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Posted Mon May 12, 2008 5:22 pm...
The Mythology of the Triple Moon Goddess and You
by Terry Lamb
~from Llewellyn's Moon Sign Book 2004
Demeter,,,,Persephone...Athena...Hecate: These are names we know from mythology, but they were also originally names for the Moon. The mythology of the Moon extends back to earliest human memory. In fact, at the center of our oldest cultures' belief are stories containing references to the Moon. Of all the heavenly bodies that the ancient peoples saw, the Moon was the most visible - even more so than the Sun because the Sun was blinding in its brilliance. Understanding the roots of lunar mythology can bring new insights into paths of our own lunar nature lost in the bleaching light of the solar era we are now in. What's more, we can use knowledge of the Moon to get closer to nature.
The Ancient Role of the Moon
In the time before artificial light, the Moon's light allowed hunters to chase down game that moved nocturnally, and it permitted safe travel at night. The Moon was the first marker of time units longer than a day. As human observers noticed the rhythm of the Moon's motion and light, they began to clock the time it took for the Moon to complete its cycle. They noticed for three days the Moon is not visible, We refer to this time as the Dark Moon. Then it appeared as a sliver in the west at sunset. We call this the crescent Moon. Evening after evening it grew, until after one week, the half Moon was visible directly overhead. We call this the first quarter Moon. Still the Moon grew in brilliance and size, a little closer to the eastern horizon each evening, until, one week after the half Moon, the Full Moon was visible rising at sunset. After the Full Moon phase, the moonrise occurred later each evening and the Moon began to wane, until one week later it was once again a half Moon visible directly overhead at sunrise. We call this the third quarter Moon. In the final week before the Moon turned dark again, it crept closer and closer to the eastern horizon at dawn, until the barest crescent disappeared and the Moon was dark once again.
These ancient observers determined that the most important points in the Moon's cycle were the Dark Moon, the waxing half Moon, the Full Moon, and the waning half Moon. This came to be called a lunation cycle. It is the foundation of our week. Friday became the day to perform lunation rituals. It is the source of the Sabbath of Judaism and Islam, and both cultures remain rooted in the Lunar calendar.
In the earliest times, the month (moon-th) was measured from the appearance of one New Moon until the next one. The magi in Babylon read omens at the New Moon and predicted events for the month to come. Both planetary and natural phenomena were read in prognostications. As the Moon cycles were matched to the yearly solar cycle, the growing agrarian cultures could anticipate what was next in the growing cycle and plan accordingly.
Around the world, the Moon was revered, and in astonishingly similar ways. In most cultures, the Moon was associated with their oldest and most basic concepts. In Basque, a language with no known related tongues, the word for "deity" is also the word for "moon." Throughout the Mediterranean region, the Moon was associated with the Great Mother; this was also true in Peru. In Gaelic, the Moon's name was gaelach, whose root is also the source of our word "galaxy," the "mother's milk in the sky."
Around the Mediterranean, the Moon was seen as the triple goddess, one manifestation of the trinity of forces - Creator-Preserver-Destroyer- which the ancients saw flourishing around them. They saw the Moon as an exemplar of the unending cycle of life. The waxing Moon was the Creator, called the maiden or virgin; the Full Moon represented the preserver or Mother; and the waning Moon was the Destroyer or Crone-Wise Woman. The triple goddess depiction of the Moon was found throughout the Eurasian continent.
In Greece, the Moon goddesses were also known as the Moon-spinners, who wove the waxing Moon, then unraveled it as it waned. Libyan Neith, coming from a watery locale, was associated with snakes, no doubt the source of the snake goddess figures found in Minoan Crete.
The Archetypes Live Within Us
Most of us are curious about how our ancestors lived, but there is another good reason to explore these ancient archetypes: the archetypes live within us. We have heard stories about them since childhood. We see them in movies, television, books, fairy tales, and myths to which we are exposed. These stories from deeply buried constructs that we express through our actions without awareness. Be becoming conscious of them, however, we can choose which myths we will fulfill and how we will do so.
If you read myths as they are presented in most literature today, you find them full of death, destruction, and unhappy endings. These late forms of the myths, as they are retold, represent the different values of the conquest-oriented invaders of the Mediterranean region around 1400 B.C., are not very good archetypes to live out. The earliest stories, however, revolve around creation, fertility, motherhood, and the rhythm of the seasons. These earlier stories are also deeply buried in our psyches. The earlier myths were the forums for learning how to be successful in the culture, from coming of age to fostering a family to dying. In those times, the myths reflected a friendlier world. Am example of this is Pandora ("Giver of All"), whose vessel was a honey jar. This early Pandora gave out blessings, not the curses (strife, pain, famine, sickness, etc.) that are found in later versions of the myth. It is the same with every story whose genesis is found in the Fertile Crescent - those rich marshlands at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in southern Iraq and Iran.
The story of Demeter is one example, Demeter (also De-Meter or Delta-Mother) was the Great Mother. In modern myths formed later classical times, Demeter's daughter Persephone is abducted by Pluto -lord of the underworld. However, the oldest version of the myth was the classic Virgin story. In that version Kore gave birth to the new god Aeon, celebrating the springtime return of vegetation. Festivals dedicated to Demeter celebrates the birth-life-death cycle reflected in the planting and harvesting of grain.
The Triple Goddess Archetypes
To use them more meaningfully in your life, it is important to understand the various archetypes.
The Maiden (Creator)
This is the young girl from childhood until maturity. She is in the process of becoming - full of potential not yet realized. She doesn't know yet who she is, and she hasn't been tested by the tides of life. She is innocent of knowledge and experience and approaches life generally with openness and curiosity. In positive form, she is ready to bloom - a flower of life - and she attracts others to he like bees to honey. She is pure love continually unfolding her potential. Her role is to grow and fulfill her potential. She will discover and reach for her goals in school, and her career is a natural outgrowth of her experiences if she is not impeded in her path. In a less positive manifestation, she may seem shallow or silly, underdeveloped or be only interested in appearances. In Western culture, she could be prematurely sexualized and lose touch with her inner quest for self. This maiden may struggle with school and career choices because she is distracted by the "eye candy" that the Western world offers to young people in her vulnerable state.
The Mother (Preserver)
This is the woman from young adulthood to maturity. the latter often measured by menopause, She is fully aware of herself as a woman of child-bearing age, even if she cannot or does not plan to have children. At her best, she is in touch with her monthly cycle, allowing it to influence other aspects of her life, from her moods and emotional awareness to her level of physical, mental and emotional activity. She is aware of her talents and is in the process of manifesting them with increasing skill throughout this period. Her role is to preserve lives - from her children to the family of humanity - in all its forms. Many women will feel drawn to careers that foster healing and improving human condition. Tasks or careers that support aggression or activities that do not promote life often repulse them. When expresses less positively, the mother archetype can be clingy and controlling. A person who does nor find ways to fully express his or her own potential may seek to do so through his or her children or those under his or her fosterage. They may push their children into a field of study or career path that they unconsciously wish they had followed themselves. If this mother archetype is under expressed, it is often because the person rejects his or her fertile feminine side. They may neglect those for whose care and nurturing they are responsible, most particularly themselves and their own health and well-being.
The Crone or Wise Woman (Destroyer)
This is the woman in the peak of her wisdom. She has gained from life's experience and struggled with its obstacles. She was past childbearing age, but that does not make her less vital. She may be sharp of mind and strong in body, even though her age is beginning to show. She has ceased needing to act as the primary caregiver in others' lives, passing that role onto others. She may be a grandmother who cares for her grandchildren occasionally, or she may be a career woman who has a leadership role in her work community, either through position or because of her experience. No matter what her role in the community, she is often the matriarch who holds the vision of what the group(s) of which she finds herself a member - the family, company, department at work, or the membership organization. She represents and deals with death. As she confronts her own life's end, she shows the way to others. She may bury her friends, offer support, or need to take charge when her family is in transition. She may find it necessary at times to represent the harsh lessons of life. Eventually, she must surrender her role as leader and matriarch to those who follow her, even allowing others to care for her as she returns to the womb of spirit. On the les positive side, the wise woman may become embittered by life and spread this negativity among those who are connected to her,. She may refuse to give up her power when it is time to surrender to the demands of age. She may attempt to control others as a way to maintain her power in the face of growing weakness or infirmity. While sometimes these patterns are symptoms of disease and cannot be helped, other times these behaviors are willful and can be avoided through choice.
What Does This Mean For You?
Each person has all three Moon archetypes in them: Maiden, mother and wise woman. Each of them is expressed in a never-ending series of cycles throughout our lives. Whether we carry out a project at work, build a house, or fulfill our own life cycle, we enter the Creator-Maiden phase during development, the Preserver-Mother phase once something is established, and the Destroyer-Wise Woman stage when it is time to pass beyond that which has been. To accept and embody all of them is to be able to fully express the feminine in all its forms and feel a sense of completeness.
There are many ways that we can move toward this. Start by identifying which archetypes you are most comfortable and familiar with. In women, this may be the archetype that you try to become through your style or way of presenting yourself, or perhaps because of your age or stage in life. If you are a male, it may be the archetype that you are most drawn to in women. As our culture places the highest value on the maiden, this maybe the strongest archetype, especially if you are young.
Then, learn about the other archetype. Identify people who represent those archetypes to you, both in your personal life and among public figures. It helps to identify people who qualities you admire so that you can learn from the way they live those archetypes.
And finally, seek situations where you will be called upon to draw from those archetypal resources in your nature.
The Moon Phase at Your Birth Time
The phase of the Moon at the time of your birth indicates which of the archetypes you are likely to feel most comfortable in. To determine which role is strongest in your nature, you will need to look at the Sun-Moon relationship at the time of your birth. If you do not have your birth chart or know the signs of your Sun and Moon, you need to get this information before you will be able to figure out your phase. Several ways to do this are suggested below.
If you have your astrological chart, first divide it into thirds starting with the Sun. Then label the thirds starting with the third of the chart below the Sun and moving counterclockwise. Next, locate which of the thirds your Moon is in. The first third is the sector of the maiden; the second the mother; and the third the wise woman.
If you don't have your astrological chart, you can find the sector your Moon is by counting signs. To do this, you have to know the order of the signs. First, start with the sign the Sun is in. Counting the sign as "1", the first four signs are the sector of the Maiden; the second four the Mother; and the final four the Wise Woman.
Now, find the archetype that fits you. If you find that you want to improve your expression of this archetype, try some of the suggestions below.
To improve your expression of the Maiden archetype, find ways to bring out the childlike innocence in your nature.
Play and do things spontaneously from time to time.
Engage in artistic endeavors - anything from painting and drawing to the dramatic arts to design or decorating, Crafts will fulfill this role as long as you experience it as fun.
Join in sports as an activity rather than a spectator sport, but don't worry about winning.
Do something that you've never done before.
Provide the creative juice for a project.
Get a beauty makeover or but some new wardrobe items that contribute to your appearance.
Let others take care of you, and accept their support.
To augment your expression of the Mother archetype find ways to provide support and be of service to others.
Volunteer to help an organization - the PTA, a professional or political group, in the school classroom or a hospital.
Take on leadership roles where you have the opportunity to nurture common goals among a group.
Take care of children.
Get a pet that interacts with you and requires nurturing - a cat as opposed to a goldfish.
Engage in healing or health care activities.
Be a mentor, Big Brother, or Big Sister to someone.
Teach or tutor through a literacy program.
Give of your professional skills without direct compensation, through such groups as Doctors Without Borders or a free legal service. (This of course must be in your area of professional expertise.)
Work within existing systems and programs to improve or sustain them.
To develop the Wise Woman archetype in your nature:
Develop relationships with senior citizens in your family and community by volunteering at a retirement home or assisted living facility. Pay attention to their concerns and to what they can teach you about life from their experiences.
Find things to get rid of; destroy or recycle outdated objects, ideas and goals.
Learn about death. Study how carious cultures view death, including how death was viewed in ancient times as encoded in myths, stories and fairy tales. The Egyptian Book of the Dead or the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying provide enlightening reading.
Make a journal of your experiences and ponder what you have learned and are learning from them.
Think about your own senior years. If you are not yet in them, create a vision of what you want for yourself, both in terms of inner qualities and external events. Develop a flexible guideline for how you think you may achieve them.
Select from among the people around you someone who has entered the Wise Woman phase. Write down some thoughts about he or she is fulfilling that stage, what he or she does that is working and what pitfalls you may want to avoid. Ask him or her about life experiences and how he or she feels about this stage.
Engage in the portion or projects or activities that eliminates or destroys the old and outworn, or act to complete or finalize projects and processes.
Become a hospice volunteer.
Applying Them Each Month
These principles are available to us through the natural lunar cycle. From the New Moon to tend days after, we are all in the maiden phase, developing new ideas based on our instincts and inner knowing. From days eleven through twenty, we are in the mother phase, sustaining what we have started so that it will bear fruit and bring us rewards. Days twenty-one through thirty give us time to integrate what we have done and learned, creating wisdom out of experience.
One of the best ways to get in touch with these parts of our nature is to simply be aware of the Moon in its cycle of light and dark; go out each night and spot the Moon. Get to know its movement and feel its energies, even on cloudy nights. The Moon, though always changing, is constant in her change: she changes the same way month after month, lighting our nights at times, giving us darkness at others. By tapping her energies, we can learn to move with her tides pf activity and be replenished in health and fulfillment.
by Terry Lamb
~from Llewellyn's Moon Sign Book 2004
Demeter,,,,Persephone...Athena...Hecate: These are names we know from mythology, but they were also originally names for the Moon. The mythology of the Moon extends back to earliest human memory. In fact, at the center of our oldest cultures' belief are stories containing references to the Moon. Of all the heavenly bodies that the ancient peoples saw, the Moon was the most visible - even more so than the Sun because the Sun was blinding in its brilliance. Understanding the roots of lunar mythology can bring new insights into paths of our own lunar nature lost in the bleaching light of the solar era we are now in. What's more, we can use knowledge of the Moon to get closer to nature.
The Ancient Role of the Moon
In the time before artificial light, the Moon's light allowed hunters to chase down game that moved nocturnally, and it permitted safe travel at night. The Moon was the first marker of time units longer than a day. As human observers noticed the rhythm of the Moon's motion and light, they began to clock the time it took for the Moon to complete its cycle. They noticed for three days the Moon is not visible, We refer to this time as the Dark Moon. Then it appeared as a sliver in the west at sunset. We call this the crescent Moon. Evening after evening it grew, until after one week, the half Moon was visible directly overhead. We call this the first quarter Moon. Still the Moon grew in brilliance and size, a little closer to the eastern horizon each evening, until, one week after the half Moon, the Full Moon was visible rising at sunset. After the Full Moon phase, the moonrise occurred later each evening and the Moon began to wane, until one week later it was once again a half Moon visible directly overhead at sunrise. We call this the third quarter Moon. In the final week before the Moon turned dark again, it crept closer and closer to the eastern horizon at dawn, until the barest crescent disappeared and the Moon was dark once again.
These ancient observers determined that the most important points in the Moon's cycle were the Dark Moon, the waxing half Moon, the Full Moon, and the waning half Moon. This came to be called a lunation cycle. It is the foundation of our week. Friday became the day to perform lunation rituals. It is the source of the Sabbath of Judaism and Islam, and both cultures remain rooted in the Lunar calendar.
In the earliest times, the month (moon-th) was measured from the appearance of one New Moon until the next one. The magi in Babylon read omens at the New Moon and predicted events for the month to come. Both planetary and natural phenomena were read in prognostications. As the Moon cycles were matched to the yearly solar cycle, the growing agrarian cultures could anticipate what was next in the growing cycle and plan accordingly.
Around the world, the Moon was revered, and in astonishingly similar ways. In most cultures, the Moon was associated with their oldest and most basic concepts. In Basque, a language with no known related tongues, the word for "deity" is also the word for "moon." Throughout the Mediterranean region, the Moon was associated with the Great Mother; this was also true in Peru. In Gaelic, the Moon's name was gaelach, whose root is also the source of our word "galaxy," the "mother's milk in the sky."
Around the Mediterranean, the Moon was seen as the triple goddess, one manifestation of the trinity of forces - Creator-Preserver-Destroyer- which the ancients saw flourishing around them. They saw the Moon as an exemplar of the unending cycle of life. The waxing Moon was the Creator, called the maiden or virgin; the Full Moon represented the preserver or Mother; and the waning Moon was the Destroyer or Crone-Wise Woman. The triple goddess depiction of the Moon was found throughout the Eurasian continent.
In Greece, the Moon goddesses were also known as the Moon-spinners, who wove the waxing Moon, then unraveled it as it waned. Libyan Neith, coming from a watery locale, was associated with snakes, no doubt the source of the snake goddess figures found in Minoan Crete.
The Archetypes Live Within Us
Most of us are curious about how our ancestors lived, but there is another good reason to explore these ancient archetypes: the archetypes live within us. We have heard stories about them since childhood. We see them in movies, television, books, fairy tales, and myths to which we are exposed. These stories from deeply buried constructs that we express through our actions without awareness. Be becoming conscious of them, however, we can choose which myths we will fulfill and how we will do so.
If you read myths as they are presented in most literature today, you find them full of death, destruction, and unhappy endings. These late forms of the myths, as they are retold, represent the different values of the conquest-oriented invaders of the Mediterranean region around 1400 B.C., are not very good archetypes to live out. The earliest stories, however, revolve around creation, fertility, motherhood, and the rhythm of the seasons. These earlier stories are also deeply buried in our psyches. The earlier myths were the forums for learning how to be successful in the culture, from coming of age to fostering a family to dying. In those times, the myths reflected a friendlier world. Am example of this is Pandora ("Giver of All"), whose vessel was a honey jar. This early Pandora gave out blessings, not the curses (strife, pain, famine, sickness, etc.) that are found in later versions of the myth. It is the same with every story whose genesis is found in the Fertile Crescent - those rich marshlands at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in southern Iraq and Iran.
The story of Demeter is one example, Demeter (also De-Meter or Delta-Mother) was the Great Mother. In modern myths formed later classical times, Demeter's daughter Persephone is abducted by Pluto -lord of the underworld. However, the oldest version of the myth was the classic Virgin story. In that version Kore gave birth to the new god Aeon, celebrating the springtime return of vegetation. Festivals dedicated to Demeter celebrates the birth-life-death cycle reflected in the planting and harvesting of grain.
The Triple Goddess Archetypes
To use them more meaningfully in your life, it is important to understand the various archetypes.
The Maiden (Creator)
This is the young girl from childhood until maturity. She is in the process of becoming - full of potential not yet realized. She doesn't know yet who she is, and she hasn't been tested by the tides of life. She is innocent of knowledge and experience and approaches life generally with openness and curiosity. In positive form, she is ready to bloom - a flower of life - and she attracts others to he like bees to honey. She is pure love continually unfolding her potential. Her role is to grow and fulfill her potential. She will discover and reach for her goals in school, and her career is a natural outgrowth of her experiences if she is not impeded in her path. In a less positive manifestation, she may seem shallow or silly, underdeveloped or be only interested in appearances. In Western culture, she could be prematurely sexualized and lose touch with her inner quest for self. This maiden may struggle with school and career choices because she is distracted by the "eye candy" that the Western world offers to young people in her vulnerable state.
The Mother (Preserver)
This is the woman from young adulthood to maturity. the latter often measured by menopause, She is fully aware of herself as a woman of child-bearing age, even if she cannot or does not plan to have children. At her best, she is in touch with her monthly cycle, allowing it to influence other aspects of her life, from her moods and emotional awareness to her level of physical, mental and emotional activity. She is aware of her talents and is in the process of manifesting them with increasing skill throughout this period. Her role is to preserve lives - from her children to the family of humanity - in all its forms. Many women will feel drawn to careers that foster healing and improving human condition. Tasks or careers that support aggression or activities that do not promote life often repulse them. When expresses less positively, the mother archetype can be clingy and controlling. A person who does nor find ways to fully express his or her own potential may seek to do so through his or her children or those under his or her fosterage. They may push their children into a field of study or career path that they unconsciously wish they had followed themselves. If this mother archetype is under expressed, it is often because the person rejects his or her fertile feminine side. They may neglect those for whose care and nurturing they are responsible, most particularly themselves and their own health and well-being.
The Crone or Wise Woman (Destroyer)
This is the woman in the peak of her wisdom. She has gained from life's experience and struggled with its obstacles. She was past childbearing age, but that does not make her less vital. She may be sharp of mind and strong in body, even though her age is beginning to show. She has ceased needing to act as the primary caregiver in others' lives, passing that role onto others. She may be a grandmother who cares for her grandchildren occasionally, or she may be a career woman who has a leadership role in her work community, either through position or because of her experience. No matter what her role in the community, she is often the matriarch who holds the vision of what the group(s) of which she finds herself a member - the family, company, department at work, or the membership organization. She represents and deals with death. As she confronts her own life's end, she shows the way to others. She may bury her friends, offer support, or need to take charge when her family is in transition. She may find it necessary at times to represent the harsh lessons of life. Eventually, she must surrender her role as leader and matriarch to those who follow her, even allowing others to care for her as she returns to the womb of spirit. On the les positive side, the wise woman may become embittered by life and spread this negativity among those who are connected to her,. She may refuse to give up her power when it is time to surrender to the demands of age. She may attempt to control others as a way to maintain her power in the face of growing weakness or infirmity. While sometimes these patterns are symptoms of disease and cannot be helped, other times these behaviors are willful and can be avoided through choice.
What Does This Mean For You?
Each person has all three Moon archetypes in them: Maiden, mother and wise woman. Each of them is expressed in a never-ending series of cycles throughout our lives. Whether we carry out a project at work, build a house, or fulfill our own life cycle, we enter the Creator-Maiden phase during development, the Preserver-Mother phase once something is established, and the Destroyer-Wise Woman stage when it is time to pass beyond that which has been. To accept and embody all of them is to be able to fully express the feminine in all its forms and feel a sense of completeness.
There are many ways that we can move toward this. Start by identifying which archetypes you are most comfortable and familiar with. In women, this may be the archetype that you try to become through your style or way of presenting yourself, or perhaps because of your age or stage in life. If you are a male, it may be the archetype that you are most drawn to in women. As our culture places the highest value on the maiden, this maybe the strongest archetype, especially if you are young.
Then, learn about the other archetype. Identify people who represent those archetypes to you, both in your personal life and among public figures. It helps to identify people who qualities you admire so that you can learn from the way they live those archetypes.
And finally, seek situations where you will be called upon to draw from those archetypal resources in your nature.
The Moon Phase at Your Birth Time
The phase of the Moon at the time of your birth indicates which of the archetypes you are likely to feel most comfortable in. To determine which role is strongest in your nature, you will need to look at the Sun-Moon relationship at the time of your birth. If you do not have your birth chart or know the signs of your Sun and Moon, you need to get this information before you will be able to figure out your phase. Several ways to do this are suggested below.
If you have your astrological chart, first divide it into thirds starting with the Sun. Then label the thirds starting with the third of the chart below the Sun and moving counterclockwise. Next, locate which of the thirds your Moon is in. The first third is the sector of the maiden; the second the mother; and the third the wise woman.
If you don't have your astrological chart, you can find the sector your Moon is by counting signs. To do this, you have to know the order of the signs. First, start with the sign the Sun is in. Counting the sign as "1", the first four signs are the sector of the Maiden; the second four the Mother; and the final four the Wise Woman.
Now, find the archetype that fits you. If you find that you want to improve your expression of this archetype, try some of the suggestions below.
To improve your expression of the Maiden archetype, find ways to bring out the childlike innocence in your nature.
Play and do things spontaneously from time to time.
Engage in artistic endeavors - anything from painting and drawing to the dramatic arts to design or decorating, Crafts will fulfill this role as long as you experience it as fun.
Join in sports as an activity rather than a spectator sport, but don't worry about winning.
Do something that you've never done before.
Provide the creative juice for a project.
Get a beauty makeover or but some new wardrobe items that contribute to your appearance.
Let others take care of you, and accept their support.
To augment your expression of the Mother archetype find ways to provide support and be of service to others.
Volunteer to help an organization - the PTA, a professional or political group, in the school classroom or a hospital.
Take on leadership roles where you have the opportunity to nurture common goals among a group.
Take care of children.
Get a pet that interacts with you and requires nurturing - a cat as opposed to a goldfish.
Engage in healing or health care activities.
Be a mentor, Big Brother, or Big Sister to someone.
Teach or tutor through a literacy program.
Give of your professional skills without direct compensation, through such groups as Doctors Without Borders or a free legal service. (This of course must be in your area of professional expertise.)
Work within existing systems and programs to improve or sustain them.
To develop the Wise Woman archetype in your nature:
Develop relationships with senior citizens in your family and community by volunteering at a retirement home or assisted living facility. Pay attention to their concerns and to what they can teach you about life from their experiences.
Find things to get rid of; destroy or recycle outdated objects, ideas and goals.
Learn about death. Study how carious cultures view death, including how death was viewed in ancient times as encoded in myths, stories and fairy tales. The Egyptian Book of the Dead or the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying provide enlightening reading.
Make a journal of your experiences and ponder what you have learned and are learning from them.
Think about your own senior years. If you are not yet in them, create a vision of what you want for yourself, both in terms of inner qualities and external events. Develop a flexible guideline for how you think you may achieve them.
Select from among the people around you someone who has entered the Wise Woman phase. Write down some thoughts about he or she is fulfilling that stage, what he or she does that is working and what pitfalls you may want to avoid. Ask him or her about life experiences and how he or she feels about this stage.
Engage in the portion or projects or activities that eliminates or destroys the old and outworn, or act to complete or finalize projects and processes.
Become a hospice volunteer.
Applying Them Each Month
These principles are available to us through the natural lunar cycle. From the New Moon to tend days after, we are all in the maiden phase, developing new ideas based on our instincts and inner knowing. From days eleven through twenty, we are in the mother phase, sustaining what we have started so that it will bear fruit and bring us rewards. Days twenty-one through thirty give us time to integrate what we have done and learned, creating wisdom out of experience.
One of the best ways to get in touch with these parts of our nature is to simply be aware of the Moon in its cycle of light and dark; go out each night and spot the Moon. Get to know its movement and feel its energies, even on cloudy nights. The Moon, though always changing, is constant in her change: she changes the same way month after month, lighting our nights at times, giving us darkness at others. By tapping her energies, we can learn to move with her tides pf activity and be replenished in health and fulfillment.
If you cant explain it simply, you dont understand it well enough.-- Albert Einstein
Blessings Bright and Dark,
