Lady of the Beasts
Sing of your magic
Greenwood Nymph
Dance in the green-glens
Virgin Huntress
Revel in the moonlight
Artemis, Artemis, Artemis!
Be
joyful! Be blissful! Be playful! It is Beltane -- that time of year
when we celebrate new life, fertility and the earth's ripe abundance in
all its forms. It is the beginnings-time, when the divine union of the
Goddess with Her Consort fertilizes ourselves and our lives. We
celebrate this festival of fertility and fire by decorating our altars
with greens and reds, fresh flowers and bright candles, and we honour
Virgin-Mother Goddesses such as Artemis.
The Goddess of wild
places and wild things, the Greek Artemis is a Lady of the Moon most
commonly perceived as the Virgin Huntress. She roams the forests and
mountains with Her band of nymphs and hunting dogs, in a chariot pulled
by silver stags. A beloved deity to the Amazons, Artemis knows of the
secret places in Nature where one can rest and regain lost strength.
However,
these roles are not Her sole purpose: Artemis is also known as the
patroness of nurturing, fertility and birth. Though Her priestesses did
not consort with men, they and their Lady aided women in childbirth and
defended women who were harassed or threatened by men.
Artemis'
colours are silver, white, green and red, and Her symbols are the
sickle, bridle, the crescent (waxing) moon and hanks of wool. She has a
fondness for dogs, horses and stags, and is beneficial when dealing with
animals or the elemental kingdoms. Mother of the Mysteries, Artemis
holds sacred the amaranth flower, which blooms purple and crimson. In
the tarot, She can be found in The Star and The Moon.
You can
invite Artemis into your life by mixing an oil for Her (add 20 drops
jasmine oil and 4 drops verbena oil to 20ml of base oil) and including
it in a ritual or meditation dedicated to Artemis. Alternatively you
could make an incense blend to honour this Goddess - try the following
recipe:
1 part ox-eye daisy flowers
1 part hazel wood
1 part beech bark
1 part willow wood
¼ part wormwood
½ part almond blossoms
¼ part cypress needles
¼ part fir needles
Few drops lemon balm (melissa) oil
You
can also work with Artemis in ritual; She can be invoked to aid in all
animal or elemental matters, any magick or sorcery, travel, healing and
medicines, psychic ability, fertility (particularly female fertility),
exercise and dance. She is also particularly useful in protecting and
defending women against men. To honour Artemis you can use the following
rite:
On the night of the Full Moon, set up an altar outside. On
the altar have three candles, white, red and black. Behind the candles
place a statue of a woman, with a quiver of arrows, and a dog at her
feet. If you can't get that, a statue of a woman, and separate statues
of dogs will suffice. Wolves have long been a symbol of the Moon, and
dogs are domesticated wolves. Pick some beautiful flowers, especially
white ones, and place them at her feet.
Cast your circle in your usual manner. Be seated at your altar and go into meditation. Then repeat the following invocation:
Lovely Goddess of the bow!
Lovely Goddess of the arrows!
Of all hounds and of all hunting!
Thou who wakest in starry heaven,
when the sun is sunk in slumber.
Thou with moon upon thy forehead,
who the chase by night
preferrest unto hunting in the daylight,
with thy nymphs unto the music of the horn -
thyself the huntress, and most powerful:
I pray thee Think,
although but for an instant,
Upon us who pray unto thee!
Then
light the candles, and meditate on the Full Moon. You may light some
incense such as jasmine, sandalwood or mugwort or wormwood. Place nine
white stones or shells at her feet, forming a crescent Moon, with the
points towards the statues feet. Now is the time to ask for a request if
needed.
Thank Artemis for Her presence and say goodbye. Blow out the candles and take up your circle.
Showing posts with label Beltane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beltane. Show all posts
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Flora (Chloris): Roman & Greek Goddess of Flowers, Springtime, & Sex
Flora is the Roman Goddess (She's called Chloris in Greek lore) of flowering plants, especially those
that bear fruit. Spring, of course, is Her season, and She has elements of a
Love-Goddess, with its attendant attributes of fertility, sex, and blossoming.
She is quite ancient; the Sabines are said to have named a month for Her (which
corresponds to our and the Roman April), and She was known among the Samnites
as well as the Oscans, where She was called Flusia. She was originally the Goddess
specifically of the flowering crops, such as the grain or fruit-trees, and Her
function was to make the grain, vegetables and trees bloom so that autumn's
harvest would be good. She was invoked to avert rust, a nasty fungal disease
of plants that causes orange growths the exact color of rusting iron, and which
was (is) an especial problem affecting wheat. Hers is the beginning of the process
that finds its completion with Pomona, the
Goddess of Fruit and the Harvest; and like Pomona, Flora had Her own flamen,
one of a small number of priests each in service to a specific Deity. The flamens
were said to have been instituted by Numa, the legendary second King of Rome
who succeeded Romulus; and whether Numa really existed or not, the flamens were
undoubtedly of ancient origin, as were the Deities they served.
In later times Flora became the Goddess of all flowering plants,
including the ornamental varieties. Her name is related to Latin floris,
meaning naturally enough "a flower", with the additional meaning of
"[something] in its prime"; other related words have meanings like
"prospering", "flourishing", "abounding", and
"fresh or blooming". In one story, Flora was said to have provided
Juno with a magic flower that would allow Her to conceive with no help from
a man; from this virgin-birth Mars was born. A late tale calls Flora a courtesan
and gives Her a story similar to Acca Larentia: Flora was said to have made
a fortune as a courtesan, which She bequeathed to Rome upon Her death, and for
which She was honored with the festival of the Floralia. As Flora was originally
a Sabine Goddess, and as the Sabines were a neighboring tribe whom the Romans
conquered and assimilated into Rome, perhaps this is an acknowledgement of the
land so acquired, put into legendary terms.
Flora had two temples in Rome, one near the Circus Maximus, the
great "stadium" of Rome where chariot races were held, and another
on the slopes of the Quirinal Hill. The temple on the Quirinal was most likely
built on the site of an earlier altar to Her said to have been dedicated by
Titus Tatius, King of the Sabines, who ruled alongside Romulus for a time in
the very early (hence legendary) days of Rome. Her other temple was built quite
near to the Circus Maximus, though its exact site has not been found, and was
associated with a neighboring temple dedicated to the triad of Ceres
(the Grain Goddess) and Liber and Libera (God and
Goddess of the Vine). These Deities and Flora were all concerned with the fertility
and health of the crops. Flora's temple by the Circus was dedicated on the 28th
of April in 241 (or 248) BCE in response to a great drought at the command of
the Sybilline books, and this day became the starting date of Her great festival,
the Floralia. In Imperial times (1st century CE) this temple was rededicated
(I assume after some restorations were made) on the 13th of August, and this
date was given to a second festival of Flora, coinciding with the ripening of
the grain, whose flowers She had set forth.
The Floralia of April was originally a moveable feast to coincide
with the blossoming of the plants, later becoming fixed with the dedication
of Her temple on the 28th (or 27th, before the calendar was reformed--I mention
this because holidays were almost always held on odd-numbered days as it was
considered unlucky to start a festival on an even-numbered day), though ludi
or "games"--horse-races or athletic contests--were not held every
year. By the Empire the festival had grown (or should I say, blossomed)
to seven days, and included chariot-races and theatrical performances, some
of which were notoriously bawdy. It was given over to merriment and celebrations
of an amorous nature, much like that northern flower-and-sex festival Beltaine
whose date neatly coincides. Prostitutes considered it their own special time,
and the Floralia gained a reputation as being more licentious and abandoned
than the Saturnalia of December, whose name is legendary even now.
At the chariot-races and circus games of the Floralia it was
traditional to let goats and hares loose, and lupines, bean-flowers and vetch
(all of which have similarly-shaped blossoms and are a sort of showier version
of wheat in bloom) were scattered, symbolic of fertility. Brightly colored clothes
were a must, as were wreaths of flowers, especially roses; and the celebrations
drew great crowds. Of the two nationalized chariot-teams who shared a deep rivalry,
the Greens and the Blues, the Greens (of course) were Hers, and She had been
invoked at chariot-races from ancient times. The last day of the festival, May
3rd, was called Florae; it may be a special name for the closing day of the
Floralia, or it may refer to a seperate ceremony conducted in Her temple on
the Quirinal.
Flora was depicted by the Romans wearing light spring clothing,
holding small bouquets of flowers, sometimes crowned with blossoms. Honey, made
from flowers, is one of Her gifts, and Her name is said to be one of the secret
(holy) names of Rome. She is sometimes called the handmaiden of Ceres. Ovid
identifies Her with the Greek flower-nymph Chloris, whose name means "yellow
or pale green", the color of Spring. The word flora is still used
as a general name for the plants of a region.
Alternate names/epithets: Flora Rustica, "Flora the Countrywoman"
or "Flora of the Countryside", and Flora Mater, or "Flora the
Mother", in respect to Her ancient origins. Among the Oscans She was known
as Flusia.
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