Waves of Healing - Ocean Meditation

The following wonderful healing meditation has been received from Madisyn Taylor of Daily Om.  I hope that you enjoy it.

 

 

There is much we can learn from the ocean

as we have a similar inner landscape within us as well.

Like us, the sea is ever-changing. And, like us, the earth’s vast oceans appear at a distance to be stable and homogenous. But beneath the mask of solidity that both we and the sea wear, there lies unpredictability, sensitivity, and power. There is much we can learn from the ocean, representative as it is of our inner landscapes. The rough sounds of the sea’s waves are spiritually soothing, and its salt can purify our physical selves. Yet not everyone has the luxury of living by the shore or even visiting the coastlines where water and land meet.

 

Brighid to be honoured in the first Sacred Goddess Circle for 2014

Brighid, both the Goddess and the Saint, is associated with the sun and fire. In fact, her name is said to mean "fiery dart", and she is associated with "fiery pursuits" such as smithcrafting, as well as the inspirational "fires" of creativity.

 

As many of the myths associated with the Pagan Goddess Brighid have merged with the Christianised saint, this only proves that even today, Brighid is seen as a powerful role model and source of inspiration for the modern woman regardless of her spiritual belief.

 

Queen of Olympos devotional now available

I am very excited to announce that Queen of Olympos: A Devotional Anthology for Hera and Iuno is now available via Amazon.com.  This anthology, the fourth to date that something I have submitted has been publishe, explores the often misunderstood long suffering "wife" of Zeus (and his Roman counterpart, Jupiter).  However, as readers will discover, there is so much more to Hera/Iuno that what is commonly considered today.

 

Giving the Gift of You

With "that" time of the year fast approaching, this posting from Daily Om seems to be rather appropriate as it focuses on serving the wider community.

 

Being of service to our community is part

of being a good citizen of the planet earth.

 

Sacred Goddess Circles coming to Adelaide

Since 2007, The Goddess House has been hosting devotional circles where the Divine Feminine, the Great Goddess, could be honoured through the acts of meditation, offering, song and ritual.  During this time, there has been an increasing number of requests for specific women-only circles where Goddess myth and lore, as well as aspects of feminine life ("women's mysteries") could be shared. 

 

Riding the Wave of Life

Avebury Stone Circle, England

For the last five weeks I have been travelling the lands of my ancestors and as such, have been lucky enough to visit a number of wonderful ancient sites that are at least 3,000 to even 5,000 years old.  These sites were built by people for reasons we are yet to understand and probably never will.  A number of them however were built to align with astrological and astronomical occurrences, and when we find ourselves standing amongst such monuments we can't help but wonder "what were these monuments really built for" and "why were they built in the first place"?

 

In order to help ascertain insight into these questions, and many more, a moment of stillness always comes in handy.  And as I take a moment to collect my thoughts, I would like to share this essay from Madisyn Taylor about "Riding the Wave of Life".

"Embracing the Goddess" to be held at the WEA (Adelaide) in October

I am ecstatic to be able to announce that the WEA (Worker's Education Association) here in Adelaide will be running the first of what I hope will be a number of Goddess orientated workshops with "Embracing the Goddess" to take place on Saturday, 19 October 2013.

 

Hail to the Great Phantom Queen

From the Emerald Isle comes a Goddess whose very existence has confused scholars as to whether she is actually a Deity, or merely a noun describing a number of similar Goddesses.  Then again, maybe She is both.  This shapeshifter is the Irish battle Goddess, the Morrighan.

From the earliest of Irish myths that recounted how the mythical faery race, the Tuatha de Dannan, battled not only the prehistoric Fomorians  but also the Fir Bolgs, there has been some connection with the Morrighan.  This is because it was She who chose to take the side of the de Dannan peoples to whom She lent Her magical skills and powers, enabling them to win Ireland for themselves.

The Ancient Goddess - the Venus of Lespugue

While the Venus of Willendorf is probably the better known of all the ancient "Venus" statuettes that depict mankind's earliest perception of  the Divine, the Venus of Lespugue is another such statuette that has cause great debate amongst the archaeological community as to its "true" purpose and the reasoning behind why such statuettes were created.

Dated to have originated from the Gravettian period (that occurred between 26,000 and 24,000 years ago and formed part of the Upper Paleolithic era), this image that stangd only 15cm tallk) was carved from mammouth ivory and was discovered in the Rideaux cave of Lespugue  (Haute-Garonne) in the foothills of the Pyrenees by René de Saint-Périer in 1922.

13:13 Rainbow Bridge Tour with Tanishka Tantrika

It is always exciting when someone you know (or at least you have met), does something wonderful.  I first met Tanishka at the 2008 Australian Goddess Conference and was simply blown away by her wonderful energy and knowledge base.  It is a great honour therefore for me to pass on word of Tanishka's upcoming Rainbow Bridge Tour, especially as it is coming to Adelaide.

Named after 'The Rainbow Bridge' consciousness raising event featuring the King Cobra of kundalini, Jimi Hendrix in 1970 (the year Tanishka was born) - her mission is to tour the world for three years starting with Australia in 2013, Year of the Snake to awaken the twin flame serpents within the World Soul by activating groups by sharing ancient truths to dispel the seven veils of illusion which have blocked the seven major energy centres or inner doors that form the Rainbow Bridge. When these open we each become a vessel for creating Heaven on Earth.

Senua - Britain's Unknown Goddess

It has been a number of weeks since I last blogged here at The Goddess House.  With only just over six weeks before I head off to the United Kingdom and take part in two glorious trips organised by Dragon Eye Tours, my list of things to do seems to being increasing on a daily basis.

 

While taking a wee moment to collect my thoughts before tackling the next thing on my list, I came across this rather interesting article about a lesser known Romano-British Goddess Senua that was published in the Goddess Alive ezine a few years ago.  The author of this article does not appear on the ezine link, however, I was able to ascertain possibly the source from an article that was written by Maev Kennedy that appeared in the Guardian on 1 September 2003.

 

Friday - Freya's Day



Frigga

In the stories of the Gods and Goddesses of the Angles and Saxons we find two Goddesses, Frigga, the wife of Odin and queen of the Gods, and Freya, the Goddess of Love. Some people think that Friday was named after Frigga, and others that it was Freya's day. Since very similar stories are told of each of them, it is quite probable that they were really the same person. The Roman name for the day was Dies Veneris, the day of Venus, who, it will be remembered, was the Goddess of Love, and so corresponded to Freya. The modern French name is taken from the Latin and is vendredi.

Tending Your Own Energy Field

As it has been a while since I shared anything from Daily Om, this article caught my eye especially as meditation nights commenced last Monday evening where discussion around metaphyical topics are also included.

 

The following article by Madisyn Taylor, entitled "Fill Yourself from the Inside Out - Tending Your Own Energy Field" talks about the Muladhara or base chakra that is located at the base of our spine and is related to our more "primal" instincts - that of instinct, security and survival, as well as basic human potentiality.  Physically, the Muladhara governs sexuality, mentally it governs stability, emotionally it governs sensuality, and spiritually it governs a sense of security.

 

"A Mantle of Stars" update

Astarte by Sebastian P Haines

Back in December last year there was a proposed devotional anthology that caught my attention.  A Mantle of Stars: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of the Queen of Heaven was putting out a call for poetry, rituals as well as essays and even artwork that would be edited by Jen McConnel.  When I visited the web site recently, I noticed the submission date had been to extended from April until 1 August 2013.  How wonderful, I thought.  Despite having already forwarded an essay on one aspect of the "Queen of Heaven" that had been accepted for submission, I have another piece that I am contemplating sending through - based from a more personal relationship with the "Queen of Heaven". 

The title "Queen of Heaven" is widely used within Christianity to refer to the "Mother of God", Mary herself.  Why, then, is she catching my interest?

Hymn to the Divine Mother

Here in Australia is it the day that we honour our Mothers Day.  As such, I thought I would share the following poem entitled "Hymn to the Divine Mother" (author is unknown):

Hymn to the Divine Mother

O thou the giver of all blessings,
O thou the doer of all good,
O thou the fulfiller of all desires,
O thou the giver of refuge -
Our salutations to thee, O Mother Divine.

Monday Night Meditations

Commencing Monday, 27 May 2013 and continuing until 5 August 2013, join me in these wonderful Monday Night Meditations that provide a great way to commence the week whereby you are feeling relaxed and centred.

Each week has a specific theme with the view of deepening your understanding of and connection with the Universe ... the cosmic web of all life.

** Awaken your spiritual consciousness **

** Gain control of your life and live it to its fullest **

** Become one with the Universe **

** Develop a deeper insight in your personal dream messages **

The Lady of the Dawn who became the Great Woman of the Light

Hine-titama
by Robyn Kahukiwa

As the Wheel of the Year turns once more, the gateway to the dark months, that of Samhain, opens before us.  As the veil between the realm of the living and that of the dead thins, we are reminded of our own mortality.

 

According to Maori, the Goddess of night and of death was Hine-nui-te-po (meaning "Great Woman of the Night"), who was also the ruler of the Underworld.  Also known by her earlier name, that of Hine-titama ("Lady of the Dawn"), she was said to be the daughter of  Tāne-matua (the God of the forests and birds), and Hine-ahu-one (“woman created of earth”), who was the first woman.

Last Dark Goddess Workshop - Not to be Missed

Dark Goddess altar

For the last six or so years, around Samhain every year, I have been hosting a rather intensive interactive workshop on the Dark Goddess.  Using ritual, myth and magick, these various workshops take the participant on a journey into the Underworld - a realm that can be rather foreboding for some, yet comforting for others.

 

Every year a number of Goddesses who fall into the category of being a "Dark Goddess" are specifically chosen.  Some of whom we have worked with over the years have included Persephone (the Greek Queen of the Underworld), Erishkigal (Babylonian Underworld Goddess), Cerridwen (Celtic Keeper of the Cauldron of Mysteries), Baba Yaga (Slavic Initiator), Durga (Hindu Warrior Goddess), Lilith (the Hebraic Shapeshifter), Sekhmet (Egyptian Lioness) and Pele (Hawaiian Volancanic Goddess). 

Homer's Hymn to the Mother Earth

O Universal Mother, who dost keep
From everlasting thy foundations deep,
Eldest of things, Great Earth, I sing of thee!
All shapes that have their dwelling in the sea,
All things that fly, or on the ground divine
Live, move, and there are nourished... these are thine;
These from thy wealth thou dost sustain; from thee
Fair babes are born, and fruits on every tree
Hang ripe and large, revered Divinity!

Baba Yaga - The Slavic Wild Woman

In Russian and Slavic folklore Baba Yaga appears as a fearsome witch with iron teeth who lives deep in the forest in a hut that moves about on large chicken legs.  Despite having a ferocious appetite, Baba Yaga is described as "thin as a skeleton".

She travels about in a large mortar where her knees almost touch her chin, and pushes herself across the sky with a pestle.  Whenever Baba Yaga appears on the scene, a wild wind begins to blow, the trees around creak and groan and leaves whirl through the air.  Shrieking and wailing, a host of spirits often accompany her on her way. 

Encountering Tiamat from the Watery Deep

Takhisis, Queen of Darkness
by Jeff Easley

Often depicted as a watery demon, the Babylonian Goddess Tiamat was actually a primordial deity whose death created the heavens and the earth.  From the watery chaos of the oceans, Tiamat (who related to the salt water) mated with her partner Abzu/Apsu (the God of the fresh water) in order to create the Babylonian pantheon.

When the younger Gods killed her beloved Abzu, Tiamat sought revenge, only to come up against the Babylonian hero, Marduk, who trapped her in his net.  Being asociated with the winds, Marduk "blew" Tiamat up with his winds and eventually killed her by piercing her stomach with an arrow.  Marduk then cut her body in half: from the upper half he created the sky and from the lower half he made the earth. From her water came forth the clouds and her tears became the source of the Tigris and Euphratus rivers.

Journey with Persephone

Here in the Southern Hemisphere the time of the Autumn Equinox is fast approaching.  Soon it will be the time when, for a brief moment, there is be a balance in the hours of day and night before the scales are tipped in the dark half of the year's favour with the coming of Winter.

Seeds of Light in the Valley of Depair

The following is from Daily Om by Madisyn Taylor

Even in our darkest times, there are seeds of light within ourselves,

we need only call them forward.

Anyone who has walked through the valley of despair and come out the other side knows that even in that darkness, seeds of light can be found.  Often their tendrils reach out of the gloom and into the daylight alongside the journeyer who emerges from that deep sorrow.   When we find ourselves in a place of despair, it can help us to know this, so that we do not give up.  We can stop, take a deep breath, and remind ourselves that we will find ourselves on the other side of this troubled time, and that we may even emerge with something new to offer.

International Women's Day (2013)

Today (8 March 2013) marks International Women’s Day (IWD), a day that marks and acknowledges the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future.  It is also a day when women are recognised for their achievements, regardless of divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.  The struggles and accomplishments of the past are acknowledged as we look towards the future in order to tap into the unrecognised potentials and opportunities that await future generations of women. 

UN Women Australia’s theme for International Women’s Day 2013 is ‘Ending Violence Against Women’.

Encountering the Dark Goddess Kali

This year's Encountering the Dark Goddess workshop will be taking place on 4 May 2013 and already the places are filling up quickly.  As such, one of re-occuring Goddesses that we work within during this workshop is the Hindu Dark Mother, Kali.  This is because even in today's 21st century, Kali is still one of the more mysterious and enigmatic of all the Hindu Goddesses.

Even to the Westerner, Kali brings about feelings of awesome (albeit often greatly misunderstood).  She holds the energies of life and death, which can be likened to the Greek Fates or the Norns, only that she is them rolled into one.

Romi Kumu - South American Goddess of Renewal

Romi Kumu is a major Goddess to the Baransama people of southeastern Colombia in South America.  Here she is considered to be the Great Mother who created the world as well as everything in it.  As such, she ruled the trees, the night, the earth, and of air. 

She was also the Mother of all people and a great female shaman who made a great grill out of clay which she placed in the mountains.  The grill became the sky.  When she opened the "water door" to the sky, water come gushing onto the earth ... and as a result, Romi Kumu created all of the creatures.

Spiders and Arachne

Spiders both fascinate me as well as cause an instant dislike.  Red backs, white tails, wolf and huntsmen are best found outside and when this occurs, we have a lovely relationship.  I watch black house spiders with great suspicion, and abmit that Daddy long legs are probably the only member of arachnids that I am happy to share my home with, more to the fact that they tend to keep the other “nasties” at bay, than anything else.

Hel - Norse Goddess of the Afterworld

One of the Goddesses we will be exploring during this year's Encountering the Dark Goddess workshop comes from the wintery north - that being the Nordic Goddess Hel.

The 13th century Prose Edda described Hel as being half alive (flesh coloured) and half dead (coloured black), with a “gloomy down-cast appearance”, and the bones on one side of her face exposed.  With the wave of her hand, Hel is able to cause death, decay and disease; and indeed, when the “Black Death” epidemic of the Middle Ages depopulated villages across Scandinavia, Hel was thought to have been responsible.

The Goddess at Lughnasadh

Taltiu, slow Magmor’s daughter,
‘Tis she that cut down the forest.
Lugh’s foster-mother, men declare,
The place of this assembly (is) round Tailtiu.

(The Edginburgh Dinnshenchas" by Whitley Stokes, Folklore IV)

Given that Lughnasadh is a time of joyous celebration, it is surprising to learn that Lughnasadh was originally funerary games for Tailtiu, the foster mother of the Irish God Lugh, who died clearing forested land for cultivation. This information is given in a Medieval poetic anthology known as the  Metrical Dindshenchas:

"Long was the sorrow, long the weariness of Tailtiu, in sickness after heavy toil; the men of the island of Erin to whom she was in bondage came to receive her last behest. She told them in her sickness (feeble she was but not speechless) that they should hold funeral games to lament her - zealous the deed."

Bila, Aboriginal Sun Goddess

The Aboriginal peoples of Australia have numerous myths associated with land and "country" (their particular location). This means that every "country" had their own particular "genii loci", protective spirits or localised myths., as well as what psycho-analysis Carl Jung would describe as the "collective unconsciousness" - similar themes appearing not only around the country but also around the world.

 

The beautiful Flinders Rangers, home of the Adnyamathanha people.

 

Water - the Source of Life

A new calendar year and the Summer's heat has arrived to this dry brown land.  With the Australian weather patterns often moving across the country from west to east, the heatwave that Perth was sweltering under around Christmas time, is now making its presence felt in the southern central states - however the heat has intensified due to the desert.

As the life force energies can very quickly be sapped from the living during this intense heat, I thought I would share an article that has a cooling watery feel that had originally been posted on my old blog.  It is important that in the heat we keep our fluids up.  It is also vitally important that we keep an eye out for those who may not be able to look after themselves - the elderly and infirmed, our pets, and local wildlife.  It doesn't cost much to put a couple of extra bowls of water out (in shadey places) or to knock on someone's door to ensure that they are coping, or even drop them off a bag of ice.