The Goddesses and me - a journey through cycles

Viene todo a su tiempo…

Youth is fleeting.  I’ll be 27 in February and for whatever reason, 27 has a special significance for me.  To me it wasn’t 18 that represented true adulthood or even 25.  It was 27.

Slowly, I’m beginning to realize how precious time is.  I have no idea where this year went.  The fall always seems to fly by so quickly particularly because it’s my favorite season.  Then comes the winter; it springs to summer and then fall again.  I’m beginning to understand cycles in a way I’ve never known.  Even the cycles in my own body as a woman, my emotional ups and downs are becoming increasingly easier to predict, so now, in the dead of winter of my mind, staring out at the icy blue patches of ice across my driveway I remember the smell of green grass and the sight of trees budding.  What goes up will come down eventually and furthermore what comes down has nowhere else to go but up.

Following the change in the season I am reminded of the life/death/life cycle that women used to know so well.  Women used to be in charge of the dead in ancient societies.  They would not only birth new life, but they would know when to let go of life, having intimate knowledge of the life/death/life cycles.  Just as there is a time for birth, for living, there is also a time for death.  There would be no life without death, no light without dark, no forward without backward and no future without past.  There is an ebb and flow to life that cannot be realized without embracing Death. 

Coatlicue

I think of Coatlicue, the Aztec goddess of death and rebirth.  How ominous is she who destroys life?  How beautiful is she who creates it. Women in many ways live with this duality. 

In some Native American cultures women are not allowed to participate in ceremonies when they are menstruating because they are considered too powerful.  The menstruation is a symbol of a woman’s power to destroy life. 

Isis

I remember the story of Isis– the Egyptian Goddess – birthing life from death through her love with the ability to create something from nothing.

So as I wander through this earthly existence starting to feel older and more grown up I am reminded of Grace that exists in all stages and that viene todo a su tiempo (everything comes at its time).   I am thankful for all stages of womanhood, not just my youth, but great gifts are given at all ages.  I will not fear crow’s feet around my eyes; I will thank the Crows for their wisdom.  I will let the white take over the black of my hair as a symbol of my duality – reminding me that Death approaches with every breath and that fact gives me more reason to live a fuller life.  I will embrace the power of my cycles allowing my blood to remind me of my ability to create new life.  There is a reason we are affiliated with the moon - her cycles from full to new to full again every 28 days resonates through a woman's body.  I am but la hija de la luna, the moon's daughter learning from my my mother.


I leave you with this fantastic song I wrote this blog listening to:

Hija de la Luna - theme

In honor of tonight's full moon...

I am having a love affair with the moon

How I wish I could make her grow round and swollen at will

She births my creativity – longing and desire illuminated under her soft gaze

She can swell up slowly until so full she might burst, then a gradual deflation, like sighing.

Exhaling softly, then silent into the dark of the night.

I will write her my poetry and sing her essence as wolves howl their praise,

As the frogs gleam a tinted green, while oceans reflect her full splendor.

I am silent and still, humbled to bear witness to her cycles

In sync with my own, what is it to grow? 

I am but only her mere daughter birthing nothing more than words.

This is how I need to be living

No joke.  I could do this and be quite happy and guess what?  MOUNTAINS!

You'd never think I was such a city girl from these pictures, would you?

Gorgeous moon...
Colorado 2009  

Hopefully my little adventure to Wisconsin this weekend will give me a good dose of country so I could love Chicago again.

New Moon's in the alley and its madness calls to me

It's 4:30 a.m. and I have been trying to sleep for an hour. I'm going to attribute the restlessness to the fast as I usually am pretty good about sleeping. It's not until later on in the fast that I usually start feeling restless--they say that it's because of your body not using you energy to do digest that you have extra energy. I'm not sure that's true since my body should be using it's energy to cleanse my cells and detox me.


Ah well, guess I'm up for the moment. I did tarot readings for this event called Give Peace a Dance. It's this really awesome event every 1st Saturday of the month. There are drum circles, a fire pit outside (which is my favorite thing there), different healers and readers, thai massage, reiki, dancing, etc.


Anyway, for every single person that came in for a reading I kept pulling out The Moon card from my deck. See the definition for it here. but I have The Goddess Deck so the definition is slightly different. My deck is slightly gentler than other decks and that's part of the reason I enjoy working with it. It's a lot lighter and embued with feminine energy.


The definition for The Moon in this deck is as follows:
The Moon is represented by the Roman Goddess Diana.


"The changing moon reflects the cycles of nature, its light influences all growing things--plants, animals, and humans alike--for better and for worse. Diana reminds us of our connections to these cycles and that, like the moon itself, what is empty will, in time, become full if we are patient.
General Meanings:
The receptive, nurturing aspects. Intense emotions. Vivid or lucid dreams. Intuition. An opportunity to work on your relationship with that which truly nurtures you.
Reversed: Uncomfortable emotional states, uneasiness with intuition, maternal figures, women. Feeling as changeable as the moon..."
-The Goddess Tarot


I felt that even though I was giving other people readings and this card kept coming up it was because there was some sort of global consciousness of unrest at the moment that is causing each of us to either really truly listen to ourselves for guidance amongst the craziness or avoid using our intuition at all costs - which unfortunately was true for most of the people I read for. In many ways I felt like the moon was trying to deliver a message to me that night.


I've been thinking a lot about Our Great Mother and the messages she is trying to deliver to us now. It seems the rapid pace of everything is catching up to us with all the earthquakes and natural disasters that are happening. She's trying to wake us up.


It's 5:16 a.m. on a Monday morning. I'm up.