Apple trees in Avalon (the Chalice Well garden) 2011
I am a lover of the steady Earth and of Her waters She says: "Let the light be brilliant for those who will cherish color"; what if there be no heaven? She says: "Touch my breasts the fields are golden"
Her songs are all of love life long every blue yonder Her grass harp rings
unlettered in Her rivers our cherished sins our musts drift voiceless in Her clouds
She will rust us with blossom She will forgive us She will seal us with her seed
The Vernal Equinox is the stillpoint when the time of light and the time of dark are in balance, when the day and night are equal. After the Equinox the days lengthen as Summer comes. In this time of chaos and fear, may this day of Balance remind us to invoke the principle of Balance within the small circles of our lives, knowing that as we do so, we invoke this virtue in the greater life of Gaia, the living Goddess of which we are a part. I've often quoted the song above, because it so often sounds in my memory and heart, a touchstone gifted to me and so many others by the Bard. When I feel overwhelmed or despairing, those touchstones are important to return to, they can illuminate the path once again. They belong to the "Re-Membering". She will seal us with Her Seed.
Here is my prayer and blessing on this Auspicious Day:
May each and every one of us be Butterfly People, Pollinators of the heart, imagination, and mind - for all those who need us, and for all those who are yet to come.
EQUINOX We dance our oppositions into legends of hate and love, light and dark, good and evil. Both choiceless and willful, we return to a deeper need: Balance, rites of reconciliation with self, soil, friend and foe the Labyrinth. And at the center, labrys the butterfly's shape. Whole, winged, allways going home. Lauren Raine (1999)
I want to wish the Blessings of Mabon, The Autumn Equinox, the Second Harvest Festival to all my friends. An auspicious, a sacred day, and I remember well when I lived back East and celebrated with honey mead and fallen apples, gathered brilliant red on the brilliant green grass. Being a person from the dry west, I found it miraculous, amazing, this overwhelming generosity of Gaia. Given and given. I remember in 1990 my friend Rose organized an event in NYC around the Equinox, and I brought a basket of apples I had found on the ground. I felt moved to share them, telling the audience my sense of how sacred that was, these apples, how important to remember.
And at the end of the evening I was touched when those tough, sophisticated New Yorkers took every single one. I sometimes think that was one of the best things I've ever done as a Priestess.
This morning I woke up singing "The Circle Has No End". It's not exactly a Mabon Song, but I wanted to share it today, as the Circle Turns.
I am a lover of the steady Earth and of Her waters
"Let the light be brilliant" She says, "for those who will cherish color." From "Verses at Powis" by Robin Williamson
Mabon
is traditionally the 2nd Harvest Festival of three (Lammas in August, and Samhain in October being the other two) and falls on the day of the autumnal Equinox. A time to give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, to give thanks and celebrate all that nourishes us. The Day of Balance, a time to consider what we have harvested this year, to give thanks for all of that harvest, the bright Blessings and the dark Blessings from which we learned wisdom, patience, or compassion. On this auspicious day of Balance, when day and night are the same duration, may we experience the grace of Balance within our lives, and in the greater life of our common humanity.
Apple trees in Avalon, the "Isle of Apples" (the Chalice Well garden) 2011
When I lived in the country in New York, I remember a Mabon with hot cider and new apples, and honey mead that was opened for the occasion.
I also remember an Equinox when I lived in New York City in the late 80's, and was invited to be part of a performance organized at a small theatre in the East Village. She asked me to do some kind of ritual for the occasion. I couldn't think of anything, and felt quite intimidated with the prospect of creating a ritual for an audience of New York sophisticates.
I was visiting a friend upstate at the time, and I happened to be standing near an apple tree by the road. I can still see the green grass under the tree, and a brilliant circle of ripe, freshly fallen red apples, lying in the grass around the tree. I picked up all the good ones, and took them back to the City with me.
When I gave my short performance, I took out that basket of apples, and said something to the effect that "This is Gaia, ever generous, ever giving us what we need." And then I invited those present to come and take the apples. I was amazed to see that the audience took every one of them and ate them right there!
As I sit writing, the sun rises over the Catalina mountains that surround Tucson, where I live now. Many years and miles away from that theatre in Manhattan. I look up to orange, magenta, violet, mauve, and a continually changing pale, cerulean sky, the canvas for this magnificent painting the sky makes, created anew twice daily. I'm grateful indeed for this moment of Beauty, and grateful for the stories of my life. Especially, today, those that are about Mabons.
This is one of my favorite songs, Robin Williamson's love song to Mother Earth. Seems a good time to share it again............
'The Prophetic Heart explores the true frontiers of consciousness, where past, present and future meld seamlessly into activist art, an inclusive pulsing web of which we are both but a single inextricable strand and one of the crucial conscious weavers. We learn that our work is not only to create a sustainable future, but to develop the presence and judgment necessary to discern what values and ways of being are truly worth sustaining. Even as we face political repression and wars, environmental destruction and a culture of distraction and denial, we are each being given an assignment and opportunity to create holistic alternatives. We see that our personal struggles are part of a shamanic process of falling apart and being remade, much as the tumultuous Earth Changes tell the story of a living planet restoring balance through dramatic transformation. We come away from watching this film not paralyzed with fear but called to attempt the so called “impossible”…to be an active part of the shift and cure.'
Today is the Equinox, and my dreams continue to be about Balance, which is also what this sacred day is all about. Balance of light and dark, conscious mind and shadow, above and below. Syncronistically I am sending off today a Persephone mask that someone ordered - half light, half dark is her face. There is a personal synchronicity in that as well concerning a dream I've been mulling over for more than a year now, but I'll have to wait a bit to write on that. All things are woven..........
I was writing about Kali, the Dark Goddess, and the urgent need to wake up and shatter the "demons of delusion" in my previous post. While searching for information about a true visionary I met, Jesse Wolf Hardin, I learned of an important new film he participated in - Dance With Destiny, a documentary by (syncronistically again) Bruce Weaver. Describing himself, the filmmaker comments that:
"At seventeen, in the U.S. armed forces, he found himself assigned to load nuclear weapons on B-52 bombers. Dressed in full chemical warfare gear on a training exercise, Bruce’s dreamscape images flooded to his mind in vivid detail. It was then the dream became all too real. Bruce left the Air Force, and began a life of earnest study of spirituality, mythology, and of ancient peoples.".
Among his travels, he spent time with Hopi elders exploring their prophecies, and was able to interview the Kogi ("Elder Brother") of the Sierra Nevada mountains of Columbia. This is an important film, and rather than paraphrase, I copy from the website:
"This film will show that modernity’s problems are rooted in a host of unchecked “isms,” corporatism, statism, militarism, egoism, etc. Solutions will come not from rulers of vested systems, such as politicians or corporate directors. Only radical, heartfelt, internal revolutions of the spirit – which many of the interviewees in this film focus on -- can mend our souls and the web of life. By combining deft reporting on a range of issues that contextualize the various interviews, Dance With Destiny shows how Mother Nature is paying humanity back for its hubris, excesses and neglects. In the tradition of Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance, the classic documentary by Godfrey Reggio, Dance With Destiny will probe the conceptual ties between manmade and natural phenomenon (koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "life of moral corruption and turmoil" or "life out of balance"). It will show, for example, how in unprecedented numbers and with unprecedented fervor, the scientific community is warning that the planet’s resources are being stretched to the point of collapse.
It will explore how media focuses on the political and diplomatic aspects of global warming while ignoring its impact on agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather. It will show how the coal and oil industry spend millions of dollars to plant public doubts about global warming’s role in recent natural disasters from tsunamis, hurricanes, abnormally massive rainfall, unprecedented wind storms and severe draughts.
After two world wars left 100 million people dead, a new imperial war machine marches unchecked across the globe.** As war marches on, new pandemics threaten vast populations..........Information is the currency of the age yet meaning and spiritual intelligence are scarce. Millions awake daily to spiritual isolation as ubiquitous technology dulls human curiosity and powers of observation.
**I was impressed with this comment, in that, so shortly after the media announced the disaster proceeding in Japan, attention was quickly turned to a new war in Libya, once again creating a distraction from a much, much greater problem that no war can resolve.
***I also have to note that the one thing I see lacking in this film (having not seen it in it's entirety)..........is there are no voices of women. This was disturbing to me. I'm not going to negate this important documentary...........but I was saddened that, once again, women somehow aren't included. I'm tired of this, the omission of women (unless they are ornamental young women with sexual interest or value). The unconscious assumption that women are invisible is a very important shadow that needs to be addressed as we speak of Restoring the Balance.
Since I am (perhaps unfairly) feeling that my otherwise brilliant colleagues here have, as usual, ignored women in collecting interviews with spiritual leaders, I would like to add that recently the Dali Lama made a surprising comment that he felt the world will be saved by women.
I realized that the Persephone page on my website is broken, and needs to be fixed. But then I realized that this time of the approaching Equinox is Persephone's time - a time of of light and dark in balance, of rebirth. And so I re-print the broken page here.
PERSEPHONE
She usually calls for me in winter,
But this year, I did not hear
Until the earth was in bud.
It seemed strange
To turn toward that dark stare
To go down
When life was already celebrating
A return.
But when the Dark Goddess
demands a descent
You must go.
You must go down
To open more, pried open in your most closed places.
To let the darkness that lives there
Spill out onto the floor at your feet
Like blood,
And you must grieve
The loss of the hurt
You held so dear,
Before you can join the flowers.
Marilyn Owen
(copyright M. Owen)
PERSEPHONE'S FEASTDAY
When all the names are gone
when there is nothing left
for memory to feed upon
Perhaps all the wastes
of love and time
ferment their healing,
here, in these nigrado depths,
becoming at last albedo
a white lily,
a crocus arising, new
life in the barren place
the medicine.
There is no valor in this
rooting among decomposing fragments
of so many lives.
I offer now bread,
red fruit, red wine
to Life
To the beautiful and strong,
those who speak and those who dance.
And to the inarticulate and the broken,
to those who are lost, to the hungry,
and to the fallen. To every
transparent lover
wandering these gray bardos
in their solitude:
Come to the table, all.
Here is a rich conversation harvested from the last living garden. A dappled pear, an apple, a pomegranate. A butterfly in its chrysalis, winged, moist, the slow rebirth of color deep in the depths of this dream
The wheat has new life in it yet The blessing will still be given
water running through silenceas innocous as breath, a slight relaxationat corners of the mouth.Just when winter has become a habit,an old coat the sun peels off with a touch.Your foot leaves a signature in new mud, shiny as a new skinor fresh, primed canvas.You notice a blade of grass:green, defiantly green.Inhale, you take your coat offa crocus opensin the blue irisof someone's glance.
Vermont, 1982
Somehow the Spring Equinox has arrived, this winter, as other winters, has been survived, the drumbeat of Mother Earth beneath feet is quickening, the hum of life vibrates, the budding of trees is again a cyclical magic. If I still lived in Vermont, I would be hearing the sounds of snow melting in little trickles, a kind of underground, unconscious energy reflected in the eyes I look into. I've pulled up a poem I wrote when I did live in Vermont. Vermont is a place, with it's turning wheel of seasons, that I have always held close to my heart.
So I took the day off. I remember many times when the Equinox was celebrated with large groups of people, in rituals many of which I organized or hosted or collaborated on. Now, I live very quietly indeed in a little town that (at night) really does seem to fall off the edge of the world into some starry pool of the galaxy......and I must celebrate the Equinox alone. It's been a hard winter, a winter of composting so many layers of the lives I've had. So what calls now, what weaving to begin or join if I can, as the world wakes up? What is needed, what is possible? Here, on this auspicious day, I offer a prayer for my brother, Glenn Greene Pillsbury. Thank you for what you've taught me Glenn, for travelling down the roadways of this life with me in the ways that we have. May you forgive me for all the ways that I failed you, did not understand, was unkind, understood so little. May you be truly at peace now, healed, reborn. It is strange to be thinking of death on the first day of Spring, but that is what is. Death and Life are always joined, yin and yang, Persephone's journey. Last year it was my privilege to teach a 5 day class at Kripalu, and in the class was Ilana Stein, a professional midwife from NY. Ilana had a serious illness, and was thin from chemo, but luminous in the work we shared. When we tranced to begin our mask work, she had a vision of a white Goddess who came to her, dancing before her in gestures of "gathering" and "offering", an infinity sign. Ilana made a wonderful mask to wear in honor of that vision, and, syncronistically, another member of the group, who was a professional ballarina, had brought a white dancing dress with her. She spontaneously offered it to Ilana..........and it fit her perfectly! Ilana passed away in September - but I have always felt that her poem, and vision, was an extraordinary gift to all of us present. I copy it again below. Gather and Offer by Ilana Stein Gather towards the North Gather towards the South Gather towards the East Gather Above, gather below and gather the great Mystery Gather what you’ve studied Gather what you’ve learned Gather how you’ve lived, and gather what you’ve earned. Gather what you’ve loved and gather what you’ve lost. Gather what you’ve soiled and gather what it’s cost Gather what you’ve wasted and gather what you’ve saved Gather what you’ve shopped for and gather what you’ve tasted Gather who your friends are and gather how they’ve cared Gather your relations and gather how you’ve fared Then Gather birth and celebrate, gather death and cry Gather hope, regret and longing and gather up the why Gather up the waiting, gather struggles, gather challenges. Gather all the goals you’ve met and gather up the bravery Gather faceless fear and all the broken promises. Gather yesterday today, and gather time tomorrow Gather what you’ve ruined and gather when you’ve failed. Gather up the personal and gather up the frail Gather up the culture and gather up the myths Gather all the songs you’ve sung, and all expressive art Gather dances gather dreams and gather up your heart Gather in the garden and gather at the beach. Gather on the mountain and gather what’s in reach Gather in the workplace, and gather on the roads Gather in the home you’ve made and gather all you kin Gather your impatience, your frustration and your greed. Gather up the words you’ve said and gather what you need. Gather up your journey and all the time you’ve spent Gather up your courage and walk inside your tent. Gather up your secrets and and gather up your wisdom Gather what you’ve forgotten Gather what you’ve meant. Gather faith and Reverence Gather truth and and gather lies, Gather secrets great and small Gather wisdom of the ages and wrap them in your shawl Gather sickness, Gather health gather tenderness and rage Gather all your stories and gather on the stage Gather up your gatherings, and stir the basket’s bounty Gather all remaining threads and search across the county Look out among the human beings, look out among relations Then offer up your gatherings to all nations and creations Offer to your children and offer to your kin Offer to the hungry, to the needy and the grim Offer to the blessed and offer to the prim Offer to the kings and queens the princess and princesses Offer to the beggars, paupers, jesters and priestesses Offer to the little birds the chipmunks and the deer Offer to the badger, mole, the frogs, and yes the bear Offer to the green spring shoots, the white and yellow crocus Offer to the budding trees the bushes and the rushes Offer to the sand and mud the concrete and the buildings Offer to the cook and maid the seamstress and the butler Offer to the farmers - offer to the farm Offer to the doctors and offer for no harm Offer to the visionaries offer to the artists Offer to the frightened, offer to the scared Offer to the endangered and to the unprepared Offer to the hurting, offer to be healed, Offer to your neighbor and offer to the field Offer grace and offer peace offer possibility Offer privilege trust and faith Offer gratitude amazement wonderment and awe Offer loving kindness, compassion, joy and love Offer up your story, offer honor and integrity Offer for community Offer your vulnerability Offer what you’ve learned and offer what you have offer what you know Offer what you’ve shared Offer both your ears, your shoulders and your tears Offer all you’ve gathered, offer all your cares You’ve gathered through the springtime, the summer and the fall. And you’ve offered season’s greetings without going to the mall. Now rest and build your strength up.
Cycle with the moon.
Cycle through the mystery time.
Close your eyes and sleep.
Dream the dreams of where you’ve been. Dream of where you’re going –
