Full Moon in Aquarius July 25, 2010 6:36 pm PDT

Spotlight on Irish Artist, Ellen Roche Shop: www.spiralgodess.etsy.com

I am an Aquarian and Jewelry maker. I live in Ireland in the heart of the country with my partner and children. Born in Dublin City into a strict Catholic family that knelt twice daily for prayer there was little talk of star signs or astrology. Although he didn’t speak of it in front of my Mother too often, my father who was also an Aquarian would drop little snippets of fascinating information to us as children. While out walking in the woods or by rivers he would have us searching for fairy folk as he told us of the ancient Irish legends. The first time I ever heard the word Pagan was from my Father. After I learned the story of St. Patrick in school, I was retelling it at the supper table and my father answered, “ Yes, he saved us from the lovely Pagans we were”. I had never heard it said that way; we were always sinners not “lovely Pagans”. That stayed with me and I suppose started my questions at a very early age.

Excerpt from the Irish Fairy tale, The Children of Lir

Finnuala looked down, her long dark hair no longer swirled around her, white feathers grew over her skin and in place of her arms were two white wings. Too frightened to scream she looked to her brothers just in time to see their rosy cheeks disappear into smooth white feathers. Finnuala and her brothers had been turned into Swans...

As I grew I questioned everything about our religion and instead of being home for prayer I would be in the woods or by the river with my feet in it even in the pouring rain, sometimes building dams between stepping-stones to see how the water flowed. I was the ever-inquiring Aquarian water bearer and I refused to conform in my teenage years and stopped going to mass, praying, everything but continued my own spiritual path by being with nature.

One day in my twenties I picked up a book called “The Wiccan Mysteries” and there was my whole life laid out in print! I could not believe it. I read and reread every page, checked every reference. I was so excited at last I had a name for all I believed in. It had always been inside me calling to me and I read book after book. I cried when I read The Descent of the Goddess. I started to meditate and keep a dream diary as my dreams had always been so vivid but I didn’t know why. I went to a Tarot reader who told me one day I would read the Tarot myself and that I wasn’t just dreaming but astral traveling. She pointed me in the right direction and showed me how to control my dreams if I wished. I felt elated and things just seemed to take on a life of their own. At work one day a man came in, a complete stranger and we somehow got to talking about Tarot reading and he told me he was a reader and said that I would one day be a reader, I dismissed the comment but the very next day he came back with the most beautiful deck of Tarot cards along with a book of explanation and a beautiful cloth to keep them in. I couldn’t believe it!  “For when you're ready” he said… I didn’t open them for five years.

In Irish the label reads A Gra Mo Chroi The Love of my Heart

But when I did a whole new world of visions, dreaming and messages opened up. I would read for friends and friends of friends and before I knew it I had regular clients. I continued with my spiritual path and at one stage contacted a coven (very hard to find in Ireland believe me) and while it was lovely to talk with others who held the same beliefs (my Aquarian mind would not be held to rules or regulations) but I also loved to be alone. So, one night, I drove to my favourite spot and in the moonlight, dedicated myself to the Goddess and Universe. I continue to practice as a solitary Pagan.

I dreamt about my partner before I met him and spotted him in a bar and knew it was he. We now live in the country and everything I love most; my family and nature surround me. It’s not easy being a Pagan in Ireland; there is still a lot of suspicion and folklore that surrounds us. Even in this day and age country folk are very strict Catholics and some still believe that Pagan’s worship the Devil, so I don’t broadcast my beliefs, but if anyone is interested I gladly answer questions. While it is not all love and light on any path my beliefs help me cope with every situation.

The name for my shop, The Spiral Goddess came at my darkest hour. About ten years ago, after a personal traumatic situation I meditated and The Spiral Goddess came to me and I came out of the meditation bathed in golden light, full of love and sobbing with relief. It was the most amazing experience so I have called my shop after the Goddess for she inspires me every day.

I love the path I have chosen and writing this is such an affirmation. I wish you many Blessings in love in light..