The Circle of Goddesses

On December 22 at 12:30 AM Eastern Standard Time we celebrate Yule, Yuletide and the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, with the correspondingly longest night. Yule is a solar festival, celebrated with fire and decorating trees, giving gifts, burning a Yule log, harvesting mistletoe and hanging evergreen boughs. After feasting, the tree is lighted and the Yule log is burned. A portion of the Yule log is saved to be used in next years lighting of the Yule log. This piece of the yule log is kept throughout the year to protect the home.

The seasons colors are red and green. Holly is used as decoration for this festival, originally named for the dark underground Crone-goddess Holle, or Hel, from whose womb the sun arose. The red berry symbolized the Goddess’ holy blood, shaper of all life, according to the oldest beliefs. The evergreen leaves of the holly represent ongoing life, retaining vitality through the winter, with an implied promise of immortality.

The Winter Solstice has long been associated with the birth of a ‘Divine child or King’ long before the rise of Christianity. Since the Sun represents the male deity, this time is honored as the return of the sun god, where he is reborn of the Goddess. Yule is centered around the idea of rebirth, assisting the newly born sun to grow in strength when it emerged from the dark womb of night. It is a time for reflection and celebration as we think about where we have been and anticipate the new Sun and its promise for increasing light, as the days start to slowly become longer and warmer.

The theme for Yule, is re-birth, with emphasis on the divine birth-giver rather than the one born, as in the Christian revision. The birth-giver is Hel, or the Dark Goddess, also known as Mother Night, Hecate, Myrrha, Cerridwen, Cybele-Nana, Black Demeter and many other names. Savior cults, such as of those of Jesus, Mithras and Attis, use this traditional birth season for their heroes and dying-resurrecting ‘god men’. In ancient cultures, they celebrated the birth of a divine child at this time, nine months after the god’s death and re-conception (resurrection) at the Spring Equinox.

Warrior to Goddess: How to Transform the Feminine
By Suzanna Kennedy

There are many types of women in our society, but the one that cries out for the healing the loudest is the Wounded Female Warrior. You long to transform yourself into the Goddess, even though you might not use those words to describe your longing.

Who is the Wounded Warrior?
The Wounded Warrior is powerful, independent, self- reliant and successful — because you have to be. Yet, you resent all of the responsibility and obligation that goes with your role. You are the only one around who can get things done, and get things done fast enough and perfectly enough.

You are bitter (at least inwardly) toward men, who you believe get all the breaks, but do little of the real work. You see men as the weaker sex, responding emotionally and acting illogically – when they act at all. You muse that men are only good for one thing – moving furniture. Well, two things — maybe.

Long ago, you let go of the fantasy of a knight in shining armor or Prince Charming. You are bitter, angry and sometimes even cutting in your dealings with these inferior male beings. You consciously or passive-aggressively seek revenge against the male transgressors in this patriarchal society.

You respect other Warriors, yet have no tolerance for “weaker” females who don’t carry the Warrior’s sword. You are or were a good wife and good a mother, protecting and providing for you family. Yet you express even these roles through the stance of a warrior.

You are tired of fighting. You displayed your battle wounds proudly in the past, but now that you grow bored with conquest. Your armor is heavy and you long to remove it for good. You long for the Goddess within you; yet believe you couldn’t survive without your Warrior’s sword. Let me introduce you to — the power of the Goddess.

Who is the Goddess?
The Goddess is quite simply — the embodiment of the Divine in a female body. She is discerning and acts with integrity. She has a core of inner peace that is unshakable. The Goddess radiates an energy that is so powerfully beautiful, loving and soft, that others are drawn to her like a magnet.

She may have been a Wounded Warrior at one time, but she has healed her wounds. She has released the anger, pain, fear, guilt and judgment. She has let go of feelings of betrayal and abandonment. She has replaced those lower-vibrational emotions with compassion and joy. She has transformed her limiting beliefs, attitudes, and thought patterns into a loving allowance for all to be as they are. She has no need to change anybody, for she sees the Divine in all beings. She understands that any attack is simply a demonstration of fear. She remembers fear, and yet knows how to neutralize it with her unlimited flow of love.

The Wounded Warrior and the Goddess — two powerful female archetypes. One tired and wounded; one radiant and healed. How did the Warrior get wounded? And how can she transform herself into the Goddess? To answer these questions, you must first understand how energy moves in humans.

Read the whole article at :snoedel.punt.nl/index.php