by Emer
Everything cycles – there is a time for growth and a time for rest; a time for one thing and a time for its opposite; a breathing in and a breathing out. And what is more obvious in its cycles that our Lady Moon?
Continue reading “The Thinking Witch’s Guide to Moon Phases”
Venus. Cattle were once adorned with cowslips to encourage healthy milk production. Cowslip flowers were believed to bring luck in love to the wearer. In Suffolk, milkmaids would wash their faces in milk in which cowslip petals had been infused on Beltane, believing that it would make their faces glow and attract their beloved during the Beltane celebrations. Were traditionally woven into funeral wreaths to be laid on the deceased one’s grave at the full moon, for thirteen moons after his or her death. Posies of cowslips, placed under the pillow, were said to allow contact with the dead in dreams.
Guardian god. Chinese. A deity who protects fishing boats and their crews against danger at sea in the Southern Ocean. His role is similar to that of the goddess KUAN YIN. Little is known of the origin of Hung Sheng, but he was allegedly a mortal who died on the thirteenth day of the second moon, which falls two days before the spring equinox when the sea dragon king, Lung Wang, is believed to leave the ocean and ascend into the heavens. The god is propitiated with cakes made from the first grain of the year, on the fifth day of the fifth month and in some traditions he is seen as an aspect of the sea dragon king.
Creator god. Mayan (Yucatec and Quiche, classical Mesoamerican) [Mexico]. According to the sacred text Popol Vuh, the son of HUN HUNAPU and the twin brother of Ix Balan Ku. Tradition has it that, like his father, he was decapitated in a historic struggle with the underworld gods and subsequently became the sun god, while his sibling is the apotheosis of the moon.
Moon goddess. Polynesian [Tahiti]. In local traditions the daughter of the god TANGAROA and creatrix of the moon, which she governs. She lives in one of its dark spots representing groves of trees which she brought from earth in a canoe and planted. She is also represented as the consort of Tangaroa. Hina probably evolved in Tahiti from the Polynesian underworld goddess HINE-NUITE-PO. Also SINA (Samoa); Ina (Hervey Islands).
The Sun
There are conflicting accounts of the parentage of Helios (the Sun). In the Homeric Hymn to Helios, we are told that Hyperion married his sister, Eryphaesa, and begot tireless Helios, rosy Eos (the Dawn) and fair tressed Selene (the Moon).
by Richard L. Dieterle
There once was a circular village in the mountains where a boy named ‘Running Antelope’ lived with his grandmother. He was with a group of people who went to visit a prairie village ruled over by a cruel chief. The chief was fond of a very beautiful maiden named ‘Little Hill’, but could not succeeded in winning her over.
Goddess of the Dawn
The beautiful goddess of the dawn, Eos (Erigeneia). In the Homeric Hymn to Helios, we are told that Hyperion married his sister, Eryphaesa, and begot tireless Helios (the Sun), rosy Eos (the Dawn) and fair tressed Selene (the Moon). In the Hymn to Aphrodite, Aphrodite falls in love with a beautiful mortal, Anchises, soon to be the father of Aineias (Aeneas). Aphrodite tells the story of Eos and her abducted lover Tithonos. When Eos went to Zeus to request immortality for her mortal lover, Zeus nodded and made it so… however, Eos did not ask for perpetual youth for Tithonos. As the years passed, he aged and, finally, lost all strength in his limbs. Eos, with love and pity, put him in a private room and shut the shining doors. We can only assume that he is still there.
© 1998 by Rachel Raymond
Moon goddesses are also goddesses of magic and herbal healing. Isis, Artemis, Hecate, and Diana are just a few of the many lunar deities who were invoked in herbal healing rituals and spells.
Continue reading “Healing By The Moon”
“Go for the moon. If you don’t get it, you’ll still be heading for a star.” Willis Reed
Witch's Well 