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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
The Serpent's Kiss: Beltane Fires

We stand at another season and another turn of the Great Solar Wheel. We gather in the fertile space of circle greenery anchored well with phallic maypole standing tall. We dance around the potent fires of Beltane celebrating the sacred union of God and Goddess, youth and maiden and the polarity of seed and womb offered by male and female. The air is fragrant with the promise of summer's musky scent and shoots of fresh grass elongate delicately upwards, stretching towards Father Sun and longer days to bask in His brilliance. We can see the lengthening of the days light and feel the gentle caress of warm sun-kissed air on skin that has just recently shed its winter clothing. In the continuous cycle, darkness gives way to light and so also the sparse flora of the fields gives way to the thick verdant splendor of late-Spring growth. 

This is the magickal season of the thinning of the veils between ancestor and human, spirit and Deva and the gifts of connection to seen and unseen. We bow to the enlivening of all of the fruits of mother earth's bounty that will herald summer's gifts of ripening. We joyfully and with purity of intent and heart give offering to the Fae to aid us in our endeavors and make promise that the progeny of our union with nature and all of its life will make good in keeping her healthy and whole. All is ready and ripe for a consummate union that will feed the cycles of creation. This interweaving takes form in all aspects of being-sexual, spiritual and more. 

The potency of sexual union and the energy that is the by-product of the sexual act is one of the most potent and its heady scent seductively calls to all to join in the dance. If guided and directed towards enlivening and magickal working its raw force has the power to manifest form. In alchemical and Tantric practice, using this energy as a means of self-enlivening and energetic renewal and healing is the goal. It is this energy that is celebrated and called into action as we wait in anticipation of the Beltane’s lovers sacred union. The heat of passionate longing and the desire to join as one ensures the continuance of life's pleasure and humanity’s legacy. It pulses with a lusty rhythm that mesmerizes and magnetically draws to itself the object of its seeking. And, life continues in the throes of human passion and Divine synthesis. 

This is the time of spiritual union. When the potency of the energies and the fires of devotion are most fertile and ready to be held in loving embrace in hopes of creating connection and bond that will move us forward on our spiritual paths. We stimulate the fires of our own will and exhale into the heat of our yearning. At this turn of the Wheel, I would like to propose a deeper union. 

The Fires that arise are much like the breath of transformation that becomes the potency of catalytic change and enlivening. The fires that issue froth from the Dragon; a winged serpent who has conquered the mysteries of Air and has risen above the constraints of earth and land to soar across the heavens. It holds within its body the waters of life and quickens them in the Fires of creation, remaining solid and strong in its intent. The Snake is the terrestrial form of the Dragon and holds the wisdom of the Earth. This turn of the year, in particular offers up especial opportunity to drink deeply from the Dragon’s fires and the wisdom of Snake’s grounding as we seek the rapture of their Divine kiss. As we think on the outward expression of our passions and the desire for union we can also turn that desire inwards, fueling our passion for union with our Higher nature. 

The metaphor of Beltane is that of coming to a point of coalescent energy. The merging, blending and eventual uniting of our polarized selves in all their facets. Male and female, light and dark, earthly desire and the bliss of orgasmic release are the potent streams that become the maypole ribbons that we cling to as we dance around the core of seed-filled center. We also become the womb and vessel of this outpouring of force and act as the container of form so that something new may be birthed from this quickened state of being. We weave the ribbons tightly around this container, affirming the strength that is held in co-creative effort and then marvel at the beauty of that creation the celebration of the outcome. 

If we use another metaphor, that of the Kundalini awakening or Serpent of Fire, we find that this is one and the same type of energy. Desire awakens the serpent of wisdom who lays coiled at the base of the earthly and primal state. We breathe deeply and call forth our will to merge with this energy. Breath and action fuel and catalyze this energy and stir it into heightened awareness as the dance of weaving and life begins. As the serpent moves along its path of return the One becomes two; separating in individualized awareness of the need for polarity and the deeper gnosis of the duality of our singular state of being. Each moves along its intended course, seducing and drawing the other into its embrace at points of quickening and awakening. The pace quickens and the two return as One in the release of catalytic seed and waters of quickening. The fires of will reach up towards the Higher Self and the Serpent’s Kiss bites deeply into primed matter releasing the transformative elixirs of deep knowing and spiritual union with the Divine in all of its forms. The fires of Beltane move serpent-like in and through you and the joyous celebration of God and Goddess’ Sacred Union is that of You and your Higher Self. 

This year as you celebrate Beltane, open yourself to the deeper enlivening. Become a conscious participant in awakening all parts of your being. Celebrate your Gods and Goddesses. Celebrate your physical nature and connection to that which makes you most human. Celebrate the life that flows within you and the potential of being creator and co-creator of all that you will to be so. And, think deeply on these questions:

Will you seek the serpent's kiss*? Will you allow the energy of desire, will and action to guide you to the ecstasy of union? Will you draw into yourself the seed of potential and quicken it within the womb of your own making? And, at the next turn of the Great Wheel will you stand as one with the heat of the blazing sun issuing forth the breath of the fiery Dragon you have called to Light within?

Happy Beltane. May the Fires of Life Flow Through Every Part of Your Being!

 

Image: Stock Photo 123rf
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Posted by on in Studies Blogs

Hello, and welcome to my new blog “Myth Maker: Modern Mythopoeia.”

In the next post, I’ll get to the meat of this blog, introducing you to a variety of lesser-known spirits from around the world and telling you the stories and teachings they tell to me. But I thought I’d start off by talking a little about mythopoesis as an art and a magical practice. The English word mythopoesis comes from the Greek μυθοποιία, and literally means “myth-making.” The second part of the word, “poeia,” is the root of our word “poet.”  Historically, the word was an obscure technical term, describing, as Victorian historians would tell it, that period of time when humans made myths “instead of science” to explain the world around them. However, in 1931, J. R. R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings) published a poem titled Mythopoeia, which was a direct response to his frenemy and Oxford colleague C.S. Lewis’s skepticism about the value of myth.  Lewis (at the time, although his views softened with the wisdom of age) believed that  myths are "lies and therefore worthless, even though 'breathed through silver.”'  Tolkien's poem replies...

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  • Sarah Keene
    Sarah Keene says #
    One of the best explanations for the importance of myth that I have read comes from the Discworld novel Hogfather by Terry Pratche
  • Sara Mastros
    Sara Mastros says #
    Sarah: That's lovely! Thank you for sharing it.

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Spring Forth

 

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  • Dragon Dancer
    Dragon Dancer says #
    Blessed Be and I'm so glad to hear of your recent happiness! May it continue. I feel like I'm going through the same thing in many

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
When She Creates Herself...

 

 

When She Creates Herself...that’s how I think of my latest Goddess art piece. I did not have a plan of what she would look like. I had an idea of colors I wanted to use but not her shape. As I prepared her humble home with white acrylics, I felt that calm come upon me. The calm I felt before when I know I am creating something special. I've experienced it before when I connect to my Goddess-self and everything is effortless.

I was so amazed by how quickly she was manifesting herself that I started taking pictures of my progress and sending them to my partner. Here’s an image showing my progression:

water-goddess-progression.gif

 

When I looked upon the white surface, I could see her coming up like she was emerging from primal waters. I took my charcoal pencil to trace her voluptuous lines oblivious to time. I know now, thanks to the text messages I sent my partner, that it took me about three hours to complete her. I lost my sense of time with her.

I am usually very critical of anything I create. It’s an unfortunate habit that I am still working on. Yet for this Water Goddess, it was love at first sight for me. She came to me like a dream, a waking dream where all is effortless. I loved her with her  imperfections. I still love her.

I long to connect with this part of myself again. I want to see what other Goddesses and divine creatures are awaiting creation. My Water Goddess now sits above my main altar reminding me of love, relaxation and how easy it is when you connect with your breath and inner Goddess-self.

Blessings to you and yours sisters! ❤

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  • Molly
    Molly says #
    I think she is one of my very favorites of yours! Love the time-lapse series.
  • Paola Suarez
    Paola Suarez says #
    Thank you Molly! She's one of my favorites as well. I'm still working on finding my personal style. Perhaps she's closer to it. Bl

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

This is my continuation of my tribute to all the gods placed in the "graveyard".  Viarococha the Incan creator god is #14 from that list.  (Apologies for the small font as I can't figure out how to change it.)

b2ap3_thumbnail_Viracocha.jpg

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

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Earlier this week Bill Nye, the "Science Guy", debated Ken Ham, founder of the creationism museum in Kentucky, and it was billed as "Science vs the Bible", among other things. I watched it, and participated in a Twitter discussion for a short time during it, and then moved over to a Facebook discussion among a friend and others who are all Atheist, as far as I can tell. When the debate was over, I was left with a few thoughts.

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  • Greybeard
    Greybeard says #
    If "the word of an infallible god" has any place at a debate the infallible god should show up and say so. Otherwise its just her
  • Arwen Lynch
    Arwen Lynch says #
    Very true words, Peter. "religion, faith, and belief should never be tools used to destroy others" Thanks for an interesting loo

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

The tale of Tiamat could be seen as a creation story.  It could be seen as patriarchy overwhelming matriarchy.  If there are those that honor this creatrix, this goddess of chaos, I did not find them.  I did however find a tale of her fate.  A tale of a wounded heart:   first by the patriarch’s threat to her children, then by the death of her consort before a final death claimed her.  Yet if she lives on in memory, is she truly dead?  I don't know.  Mayhap, her inclusion in the god “graveyard” was deserved though not in the fashion the atheists intended.

b2ap3_thumbnail_series-still-water-the-river-thames-for-example-1999.jpg

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  • Melia/Merit Brokaw
    Melia/Merit Brokaw says #
    Interesting! Thanks for commenting!
  • Fritz Muntean
    Fritz Muntean says #
    In the Enuma Elish, a Sumerian creation myth of the 13th to 11th century BCE, the chaotic state of the world -- before Creation to
  • Meredith Everwhite
    Meredith Everwhite says #
    I know this is an almost five-year-old article and comment, but it was recommended for me not too long ago and after reading all t

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