I've decided to take a more determined approach with magick. Its something I have had a flirting relationship with up until recently. Life is conspiring me to break out of old patterns and magick is somethng that captures my imagination. I have two thoughts about it.
1. If it is real. Then its a worldly knowledge to be learned like any other and hopefully mastered.
2. If it isnt real then there is nothing to be lost in engaging in focused ritual and meditative studies.
So this month I've done a few workings. The most important one to Integrate the idea of the crone into my psyche. The crone gets a bad rap by all accounts. She's the wicked witch of fairytales, the hag, the woman past her sexual prime with grey hairs of wisdom. Modern society sure loves to induce fear of the crone. I read a lot of magickal blogs and there are an abundance of women claiming to be too young to be a crone. Vanity it seems does not escape the magickal realms.
But the three feminine archetypes, maiden, mother and crone. Are to my mind less about chronological age and more about facets of the female psyche.
Maiden - is the blooming of potential. Unfettered creative energy, symbolised by burgeoning sexuality and youthful beauty. It the feminine expression of active energy. I call the maiden the initiate. She is pure potential, the beginning of the journey and hopeful idealism.
Mother - the feminine receptive. Here the idea has not just been conceptualised but is being gestated. The creative energy is taking form and being given life. Maturity of purpose, care-taking our projects and idea's and nuturing of spirit are all symbolised by the mother. She is the acolyte, more adept than her younger sister but still not yet complete in her knowledge. The mother is symbolised by fertility, worldliness and skill.
Crone - the integrative. Here, where caretaking has been finished and nurturing no longer required we have the integration of all that has been learnt by the process. She stands strong in what she knows and has accomplished. She is the priestess, the one who teaches those still growing and directs those who look to her for leadership.
When I put it into this context I see value in all three archetypes but dont need to cling to the obvious attraction of the maiden. There is beauty and power in all three. These are facets of women at any stage in their life, not chronological markers of the ageing body.
I am working on a ritual for the new moon, the time of the crone. The dark of the moon is the perfect time to set aside creativity and caretaking and simply reflect with detachment on what has been gained thus far.
Today as I sat on a public bench I noticed a small object. It
was a polished piece of obsidian, left there by who knows? Since no-one came back for it I picked it up and took it with me. The Aztecs called obsidian the smokey mirror and believed in its divination properties. What a perfect item to use in my next working.
1. If it is real. Then its a worldly knowledge to be learned like any other and hopefully mastered.
2. If it isnt real then there is nothing to be lost in engaging in focused ritual and meditative studies.
So this month I've done a few workings. The most important one to Integrate the idea of the crone into my psyche. The crone gets a bad rap by all accounts. She's the wicked witch of fairytales, the hag, the woman past her sexual prime with grey hairs of wisdom. Modern society sure loves to induce fear of the crone. I read a lot of magickal blogs and there are an abundance of women claiming to be too young to be a crone. Vanity it seems does not escape the magickal realms.
But the three feminine archetypes, maiden, mother and crone. Are to my mind less about chronological age and more about facets of the female psyche.
Maiden - is the blooming of potential. Unfettered creative energy, symbolised by burgeoning sexuality and youthful beauty. It the feminine expression of active energy. I call the maiden the initiate. She is pure potential, the beginning of the journey and hopeful idealism.
Mother - the feminine receptive. Here the idea has not just been conceptualised but is being gestated. The creative energy is taking form and being given life. Maturity of purpose, care-taking our projects and idea's and nuturing of spirit are all symbolised by the mother. She is the acolyte, more adept than her younger sister but still not yet complete in her knowledge. The mother is symbolised by fertility, worldliness and skill.
Crone - the integrative. Here, where caretaking has been finished and nurturing no longer required we have the integration of all that has been learnt by the process. She stands strong in what she knows and has accomplished. She is the priestess, the one who teaches those still growing and directs those who look to her for leadership.
When I put it into this context I see value in all three archetypes but dont need to cling to the obvious attraction of the maiden. There is beauty and power in all three. These are facets of women at any stage in their life, not chronological markers of the ageing body.
I am working on a ritual for the new moon, the time of the crone. The dark of the moon is the perfect time to set aside creativity and caretaking and simply reflect with detachment on what has been gained thus far.
Today as I sat on a public bench I noticed a small object. It
was a polished piece of obsidian, left there by who knows? Since no-one came back for it I picked it up and took it with me. The Aztecs called obsidian the smokey mirror and believed in its divination properties. What a perfect item to use in my next working.
