Art Play 2018

First piece, WIP, created via 'Lifebook' Class

Guardian Self ~ High Priestess

Basically, the first class involved a visual meditation, love those, and after strolling through a forest, receiving a key, and opening a secret garden door (inner-self) I came across a stag, grand and magnificent. My initial impression was that he was male counterpart of 'Divine Feminine' (doe) hiding in the deepest parts of self, me. It could also mean that opening the door, unveiled the connection of 'Twin Souls' on a spiritual level. I didn't need to say anything...he offered me strength knowing it was what I needed. My soul found peace within this magical place. In my mind's eye, he became the 'White Hart', but in the physical, remained red/brown Stag, standing proud, strong, confident, generous, almost regal in bestowing his gift. In that process, I became the 'High Priestess'. 

This initial part of the art journey uses symbolism to create a piece as a supportive guardian through the course. It's a beautiful way to express spiritually without too much thought. An instinctive process. Below, I describe the symbols and meanings. I go quite deeply into these areas but my notes relating to artwork are in a different font so you can skip the bulk of the research text. 

Lotus ~ In the garden

Means perseverance (growing through the mud). 

In Buddhist symbolism the lotus is symbolic purity of the body, speech, and mind as while rooted in the mud, its flowers blossom on long stalks as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals.

The lotus flower is one of the most ancient and deepest symbols of our planet. The lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. ... Untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes the purity of heart and mind. The lotus flower represents long life, health, honor and good luck.

Key 

(with wings)

In one direction, the key is a symbol of openness. It opens what is closed, what is hidden or opens a door. The key can, therefore, by extension, symbolizing knowledge and access to it. It refers in this direction to understanding, interpretation, and has a response value, "the key to the problem", "the key to the mystery." It enables to discover a truth and opens our eyes. Owning the key is possessing the means to access a wealth, an external or internal discovery. The key can, therefore, open the door to a new dimension.

As a tool that allows opening, the key is also a symbol of freedom.

As a tool for closing this time, the key can symbolize privacy and security. To ensure that they are not stolen, we put our most valuable goods in safe-deposit boxes, locked up. We keep our homes locked when we leave, to preserve our privacy and our secrets.

The key is also a symbol of power. In Christianity, the keys of heaven give the power to enter into eternal life. Many medieval painters represented the object.

The key gives the right to rule, to own and to decide, in the image of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, choices, transition, and doors, often depicted with a key.

The first lock with key was discovered in Egypt and dates from about 3000 BC. It was made of teak wood, measured about 60 cm and controlled the access to a temple.

Gemini Symbol

Inbetween the pillars is the symbol for Gemini (my sun sign) It can also represent no.2, lovers. Every zodiac sign is ruled by a Tarot card from the Major Arcana. The zodiac sign of Gemini is ruled by The Lovers card. 

Yin and Yang

I tried to represent this with a subtle use of colour - each half of the page different. Dual emotion positive and negative, masculine and feminine. 

The yin-yang symbol holds its roots in Taoism/Daoism, a Chinese religion and philosophy. The yin, the dark swirl, is associated with shadows, femininity, and the trough of a wave; the yang, the light swirl, represents brightness, passion and growth.

Shield 

In a way, the stag reminds me of a knight and so I drew him on a shield as a White Hart to represent this. It also means guarded, inner-self. Protection, again symbolic to the knight, with strength.

Knights represent honour, courage, and chivalry in all their glory. Knights, in your dreams/unconscious, are symbols of protection. Being a knight means that you are bound by the knight’s code and are required to uphold the law and protect the weak. It should bring you great comfort to know that you have a protector or are a protector to those around you.

When a knight is used in symbolism, you may feel a need for protection. This can be a warning to avoid poisonous people. A woman dreaming of a knight can represent your romantic feelings, if you are, you may be looking for eternity. A white knight symbolizes the man of your dreams. (White Hart/Divine Masculine/Twin Flame).

A knight represents your higher self and what you dream about for yourself. For me, this was courage and strength.

V ~ Venus (Goddess)

(V of Dress)

In myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam. Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan (fire) and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection. 

As goddess of love and sex, Venus played an essential role at Roman prenuptial rites and wedding nights, so myrtle and roses were used in bridal bouquets. Aphrodite's major symbols include myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans.

The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. 

Kings in Uruk may have established their legitimacy through a sacred marriage ceremony in which the king took on the role of Dumuzid (Inanna's consort) and engaged with the priestess of Inanna. Through Ishtar, Inanna influenced the later Phoenician goddess Astarte and, through her, the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

Inanna appears in more myths than any other Sumerian deity. Many of her myths involve her taking over the domains of other deities. She was believed to have stolen the mes, which represented all positive and negative aspects of civilization, from Enki, the god of wisdom. Mes is one of the decrees of the gods that is foundational to those social institutions, religious practices, technologies, behaviors, mores, and human conditions that make civilization, as the Sumerians understood it, possible. They are fundamental to the Sumerian understanding of the relationship between humanity and the gods.

444 ~ Angel Number

(This number came up in a tarot reading)

When you do see an angel number (recurring number sequence) pay attention. What you were thinking about, or doing when you saw the number? This will contain clues into it's hidden meaning.444 is a sign that your angels are with you.

The angel number 444 reminds you that all is well. Your angels are supporting you from behind the scenes, protecting you and urging you to choose yourself, and take steps to make your dreams a reality.

When you see 444, know that you're loved supported, and assisted. Release any doubt and fear, and trust. By attuning yourself to their vibration and by staying in a state of love, all things are possible.

Remember to ask for help from the angels, and also support yourself with positive thoughts, habits, and by remaining aware in the present moment, you can assure you are positively progressing on your path.

Moon

I drew the crescent moon above the HP head and inside is the colour of the sun with a seven-pointed star. Reading up on info, it also seems to me to represent a womb carrying a child - Moon female and the sun (son) her child. I.E Mother aspect, Great Mother, and Mary, Star of the Sea, Aphrodite, etc. This really resonates with my writing 'The Women of the Sea', a future novel. This is part of the process of how I gather inspiration from lore and develop with creativity and connecting patterns via research written and visual. In this sense, art and word combine stories. 

Celtic mythology and symbolism is big on balance. There is a moon goddess also worshiped by the Celts, who is associated with the lunar cycles. The word “crescent” comes from the Latin term ceres meaning to “bring forth, create” and crescere, the Latin term for “grow, thrive”.

A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It was also the emblem of Diana-Artemis, and hence represented virginity. In Roman Catholic Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary.

The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver (as the corresponding metal) in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes. In the 2nd-century Bianchini's planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress.

Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon (as symbolised by a crescent) representing the female principle (as juxtaposed with the Sun representing the male principle), and (Artemis-Diana being a virgin goddess) especially virginity and female chastity.

In Roman Catholic tradition, the crescent entered Marian iconography, by the association of Mary with the Woman of the Apocalypse (described with "the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" in Revelation) The most well-known representation of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse is the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Star

A heptagram, septagram, septegram or septogram is a seven-point star drawn with seven straight strokes. The heptagram is a symbol of magical power in some pagan spiritualities. The {7/3} heptagram is used by some members of the otherkin subculture as an identifier. In alchemy, a seven-sided star can refer to the seven planets which were known to ancient alchemists.

The heptagram was used in Christianity to symbolize the seven days of creation and became a traditional symbol for warding off evil. The heptagram is a symbol of perfection (or God) in many Christian sects. The heptagram is known among neopagans as the Elven Star or Fairy Star. It is treated as a sacred symbol in various modern pagan and witchcraft traditions.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea ~  is an ancient title for the Virgin Mary (sacred / Divine Feminine). The words Star of the Sea are a translation of the Latin title Stella Maris.The title has been in use since at least the early medieval period. Originally arising from a scribal error in a supposed etymology of the name Mary, it came to be seen as allegorical of Mary's role as "guiding star". Connected to the High Priestess both wear blue cloaks and have secrets. 

Heart

I placed this symbol on the throat as communication felt not said (throat Chakra). Although, perhaps, should be spoken at the right time after contemplation process which the High Priestess represents. The function of the Throat chakra is driven by the principle of expression and communication. Behind the heart is light, this means the information not said is being communicated without words - spiritual. 

Heart Chakra ~ A balanced heart chakra is a beautiful thing. 

The heart shape (♥) is an ideograph used to express the idea of the "heart" in its metaphorical or symbolic sense as the center of emotion, including affection and love, especially romantic love.

The combination of the heart shape and its use within the heart metaphor developed at the end of the Middle Ages, although the shape has been used in many ancient epigraphy monuments and texts. With possible early examples or direct predecessors in the 13th to 14th century, the familiar symbol of the heart representing love developed in the 15th century, and became popular in Europe during the 16th. Before the 14th century, the heart shape was not associated with the meaning of the heart metaphor. 

The geometric shape itself is found in much earlier sources, but in such instances does not depict a heart, but typically foliage: in examples from antiquity fig leaves, and in medieval iconography and heraldry typically the leaves of ivy and of the water-lily.

The first known depiction of a heart as a symbol of romantic love dates to the 1250s. It occurs in a miniature decorating a capital 'S' in a manuscript of the French Roman de la poire (National Library FR MS. 2086, plate 12). In the miniature, a kneeling lover (or more precisely, an allegory of the lover's "sweet gaze" or douz regart) offers his heart to a damsel. The heart here resembles a pine cone (held "upside down", the point facing upward), in accord with medieval anatomical descriptions. 

Conifer Pine Trees are one of the most ancient plant genera on the planet, having existed nearly three times longer than all flowering plant species. The Pinecone is the evolutionary precursor to the flower, and its spines spiral in a perfect Fibonacci sequence in either direction, much like the Sacred Geometry of a rose or a sunflower.

It is considered by many to be our biological Third Eye, the "Seat of the Soul," the “Epicenter of Enlightenment” -- and its sacred symbol throughout history, in cultures around the world, has been the Pinecone.

Pomegranate

Behind the High Priestess hangs a curtain embroidered with pomegranates and palm leaves. It is said that perhaps the pomegranate rather than the apple was the original ‘forbidden fruit’ so there is a sense that The High Priestess guards great secrets. The palm leaf may represent integration and balance of male and female, conscious and unconscious mind, the seen and the unseen.

The pomegranate originated in the region extending from modern-day Iran through Afghanistan and Pakistan to northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region.

The name pomegranate derives from medieval Latin pōmum "apple" and grānātum "seeded". Possibly stemming from the old French word for the fruit, pomme-grenade, the pomegranate was known in early English as "apple of Grenada"—a term which today survives only in heraldic blazons.

In the Waite-Smith Tarot, the High Priestess sits between light and dark. On her backdrop are pomegranates, the food of the land of the dead, whose six sweet seeds caused Persephone to become Kore, Queen of the Underworld. Typically, the High Priestess is associated with Pope Joan or Virgin Mary. Persephone's annual journey to the underworld seems akin to the High Priestess' journey beyond the veil and into the unconscious.

Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon and promised the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. 

The me'il ("robe of the ephod") worn by the Hebrew high priest as having pomegranates embroidered on the hem, alternating with golden bells which could be heard as the high priest entered and left the Holy of Holies. According to the Books of Kings, the capitals of the two pillars (Jachin and Boaz) that stood in front of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem were engraved with pomegranates. Solomon is said to have designed his coronet based on the pomegranate's "crown" (calyx).

High Priestess

(Re-appearing in tarot readings)

The High Priestess (II) is the second trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Marseilles Tarot, this figure is crowned with the Papal tiara and labelled La Papesse, the Popess, a possible reference to the legend of Pope Joan. 

The High Priestess sits upright and graceful on a stone stool. She is dressed in a blue cloak reminiscent of healing power and a white dress indicating purity of intention. The blue cloak is the same colour as the background sky, reiterating natural connection. On her head is a crown echoing the phases of the Moon (new, full and old) which in turn symbolize the maid, mother, crone aspects of the Goddess.

With the Moon at her feet, the High Priestess is completely in touch with her emotions yet she is not controlled by them. Her manner is serene. Her emotions inform her of the subtle signals in the atmosphere around her.  The High Priestess may be asking you to sit with your feelings for a time instead of reacting.

In the creation of the Rider-Waite tarot deck the La Papesse card, so confusing to non-Catholics, was changed into The High Priestess sitting between the pillars of Boaz and Jachin (which has a particular meaning to Freemasonry). According to the Bible, Boaz and Jachin were two copper, brass or bronze pillars which stood in the porch of Solomon's Temple, the first Temple in Jerusalem.The columns represent the balance of power – dark and light, separate yet inseparable.

Other variants that came after Rider-Waite are the Virgin Mary, Isis, the metaphorical Bride of Christ or Holy Mother Church. In Swiss Troccas decks, she is called Junon ("Juno"), the Roman Queen of the Gods.

The High Priestess is also known as Persephone, Isis, the Corn Maiden, and Artemis. She sits at the gate before the great Mystery, as indicated by the Tree of Life in the background. She sits between the darkness and the light, represented by the pillars of Solomon’s temple, which suggests it is she who is the mediator of the passage into the depth of reality. The tapestry hung between the pillars keeps the casual onlookers out and allows only those initiated to enter. The pomegranates on the tapestry are sacred to Persephone. They are a symbol of duty (because Persephone ate a pomegranate seed in the underworld which forced her to return every year). The blue robe the Priestess is wearing is a symbol of knowledge. She is wearing the crown of Isis symbolising the Triple Goddess. The solar is a symbol of balance between male and female. The planet associated with the High Priestess is the Moon.

The High Priestess represents wisdom, serenity, knowledge, and understanding. She is often described as the guardian of the unconscious. She sits in front of the thin veil of awareness, which is all that separates us from our inner selves. The High Priestess knows the secret of how to access these realms. She represents spiritual enlightenment and inner illumination, divine knowledge and wisdom. She has a deep, intuitive understanding of the Universe and uses this knowledge to teach rather than to try to control others. She generally appears in a Tarot reading when you need to listen to and trust your inner voice.

The High Priestess Tarot card represents a link to the subconscious mind, which cannot be accessed through the everyday world but only through dreams and symbols. When this Tarot card appears in a Tarot reading, pay attention to your dreams and intuition. Look for areas in your life that may be out of balance or that require greater foresight and wisdom. Knowledge of how to fix it will not come through logic or intellect but through your intuition so put aside a time when you can meditate and listen to your own inner voice. Your intuitive sense right now is providing you with useful and helpful information and is assisting you to become more in touch with your subconscious mind.

For a male especially, the High Priestess Tarot card indicates that he must learn of his ‘anima’ or female side, or he will fail to grow. For a woman, the High Priestess suggests that she must learn to trust herself and to be truly feminine, rather than succumbing to the pressures of having to act more like her male counterparts.

Think of the High Priestess as the calm centre inside of you that is untouched by your external world and know that she is always there when you need her. She is a part of you that you have not had much time to connect with but she is an important part of you. Whenever you feel that things are just getting too crazy and you are faced with impossible choices, find a quiet space and listen to your inner voice. If you stop thinking about your issues or just give yourself some space and time of ‘nothingness’, the answer will come to you without having to even think about it.

The reversed High Priestess also suggests in a Tarot reading that you are normally an intuitive person who is connected with your inner self but in recent times you have lost this connection. You may be rushing around and worrying excessively about external issues and other people’s problems that you have lost focus on your own needs. You are not listening to your inner guidance anymore and this is leading you further astray. The strong message here is that you need to take some time out for YOU and you only, so that you can tune into your inner voice and connect once again with your subconscious mind. Meditation or spiritual study may help.

The High Priestess in a Tarot reading can also point to the unknown and can indicate that your life is changing. Things that once seemed certain can no longer be taken for granted. Some puzzling mysteries become clearer but all is not yet revealed at this point. On the plus side, you will find that your intuitive powers are increasing and you may be inspired to be creative. The High Priestess Tarot card is, therefore, a particularly good card for artists, poets, and writers.

Stag /Deer

When you have the deer as a spirit animal, you are highly sensitive and have a strong intuition. By affinity with this animal, you have the power to deal with challenges with grace. You master the art of being both determined and gentle in your approach. The deer totem wisdom imparts those with a special connection with this animal with the ability to be vigilant, move quickly, and trust their instincts to get out the trickiest situations.

The deer spirit animal will remind you to be gentle with yourself and others.The deer’s antlers can grow back once they fall. Because of this characteristic, this animal has been revered in many traditions as a symbol of life regeneration. There’s a cloud of mystery around this ability that gives the deer a magical and mystical quality. If you have the deer as a power animal, you could tap into life’s magical ability to renew itself.

By affinity with this spirit animal, you may also be watchful of your “predators”, which translate into a tendency to be sometimes overly cautious. It takes time for you to trust someone or feel safe in your environment.

Another quality that the deer spirit animal brings to those who have a connection with it is a felt sense of their own inner gentleness, a clear connection with the innocence of their inner child. The spirit of the deer reveals to you a fresh perspective on old issues. Takes advantage of this opportunity to revise and reverse patterns of thought or behavior that no longer serve you.

Stag represents Earth = Grounding. 

The Myths and Lore surrounding the Stag run across the world from Meandash, the mythic Saami Reindeer, all the way back to the earliest history from Sumerian of Dara-Mah 'The Great Stag'. 

Much information comes from Dr Bobula Ida's 1953 comparative myth essay on "The Great Stag, a Mesopotamian Divinity".

In Classical times the stag was of paramount importance to the Scythians and other peoples across the Eurasian steppes. The subject of the most striking Scythian gold jewellery, the stag has even been found as tattoos on the so-called ‘ice princess’ in the Altai Mountains. Here at the eastern extremity of the IE steppe culture zone, her frozen body was recovered with Scythian style stags still plainly visible on her skin.

The symbol of the cosmos and the mother of the sun was symbolised as a large horned female doe. The great horned doe often was shown carrying the sun in her horns, in some cases, the sun itself was symbolised as a stag the son of the doe of the legend. The Hungarian regos (bards) tell a story that illustrates the stag as the carrier of the sun.
The hind represents not the sun, but it's mother, the heavenly firmament, the cosmos, which carries the stars, the sun and the moon in its ‘horns’. For these reasons the Scythian stags often represented the horns of the stag-like flames.

In many European mythologies, the deer was associated with woodland deities.

In Irish mythology, Finn mac Cumhail, the legendary leader of Ireland's heroic band of warriors known as the Fianna, cornered a beautiful white deer, which his hounds then refused to dispatch. That night Finn was visited by the goddess Sadb, who explained that a spell had turned her into the deer Finn had chased, a spell from which his love could release her. Naturally, an encounter with true love broke the spell. Read more of the story HERE. 

In the Chronicles of Narnia, the White Stag is fabled to grant wishes to whoever catches him. And in the Arthurian legend, the white stag is the creature that can never be caught. King Arthur's repeatedly unsuccessful pursuit of the white stag represents mankind's quest for spiritual knowledge.

White Stag by Zopheia.

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

The New Moon

New Moon - The Moon's unilluminated side is facing the Earth.

December 18th in Sagittarius

Selene visits Endymion on Mount Latmus, John Atkinson Grimshaw 1879
In early societies, the reappearance of the moon was often a cause for celebration -- after all, it meant that the dark had passed, and the full moon was on its way back.

The new moon is the first phase of the moon. Traditionally, it occurs when the first waxing crescent of the moon invisible in the sky. Astronomically, it occurs when the moon is the closest to the sun as seen from the Earth. This takes place right in the middle of the dark moon period so the moon is not visible at this time unless there is a solar eclipse when its shadow is visible against the sun.

 Edwin Blashfield

Gardening by the Moon

If you are gardening according to the lunar cycles, shortly after the new moon is a good time to plant leafy greens and cabbages. The waxing moon draws water upward and stimulates growth, so this is a good time to plant just about any and all annual seeds. Perennial seeds should be planted near the full moon as it encourages strong root growth.

Magick by The New Moon

Magic appropriate to the new moon period includes anything related to new beginnings, drawing magic of all sorts and anything related to growth and increase.

The first appearance of the new moon begins the first day of the lunar month (noumenia). This night is often considered sacred to Selene, Artemis and/or Diana. The prior night, the night of the dark moon is sacred to Hecate and is designated as Hecate's Supper.
Goddess-centered traditions honor the Goddess in her Maiden aspect at this time.

A Dream of Latmos depicting Selene (the Moon) and Endymion, by Sir Joseph Noel Paton.

Selene

Selene (suh LEE nee) is the ancient Greek Titan Goddess and personification of the Moon. Selene drives her chariot silver drawn by two white-winged horses or bulls across the sky each night. Sometimes she is riding a bull or a horse.

The name Selene is probably derived from the Greek selas, meaning "light". She was also called Mene, which means "month" referring to the lunar month which was calculated from the new moon to the dark moon and Phoebe, meaning "bright". (Also the name of the Titan Goddess Phoebe and an epithet of Artemis.) In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or Pandia Selene. Pandia may have once been an epithet of Selene, before she was her daughter. Another name for Selene is Pasiphae, though it is also the name of another Goddess.

Selene is generally described as having bright and beautiful hair, the Homeric Hymn to Selene describes her as "long-winged" (though this may mean something more like "far flying") and wearing a golden crown. Orphic Hymn to Selene calls her "bull horned" riding with her torch extended before her. In Pausanias Description of Greece, he describes a statue of Selene, saying she has horns.

The moon seen from below is either her crown, or her shining cloak, billowing out behind her or her horns, or the horns of her bull.

According to Hesiod's Theogany (371-374), Selene is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, along with her brother Helios and sister Eos. Pseudo-Apollodorus agrees with this account in his Bibliotheca 1.2.2. Homer's Hymn to Helios names their mother Euryphaessa ("wide shining"), (probably an epithet for Theia) but his Hymn to Hermes (94) mentions Selene as the daughter of Pallas, son of Megamedes specifically. (There is a GodPallas as well.) Euripides (Phoenician Women(170)) and Nonnus (Dionysiaca 44) however, calls Selene the daughter of Helios. Nonnus also refers to her as "motherless".

Selene and Endymion by Victor Florence Pollett.

Selene's greatest love was the shepherd Endymion who slept in eternal youth and beauty.
There are various stories as to how this came about, whether it was his choice or her request. The story that had passed to me orally was that Selene, having learned from Eos's mistake in wishing her love eternal life, but not eternal youth, asked Zeus to grant that her lover always be as he was. As he was sleeping when she said that, so he remained. Psuedo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca 1.7.5) says that it was Endymion who made the request of Zeus. Either way, Selene's love for Endymion features in many works of art and serves as motivation for many of her actions. Because of her great, and aching love, she is known to take pity on lovers and give them aid, assuming they have been respectful of her in the past. To Endymion, Selene is said to have born 50 daughters; The Menae, the 50 months of the Olympiad, the four-year Olympic cycle.

Selene had other children including Pandeia and Ersa (whom some scholars believe to be different names for the same being), ostensibly by Zeus.

The bard Musaeus claimed Selene as his mother.

By Helios, Selene is the mother of the The Horae, the seasons.

Selene is also the mother of the Nemean Lion. The father is unknown, though Aelian (On Animals) says she brought it forth at the bidding of Hera.

A SIMPLE RITUAL

First, if your tradition requires you to cast a circle, do so at this time. If you don't normally cast a circle, take the time to ritually purify the area by smudging or asperging. This will establish the space as sacred.

Perform this ceremony outside if at all possible -- it's the best way to get a good look at the sliver of new moon. You'll need a moon candle, wrapped in a black cloth, to place on your altar. This is traditionally a white unscented pillar-style candle. You'll also need a hand-held mirror. Tie some silver and white ribbons on it if you wish. Finally, have a small bowl of Blessing Oil handy.

Hold this ceremony at sunset if you can. Turn to the west, and watch as the sun goes down (without looking directly at it). Once the sun has dropped below the horizon, you'll be able to see where the new moon is rising - and the location is going to vary from month to month, depending on the time of year and where you live.

If the sun sets before you began, you'll need to look a bit higher in the sky, but you should still be able to find it as long as the night is a clear one.

If you're doing this rite with children, have them each try to be the first one to spot the new moon.

Once you see the moon in the sky, unwrap the candle.

Hold it up high and say:

Welcome back, Moon!
We're glad to see you again.
Another cycle has passed
another month gone by
and our lives have moved forward.

Place the candle on the altar and light it, still facing the moon. Say:

Today is a new day,
and a new month begins.
As the tides flow, and the moon rises above,
we are thankful that She has returned.
She watches over us, ever constant,
yet always changing,
and we are thankful for her light.

If you have children present, have them wave to the moon and thank her for returning -- you'd be amazed how silly and fun this simple task can become!

Next, turn to face east, where the sun will rise in the morning. Pick up the mirror and hold it so you can see the new moon behind you. Say:

Bring us your wisdom, your guidance,
your protection, in the coming month.
You are behind me at every step,
watching and guiding me,
and I am thankful.

Place the mirror back on the altar, beside the moon candle. Take a moment to reflect on your goals. After all, this is a time of new beginnings and a good time for new commitments and vows.

Warm the Blessing Oil over the candle for just a moment, and then anoint each others' foreheads. As you do so, say:

May the blessings of the moon be with you.

If you are working alone, anoint your own forehead, and grant yourself the blessings of the moon.

When you are ready, close the circle and end the ritual.

Source: HERE

Albert Aublet

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

Beltane Blessings )O( ~ May Day

Beltane honours life and represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer.

Beltane is a Fire Festival. The word 'Beltane' originates from the Celtic God 'Bel', meaning 'the bright one' and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire. Together they make 'Bright Fire', or 'Goodly Fire' and traditionally bonfires were lit to honour the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun's light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community.

Beltane Fire Dance by Loreena McKennitt

Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. "This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew."
~ (From Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred)

Beltane is the anglicised name for the Gaelic May Day festival. Most commonly it is held on 1 May, or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. May Day is a public holiday and is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival. In many cultures, dances, singing, and cakes are usually part of the celebrations.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held on April 27 during the Roman Republic era, and with the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30.
Flora's altar at Rome was said to have been established by the Sabine king Titus Tatius during the semi-legendary Regal period. Flusalis (linguistically equivalent to Floralia) was a month on the Sabine calendar, and Varro counted Flora among the Sabine deities.

May Day (or the day after Walpurgis Night).

Walpurgis Night is the English translation of Walpurgisnacht, one of the Dutch and German names for the night of 30 April. In Germanic folklore, Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht (Dutch: heksennacht), literally "Witches' Night", is believed to be the night of a witches' meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany between the rivers Weser and Elbe.

On May Eve there is abundant fertility, on all levels, and is the central theme. The Maiden goddess has reached her fullness. She is the manifestation of growth and renewal, Flora, the Goddess of Spring, the May Queen, the May Bride.

Stonemaiden Art - Etsy

In the Arthurian legends, the Flower Bride is Guinevere, though she is usually abducted on May 1 and must be rescued. However, in Celtic lore, there are many ladies or goddesses, such as Creiddyled and Bloudewedd, who fit this role.

http://jodeee.deviantart.com/art/Cernunnos-563034529

The Young Oak King, as Jack-In-The-Green, as the Green Man, falls in love with her and wins her hand.

The union is consummated and the May Queen becomes pregnant. 

Together the May Queen and the May King are symbols of the Sacred Marriage (or Heiros Gamos), the union of Earth and Sky, and this union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage.

Sacred Union

"Sacred Marriage" between Dumuzi and Inanna on a bed. Old Babylonian Period.

Great Goddess - Queen of Heaven. Inanna

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake,

If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break:

But I must gather knots of flower, and buds and garlands gay,

For I’m to be the Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be the Queen o’ the May.

– From “The May Queen” by Alfred Lord Tennyson

The May Queen or Queen of May is a personification of the May Day holiday, and of Springtime and also Summer.Today the May Queen is a girl who must ride or walk at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age-groups dance round a Maypole celebrating youth and the spring time.

Sir James George Frazer found in the figure of the May Queen a relic of tree worship:
According to folklore, the tradition once had a sinister twist, in that the May Queen was put to death once the festivities were over. The veracity of this belief is difficult to establish; it may just be a folk memory of ancient pagan customs. Still, frequent associations between May Day rituals.

In the High Middle Ages in England, the May Queen was also known as the "Summer Queen". George C. Homans points out: "The time from Hocktide, after Easter Week, to Lammas (August 1) was summer (estas)." - On the 30th day of May was a jolly May-game in Fenchurch Street (London) with drums and guns and pikes, The Nine Worthies did ride; and they all had speeches, and the morris dance and sultan and an elephant with a castle and the sultan and young moors with shields and arrows, and the lord and lady of the May".

 A May Day festival is held on the village green at Aldborough, North Yorkshire on a site that dates back to Roman times and the settlement of Isurium Brigantum. A May queen is selected from a group of 13 upward girls by the young dancers. She returns the next year to crown the new May Queen and stays in the procession. The largest event in this tradition in modern Britain is the Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Michael A. Michail - Flora.

The Faery Queen also represents the May Queen, although in practice the honour is usually carried out by young women who are soon to be married.

Mists of Avalon

Morgan le Fay is a powerful enchantress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or sorceress. She became both more prominent and morally ambivalent in later texts.

A "May Crowning" is a traditional Roman Catholic ritual that occurs in the month of May, honoring the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of May". 

Our Lady of the Sea, Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland ~ The May Crown

The feminine connection in many forms ~
Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Virgin Mary by Christians mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglicanism. The title is a consequence of the First Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, in which the Virgin Mary was proclaimed "theotokos", a title rendered in Latin as Mater Dei, in English "Mother of God". The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not share the Catholic dogma, but themselves have a rich liturgical history in honor of Mary. In the Hebrew Bible, under some Davidic kings, the gebirah, the "Great Lady", usually the Mother of the King, held great power as advocate with the king.In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. A text probably coming from Origen (died c. 254) gives her the title domina, the feminine form of Latin dominus, Lord. That same title also appears in many other early writers, e.g., Jerome, and Peter Chrysologus. The first Mariological definition and basis for the title of Mary Queen of Heaven developed at the Council of Ephesus, where Mary was defined to be the Mother of God.

Our Lady, star of the Sea statue, overlooking Castlebay, Isle of Barra. - Karen Matheson.
Our Lady, Star of the Sea is an ancient title for the Virgin Mary. The words Star of the Sea are a translation of the Latin title Stella Maris.The title has been in use since the at least the early medieval period. Originally arising from a scribal error in a supposed etymology of the name Mary, it came to be seen as allegorical of Mary's role as "guiding star",  as a guide and protector of seafarers, in particular, the Apostleship of the Sea, and many coastal churches are named Stella Maris or Star of the Sea.

Mists of Avalon

Faery Tree

Source

 Hawthorn tree is the true symbol of Beltane, the original May tree, and the tree of the fairy folk. Also known as the May-tree, due to its flowering period, it is the only British plant named after the month in which it blooms.

In Britain, it was believed that bringing hawthorn blossom into the house would be followed by illness and death, and in Medieval times it was said that hawthorn blossom smelled like the Great Plague. Botanists later learned that the chemical trimethylamine in hawthorn blossom is also one of the first chemicals formed in decaying animal tissue, so it is not surprising that hawthorn flowers are associated with death. 

Lore:

A hundred years I slept beneath a thorn

Until the tree was root and branches of my thought,

Until white petals blossomed in my crown.

~ From The Traveller by Kathleen Raine

When we read of medieval knights and ladies riding out ‘a-maying’ on the first morning of May, this refers to the flowering hawthorn boughs they gathered to decorate the halls rather than the month itself. For on this day, according to the Old Style calendar that was in use until the 18th century, the woods and hedges were alight with its glistening white blossoms.

In some villages, mayers would leave a hawthorn branch at every house, singing traditional songs as they went. 

The young girls rose at dawn to bathe in dew gathered from hawthorn flowers to ensure their beauty in the coming year. For May was the month of courtship and love-making after the winter's cold; and so the hawthorn is often found linked with love-making. In ancient Greece, the wood was used for the marriage torch, and girls wore hawthorn crowns at weddings. 

But while hawthorn was a propitious tree at Maytime, in other circumstances it was considered unlucky. Witches were supposed to make their brooms from it, and in some parts, it was equated with the abhorred elder, as in the rhyme:

Hawthorn bloom and elder-flowers

Will fill a house with evil powers.

Even today many people will not allow the branches inside the house, for, as one might expect from its association with Beltane, a time when the two worlds meet, it is considered a tree sacred to the faeries, and thus to be regarded with fear at the least, respect at most. As such, it often stands at the threshold of the Otherworld.
In the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, the Scots poet is taken away by the Queen of Elfland as he sits beneath an ancient thorn known as the Eildon tree. In another old rhyme, the Ballad of Sir Cawline, a lady dares the hero to go to Eldridge Hill where a hawthorn grows, to await there the faery king.
There are noteworthy parallels between this tale and the romance, The History of Sir Eger, Sir Graham, and Sir Gray-steel.

The Flower Moon of May 2017

The full moon of May, also known as the Flower Moon, Milk Moon, or Hare Moon, will occur  Wednesday (May 10) at 5:42 p.m. EDT (2142 GMT). It will appear full to the casual observer for about a day before and after. 

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the Native American name for the May full moon was the Full Flower Moon, though some Algonquin-speaking nations named it the Corn Planting Moon or Milk Moon (milk, referring to nurture - milkweed or cows, though not native to the Americas).

More HERE

Flower Moon ~ May ~ by Ithilyen on Deviantart

Haiku ~ Flower Moon

light of the moon

moves west, flowers' shadows

creep eastward

- Yosa Buson

Just a thought:

Perhaps, keeping in mind the feminine moon cycle (and matrilineal aspects), Beltane would be best celebrated by the moon cycle and not the modern dating of the Gregorian calender. 

Did you know:

1. The original Roman calendar is believed to have been an observational lunar calendar whose months began from the first signs of a new crescent moon. Because a lunar cycle is about 29½ days long, such months would have varied between 29 and 30 days.

2. A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months), in contrast to solar calendars based solely upon the solar year. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with some using new, full, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations. Traditional lunar and lunisolar calendars continue to be used throughout the Old World to determine religious festivals and national holidays. Such holidays include Ramadan (Islamic calendar); the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian New Year (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian calendars); the Nepali New Year (Nepali calendar); the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok (Chinese and Korean calendars); Loi Krathong (Thai calendar); and Diwali (Hindu calendars).

Maypole History HERE

My apologies, for the rather long post. I get excited about this theme in folklore. 😉

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

Mermaid Lore - Christian Schloe Art

Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Africa and Asia. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.

Atargatis was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical Antiquity. Ctesias also used the name Derceto for her, and the Romans called her Dea Syriae ("Syrian goddess"). Primarily she was a goddess of fertility, but, as the baalat ("mistress") of her city and people, she was also responsible for their protection and well-being. Her chief sanctuary was at Hierapolis, modern Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, Syria.

As Ataratheh, doves and fish were considered sacred to her: doves as an emblem of the Love-Goddess, and fish as symbolic of the fertility and life of the waters.

‘Atar‘atheh is seen as a continuation of Bronze Age goddesses. At Ugarit, cuneiform tablets attest the three great Canaanite goddesses 'Aṭirat (Asherah) — described as a fecund "Lady Goddess of the Sea" (rabbatu at̪iratu yammi) — ‘Anat (Anat, Anath), and ‘Ațtart (Astarte), who shared many traits with each other and may have been worshiped in conjunction or separately during 1500 years of cultural history.

From Syria her worship extended to Greece and to the furthest West. Lucian and Apuleius give descriptions of the beggar-priests who went round the great cities with an image of the goddess on an ass and collected money. The wide extension of the cult is attributable largely to Syrian merchants; thus we find traces of it in the great seaport towns; at Delos especially numerous inscriptions have been found bearing witness to her importance. The island of Delos near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece.

Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. From its Sacred Harbour, the horizon shows the two conical mounds that have identified landscapes sacred to a goddess in other sites: one, retaining its Pre-Greek name Mount Kynthos, is crowned with a sanctuary of Zeus.

Leto, a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, the sister of Asteria, searching for a birthing place for Artemis and Apollo, addressed the island:

Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple –; for no other will touch you, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.

— Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo 51–60

The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts.

Some of the attributes of mermaids may have been influenced by the Sirens of Greek mythology.

Sirens were said to be dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalised traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae. All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks.

Although a Sophocles fragment makes Phorcys their father, when Sirens are named, they are usually as daughters of the river god Achelous, with Terpsichore, Melpomene, Sterope, or Chthon (the Earth). In Euripides' play, Helen (167), Helen in her anguish calls upon "Winged maidens, daughters of the Earth." Although they lured mariners, the Greeks portrayed the Sirens in their "meadow starred with flowers" and not as sea deities. Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys. Sirens are found in many Greek stories, notably in Homer's Odyssey.

"It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh."
"They are mantic creatures like the Sphinx with whom they have much in common, knowing both the past and the future",  Jane Ellen Harrison observed. "Their song takes effect at midday, in a windless calm."

Sirens were believed to combine women and birds in various ways. In early Greek art, Sirens were represented as birds with large women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps. The 10th-century Byzantine encyclopaedia Suda says that from their chests up Sirens had the form of sparrows, below they were women, or, alternatively, that they were little birds with women's faces. Birds were chosen because of their beautiful voices. Later Sirens were sometimes depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive.

By the fourth century, when pagan beliefs were overtaken by Christianity, belief in literal sirens was discouraged.

The theme of perilous mythical female creatures seeking to seduce men with their beautiful singing is repeated in the Danish ballad known as "Elvehøj", in which the singers are Elves.

The ballad is in the first person. The narrator, an attractive young man, falls asleep beside an elf-mound (or elvehøj). Some women (usually elf-maidens) then attempt to woo the narrator, singing so beautifully that the natural world responds (the streams stop flowing, fish dance for joy, etc., depending on the variant). The narrator, however, resists their blandishments, grasping his sword (usually in silence). The man is most often rescued by the crowing of a cock waking him, though in the Danish A-version, from the mid-sixteenth-century Jens Billes visebog (known to Grundtvig as 'Sten Bille’s Haandskrift'), he is saved by the advice of his sister who, previously enchanted, is one of the elf-maidens. The ballad usually ends with moralising advice to the listeners.

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo