The Roots of Easter

Elaine Bayley

As we hold Easter egg hunts and gift those we love with bunny shaped candies this weekend, we are actually tapping into European rites of spring from pre-Christian times. The ancient Germanic Goddess Eostre (aka Ostara) embodied spring, the season of  rebirth, renewal and new growth. Eostre’s symbology included fertile rabbits as well as the egg.

The sacred moon Goddess Ix Chel holds a similar place of honor in the Mayan culture. Like Eostre, Ix Chel is also associated with rabbits. She is shown below with her beloved consort rabbit.

Ix Chel has been worshipped throughout Mexico and many parts of Central and South America for thousands of years.  It is said that Ix Chel is responsible for nourishing the crops by overturning her sacred womb jar so that the waters will flow through the world, nourishing new life. 

“Goddess Ix Chel, known as the Maya[n] Goddess of the Moon, Water, Weaving and Childbirth… all having to do with cycles, tides, creating and bringing new life.

Her Rabbit consort/ child/sister/brother/mother/father/friend is the personification of new life and cleaving to bringing the young along, the gentle spirit, the shy, and yet the enduringly fertile/creative.

She is called the pale one…and is co-existant and interchangable with the moon and the moon’s cycles… she is a miracle maker, a healer, a teacher, a keeper of stories… and as she is also the moon also going dark for three days… Ix Chel suffering torment but comes ever back to full radiant reflective light again.

There are so many Ix Chels in the world, and so many Auroras and so many Jesu’s and so many Attis’ and so many of the great One who was taken down and then came back to life in triumph.

~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

It is amazing to me that people all over this Earth created similar stories and myths of rebirth and renewal to honor spring. We are truly one Tribe.

🐰

Dreaming Wild – Every Day Is Earth Day

Photo By Geralt (Pixabay)

Let’s gather together and take a shamanic journey into the heart of Mama Earth. We will journey with the drum, connect and listen to the land with open hearts. What does our Mother wish to share with us this month? How can we honor and assist her?

This is a FREE Event.

Wednesday April 24th, 2024
1 PM Mountain.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83605167861?pwd=YWs5bnp4MUQyR2VzVVRmbzAxNE1LQT09

Meeting ID: 836 0516 7861
Passcode: 100155

A Loyal Companion

‘The moon is a loyal companion.

It never oleaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human.

Uncertain.
Alone.
Cratered by imperfections.’

~Tahereh Mafi

🌙

Art by Felicia Olin

Priestess Full Moon

A poem in honor of this potent full moon in Virgo, the sign of the earth priestess…

A fire in the night
light up seeing
stars twinkle

and the Moon
is on her way
down the road

we turned
around and around
until we knew

in our broken bones
what was true
and red birds flew

the sky got more blue
over the green sea
we prayed unto

our Mother who knew
chaos would crumble,
our power would rumble

and this moment
brought destiny
to Her knees.

~Hunni Bloom

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Art by HolgaJen (Etsy)

Owl Prayers

” I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day—the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.”

~Terry Tempest Williams,
When Women Were Birds

🦉

Owls are one of my personal messengers. A great horned owl has shown up outside my window 3 times in the last 2 weeks. They show up everywhere I live, calling to me before dawn. 

Owl is the wise watcher of the forest – a true visionary.. nothing gets by Owl. 

But Owl’s message can sometimes elude me. They are mysterious creatures that hold deep magic which can be hard for a mere human like me to discern.  At times it takes me days to realize why Owl showed up. But there is always a beautiful message in Owl’s presence, if I take the time to listen.  

🦉

“When the owl sings, the night is silent.”
~Charles de Leusse

Photo of great gray owl
by Mel Clements