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Posts Tagged ‘sovereignty’

Notes from a New Moon Dragon Rider

Posted in Astrology, Dragons, Earth Healing, Goddess, Spiritual Growth, Transits, Visualisation, Women, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2014| 1 Comment »

“Stand to face the light of the atomic blast of Pluto through the New Moon in Capricorn on New Year’s Day 2014.

To the ‘mud peoples’ and those who came from the stars as protectors of this planet…… now the time has come to shield each other and protect the Earth from those whose blind greed and callous disregard would seek to subjugate and destroy.

Know who you are…. Know each other. Create lines of communication and energy between you like a web of light and dark to balance and hold both personal and collective energies.

Remember that idealism without a dose of realism is an empty dream.

Seek out where you can make a difference without becoming a victim or a rescuer as these two both require someone to blame………remember too that people are just people, being human!

Time your actions carefully to make the maximum use of the energy and resources available.

Fix your own back yard. It is always easier to see the faults in someone else’s, judge what the resolution would be and fret when nothing appears to be done.

Above all, don’t sit idly by when your neighbourhood and its people are under threat or being manipulated. Even a tiny step, a wise world or a small, but appropriate action, can be the start of something big!”

GreyDragon

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St Margaret and the Dragon

Posted in Dark Goddess, Dragons, Goddess, Women, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Whilst visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum in London recently we came across this lovely sculpture of St Margaret and a Dragon:
Far from the dragon being at all scary, this one looked more like a pet.
StMargaretsmall
St Margaret is recorded as being a patron saint of childbirth, pregnant women, kidney disease and wronged people. The childbirth and pregnancy angle is initially very surprising as she was venerated for her virginity. However, one of the stories goes that on her refusal to marry she was tortured. It was also said that she was tempted by or eaten by a dragon. When the dragon swallowed her she fought back and killed it with her crucifix – hence her sometimes being referred to as ‘St Margaret, the Dragon Slayer’. Here, the assumption being that the dragon was a representation of Satan. It is thought that this is where her patronage of childbirth came from – as she herself was safely delivered from the innards of the dragon.
In the Roman Catholic Church her feast day used to be the 20th July, but in the fifth century it was first suggested that decided that her story was ‘apocryphal’ (of doubtful authenticity) and only in 1969 was the date was withdrawn from the calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox Church her feast day is the 17th July. St Margaret is still recognised as one of the saints that spoke to Joan of Arc and indeed there are many churches that bear the name ‘St Margaret’ – including Westminster Abbey.
Delving a bit further, here are some of the lines that give reference to St Margaret, taken from a mediaeval poem:
“Holye mayde Margarete loked her besyde.
There sche sawe a lothelye dragon in a corner glyde,
Brennynge as the blake fyre. His mouthe he gaped wyde.
That mayde wexed alle greene as the gresse in someres tyde.” (lines 179-182)
“Holy maid Margaret looked her beside.
There she saw a loathly dragon in a corner glide.
Burning as the black fire. His mouth he gaped wide.
That maid waxed all green as the grass in summer time.”

 

The final line is very interesting as ‘waxed all green as the grass in summer time’ was a well-known, subtle way of referring to promiscuity.
So what do we have here? Is this a description of seduction? Is this yet another tale of deriding women for being women? This does seem to sit easily with some religious traditions that make it clear that if a woman is raped, she is the one to be punished. Similarly, with a situation of sex outside of marriage when the woman is blamed and vilified, yet the man walks ‘free’.
Is the ‘dragon’ also another way of referring to woman’s sexuality, women’s ability to give birth and women’s power?

Not as far-fetched as one might think and there is a religious commentary on the story of St Margaret and the dragon that says:

“Surely this is because giving birth is not unlike a dragon splitting open to reveal a saint!”

Ouch!

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Maat – The Goddess of Law and Order

Posted in Astrology, Dark Goddess, Goddess, Spiritual Growth, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Maat or Ma’at, was the ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, law and justice.

Maat was also personified as a goddess who regulated the movement of the planets and stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and the deities. In this way she set the order or logos of the universe. Egyptians believed in an underlying unity in the universe and that proper conduct in public life upheld that (21st century politicians please note!). In short, everything, everywhere was linked to and part of Maat.

Early records indicate that Maat is the status quo for nature, society, in every dimension. Her role in and after creation is to prevent the universe from returning to chaos. Pharaohs were often depicted with the emblems or images of Maat to highlight their role in upholding the laws of the Creator.

Maat was depicted as a young woman, usually holding a sceptre and ankh. Sometimes she is shown as having wings and nearly always has a feather as part of her headdress.

Her energy is often thought of as a combination of the planet Saturn (law, tradition, stability) and the zodiac sign of Libra (The Scales). The stone Lapis Lazuli has close connections to her.

She also had a role in Egyptian mythology as the person who dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, after death. The departing soul (the heart) was weighed against her feather to determine whether the soul would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully. You can find a list of the questions that the soul was asked below the main text. These questions are comprehensive and anyone telling the truth would answer ‘no’ to at least one, consigning the soul to another incarnation.

Anubis/Thoth would then weighed the heart against Maat’s feather and if the scales were balanced the soul was released into the afterlife.

Maat has a temple dedicated to her in Karnak and there have been hints in documents that suggest that there were at least two others ( Memphis and at Deir el-Medina)

Having done Kabbalistic pathworkings linked to Maat when much younger, I can vouch that when working with her energy one has to be clear about one’s motives, completely truthful and honest or all hell will break lose!

Here is a translation of the 42 Negative Confessions. Some of them may seem repetitive, but this is caused by the inability to translate the exact intent and meaning of the original language.

1. I have not done iniquity.
2. I have not robbed with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have done no murder; I have done no harm.
5. I have not defrauded offerings.
6. I have not diminished obligations.
7. I have not plundered the neteru.
8. I have not spoken lies.
9. I have not uttered evil words.
10. I have not caused pain.
11. I have not committed fornication.
12. I have not caused shedding of tears.
13. I have not dealt deceitfully.
14. I have not transgressed.
15. I have not acted guilefully.
16. I have not laid waste the ploughed land.
17. I have not been an eavesdropper.
18. I have not set my lips in motion (against any man).
19. I have not been angry and wrathful except for a just cause.
20. I have not defiled the wife of any man.
21. I have not been a man of anger.
22. I have not polluted myself.
23. I have not caused terror.
24. I have not burned with rage.
25. I have not stopped my ears against the words of Right and Truth. (Ma-at)
26. I have not worked grief.
27. I have not acted with insolence.
28. I have not stirred up strife.
29. I have not judged hastily.
30. I have not sought for distinctions.
31. I have not multiplied words exceedingly.
32. I have not done neither harm nor ill.
33. I have not cursed the King. (i.e. violation of laws)
34. I have not fouled the water.
35. I have not spoken scornfully.
36. I have never cursed the neteru.
37. I have not stolen.
38. I have not defrauded the offerings of the neteru.
39. I have not plundered the offerings of the blessed dead.
40. I have not filched the food of the infant.
41. I have not sinned against the neter of my native town.
42. I have not slaughtered with evil intent the cattle of the neter.

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Venus in Scorpio and The Dark Goddesses

Posted in Astrology, Dark Goddess, Goddess, Spiritual Growth, Transits, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2013| 2 Comments »

 

VenusScorpio

I have been pondering the placement of Venus in my natal astrology chart over the last few days. My Venus is in the sign of Scorpio, 5th house, and is, at present, being influenced by the planet Saturn, as it passes though Scorpio (transiting Saturn conjunct natal Venus), Saturn takes about 28 years to complete one cycle through the zodiac, so this is the second time I have experienced this effect of Saturn on my Venus.

 The first transit occurred between December 1983, allowing for retrogrades, it left the proximity of my Venus, in September 1984. I can remember little of that time. My younger daughter would have been between 21 months at the beginning and two years 6 months at the end. It was probably one of the most financially secure times in my life. Emotionally and mentally it was also quite stable as I had had none of the postnatal depression I had experienced four years earlier. Spiritually it was time for reading and it was also when I resumed my studies as an astrologer. (I gave up whilst my daughter was very small, due to ‘baby-brain’!)

 If you look at standard astrological assessments for natal Venus in Scorpio, they are usually focused on the sexual and erotic nature of the Venus/Scorpio mix and often not that flattering! Having said that, several people in public life also share this placement with me – Leonardo de Caprio, Mahatma Gandhi, Hugh Jackman, Bill Gates, Demi Moore, to name a few, plus (Goddess forbid!), Vladimir Putin, with whom I also share my birthday! (His ascendant is 3 degrees Scorpio, mine is 18 degrees Cancer)

 In the superficial astrological blurb available, Venus in Scorpio focuses on the sensuality and passion of the Scorpionic energies – deep, not easy to read, stubborn, jealous and intense – all of which I can relate to though as far as jealousy is concerned not something I would easily admit to. It is not jealousy of others, their possessions or position in life, but a type of jealousy aimed when others take more than a friendly interest in my partner. I relate this to the ‘all or nothing’ element of commitment with this planet/sign mix, to the extent that one of my favourite quotes is ‘Do or do not  – there is no try’, attributed to Yoda in ’The Empire Strikes Back’. Commitment and loyalty are 100% until betrayal by another party, then I simply withdraw completely and walk away.

Venus in Scorpio is also considered to be a karmic placement for the planet with regard to relationships. The crunch is on the ability to love, accept and tolerate oneself and to have a sense of self-worth. Lack of these is often displaced onto other people as wariness, distrust and a need to manipulate. From a soul point of view, the destructive and transforming nature of Scorpio would activate in any relationship that does not help with the development of the higher self. (A good excuse if ever I heard one for giving a partner the elbow!)

From a holistic viewpoint Venus in Scorpio has the capacity to change the vibration of energy, like a rheostat does in an electrical circuit, stepping up and stepping down the power. The capacity to heal is therefore powerful but it needs to be harnessed in a way that the amount of energy given out or taken in would not damage the healer or client. Physical therapies would therefore be attractive, if there was a mechanism to do this within it – like I found in several of the therapies I trained in. The ability to see into the murky depths of any person or situation does give an unnerving skill to see to the truth or possibilities available. This can be used in psychological investigations, counselling and mentoring. Venus in Scorpio is very much the ‘Lady of the Lamp’ who can show the soul the way forward.

I think the depth of perception is what makes many people scared of me, both men and women. I always thought this was because of the strong Uranian energy that I carry (the rebel, the square-peg-in-a-round-hole who never fits in and was never meant to!), but now I am not so sure. Having learned the hard way to ground and anchor my personal energies to keep me safe, I forget how this must come across to others, especially those I do not know well.

So what of this Saturn transiting natal Venus in Scorpio? Certainly, this time, the financial security is not there (downturn and all!). Other areas of life are steady, at the moment. The current trend with Saturn started at the end of January 2013 and leaves my Venus at the end of October 2013. Saturn will be here to anchor the Venusian energies, allowing them to become manifest in the world. It is also certainly marking a time of reassessment and reappraisal.

Being well into my ‘crone years’ it may be no surprise that I have been drawn back to exploring the nature of what are called the ‘Dark Goddesses’, those creative embodiments of merciless clarity, reflected in what I see as the ‘Venus in Scorpio’ energy. They give the ability to wield power with compassion to heal and transform oneself and then maybe allow anything that is left to ooze out, into the world.

 Over the coming months I will be blogging on the Dark Goddesses from differing cultures and belief systems – so watch this space.

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Facets of The Spring Equinox Goddess and her Dragons

Posted in Astrology, Dragons, Earth Healing, Equinox, Goddess, Spiritual Growth, Visualisation, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2013| 1 Comment »

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My book ‘The Sovereignty Year’ * (linked to the Sovereignty Essences**) describes the facets of the Goddess for each of the 4 solar stations of the year and the 4 quarter-days between. In the book the facets are given Celtic or Arthurian names, but each has a resonance worldwide.

Spring Equinox (20/21st March)

The archetype in Arthurian Grail legends is Kundry where she is described as a wild woman, an ugly crone who challenges Gawain. She also appears in Wagner’s ‘Parcifal’ in a similar role. The name ‘Kundry’ itself is derived from the German for ‘news’ or ‘information’ (Kunde). Indeed although depicted as an ugly woman she is also described as wealthy and learned.

In many Celtic tales she is referred to as the ‘Loathly Damsel’ whom the hero is often required to kiss. When he does, her ugly form will then dissipate and she is transformed into a beautiful woman. As a facet of Sovereignty (the Goddess of the Land) any aspiring king or knight must embrace her in her worst aspect in order to have the authority to rule. This can also been seen as a need to love the Land in winter, which allows the flowing season of spring to appear!

The Loathly Damsel also appears in the folk songs, like ‘King Henry’first recorded by Steeleye Span in 1972

Click Here

In this song ‘King Henry’, Henry is challenged to do the ugly crone’s bidding, which he does, to the letter, and is rewarded.

“Take off your clothes now King Henry
And lie down by my side,
Now swear, now swear you King Henry
To take me for your bride.
Oh God forbid, says King Henry,
That ever the like betide,
That ever a fiend that comes from hell
Should stretch down by my side.

When the night was gone and the day was come
And the sun shone through the hall,
The fairest lady that ever was seen
Lay between him and the wall.
I’ve met with many a gentle knight
That gave me such a fill,
But never before with a courteous knight
That gave me all my will”

This type of ‘challenge’ made to men is present in many cultures and many legends and reflects the ancient tradition of women holding the power and ‘ownership’ of the Land. In Egypt, for example, the pharaohs only ruled by the power of Maat – the goddess of judgment and balance. If he did not meet her requirements, he did not rule.

It has only been since the balance between male and female was lost, that men have taken over that role of ruling and ownership alone and in the process have tended to subjugate and denigrate their role to bolster their own. Regrettably many religions, business and goverments continue to regard women in this lowly way.

The energy behind the goddesses of the Spring Equinox epitomises knowledge, challenge, teaching and destiny.
Kundry is regarded as a guardian of tradition and has no qualms of getting down to do the most difficult of tasks. She has clarity and compassion, but is also thought of as wrathful or ‘black, indicative of the amount of power she wields, rather like Kali of the Mahavidyas and Hindu mythology.

Kundry represents the voice of the Earth and therefore the voice of Sovereignty. When approached in the right way she has much to teach much about how we approach experience. One way is to embrace everything and look at life as a play of the Elements, another is to study theories. One way is to know things intellectually and the other to know things from the center of our being. This reflects the duality of the spiritual path, a recognition of the balance of male/female within.

The Spring Equinox energy also has close links with serpents and dragons, with all the mythology that both entail.

Visualisation from’ The Sovereignty Year’

Kundry’s Dragons

1. Begin by settling your body into a comfortable position.
2. On each outbreath relax your body
3. Imagine yourself in a small clearing within a wood, surrounded by trees with spring flowers bursting from the ground beneath your feet.
4. Follow that pathway before you and begin to walk into the wood.
5. The further you go, the more rugged the ground. You come across a stream that is running very fast.
6. Centre yourself, and ask for help from the Earth elemental energies, to enable you to cross the stream.
7. Before you, stepping stones emerge from the waters and you can then safely walk across.
8. Continue following the path until you come to a place where a veil of ivy bars your way.
9. Sweep away the ivy and you see before you a tree stump, framed by two other trees.
10. As your vision clears, you notice that there is a silver dragon entwined around one tree and a gold one around the other.
11. On the tree stump you can see a hologram of moving and changing lights and energies, and you draw nearer for a closer look.
12. In the ever-moving spherical hologram you see people, places, the future and the past.
13. Centre yourself once again, closing your eyes.
14. When you open them again, the hologram has changed to a view of far-off galaxies that move to engulf you.
15. Concentrating on the trees around you, you become aware of the dragons speaking to you.
16. Stay here for a while. Listen first to the gold dragon, then the silver. Listen to what they say and look closely at anything that is offered to you.
17. When you are ready to leave, thank the dragons and see them merge before your eyes and dissolve into the galaxies and stars.
18. You find yourself, once again, on the shores of the fast running stream. The stepping stones are still visible, but as you use them to cross over, they disappear from sight.
19. You retrace your steps to the clearing in the wood, noticing the beauty of the flowers.
20. Stay still for a few moments and then bring yourself out of the visualisation.

* Hardcopy version of ‘The Sovereignty Year’ is available from:
greenmanshop.co.uk

*PDF version is available from TreeSeer.com

** Essences are available from: greenmanshop.co.uk

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Kuwait: Sovereignty and Dragon work

Posted in Earth Healing, tagged , , , , , , on April 16, 2012| 1 Comment »

A group of tutors from the UK, Spain and Greece were invited to present a conference in Kuwait in the autumn of  2009 and I  guessed we were in for something special as the weekend was not only Samhain/Hallowe’en but there was also the Full Moon.

Twenty years previously Kuwait had been invaded by Iraq and many people fled to Saudi Arabia to safety. The invasion resulted in the Sovereignty of Kuwait (the goddess of the Land) being damaged and one of the reasons for the conference was to try to bring some healing to Kuwait.

On the first day I in Kuwait tried to contact the Sovereignty representative of Kuwait and to try to find the main dragon energy. This was not easy. Eventually a young woman in her 20’s appeared, initially with the full, black clothing we associate with women in some Islamic countries. I sat with her for a while and then her dress changed into something more traditional and akin to Bedouin clothing, but mostly brown in colour. I asked here where her dragon was and she cried, saying she had lost it.

The second session involved my trying to find the dragon. I did eventually, thanks to someone from the UK dragon group who emailed me to say she thought the dragon was buried. It took a while to extricate it, but it was a dark green colour interspersed with others colour – a bit like the crystal labradorite. It was not injured in any way. So with the Sovereignty Representative and the dragon together, the first job was to check the Kuwaiti borders. They were faint to non-existent in places, but with some clearing and focus they gradually became full of light.

At this point I also spoke to a colleague from Scotland who had also travelled out to Kuwait to present at the conference. She had taken her crystal skulls with her and I noticed that the jade skull was the same colour shades as the Kuwaiti dragon. She confirmed that she too works with dragons. On the final day of the conference she did a presentation which involved some drumming. When the drumming beat settled into something I could journey to, I found myself immediately in a large circle of women, two or three deep, around a small campfire. Behind the women were the glowing eyes of dragons. In the centre, on her own, dancing around the fire was the Kuwaiti Sovereignty. It was a very beautiful sight, so timeless and so important.

At the time we thought it would be interesting to see what happened over the next month and then over the next 13 months as something started at a full moon often takes a lunar year to really activate.

Well, a year later I was invited back, with my husband, to Kuwait for a week’s teaching and part of the programme we gave was an evening working with Preseli Bluestone. (Preseli Bluestone has strong links with all dragon energies and is a useful earth healing stone.)

We completed our lesson plan and decided to finish with a meditation. The group decided that the focus would be Kuwait, the country, (interesting given the work we has all done the previous year!). We decided to employ one of the patterns we worked with a few weeks before near Exeter. We had 18 people in Kuwait and moved their chairs into a teardrop shape with an empty chair with a single stone at the narrow end. At the centre of gravity of the teardrop we placed an Earth Protector/Earth Goddess energy card on the floor.

We talked the participants into a relaxed state. We then asked them to put their awareness into the stones they held and then to focus on the card.

The result was spectacular.

Nearly everyone either felt or ‘saw’ a vortex open up going into the earth and light pouring into the Land.
People reported they could feel the ripple effect of the energy. Indeed several said they could still feel it a couple of days after.
Many in the group decided to do regular Land meditations, like this, to continue to help to heal Kuwait. As someone said – Kuwait lost its heart after the Iraqi invasion – which considering that had its roots in British Colonial meddlings in the past, it was appropriate that energy from the UK should help with the healing………

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First Oriental Meeting

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 9, 2012| 2 Comments »

A journey to Japan was not on my ‘to do’ list, the subject of travelling there had simply not entered my mind.

Several years ago, therefore finding myself in Tokyo in mid-March left me somewhat bemused and mystified, though pleased to be greeted by the last few days of the cherry blossom.

I woke shorty after dawn, that first morning, courtesy of the time difference, and being in a relaxed state, my awareness shifted easily.

I became aware of a beautiful woman, dressed in traditional Japanese style. I guessed whom she might be from my experience of travelling through Europe, where I had become used to meeting local aspects of the Goddess of the Land, or Sovereignty, as landscapes and named areas and places changed.

I asked if there was anything I could do for her. She gestured that healing was required and immediately a small dragon appeared near her. It was injured and without really knowing what to do, I started to sew flesh and sinew together, followed by some ‘hands-on’ healing. The dragon then swooped off, flying little circles in the air and disappeared.

Later during that first visit to Japan I journeyed to Lake Ashinoko, near Mt Hakone and the dragon shrine Hakone-jinja. The water from the shrine seemed to be very powerful, a water dragon energy. Some of this water was preserved in vodka to help me in the future.

The strange events of this first visit to Japan were kept a secret, however during a subsequent visit, my efforts to continue to hide those events from the notice of failed. On a visit to Mt Fuji there was an unexpected detour to a small shrine on the north side of the mountain. This shrine is known as Fujiyoshida’s Sengen Shrine and is dedicated to the Shinto deity of Mt Fuji – Princess Konohanasakuya. As in previous visits to shrines, I took part in a small ceremony. As the ceremony started I began to look around the main room. To my left I noticed a painting (in itself unusual). I realised this was the woman who had come to me that very first morning in Japan.

I was stunned.

It hit me so hard, I started to cry! I managed to blurt out a question between between sobs ‘ ‘who is that?’ The answer came back – this painting was of Konohansakuya-hime herself.

It started to dawn on me that maybe being in Japan was no accident, no quirk of fate………….

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