Sopdet - The Goddess of the New Year

Sopdet (Sepdet, Sothis) personified the 'dog star' Sirius.  This star was the most important of the stars to the ancient Egyptians, and the heliacal rising of this star came at the time of inundation and the start of the Egyptian New Year. As a Goddess of the inundation, she was a Goddess of fertility. She also was linked to the pharaoh and his journey in the afterlife.

She was represented as a woman with a star on top of her head dress, or as a seated cow with a plant between her horns as depicted on an ivory tablet of King Djer. The plant may have been symbolic of the year, and thus linking her to the yearly rising of Sirius and the New Year. She was very occasionally depicted as a large dog, or in Roman times, as the goddess Isis-Sopdet, she was shown riding side-saddle on a large dog.

 

Sirius was both the most important star of ancient Egyptian astronomy, and one of the Decans (star groups into which the night sky was divided, with each group appearing for ten days annually). The heliacal rising (the first night that Sirius is seen, just before dawn) was noticed every year during July, and the Egyptians used this to mark the start of the New Year (wp rnpt, 'The Opening of the Year').

It was celebrated with a festival known as 'The Coming of Sopdet'.

"The time period between Sothic risings is called the Sothic Cycle and it is one of the tools Egyptologists use to create a chronology of Egyptian history." -- Sopdet, April McDevitt

Source: Sopdet, Goddess of Sirius, New Year and Inundation by Caroline Seawright

Yemaya Blessing of the Waters

On Monday, 9 January 2012, the first public Full Moon Gathering hosted by the Temple of the Dark Moon together The Goddess House will be hosting a special gathering down at Grange Beach, Adelaide which will be dedicated to the Africo-Carribean Goddess Yemaya.

Yemaya, or Ymoja as she was known to the Yoruban people of West Africa, was the Mother of the Ogun River and referrred to as the "Mother of the Waters".  This is because she was said to have given birth to the world's waters ... and that new springs would appear whenever she turned over in her sleep, and springs would gush forth whenever she walked.

Summer and the Mother Goddess

The Spring (Vernal) Equinox has passed and as the sacred Wheel turns, Summer is around the corner, with it the festival of Bealtaine.  It is time for the young Mother Goddess to step forward and to take the reigns.  The following is an excerpt from The Gaia Tradition: Celebrating the Earth in Her Seasons by Kisma Stephanich(Llewellyn Publications, 1991) that is most appropriate to share at this time of the year.

Summer is a combustion of activity.  The warmth of the Sun dances across the deserts, caresses the trees of the forests and sparkles off the movement of the waters in the oceans as it rises and splashes against the shoreline or softly gurgles and rushes on downstream.  All life is in full celebration of active energy.

Nearing the end of the Year

With it also being November already, it is hard to believe that the end of the year is only about 10 weeks away.  I am wondering just where the time has gone and what have I done with nearly a whole year's worth.  In reality however, a lot has been happening, especially behind the scenes, even if the result of which is not easily noticed at this stage.

February saw the resumption of devotional services to the Goddess at The Goddess House, something that I am rather passionate about as I personally do not believe that there is enough "giving back" or even a simple "thank you" shown in a lot of spiritual practices.

Goddess Prayer Beads

Strings of beads are used in various religions and spiritual traditions as a way of counting when reciting a mantra, a prayer, or even blessings, with two examples being rosary beads (used within the Catholic faith) and mala beads (within Buddhism). The beads can also be used when giving thanks as well as assisting when aligning one's self with the Divine.

Goddess beads can be used in a similar way, with the colour of the beads being up to the individual.  However, recently beads in honour of the Moon Goddess were made where the beads used reflected her triple nature of Maiden (white), Mother (red) and Crone (black), with 13 of each colour being used - representing the 13 months contained within a lunar year.

Celtic Warrior Goddesses

Cartimandua

With the theme for this month's devotional service at The Goddess House being "Warrior Goddess", the following is an extract from Merlin Stone's Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood about the Celtic Warrior Goddess.

 

In ancient Europe the major Deity was the Great Earth Mother.  The first works of art were of female figures and images of a fertility nature represented by female genitals or breasts.  The Earth Mother represented sensuality, the erotic, regeneration and fertility.  She was the relatedness of all life forms and in later agricultural societies a pregnant woman symbolised this.

October Devotional Service - Warrior Goddesses

Athena

As the sacred Wheel of the Year having turned to the Spring Equinox, the time when the hours of lightness and darkness are equal for a short period of time before the energies tip and rush towards the Summer Solistice, I thought that an appropriate theme for the October Devotional Service to be held at The Goddess House would be that of the warrior Goddesses.

There are many such Goddesses with Athena being the first which comes to mind. Bursting forth from her father's head (that of Zeus), Athena was fully armed and grown with weapons given by her mother, Metis.  The namesake of the Greek capital, Athena was considered to be the Goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, female arts, crafts, justice and skill.

September Devotional Service - Tara

The Goddess who will form the central theme for September's devotional service at The Goddess House will be the Bodhisattva Tara, and in particular the Green Tara(the Buddha of enlightened activity), as there are actually many different forms of Tara.

More information about the Green Tara can be found in a previous posting about her.

Some of the forms of Tara include:

White Tara - who is known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra,

Red Tara - a fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things,

Black Tara - associated with power,

Yellow Tara - associated with wealth and prosperity; and
Blue Tara - associated with transmutation of anger.

Spring Equinox, Eggs and Seeds

With the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox just around the corner for those of us residing south of the equator, there are still two traditional symbols associated with this festival - that of the egg and the seed.

Eggs are one of the symbols of this festival since they represent new life and potential. Folklore tells us (combining two themes of the season) that eggs balance on their ends most easily at equinox.  Femininst author, Z Budapest, in her book Grandmother of Time says that eggs were dyed red (the color of life) on the Festival of Astarte (17 March, close to the time of the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere). 

Prayer to the Goddess

Oh Goddess,
You Yourself are the Creator. Everything that happens is by Your Doing.
There is no one except You.

You created the creation; You behold it and understand it.
Amongst all is the Light--You are that Light.
By this Illumination, that Light is radiant within all.
The Goddess is the Greatest of the Great. No one calls Her any less.
No one can estimate Her Worth. By speaking of Her, Her Greatness is not increased.
You are the One True Mistress of all the other beings, of so many worlds.
Come, my dear sisters and spiritual companions; hug me close in your embrace.

The Green Tara

The September devotional service held at The Goddess House will be in honour of the Bodhisattva of compassion and action, the Green Tara, one of some 21 aspects of Tara herself.

Tara is the much-loved Tibetan Buddhist Mother Goddess.  she represents all that is and her energy can permeate all things. Tara is worshiped in both mild and wild forms, and exists in a rainbow of colours based on various attributes.  The Green and White Tara of the Tibetan Tantric tradition are the most popular forms, with Green Tara seen as her fiercer, most dynamic form.

Hekate - The Goddess of the Crossroads

For the third year, The Goddess House, together with the Temple of the Dark Moon, hosted a Hekate's Supper on 13 August, a day auspicious to Hekate herself, in particular as Hekate Soteira ("saviour").

Oftern considered to be a Crone Goddess who is associated with the Underworld, death and destruction, it is refreshing that through the work of modern researchers, in particular Sorita d'Este and David Rankine of Avalonia Publishing, that this "Crone" perception is being dismissed. 

Early Spring by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Once more the Heavenly Power
Makes all things new,
And domes the red-plowed hills
With loving blue;
The blackbirds have their wills,
The throstles too.

Opens a door in Heaven;

From skies of glass
A Jacob's ladder falls
On greening grass,
And o'er the mountain-walls
Young angels pass.

Imbolc in the Southern Hemisphere

As the first rays of the morning sun creeps through the gap of houses and across my back yard, the ground almost shivers with anticipation of its subtle warmth.  Winter is finally losing its grip upon the land, making way for Imbolc, the season of rebirth.

It is within a collection of Irish medieval myths known as “Tochmarc Emire” that the word “Imbolc” is first mentioned.  Within the story of the wooing of Emer by the Ulster hero Cu Chulainn, Emer sets a series of challenges for the young hero include him going sleepless for a year.  The calendar she refers to is denoted by the “opening of the four seasons”, with one of these seasons being named as Imbolc, marking the beginning of Spring when “the sheep are milked and Spring’s beginning". 

Please Call me by my True Names

From: Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh

In Plum Village, where I live in France, we receive many letters from the refugee camps in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, hundreds each week. It is very painful to read them, but we have to do it, we have to be in contact. We try our best to help, but the suffering is enormous, and sometimes we are discouraged. It is said that half the boat people die in the ocean. Only half arrive at the shores in Southeast Asia, and even then they may not be safe.

In Honour of Kuan Yin

Altar ready for the July Devotional Service

With the next devotional service only a few days away, finally a decision has been made as to what aspect of the Goddess will be honoured next Tuesday night.  The start of this new financial year, as with any time of change, seems to have brought with it a number of huge personal shifts of late.  Not only have people been required to move in order to seek a better standard of living, but even amongst the people I know, a number of beloved ones have passed on.  Added to this the spiralling increase in a lack of tolerance towards our follow brothers and sisters ... regardless of gender, race or religious/spiritual orientation. 

Invocation to the Goddess

Invocation to the Goddess

(Shekhinah Mountainwater)

I am one with thee, Goddess, and thou art one with me.

Thy power is my power.

Thy gifts course through me in poetry and beauty.

Thy breath is my breath.

My thoughts are of thee.

My ears hear thee.

My voice speaks and sings of thee.

My arms reach out to embrace thee.

My hands do thy work.

My heart loves through thee.

My stomach partakes of thee.

My womb and sex reveal thine inmost mystery.

My bowels know thee through death and rebirth.

My legs bend to kneel beside thee.

My feet walk and dance thy path.

Let me be ever filled

With thy glorious, divine life.

Wild Grief

Author Unknown

Your wild grief scares  me
It flows from you like
so many liquids
and pours hard and fast.
I intrude on it,
like stepping in milk that isn’t mine and
treading it into your carpet.
Back and forth I trudge.
Like a great beast
in the final throws of death.
That great gold spear that
pierces your lungs and
up it comes.
All that bile and froth that was hidden.
You are no longer who you were.
And I, unable to reach out with my hands
and take your shoulders and calm you
with all that mass of hair
so tangled and forlorn,
slink away to nurse my own.
It is quiet and faint and
will always dwell
deep in my heart.

Source: Agitation of Hands

The Lost Goddess of Israel

And [the king] set a graven image of Asherah, that he had made,

in the house of which the Lord said to David and Solomon his son,

"In this House, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen

out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever." 

-- II Kings 21:7

Asherah is arguably the most important Goddess in the Canaanite pantheon. The prototypical mother of gods and humans and consort of the chief God, El, she is also the mistress of the sea and the land, and protector of all living things. We have long known Asherah from the immense library of thirteenth-century cuneiform tablets found in Syria at the site of Ugarit. But there are also more than 40 references to Asherah in the Old Testament. What could she have meant to the people of monotheistic ancient Israel?

Winter and the Time of the Death Hag

Autumn has now given way to Winter. The hours of daylight are noticeably shorter and temperatures lower. The leaves are falling steadily from the trees, leaving them as bare skeletons. We have entered the time of the Death Hag, She who rules the barren earth.

The following is an excerpt from “The Gaia Tradition: Celebrating the Earth in Her Seasons” by Kisma Stephanich that is most appropriate to share at this time of the year. 

Honouring Some Amazing Women

Mary Wollstonecraft

At the May service of The Goddess House, not only were the grandmothers of our blood line honoured, but also women we found inspirational as well as some of the many brave women throughout time who put their lives on the line for women's rights and a better quality of life.  One of these woman was 18th century British writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797).

Best known for "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (published in 1792), Wollstonecraft argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggested that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.

Call and Response with the Gemini New Moon

It’s another new moon: when the magically minded make wishes and astrologers attempt to divine this cycle’s intentions. But fates are personal. Even if a new moon chart could be forced to describe them all, no single astrologer could tell that many stories. The wishes you make now may indeed be super-powered, but if you don’t have a strong relationship with the archetypes, don’t expect special favours.

If you rarely spend quality time with your siblings or neighbours, don’t expect them to leap at the chance to board your aging dog. New Moons are potent times to forge new alliances with the gods. Visit the invisible world. Bow and open yourself to their touch. Make an offering. Humans have been rendezvousing with these archetypes for thousands of years. When you call out to the gods, they do respond!

A Day with Dark Goddesses

Dark Goddess altar

Saturday, 28 May 2011, saw this year's Dark Goddess workshop taking place, an almost annual workshop where up to six different Goddesses who fall under the guise of being "dark", have their myths explored and are met through various exercises and meditations.  What, however, makes a Goddess "dark"? 

 In our modern Pagan interpretations there tends to be a general misconception as to who exactly is a "dark" Goddess.  If the Goddess is depicted as a phase of the Moon,, then the Dark Goddess is often associated with the waning phase, that generally relating to the Crone, Hag or Death Bringer.  However such as description does not fit Goddesses such as Lilith, Pele or even Sekhmet ... all of whom are classifed as being "dark".

I walk with the Goddess

So much has happened over the last few weeks that it is difficult to find the time at the moment to blog, in particular to even refresh my thoughts as to my recent trip to Melbourne where I attended the Goddess Gathering. 

After this weekend and once my workshop on the Dark Goddess has been completed, I envisage that more time will be found so that I can give the Gathering justice.

Tanit - the Great Goddess of Carthage

Tanit, or Tanith, is the Great Goddess of Carthage, worshipped there as its chief Deity. She is a Sky Goddess who ruled over the Sun, Stars, and Moon; and as a Mother Goddess She was invoked for fertility. The palm tree is Hers, as the desert version of the Tree of Life; and as symbolic of the life-force of the Earth the serpent is Hers as well—in fact Her name means "Serpent Lady".

Tanit is identified with both Ashtart (Astarte) and Athirat, and Her other symbols include the dove, grapes and the pomegranate (both symbolic of fruitfulness and fertility), the crescent moon, and, like Ashtart, the lion. 

Blood Mysteries

In the beginning, according to the Wise Woman tradition, everything began, as everything does, at birth. The Great Mother of All gave birth and the earth appeared out of the void. Then the Great Mother of All gave birth again, and again, and again, and people, and animals, and plants appeared on the earth. They were all very hungry. "What shall we eat?" they asked the Great Mother. "Now you eat me," she said, smiling. Soon there were a very great many lives, but the Great Mother of All was enjoying creating and giving birth so much that she didn't want to stop. "Ah," she said smiling, "now I eat you." And so she still does.

We all come from the same mother. She is the wise woman. We all return to her embrace, her bloody-rich womb place, when we die. Every woman is a whole/holy form of her, able to be whole/holy mother of all life, able to be whole/holy destroyer of life. Her power is her blood that flows and flows, her blood which is life and gives life. Every woman's menstrual blood and birth-time blood is a holy mystery.

Prayer of Becoming

In sharing the following Prayer of Becoming - I thought I would mention here that this Prayer (or statement), is a simple little exercise you might to perform before your altar or sacred space.

Basically all that is involved is as you speak the words, to think about what you are saying .. how do they resonate with you? Do you actually believe in the words?

If you feel that there are certain words which make you feel uncomfortable or unsure of, then have a go at writing your own Prayer of Becoming.

==================================

Prayer of Becoming

May clarity grow within Me
Open my eyes to life's many Wonders
May I feel the pulse of all creation within Me

Open my spirit to Awareness
Fill my heart with Understanding
May my life be of service to Earth and the Goddess

Open my ears to the needs of those around Me
Make my hands strong & gentle in Your Service
May I remember always, the Goddess works through Me

Breathing in the Goddess

This exercise has been taken from Z Budapest's Dianic University sample lecture.  I personally like it because it helps to make us aware of the Universe, the cosmos around us - not to mention our place within it.

=======================

Hold up your hands to the Heavens and breathe in deeply seven times, each time follow your breath with your consciousness to each part of your body, starting from the head, moving to your throat, your heart, your breasts your solar plexus, to your genitals and finally to your feet. With each breath you are bringing in blessings from the Universe.

In Silent Contemplation

As the venue used by The Goddess House for our monthly devotional services and healing circles is the covenstead of the Temple of the Dark Moon runs, this means that just prior to each service I strip the Temple's altar and create something more fitting for The Goddess House. 

Usually the altar resembles something  of a gathering of Goddesses as I love sharing my collection of statues with others.  For the upcoming April service however, I decided to make the focal point the beautiful piece of artwork that was gifted to The Goddess House by a regular attendee, Tara-Jade.

Adding a beautiful lotus candle that I recently found in my local Asian grocers, surrounded by devotional candles for all those who will be attending on Tuesday night, I cannot wait to see what my creation actually looks like in the subtle hue of the flickering candles.

As we will also be including a special rite in honour of the passing of Merlin Stone, I have added to the altar two statues of the more ancient Goddesses that I have, being what Marija Gimbutas described as a Snake Goddess (left of picture) and and Bird headed Goddess. 

Now that the altar has been prepared, all that is left for me to do is to finalise the handouts for the month and decide what passages from Stone's books "When God was a Woman" and "Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood" I will share ....

Prayers to the Goddess

Throughout time and across the ages there have been recorded various praises, chants and prayers written to the various guises of the Goddess.  In the West, those from the Catholic faith will be familiar with the "Hail Mary" prayer ..

"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee,

Blessed are Thou, Amongst Women,

And Blessed in the Fruit of thy Womb, Jesus;

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Pray for us sinners,

Now, and at the hour of our death, Amen."

In Honour of Merlin Stone

"Yet rather than calling the earliest religions, which embraced such an open acceptance of all human sexuality, 'fertility cults', we might consider the religions of today as strange in that they seem to associate shame and even sin with the very process of conceiving new human life. Perhaps centuries from now scholars and historians will be classifying them as 'sterility cults."

- Merlin Stone ("When God was a Woman")

On 23 February 2011, sculptor, professor in art and art history, and feminist author, Merlin Stone, passed away.  She was 80 years of age and had been suffering a long illness along with complications due to dementia.

Reflections on Autumn and the Goddess Oya

In looking for a suitable Goddess associated with the Autumn Equinox and the season of change,

I came across this wonderful piece written by Asha Oshun'Mali that I thought I would share.

Autumn is the season of change. Perhaps, because I was born in this season; is why I find it to be such a powerful one. Autumn brings to my mind, the power of the Goddess Oya. Oya, the Yoruba Goddess of the winds of change, is one of the most powerful orishas of the Yoruba pantheon. In myth, Oya is said to be one of the three wives of the god Shango-the patron of thunder and lightning.

Her sister Oshun, one of Sango’s other wives, is the Goddess of birth, love, creativity, sexuality, and growth, often associated with spring and summer. Oya however, is the sizzling sound you hear just before lightening strikes, (her husband goes no where with out her) the tornado, hurricane and typhoon; and the raging wind-even when no storms are near.

Charge of the Autumn Goddess

I am the Waning Moon, the Goddess who is fading from the land.

In the Springtime I sought my Lord and mated with him beneath the trees and stars.

At Bealtaine I wed my Lord beneath the first blossoms of the hawthorn tree.

And in the Summertime I ripened the apples in the orchards and the fruit grew round and strong like the seed within my womb.

At the corn harvest I cut down my Lord, that by his death our people might be fed.

And now in the Autumn time I descend beneath the Earth

To dwell with my Lord in his dark kingdom until our child is born.

At the Winter Solstice I will bring forth the child and renew your hope

and at Imbolg I myself will return to renew the land.

I leave you, but I return to you ....

Source: "Wicca: Old Religion for a New Age" by Vivianne Crowley

Half-Full Consciousness - Starting from Empty

We are all familiar with the metaphorical story of two people looking at the same glass and one perceiving it as half-full while the other sees it as half-empty. As much as we’ve heard this, it’s still a valuable exercise to really observe our minds and notice whether we are engaged in half-full or half-empty thinking. People will refer to themselves as being of one type or the other as if it was a permanent characteristic, but we are all capable of shifting into a half-full consciousness if we simply make the effort.

The Need for Self Healing

At the recent devotional service held at The Goddess House, a small, yet dedicated group of women gathered to attune themselves to the energy of the Divine Feminine.  Upon the uprising of the incense smoke,our voices also seemed to soar as we sang a number of the sacred songs that have been written.

   

Altar with unlit devotional candles

With the theme for the month being that of the upcoming Autumn Equinox, we spoke about the importance of bringing balance into our lives - whether it a balance between work and play, family and sacred "me" time, or even our mundane external lives and that of our spiritual, internal lives ... all of which are as equally important as the other.

Without any forward planning, 8 March was also International Women's Day and it was interesting to reflect back on how much we seem to take for granted these days compared to our fore-mothers only about a century ago.  Whilst we may have the right to vote and to work, working women are still, more often than not, being paid less than their male counterparts of a similar position. 

International Women's Day 2011

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March across the world.

IWD is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements, regardless of divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.

It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.  

March Devotional Service at The Goddess House

March, the month considered to have been named after the Roman God of War, Mars, who was also associated with conquest and heroism.  However, an earlier version of Mars seems to indicate that he was in fact Deity associated with fertility and agricultural Deity. This means that Mars, along with other Deities such as Ceres and Cybele, oversaw the new growth of Spring, and encouraged the continuation of life (fertility, sex, procreation in human, plant and animal realms). 

March, at The Goddess House, contains the Autumn Equinox and it is this Sabbat that will form the theme of the next devotional service that will  be taking place on 8 March.

Autumn and the Goddess

Autumn is the secret time, for it is the twilight of seasons when we are caught between life and death.  The turning of the wheel takes us down into the centre of women power.  If compared to a woman’s moon cycle, Autumn is the Waning Moon, the time of bleeding, of the womb, of the blood mysteries.

It is the time of intense colour, the turning of leaf colours, the shedding and releasing.  All life surrenders, leaving behind the stillness of action, and prepares to enter the silence, the season of death. 

Sacred Symbols of the Goddess - the Labrys

The Labyrs, Sagarus, Halbryce, and Labyris are all names for symmetrical double-headed axe that was known to the Classical Greeks as “pelekus”, and whilst a version is still used in woodcutting and forestry today, the symbolism of the labyrs axe dates back to the early Goddess civilizations found around the Mediterranean. 

In ancient Minoan, Thracian and Greek religion, mythology, and art, dating from the Middle Bronze Age (3,000 to 600 BCE) onwards, and surviving in the Byzantine Empire, the labyrs can be found, as well as in specific African religions, such as Shango, where it also contains an element of religious symbolism.

Aphrodite - the Greek Goddess of the Heart

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the Greek Goddess of love, beauty and sexuality seems to be everywhere.  Together with her Roman equilvant, Venus, images of hearts and the brilliant red rose are abound.

Historically, the worship of Aphrodite in Greece was imported from, or at least influenced by, the Phoenicia cult of Astarte.  According to Hesiod's "Theogony", Aphrodite was born when Cronos cut of the genitals of his father, Uranus, and threw them into the ocean.  From the foam of the waves emerged the beautiful Aphrodite.

Devotional Services about to commence

After a number of months of preparation, the recommencement of devotional services to the Great Goddess held at The Goddess House is fast approaching ... next Tuesday evening as a matter of fact.

Rarely do we, especially women, allow time for ourselves, and even less time for our own spirituality.  More often than not we are caught up doing spiritual work for someone else, in ways which may not necessary hold any real connection to us.  Or when we find that we do have time on our hands, the problem arises as to where to start ... These devotional services that are be held at The Goddess House are aimed to provide a solution to that.

Aquarius New Moon: Vessels for Living Water

by Jean Hinson Lall

The New Moon occurs on 3 February (1:01pm here in Adelaide, South Australia) and will occur in the sign of Aquarius, the third and last of the Air signs in the Zodiac, which is often thought to represent the highest development of the intellect – dry, cool, remote, impersonal and objective. Its image, however, is not that of the tweedy scholar lugging a briefcase or a white-coated scientist loading data into a laptop, but that of a lightly-clad human figure carrying vessels of water from which the contents are being poured forth.

Lughnasadh/Lammas blessings ...

Feel Me now as Bountiful Mother
I am fertility and creativity.
I am the abundance of the harvest.
I am the abundance of life.
I create and nurture all being.
My golden cloak is the ripening grain.
Pause a moment whenever you eat
Feel My presence
I am your nurturing Mother.

                                  Source: Wendy Andrews

Anahita - Ancient Persian Goddess

Here at The Goddess House we honour all aspects of the Divine Feminine, the Great Mother, and today I am delighted to announced that we took delivery of a representation of Anahita, an ancient Persian Goddess who was associated with water, fertility and war, as well as being the patroness of women.

With her name meaning "the immaculate one", Anahita was often portrayed as a virgin (not belonging by any man), wearing a golden cloak and a diamond tiara.  She was also know as Lady of the Lions, or Lady of the Beasts, she is associated with rivers and lakes, the waters of birth, and as such was also depicted carrying a water pitcher.

Animals considered sacred to Anahita were the dove and the peacock. 

Goddess of the Grain

In the Celtic calendar, Lammas (or Lughnasadh) represents the first of three harvest festivals, the time when the mythological grain God is sacrificed.  The grinding of the grain represents his death, baking it into bread represents rebirth in the womb of the Goddess, and eating the bread brings new life.

The Serpent Goddess is invoked at Lammas because of her role in rebirth and in protection of grain. Serpents used to be kept in households to safeguard the domestic food supply from rodents. Even today, serpents protect grain crops. Snake meat became so popular in restaurants in China at the start of the Year of the Snake in 2001 that the crops were threatened due to the uncontrolled population explosion of mice.

Brighid of the Celts

Last week a "true" Celtic warrior woman completed her journey from this world to the next, crossing the "rainbow bridge" into the Summerlands, or the Tir na n'Nog (the "Land of the Forever Young") as it was known by the Irish.  While the passing of this amazing woman, Lynne Sinclair Wood, can be read here, I thought it would be appropriate to share some information about the Goddess to whom Lynne was a devoted priestess to, that being the Celtic Goddess Brighid.

The following has been compiled from various sources of the years.

Ancient Goddess of the Celts

In ancient Europe the major deity was the Great Earth Mother.  The first works of art were female figures and images of a fertility nature representing female genitals or breasts.  Women represented sensuality, the erotic, regeneration and fertility.  She was the relatedness of all life forms.  In later agricultural societies, a fertile pregnant woman symbolised the source of all life.

With the coming of warrior people from Europe, a male dominated hierarchical culture had an impact on the lands of the Earth Mother.  Tribes, such as the Celts, mixed with the existing Goddess people, absorbing the Goddess knowledge balancing the Earth Mother with the Sky Father concept, and producing a culture which existed on hunting and agriculture.  Men and women were represented as equals.