All things are energy. God is a name given to the initiating energy at the beginning of all things. This is one theory. God Energy re-created itself. Male and Female created he him. So the theory continues. This theory is contained in the God name YHVH (Yah-he-vau-he). The beginning letter, “Y, ” is the initiating energy, the second letter (the first “H”) is the male principle and the “V” is the female principle. The second “H” is the integration and offspring of the two - of the male and the female which were the expression on the physical plane of the energy behind all that. Jung says that the Gods we know as Gods - i.e. Gods and Goddesses of myth, such as Venus and Mercury, Thor, or the Bible God - are archetypes on which we can draw. Gods thrive on belief. Gods and Goddesses that we know by name have been built upon for centuries. It is possible to create a God right now, in the next minute, give that God energy and feed it until it grows, but Gods that have been formed through years of interaction have accumulated energy. Again, this is only one theory. If I were to believe in a Male God, and my belief system allowed only the one and no other, I would believe in only the first “H” of the God name. I would deny the power of the “V”, the feminine power and the second “H, ” the manifested power. I would also forgo belief in the first letter “Y” which contains the male “H, ” the female “V” and the diversified (second) “H” of the creation and proliferation and combination on the physical plane. I would have a limited god-form in which to believe. And if I lived according to that belief system, I would also limit the God-energy in me. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof. If I invent my own god, that too is limiting because it would take many lifetimes to build up the energy of that God-form. Supposing the theory is true. Of course, there are other theories. One theory says that God or Gods always existed, independent of people. Gods simply were. Or God simply was. And God simply will be even when people aren’t. Maybe everybody has a notion about God or Creator or whether there is one or isn’t one; are many or not any. Whether Goddess created us in Her image or we created God in our image. Whether God is Love or Love is God. When I was a kid, there were energies around me and I personified them. I didn't give them names and faces or even mess with giving them personalities. They were just a bunch of people I hung out with. We'd walk and talk through the woods and mud puddles and berry briers and have conversations about all kinds of things. I learned a lot by hanging around with them. I learned a lot from them. Which is rather strange, since they didn’t exist… Still… I asked questions I didn’t know I questioned. I answered questions I didn’t know I knew the answer to until one of them asked the question that spawned the answer I knew. I discovered things, rearranged ideas and had several a-ha! kind of moments because of conversations with…them. In retrospect, I see that they weren’t around much when anyone else was there. They didn’t leave. They didn’t arrive, either. And that only makes sense if you remember they were never there in the first place. They weren’t what you would normally conceive of as a God. They weren't leaders and I had no concept that they created me or that they came first and I came after. It was as if we all always were. I didn't have to live up to some image they expected of me (while having created me in some other less-likable image) and likewise, I didn't expect any great thing of them. They were just there. And we talked. Goddess is like that. Only different. We hang out. We talk. A God/dess is a magnifying glass... She magnifies in me that attribute I attribute to Her. Archetypically. Goddess is a mirror. She mirrors back that quality I didn’t know I had until I needed it. She is a magnifying mirror. I get more done with the help of Gods and Goddesses. I become more than I am. More than I am, I am. I get by with a little help from my (imaginary) friends. I call EIR and I am calling for the HEALER in me who knows what to do. I am by-passing my natural mind where I don't have the foggiest notion and going straight to the SOURCE where the information and wisdom lives. I need strength of will and I call on Syn, Hlin or Skathi. She rises and fills me and becomes bigger than I am so that the form of this Goddess is huge and I am the little motivating force in the middle of Her. I can do all things through Goddess who strengthens me. A Goddess is no more real than a poem. Graspable as a wisp of smoke, She dissipates when you try to hold too tight. There are all kinds of theories, and on the sunniest days, you want to debunk them all and just remember that God spelled backward is Dog. But when I step into circle alone, I know someone else is there. Maybe that's not the same as those God/esses you have to invoke with the right kind of stone and the right offering, a touch of wine and a white rose. I'm just saying... First time I stepped into a formal circle for a Goddess, I tried to make Her fit the only God I'd ever been given. "To the North I turn... the Rock of Salvation endures forever." I lit a candle and poured wine, blackberry Merlot, only wine on the place. "The breath of life, the fire of Pentecost, the living water and the Holy, Holy Spirit dwells within this space, within this place between the worlds. So Be It and Amen." Some such words. I don't recall exactly. Blackberry Merlot and a borrowed book and soon I knew that Bridget was the Goddess of poetry. She loved fire and blackberries, kept a healing well where water quenches a fever fast and in the forge of Her fire, smithcraft and poetry carry a power to transform. Bride, as She is called, has a father named Dagha, the Good God and I came to know other Gods and Goddesses. The laughing God, the dancing God, the poet God, the Mother Goddess, Virgin, Mother, Crone...and all this on a Blackberry wine. And years clicked by... And then the Runes called and Heimdall coaxed with a Dagaz rune, my symbol. Year of the Snake, Death and Regeneration, and even the Mayan astrologer agreed my sign was transformation, worldbridger, born in the year of the Snake. Hints and notions; and this God of transformation cast His rainbows in my peripheral view. And when snows fell deep and the world filled with that kind of silence that winter brings, a Goddess named Skathi came to whisper the blue of twilight in January. Finding me, perhaps, too tame, She then delivered me to the door of Fensalir, where the Spinner reigned. Card the wool and spin and ply. My hands found the way my mind couldn’t see. And as I learned, or remembered these skills, stories wove themselves into the wool. Her name is Frigga, the Hearth Queen, the Spinner. And with Her are the twelve Handmaidens, Syn, Fulla, Gna, Var, Lofn, Eir, Sjofn, Hlin, Saga, Gefjon, Snotra and Vor. Little remembrances for each found their way to my hand and they flooded my pages with words. I'd been Goddess shopping for a long time when Frigga came along. Now I'm wondering who shopped for whom? If you're shopping for a Goddess, pay attention. One will find you by and by. Syn, Fulla, Gna, Var, Lofn, Eir, Sjofn, Hlin, Saga, Gefjon, Snotra Vor…Frigga, All Mother, All Knower, Spindle Wielder, Wise Watcher, You, who spin the battle from afar, You, who know much and speak little, to Thee do I give honor, and to thy Handmaidens… Try this exercise with the Handmaiden names given above: Polarity Excercise -- Exhalation, inhalation exercise. Draw a large circle and divide it in twelve equal parts. Begin at the left, at the beginning of the horizontal line and write in the pie wedge shape between this line and the next below it (going counter the sun), the name SYN. This is in the place of the Astrological house of Aries. In the place of Taurus on the wheel, write Fulla. Follow the order of the names listed in the song (written in italics above). You will finish the circle with Vor coming up behind Syn – Vor will be in what is the twelfth place in the circle. Put this circle where you can see it. Light a candle if you’d like and allow this to be the only light in the room. Put it where the light illumines the circle shape. Focus on the first name, Syn, in what would Astrologically be the first house. Beginning with Syn, exhale completely while thinking her name. She is for cleansing, let the exhalation take all the dross away in that outgoing breath. Now think the name, Fulla. Breath in and think her name. She is the one who cares for the treasures of the Goddess. You are taking in the essence of the treasure that Goddess has in store for you. Next is the exhalation and the name GNA. She is the Messenger. You are sending your message to Goddess on this breath. You don't have to word it. She knows. Breathe out to the thought of Gna. She will gallop Hofvarpner (hoof flourisher) to Frigga with the breath. Inhale to Var, who is the center fire. She is moon energy (never mind the greater myth of Manni, the male God of the Moon for now. Relinquish -- this is different). Var is nourishment and she is home and the hearth. She is the wispered vows and the shouted declarations. She is ever intent, spoken and unspoken ever breathed beneath the moon. Breathe in nourishment and the promises that belong to you. Exhale to Lofn. She is your creativity pouring from the center into the greater world, into all worlds. She frees with this exhalation. Lofn holds a key (She is the one who gains permission for Love between those who Society forbids to love). Breathe in the essence of health itself with Eir. She is Sprial Earth. She is Process. She is practical wisdom. Eir is the Great Physician, who comes to friend or foe when there is need. She has high ideals and she is meticulous and demands purity and high moral standing from those who follow Her. Accept Her healing with your indrawn breath. Exhale to Sjofn as your individual nature seeks to find itself in another. Think of this breath as going to your loved one, known or unknown. This breath of blessings will find the heart of your heart and caress her cheek. Sjofn is the Goddess of Love and Conflict. She is in the house of the setting sun. Take her hand and sigh as you watch the sun go below the horizon. Inhale to Hlin's transformation. Breathe it deeply, drawing it in. It sometimes bears a sting, but She consoles you even as you step into the transformation at the center of Dagaz. She is intense and emotional and will open you to the possibilities of the secrets you desire. Exhale to Saga as you think of telling your story. Breathe your own story into existence. Lore is not only what was, but what is and what shall be. Saga is the storied one -- as are you. She is the keeper of lore. Exhale as you think of her sharing the mead of story with Odin. Inhale as you draw in the knowledge of your life's work, your calling, that which you will give to the world. Gefjon's gift infills you as you draw on her wisdom. Remember her efforts as she kept her eye on the goal and used the gift she was given to its fullest extent. Exhale as you link to community through Snotra. She helps you reclaim your power and keep your free will even as you move to become part of the whole. Exhale thoughts of peace and contentment to your hearthmates and community. Breathe in the imaginative awareness of Vor, spirit energy; dreams and poetry and fantasy. She helps you attune to the vast landscape within you which moves in sync with the eternal. She gives you ways of Knowing. Sit quietly with this way of linking to the Handmaidens. Begin and end by acknowledging All-Mother. All-Mother, Frigga Be Thou to me, wise teacher, That I may walk the way of weal, That I may learn the way of the Handmaidens, Using these gifts to our good And to the greater good of all. Teach me that I, too, may spin the battle from afar, Rightly discerning the pattern of the weave, That I might wisely choose the spin of the thread For this moment, in this hour, To know what is needed this day, All-Mother, take up thy spindle and guide my hands To the light of Wisdom, Direct my thoughts to Knowing ways, That when Cronehood comes upon me, I may be indeed, a tru Elder, Ever learning in the way of the Children of the Wise Blessings, ~Hazel~ d Kate dooley |