Mary, mother of us all

With a cup of coffee beside me, I want to write about my little trip with my eldest daughter to a Christmas fair. Yes, here in the Netherlands they too start sooner and sooner with those fairs. It used the be custom to wait after the departure of Sinterklaas at December 5 but the commerce has a strong foothold here too.

We did enjoy ourselves very much and we managed to pick up some nice things out of the thousands of  items that were  displayed at this fair. It was overwhelming! The most precious thing that I've bought for myself is a little statue of Mary. There were lots of the same Mary’s on the shelf but as soon as I’d picked up mine she felt very special to me. Now she has a place in my room and I've lit her a tea light

For me Mary is an aspect of the Goddess: She is the compassionate mother.  She is strongly connected to Isis. They both bore a son( Jesus and Horus) as a virgin at December 25. I have been raised with the stories of the bible and so when Yule/Christmas time arrives I cannot shed my upbringing and I do celebrate the birth of a savior with the story of Mary and Jesus instead of Isis and Horus. So I am very happy to have a statue of Mother Mary

New moon in November

So short after the festivities of Halloween/Samhain it’s already time to celebrate the new moon in November. The first new moon after the Celtic new year.  A time for letting go of old and no longer serving idea’s and attitudes and to embrace new ones, which may be helping and strengthening. Also it’s the time to reassess what it is you want in life and if you’re still on the right track. Tarot can be very helpful for this purpose.

Before I've drawn my cards, I have meditated a while to calm myself down and to reconnect with divinity. As usually I have visualized a circle around me, not so much for protection but more to feel embraced by the Goddess. This time was the first time I have called the Goddess in four of her aspects to represent the elements and the four quarters of the wheel of the year.( this is an idea I've got from Neopaganpriestess). I've called Persephone (in maiden aspect) for air and spring, Freya for fire and summer, Hekate for water and autumn and Holda for earth and winter

From the Goddess inspiration oracle by Kris Waldherr

It felt good and it was far more easy to connect with Her than when I just call the elements. I called on Isis to represent Spirit and the Goddess as a whole. The meditation was good and whenever my mind wandered it was like she brought me back again and again and again….. J

Afterwards  I've drawn two cards from the Osho Zen tarot

Osho Zen Tarot

Release: Schizophrenia ( two of swords). Well It’s very obvious that I would be glad to let go of this attitude. Although I know from experience that it’s so difficult since I’m such a swordy lady. I like to keep thinking an rethinking and postponing instead of making a decision from the heart and trusting my intuition to be right. The figure in this card is holding on to every possible solution but he has to choose, for not choosing at all is also a choice.

Embrace: Going with the flow (Ace of cups) this cards represents just the opposite of the first  card and it’s so difficult for me. Writing this I feel that it’s my insecurity, my fear of making a mistake which keeps me from flowing free. When you go with the flow you’ll give up control and let the Universe guide you where you need to be right now and what the best choices are for you at this moment. The only thing we have to do is trust and surrender to Love. Because that’s what this card connects to the Ace of cup; The ever flowing Love

There’s a clear connection to yesterdays card Flying, which told me get out of the maze and fly free where my intuition is guiding me. I think this is a beautiful theme for this month

It will be a challenge not to see this as a challenge of  my willful mind but to give myself freely the pleasure of going with the flow J

My Goddess Altar

With this video I would like to share my altar for the Goddess that I've set up in my room. I've told you that this blog will also be a place for me to share my search for the Goddess and to write about my ever changing relationship with Her. This is much more difficult for me to write about in English than about other topics. Sometimes I don't even have words to describe my connection with Her in Dutch. But I'll give it a go.

For me at this time in my life, the Goddess is an indescribable force. She is too immense to comprehend so I commune with Her Aspects in deity form. I see Her in every goddess all over the world . I don't think it matters which deity you choose for every deity is a part of the Goddess. I don't think that even the earth mother is the all-embracing Goddess. Even she is a part of Her. Because it’s She who is behind every other deity.

In my point a view it doesn't matter how you honor Her as long as you honor Her with your best intentions. You can’t make mistakes in rituals or prayers. You can’t fail in Her eyes when you do your best. I believe the way we try to relate to her is more about us than about Her. She always relates to us; every moment of our life. We however still have to stop in our daily life and make a shift in awareness through meditation, prayer etc.

We often like to follow ancient lore, because that’s giving us the certainty we do everything right. And many aspects of the goddess have imbued the female archetypes. That’s why we don't honor for instance Freya for wisdom. It just doesn't feel right. But deep down I think it also doesn't really matter. Likewise any stones or herbs associated with any deity can be mixed up at random. That’s what I mean by you can’t make any mistakes. It is all about how we feel. And if we feel great and empowered then we can align with Her much more easily.

The divine

This is why you see goddesses of different pantheons on my altar: Isis, Bast, Hekate, and the earth mother. The old lady near the vase represents every old crone goddess. I also have sometimes representations there of Holda, Demeter, Tara and so forth. It variates by my feelings for Her and what aspect of Her I think I need to work with. The other items on my altar represent the elements (stones, shell, feathers and candles).  Also I have some symbols thereon (crystals, pumpkin, owl, book…) And there are always cards. I cannot imagine my altar without cards. Oracle or Tarot, it doesn't matter. I tend to choose the cards for my altar because they represent attitudes or situations I want to focus on.

My view is my own and I want to emphasize in no way  that my view is any better than anyone else’s. I would like to know very much how you experience God(dess) and how you've set up your altar.