Sanctuary of the Crescent Moon
An Open Learning Coven - Located in Rochester, New York
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Sanctuary of the Crescent Moon An Open Learning Coven - Located in Rochester, New York
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Meeting The Goddess
"I, who am the beauty of the green earth, and
the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and desire in the
heart of mankind, call unto thy soul...."
I could write a hundred pages about the Goddess and barely brush the surface. She has been called the Goddess of Ten Thousand Names....and I have never seen a complete list. She made everything in our world and imbues it with spirit. She is everything we see and everything we feel, and everything that bubbles beneath the surface of our consciousness. Anthropologists and scholars will tell you about many of the names She has been called in the past, and about the stories, myths, customs, and works of art dedicated to Her by those names. Many, many witches will tell you how she is seen in their Traditions. Sometimes I like to walk in the wild places and see Her many faces: in the tall firs and the perfect faces of Spring blossoms; in the rough hewn cliffs and the rich loam of the forest floor; in the soaring eagle and the earthworm; in a dew drenched spider web and in the poor corpses hanging there; in a bubbling brook or the rustling of a beetle in fallen leaves; in the hundreds of spring . I could learn a thousand thousand of her faces in this way. I also see her when I look at my human sisters and brothers. She is the rounded belly and luminous face of the mother to be, and her hand resting lovingly on it. She is a face full of smile lines gained through many years of life. She is a baby laughing for no better reason than being alive. She is love in all its forms and She is the cleansing of anger. She is laughter and curiosity and wonder. She is anguish and courage and endurance. She is all that is noble, all that is human, and all that is animal....and in Her all this is made sacred. She has been Mother, Healer, Liberator, Tutor, Challenger, Bringer of good tidings and bad, Comforter, Scold, Child, Sister, Warrior, Friend, Joker, Trickster, Heroine, Inspiration, Motivation, Mystery, Sage, Support, Beauty, Creativity, Compassion, Peace, Goad, Wisdom....I could go on, but I think you've got the idea by now. Whether you wish to call Her by any particular name and ask Her help with those things which that part of Her works with or to simply marvel at her hugeness, She will permeate everything you do. Sometimes I'm not sure if I invoke Her or if I just allow myself to become aware of Her presence, which is always with me. Sometimes I'm not sure if She's outside me or if I'm actually She and just limited in my ability to comprehend myself. I do know that if I sincerely want to cultivate a particular quality in myself and call upon Her, either by a specific name or as the Source of all including that quality, gradually that quality grows in me...whether from without or within, I can't say. Often, I just laugh and say that is part of Her mystery and Her magnificnece, that all these ways of seeing and thinking of Her are correct. I call God/dess Her because it comforts me to think of this Source as feminine. Perhaps this is because I am female in this life, and it is easier to see the Divine in myself if I call it Her. Perhaps it is to distinguish the God/dess I am meeting from the Christian God who so saturated the culture I grew up in. But the fact remains that God/dess is that God, and all Gods, as well as all Goddesses mankind has known...and She is in all men and women, and is all qualities...those we call feminine and those we call masculine. So if someone else calls Her a Him, I won't argue; I'll just be delighted She has made Herself known to this friend. Wherever you go seeking Her, you will find Her. Whether you look outside yourself or within. Whether you look in books or in the world around you. Whether you look through a microscope or a telescope. But you will never completely know Her or yourself until you look in all these places. As you open to Her, and invite Her into your life, you will become more and more aware of Her presence...and in time you will be consciously aware of Her presence more and more of the time. And eventually, you will be embraced by Her completely and leave your body behind...to come back in another body at another time and start this joyous process of coming home to your/Her-self all over again...
Meeting The God
The God is there in the golden warmth of the Sun.which all living things turn their faces to in pleasure. The glowing light in the sky whose warmth encourages the seeds to sprout is the loving Father who encourages us all to grow. The God is present in the winds. His playful loving touch makes our hair tickle our cheeks. His will to move shifts the sands and soils, abrading the mountains. His need to occasionally clear out the old to make way for the new raises storms, and if the very air needs cleaning, the fire of lightening cracks through the sky. His breath carries the air masses that create weather, warming and cooling as His Sun-self grows stronger in the Spring and rests in the fall and winter. While I associate the Goddess with most of the physical world, because I see the Earth and Her children as results of the process of creation and embodying that I consider essentially feminine, I see the God as the spark that makes all processes begin. I also see Him as movement. Dancing, of course, is movement that's fun, expressive, skilful, and powerful. But whether it be dancing or mock combat or any other physical skill, fine-toned muscles and joy in using them hard are features of male animals and archetypes the world over. As well, I associate Him with purposeful movement toward a goal, and so with the quality we call Will. So too, the random motion of molecules associating and breaking apart to try new combinations is sparked by the God; therefore I see the process of evolution as made possible by Him. While exploration and curiosity are features of children of either sex, the urge to know by exploring the world around us, by dissecting, comparing and synthesizing, is one I associate with the God in his child aspect...as I associate exploration of the inner realms with the Goddess. This outward movement is shown in its most basic form in the sexual act, where the male extends himself and puts his offering out in the world. Thus I tend to associate many forms of active, outward expression with the God: dance again, speech, and many types of music, particularly drumming. Also, geysers, volcanos, and the bursting forth of buds in the Spring. So, too, many processes of catharsis and clearing through expression are the realms of the God. Indeed, I also see laughter and humor as part of His domain. So many of the tricksters in world mythology are male...as are the Gods of merriment. My appreciation and understanding of this consort, lover, and partner of the Goddess is growing as I open to know Him. Indeed, I have found a great deal of healing in meeting and knowing male archetypes that work and play in partnerships rather than domination, and of meeting a father God who encourages me to grow into the best I can be rather than judging me unworthy. It wasn't the immediate and natural knowing that I felt with the Goddess...but now that the recognition has started, it feels both comfortable and empowering. And how wonderful to recognize Him in every man I meet.
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