Preface

In the beginning was the Goddess; being completely female, completely male, completely balanced, completely whole.

Unto her were born the land, the sea, and the sky; the heat of the flaming sun, and the bright shining orb of the moon among an ocean of stars.

She brought forth the plants and trees, the flying ones, the life of the waters, and all manner of breathing creature.

She gave birth to sons and daughters who were the children of Nature. In time they developed culture, and the ability to create as she creates.

She is all things, the source of all that lives, and unto her all things must return.

It is her lessons we have come to speak of. It is her lessons that are taught to us by the living force of Nature. And so through the cycles of Nature do we find worship of her.

Winter Solstice Story

The Winter Solstice is a time of completion; a time of ending and of a new beginning.

Since the Crone's journey at Samhain she has been waiting in the Otherworld with the Child of Light growing within her womb.

She has waited alone, sitting hearthside in contemplation of her life with only her memories to keep her company. Tonight, the longest night of the year, she is joined by her sisters and, like the Solstice wreath; the circle will soon be complete.

Within the chill of Midwinter the aging Goddess labors in childbed. Her cries are those of the Earth itself, frozen in the silence of winter's slumber.

She fights to bring her child into the world. Her sisters, the Maiden and the Mother, attend to her as midwives, speaking in soothing tones and wiping her forehead lovingly. They have all, in turn, carried this child. Only the Crone, with the help of her sisters, can bring the pregnancy to completion. They have come to be together for the first time all year to witness this special birth.

The Crone's wrinkled face contorts and she clenches her tired eyes in a final effort. Suddenly the laboring woman’s cries are quieted and a child enters the world.

Tears of joy spread like a wave. The child is the Goddess reborn, the culmination of a year's worth of work and the total sum of the three aspects in one.

With the birth of this child comes the birth of the Sun. The Light has returned to the Earth.

The Goddess is eternal, like the evergreen that's boughs show life in the depths of winter's darkness when all other trees appear lifeless. She changes but never truly dies.

At this season we give gifts to honor the Goddess in each of us, to recall that in all things the Goddess is complete.

We come together to sing back the Light and feast in friendship; to remember the promise of rebirth, and to know that joy is never beyond our reach.

A blessed Solstice to all people and to all of Creation.

Labels: Tridean Tradition, Writings

A note from this author's publicist was recently sent to my inbox. I have not read the book so I can not express my feelings on it just yet. It does look like something worth checking out though.

From my inbox: "Penned by Canadian author Tim Ward, Savage Breast, One Man's Search for the Goddess, is an honest and raw look at one man's growing awareness of his own deeply buried misogyny, his frustrated longing for women, and at the sametime his desperate fear of women and love. It examines how Western men may have damaged themselves by cutting themselves off from a feminine divine, and how earlier cultures viewed and worshipped their goddesses. Filled with amazing pictures of little known ancient Goddess temples and statues from around the world, Savage Breast is a fascinating mix of archaeology, travel, psychology, mythology ... and a love story as well."

Labels: Book Discussion and Review, Misc. News

Ah... well hello there. As I'm sure you've all noticed I've been rather uninspired as of late and finding myself hard pressed to type a single blogworthy word. Maybe it's all those Solstice cookies bringing out the sloth in me. Mmm... frosted cutouts and peanut butter kiss cookies. Or maybe all that present wrapping is giving me carpal tunnel. Maybe I'm just feeling quiet at this special time of year. Whatever the cause I was tickled out of my Yule-tide coma this morning by a cheeky article about an equally cheeky book by the British "Authors Benrik".

While the article and the authors are having some fun, I found a bit of seriousness to ponder. From the article: "Part of the problem is that a single God is too remote. Omniscience notwithstanding, we stand little chance of catching his eye, let alone interacting with him in any useful way."

Interesting comment. I don't think having one god is the problem. The conflict lies more in the concept of being separate from that god. The business of being "too remote" and whatnot can cause that disconnected, discontented feeling that is bound to come when people suppose that god is somehow outside of themselves. I think the Goddess teaches very different lessons.

The Goddess teaches that we are Her, that we are all one, and that we can connect to Her at any time without the need of an intermediary. Hmm... imagine that. Having a single deity doesn't seem so bad after all. Add to that all the interesting and inspiring manifestations of deity to learn from and you've got yourself one beautiful monotheistic, multi-layered, super-filling cheesecake. I say pop the button on your jeans and take another bite.

Labels: Goddess

Tim LaHaye is the author of the Left Behind series of books about the End Times. Apparently he's decided to start targeting America's youngsters with a new video game all about destroying the forces of evil - i.e anyone who isn't a fanatical, evangelical Xtian. Go here for more on this: http://www.leftbehind.com. Then you can click the title of this post to sign a petition to get this video game removed from Wal-Mart. Too bad I also saw it at Best Buy the other day.

If you feel like upping your heart rate and making your palms sweat, while trying to hold in the urge to scream at the television, you can watch Tim LaHaye featured on the Biography Channel on December 18th.

Tim Exchanges Xmas Gifts with "The Big Guy"

Tim LaHaye: Happy Birthday Jesus. I hope you like your gift. It's the Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game where people actually get killed for not believing in you. Isn't that awesome?

Jesus: Um... well Tim, I've already told you how disturbing I found the ideas in your series of books. I don't think I really want to play this game.

TL: Oh come on Jesus. It'll be fun. We can kill all the Catholics, Muslims, and Pagans. Whoever you want.

J: Yeah, you see... that's sort of the problem Tim. I tried to teach people to get along. You know, the whole "love-your-neighbor-thing".

TL: Neighbor-schmeighbor. This is more fun. Plus, I'm making a ton of money off of the American public.

J: Hmm... it's seems you've become the head thief in the den.

TL: Huh?

J: Mark 11:15.

TL: What?

J: Dude, have you even read the Bible? What you should've started this conversation with was "Happy Birthday Jesus. I hope you like crap".

Labels: Misc. News