)0( The Goddess Path )0(               

 

The Goddess path is within you

That is where She lives, even when you forget to look for Her

Look for Her there, and you will always find Her

( Th books - The Goddess Path)

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

 

 

by Doreen Valiente

Listen to the words of the Great Mother;

 

by Doreen Valiente

Listen to the words of the Great Mother;
she who of old was also called among men
Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine,
Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Cybele, Arianrhod,
Isis, Dana, Bride
and by many other names:

Whenever ye have need of anything,
once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full,
then shall ye assemble in some secret place
and adore the spirit of me,
who am Queen of all the witches.

There shall ye assemble,
ye who are fain to learn all sorcery,
yet have not won its deepest secrets;
to these will I teach things that are yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery;
and as a sign that ye be really free,
ye shall be naked in your rites;
and ye shall dance, sing, feast,
make music and love,
all in my praise.
For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit,
and mine also is joy on earth;
for my law is love unto all beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal;
strive ever towards it;
let naught stop you or turn you aside.
For mine is the secret door
which opens upon the Land of Youth,
and mine is the cup of the wine of life,
and the Cauldron of Cerridwen,
which is the Holy Grail of immortality.

I am the Gracious Goddess,
who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man.
Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal;
and beyond death, I give peace and freedom
and reunion with those who have gone before.
Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice;
for behold,
I am the Mother of all living,
and my love is poured out upon the earth.

Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess;
she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven,
and whose body encircles the Universe.
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.
From me all things proceed,
and unto me all things must return;
and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men,
let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite.
Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth;
for behold,
all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.
And therefore let there be beauty and strength,
power and compassion, honour and humility,
mirth and reverence within you.

And thou who thinkest to seek for me,
know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not
unless thou knowest the mystery;
that if that which thou seekest
thee findest not within thee,
thou wilt never find it without thee.
For behold,
I have been with thee from the beginning;
and I am that which is attained
at the end of desire.

Goddess Comments & Graphics

 

                                                                                        

Goddess Comments & Graphics                              Goddess Comments & Graphics                          Goddess Comments & Graphics

                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                 Meandering

                                                                          Through the labyrinth

                                                                                 Of my life,

                                                                               I meet my Minotaur

                                                                               And dance with me……..

                                                                                Thread, thread,

                                                                                 Tread, tread,

                                                                        From the centre of my being

                                                                          To my wild, wanton edge,

                                                                               Where the maze

                                                                              Reveals its ways

                                                                   To the Goddess-seeking priestess

                                                                         In the fullness of her days.

                                                                               ( With thanks to Daniel Cohen)

Divider Graphics

We in the pagan path who honor and recognize the Goddess, do not worship or bow down as how Christianity defines worship, we connect with the Goddess - we connect with Her; through the moon, the stars, the ocean, the earth, through trees, animals, through other human beings, through ourselves. She is here. She is within us all. She is the full circle: earth, air, fire and water and essence - body, mind, spirit, emotions, change.We live and move and have our being in Her, and She in us.
 
Who is the Goddess?
 
 The Goddess , She is the very power of the feminine essence in the universe.
 She is both an expression of what we know about our human world
and She is the power far byond our expression....................( Patricia Monaghan)
 
 
Witchy Comments
 
 
 
The Goddess is life, energy, power, spirit,. She is the All. She is in all things and is all things.
The Goddess is One yet many.
The Goddess is Maiden, Mother, Crone
She is Magick, She is the ultimate Witch, She is Queen.
She is a Warrior, healer....................
 
 
 
 
 
The Goddess is first of all earth, the dark, nurturing mother who brings forth all life. She is the power of fertility and generations: the womb, and also the receptive tomb, the power of death. All proceeds from her; all returns to Her. As earth, She is also plant life; trees, the herbs and grains that sustain life. She is the body, and the body is sacred. Womb, breast, belly, mouth, vagina, penis, bone and blood - no part of the body is unclean, no aspect of the life processes is stained by any concept of sin. Birth, death, decay are equally sacred parts of the cycle. Whether we are eating, sleeping, making love, or eliminating body wastes, we are manifesting the Goddess.

The Earth Goddess is also air and sky, the celestial Queen of Heaven, the Star Goddess, ruler of things felt but not seen: of knowledge, mind, and intuition. She is the Muse, who awakens all creations of the human spirit's. She is the cosmic lover, the morning and evening star, Venus, who appears at the times of lovemaking. Beautiful and glittering. She can never be grasped or penetrated: the mind is drawn ever further in the drive to know the unknowable; to speak the inexpressible. She is the inspiration that comes with an indrawn breath.

The celestial Goddess is seen as the Moon, who is linked to women's monthly cycles of bleeding and fertility. Woman is the earthy moon: the moon is the celestial egg, drifting in the sky womb, whose menstrual blood is the fertilizing rain and the cool dew, who rules the tides of the oceans, the first womb on earth. So the moon is also Mistress of Waters: the waves of the sea, streams, springs, the rivers that are the arteries of Mother Earth; of lakes, deep wells, and hidden pools, and of feelings and emotions, which wash over us like waves.

The pentacle, all five-loved leaves, and five-petaled flowers are sacred to the Goddess as pentad. The apple is especially her emblem, because, when it is sliced crosswise, the embedded seeds form a pentacle.

The nature of the Goddess is never single. Whenever She appears, She embodies both poles of duality - life in death, death in life. She has a thousand names, a thousand aspects. She is the milk cow, the weaving spider, the honeybee with its piercing sting. She is the bird of the spirit and the sow that eats its own young. She is the snake that sheds its skin and is renewed; the cat that seeks in the dark; the dog that sings to the moon - all are Her. She is the light and the darkness, the patroness of love and death, who makes manifest all possibilities, She brings forth comfort and pain.

The Goddess is All reality. She exists and yet we create Her. The symbols and attributes associated with the Goddess speak to younger Self and through it, to the deep self. They engage us emotionally. For women, the Goddess is the symbol of the inmer self, and the beneficent, nurturing, liberating power within woman. The cosmos is modeled on the female body, which is sacred. All phases of life are sacred; age is a blessing, not a curse. The Goddess does not limit women to the body; She awakens the mind and spirit and emotions. Through Her, we can know the power of our anger and aggression, as well as the power of our love. For man, She embodies all the qualities society teaches him not to recognize in himself. His first experience of Her may therefore seem somewhat stereotyped; She will be the cosmic lover, the gentle nurture, the eternally desired other, the Muse, all that he is not.

 

Divider Graphics

One of the best descriptions of the Goddess is the traditional “charge of the Star Goddess” provided here in a version by Starhawk:  

I who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the

            stars and the mysteries of the waters,

I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.

For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return.

Let my worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold --

            All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and

            humility, mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning

            will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery:

for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never

            find it without.

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that

            which is attained at the end of desire. 

 

 http://www.halexandria.org/dward379.htm

This speaks volumes of why the Goddess was worshipped with such reverence for such a long time -- the course of The Great Cycle.  But in the Third Millennium B.C.E., the Age of Taurus (the astrological sign inimately associated with the Goddess) gradually gave way to the Age of Aries (a sign very much associated with the masculine gods -- see, e.g. the Age of Pisces).  In the process, the goddess religions and spiritual practices were finally abandoned or forced underground.  The holy priestesses of Sumer and Akkad -- as well as the Scarlet Women of Egyptian History -- became equivalent to the Whores of Babylon.  The profound Descent into Hades by the Goddess Inanna (a Sumerian poem of 415 lines) was “edited down” to Ishtar’s Babylonian myth of only 145 lines.  Astrology was changed profoundly from an Astrology According to the Goddess to one giving all power to the god.  Competition replaced cooperation.

The curious aspect of this change in the fortunes of the Goddess is that in virtually every mythology, it is the Goddess who gives birth to the world.  The patriarchal problem seems to stem from the fact that some of her offspring were male!  Whether it was Nyx, who laid the cosmic egg out of which the world was born, Gaia, the Great Mother Earth Goddess who is said to have come out of the dark alone, or the sea Goddess, Tethys (aka Tiamat or Nammu), from whom all the goddesses and gods emerged; it is always the feminine that arrives first.  In the case of the Sumerian Goddess, Ninki, it is she who does the “labor” to get mankind started.  Her half-brother, Enki, may have helped in the science part, but the one going through the birthing itself -- up close and personal -- is Ninki.  

Other resources

www.mysticmooncrowscircle.wordpress.com

The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan

also www.hecatescauldron.org.

under the  Goddess path very very good and deep.

                                                                                              Divider Graphics

                                               The Priestess Path 

                                                                                                            )0(

 

 A priestess is a woman who chooses to pursue a path of spiritual service in sacred devotion to the Goddess and Her women.

A Ritual Priestess serves primarily to create ritual and facilitate the ritual content. Her spiritual service can take different forms depending on her individual calling. She may minister to the dying, officiate marriages and union ceremonies, facilitate lunar and seasonal rituals, assist women in creating their own unique rites of passage, or serve through the healing arts, astrology, music and dance, writing, visual arts, counseling, earth conservation, interspecies communication, craft, etc...

 I am a witch and priestess of the Goddess spec of the Morrighan , I am Hers She is mine. I am Her daughter for She has claimed me as Hers. I do also honor Hecate, whom I am also close to, and at times Isis.

For me it ws the Goddess who chose and called me. By dream I was given instructions to study Isis and Hecate. I did worked wiht Isis for nearly a year and workd and walked  alone almost or about a year with Hecate. Till Morrighan and Her crows got my attention. During Crow Moon She speciafically claimed me and gave me a message. I have been a first degree priestess   but now I beloneg to a spec Goddess.

I am A Mystic Witch Priestess daughter of the Great Morrighan

I have been in both a tradition and coven, served as a mother  as first degree in the coven.

Right now I have two main websites and a blog and I help  in moderating a ecoven of women only .

Every priestess journey is different. But being a priestess is about  dedication and service and reflecting Her whereever you are. Knowing Your Goddess by name, Her Myth Her rituals, Her likes dislikes and Honoring Her every day. She is in and with you  whenrever you are. She is all.

A guide for personal exploration of the path of the Divine Feminine and the spiritual power of women, this book is an excellent compendium to the Awakening the Divine Feminine video series.

The Path of the Priestess takes readers on a compelling journey deep into the heart of the feminine experience, presenting a rare glimpse of the essential and significant role of women as caretakers of the psychic-energetic-emotional landscape of society. It is based upon the author's years of first-hand experience in the ancient arts of Tantra, Dzogchen, Indian and Egyptian Temple Dance and Healing, as well as her research into the feminine principle in the mystic teachings of the Alchemists, Hebrew Kabbalists and Christian Gnostics.

Through its mythic and historic tales, thought-provoking analysis of contemporary society's conditioning of women, descriptions of sacred ritual practices and teachings on the Goddess traditions, The Path of the Priestess provides contemporary women with the means to enter this time-honored path. In keeping with the experientially based teaching methods of these traditions, it also offers exercises and visualizations designed to align them with the powerful, sensuous and loving energies of the most profound feminine role model that shaped and preserved culture and society - the Great Goddess.

"The cow is a symbol that can be found in cultures throughout the world. Feminine in form, she stands for fertility, nourishment, support, and preservation. She represents the mother, our first teacher, and our eternal patroness of righteousness and integrity. She is the strong and solid foundation upon which the spiritual sustenance of humanity rests. Isn’t it fascinating that a feminine symbol should be used to transmit these teachings of the cyclic destruction of humankind? Could this mean that, contrary to our contemporary Western indoctrination of the spiritual power of women, it is women who hold the primary responsibility for maintaining spiritual and moral alignment? Could this also mean that as the light of spirit diminishes and as women increasingly turn away from their true spiritual natures and primary roles as teachers and nurturers, all of us–both female and male--degenerate? " A Quote from the book

                                                                                               

The winds howls as it dances round me so
> Summoning me to a sacred place
>
> Hear the voice hear the song of the wind
> Hear the message deep within
>
> Dance dance
> Join in the spiral dance
> Of wich all is a part
> To another level your soul shall go
>
> Dance dance
> The wind summons me
> The breath of the Goddess blows upon me now
>
> Return to me My Child
> Return to me breath of my breath
> Life of my life
> Return my Child to the Great cauldron
>
> Dance dance
> the spiral dance of which all is a part
> The breath of the Goddess blows upon me
>
> Come with me now
> Wherew the doors open
> Between life and death
>
> So you want to know
> What it is like
>
> See the waters rage during the day
> See the waters calm during the night
> The moon sits upon the waters as upon a throne
> She rules the tides of every soul
>
> Feel the winds wrapping round
> Feel the intensity as the wind dances
> as if calling me to another place...
>
> Dance dance
> the spiral dance
> Of which all is a part
> The breath of the Goddess blows upon me
>
>
> Hear the call
> The summons of death
> The libration of the soul
> To another plain another realm
> Of magick and life

      By Mystic)0(

 

 

                                                                                               

                                                                        Drawing Down The Moon

                                                                           

(solitary ritual)

 

 

(I have swurved  a bit somewhat from D.J. Conway’s ritual.  This is the solitary Drawing Down the Moon.  Perhaps the woman/priestess performing this ritual is inclined to be very formal and thorough in her preparations, in her altar and its decorations, in her carefully cleansed sacred space, in her ritual clothing, etc.  But this solitary ‘Drawing Down the Moon’ may very well be performed by a lone witch on a solitary walk in the moonlight, clad in bare feet and old blue jeans.  Her sacred space will be the ground she kneels upon; her altar will be the star-lit heavens.  It will be no less sacred and no less magickal...and the Goddess will hear and respond to both women.

 

Which pose you choose to take while speaking this ritual should be left to each individual and their feelings in the moment.  I have also omitted references to the ‘God’, though in D.J.’s original ritual, she includes Him

I feel this is  about the Goddess I do not see the need to bring Him in  for this is between you and Her, this is my opnion tho.

 

 

Say:

 

"Blessed Goddess, I call to you across the Veil between the Worlds!  Enter this sacred space that I may feel Your presence and know that You are truly here!"

 

“Bless my feet that walk the sacred path.  Bless my knees that kneel before the Old Ones.  Bless my womb, the symbol of goddess fertility.  Bless my breasts, the symbol of the goddess and Her nurturing power.  Bless my lips that sing praises to the Goddess.  I honor the goddess within me.”

 

“I call You, Great Goddess, to come through the Veil and be with me here.  Fill my body with Your holy presence.  Bless me with Your presence and power.  Through Your wisdom and Your great Otherworld energy, fill my life with renewing power. As seed becomes bud, and bud becomes flower, and flower becomes fruit, so shall I flower and fruit with good health, prosperity, happiness, and spiritual growth.  I give You honor, Great Goddess!”

 

“Proud and beautiful as the moon on high that races across the midnight sky, the Goddess blesses my joyful rite; Her glory fills my inner sight.  She shows Her signs in fire and smoke, in chalice wine.  Her I invoke into this Priestess at this altar, a transformed being, Goddess-daughter.”

 

 

Draw an invoking pentagram in the air with your wand/athame/power hand, and say:

 

For the Full Moon:

 

“The five-point star of love and power I bless you with this holy hour.  Pray to me when the moon is round, and good things I promise will abound.  I charge you follow my ancient ways with joy and bliss through all your days.”

"Wicca:  The Complete Craft" by D.J. Conway, which will include this ritual in its original form

 

                                                                                              

>
> The Crone Goddess
>
> "Bony Old Crone
> A sittin alone
> A stirrin her pot
> And making a moan"
>
> from the book Ariadnes Thread
> Also _www.hecatescauldron.org_ (http://www.hecatescauldron.org)
>
>
>
>
>
> Charge of the Dark Goddess
>
> She is known to us as Kali, Hecate, Cerridwen, Lilith,
> Persephone, Fata, Morgana, Ereshkigal, Arianhrod, Durga,
> Inanna,Morrighan, Tiamat, and by a million, million other names:
> Hear me child, and know Me for who I am. I have been
> with you since you were born, and I will stay with you until
> you return to meet the final dusk.
> I am the passionate and seductive lover who inspires the
> poet to dream.
> I am the One who calls to you at the end of your journey.
> After the day is done, My children find their blessed rest in
> my embrace.
> I am the womb from which all things are born.
> I am the shadowy, still tomb; all things must come to Me
> and bare their breasts to die and be reborn to the Whole.
> I am the Sorceress that will not be ruled, the Weaver of Time,
> the Teacher of Mysteries. I snip the threads that bring my
> children home to me. I slit the throats of the cruel and drink
> the blood of the heartless. Swallow your fear and come to
> me, and you will discover true beauty, strength, and courage.
> I am the fury which rips the flesh from injustice.
> I am the glowing forge that transforms your inner demons into
> tools of power. Open yourself to my embrace and overcome.
> I am the glinting sword that protects you from harm.
> I am the crucible in which all the aspects of yourself merge
> together in a rainbow of union.
> I am the velvet depths of the night sky, the swirling mists of
> midnight, shrouded in mystery.
> I am the chrysalis in which you will face that which terrifies
> you and from which you will blossom forth, vibrant and
> renewed.
> Seek me at the crossroads, and you shall be transformed,
> for once you look upon my face, there is no return.
> I am the fire that kisses the shackles away.
> I am the cauldron in which all opposites grow to know
> each other in Truth.
> I am the web which connects all things.
> I am the Healer of all wounds, the Warrior who rights all
> wrongs in their Time. I make the weak strong. I make the
> arrogant humble.
> I raise up the oppressed and empower the disenfranchised.
> I am Justice tempered with Mercy.
> Most importantly, child, I am you. I am part of you, and I
> am within you.
> Seek me within and without, and you will be strong. Know
> me. Venture into the dark so that you may awaken to
> Balance, Illumination, and Wholeness.
> Take my Love with you everywhere and find the Power
> within to be who you wish.
> Author Unknown
> _The Morrighan )0(_ (http://themorrigahan.yolasite.com/)
> When night falls She rises
> When Moons light fades till no more Her face is seen
> Waning year belomgs to Her
> She is the Crone.
> When you think of the word Crone what comes to your mind?
> The Crone is the third aspect of the Goddess . Just as to the christians a
> trinity in the godhead so our Goddess is a trinity or triplivity. Maiden
> Mother Crone.
> Crone defined in werbsters dictionar a older women a wise women.
> The Crone has been through the excitement of life, the joy of play the
> passion of love, the pains of birth, the love of Mothering and nurturing, and
> now She is wise with the years of life behind and has much to offer and
> teach us.. She j has been called the old hag ...and very misunderstood over
> the years. Men have made demonic tried to get rid of her or just made her
> evil for the Crone is the dark Mother She is about endings death,
> transitions, major change, the shadow, mystery.She has been called by many names.
> There are many types of crones Look at your pentecle For each element there
> is also a crone association. From the book Ariadnes Thread and as also
> found in Hecate's Cauldron. I love this book LOL
> Spirit Crones are conversant on the psychic planes, easily traveling in and
> out of our bodies, telepathic, clairvoyant, prophetic, divining whether it
> be Tarot cards, crystal balls, Runes, etc., understanding the cycle of
> birth, life and death and the rituals thereof, skilled in casting circles for
> small covens or large, spells, and the uses of dreams.
> Air Crones have profundity of thought, quickness of tongue, are adept in
> poetry, myth and language, the composing of verbal spells, the eloquence of
> asking aid from forces and elements. Air is to know. The Air Crone is also a
> Cutting Crone, for our minds are like cutting edges that sort and separate
> our thoughts. Naming a thing separates it out from the rest of creation.
> Cutting is also criticism, pruning, saying no, discipline. When we reach the
> crossroads of our lives, such as the time of passing from child to adult or
> maiden to mother, we must cut the umbilical cord of our habits on the old path
> in order to be free to embark upon the new. The cutting Crone is sometimes
> called Atropo, the third of the three Fates in Greek mythology.
> Fire Crones possess understanding of the secrets of fire and energy. They
> know the ways of conserving, storing and spending energy wisely, using vital
> forces with care and discrimination, rather than scattering them carelessly
> and wasting them. Fire is also kundalini, which a wise crone knows how to
> channel and direct for desired purposes. Fire is will, in which the Crone has
> achieved mastery. And on its simplest level, fire is our natural source of
> heat and light, and can be used for magic in many ways. A seasoned witch
> usually knows how to build and sustain fires, as well as to contain them safely,
> and extinguish them when necessary.
> A Water Crone is no longer a slave to her emotions, nor does she repress or
> deny them. Water is to dare. She is adept in her relationships with others,
> knowing enough detachment for an overview, and enough caring for
> compassion. She knows that her desires are sacred and worthy of cultivation and
> fulfillment. The Water Crone looks deep into her reflection in underground waters.
> When the water catches the light of the moon, she is there to find insight
> and divination.
> A wise Earth Crone knows her body, knows the earth, is adept in health care
> for herself and others who seek her aid. She is familiar with the seasons
> and methods of planting and cultivation, herbology, and agriculture. And she
> is also wise in ways of money, seeing its connection to human love and
> service and precious human energy. She is sensible, practical and dependable,
> keeps her promises and understands commitment, knows how to work as well as
> play.
> To know the Crone is also to know our selves to deny Her is to deny a part
> of ourself.
> Mystic)0(
>
>
> The Crone
> by Lillith Silverhair
>
> _http://themorrigahan.yolasite.com/the-crone-and-her-mysteries.php_
> (http://themorrigahan.yolasite.com/the-crone-and-her-mysteries.php)
>
>
> TThe Dark Mother is the most misunderstood of the triple aspects of the
> Goddess. Her color is Black and she absorbs everything, including light and
> life. The dark of the Moon is Her time, the Abyss and darkness of space Her
> home. Her number is nine, symbolizing wisdom and sacred magick. Nine is also
> the number of completion and the completion of beginnings is the Crone's place
> in the cycle of birth-life-death. The greatest fear in Western Society is
> the fear of death and so many have turned away from this face of our Mother.
> We see this in our fevered need for eternal "youth and beauty" (as defined
> by society) and in the medical community's fight against aging and death. Who
> among us had not had a friend or family member kept "alive" on life support
> long after the soul has left the body to resume its journey? We also see
> this turning away in the way this country treats its elderly. At a time of
> life in which a person should be venerated for wisdom and knowledge they could
> pass on to the young ones among us, the elderly are at best "taken care of"
> (read: loss of privacy, dignity and freedom) or at worst completely ignored.
> Advanced age should be a time to look forward to in our lives. We should be
> able to look back and remember all that has happened to us with wisdom and
> good humor. We should be given the chance to relax and rest and contemplate
> our lives in preparation of a joyful reunion with the Dark Mother, come to
> take us into Her starry womb once more. Instead because we don't build a
> comfortable relationship with the Crone early in our lives, near the end all we
> feel is frustration and fear. How do we build a
> relationship with the Crone, this Dark Mother who upholds the laws of life
> and death with a rigorous need for balance that may seem so many times
> harsh
> to us? First we must realize that Death is not the only domain of the
> Crone.
> Endings of all sorts fall under Her sway, and endings always lead to new
> beginnings. You can get in touch with the Crone during many transitional
> periods in your life; during the ending of relationships or jobs, when you
> need to regroup your energies at the end of a project or problem, even when you
> are getting your garden ready for the winter. The Dark Mother also covers
> trance states, spirit communication, and prophecy. Menopause is also a time
> to learn about the Crone spect of the Goddess. Crone magick is not all that
> different from Her other three aspects, one must simply remember that the
> Crone is not a Goddess of birth, but of the harvesting and resting of all
> life. One may use meditation, candle burning and other general tools of magick
> to draw Her energies near. Her power may be called upon with dark candles
> such as black, dark blues or deep purples. Another of Her magickal domains is
> retribution, but you must be certain that you are justified in your need. Do
> not ask for revenge (remember the Law of Three!), do not be specific in
> anything that you want done. Simply lay the problem before Her and allow Her to
> decide whether or not there has been a true imbalance of justice. At the
> Winter Solstice, you can burn white, red and black candles to be reminded that
> everything is born, lives and dies to be born again. In the end, all must
> confront the Dark Mother, willingly, or unwillingly. How much better it would
> be to realize that She is not to be dreaded, a figure in black come to take
> us away from all we know and love, but a loving Goddess come to take us home
> so that we may rest and revive and begin our journey on the Wheel of Life
> once more.
> _Lilith Silverhair_ (mailto:tshaw@...)
> Cochranton, Pennsylvania
> Editor, C.O.L.L. of the Goddess
> _Library: The Crone_
> (http://www.waningmoon.com/guide/library/lib0015.shtml)
> NAMES: Crone, Cerridwen (Celtic), Hecate or Hekate (Greek), Carravogue
> (Goddess of winter County Meath Ireland), M�rr�gan or Morrigu (Celtic), Nemglan
> (Irish battle goddess), Ala (Nigerian), Ama No Uzumi (Japanese), Asase Yaa
> (West African), Annis (Celtic, later turned into various evil fairies or
> ghosts such as Black Ann and others), Badb (Irish), Baubo (Greek). Baba Yaga
> (Russian), Tripura Bhairavi (Tantric), Cailleac Bhuer (Celtic), The Corrigan
> (from Cornwall to Breton, France), Elli (Nordic), Grandmother Spiderwoman
> (Native American), The Hyldermoder (Scandinavia), The Leanansidhe (Isle of
> Man), Oya (Yoruba), The Muireartach (Scottish Highlands), Changing Woman
> (Navaho), Ereshkigal (Sumerian), Estsanatlehi (Native American), Kalma (Finnish),
> Lara (Roman), Lilith (Hebrew), Macha (Irish), Mother Holle (German), Nicneven
> (Celtic), Sedna (Inuit), Xochi Quetzal (Aztec), The Wyrd, Nox or Nyx
> (Greek), Snow Queen (versions in Sweden & Japan), Queen of Shadows, Nightmare,
> Hag, the Wicked Witch.
>
> SYMBOLS: (Depending on the culture) Caldron, Owl, Snow and or winter, Yew
> tree, Dogs, Darkness, Waning Moon, Dark Moon, Cat, Frog, Raven, Snake,
> Spider, Ghosts, Triquette, Triple Spiral, )O(
>
> PERSONIFICATION OF (or) AREA OF CONTROL: Sacrifice, the Destroyer, the
> Huntress, Curses, the Underworld, Wisdom, Karma.
>
> USUAL IMAGE: Depending on the time, culture and various aspects of the
> different goddesses in question, whither they are shown as kind or fierce,
> common or imperial, or are associated with other aspects such as night, winter,
> death or rebirth the different Crone Goddess are depicted very differently,
> however they are usually depicted as elderly women.
>
> HOLY BOOKS: The Trimorphic Protennoia (Gnostic), Lilith's Fire by Deborah
> Grenn-Scott, Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by
> Gregory Maguire.
>
> HOLY DAYS: Dec 25, Feast of Frau Holle, on the night of which Mother Holle
> was said to fly around the world giving presents to the good, and punishing
> the wicked like a combination of Santa Claus and Batman. / January 6, when
> the good witch La Befana flies though the skys of Italy giving candy to good
> children and coal to bad ones. / August the 13th, November the 30th, and the
> 29th of each month are holidays for Hecate. / October 31, Halloween or
> Samhain which is associated with a number of Crone Goddesses. / The Kali Puja, a
> movable holiday which takes place on the same day as one of Hinduism's
> brightest holidays Diwali, the Festival of Light.
>
> RELATIVES: (Sisters) Maiden and Mother Goddesses all as varied and diverse
> as their senior aspect the Crone Goddess / (Children) As she is the mother
> of many Mother and Father Goddesses and Gods, as well as any number of sacred
> sacrificial kings/sons, she is the ultimate Mother of all.
>
> SYNODEITIES: See NAMES above.
>
>
> DETAILS: If modern society has a hard time dealing with death, and it does,
> that's nothing compared with the fear, angst, and denial with which it
> regards old age.
>
> From plastic surgery, up to and including the injection of toxic chemicals
> into our faces, to the Balkanization, if not outright exile of those over a
> certain age, to the rendering of people, mostly women, over 45 years of age
> to almost invisibility by the mass media, it is plain to see, if you have
> the vision to look at it, that we as a whole are not dealing with the natural
> progress of aging well.
>
> This was not always the case, there was a time when those who had managed
> to survive a remarkably harsh world were regarded as someone who might
> actually have something important to contribute.
>
> Mythically this was expressed by a goddess figure that, along with the
> Maiden, and the Mother, was the most powerful part of the first of all
> trinities. The Crone is found in India, among the Greeks, the Celts, as well as
> single a deity. .
>
> The Crone goddess made sure that everyone remembered that while at the time
> they may have been alive and vital, winter was still inevitable, and all
> life would someday have to deal with old age and death. And as hard and ugly
> as death could be, it was possible to look it in the eye and not be afraid of
> it.
>
> The Crone was too old to let deceit stand and from her karma, severe or
> benevolent, fell on those who had created it so they got just what they
> deserve.
>
> She is the one who sees what needs to be destroyed and is without
> sentimentality seeing to it's destruction, in her older forms she was also the one
> who, as the huntress, knew that life could only come from death.
>
> She was the Goddess who was beyond the giving or restraning of sex as a
> gift as the Maiden did, or sex as a way to bring about new life as the Mother
> did, she saw it as either something no longer needed, or as a way to teach a
> lession, or as simply a thing for pleasure and nothing else.
>
> She was the goddess that became such minor deities as the many different
> fairies who appeared to men as a beautiful maidens who after a night of
> preternatural bliss, would in the morning, leave the man to find himself in the
> arms of the crone, where he, if unable to deal with this transformation was
> eaten, or if able to accept her, find her beautiful again.
>
> The crone also turned up in the unusual Roman myth of Vertumnus and Pomona.
> Which, at least according to David Littlefield, shows the Roman mindset
> turning away from rape and/or servitude as the only forms of adult male and
> female relationships (for reference see any myth involving Zeus getting his
> rocks off) and moving toward something more healthy.
>
> The myth, as related by Ovid, tells how Vertumnus, the shape-shifting god
> of seasonal change, plant growth and gardens, finds himself in love with the
> nymph Pomona who wants nothing to do with him and so seals herself up in her
> orchard refusing to even speak with him.
>
> Vertumnus gains entrance to the orchard by changing himself into a crone
> and telling Pomona stories which, along with giving Ovid a reason to relate
> other myths, lets her warm to the person telling the tales and later to
> Vertumnus himself on his revealing his true form.
>
> Whatever the case, the Crone, in whichever form she was imagined, was the
> sacred mythic avatar for women who could live their own lives without the
> need or approval of others, practically men.
>
> Which explains why with the coming of the new male centered philosophies
> and mind-sets, the image of the Crone Goddess became darker and darker, until
> with the coming to supremacy of Judeo-Christian, she is kicked completely
> out of Heaven and left to make do as best she could in the dark recesses of
> the mind as the wicked witch.
>
> Which brings us to the situation we find ourselve in now. These myths come
> from the same Collective Mind we run our our lives with, whether we
> acknowledge it or not, so for the mental health of society I strongly suggest we
> once again become comfortable with the various forms of the Crone Goddess.
>
> _http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=The+Dark+Crone+G
> oddess&img=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity-2.webtv.net%2F%40HH%211C%219A%212264ADF861
> DE%2FTheObsidianMask%2FCrone_Goddesses%2FscrapbookFiles%2FmailedD23.jpg&site
> =&host=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity-2.webtv.net%2FTheObsidianMask%2FCrone_Goddesse
> s%2F&width=112&height=137&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.c
> om%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AQtKy4VrcIWyKgM%3Acommunity-2.webtv.net%2F%2540HH%211
> C%219A%212264ADF861DE%2FTheObsidianMask%2FCrone_Goddesses%2FscrapbookFiles%2
> FmailedD23.jpg&b=image%3Fq%3DThe%2BDark%2BCrone%2BGoddess%26page%3D4%26s_it%
> 3Dtopsearchbox.imageDetails%26oreq%3D869567e65359c9cb%26imgsz%3D%26oreq%3D57
> d28c02a793b940&imgHeight=629&imgWidth=512&imgTitle=%3Cb%3ECrone%3C%2Fb%3E+Qu
> otes&imgSize=33126&hostName=community-2.webtv.net_
> (http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=The+Dark+Crone+Goddess&img=http://communi
> ty-2.webtv.net/@HH!1C!9A!2264ADF861DE/TheObsidianMask/Crone_Goddesses/scrapb
> ookFiles/mailedD23.jpg&site=&host=http://community-2.webtv.net/TheObsidianMa
> sk/Crone_Goddesses/&width=112&height=137&thumbUrl=http://images-partners-tbn
> .google.com/images?q=tbn:QtKy4VrcIWyKgM:community-2.webtv.net/%40HH!1C!9A!22
> 64ADF861DE/TheObsidianMask/Crone_Goddesses/scrapbookFiles/mailedD23.jpg&b=im
> age?q=The+Dark+Crone+Goddess&page=4&s_it=topsearchbox.imageDetails&oreq=8695
> 67e65359c9cb&imgsz=&oreq=57d28c02a793b940&imgHeight=629&imgWidth=512&imgTitl
> e=<b>Crone</b>+Quotes&imgSize=33126&hostName=community-2.webtv.net)
> Dark Goddess
> "The essential qualities of the dark moon are change and transformation.
> Today
> we are afraid of many of the dark moon [and Dark Goddess] teachings, such
> as
> alchemy, astrology, and other spiritual or psychological disciplines, which
> reveal information about the unconscious or subtle dimensions of being.
> The
> Bible has told us that they are evil and contrary to the will of God.
> Educators
> tell us they cannot be validated by scientific inquiry and its
> practitioners are
> labeled quacks. Yet it is these teachings, based on the timing of cyclical
> patterns that give us the guidance that enables us to pass thru the dark
> nonphysical dimensions of being - of death and rebirth, endings and new
> beginnings, or spontaneous healings - with clarity and confidence instead
> of
> panic and terror. Philosophical traditions have repeatedly told us that
> the
> answers tot he ultimate questions of life and death are found, not in the
> external world, but deep within the dark recesses of our own minds."
> (Demetra
> George, "Mysteries of the Dark Moon," page 51-52.)
>
> In the psychology of humanity there occurred a polarization between the
> male
> gods who came from above, bearers of the light, [the lightning and solar
> Gods of
> the nomadic invader- Aryans, Kurgans, Semites and Dorians, who came from
> the
> steppes of northern Europe, where "big sky" rules over the cold, forbidding
> earth] and the female divinities, who dwelt in the [fertile] darkness of
> Earth
> and caves. Light was equated with good and dark with evil....
>
> As the Goddess became distorted from an image of the compassionate mother,
> the
> source and sustainer of all life, into a symbol associated with the forces
> of
> darkness and evil, women, her earthly manifestations, were likewise
> considered
> impure, evil, and guilty of original sin - people who must be punished.
> Women
> who had sexual relations outside of the patriarchal monogamous marriage
> contract
> threatened the certainty of patriarchal bloodline transmission, and were
> ostracized and killed; their illegitimate children deprived of all legal
> rights
> and social acceptance." (George, 38)
>
> The demise of the goddess and the rise of the gods can also be understood
> in
> terms of the changes that were occurring in the human brain during the
> period of
> transition. Princeton University professor Julian Jaynes, in his
> controversial
> study of human consciousness, suggests that ancient people did not "think"
> as we
> do today.
>
> People were 'bicameral,' directed by voices emanating from the right side
> of the
> brain and apprehended by the left side - voices that they treated as divine
> and
> obeyed unquestioningly until a series of natural disasters and the growing
> complexity of their society forced them to become [what we might call]
> conscious
> (around 1500 BCE).
>
> The cosmology that developed during the reign of the Goddess arose from the
> kinds of thought processes that originate primarily out of the right brain.
> The
> right brain is feminine in polarity, circular in motion, intuitive in
> nature,
> and audial in emphasis. The right brain is relational and unifying; it
> focuses
> on a holistic view of how things are similar and interconnected....It sees
> time
> as cyclical. Humanity then worshipped a feminine lunar deity who circled
> and
> ever-renewed Herself. She illumined the mystery where the end and
> beginning are
> the same point, touching back-to-back. Peoples thus understood death and
> sex as
> precursors to rebirth. And they did not fear the darkness of death, the
> ecstasy
> of sexuality, or the Goddesses and Her priestesses, who facilitated their
> transition between lifetimes.
>
> While Jaynes does not discuss the changeover from the Goddesses to the
> Gods, he
> does document the catastrophes and cataclysms that started to occur in the
> middle of the second millennium BCE. In Addition to the volcanic
> eruptions,
> tidal waves, and massive flooding, he sees widespread warfare and
> dislocation
> that [has been previously identified as] the patriarchal invasions. Jaynes
> suggests that the rational, logical, analytical mind, all functions of the
> left
> brain, was developed in order to assist humanity thru the increasing
> complexity
> of their changing world. He presents evidence that the left-brain
> functions
> became more active at this time and grew to influence the ways in which
> individuals perceived reality.
>
> The left brain is masculine in polarity, linear in movement, logical in
> nature,
> and visual in perception. It has been most prevalent in the analytical,
> technological and scientific intellectualism of modern times. While the
> right
> brain focuses on how things are alike, THE LEFT BRAIN EMPHASIZES HOW THEY
> ARE
> DIFFERENT[!]. It develops our capacity for analysis and discrimination,
> and in
> the process it perceives a distinction between subject and object. This
> kind of
> dualistic view sees a separation between self and others, between us and
> them,
> and this perception inevitably leads to a war of opposites that yields an
> oppressor and victim...After 1500 BCE, when human beings began to operate
> primarily from the left brain, associated with the masculine principle,
> they
> began to see a distinction between themselves and the rest of creation.
> Because
> they now feared the threat of being overwhelmed by external forces as
> something
> separate from themselves, there arose a desire to conquer the feminine
> principle, embodied in the Goddess, women, and nature, rather than to live
> in
> harmony with it. (George, pp 40-44)
> _http://themorrigahan.yolasite.com/she-is-back-the-dark-goddess.php_
> (http://themorrigahan.yolasite.com/she-is-back-the-dark-goddess.php)
>
> _Witches Three - A Look at a Few Dark Goddesses_
> (http://www.dutchie.org/Tracy/dg.html)
>


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