Category: Mother Nature

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Samhain; Betwixt and Between

Originally published November 1, 2017

Aspens at Twilight by Nancy L

Certain times in our lives are filled with potency and magic. Twilight is such a time, as is dawn. These are magical moments when it is neither day nor night. Birth is another potent in-between time, along with death. These special times mark borders and transition zones. The in-between is a sacred time when magic is afoot.

Here in the northern hemisphere, we find ourselves on the boundary between autumn and winter. The light is slowly fading away as our Sun drops lower and lower in the sky and our nights grow longer. This is another potent in-between time. The ancient Celtic people would celebrate Samhain (Sow-in) at this time.  Some tribes chose to celebrate at the 1st new moon after late harvest (November 4th, 2021). Other tribes celebrated at the 1st full moon after harvest. The celebration of Samhain was a beautiful way to honor the seasonal  transition out of the light and into the dark.

The veils between the worlds grow very thin during this sacred in-between time.  Loved ones who have departed this Earth are believed to be nearby. Many people in Mexico honor this by celebrating Dia de los Muertos  (Day of the Dead) at this time.

Samhain is the perfect time to acknowledge and celebrate the sacred cycles of birth – growth – death – rebirth that are an integral part of Nature.

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Some suggestions for acknowledging and honoring the magical in-between time of Samhain:

Take a few moments to honor everything you have “harvested” this year.

Bow to your ancestors and thank them for giving you this life.

Offer love and prayers to loved ones who have transitioned.

Thank the brilliant light of summer and embrace the deep dark of winter.

Listen for spiritual guidance to help you in the coming year.

Wheel of the Year
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She Who Changes

“She changes everything She touches and everything She touches changes.

The world is Her body. The world is in Her and She is in the world. She surrounds us like the air we breathe. She is as close to us as our own breath. She is energy, movement, life, and change. She is the ground of freedom, creativity, sympathy, understanding, and love. In Her we live, and move, and co-create our being. She is always there for each and every one of us, particles of atoms, cells, animals, and human animals. We are precious in Her sight. She understands and remembers us with unending sympathy. She inspires us to live creatively, joyfully, and in harmony with others in the web of life.

Yet choice is ours. The world that is Her body is co-created. The choices of every individual particle of an atom, every individual cell, every individual animal, every individual human animal play a part. The adventure of life on planet earth and in the universe as a whole will be enhanced or diminished by the choices we make. She hears the cries of the world, sharing our sorrows with infinite compassion.

In a still, small voice, She whispers the desire of Her heart: Life is meant to be enjoyed. She sets before us life and death. We can choose life. Change is. Touch is. Everything we touch can change.”

~Carol P. Christ
She Who Changes: Re-imagining
the Divine in the World

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Safe travels, Carol.
(1945-2021)

#goddess
sacredfeminine
#herstorymatters

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Image: Bird Woman-Goddess figure
Edfu Egypt, 4000 BCE
Photo by Nancy L

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Earth Mother

Willendorf Beauty by Peg Green

I am dawn’s flame
Arching through treetops

I am a whisper of wind
Playing in the weeds

I am dark loamy ground
Supporting roots and shoots

I am cool mountain waters
Tumbling toward the sea

I am holy Mother
Creating and holding you.

~Nancy L

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When God Was A Woman

“In the beginning, people prayed to the Creatress of Life,
the Mistress of Heaven.

At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman.
Do you remember?”

~Merlin Stone

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#sacredfeminine

Venus of Willendorf Goddess 22,000 BCE
Photo by Nancy L

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A Prayer for the Earth

May I trust in the wisdom of the plants and the animals and the water.  May I hear the message whispered in my ear that is for me alone.  May I live with confidence that my soul is eternal and my heartbeat and the heartbeat of the world are one.  May I remember the Earth is my Mother.  May I feel my hand in Hers and have no fear.  May I welcome the gifts that come my way.

~Linda Heisel

Irish Waters by Nancy L

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Feminine

“It’s just that you’re not that feminine.”

I beg to differ.

I’m feminine like a thunderstorm.

Feminine like the glint of a falcon talon.

Feminine like an ancient redwood.

Feminine like the orange glow of a grizzly bear in the sunset.

Feminine like a wolf on the hunt.

Feminine like decaying bones.

Feminine like the eye of an old whale.

Feminine like a roaring river.

Feminine like a sheer cliff overlooking a forest.

Feminine like a wildfire.

Feminine like a desert wind.

Feminine like a battle cry.

And yes.

Within my stones and bark and fur and fierce slit irises .. I am as soft
and enveloping as any woman who’s blood ever beat red.

This is the Sovereigness.

I am her.
We are her.

We are an age of woman who has come in, representing the medicine of the Wilds.

We are not built to actualize your sense of masculinity through your traditional idea of femininity.

We are built to bring in the voice of our Mother.

Which is why Earth herself screams in our veins.

So, if what you really mean is,
“Your femininity is overwhelming”,

Then I understand.

It is to me, too.


~Adrianne Tamar Arachne

#wild
#sovereign
#female

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In Her Image

“The image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, our anger as purifying, and our power to nurture and create, but also to limit and destroy when necessary, as the very force that sustains all life.

Through the Goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions. We can move beyond narrow, constrictive roles and become whole.”

~Starhawk,
The Spiral Dance

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Photo of Goddess vessel
by Nancy Lankston