The Rowdy Goddess

An Ecstatic Vision of the Goddess, dancing in harmony with the Universe.

Archive for the category “Goddess”

15 Feb 2009

The Goddess, With Chocolate: The Spirituality of Chocolate

I could write a lot about chocolate, as I’m sure many of us can. Chocolate comforts us, heals us, and makes us feel good. It’s a delight to the senses with a pungent earthy smell and a delicious flavor. It combines well with other substances and flavors to bring us to a state of sensation and satiation.

Botanically, chocolate means “food of the gods,” and it held a sacred place in the customs and rituals of native peoples of Central America. Our modern culture has worshipped chocolate, shaping it to our own beliefs. Women have a special affinity for chocolate and we know the Goddess infuses Herself into it.

Brieflly, and I’m sure there will be more later, the spirituality of chocolate is complex and powerful. Here is part of my vision of it, though I’m sure more is to be revealed:

  • White chocolate corresponds to the Maiden
  • Milk chocolate corresponds to the Mother
  • Dark chocolate corresponds to the Crone

And before you think I’m employing M-M-C fundamentalism talked about in another post,

  • Cocoa Powder corresponds to the Hag (more on Her later)
  • Chocolate with nuts corresponds to the God

I am actively pursuing additional wisdom on the spirituality of chocolate. It’s a sacrifice, something I do in service to All-That-Is. And I’m very glad the Universe has a good sense of humor as well as the good taste to bless us with this wonderful substance.

Happy Valentine’s Day and may your day be filled with love and kisses, chocolate or otherwise.

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14 Feb 2009

A Kiss for Valentine’s Day

 

There are many legends associated with the origins and customs of St. Valentine’s Day, with little known about the true historical fact. Whatever the origins, this holiday is a lot of fun, full of hearts, cherubs, kisses, cuddles, chocolates and red-hot cinnamon hearts.

Some sources say that February 14th was the festival of Juno, the Roman Goddess of women and marriage. This festival was followed by Lupercalia, a very well-documented holiday of the Roman God of agriculture Faunus. At the beginning of the festival, an order of priests called the Luperci gathered at the cave where the she-wolf raised Romulous and Remus, the founders of Rome. They called the boys and young men of Rome to join them as they sacrificed a goat for fertility and a god for purification. The boys would slice the goat hide into strips and dip them into blood. They went into the streets where they slapped Roman women and crops with these strips of hide to ensure fertility and easy childbirth for the women as well as good crops.

Later that same day, the young women of Rome would place their names in an urn; and the city’s unmarried men would draw a name. The men and women would be paired together for a year; a custom that often ended in marriage.

Pope Gelasius declared that February 14th was St. Valentine’s Day in 498 B.C.E. and it is popularly believed that he did this to end the lottery associated with Lupercalia, deeming it an unchristian practice. St. Valentine’s Day did not become connected with romantic love until the medieval era, and it is not clear which St. Valentine the holiday is named for.

The most popular legend is of a priest living near Rome in 270 B.C.E. The Roman Emperor Claudius II had outlawed marriage because he believed that unmarried men made the best soldiers. In an empire beset by internal strife and attacks from many different sources, Rome needed many able soldiers. This priest named Valentine took pity on lovers and would administer the sacrament of marriage in secret. Claudius had him arrested. The emperor when meeting Valentine was so charmed by this earnest priest, that he attempted to convert him to the Roman gods so that Valentine could avoid execution. Valentine remained true to his Christian God and was executed to become a martyr and a saint.

While he was awaiting execution, his jailer, Asterius, requested that Valentine heal his blind daughter; and through the miracle of his steadfast faith, Valentine was able to restore her sight. Just before his execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper and wrote a message to her, signing it “From Your Valentine,” a phrase now associated with this holiday of love and messages.

In medieval times, St. Valentine’s Day became associates with romantic love in France and England; it was believed that February 14th was the day that birds paired and mated. This is mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parlement of Foules. It was common in those days for sweethearts to exchange messages on this day and to refer to each other as their “Valentines.”

As with many customs, the St. Valentine’s Day customs followed the Europeans as they settled the New World. The first mass-produced valentines were sold by Esther A. Howland (1828-1904) and were embossed paper lace. Her father owned a large book and stationary store in Worchester Massachusetts and she was inspired by a valentine she received from England. She became known as the Mother of the Valentine, and was known for her elaborate creations of lace, ribbons and pictures.

In the 21st century, this holiday has grown, and so have the customs associated with it. One billion cards per year are mailed on Valentine’s Day. Love and affection in all its manifestations are celebrated on this day. Passion, affection, steadfast love, crushes, lust, friendship, sex and family are all expressed with tokens of love.

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08 Jul 2008

A Wordle to the Wise

There is a cool tool on the internet called Wordle. It will make a word cloud of your text. It looked pretty cool so I tried it with one of my poems, “The Charge of the Goddess Athena,” and you can see one of the results above. I took out a lot of the meaningless and repetitive words to get this image of my poem. Pretty darn cool don’t you think? And here it is in linear language:

The Charge of the Goddess Athena

Hear now the charge of the Goddess Athena, She who is called Pallas, Warrior, Maiden, Wise One, Teacher, Weaver, and many other names. Listen to She who was born of her own passion and power; She who is creativity, power, beauty, knowledge, passion, and wisdom.

I charge you, my student, to open your mind to possibility, to magic, and to mystery.
I call you to learn and to know as you study the Craft.
Seek knowledge and learn wisdom.
See magic unfold before you, and hear the music of the Sacred and Divine.
Perfumes and scents fill you with the beauty of the Wild and the Sublime.
Feel the rhythm of the Universe in your blood and your bones.
Open your arms to embrace the known and the unknown
And dance in the ecstasy of delight and understanding.

Learn the patterns of creation, and learn the patterns of destruction
Weave your knowledge into tapestries of wonder.
Be in awe of your own magic, and be humble before the magic all around you
Marvel at your place in the Dance of love and life.
Learn every step, dance every dance, and sing every song.
You are the harmony of the Universe
Inspired with every breath, you are touched with the hand of knowledge,
And in turn you touch the Sacred with all your being.

Learn, Love, Live, and Laugh.

For this is my charge to you.
I am Athena, your teacher and your guide.
I hold the mirror before you that you might see yourself as you are
Growing, becoming, perfection in the journey,
You are the tapestry, you are the masterpiece
As you know the Craft
You are the Priestess,
You are the Priest,
You are the Magic
You are the Witch.
I work a lot with Athena, especially when I teach and I teach all the time. I think it’s my spiritual work. I’ve been teaching an introduction to the Craft for many years. What began as a series of handouts is now a self-published book. It it called The Initiation of Athena: Knowing the Craft. The book gives the foundational information and presents a set of experiences to understand what it means to practice Wicca and Witchcraft.
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27 Jun 2008

Creating a Classroom Where Fun and Learning Happens

For a teacher of Tarot, we start on a positive because most of our students want to be there. They may be nervous about the content, but mostly they are eager to learn. However, we can’t assume everyone is at the same level of emotional readiness or experience. When a new class assembles, we can do some things to get people on similar harmonious plane. Students need to feel respected, intellectually safe, and physically comfortable.

One of my first teachers said, “You can do this the hard way, shivering on a cliff, or you can engage and do it comfortably here in my den.” I choose comfort whenever I can. My life changed when that same teacher said at the beginning of a year-long class, “You are in charge of your own comfort.” She went on to say if we needed to go to the bathroom, depending on where we were in the class, we needed to slip out and take care of things, or ask her for a break. That made a big difference in how I attended meditation and other related classes.

I have developed a set of classroom “rules,” and often I will ask the class if they have anything else to add.

  • Be here Now: Be engaged, be on time, express doubts, ask questions, exchange ideas, listen actively, and participate.
  • Take responsibility for your learning: ask questions, let me know when you get lost (ask for directions!), express frustrations, joys, concerns, and don’t suffer.
  • Help the group learn: be aware of others’ needs, encourage others to talk, to share the limelight, to be present in learning
  • Lean into your discomfort: push the envelope, be smart about your spirituality/learning, know your limits and don’t destroy your boundries–push at them.
  • Maintain sensible confidentiality: what happens in class stays in class, or, don’t disclose personally revelations and respect people’s anonymity
  • Manage your comfort needs: you are responsible for your own comfort. Food, drink, comfort breaks. Seek to solve your own dilemmas and ask for help when needed.

In some ways this is what is commonly called, “giving them permission.” Some people won’t need it, but other people will need the acknowledgement and encouragement to be in charge of their learning, their experience in your class, and their behavior. In giving them permission, you allow them to co-create the class with you. To be part of the classroom design. You may know the content and you may be a great communicator, but in doing this, you allow them to partner with you. So you are no longer the great “sage on the stage,” opening their heads and pouring your knowledge in, but you are down on the ground with them, exchanging information and knowledge, discussing and everyone will learn.

One of the greatest secrets of teaching is that you learn a great deal more than the students; about yourself, about the Tarot, and about how you relate to the cards, people, and yourself. And isn’t that why we’re in this, after all?

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27 Jun 2008
2 Comments

Mother, Maiden, Crone Fundamentalism

I go to a number of women’s gatherings and pagan festivals and sometimes I get twitchy when those gathered [very sincerely] categorize the Goddess and the divinely incarnated women present into the pigeonholes of Maiden, Mother, Crone. Like it’s some kind of divine order or framework into all of us MUST and WILL fit into.
I went to a Mother’s Council at one gathering and never went back because the mothers present made it implicitly clear that if you did not have children, had not borne children out of your body, you were not welcome. At that gathering, the age limits were strictly, if non-verbally, “enforced.” So even though I was single, career-oriented and driven to excel, I couldn’t join the maidens because I was older than 19, way older. Because of that experience more than 15 years ago, I ignored my mothering side, rejected it or was defensive about that fact that I never had children out of my body. Never mind that I’m a doggie mom, that I guide people to become witches and priest/esses in their own spiritual life, I supervise, I counsel, and I am often the chief cook and bottle washer in my various roles.
If you’ve read this blog (go ahead read the previous posts, you will like it!), you know that I resisted the Crone threshold too. I only accepted after I realized the the Crone is a threshold, a stage, a step onto a strange new shore. The Crone isn’t all there is. There’s more and I get to discover that!
There are lots of writers out there suggesting new roles. Donna Henes in her book Queen of Myself
says there’s a stage between mother and crone where a woman has sovereignty over herself and her life. She is the Queen. Vivianne Crowley in her book The Way of Wicca expands her view of the Goddess and the God into five aspects. In my book, Rituals of the Dark Moon, I suggested nine ways. Since I wrote that book, I’ve learned that woman and Goddess is even more limitless and encompassing.

We don’t need to be pigeonholed and categorized into one label. We can encompass many roles at once. Maiden, Amazon, Warrior, Queen, Mother, Teacher, Priestess, Witch, Crone, Grandmother, Crone, Croney, Daughter, Sister, Companion, Friend, Lover, Sweetheart; and even the less complimentary terms of Bitch, Slut, Bad Girl, Rowdy Girl, Babe, and more…………
We need to remind ourselves of this chant

Woman am I, Spirit am I
I am the Infinite within my Soul
I have no beginning and I have no end.
Oh, yes I AM!
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14 Jan 2008

The Crone Zone

 

Last year at this time, I looked at the calendar and realized that Friday the 13th was smack dab on the dark moon. Lucky day, favorite moon sign. What else was I to do. I scheduled my croning for that day.

If you’ve read this blog from the beginning, you know that I have struggled a bit with the crone designation. I’ve realized, after all, that it doesn’t have to be all that’s left. The Crone offers out a richness and power that is not limited to that one single concept. It was something I wanted to explore.

The ritual was fabulous. Three priestesses, Sci, Phaezara, and Thia Moonstone embodied the Moirae. I had done a number of shamanic journeys, seeking the ancient mothers of the elements and asking their wisdom. In addition, a tarot reading at the Tarot School’s Readers’ Studio gave me a lot more insight into this crone initiation. Each portion of the ritual helped complete the journeys and give me more insight into the Crone.

And as I stepped over the threshold, I was greeted by the Crone herself who gave me a shell necklace in celebration of arriving at this strange new shore. It was a wonderful, personal ritual attended by dear friends and beloved witches. Oh yes, and we danced to “The Golden Years,” by David Bowie.

And so the journey begins. This month, I passed the thirteenth month without a period. The day fell, not surprisingly, on the Dark Moon.

And may the cycles of your life be blessed!!!

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15 Jun 2007
2 Comments

Secret (Unfeminist) Vices

pinup witchOne of my secret vices is girly pin-ups from the 1950s and 1960s. The ones that appeared in calendars and other advertising. Not the threatened and tied up women. I especially like the ones by Gil Elvgren

It makes me wonder what kind of feminist I can be? I think they are sweet, innocent, and adorable. The girls seem so unaware that their undewear is either missing or showing. It’s as if they suddenly realize,”Oh a wind came up and blew my skirt up and oh!! I’m not wearing any underwear.”
These pin-up pictures reflect a sweet sexuality based in pleasure, surprise, and discovery. I know all about the objectification of women posited to these pictures and similar materials. Yet, they don’t seem like objects…made only for the sexual pleasure of men. It seems that they are completely focused on themselves and their own pleasure. And it’s not selfish or self-centered. It’s just sort of fun. Maybe it’s best not to over-think it and just enjoy it. Kind of like the pin-up girls themselves.
Does it reveal some secret lesbian and bisexual leanings in me. I don’t know and so what if it did? These girls have a lot of fun and their clothes are great!
May all your surprises delight you!
Posted in Goddess, pin-up and tagged , ,
20 Feb 2007

Let the Rowdy Times Roll

Today is Mardi Gras.  Carnivale.  A time of celebration, joy, and fun before the Lenten season.  The perfect time to be rowdy.

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05 Jun 2006
6 Comments

More on Manifesting Your Dreams: It Works

More on Manifesting Your Dreams: It Works!

On Saturday, I got back a self-addressed envelope in the mail from We’Moon. Mouse asked me what it was while I was ripping it open. I mumbled that it was probably a rejection letter since I submitted something. Out fluttered a check. As I read the letter, I was stunned. They had accepted my ‘charge of the goddess Athena’ poem. For the datebook and the wall calendar in 2007. Whoo hooo. Thank you Universe.
Mouse said, “You have a bad attitude. The Goddess is saying to you, ‘I bless you even though you have a bad attitude.’ Get a good attitude and she’ll bless you even more.’

Like I was saying.
And not doing.

Posted in Goddess, writing and tagged , , ,
05 Jun 2006

Imagine Your Life Into Be-ing

Thursday is the start of Womongathering, a wonderful womon’s spirituality retreat. For four days, we gather to learn, to contemplate and to celebrate. It’s where the Rowdy Goddesses hang out to laugh, cry and eat chocolate. This year’s theme is Air and the Maiden goddess.
Air has many associations including intellect, imagination and intuition. Clarity through the mind (intellect), magical thought (imagination) and connected thought (intuition).
I learned a lot about the power of the mind and intuition at Akasha Con in March. One of the speakers, Priscilla Keresey gave two wonderful workshops on creating your life and living out your intentions.
In the first workshop she began by talking about the triplicity of the mind–conscious, subconcious, and unconcious–and how the three areas work together. The conscious mind is the place of rationalization, will-power, short-term memory, analysis, and focus. The subconscious is the home of our valies, beliefs, body functions, and long-term memory. The subconscious records everything that ever happened to us, without the filters of rationalization, focus or analysis. The unconscious our connection to the Source, and where we know the words of the gospel that say, “all this you can do and more.” Imagination!
Manifesting your imagination or desired life is based on the law of attraction, a physical law of the Universe that says, “Like calls to like.” What you put out there will come to you. Your thoughts, beliefs, words and action create vibrations within you. As you vibrate with this energy, similar energy is called to attention and comes to you. Feelings are how we create this vibration and they don’t think with the conscious mind, they are creatures of the subconscious. Once you are happy, then you will get what you want!
We are our own worst enemies. She said for many who want to lose weight and no matter how hard they try, it’s because emotionally they are convinced they are fat. If you tell yourself that you are beautiful and maintain the thoughts and language that reinforce that feeling, then you will get what you want.
Priscilla focused on money as examples. She said that if you are in a bad mood paying your bills, the Universe is unlikely to send you anything good. Always be positive and happy when you pay your bills. And then be grateful.
I touched on this when I talked about luck. Say it and forget it. For instance, if you want the money to go to a class. Say to the Universe, I wish for the money to go the ‘whatever it is.’ Then don’t doubt, let it go and let it be. Act as if it has already happened. Don’t think, “when I lose weight I’ll be beautiful;” think, “I am beatiful.” It will happen.
When it does happen, be grateful.Thank the Universe and the powers you believe in. In short, these are the steps to manifesting your imagination:

  • State your desire in positive, present tense way
  • Act as if it has already happened [don’t worry it like a dog with a bone]
  • Thank the Universe

I found this very life-changing. I realized that even though I know all of that stuff, I don’t KNOW it deep down in my blood and my bones. I make self-depricating remarkes about my thunder things (NO MORE) and I’d tell myself in the mirror that I was ugly and fat (NO MORE). I vowed then that I would no longer lend my power and my energy to negative talk about my body. I have maintained that since then. I lost five pounds in May. Whoo hoo. Thank you Universe.

When I returned, I started doing my daily (or almost) altar devotions in a new way. I’d end it with affirmations about my health and body, and whatever else is necessary. I do my altar devotions in the morning while I’m getting dressed. I use no tools just me, the elements and the Lord and the Lady. Priscilla pointed out that the perfect time to send our affirmations out into the Universe are the times just before we go to sleep and right after we wake up. We are closest to the state of unconscious then and our mind has yet to build up the barriers between each section and the Source. We are in a trance, and its time to step into the Cosmic Dance and wish.

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