Pisces New Moon Reading: b is for beauty mark

B is for beauty mark by Kathy Crabbe This New Moon Reading is going to be quite different from all my others...hmmmm, maybe because it's in Pisces? A dreamy, watery, très magical kinda sign. So I sit before my altar which is all decked out in Pisces finery with a bowl full of cucumber, lettuce, and willow snippets and some Piscean gemstones (aquamarine and moonstone) and I sit...and I sit...Then I hear the words: just put pen to paper and the words will come. So I do.

With my paints, brushes and stones in hand, I say to Goddess...O Goddess I am readying myself for Spring and this New Moon in Pisces. What do you want of me?

And I hear Her say, "No word necessary".

And so I paint and a Lefty Mermaid appears...'b is for beauty mark' (to the left).

If you too are seeking inspiration to help find your way out of the deep (it IS a Pisces Moon after all; a watery sign represented by two fishes) then I hope that 'beauty mark' and her magical mirror can lead you deeper within, to where you soul calls out.

When setting your intentions for the upcoming New Moon and Spring Equinox ( which is like New Years for many of us) the best time to do that is at the exact moment of the New Moon which is on Friday, March 20 at 2:36 am PDT (kinda early, so maybe set intentions when you wake up or before you go to sleep) and the Spring Equinox is on the same day- woohoooo...double power!

The original painting above is available as are prints and cards.

Divine Moon Muser by Kathy CrabbeCalling All Goddesses! My 4 week eClass "Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul" is once again being offered at Susun Weed's Wise Woman University so get ready to Moon Collage your heart out starting one week prior to the New Moon each month...more details here: eClass

Channeling Persephone: Spring's Rebirth

Kathy Crabbe, Spring, 2002, acrylic on wood, 6 x 8".Kathy Crabbe, Spring, 2002, acrylic on wood, 6 x 8".

It's the New Moon in Aries and it's a powerhouse Moon with six planets in Aries; firepower indeed to kick off the Spring Equinox; so, set your intentions, bless them, then let them go.

Lately, a good friend (an astrologer) and I have been working with the Persephone archetype in various ways, but it wasn't until the other day, after setting up my Persephone altar that I was able to connect with Persephone deeply through channeling. Just in time for the first New Moon of Spring, but first I'd like to share with you the Persephone Myth and NOT the well known patriarchal version which you probably already know.

I do not like or resonate with the standard version of the Persephone myth; it's complicated, negative and depressing. I do resonate with the pre-patriarchal version of Her myth and would like to share it with you. This version was written by ecofeminist philosopher Charlene Spretnak and is based upon the classical scholarship of Jane Ellen Harrison, Louis Farnell, Sir Arthur Evans, and others.

The Myth of Persephone

Demeter and Persephone share the bountiful fields, enjoying the beautiful earth, and watching over the crops together. One day, Persephone asks her mother about the restless spirits of the dead she has seen hovering about their earthly homes. "Is there no one in the underworld to receive the newly dead?" she asks. Demeter explains that she rules over the underworld as well as the upper world, but her more important work is above ground, feeding the living.

Reflecting on the bewilderment and pain she has seen in the ghostly spirits, Persephone replies, "The dead need us, Mother. I will go to them." After trying to persuade Persephone to stay with her, Demeter relents: "Very well...We cannot give only to ourselves. I understand why you must go. Still, you are my daughter, and for every day you remain in the underworld, I will mourn your absence."

Persephone gathers three sheaves of wheat and three poppies, favorite flowers of Demeter, takes the torch that Demeter has prepared for her, and begins her descent down into a deep chasm into the underworld. After a long journey, she comes to a place where many spirits are milling about, moaning. She moves among them, and after preparing an altar, she beckons them to her, saying, "If you come to me, I will initiate you into your new world. You have waxed into the fullness of life, and waned into darkness; may you be renewed in peace and wisdom."

Meanwhile, Demeter has grown sorrowful, her bountiful energies draining from the earth, leaving it barren, with no crops growing to feed the humans. After some months, Persephone decides she will return to the upper world. As she approaches her mother, the flowers of the earth rise up in joyful song, and as Demeter and Persephone run to embrace each other, the birds and animals begin to sing, "Persephone returns, Persephone returns." And as the mother and daughter dance and dance, new growth springs up in the fields, and the humans join in the rejoicing.

Each time Persephone goes back down into the underworld, the mortals share with Demeter the bleak season of her daughter's absence; and as she rejoins her mother in the spring, they are renewed by the signs of Persephone's return.

~ from Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, edited and with essays by Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein.

Channeling Persephone ~ Rebirth

Today, in honour of the New Moon in Aries I created my usual New Moon Circle, and was surprised to find myself a wee bit down (considering all that Aries Firepower in the air), so I called upon Persephone in conjunction with the pulling of a Rune and asked for her help.

Kathy Crabbe, Peace Within Peace Without, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”.

Kathy Crabbe, Peace Within Peace Without, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”. 

As Persephone and I fly above the earth, she says to me, "See, down there, there are scores of people  dying as they live, but we can't help them because  they are choosing life in death. And you, are you dying?"

Me: No, I'm not, I want to help!

Persephone: Then let's go on. "Print this, and you die," she says with a smile. "You see, dying isn't anything to fear; let it go...let it all go."

Me: But losing someone is.

Persephone: Come, let's continue. What do you see?

Me: I see people living, loving, planting, and dying, really dying.

Persephone: And yes, no cliches from me...I'll keep my mouth zipped. Let's fly on.

We stop and rest.

Persephone: What do you see when you see me?

Me: I see a woman, a goddess, of many-changing hues.

Persephone: Look again, what do you see?

Me: I see Me.

Then, all of a sudden I am She and so completely filled with bliss that my eyes fill up with tears.

Me: "How can I serve?" And I answer my own question: I can paint, with joy and abandon and love and passion and anger and rage and fury; the world. I can share my words and visions, and heal and commiserate and burn with Divine Bliss;

The fire, the water, the air, the earth,

And bless all (that is and is not) for I am reborn.

perthro - rune of Initiation

Blessed Be, and thank you, Per seph onee.

 

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Persephone Rune Reading by Kathy CrabbeKathy Crabbe: Guiding Your Creative Soul

Happy Spring Equinox!

Happy Spring 2013: Photo by Kathy Crabbe

Photo by Kathy Crabbe ~ from my nature walk in celebration of the Spring Equinox

Mother awakens! She stirs, sending forth shoots and leaves, whispering sweet desires, coaxing forth all who seek release from the bonds of Winter's Night. At solstice we sheltered, tiny in the still fathomless darkness. Now like the bird in the eggshell, we've swelled to fill the space. Our world grows tight, cramped. We feel anxious, our resources nearly gone. Time to peck our way out and claim the promise of Spring.

How? First, notice and name What Binds You. Name the prisons of fearsome circumstance, disillusionment, environmental crisis. Notice what feels stifled, blocked hopeless. Then circle together to Turn It Around! Stir and flex your power. Stretch and moan, rock and sing, and break free at the peak. Emerge from the broken shell of winter. Feel lightened, lifted, determined to leave the old world in shards behind you. Sparkling and sovereign stride into the Gateway, between the twin pillars, one light one dark. Unbound, blessed and surging, retrieve the trust that comes with balance. Thrive in the burgeoning. light.

Marian Spadone, from the We'Moon Datebook 2013

Kathy Crabbe: Guiding Your Creative Soul