SCORPIO FULL e

FULL MOON OCCURS ON: Monday April 30th at 00:58 am UTC ATHENS, GREECE: April 30th at 3:58am USA: April 29th - Pacific 5:58pm/ EASTERN 8:58pm SAU PAULO, BRAZIL: April 29th at 9:58am AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: April 30th at 12:58pm SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: April 30th at 10:58am

NOTE : The Full Moon concert will occur approximately 15 hours before the Full Moon, at UTC 10am on Sunday April 29th (8pm Australian East Coast Time).

THIS MONTH’S FOCUS: HONOURING THE DARKNESS

SCORPIO ELEMENT: Water MODALITY: Fixed RULING PLANET: Pluto

Ruled by the planet Pluto, the sign of Scorpio offers us the gift and the challenge of the transformative powers of the Underworld. The mythic and symbolic Underworld is not only the realm of the dead, it is the magical crucible of change where Death is transformed back into Life. Picture a plant that has released its seed to the Earth. The plant itself may die, but the energy of Life is held in the potent vessel of the seed. The Underworld is the place where this seed, this sacrifice of the harvest, is buried hidden in the darkness. It will lay dormant, seemingly dead, until the forces of Life call it back to the surface to begin the cycle once again.

Although the scientific community recently demoted the planet Pluto to the category of ‘ Planet’, in it still holds the full power of its vital and important role. The planet is named after the Roman god Pluto, the ruler of the Underworld, who holds many similar qualities to the Greek god Hades. In Greek and Roman mythology the Underworld is not necessarily a place of torment, it is simply the realm of the dead. Hades it the brother of Zeus, (who rules the realm of the sky), Demeter, (who rules the surface of the Earth and the cycles of agriculture), and Poseidon, (who rules the sea). Although his association with Death caused him to be feared by the ancient Greeks, Hades was just as respected as these other gods. Hades features in the of Persephone that we will explore this month. As Persephone discovers, Hades can seem to come out of nowhere to drag us to the Underworld.

2 The Underworld is also a place of wealth. The goddess Demeter has a son called Ploutos (Πλοῦτος in Greek), whose name literally translates as ‘wealth’. He is associated with the wealth of the grain that is stored below ground, and reminds us that many symbolic treasures can be found when we are willing to honour the darkness, and bravely explore the hidden or more challenging aspects of our emotional realms.

The planet Pluto was only discovered in 1930, and before then, Scorpio was ruled by the planet Mars. In Roman mythology, Mars is the God of War, and also the lover of Venus. (The Greek equivalent pairing is Ares and Aphrodite). As a war God, he is connected with the energies of Death, but he is also strong, feisty, sexual and life affirming. And of course, sex and death are connected. In French, orgasm as even referred to as ‘the little death’ (‘la petite mort’)! At the moment of the Scorpio Full Moon, the Sun is in the opposite sign of earthy, fecund, sensual . We’ll be exploring this polarity of Life and Death, and the season festivals that occur at this time to honour these energies: Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere, and Beltaine in the Northern.

Scorpio is one of the three Water signs in the zodiac, the other two being and . This month we will journey with the element of Water, and specifically with Scorpio’s expression of Water, which is deep, still, and underground. Scorpio Water like a deep dark well, an underground river, or a cenote. It represents our emotional depths, and also the hidden shadow aspects of self that lie beneath the surface. It is important to honour this still, deep water by creating points of stillness and self reflection in our lives. This is the realm of the Crone, which we can naturally access every Dark Moon, regardless of the sign. Scorpio offers us the gift of a ritual cleansing of the dark matter that lies as the bottom of the deep pool of Self. Being born on October 31st, and a Scorpio by Sun Sign, I feel very comfortable in this deep dark realm. My hope is that my comfort with this shadowy realm will help you to access your own healing connection with the divine dark.

In this month’s booklet I’m also including some information on the astronomy of the lunar phases. A knowledge of the mechanics of the phases and an understanding of the many shifts of mood and energy that our Lady Moon moves through each month will help us to appreciate the energies of each Full Moon that much more potently.

THIS MONTH WE WILL EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

LIFE AND DEATH BELTAINE AND SAMHAIN DARKNESS THE CRONE AND THE SAGE THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE THE LUNAR PHASES THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON WAXING AND WANING THE ELEMENT OF WATER SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SCORPIO FULL MOON MAGIC ALTAR FURTHER ACTIVITIES

3 LIFE AND DEATH

The word ‘life’ is used two ways in our culture. We use it describe the time that an individual organism spends alive; an animal is born, it lives for a while, and then it dies. We talk about its life, and its death. The same can be applied to plants. For example, we can say “that tree has been alive for 100 years”. When we use the word ‘life’ in this very individual sense, then the word ‘death’ can be regarded as its opposite. We’re born, and then we live, and then we die. In the space of a moment, we can pass from life into death, and the two are very clearly not the same!

But there is another use of the word ‘life’. We talk more generally of ‘Life on Earth’ , or ‘the Life of a forest’. Death plays an integral part in maintaining this broader aspect of Life. In fact, it is inseparable from it. Whenever we go into a beautiful natural landscape, be it ocean, desert or forest, we feel the powerful pulse of Life energy. Imagine being in a forest now. You’re surrounded by living trees, birds are chirping overhead, maybe an animal scurries by. If you look under a log you might see some insects and worms. The forest is teeming with Life. But a closer look shows us that Death is just as powerfully represented. Fallen trees are rotting, becoming food for insects, mosses and fungi, and turning to soil once more. Last season’s leaves create rich humus for new seeds to germinate in. One animal eats another. A herbivore chews the leaves and grasses. An animal dies and its energy is re-absorbed into Earth. Life and Death everywhere, in perfect harmony. If there were no Death, there could be no Life.

I like to distinguish between these two forms of the word ‘life’ by capitalising the more all encompassing term. So, in my scheme of experimental grammar ‘life’ refers to a singular individual organism, and ‘Life’ to the grand and endless cycles of Life and Death. I can talk about my life as Wendy Rule, knowing that I was born on October 31st 1966, and will die one day (a long, long time from now!). My philosophy and faith tells me that when I die, my individual life-force will return to the great collective and continue on in some way, but that I, as Wendy, will be dead. On the other hand, if I talk about Life, then I am referring to this collective energy that contains all of the myriad forms of life, and also their death. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who wrote Women Who Run With the Wolves, refers to the Life/Death/Life Mother, reminding us that the two forces are equally sacred, necessary, and in some way, nurturing.

Imagine a ball of clay. This clay represents the energy of Life. As we hold this clay in our hands, we can shape the surface into life forms - animals and plants etc. These will stay in that form for a while, and then we can roll them back into the ball, and they are simply Life once more. A return to the collective.

4 It’s appropriate to mourn the death of an individual life. But it’s also important to recognise that the energy of Death is a sacred part of Life. When we eat another life form, it is important to give thanks for this offering of individual life, of its identity. I’m sure that if our culture could honour the sacred energies of Death more fully, animals that are farmed for food, in recognition of their generous gift, would be treated with the reverence that they deserve.

PERSONAL CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH

The energies of Scorpio teach us about the powers of the Underworld, of transformation, and of Death. This Full Moon provides a good opportunity for us to re-establish a loving and trusting relationship with these sometimes challenging energies. Within our own lifetime, we go through many, many cycles of Life and Death. We may have one literal death at the end of our lives, but over the course of that time, we are born and live and die hundreds of times over. Every time we cross a life threshold, or find ourselves at one of life’s crossroads, we face the death of the old way of living, and the opening up of the new. Some of these thresholds are obvious: the end of an important relationship, the birth of a child, changing homes, the death of a loved one, a career change etc. But many of these cycles of Life, Death, and Rebirth may have no apparent external stimulus. We simply have periods when we are very down, and moving through a death phase, followed by periods of joy where everything seems to be going right. And that’s ok! Nature teaches us that these cycles are normal and wholesome and healthy.

When I was younger, mainly in my late teens and 20’s but also to an extent in my 30’s, I moved through huge and epic cycles of depression. At times I felt that life was so hard, or so empty, or so confusing that I may as well die. Thankfully, I never took this urge literally as so many poor people do. But it really did feel like each of those cycles was a death. I was given very little guidance, and had no idea who to turn to for help. Something in me somehow knew, though, that this experience, however painful, was sacred and important. I had some painful childhood stuff that needed to be healed, and I knew that these descents into the Underworld were an important part of my growth.

Our culture, which reveres the light so much more than the dark, has trouble accepting things like depression, grief and sadness. The extent of over diagnosis of depression is horrendous and dangerous. I’d like to reinstate the use of the word ‘melancholy’, which was so popular in the romantic era of the early 1800’s. These days, people are often labeled as depressed when they are actually just feeling down. And you know, sometimes this can feel quite comforting, just like the Moon draped in her shadowy veil of protective stillness and solitude. Nature teaches us that it is natural to go through periods of darkness. Sadness and darkness are not illnesses. We’re called down to the dark and sacred lands to do deep work. The more that we can go down willingly, and honour the call for solitude, stillness, rest, and time in nature, the less often we will find ourselves falling in an uncontrollable and rapid descent, as though the rug has been pulled out from under us.

To journey into the Sacred Underworld is a natural process, but what isn’t natural is to get stuck in those periods of darkness, and that’s where the love and support of our friends and partners becomes so important in reminding us that there is a light to return to. We must remember the seed of light within the darkness, and visa versa - just like the yin yang symbol.

5 BELTAINE AND SAMHAIN

May 1st is a very special day in the Pagan calendar. It marks the sacred yearly sabbats of Beltaine in the Northern Hemisphere, and Samhain (pronounced SOW –ain) in the Southern. Together, these sabbats represent the energies of Life and Death, of planting and harvesting, and of creation and destruction.

As the year is waxing and light is increasing in the North, Earth celebrates her fertility. Beltaine, (or May Day in the Northern Hemisphere) is traditionally the time when the Goddess and God become lovers. The Sun is in the earthy sign of Taurus, where all is lush and abundant. The phallic symbol of the maypole is placed into the ritual hole of Mother Earth, and everyone dances and has a jolly good time! It’s a sexy and joyous celebration of Life. Tim and I have been fortunate enough to have danced around many gorgeous maypoles at many different Pagan festivals. A couple of years back in New Mexico was extra special, with flowers woven in between the ribbons. The May Queen, dressed in her finery, was carried into the circle on the huge pole by lots of strong and hearty men. A circlet of flowers was placed at the top of the pole, the base was ritually anointed with oil, with lots of appropriately suggestive movements (!) and inserted into the waiting Earth. Hundreds of bright ribbons cascaded down. We then danced, weaving the ribbons under and over each other until they wrap the pole in a bright net of colour. Fun indeed, and such powerful symbolism.

In the Southern hemisphere, the exact opposite is happening. Samhain is the time for honouring the energies of Death. Although the Sun is in the sign of Taurus, just as it is in the Northern Hemisphere, we get to experience the Scorpio aspect that is so aligned with Samhain, when the Moon is full, because the Full Moon, as we know, will always be in the opposite zodiac sign to the Sun.

Samhain is a harvest festival, which celebrates and ritualizes the energies of destruction. The grain is cut, the apples plucked from the trees. It’s the final ritual harvest of the year sacred cycle, and beyond this is the cold of Winter. The crop that was planted in the Springtime offers its life so that all can feast and be fed through the Winter months. Traditionally this is the most powerful time to connect with our ancestors and our departed loved ones. Altars are set up in honour of the dead, and a silent supper is held where a place is set for the dead. At this time of year the veil between the worlds is said to be thin, and we can commune more easily with the unseen world. This is therefore a perfect time for .

6 So you can see that these two festivals, one that celebrates Life and the other that celebrates Death, happen simultaneously. We’re reminded that Life and Death are two sides of the one coin. We cannot have one without the other.

7

DARKNESS

“The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.” Joseph Campbell

When I use the word ‘darkness’ I refer to more than simply the absence of light. Darkness is an energy as vital to the ongoing flow of the Universe as light is. Darkness has a symbolic resonance that draws poetically on the imagery of night, shadow, hibernation, rest, sleep, stillness, death, endings, sadness, Winter. And the word darkness also holds the energy of mystery, seduction, sensuality, secrets. Darkness is the rich, fecund soil of Earth. It is the Below, the Underworld, the gateway to new life. When our eyes are closed our other senses awaken - touch, taste, intuition. Light is Yang, active, extroverted. Darkness is Yin, still, introverted. We need both to create a balanced Whole.

Our busy overculture, with its emphasis on action and achievement, leaves little time for the appreciation of the gifts of the dark. In fact, for the past few thousand years, darkness has been actively maligned by the dominant religions, and anything equated with is has been demonised and discredited. Quite possibly this is because darkness aligns with the world of matter - the feminine polarity of receptivity, stillness, physical being. Enter below the surface of the Earth and you find darkness. Soil is dark, cave is dark - the seed germinates in a place of darkness. We are buried in the dark Earth, and we also begin our lives in the protective darkness of the womb. But what in previous cultures (and many modern indigenous cultures and modern Pagan subcultures) was regarded as a great and sacred mystery is now, in general, regarded with fear. The Underworld as a place of rest and rejuvenation between life cycles, twisted into a dark parody of itself, became Hell and damnation. Light, on the other hand - and its association with ‘the above, continues to be disproportionately celebrated. Light is associated with ‘good’ and darkness with ‘bad’. Anti- heroes join ‘The Dark Side’. Born again Christians ‘find the light’.

Our dominant culture also has an imbalanced leaning toward all that is happy and upbeat. Natural cycles of sadness and grief are frowned upon, and people are encouraged to ‘get on with it’ , ‘get over it’ , to ‘turn that frown upside down’. But we only need to look to Nature to remember that darkness has its worthy and necessary place. Without night there is no day, without death, no new life, without below, no above. We can accept more fully the necessity for times of sadness, loss, grief or depression if we are able to understand that this is part of the great wheel, and to trust that a period of Winter is always followed by Spring. Nature provides the antidote to a culture that expects us always to be happy and active. Imagine how unnatural and strange a perpetual Summer, an endless high tide, or an unchanging Full Moon would feel! In celebrating and honouring Nature's Life /Death/ Life cycles, we learn to honour and respect our own.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH THE ENERGIES OF DARKNESS

The most obvious way to balance our eagerness to embrace the light is to actually spend some time in physical darkness. In our current times electric lights are everywhere - polluting the night skies with city lights, and filling the corners of our homes. Even if we turn off our overhead lights or lamps, more often than not there will still be a light source from shining buttons on dormant electrical equipment such as phones, computers, stereos, televisions and digital clocks. When was that last time that you really experienced full darkness - the kind where you can’t see your hand in front of you? Well, this week, see if

8 you can create that possibility for yourself. Rather than automatically reaching for a light switch when you walk into a darkened room, explore what it feels like to navigate the space without bright light. What other senses are awakened?

And as for the symbolic darkness, take time for solitude, for rest, for reflection. Allow some time for emptiness, for nothingness , for your creative field to lie fallow every now and then. Allow time , too, for tears, sadness, frustrations, disappointments, and even fears. Try to sit with these feelings, fully experiencing them and acknowledging them instead of immediately trying to escape them. Of course, it’s important to resurface as well - the Underworld is a place to visit but not to stay - but we can’t resurface fully to the light of new beginnings if we haven’t fully experienced the gifts of the darkness.

THE UNDERWORLD GODS

The themes of death and rebirth - of the dying and resurrecting God - appear in many from many different cultures. The stories of Jesus, Dionysus, Attis, Adonis, Tammuz, Osiris, Horus, and the ‘Maize God’ of the Meso-Americans embody this energy. Death and resurrection is also a central theme in the Greek myth of Persephone and the Sumerian myth of Inanna’s descent. All these stories suggest an ongoing cycle of Life-Death-Life, that echoes the cycle of the Moon, and also of the Sun and the seasons. Many, if not most deities experience time in the Underworld, or at least go through an “Underworld like” experience of grief or loss - such a the grief of Persephone’s mother Demeter.

But there are also gods, goddesses and other mythological beings that are specifically associated with the Underworld. They may either be residents of the Underworld (such as Hades, Persephone, and the Sumerian goddess Ereshkigal), guides to the Underworld (such as Hermes, Mercury and Anubis), or they may embody the energy of the Underworld even when they are on the surface - (such as , Kali, Medusa, , or the Wicked of tales, such as The ).The Underworld deities may also be very helpful and benevolent, offering wisdom and guidance to those who seek the way to the Underworld, or wish to navigate a safe return to surface through the gifts of transformation and rebirth.

9 THE CRONE AND THE SAGE

Painting by Russian Artist Nikolay Alexeyevich Kasatkin

As we explored in last month’s Full Moon Magic booklet, each of the lunar phases is connected with a particular aspect of The Triple Goddess, with the Dark Moon phase aligned with The Crone. But as Scorpio aligns so strongly with the transformative powers of the Underworld, this particular Full Moon can also help us to connect with the energies of the Crone. Regardless of whether you are in the Samhain or Beltaine lands, the Scorpio Full Moon is shining opposite the Taurus Sun, reminding us that ‘In Life is Death, in Death is Life. It is important to remember that this energy of the sacred darkness of the mythic Underworld can be embodied in either feminine from as the Crone, or masculine form as the Sage. The ‘Old Wise One’ is here to help us, to guide us, and also to challenge us. He or she carries the wisdom of experience and the gift of inner strength. The Sage and Crone offer healing, understanding, compassion and nurturing. Their age brings them closer to the threshold of the mystery of Death, and they share their deep wisdom by helping us to move through our own cyclic deaths and transitions. The Wise Old One appears in story as Hecate helping Demeter, as Gandalf challenging and supporting Bilbo and Frodo, as Yoda guiding Luke Starwalker, as Professor McGonagall helping Harry, as the in the Cinderella story and as Mother Hulda in the Grimm’s FairyTale. The Crone/Sage challenges us to use our intuition and instinct to navigate the dark.

THE CRONE / SAGE WITHIN

Just as the energy of deep transformative wisdom transcends gender boundaries, in some ways it also transcends the boundaries of age. Each of us has access to the God and Goddess within, including the Sage and Crone. Although this energy is more likely to surface when we are physically older, it is not limited by that restriction. Just as each of us have an Inner Child, I believe that each of us has an Inner Crone - a deep intuitive wisdom that can be accessed in times of need to help support and guide ourselves and others. I have met children who embody the strange mystery of the crone, just as I have met old people who don’t seem at all wise or sage like! The Crone often emerges at those times in our life when we honour the call to draw inward and do our deep work.

Many people mistakingly believe that one becomes Crone or Sage by crossing a physical threshold of age. For example, women in the Pagan Community who have completed their menopause are often automatically given the title of Crone. But I believe that to be Sage or Crown is an earned title. It is an acknowledgment of spiritual and personal development. This is something for us to work towards, so that when we do cross those particular

10 physical thresholds, we will feel both comfortable and proud to be known as Crown or Sage. Also, it should be noted that all genders can access both the Crone and the Sage. The Wise Old Man has come to me on a number of occasions in ritual and meditation. Not as often as the Crone, I admit, but definitely enough to to remind me that this is an aspect of Deity that I can access both within and without.

THE THRESHOLD OF DEATH AND LIFE

There is a thin line between life and death. Just a breath between the two. The process of birth is dangerous for both mother and baby, and in days of yore the anticipated joy of new life could often instead herald the grief of death. The lines are blurred. At the moment of the Dark Moon we stand directly on the threshold between the two worlds of Life and Death. And equally, at the moment of the Full Moon, we stand at the threshold between increase and decrease, waxing and waning, Life and Death. The Crone offers us the sacred tomb to bury those part of self that are no longer needed, while the Maiden calls us forward, urging the new life to emerge from the womb of creation.

THE UNDERWORLD MAIDEN

In many mythological stories,the beautiful yet innocent young maiden is called, or forced, into the Underworld as a form of initiation, to discover her own true power. In Greek mythology the Goddess Persephone (who’s story we will explore in the next chapter) is the most important embodiment of this Underworld Maiden.

The Greek Goddess Artemis is another example of a deity who stands on the threshold. She is a hunter, and therefore closely attuned to the energies of Death, and yet she is also the preserver of life, the protector of animals, and midwife to the newborn. In she is most often aligned with the crescent of the waxing New Moon, but it cannot be denied that she also reaches across the threshold to hold the hand of the Crone. Artemis will guide our journey next month, during the Full Moon. Similarly, the Horned God represents the energies of both Life and Death. He is the hunter, but also the

11 hunted. He is the virile stag, but also the one who is sacrificed to the energies of Life.

THE CRONE DISGUISED

The Crone and the Sage have a slightly trickster energy channeling through her. There are lots of tales of the Wise Old One hiding another form. She turns up in Fairy Tales as the old hag who knocks at the door asking for aid, only to transform into the Beautiful Princess, or the Powerful Queen, or the Helpful Faery, to those who are wise enough and compassionate enough to see beyond her ugly form and recognise the soul of the person within. She arrives as a test: those who pass the test receive her boon, and those that do not are often punished. She asks us to see below the surface of things, to not be trapped by the shallow values of the outer world. She demands that we access the wisdom of our own heart. Her presence signals a time of initiation - whether that means navigating the dark forest at night to retrieve the sacred fire from Baba Yaga, as Vasallisa did in her tale, or whether it is Sir Gawain in the Arthurian legends, willing to marry the hideous hag in order to save his King. The Crone reminds us of the transience of our physical bodies, and impels us to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Soul. The Crone and the Sage are shapeshifters, not quite definable, walking the fine line between worlds.

CERIDWEN

One of the most interesting deities is the Welsh Goddess Ceridwen. She is a goddess of transformation, rebirth and wisdom. At times she appears as an ugly hag, at others a beautiful girl. She is timeless, ageless. Here is one of my favourite of her legends:

Ceridwen is brewing a cauldron of knowledge for her son, hoping to offset the burden of his ugly appearance by blessing him with knowledge . The brew must be boiled and stirred for a year and a day, so she puts her young helper Gwion in charge of stirring it, with strict instructions that he must not taste it, on pain of death. In the process of stirring, three drops land on his finger and he automatically soothes the burn by placing his finger in his mouth, thus attaining the wisdom mean for her son. He realises his mistake and knows that Ceridwen will be angry, so he disguises himself as various animals. Ceridwen responds by shapeshifting into each animal’s natural predator. He becomes a hare, she becomes a greyhound. He becomes a fish, she and otter. Eventually Gwion disguises himself as a ear of grain. Ceridwen transforms into a hen and eats it. Nine months later she gives birth to Talieson, who grows up to become the wise and magical sage of Welsh mythology, and is in turn equated with Merlin in the Arthurian legends.

Ceridwen embodies the energy of both womb and tomb. Her cauldron of knowledge and inspiration has the potential to both create and destroy. As we saw with Gwion, it is the beginning and the end of life. Her brew of knowledge- which takes a full solar cycle to complete - is a reminder to us that we must be patient in our own transformational journeys.

12 HECATE

The ancient Greek Goddess Hecate (or Hekate) is one of my most beloved personal gods. I feel a strong affinity with her multifaceted and complex energies, and the fact that she can never quite be bound within a simple framework or category. She is elusive - so much so that there is still debate about her origins. She certainly predates the classical gods of Olympus such as Zeus, Aphrodite etc. In mythology She appears as a guide between realms, as an initiatrix, a guardian of the Crossroads. And what are crossroads but a point of choice, where the past and future meet. At any crossroad in our lives we must make a choice based upon where we have come from, and where we wish to head. Our choice of path initiates the death of the old way - the past - and the birth of the new - the future. Hecate is often depicted with three faces, aligning with the three major phases of the Moon - Maiden, Mother and Crone. But these three faces also carry the energy of the crossroad - the path from which we have come, and the multiple choices ahead of us.

Hecate rules the energies of entrances, exits, places of transition. She is Life and Death. The lines between Hecate and Artemis are often blurred - with Hecate sometimes even

13 depicted wearing the short hunting tunic that is traditionally associated with Artemis. This of course makes sense when we align her energies with the Dark Moon / New Moon transition. She was known to the ancients as the goddess of Magic and and ruled the realms of night and shadow. Traditionally she is accompanied by a black dog or dogs. She’s an amazing goddess who is well worth journeying with. I connect with her most strongly in her Crone aspect. I find that she challenges me to step up, to be what I am meant to be. She is uncompromising, and yet loving and nurturing. I call on her when I need guidance, and she is often my companion during divination. She helps me to maintain my integrity, and to strip back those patterns in life that are no longer serving me.

OTHER GODS THAT ALIGN WITH THE UNDERWORLD

In mythologies all around the world you will encounter the presence of Dark Moon, Underworld and Death deities . Here are a few suggestions if you would like to continue exploring this fascinating theme. This list is by no means exhaustive.

EGYPTIAN: Anubis, Osiris INDIAN: Kali GREEK: Hades NORSE: Hel BABYLONIAN: Ereshkigal CELTIC: Manannán mac Lir AZTEC: Mictlantecuhtli

14 PERSEPHONE

The story of the Greek Goddess Persephone is profound, and has had a powerful impact on Western culture. In Greek mythology, Persephone is the daughter of Demeter - the fertile goddess of the grain, and Zeus, the leader of the gods on Mount Olympus. The story of her abduction into the Underworld by her uncle Hades, and the subsequent grief of her mother Demeter is not only a metaphor for the yearly cycles of Nature, but also a living tool to help guide us through the cycles of descent and resurrection in our own lives.

I was very fortunate to have discovered Witchcraft in my mid 20’s, at that crucial point in my life when I could have definitely been lost in an endless Underworld of depression. Learning the myth of Persephone’s descent was powerfully healing for me, as was the Sumerian story of Inanna . Both these myths teach us that journeying to the Underworld is an important initiation, not something to be dragged out of too soon, or numbed from.

THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE

The beautiful young Goddess Persephone is playing in a field, dancing and picking flowers, as she has every day in this perpetual springtime. Beloved daughter of the Earth Goddess Demeter, she is known as Kore, which simply means maiden. But this day is different. She is drawn to a flower more beautiful than all the rest. As she bends to pluck it, the Earth trembles and splits in two, and from the gaping crevasse emerges a chariot led by fire breathing horses, and the terrifying God of the Underworld, Hades appears. Seen only by the Sun, he whisks her away and the Earth closes over them.

When Demeter realises that her daughter is lost, she is grief stricken. She searches high and low, but her daughter can be found nowhere on Earth. Consumed by her pain she can no longer fulfill her duties as Goddess of Fertility, and the plants wither and die around her. What was once golden and lush is replaced by famine and emptiness. Long she wanders forlorn, and in her grief is hollow and old. In this state she met by the ancient lunar Goddess Hecate. Old and wise, she tells Demeter what she knows; that she heard Persephone’s cries, but saw nothing. “Let us go to Helios, the Sun” she says, “for he sees all”.

When Helios tells Demeter what has happened, that her brothers Zeus and Hades had conspired to ensnare her daughter, her grief is replaced by rage. She demands of Zeus to negotiate the release of her daughter from Hades. With his people starving on the withered Earth, he is forced to comply. He decrees that if Persephone has eaten no food in the Underworld, she must be released.

15 But meanwhile in the Underworld, a change has taken place. The timid Kore has become a Queen, ruling over the land of the dead and guiding their souls on their journey. Hades, in love with his bride, is distraught at the thought of losing her, yet they both must obey what Zeus has decreed. But as Persephone prepares to return to the surface, Hades offers her a lush red pomegranate, and she eats six seeds. On discovering that she has consumed of the food of the Underworld, Zeus negotiates that she shall spend one month underground for each seed she has eaten: six for the darkness and six for the light.

And so the Earth withers in grief as she descends each year, and rejoices in the green of springtime when she returns.

WHAT THIS MYTH TEACHES US

This powerful story of Persephone’s descent and re-emergence was the focal point of ancient Greece’s most important annual ritual, The Eleusinian Mysteries. Although many aspects of the ritual still remain a mystery, it’s widely thought that initiates were led through some kind of ‘death’ experience that was utterly life changing, followed by a subsequent re- emergence and rebirth. The Initiates were forbidden to talk about the secret aspects of the rite and even to this day scholars are unsure of what they actually went through.

For us in modern times, the myth of Persephone and Demeter offers a beautiful guide through the mysteries of Life, Death and the Underworld. The cycles of Nature are honoured, and also our own human emotional and creative cycles. We are reminded that it is appropriate and necessary to descend into the Underworld, and go through periods of Winter, and that it is equally necessary to ascend once more to surface once the work of the Underworld is done.

The much older Sumerian story of Inanna’s descent into the Underworld, from around 6000BC, has many parallels with the Persephone myth, but one of its main differences is that Inanna descends to the Underworld willingly. Innana, the beautiful Queen of Heaven (recognised in Sumer as the planet that we now call Venus) is motivated to descend when she hears the Queen of the Underworld, her sister, Ereshkigal, calling for her to make the journey. Inanna then prepares herself as best she can - alerting her friend to her intentions and requesting the friend to seek help if she remains in the Underworld too long. Persephone, on the other hand, is unprepared and naive. The fact that she finds her place of power in the Underworld is a sign that her descent is a necessary initiation, that would have been impossible under the doting presence of her mother Demeter. Of course her abduction by Hades reflects the patriarchal nature of Greek myth compared to Sumerian, but nevertheless it is a reminder to us that unless we honour the call of the Underworld and create time and ritual for it, then it will come leaping, unexpectedly and terrifyingly to grab us from below.

Sometimes Hades’ chariot can come in forms that we have no power over, such as the death of a loved one. At other times it can be shadow material and pain from our childhood that unexpectedly leaps up. What the Persephone myth does is remind us that Spring will always follow Winter, and that even through the horror and fear of pain and loss, we must hold hope and trust in the return of the light. It is a beautiful reminder that the path of true transformation can often be painful, but that it is a worthwhile journey.

16 MY PILGRIMAGE TO ELEUSIS

In October of 2015 I made an important personal pilgrimage to the ancient site of Eleusis, which is preserved within the sprawling suburbs about 20km from Athens. As far as the modern tourist route goes, this extraordinary archaeological site - one of the most important ritual centres of the ancient world - is surprisingly overlooked. Maybe this is because one has to negotiate busy traffic, confusing signs, and beeping car horns in order to find the entrance to the site. It’s almost as though the journey there through the unremarkable sprawl of outer Athens is a test of your genuine devotion! But once within the site, even with the world encroaching on its fringes, the power and Magic of this ancient centre is profound.

One of the many things that I love about visiting Greece is that fact that you can enter a living mythological landscape. Finding myself at Eleusis, I discovered that this was not only the place where the annual ritual in honour of Persephone and Demeter took place, this was the ACTUAL location of the occurrence of the myth. Museum signs casually state that ‘here is where Demeter rested while searching for Persephone’ and ‘here is where Persephone entered Hades”.

After years of honouring this myth through ritual and song, can you imagine my joy when I discovered the actual entrance to the mythic Underworld? (see photo below). I love the offerings of pomegranates that other pilgrims had left.

17 And speaking of pomegranates, it became very apparent to me that the inclusion of these fruits in the myth was no accident. Their symbolic resonance with the powers of both Life and Death is clear - the abundance of life giving seeds, and the blood like juice that flow profusely when eating them - but what became clear during this visit is that in Autumn in Greece, they are abundant. Orchards are laden with the hanging fruit, and every fruit stall is piled high with them. Being originally a Middle Eastern fruit , the inclusion of the pomegranate in Persephone’s story hints at much older links to the ancient Sumerian story of Inanna.

Likewise, I also discovered that a lovely wild crocus was plentiful at this time, blooming in the hills and wild places of the Southern Greek mainland. Was this the ‘narcissus’ flower that Kore picked - the catalyst for her Underworld journey? It all made so much more sense to me now, that the flower was blooming in Autumn, and not Spring. Here were the flower and seed , Life and Death, coexisting in the one sacred moment.

MY MUSICAL PROJECT: AN ‘OPERA’ FOR PERSEPHONE

I’ve been working on a musical project for more than ten years - which is now in its final stages of completion - that is entirely dedicated to the myth of Persephone and Demeter. It’s been a work of Love, focus, tenacity and (I have to admit) obsession. What began as a collaborative project with Elissa Goodrich, a dear friend and fine musician in Melbourne, soon transformed into a personal odyssey that has taken me through many cycles of Death

18 and Rebirth, into the Underworld and back. It was my love of this myth that first guided me to Greece and which has compelled me to spend the last five years studying the Greek language so that I can sing some of chants and songs in Greek. During my annual pilgrimages I’ve been absorbing the language, the culture, the landscape and the ancient sites of the land where this myth evolved. Every trip to Greece has deepened my understanding of this Myth. And it’s clear to me now why I needed to wait so long to complete this project. Not only did I need to experience the land first hand, I also needed to grow into my understanding and appreciation of Demeter. Having always aligned myself with the Maiden of the Underworld, it really wasn’t until my own child reached adulthood that I could fully appreciate the necessary ‘letting go’ that is so crucial to Demeter’s story.

So that album, which I plan to release on the Northern Hemisphere’s Samhain this year (October 31st, my birthday!), works like this: I sing the roles of Persephone, Demeter and Hecate, with a group of five other fabulous singers acting as the ‘Greek Chorus’. I explore the parallels between Persephone and Demeter, and am especially interested in the polarising and yet balanced process of their journeys throughout the myth - Persephone discovers Life in the Underworld, while Demeter endures a form of Death /Grief on the surface. Each realm reflects an aspect of its opposite. (In LIfe is Death, in Death is Life). I’ve streamlined Hecate’s role to act as the catalyst, the crone, the wise one who knows that this cycle is necessary. She’s the Witch stirring the cauldron, the Crone turning the wheel. And Hades will be subtly represented by the dark and beautiful soundscapes that my husband Tim (a co - producer and engineer of the album) is producing. I’ve spent the last couple of years flying back and forth between our home studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and my regular Melbourne studio, layering and working up this epic project. It will be a double album, with 24 tracks. And I cannot wait to share it with you!

19 THE PHASES OF THE MOON

Last month we explored the correlation between the different aspects of the Goddess and the phases of the Moon. Let’s now take a closer look at those phases, and explore the technical reasons behind the Moon’s monthly cycle of waxing and waning. I am aware, of course, that many of you already have a good understanding of the Lunar Cycle, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to revise and refresh our knowledge. Maybe you’ll discover a hidden insight, a fresh awakening, or a renewed level of appreciation for our beautiful Moon and her graceful dance through the phases?

Over the course of every 29.5 days, the Moon moves through one complete cycle of her phases. If we start our calculations at the exact moment of the Full Moon, we will witness the Moon decreasing (waning) in size until she disappears, then emerging again and growing (waxing) back to her fullness. The time between each exact Full Moon is 29.5 days. We could, of course, begin our calculation at any of the lunar phases. It’s all the same - the period between one Dark Moon and the next is 29.5 days. The period between each 1st Quarter Moon is 29.5 days etc. So let’s have a good look now at the how and why of the lunar phases

THE ASTRONOMY OF LUNAR PHASES

As you are reading this section, you might like to refer to the Lunar Phases charts that I have included a couple of pages ahead. There is both a Northern and a Southern Hemisphere version. (Although the Moon unifies us all across the globe, and we are always sharing the same phase, how that phase appears to each hemisphere is reversed).

As the Moon orbits the Earth each month, the relationship between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes. From our position on Earth, we see this as the changing phases of the Moon. Just like the Earth, half of the sphere of the Moon is always lit by the Sun. As we will explore in the following chapter, we can only ever see one side of the Moon. But just because here on Earth we can’t see the ‘dark side of the Moon’ doesn’t mean that it doesn’t receive sunlight. As the Moon orbits the Earth, we get to see more, or less of the illuminated half. On a Dark Moon, it is the face that is turned away from us that is receiving the Sun’s light, and therefore the Moon is invisible to us. On the Full Moon, the opposite occurs, and the Moon’s visible face receives the full glow of the Sun’s light. Each month, the Moon spends approximately two weeks waxing, (getting bigger), and two weeks waning (getting smaller)

20 THE PHASES

THE NEW MOON (Waxing Crescent) Appearing as a thin crescent on the Western Horizon close to sunset, a day or two after the exact moment of the Dark Moon.

THE FIRST QUARTER (waxing) One week after the Dark Moon. A half circle lit on her Western side, rises around midday.

THE GIBBOUS MOON Between the 1st Quarter and the Full. She is a strange bulging shape, rising in the late afternoon.

THE FULL MOON As round as she can get! Rising in the East at sunset

THE DISSEMINATING MOON Once again a bulging shape, but this time growing smaller each day. Rising a couple of hours after Sunset

THE THIRD QUARTER (waning) A half circle, lit on her Eastern Side. Rising around midnight

THE OLD MOON (Waning Crescent) The last crescent before she disappears. Rising a couple of hours before the Sun.

DARK MOON The approximately 3 day period when the Moon disappears from our view.

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE LUNAR PHASES I’m going to take you on a little imaginary journey now through the phases. I ask you to imagine being outside and watching the Moon, and I would really like you to bring all your powers of visualisation and make-believe to this exercise so that you really get a feel for this lunar flow. Make sure that your imaginary Moon gazing landscape has a big clear horizon.

A HELPFUL VIDEO I also created a video a few years ago for my Living a Life of Magic course that explains the lunar phases using three objects to represent Sun, Moon and Earth. Here’s a link: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMoxKmAUSE&t=11s

Ok, so let’s start our lunar journey at the exact moment of the Dark Moon. ……

21 DARK MOON

Spend a moment imagining that it is sunset on the night of the Dark Moon, and you are standing on Earth, facing west. (For the sake of practicality, in this description, let’s assume that the Sun is setting at exactly 6pm and rising at 6am.) The Sun is shining on the Moon, and lighting up half her sphere, but on Earth we can’t see this because the side that is receiving the sunlight is turned away from us. This is the position of the Dark Moon. On the Dark Moon, the Sun and Moon are hanging out together. They rise together, and they set together. From our point of view, they are in the same part of the sky, and therefore in the the same . In fact, the exact moment of the Dark Moon is when the Sun and Moon share the exact same astrological degree.

KEY FACTS: The Dark Moon occurs when the Moon is exactly between the Sun and the Earth. The Moon is not visible to us here on Earth. The exact moment of the Dark Moon marks the transition between the waning phase and the waxing phase. At the moment of the Dark, she begins to wax.

NEW MOON (Waxing Crescent)

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE NEW MOON SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE NEW MOON

Ok, now let’s imagine that it’s a day or two later, and we step out once again to watch the sunset. The Moon has moved away from the Sun, and we’re now able to see the first slim crescent in the twilight sky. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon has moved about a hand-span away from the Sun, in an anticlockwise direction. And if you’re in the

22 South, she has moved in a clockwise direction.

KEY FACTS: From our perspective, the crescent is very close to the Sun, so will set only an hour or so after sunset. In the Northern hemisphere, the Moon fills out from right to left. In Southern hemisphere she fills out left to right. The Moon is referred to as a ‘crescent Moon’ at any point when she is less than half illuminated. Eg, between New Moon and 1st Quarter, and between 3rd Quarter and Dark Moon.

FIRST QUARTER (Waxing Half Moon)

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 1st QUARTER SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 1st QUARTER

Now imagine that it’s exactly a week after the Dark Moon. You head out once more to watch the sunset and you notice that the Moon is exactly at right angles to the Sun, high up in the twilight sky - to the North if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, and to the South if you are in the Northern. You’ll notice that exactly half of the Moon is lit, and it is the side that is closest to the Sun. Although, as always, half of the Moon is lit by sunlight, we can only see half of this lit side from Earth. The Sun and Moon stay in this same right angle relationship to each other throughout the night, so that as the Sun sets, the Moon is also making Her way westward, but she takes half the night to reach the western horizon. In our imaginary 6pm sunset model, the Moon won’t set until midnight. So on a First Quarter Moon, we have half the Moon, for half the night!

KEY FACTS: 1st Quarter is lit on the Western Side , regardless of hemisphere. If you are looking directly at the Moon, this will be on your left hand side in the Southern Hemisphere, and right hand side in the Northern.

She rises when the Sun is at his ‘noon’ position, high in the sky. You may see her as a pale, wispy half moon until the sky darkens.

For those into astrology, the 1st Quarter Moon will always be 1/4 of a circle ( 90 degrees) ahead of the Sun. This equates to 3 zodiac signs. So it’s easy to work out the sign that a 1st quarter Moon is in if you know what sign the Sun is in. If the Sun, for example is in the sign of , the 1st Quarter Moon will be in the sign of Cancer. 3 signs ahead.

23 GIBBOUS MOON

. GIBBOUS NORTHERN HEMISPHERE GIBBOUS SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Let’s take ourselves outside to our imaginary Moon gazing landscape about 10 days or so after the Dark Moon. If we turn to the East - away from the setting sun - we will see a pale Moon, not quite full, a little above the Eastern Horizon. Because the Sun will have only just set and the sky will still be a little light, the Moon will appear paler than she will be later in the night, against a lovely dark backdrop. But for now, she will look something like this (Northern Hemisphere version).

This phase, between the 1st Quarter and the Full Moon, is called the ‘Gibbous Moon’. It’s a strange word, and actually comes from the Latin word for ‘hunchbacked’ or ‘humped’. She is becoming brighter and brighter, and is setting later each evening between the 1st Quarter and the Full Moon.

KEY FACTS: The Waxing Gibbous Moon will be visible in the sky, toward the East, as the Sun is setting. She will be visible throughout most of the night, setting a couple of hours before dawn.

FULL MOON

A week after the First Quarter, (14 days after the Dark Moon) you once again feel like a stroll outside at sunset. It’s a beautiful sunset indeed, and you face West to watch the Sun’s

24 light-show .But you feel there is a powerful presence behind you, shining over your shoulder. You turn 180 degrees around and see the glorious Full Moon shining in all her beauty as the daylight fades. She rises on the Eastern Horizon, directly opposite the Sun. There is now a straight line between Sun and Moon, with Earth exactly between them. This is the position of the Full Moon. As the Sun and Moon are exactly half a circle away, this means that they are in opposite astrological signs. It also means that the side of the Moon which always faces the Earth is receiving the full blast of the Sun’s brilliance. And this 180 degree opposition also means that the Full Moon sets at sunrise. So we have the Full brilliance for the entire night. What a gift!

KEY FACTS: The Full Moon will rise very close to sunset only if the exact moment of the Full Moon in your part of the world is close to sunset. If the exact moment of the Full happens to be at, say, midday or midnight, then the Moon will rise a little before, or a little after sunset.

DISSEMINATING MOON (Waning Gibbous Moon)

RISING DISSEMINATING MOON - NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Let’s wait until a couple of days after the Full Moon to head outside for our Moon gazing. Out we go at sunset, and after witnessing the Sun’s beauty, we turn to the east and wait for the Moon to rise. And we wait. And we wait. And this is why: for reasons which I will outline below, the Moon rises approximately 50 minutes later each evening. If, as we know, the Full Moon rises at Sunset, then each day after the Full Moon she will rise an hour or so later. This phase of the Moon is known as the Disseminating Moon. You may also see this referred to as the ‘waning gibbous’ but I much prefer the term ‘disseminating’, which means to share, to spread, to disperse. In my view of things, the Moon is generously dispersing her light and her energy. I think this is one of the loveliest times to see the Moon. The sky is dark enough for her glorious light to fully shine, and she is still radiating the potent energy of the Full Moon from a day or two previous. Close to the horizon She looks enormous against the landscape of trees or hills or houses as she rises. Very Magical.

KEY FACTS: The Disseminating Moon rises after sunset Each day after the Full Moon she rises about an hour later The Moon will set an hour or two after sunrise.

THIRD QUARTER (Waning Half Moon)

25 SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 3rd QUARTER (SEEN IN DAYTIME)

One week after the Full Moon, you head out at sunset, and you wait, and wait, and wait, but still no Moon! In fact, the Moon won’t rise until about midnight, and when she eventually does, you’ll see that she is half lit. You’ll also notice that it is the opposite side of the Moon that is lit than when it was the Waxing Half Moon. So when the Sun is just setting, the Moon is quite invisible to us. When the Sun does eventually rise around 6am (in our simplified scheme of things) the Waning Half Moon is high up in the daytime sky, and will set in the West around about Midday. Once again we have half the Moon for half the night. But when the Moon is in her 3rd Quarter, it is for the second half of the night that we see her- between midnight and dawn. After dawn, she is still in the sky, but as the Sun gets brighter and brighter from dawn to midday, the Moon becomes increasingly difficult to see. She is pale and thin - like a veil.

KEY FACTS: During the The Half , and particularly the Waning Half, the Moon is visible in the daytime sky. Her light is still bright enough, and She’s far enough away from the Sun, to still be visible.

The 3rd Quarter Moon Rises when the Sun is in his midnight position (halfway between sunset and sunrise). At dawn, the Moon will be high in the sky. At noon, she will set. She is lit on her Eastern side. She is always 3 zodiac signs behind the sun. (compare this to the 1st Quarter)

THE OLD MOON - (Waning Crescent)

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE WANING CRESCENT BEFORE DAWN

About five days after the Waning Half Moon, you’re drawn outside at sunset once more. (This time you’re prepared, with a cosy blanket and maybe a thermos of tea or coffee. You’ve got a long night ahead!) Once you’ve enjoyed the sunset, you set yourself up, facing the Eastern Horizon, and you wait. And wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. The waning Moon brings its gentle energy of peace and calm, and the solitude and silence feels just right. Then, as the sky starts to get a little lighter with the promise of dawn, you see a thin crescent rise in the East. The beautiful sickle of the Waning Moon shows herself in the gentle pre-dawn light. Secretive and silent, she shines over the sleeping world. The Sun is not far behind her, and within an hour or two she is invisible in His bright light.

KEY FACTS: The Waning Crescent Moon is only visible in the early hours before dawn. She rises an hour or two before the Sun. By the time the Sun rises, although the Moon will be in the visible part of the sky, the Sun will be too bright to for us to be able to see her.

26 DARK MOON A day or two later, you once more step outside to enjoy the sunset. But you’re no fool! You know that the Moon has disappeared, and is in the embrace of the Sun for the next few days, so you go inside and make a nice dinner. You’ll need to wait another day or two before you see her lovely waxing crescent, reborn on the western Horizon once more.

MOST IMPORTANT FACTS TO REMEMBER: On the Dark Moon, the Moon is between Earth and Sun, creating a straight line between the 3 On the Full Moon, the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, again creating a straight line between the 3

SOME TERMS TO CLARIFY

THE QUARTER MOONS Why do we refer to the ‘First Quarter’, when clearly the Moon at this phase is not 1/4 of a circle, but rather a half circle? Well, the ‘quarter’ bit is actually referring to a point in time, rather than to a physical state. The First Quarter is exactly 1/4 of the way through the full Lunar Cycle. And the Third Quarter is exactly 3/4 of the way through the cycle.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DARK MOON AND NEW MOON There can sometimes be a little confusion around the use of the terms ‘Dark Moon’ and ‘New Moon’. Many people use them interchangeably to refer to the start of the lunar cycle, when the Moon is invisible to us. But for me the two terms have a very different energy. Some people consider that the New Moon is the moment when the Sun and Moon are exactly aligned at the same point in the Zodiac (known astrologically as a conjunction). At this stage of the Lunar Cycle the Moon is invisible. I prefer to refer to this stage as The Dark Moon. She is hidden and private, like a seed underground. I don’t really feel the energy of the New Moon until her crescent is visible in the sky a day or two after the Dark. So , just to be clear, I will use the term DARK MOON to refer to the entire 3 day period when the Moon cannot be seen, and the term NEW MOON to the period of time that begins a day or two after the Dark Moon - when the first crescent is in visible in the sky.

THE OLD MOON I’m not really sure if anyone else refers to the waning crescent as the Old Moon, but I like to. If there is a New Moon, why not an old? Let’s not be ageist here!

Let’s finish this journey through the lunar phases with a charming little poem by the Pre Raphaelite English poet Christina Rossetti.

Lady Moon, Your horns point towards the East Wax, be increased Lady Moon Your horns point towards the West Wane, be at rest

27 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody Mark Twain

Those of us who love to Moon gaze will undoubtedly have noticed the simple fact that we alway see the same side of the Moon facing us, regardless of the phase. It is little wonder that different cultures have created stories and characters to account for the patterns of shadows and shapes every Full Moon - whether it be a ‘Man in the Moon’ or a ‘Lunar Hare’. When I first began traveling to the Northern Hemisphere I found it disconcerting that the Moon appeared ‘upside down’, and would often hang my head down and gaze at the Moon from the ground up to see her familiar face.

But why would this be so? Why would the same side of the Moon always face Earth? Surely, like all celestial bodies, the Moon is rotating on her own axis? Well yes, of course she is, but an interesting phenomenon has occurred over the past few billions of years that has synchronised the Earth and the Moon. The gravitational pull of Earth has aligned the Moon’s rotation (the Moon spinning on her own axis) and orbit (the Moon’s journey around the Earth) so that they occur over the same period of time. The Moon rotates every 27-1/3 days, and takes approximately the same amount of time to orbit the Earth. It is this synchronisation that creates the phenomenon of only seeing one side of the Moon from here on Earth. From our position on Earth, the Moon appears to be staying perfectly still!

Let’s explore this further with a simple exercise. I’d like you to find a round object, like a ball or an apple or orange etc, and draw a mark on one side of it. Now, take the object in your outstretched hand, with the mark that you have drawn facing towards you, and stand in the centre of your room. Imagine that you are the Earth, the round object is the Moon, and the walls of your room are the celestial orb of stars and miracles. Now slowly turn around, making one complete rotation. You will see that the ‘ball’ has followed you all the way round , and has therefore orbited you (and remember, you are Earth in this game). And you’ll also notice that the mark that you made on the ball has, in turn, faced all the walls of your room. So it, too, must have been spinning on its axis, otherwise the mark would have always faced the same direction. But the mark has done a complete 360 degree rotation. It just appears to have remained still because we (as Earth) were also spinning at exactly the same rate. What we have just done is mimicked the journey of the Earth and Moon over a single lunar month.

28 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is always lit by sunlight. How much of the ‘lit’ half we can see depends on the relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth. The term ‘dark side of the Moon’ can be a little confusing. It actually has nothing to do with the amount of light that the Moon receives, but rather is to do with which side of the Moon faces Earth. Regardless of how much sunlight it is receiving, the side of the Moon that faces away from Earth is referred to the ‘dark side of the Moon’. (A much more appropriate term that is commonly used is ‘far side of the Moon’. I don’t like this as much, though, because there isn’t an awesome Pink Floyd album called ‘Far Side of the Moon’, but there is definitely one called ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.) As the Moon orbits the Earth, we get to see more, or less, of the illuminated half. On a Dark Moon, it is the face that is turned away from us that is receiving the Sun’s light, and therefore the Moon is invisible to us. On the Full Moon, the opposite occurs, and the Moon’s visible face receives the full glow of the Sun’s light. When it is Full Moon here on Earth, the dark side of the Moon is, indeed, dark. But the opposite happens at the Dark Moon. If the half of the Moon that faces Earth isn’t receiving any sunlight (and is therefore invisible to us), then inevitably the other half of the Moon (the ‘dark side’) is receiving the full blast of the Sun. We just can’t see it.

29

WAXING AND WANING

In order to align our energies with the phases of the Moon and harness her healing and magical gifts, the most important energetic flow that we need to be aware of is the difference between the WAXING cycle and the WANING cycle.

The period between the Dark Moon and the Full Moon is the waxing half of the cycle. Each day during the 2 week waxing part of the lunar cycle, the part of the Moon that is visible to us on Earth gets bigger and bigger. All life on planet Earth enters a period of growth and increase, so we attune ourselves with this energy and focus on the areas of our life where we wish for growth. As the Moon grows, so do we. This is the time for asking the Universe for more of anything, and allowing room for INCREASE and GROWTH.

The period between the Full Moon and the Dark Moon is the waning part of the cycle. During this two week period the Moon appears to decrease in size each day, and the energy on Earth begins to draw itself inward. We are encouraged to do the same. As the Moon wanes, we are given the opportunity to release and let go of unwanted baggage. This is a time of LETTING GO, and DECREASE. It is a time to prepare for the still, soft darkness of the Dark Moon. The Dark Moon offers us a time of rest as we prepare to begin the journey of growth once again with the waxing moon.

This is one of the most simple and powerful ways that we can increase Magic in our lives - just to be aware of whether the Moon is waxing, or whether she is waning. Is she getting bigger, or is she getting smaller? That simple! As we flow and connect with this pulse of increase and decrease, it is almost like an inhalation and exhalation - a single breath over the course of a month. THE ELEMENT OF WATER

Scorpio is one of the three zodiac signs that are ruled by the energies of Water. Our beautiful planet Earth is alive with the gift of Water. Oceans, rivers, lakes, springs, aquifers, rain, snow, glaciers and icebergs define and shape the very nature of our existence. Water’s shapeshifting qualities make it unique amongst the Elements. It can be solid, liquid, or gas. And in its liquid state, it shapeshifts to take on the form of the container which holds it. Water has a powerful effect upon the landscape, carving out canyons and shaping coastlines. Water in our body comes in the form of blood, tears, sweat, digestive juices, sexual juices, the water of the womb, and the milk of the mother, all integral to the flow of Life.

These natural qualities of Water give rise to a host of esoteric qualities. It is regarded as a Feminine Element, drawn down to Earth through the power of gravity. It represents the swirling world and tides of emotion, and the powerful force of Love. It connects us to our deepest joys and pains. And Water is also our deep subconscious, our Dream Sea. Both in its physical form and its esoteric, it offers the gifts of reflection and contemplation, which in turn give rise to the art of divination and other psychic gifts. Just like our emotional world, a body of Water holds many hidden secrets. Just when we think that we know it fully, it will change and shift. Its character will change in response to the play of air and light on its surface. Water cleanses us, both externally through baths and showers, and also internally through flushing out our kidney’s and removing physical wastes, and through the flow and emotional release of tears.

We can draw on the power of Water in our whenever we need to connect with our emotions, and whenever we are feeling stuck and need to ‘go with the flow’. Water also helps us to invoke the energies of Love. In order to love fully, we must allow our boundaries to dissolve enough, so that we can feel the heart of the other Being. If we are not willing to dissolve and merge, then we can neither give nor receive Love. And this applies to Love in all its myriad forms: between lovers, friends, parents and children, siblings, animals, and all of Nature.

Of course the danger is that we can dissolve too fully, and lose our sense of Self. Just like the symbol of the chalice, we must develop a strong container to hold our watery emotions. Too much Water and we are like a river breaking its banks. Not enough Water and we can be hard hearted, or feel ‘dried up’. TABLE OF CORRESPONDENCES: WATER

TIME OF DAY: Dusk, Sunset

TIME OF YEAR: Autumn (Fall)

COMPASS DIRECTION: West

RITUAL TOOL: Chalice, Cauldron

NATURAL SYMBOLS: Shells, natural water (rain, seawater etc)

LANDSCAPE: Ocean, Rivers, Lakes, Springs, Ponds etc

TAROT SUIT: Cups

SENSE: Taste

ZODIAC SIGNS: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

COLOURS: Blue

HERBS: Rose, Aquatic plants, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang

ANIMALS: Fish, Cat, Frog, Whale, Dolphin

MAGICAL CREATURE: Undine, , Selkie, Naiad

MYTHOLOGY: Aphrodite, Poseidon, Cerridwen, Neptune, Kwan Yin, Mary,

RITUALS: Love, Purification, Psychic awareness, Dreams, Divination

QUALITIES: Reflective, Shapeshifting, Merging, Dissolving, Love, Grief Depth, Compassion, Understanding, Peace SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SCORPIO FULL MOON ALTAR

With our focus this Full Moon being the energies of the healing Darkness and the balance of Life and Death / Beltaine and Samhain, I’d suggest objects to symbolise the energies of Death and the Underworld (for example, a bone, an image of a skeleton, a dried Autumn leaf, maybe a dead insect, a mushroom etc) as well as objects to symbolise the energies of Life (a flower, a little plant, a sprig of Springtime greenery etc). When Tim and I were married on the Southern Hemisphere Beltaine Full Moon on 11/11/11, we created a gorgeous altar that included loads of luscious fresh flowers. But we also honoured the opposite energies of Samhain. Tim created two amazing ‘Day of the Dead’ figures for the top of our wedding cake!

You may like to include your ritual objects in their appropriate compass directions for your hemisphere, and a central candle to represent . You could use a white candle, a black candle, or maybe even a very deep blue to honour the Water aspect of Scorpio. I tend to be using pure beeswax candles for all of my rituals of late. Just love the fact that they are completely natural, smell gorgeous, and are made by bees :)

Feel free to include any other objects that you connect with Scorpio - ie, images of scorpions, a picture or statue of Hecate, Kali, Persephone, Hades or any other ‘Underworld’ Deity. Also, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, see if you can find a pomegranate at the grocery store or from a local tree. They should be getting ripe by now. …

DIVINATION OBJECTS I have found that the Scorpio energy can be a powerful aid in the process of Divination. I plan to do a Tarot reading on this Full Moon ( maybe I’ll draw a card during the Full Moon Magic concert?). You may like to include an oracle deck, tarot deck, I Ching set - or any other tool that you use for divination - on your altar. Even if you don’t use them at this time, they will be charged up with the Scorpio energy. SUGGESTIONS FOR BELTAINE AND SAMHAIN

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SUGGESTIONS

This is a powerful and exciting time of year for Magic and ritual. If you are in the Northern hemisphere, the earthy Taurus Sun is combining with the sexy Scorpio Full Moon to create a joyous and celebratory Beltaine. This is traditionally a time of year for love making - especially outdoors. Pack your picnic basket and get to it! Beltaine is also strongly connected with Faerie energy, so making a Faerie shrine in your yard could be a nice thing to do. And of course, if you have the opportunity, dance the Maypole.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SUGGESTIONS

Samhain is the traditional time to honour and connect with our ancestors. A silent supper, with a seat set for the ancestors, is a beautiful way to honour Samhain. Spend some time reflecting upon your connection to departed loved ones. Allow grief to surface if it comes. Be gentle with yourself. As I mentioned earlier, I also like to do some very focused divination and deep self-exploratory work at Samhain. For me, this is a quiet and focused time - very different to what’s happening in the Northern Hemisphere, and yet very connected.