Goddess traditions, there is no need to associate virginity with the Maiden Goddess.

In fact, the Maiden Goddess is seen as a particularly sexual being. Because she has just bloomed into her womanly form, she is particularly interested in her body and what it can do. She is interested in her beauty, and she learns to manipulate the affections of other’s based upon her feminine wiles.

Some might take offense at my use of the word manipulate in the preceding
sentence, but in fact, that is what sexuality is about, both on the part of the male and the female. Flirtation, courting and other manners of getting the
attentions of the opposite sex is certainly a form of manipulation. It is not
manipulation with malicious intent, to be sure, but when you attempt to curb the attitudes or thoughts of others through your own appearance or behavior, this is a form of manipulation, and by no means negative.

Because the Maiden is associated with the first blossoming of womanhood,
adulthood and sexuality, she is associated with the Springtime. Just as her body develops breasts and she becomes sexually capable, so too does the Earth mimic her development. Flowers bloom, the Earth awakens from the deep sleep of winter and begins to procreate again. Animals lie with one another, flowers are pollinated. Spring is a time for new beginnings. It is the counterpart to the winter of Death.

Just as Spring is the counter to Winter, so too is the Maiden the counter to the Crone. The Crone is the embodiment of death, and subsequently rebirth, and it is through the aspect of the Maiden that the Crone is able to pass from this world and be reborn. As the young Goddess delves into her sexuality, and eventually becomes pregnant, the Elder Goddess may pass away and give her life that the Maiden may become Mother, and one day, Crone. The cycle is never ending.

The Maiden takes the Green Man (Horned Lord, many other names in many other
cultures) as her consort. In some cultures, the Green Man may be her brother or even her son. At first glance, the courtship between the Maiden and the Sun God seems ripe with incest, because he is always somehow related to her. But if you read the myths associated with the Mother Goddess and how it came to pass that she became pregnant, you will usually find that she became pregnant by her husband, who has to give his life for one reason or another, and she agrees to bring him back into he world as the child in her womb. In essence, she gives birth to her husband, rather than taking her son as her lover. This is even true in the Catholic goddess vision: Jesus was the son of God, but he was also God. Because this idea is confusing and can lead to ideas of incest much like I discussed above, the Christian church left Mary a virgin, thus bypassing the whole sexual encounter, and thus the issue of incest altogether.

Maiden Goddess of Note include:
Diana, Persephone, Kore, Bleudowedd, Artemis, Ariadne, Hestia,
Athena, Aphrodite, Minerva, and Venus.

THE MOTHER
The aspect of the Mother Goddess is probably the most widely known and most
widely envisioned in most cultures. Because the Earth nourishes and replenishes us, most goddess cultures did pay reverence to the Earth as the Mother, and therefore the Goddesses that are most prominent and about whom stories are most prolific are the goddesses that are the representation of the Mother.

She is, in virtually every aspect, a divine or celestial representation of our earthly mothers. Everyone has an earthly mother, or at least did at one point, so we readily understand the relationship between mother and child. The mother is the protector, the care-giver, the kisser of wounds, and the disciplinarian.

The Divine Mother is no different.

Many of the most ancient goddess figures that archeology has uncovered are
goddesses depicted as round, pregnant women. They feature large breasts and
full, meaty hips. Some archeologists (patriarchal, close minded fellows, to be sure) have written these goddess figures off as nothing more than prehistoric “porn” figures. However, the generally accepted opinion is that these figures, found in such places as France, modern day Turkey, and Egypt, are actually representations of a mother goddess. There is some speculation that perhaps these figures are not goddesses at all, but rather figures used in fertility rites to enable women to conceive children. This too is a possibility, but when combined with other information that we have (such as other evidence of prehistoric goddess worship, and the fact that the connection between sex and pregnancy was not made until much later than the dates associated with these figures) leads most scholars to believe that these statues are indeed goddess representations.

Although the depiction of the Mother Goddess as a pregnant woman is prominent, she is certainly not always seen that way. The Mother aspect may be seen with small child in tow (most often a boy, who later becomes her consort, as is discussed in the section on the Maiden). This aspect of the Mother Goddess plays on the care-giving, sweet, loving aspect of the Goddess. However, do not be fooled into thinking that the Goddess as Mother is a pussy cat. She can also be a warrior.

Like earthly mothers, the Goddess is fiercely protective of her children, and in order to provide that protection she will often don the face of the warrior. The Warrior Goddess most probably gained popularity among people who had begun to adopt a more patriarchal (or at least patrifocal) structure. It might be presumptuous to say that matrifocal cultures were not particularly warlike, but it is safe to say that patriarchal cultures were more so. In either case, the warrior Goddess did become popular. In this aspect she is Amazon, fierce and strong, and able to take on any man to protect what needs protection.

Just as the maiden is represented by the season of Spring, the Mother aspect is present in Summer. By summer, berries and fruits are ripe, ready for the
plucking. Vegetable gardens are mature and harvest is close at hand. The sun is high in the sky, and even though the sun is typically seen as a Male Deity, some cultures did associate the sun with the Goddess, (most notably the early Egyptian culture) and thus the high sun of summer was associated with the Mother, who was also seen as the pinnacle of the cycle of life.

In western traditions, the Goddess remains pregnant until the Winter Solstice, at which time she gives birth to a sun god of some kind. (Note the adaptation of the Christian church …Christmas, anyone?) The Catholic Goddess Mary also falls into the category of the Mother Goddess, because she does give birth to King at Solstice. (At least this is how the Christians celebrate the holiday, even though biblical scholars suggest Jesus was very likely born during a warm month)

Mary is a curiosity though, because she is a Dual Goddess, and not a Triple
Goddess as most multifaceted Goddesses are. She is a maiden because she remains a virgin (and though not all maidens are virgins, all virgin goddesses are maidens), and yet because she gives birth, she is also a Mother. However, there is no reference in the Catholic tradition of Mary as an older woman. Therefore, Mary’s development ended with her at the Mother phase.

Mother Goddesses of Note include:
Demeter, Isis, Cerridwyn, Kali, Gaia, Oceana, Brigit, Nuit, Hera,
Selene, Anu, Dana, Arianrhod, and Epona

THE CRONE
The Crone is the final aspect of the Goddess. The Crone is most often depicted as a Grandmother, a SageWoman, or a Midwife. She is the keeper of Occult Knowledge, the Mysteries and the Queen of the Underworld. It is through the Crone that knowledge of magick, the Dark, and other secrets of the ages are passed down.

The Crone is, in some ways, a Triple Goddess herself. She has lived through the tender, sensual age of Maidenhood, suffered the birth pains of Motherhood, and now carries with her the memories of these passages into her old age. But though she has experienced these events, these are not the things she represents, and therefore she is not revered for these traits. Nevertheless, having endured these experiences makes her the wise woman that she is, and enables her to guide us through the dark.

Her role as Midwife is both symbolic as well as actual. Traditionally, it is
always the older women of the tribe who facilitate the birth of children, most likely because they themselves had gone through, but also because the role of midwife was a sacred position, and thus suitable for an older tribeswoman. Certainly the Crone fulfills this aspect in that she is the midwife to the Queen of Heaven when she gives birth to the Oak King at Yule.

But symbolically she is the midwife in our lives as well, guiding us from one
phase of life to the next. If you see progression from one phase of life to the next and can see it as a rebirth process, then envision the Crone as the aspect of the goddess that guides you through that time. Transition is very difficult, and for most people it is a time of darkness. It is a time where we have to rely on our intuition, because we are unfamiliar with the territory. But according to the myths and ancient lore, we receive our intuition from the Crone. It is she who guides us, and it is she who facilitates our birth.

The Crone Goddess is often times the least seen, because she does represent
death, and with death comes fear: fear of the unknown, fear of losing our loved ones, and fear of being alone. But we must remember that with death always comes rebirth. The Crone always brings with her promises of the Maiden, and the cycle never ends.

The Mother aspect of the Goddess is discussed as being a Warrior Goddess, but
the Crone can be a Warrior Goddess as well. Where the Mother Goddess is the
blood of battle, the War Cry incarnate, the fighting Amazon, the Crone is the
Strategy, the ability to see what cannot be seen. She is the seer, the General. The Crone Goddess does not don the face of the warrior to shed blood, but she will provide the courage to walk through the dark, the ability to seek and destroy the enemy, whether the enemy is actual, or internal.

In many respects, the Crone Goddess is the aspect of the Goddess that is most
called upon to conquer inner demons. This is due to the fact that as the keeper of mysteries, the Crone is also the Keeper of the Underworld. With her help, we are able to travel into the Underworld and fight whatever demons haunt us. Likewise, once we are ready to be reborn, she again acts as the midwife and guides us once again into the light.

Crone Goddesses of Note include:
Hecate, Kali, Cerridwyn, Badb, Cailleach, Macha, and the Morrigan

written by susan lucas

Basic Truths About Any Type of Magick

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Basic Truths About Any Type of Magick

Few Simple, easy to remember:

1. There is such a thing as karma and it will get you if you do wrong, which includes trying to control other people through spells.

2.  All magick comes with a price. If you desire harm to another you will have to deal with the boomerang aspect of it. But it will come back to you either threefold or sevenfold. I do not know which is more accurate and I really am not going to find out. Best thing to do is not put it to the test.

3.  Make sure you really want what you are going for and that you are specific as to what your wants actually are. Once you receive it, it won’t come with a money back guarantee or return to sender aspect.

Like I said, simply, straight to point and to remember. Which is advisable to always remember them because what you cast does come back to you three-fold.

A Little Humor for Your Day – The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Mother-In-Law

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Mother-In-Law

In the double current of Maat/Horus, the disbanding of Nirvana and the age of the new Goddess, Alanis Morrissett, do I type these words, ’tis true, without a word of lie, ’tis very true. That which is on the z-list is online, and that which is online, is on the z-list, to work boredom from. And just as all things have been, and are come from, Shub internet, so are all e-mails born of this one thing. And so it goes…..

As I lay in my chamber, exausted from another day, my Ladywife and child beside me, I did hear a stirring coming from yonder.

“Hark!”, I said, I usually don’t say “Hark,” but it makes for a better story, “Hark!”, I said, “What is that noise from kitchen yonder?”

I crawled from the safety of my warm nest and reached for my weapon. I spoke the secret words as taught to me by my mentor, Mr. Rogers.

“Oh mighty Mjollnir, basher of burglars, at any other time thy name be golfclub, defend me now in your grandest “hole in one” style. I invoke thee Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicholas, and Lee Trevino. Lee, you’re not that great of a golfer, but you were struck by lightning.”

I felt the powerglow of Mjollnir creep through my body, or it might have just been heartburn from too much pizza before bed, I’m not sure. Feeling bold, I took four antacid tablets with extra calcium and crept down the stairs to the cavern we call the kitchen.

There before me hunched over a pot of some incongruent mass, was, to my horror, the Mother-in-law!

I quickly said my silent invocation to the God “Nike Adidas” and the silent incantation “Feets don’t fail me now” but she turned and saw me before I could run away.

The stench of too much Opium and Morning Dew perfume assaulted my senses, I almost passed out from the smell. I shook my head to clear my throbbing brain, and saw her moving toward me, a spoon in one hand and the pot in the other.

Thinking as quickly as I could I shouted “Get thee behind me Mother-in-law. Oh yea, forcer of unwanted food, pincher of my young son’s cheeks. Take your pots of alcohol chicken and your silly folk superstitions and begone.”

And she that moved spake, “We are the  Mother-in-laws and we are many, we move into your home in the well-meaning  guise of nutritional needs, but in reality we come to cause strife. Our  famous curse Support the baby’s head! will ring in your ears till the day you die.”

The odor of garlic and Polident was almost too much to bear. I was frozen in place, forced to listen to her complaining diatribe.

She continued “I hurl upon ye, parents that love your children and would keep them. We the Mother-in-laws manifest in many forms, one of those forms being ‘The well meaning friend’.”

I had had enough, I knew if I didn’t stop this horror now, it would be too late. I rose up and spoke the revered names of Gods and Goddesses most hated by the Mother-in-law.

“I invoke thee Led Zeppelin, fall upon this Legion  and take it from my site. In through the out door, if you will. And also  the curse called ‘The well-meaning friend’. Those vile childless beings  that somehow know everything about how to rear my child. Jimi Hendricks wail upon your guitar with extra feedback and distortion, Janis Joplin rip one out and sonically banish this blot on human kind.”

Then I spoke my best and most sacred barbarous name incantation, that of Cheech and Chong “Oh Feely me bony belly e probiscus e Billy selly all of his dominoes.”

And with that the Mother-in-law packed her bags and left my dwelling, vowing never to return.

Somehow, I doubted it.

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