Holle Shakes Her Feather Bed

 I've been having a mythological ramble through Yule traditions, and thought I'd jot a bit of it down here. As Joseph Campbell pointed out, to understand the evolution of myth is to understand many things, including the evolution of language and religion.  One of my images that I keep creating lately is "dual" masks, masks that are half black and half white, or half "underground" and half "above ground vegetation".  I think this reflects my sense of how very important holistic consciousness is, personally and collectively, whether we speak of shadow work, coming to terms with the ebbs and flows of self, or the cycles of our Mother Earth, the ebbs and flows of the seasons and the creation/death/rebirth cycle.  To try to live within the Whole.  Or at least, come to terms with it!

One of the  Goddesses that reflects this time, and the idea of the flux of cycles, is the Nordic Goddess Frau Holle. Holle has very ancient origins indeed, and is a Weaver Goddess, a Spinner of fate.   Mother  Holle is very much associated with Yule, and with the hearth and home, especially in the winter.  But she is known throughout northern Europe, an ancient goddess that predates the advent of Christianity. ** Also known as Holda or Hulda, she is a  triple goddess,  embodying the passages of life. In some myths, she is "the ash girl", her face half black with soot and half white.  This comes from a story of how in order to marry the God of Winter she had to come to him neither naked nor clothed, and neither in light or darkness (the White Goddess and the Dark Goddess).   As the Mother goddess, she protected the forest and was often shown among trees.  Holle (interesting to see the relationship in the name - "Holy", "wholly", "whole")  in old age  is Winter's Queen, and Mother Holda is the source of  "Mother Goose"  legends, because the snow flies when the she shakes the feathers from her down bed.  In Holland, they still say that 'Dame Holle is shaking her bed'.

"Frau Holle, as she is known in Germany, was called The Queen of the Witches. The brothers Grimm tell a story of step-sisters who both go to visit Frau Holle in the 'nether realms'. They begin their journey to her by falling in a well............Holle's name is linguistically related to the word Halja, which means "covering", and is the ancient Teutonic name for Hel, the Norse land of the dead. Holle is sometimes called the Queen of the Dead, and resides in the 'nether' regions. She possibly lent her name to the country Holland, 'the land of Holle', which is also called the Netherlands because many parts of the country are below sea-level."   

Sandra Kleinschmitt

Holle/Hel  is thus  both light and dark, young and old, illumination and shadow. Whole.

And who is Hel, the ashy side of Holle's face, from whose name we get "Hell"?   Besides being the origin of the word people use daily as a swear word, and millions of Christians have a mighty fear of going to (without knowing anything about where the concept originated from).  People no longer remember that once "go to Hell" meant to die.

"Hel (Hell)  has been used by the early  church as a scare tactic to frighten the masses into “righteous” acts. To get the real story, we have to go back to the early Nordic people and look this death Goddess in the face. 

Hel" by Susan Seddon Boulet

Hel is cast into the netherworld and becomes the ruler of that underworld to which souls who have not died in battle will depart. As thanks for making Her ruler of the netherworld, Hel makes a gift to Odin. She gives him two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory). Ravens are messengers between this realm and the next, opening pathways to death’s realm.

Her realm is named for her, Hel or Helheim. Because She accepts all to Helheim, she also becomes the judge to determine the fate of each soul in the afterlife. The evil dead are banished to a realm of icy cold (a fate that the Nordic people found much worse in telling than a lake of fire). Unlike the Judeo-Christian concept, Helheim also served as the shelter and gathering place of souls to be reincarnated. Hel watches over those who died peacefully of old age or illness. She cares for children and women who die in childbirth. She guides those souls who do not choose the path of war through the circle of death to rebirth."............

 Rowen Saille of the Order of the White Moon,

Like Persephone, who is both the Queen of Spring and the Queen of Hades, Hel as the dark side of Holle governs the world beyond that of the living, the underworld or invisible realm. In magic, she makes thin the veil between worlds.

"Magic is the art of changing consciousness

 at will."............ Starhawk

 Seidhr [SAY-theer] or Nordic shamans called upon Hel's protection and wore  "the helkappe", a magic mask, to render them invisible and enable them to pass through the gateway into the realm of death and spirit.  The Helkappe, a mask, was thus understood as a liminal tool that enabled transit between the seeming dualities of life, and was infused with shamanic power.  To take this metaphor further, to wear a mask consciously, and as a psychic/sacred tool, is to engage consciously with the continual flux of personae - young/old, dark/light, good/bad.  This is the realm of the soul, beyond duality.  Wearing that kind of mask,  and taking it off at will, enables one to enter both realms.
 
For anyone who may wonder where the "flying broomsticks" of witches (or Harry Potter) comes from, Dame Holda is probably  the source.  Because of her association with the hearth and home, the Broom was both symbol and magical tool.  Folk traditions of "sweeping away evil from the hearth" are very ancient throughout Europe.  As a symbol of the Hearth, it is interesting to see this also transformed into the "vehicle of witches".  In later folktales, Frau Holle becomes a fearsome hag, riding her broom and bringing the storms of winter.


A wonderful commentary on Holle/Hel come from the   Goddess Inspired  Blog 
and again I quote, as she writes so beautifully of the non-duality of this myth.  



"Mother Holle  started off Her existence as the Goddess of Death and Regeneration. During the Neolithic in what Marija Gimbutas termed Old Europe people believed in the cyclical nature of all existence. Every ending was understood to be the beginning of a new chapter. Death, rather than being the final end, was seen as a resting stage prior to new life. Just as seeds rest deep undergound during the cold winter months waiting to sprit up as a seedling in spring, so were the dead seen as having returned to the Goddess’ dark womb to await renewal and rebirth.

The Goddess of Death and Regeneration was associated with winter and the colour white. Small stiff white Goddess figurines with small breasts and exaggerated pubic triangles were placed alongside the dead in order for Her to accompany the person on her or his journey of renewal. The Goddess of Death and Regeneration was not feared or seen as being evil, but instead was considered to be benevolent and generous.

Mandorla of the Spinning Goddess by Judith Anderson

“She holds dominion over death, the cold darkness of winter, caves, graves and tombs in the earth….but also receives the fertile seed, the light of midwinter, the fertilized egg, which transforms the tomb into a womb for the gestation of new life.”..... Marija Gimbutas

Old white-haired Mother Holle and Her underground realm are one interpretation of this aspect of the Goddess. In the fairy tale Mother Holle is described as being kind and generous and very just. She lives at the bottom of a well. The well itself can be interpreted as being the birth canal leading to Her dark underground womb...........Mother Holle is described as having ugly big teeth, a big nose and a flat foot. The latter shows her love for weaving or spinning, another sacred act associated with the Goddess: She is the Life Weaver, the Spinner of Destiny and Fate.

Mother Holle was known all across the Germanic world. She was called Holle in Germany, Hel or Hella in Scandinavia and Holde on the British Isles. She is the origin for the word hell and its German variant Hölle, as well as words such as holy and holding in English and Höhle (= cave) in German.

The Scandinavian Goddess Hel is probably the most widely known version of Mother Holle as Goddess, although by the time the Indo-European Norse wrote down their religious beliefs, Hel was no longer the benevolent Regeneratrix of the Neolithic. She had become the dreaded Queen of the Dead.

As was the case during the Neolithic, Hel’s realm Nifhelheim also lies below the earth at the root of the World Tree. Incidentally the bottom of the World Tree is also home to the three Norns, Weavers of Destiny. While, as said above, originally the Goddess of Death and Regeneration was also the Weaver of Fate and Fortune, later beliefs separate Her more and more into Her various aspects. 


 Despite being feared by the Norse as the dreaded Hag of Death, Hel has Her benevolent roots hidden in plane sight. Being linked to the earth, She is one of the old Vanir Earth Goddesses, Vanir meaning “the Giving One”.

In Central Europe Mother Holle also evolved over time. Instead of becoming the Goddess of the Underworld, though, She became the Queen of Elves and the Mistress of Witches. Her character was actually very similar to that of Greek Hekate, the old Crone who roams the world with Her fearsome dogs.   Around 900CE Frau Holle had become an old weather hag who was said to ride in on Her broom stick bringing with Her whirlwinds and snowfall. Her life-giving generous nature was retained more in Germany than in Scandinavia, as even during Christian times She was seen as bringing life to the land causing growth, abundance and good fortune."

 http://goddessinspired.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/mother-holle-the-germanic-goddess-of-death-and-renewal-weaver-of-fate-and-fortune

 

The Spiritual Significance of 2012

 A friend passed this article  on to me, and I thought it worth sharing here - very insightful.  (This article is from a collection of material gathered from authors of “Transforming Through 2012, A Multimedia eBook about the coming shift.” http://transformingthrough2012.com - republished with permission from Science Of Mind Magazine, November 2011 Issue)

The end of the Hopi calendar, and entry into the "5th World", is thus also about the "Return of Spider Woman", the cosmic weaver who is also, in the Pueblo mythological universe, the midwife who guides the "new people" through the Sipapu in the sacred kiva, (or birth canal) into each next world, offering a thread (or a ladder) to rise up into the New World...... I reflect that in the Circles I've participated in, there are 5 directions: North, South, East, West, and Center. The Center is that which unites everything, the breathe, the dark space, ecological interdependency, the Web.  Integral."

 Nassim Haramein  comments eloquently:  "Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe, as it exchanges energy and information with the vacuum.".  

The Spiritual Significance of 2012 
by Mead Rose  

Spider Gorget with Cross/Circle

So why all the hubbub around 2012? The answer is that a number of seemingly significant changes appear to center around that date.

• In astronomical terms, 12/21/2012 is the winter solstice occurring simultaneously with crossing over the galactic midline.
• Astrologically, we are also transitioning from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age.
• In addition, it has been put forth as the end date of the Mayan calendar and as the fulfillment date of several other indigenous prophecies.
• Terence McKenna also turned up a pattern of events when he superimposed numerical values associated with the King Wen sequence of the I Ching onto human history, which he referred to as Timewave Zero and which appears to converge on that date as well.

There is both disagreement about and speculation beyond the basic points shown above. While the astronomical and astrological facts remain indisputable, the significance of them is open to interpretation. Additionally, when one examines the prophecies of the Maya and other indigenous peoples one discovers that they refer to a process and are not tied to a particular date.
Regardless of debates about target dates, it seems clear that change is upon us simply as a consequence of living on a planet with a burgeoning population and dwindling resources. It is becoming clear that we need to evolve past obsolete, consumption-heavy economies and competitive social strategies and transition into more resource-friendly, cooperative ways of living.

One fairly consistent theme in all the talk about 2012 is the idea that we are moving into a time when all our ancient notions are challenged. To quote songwriter Emily Kaitz: 

"Uncharted waters, Empty skies, Everything you’ve learned up to this point, No longer applies."

Long cherished notions of “the way it is” are beginning to come under scrutiny. These assumptions include:

• The fundamental nature of time and space
• The notion that we are alone in the universe
• The faith that our elected officials will act in our best interests
• The belief that intercession between individuals and divinity is necessary

For many, this scrutiny is a challenge to their religious faith and points to discrepancies between religion and spirit. One of the difficulties in responding to questions about the spiritual significance of 2012 is that that what defines spirit is changing. In the past, the borderlines between spirit, science, thought and physical existence were quite clear and now those separations are falling away in the light of new understandings.

One way to shed light on the whole question is to examine the ancient prophecies in the regard that spirit is eternal and human beings are fairly constant regardless of external changes. It is noteworthy that prophesies from diverse tribes show thematic congruence, even among tribes who are highly isolated and rarely exchange information with other tribes. For example, we find that when we compare Mayan and Hopi prophecies, the underlying themes are similar:

Scientifically recognized Mayan Calendar expert Carl Johan Calleman reveals that according to understandings gained via conversations with Mayan elders, the December 21, 2012 target date is erroneous and that the Mayan Calendar end date is actually October 28, 2011. Dr. Calleman elaborates on his interpretation of Mayan prophecies explaining that the “descent of the nine gods” refers not to anthropomorphic deities but instead to levels of cosmic consciousness impacting humanity at specific times. He has painstakingly documented historical events correlated to previous impacts to test the validity of his interpretation. He predicted March 9, 2011 as the commencement date of the 9^th Wave, just two days before the Fukushima earthquake, an eerie precursor.

Dr. Calleman offered commentary on the coming spiritual shifts saying, “We’re going into something where there will be no middle man or middle women between ourselves and God; and the Divine. We will be the only authorities in regarding our relationship to God. That’s where it’s going. No intermediate so to speak.” He explained that it was the ‘filters’ upon consciousness that necessitated the need for somebody to convey the experience from spiritual reality. “I believe that this wave is about developing resonance with the cosmos and it is a large thing. In order to do so, in true resonance with the cosmos, it also means that you must do that yourself directly, without any intermediates…It’s all about becoming a citizen of the cosmos, a child of God with out any having to intervene, so to speak.”

This idea of a transformation of consciousness is echoed in the Hopi prophecies.
Author Kymberlee Ruff tells of the Hopi Prophecy Rock, and whether humanity would choose to depart from the “Two-hearted Path” leading to nuclear annihilation: “Up until very recently, many of the Hopi Elders were not certain that we would choose the ‘Path of the One-Hearted.’ Fortunately, I have been told that in the last few years, we have turned a corner. Many Holy and Noble people have performed the sacred rituals and ceremonies, asking Mother Earth to give us another chance. An evolution of consciousness has occurred just in time to save our planet. I have been told to share with you that, in the last few years, we have passed over into ‘The Fifth World.’

With 2012 approaching, there are so many doomsday stories circulating, describing an impending time of catastrophe and destruction. This is why I was asked to tell the story of the ‘Two Paths of the Hopi Prophecy Rock,’ to tell you that the day after December 21, 2012 is actually going to herald a time of great peace…So as chaotic as the world may appear right now, it is an illusion. Something wonderful is happening.”

Or is it? One thing that is becoming increasingly clear is that we as human beings create our own reality. But this creation process goes far beyond the subjective limits of individuated consciousness. With individual transformation comes the realization that all beings are in need of liberation, that to acquire and appreciate the finer things in life also means doing so without subjecting others to undue hardship.

Like it or not, the world we live in is the product of an ongoing collaborative experiment in consciousness. While enlightened personages such as the Dalai Lama exemplify living the simple spiritual life, they are exiled from their homeland by governmental decisions of a totalitarian regime made to accommodate an ever-growing population.

In the midst of our search for new, cooperative solutions to problems for which we have no previous experience, the brute force expedients learned throughout humanity’s history of war and strife contend for dominance. Based in scarcity and fear, old paradigm you-or-me thinking tends to spread by turning otherwise enlightened minds into sharks or shark bait. Deep spiritual conviction is required to avoid falling prey to the fear-based thought patterns.

Furthermore, avoidance is not an answer. Withdrawing from the difficulties of the modern world is to withdraw one’s self as a needed community resource. Past models allowed people to entrust others to take care of difficult problems. Recent economic problems have shown us that this is not a wise strategy. All too often, turning one’s gaze away from complex problems, amounts to letting the fox guard the hen house.

The approaching changes require a new sort of moral courage. Already we are seeing the start of planetary changes from earthquakes to solar flares to floods. People are waking up to corruption and misbehavior on the part of our elected leaders. As spiritual beings, we must be willing to open our eyes and hearts to see and feel the wounds of humanity and mother earth to witness the extent of the healing that must take place. It is then incumbent upon us to put aside fear and hold fast to a vision of universal peace, cooperation and personal responsibility for emancipating people and the planet from the bondage of history.

West Kennet Long Barrow Crop Circle 2009

This moral courage must extend from our innermost hearts into our families, neighbors, organizations, institutions and planet. Beyond that, there are many who believe that extraterrestrial intelligences are waiting for us to complete this key step in our development before admitting us into their galactic associations. Dr Steven Greer of The Disclosure Project and others have revealed that very real economic forces are at work sowing fear and deception to prevent the equally real technologies of abundant energy, telepathic interfaces and gravitational propulsion from being made available. Imagine a Galactic Federation just like Star Trek (complete with a Prime Directive of non-interference). Imagine the Starship Enterprise encountering a planet which attempts to control its citizenry by withholding key technology and making movies about alien invasions. Even if you don’t accept the part about the aliens, consider that there are economic interests with an investment in the status quo of selling fossil fuels and nuclear energy when other technologies are available.

The 2012 experts and indigenous elders indicate that each individual must choose to respond to fear with love and when others are fearful, to do what it takes to bring them into the light of love, peace and understanding. Doing so will eventually cause us to reach a “tipping point” which will shift humanity’s matrix into the new reality so many of us desire.

One of the key abilities we all need to cultivate is the ability to meet new and sometimes bizarre information not with horror or disbelief but instead with the recognition that as with any process of healing or growth, there may be pain and a need to let go of the past. As humanity emerges from millennia of strife, the future may occur as, “being dragged kicking and screaming into heaven.”
Perhaps some of the best spiritual advice for coping with the radical shifts around 2012 comes from mathematician and physicist Nassim Haramein. Dr. Haramein recently won an award for his paper on ”The Schwarzschild Proton,” where he demonstrated the viability of considering the proton to be a quantum black hole containing the entire mass of the known universe. In one stroke, the paper solves discrepancies between Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. At first glance, this seems to carry no spiritual significance, but upon closer examination reveals that the separation between science and spirit is arbitrary. Ever since childhood he had difficulty with Euclidean dimensional concepts and arrived at his unique theories through attempting to understand the structure of the vacuum. Some label his work “sacred geometry” and indeed he has been able to integrate the Kabalistic “Tree of life” and “Flower of life” into his mathematical understanding of the geometry of space.

“I urge you to spend some time in contemplation, realizing your infinite nature, realizing your connectivity to the structure of space, to the vacuum as a whole, realizing your connectivity to all things through the inner self. All the masters who have walked the earth have encouraged us to learn to turn our senses inward because within the atomic level, within the singularity that centers our existence is the infinite potential of creation. This is what connects us to all things.
I believe that spending more time turning your senses inward and connecting with your fundamental nature, and then applying that to the external world in your day-to-day life might be one of the most crucial, the most important, things you can do. When you align with your fundamental nature, with your singularity, with the infinite potential inside yourself, you are fundamentally aligned with your dharma, your mission, your deepest possible recognition of self. Such an exploration can lead to great things in your life.

Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe, as it exchanges energy and information with the vacuum. This infinite energy and knowledge can infuse your consciousness, and change your life beginning today. Do not be apprehensive about the changes clustering around 2012, for they will force us to make the evolutionary leap into a world of abundance and wonder.”

It is clear we are in a time of transition. The message coming from the 2012 experts is a message to respond to the coming changes with love instead of fear. This requires the moral courage to see things as they are and then to make the choice towards love and responsibility and to help others to do so for themselves.

My Books are E-Books too!

I'm pleased to offer my books in Apple (Ipod, Iphone and Ibook) format from Blurb.com for

 just $5.00 to $10.00!  I'm so happy to make the books available in this way to those who

cannot afford them in hard copy.......including many of my friends who I've wished to give 

copies to and  couldn't afford to.

Oh, and you can copy the spider if you like...........

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE ORACLE

A Divination System

Soft cover:                              $27.95
Hardcover, Dust Jacket:   $41.95
Hardcover, ImageWrap:   $45.95

Apple format E-book:        $5.00

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3298365

 In the Tarot, the Higher Arcana is a progression

 through what mythologist Joseph Campbell called the

 "Hero’s Journey".  The first card in the traditional

 Tarot deck  is The Fool .  The Fool represents the

 utterly open innocence, and infinite possibilities, 

 with with we incarnate into this world.  The Arcana 

progress through  revelations, trials and initiations. 

The last card of  is The World, the return Home.

 Although my Oracle Deck, which features 52

 illustrations,  is not a Tarot, I have  used this

metaphor   in its creation.  

The journey is a Circle.

To learn more about "The Rainbow Bridge", visit the Blog: 

 http://rainbowbridgetarot.blogspot.com/2011/02/introduction-13-card-reading.html

The Masks of the Goddess

Sacred Masks and Dance

THE MASKS OF THE GODDESS, beautifully illustrated with photographs by Thomas Lux, Peter Hughes, 

Anne Beam, Ileya Stewart and others, documents a collection of 30 multi-cultural masks of Goddesses

 created by artist Lauren Raine. The collection of masks traveled throughout the U.S, from the 

Spiral Dance in San Francisco to the Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors in New York City, continually in use 

by choreographers, ritualists, and storytellers for almost 10 years, as they celebrated the Divine Feminine

 in myth, history,  and within our own lives. The book includes stories of the Goddesses, articles,

 performance excerpts, and interviews collected during those years.

E
Softcover                                 $54.95Hardcover                               $60.95Hardcover, ImageWrap    $64.95Apple E-book:                        $  9.99

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/504345

Spider Woman's Hands 

      Weaving a New Web

Softcover:                              $40.95
Hardcover, Dust Jacket:     $48.95
Hardcover, ImageWrap:     $51.95

Apple Ebook:                         $  9.99

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3465321

"What is the new mythology to be,  the mythology of this unified earth
as of one harmonious being?" ........Joseph Campbell

A Metaphor for Our Time

Pueblo mythology tells that when each of the 3 previous worlds ended, it was Spider Woman who

 led the people through the sipapu, the kiva (or birth canal) into the next world.   With so many people

 interested in the “2012 prophecy”, which reached epic proportions through Hollywood, it seems strange

 that so few know of Spider Woman, the midwife/creatrix, who plays a key role in this metaphor for our

 time.   Perhaps the World Wide Web is Spider Woman's latest appearance.  She's increasingly  

 making visible the connections, the strands of the Web of life, whether we speak of an evolving

 global human culture, ecology, quantum physics, or synchronicity and integral psychology. 

 “Spider Woman’s Hands” is my contemporary exploration of this myth, as a visual artist, 

community art project, and as a story teller.

A HOUSE OF DOORS

~Open Poems~

by Lauren Raine

      Felicia Miller

       Joanna Brouk

I don't believe we can know who we are without re-discovering those people who had a lot to do with 

who we were, and who we became. In 2004 I found a treasure in an old cardboard box. A collection

 of poetry written by myself and my friends some 35 years ago when we had the good fortune to be

young in Berkeley in the halcyon days of the early '70's. Many of them I illustrated. I'm delighted to 

publish these poems and art finally - and to add to the mix over 30 years of poems that reflect my journey

 since. Joanna, Felicia, thank you. Wherever you are, we were beautiful.

available from:   BLURB.COM BOOKSTORE

  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/404108

The Secret Life of Raindeer

Speaking of the origins of icons, I couldn't resist this.

Hmm........so that's why Santa has flying raindeer.  But what about the chimneys and the mistletoe?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCS9ePWuLU&feature=player_embedded

Half the Sky and Yonis

"Ancient Midwives" (2008)

“There was a time when you were not a slave, remember that. You walked alone, full of laughter, you bathed bare-bellied. You say you have lost all recollection of it, remember . . . You say there are no words to describe this time, you say it does not exist. But remember.   Make an effort to remember.  Or, failing that, invent.”― Monique Wittig

Meg Ryan:  "Would you allow your son to marry a girl who has not been cut?"

Somali mother:  "No. God doesn't allow her not to be circumcised."

From Half of the Sky  Documentary (2012)

I watched Half of the Sky  again, the extraordinary documentary that aired on National Geographic and was produced by journalists Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, as it is now available on Netflix.  Once again I was impressed with how important this documentary is, how tragic in its scope, and how inspiring to encounter women who have lived through such experiences and become heroes.  What is most inspiring is to realize that at last the terrible inequity of women, especially in poor nations, is at last being addressed.  But there is so very far to go.  This documentary cuts no corners.   As an artist and a feminist, it renews my sense of the importance of  the Return of the Goddess, the need we all have to participate in re-mything culture.

I was particularly impressed with the sequence in Somalia where actress Meg Ryan worked with an amazing Somali nurse who has opened a hospital in Somaliland for women.  She is training midwives, as Somalia has the highest rate of birth fatalities in the world.  Besides malnutrition and lack of any prenatal care, the primary cause for maternal fatality has to do with the fact that girls are castrated from the age of 9 to 13,  in other words their clitoris and labia are cut off and part of their vaginal opening is sutured closed, with the result that scar tissue often causes great difficulty in birth, as well as other health problems like fibula, not to mention that many girls die of infection from the brutal procedure.

How terrible to imagine a deity  that demands women not only cover themselves for shame, but  that women  be punished for having female genitals, the literal source of life, at 7, or 8, or 9 years old?  How terrible to think that this is so in the 21st century, right here and now, and not in some distant feudal past. There are approximately 100 million girls and women who have had this done to them in Africa and the Middle East.  100 million!   And to view this documentary, to see the magnitude of the practice of selling little girls, as young as 4 years old, into brothels...........is to realize that slavery never ended.

And although we are so much more fortunate,  it's important to remember that there are people in Congress right now who want to take away birth control and health benefits, such as mammograms,  from women, who would force a young girl  who has been raped to bear a child.   We need to re-myth our world indeed,  because as the authors of this documentary point out, this is the moral issue of our time.  That's what the Return of the Goddess is about.

Yonis 

Large Carved Yoni on Indian Hill, Anza-Borrego

 Ironically,  I have been interested lately in a archaeological site not far from San Diego, which I was writing about before I viewed HALF THE SKY.  There are a number of native American rock carvings there that they call Yonis**, from the Hindu word for female genitalia.  They are, according to local researchers, "thought to be associated with female fertility".  I think, personally, these Yonis, which can be found world-wide, go beyond tribal women seeking  fertility, and represent a paradigm of reverence for the divine feminine and the processes of birth/death/birth inherant in the Earth, a reverence that  we have lost in patriarchal gender imbalance. 

Yoni near Canebrake, Anza Borrego

"Venus" painting, Chauvet Cave,  30,000  BC

Besides depictions of animals, the earliest human form that occurs in very early art (the cave paintings of Europe and the so called "Venus" figures, such as the Venus of  Willendorf ) are female, often pregnant, and sometimes specifically a vagina shape.  This was more than prehistoric pornography, more than a desire for fertility so the tribe could continue.  This was the prime Deity, the source of life and the womb/tomb to which life returns for rebirth (hence, the importance of sacred caves).  Yoni stones, sometimes natural, sometimes carved, occur throughout the world as  depictions of this  mysterious source of life and pleasure.

This is the Goddess, the Earth Mother, Pachamama, represented in her most primal form. This is where we come from, and to where, in early thinking at least, we returned. I don't believe just women created and honored these shrine/sites that were undoubtedly sacred, and infused with numinous power.  I don't know about the sites in Anza Borrego, but I am pretty sure that many of these "Yoni shrines" were sited as well in places of geomantic power, near a healing spring, or a ley crossing for example, where the sense of the power of the Earth Mother would be most potent.

Mandorla by Judith Anderson

As Riane Eisler wrote in THE CHALICE AND THE BLADE,  by examining the evolution of European and Middle Eastern religious mythology, one can see the gradual co-option of creative "birth" power by patriarchal mythological systems.  A good case may be made that Freud had it wrong:  women do not have penis envy so much as men have had a long, long mythic issue with Uterus envy.   As one studies Greek mythology, for example, the myths that were later adopted by the Romans and survive with great fascination into our day, it becomes evident that the Goddesses became increasingly diminished in status and power as they evolved from earlier times.  Penelope, for instance, whose name means "with a web on her face", was probably an earlier Goddess of fate or prophecy.  But in the later mythos she becomes a faithful wife, weaving a shroud to fend off her suitors.  The male gods begin, like Zeus giving birth to Athena through his head (interesting metaphor) to take on the birth power.  Interestingly, the more patriarchal a culture becomes, the more emphasis there is upon sexual repression and mores - celibacy, chastity,  and virginity for women.   By the time we get to the contemporary Bible, the Gnostic Sophia has been taken out of theology, God has no wife and creates alone, Jesus  is born from a Virgin (whose virginity is then restored) and all manner of restrictions  apply.  With the Protestant Reformation even the Virgin Mary, the inspiration for so many "Notre Dame" cathedrals,  is demoted or eliminated, and Christianity is fully masculinized.  This was around the time of the witch trials,  the Inquisition,  as well.

The Black Stone of Ka’aba - al-Hajr al-Aswad

The Kaaba Stone

Many believe that, speaking of sacred yoni stones that also mark pagan sites, the Kabbah  of  Mecca  is undoubtedly the most famous.  And  ironic, on many levels.

The site of the Kabbah stone is a very ancient Arabian sacred site, that was a point of pilgrimage long before the advent of Islam.  The black stone is probably a meteorite.  It has been broken several times.....as a central icon or power object in the course of Islamic history, it has  been stolen and attacked.  The stone is now reconstructed, and bound together by a silver ligature that is semi-circular (!!!) and measures about 10 inches horizontally and twelve inches vertically.

(Tor Andrae, writing of pre-Islamic Arabia:)

"Ibn al Kelbi reports that Manat was a large stone in the territory of the Hudhail tribe, that Allat was a rectangular stone upon which a Jew used to grind wheat, and that Sa'd was a high block of stone in the desert. In some cases the divinity was identified with a particular part of the natural rock......But specially erected stones might also serve as the dwelling-places of the divinity or the seats of power. The most famous of all of the stone fetishes of Arabia was, of course, the black stone in the sanctuary of Mecca. The Ka'ba was, and still is, a rectangular stone structure. Built into its Eastern corner is the black stone which had been an object of worship for many centuries before Mohammed appropriated the Ka'ba for his new religion, and made the pilgrimage to this holy place one of the pillars of Islam.

(Mohammed: The man and his faith, Tor Andrae, 1936, Translated by Theophil Menzel, 1960, p13-30)***

Pilgrim preparing to kiss the Black Stone

No one really knows what significance this stone, or site (which had, in pagan times, a simple open air shrine in the shape of a cube, hence, the "Kaaba", or Cube, structure of the present day shrine) had to the ancient peoples who made pilgrimage there, except that there were previous traditions of honoring special sites and stones.  Allat  (Al-lat)  was apparently an ancient mother and fertility goddess of the pre-Islamic Arabs at Mecca, although I also read that she was considered an underground goddess, which would perhaps identify her with the Earth Womb. Her name means literally "the Goddess".  Allah means "God, or Creator". This figure of great antiquity is one of a trinity of desert goddesses, the "daughters of Allah" that are named in the Koran. There is evidence as well that the Moon was associated with this Goddess or Goddesses.   Al-Uzza (goddess of the morning star) and Menat (goddess of fate and time) were  the other names of the goddesses in this trilogy.  These deities, as well as Djinn associated with the site, would have  been prominent  in Mecca during Mohammed's lifetime. 

Whether the Kaaba stone was once revered as an ancient earth Yoni or not, it is very interesting symbolically to consider it's current housing and shape.  Jung might have something to say about this.  It is also amazing to consider, from a symbolic point of view, that millions of people, here in one of the most contentious places on earth because of oil, the life-blood of the Mother, annually circle a 4-sided building that houses an ancient stone, possibly once devoted to a local Goddess, that is made of silver like the moon, and is shaped like a Yoni.

Muslim pilgrims, clothed in white,  circle the Kaaba inside the grand mosque in Mecca.
Photo: AP / Hasan Sarbakhshian

Carved Yoni near Solstice Cave, Upper Indian Valley, Anza-Borrego State Park

From the Sixty-Four-Yogini temple at Bheragat.
Madhya Pradesh, 12th century.

Sheela-Na-Gig, Ireland, 11th Century

Medievil Icon - figure is inside a "Vesica Pisces"

** http://home.sandiego.edu/~gennero/Petro.html

***http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-meteorite-worship.htm

Solarized Shamans and Petroglyphs

Well, here's a shift from the climate change articles I've been reading, which I kind of need to do.......  I love petroglyphs, and in the southwest there are plenty of sites where Anasazi, Hohokum, and Pueblo petroglyphs can be seen.

 One phenomenon I've always found interesting is the "solarized shaman" petroglyph, an image that can be found throughout the world.  I've also run across UFO researchers who claim that these images depict  aliens or people in space helmets, but it's much more likely that they represent shamans who have entered the ecstatic visionary state in order to commune with their spirit helpers, and also while under the influence of sacred herbs that altar consciousness, such as peyote.  

They represent the "halos" that ancient indigenous people no doubt observed around highly energized people, shamans and healers, who were in contact with the spirit world.  Just as we can observe energy fields around people, plants, and even objects with Kirilian photography, so did they.

 

Vicki Noble and "the Cassandra complex"

 

I belong to a group that includes teacher, shaman and artist Vicki Noble, who, along with Karen Vogel, created the Motherpeace Tarot.  She is also the author of numerous books, was the editor of UNCOILING THE SNAKE - Ancient Patterns in Contemporary Women's Lives, was a key presenter at the Goddess Conference I attended in 2011 in Glastonbury, and is on the faculty of the Women's Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

With the U.N. Conference on Climate change going on, and the article by Chris Hedges I shared in the previous post, I've been feeling overwhelmed and despairing.  Vicki kindly let me share her comments in response to the article, and my own questions.  I find what she said so helpful.  In the final analysis, all we can really do is ease the suffering, in small ways or great, and that suffering has to include ourselves.    Thank you, Vicki, for many years of dedication and inspiration for  so many, for your dedication to the return of the Goddess.

"I heard something about this (new statistics on climate change)  on NPR last week, and  the part about the anticipated temperature rise. It was so shocking, I thought I hadn’t heard it correctly, especially since there was no analysis or discussion at all, just a passing mention of the 3+ degree rise, and then on to the next item. It’s like a dream I also had last week, in which our whole population was standing at a “fiscal cliff” (I so hate that expression) waiting for an approaching tsunami, as if we were watching a movie. And so it does seem as if we are in a kind of trance state, waiting for the end of the world. (Paralyzed? Disembodied? Stupefied?)

Do you know that they have a medical name for what’s wrong with people like us who keep talking about these frightening possibilities, the inevitable consequences of our actions? It’s called the “Cassandra Complex.” I’ve got it for sure. You know, Cassandra of Troy, the priestess (“seer”) who saw what was coming and tried to warn the inhabitants of her city to no avail; she went crazy with the effort of holding her sight in the face of total denial. At least we’re talking to each other here—a helpful reality check—and taking whatever small steps we can in the direction of awareness, preparation, and change.

It’s a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse tonight, as the Mystery continues to unfold.  
 
In 1999 I left Berkeley after two decades, to move up into the redwoods near Santa Cruz, where I lived in a small cabin chopping wood and building fires in my wood stove, while I pondered the state of my global despair. I thought at the time that surely I am not the only activist left from the 1970s who thought we were going to change things more dramatically—and we didn’t. It was a crushing disappointment for me at the time and I suppose in all honesty, it still is—although I do my best to maintain peacefulness, rather than constant adrenaline. But when Monsanto makes some new inroad into killing off life on the planet, I am once again thrown into a dark mood.

The spiritual practices that I developed while up in those mountains—invocations to the Tibetan Dakinis of the four cardinal directions and the center—have become a mainstay of my current teachings, and at some point I received an answer to my fervent question of, "What should I be doing???"  The loving and very direct response to my question was: "There is nothing to do but alleviate suffering."  So I agreed to do that and came down from the mountains to teach and engage again. Just trying to stay present in the unflinching reality of Cassandra and the priestesses and prophetesses everywhere. Feminist activist spirituality, blessed be!"

 I felt like sharing another piece of guidance that helps me as well.  I received this many years ago (in 1992 actually) and it also seems timely........I keep the little picture below (that's pretty much its actual size) in a frame on my altar.  Of all the icons and magical objects I've collected over the years, it's one of my most important.

 In the fall of 1992 I was working on my own Tarot deck.  I went to a copy shop to make copies of some of the small paintings I had done for the series, among them my version of the "Hermit" card, which I called "Solitude".  It's actually a self portrait, and what the card means to me has to do with the journey of the soul through the darkness of ignorance, pain, confusion, and sometimes the "dark night of the soul".  When we find the light, kindle the flame, that illuminates the way we emerge from the darkness.  Very often this is a solitary journey.   But to simply illuminate the way for ourselves is not enough - having kindled a flame, I believe it's important to share what has been learned.  Perhaps the light we share, the warmth of the flame we contribute, can illuminate the path of another.  We are all pathfinders, and part of the journey is to share what has been learned along the way to  encourage others.   Even in the darkest nights.  What else, ultimately, is there to do?

Color copiers in 1992 were not as advanced as they are now, they often broke down, and copies were a lot more expensive.  So I wasn't surprised when the machine didn't do anything for a few minutes when I was copying this painting.  Finally it spit out a big piece of paper with only a tiny image in the center - the one above.  I called over the technician, who fiddled with the machine, and I finally got my copies.  It wasn't until I got home that I looked at the "mistake" and realized how extraordinary it was that of all things to focus in on, the machine had focused perfectly on the hand bearing a light.

We do get guidance, truly.  I do not know if I have always been true to this gift of guidance, but I never am without my little xerox "mistake", to remind me.

Blessed be.  May we all "bear a light", no matter how difficult.  What else can we do? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**The Motherpeace Round Tarot by Vicki Noble and Karen Vogel was one of the first feminine, Goddess-oriented decks, designed to celebrate the Great Mother and Her peaceful, life-loving creatures. It was self-published in 1981 in Berkeley, California and later released in a U. S. Games version in 1984. Like the cyclical ways of nature, the round cards can take on many positions in a reading beyond the usual two choices - upright and reversed.