12/20/2011

Solstice Blessings!


The Earth Mother sleeps deeply within the cave of Her inner self,
waiting for the moment of awakening to the light of rebirth.

12/12/2011

Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe


This photo honors "Our Lady of Guadalupe" on her Feast Day, whom many believe is the modern-day representation of a much older Deity: "Tonantzin", or "Mother Earth" of the Nahuan people.

"I will demonstrate, I will exhibit,
I will give all my love, my compassion,
my help and my protection to the people.
I am your merciful mother,
the merciful mother of all of you
who live united in this land,
and of all mankind, of all those who love me ,
of those who cry to me, of those who seek me,
of those who have confidence in me.
Here I will hear their weeping,
their sorrow and will remedy and alleviate
all their multiple sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."


Articles:
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Wikipedia
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Tonantzin or the Virgin Mary?
Who is Our Lady of Guadalupe?

12/09/2011

Lunar Eclipse

(photo copyright Raval)

An entire month's worth of mystery will be experienced in a few hours during tomorrow's lunar eclipse. In certain areas, it will also include the chance to view a rare selenelion - where the sun and the moon may both be viewed at the same time. Read more at the link below:

12/08/2011

Correspondence Courses ~ Priestess Training & Goddess Mysteries


A reminder that applications for our Jan 1st enrollment to our Temple of Learning need to be in soon - by Dec. 15th. Scholarships are still available (full and partial). Many Blessings In Her Name!


12/04/2011

MFA Boston opens new Indian/Southeast Asian Galleries

Durga as Mahishasuramardini (Buffalo Demon Slayer)
© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

"Two new galleries are set to open at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this month. One will celebrate rare sculptural works from India and neighboring countries (South Asia) and Southeast Asia. The other will showcase rotations of the rich painting traditions of India, Korea, the Himalayas, and Persia beginning with an important collection of Indian works in the exhibition Gems of Rajput Painting. The two new galleries will reflect a broad range of cultures—from Iran to the west and Indonesia to the east, and from the Himalayas to the north and Sri Lanka to the south. . ."




Links to other articles may be found in our Sharing Section:  In Her Name

11/30/2011

Hymn to Kunapipi


Great Kunapipi,
I do not forget you
as I climb back into your holy womb
to make contact with my spirit soul,
crawling into the crescent vessel
of your protection
dug deep into the soil of your body,
carved into the precious earth beneath me.

I beckon to my spirit soul
which lives within you
until my time of finishing this life
and though I leave your womb
at this initiation time,
though I choose to climb out
from your nurturing warmth,
to live my years of life,
I ask you to care for my spirit soul
until my return
so that after my passing from this life
my two spirits may be reunited in you,
before you send me forth again
to once more live on earth.

Dear Kunapipi,
no matter how far I wander,
how many lives I live,
to you I shall always return.

(Traditional Australian Aboriginal)

 
From the Devotions of the Goddess in the Honor Section

11/27/2011

Temple of Learning - Enrollment Period


 We are currently accepting applications for Jan 1st enrollment to our correspondence school.  Due to the holiday, the closing date for this enrollment period is a little earlier - on Dec. 15th.  Full and partial scholarships available.  Goddess Blessings!

11/24/2011


"Gratitude is the music of the heart,
when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness."
~Author Unknown

11/21/2011

The Valley Spirit


"The Valley Spirit never dies,
It is named the Mysterious Female.
And the doorway of the Mysterious Female
Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang.
It is there within us all the while;
Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry."

Lao-Tzu
(translation: A. Waley)

11/15/2011

Kwan Yin


Kwan Yin (She Who Hears the Cries of the World)
reminds us to have compassion for all beings,
not only those we love,
and also - compassion for yourself. 



(photo by Jpatokal at Daien-in Temple, Japan)

11/13/2011

Reminder: Temple of Learning

There is one week before this month's enrollment deadline:

For those interested in our home-study courses, please know that we are currently accepting applications for our Dec. 1st enrollment date, and will be doing so until November 21st. Scholarships (full and partial) are also still available:

11/12/2011

Life of Flowers



The Goddess is often associated with flowers.  Watch them unfold in this beautiful video:

11/11/2011

Mnemosyne


Mnemosyne: Mother of the Muses and Goddess of Memory



(painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

11/09/2011


Take a moment today to see the touch of the Earth Mother.

11/07/2011

Research to analyze the images of women in Roman mosaics


"The most significant aspect of these images is the different roles they reflect and their contribution to the construction of certain stereotypes, not just in the Roman world, but also throughout history and up to the present"



Research other articles in our "Sharing" section:  In Her Name

(Photo Credit: UC3M)

11/05/2011

Hymn to Cihuacoatl

 

Traditional Aztec Hymn to Cihua-coatl:


Serpent Woman, plumed with eagle feathers,
with the crest of eagles, comes,
beating her drum, from the Place of the Old.
She alone, who is our flesh,
goddess of the fields and shrubs, is strong to support us.
Our mother is as twelve eagles,
goddess of drums calling the gods, filling the fields.
She is our mother - a goddess of war,
our mother, a companion from the Home of Ancestors.
She comes forth, she appears when war is waged,
she protects us in war that we be not destroyed,
an example and companion from the Home of the Ancestors.
She comes adorned in the ancient manner with the eagle's crest,
in the ancient manner with the eagle's crest!


Devotion from the Honor the Goddess section

11/03/2011

Temple of Learning - Enrollment Period

For those interested in our home-study courses, please know that we are currently accepting applications for our Dec. 1st enrollment date, and will be doing so until November 21st. Scholarships (full and partial) are also still available:

11/01/2011

Aphrodite Exhibit


The Goddess of Love is highlighted at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts: “This exhibit is the first ever to consider how visual representations of Aphrodite evolved across antiquity.”



Photo:  "Aphrodite of Capua"

Honoring the Ancestors


Remembering the ancestors,
and the path that they have walked before us.

10/30/2011

Dia de los Muertos

Over the next few days, there are many honoring and celebrating different holidays, such as Samhain, Hallowmas, and All Souls Day. In our part of the world (Sonoran Desert), this time is also known as Dia de los Muertos, or the "Day of the Dead."

This day goes back over 3,500 years in Mexico, as well as many parts of the U.S., Central America and Spain. It was presided over by the Lady of the Dead, the Aztec Goddess Mictecacihuatl. Other names for Her include: La Catrina (see photo), La Flaca, La Huesuda, and La Pelona (Fancy, Skinny, Bony, and Baldy Lady). Ultimately, She is the expression of La Muerte - Death.

People observe this day by dancing and wearing wooden skull masks known as calacas. This is done to show respect for their relatives who have passed over. Family gravesites and altars are decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds, candles, food, and other items specific to the ancestors' past occupations and what they enjoyed.

This festival actually takes place over many days, beginning with the spirits of the children (angelitos) arriving the night of October 31st. The spirits of the adults follow soon after on November 1st. After a family meal on November 2nd, they are all bid a fond farewell until the following year.

Blessings to you and your ancestors!

10/27/2011

Happy Diwali!


Some beautiful photos of the Hindu Diwali are found on this page:




(photo: copyright AP / A. Solanki.)

10/26/2011

New Moon Blessings!



The slightest tendril of light can reveal the potential in darkness.

Etruscan pottery sherd




Found in Poggio Colla, Italy by a blind archeologist: "thought to hold the ruins of a 2,700-year-old pilgrimage site or religious sanctuary for an underworld deity." See the link below for more details.

10/23/2011

Hymn to Ishtar

Akkadian Hymn to Ishtar
(Translated by F. J. Stephens)

She is clothed with pleasure and love.
She is laden with vitality, charm, and voluptuousness.
Ishtar is clothed with pleasure and love.
She is laden with vitality, charm, and voluptuousness.
In lips she is sweet; life is in her mouth.
At her appearance rejoicing becomes full.
She is glorious; veils are thrown over her head.
Her figure is beautiful; her eyes are brilliant.
The goddess - with her there is counsel.
The fate of everything she holds in her hand.
At her glance there is created joy,
power, magnificence, the protecting deity and guardian spirit.
She dwells in, she pays heed to compassion and friendliness.
Besides, agreeableness she truly possesses.
Be it slave, unattached girl, or mother, she preserves (her).
One calls on her; among women one names her name.
Who - to her greatness who can be equal?
Strong, exalted, splendid are her decrees.
Ishtar - to her greatness who can be equal?
Strong, exalted, splendid are her decrees.
She is sought after among the gods;
extraordinary is her station.
Respected is her word; it is supreme over them.
Ishtar among the gods, extraordinary is her station.
Respected is her word; it is supreme over them.


Honor the Goddess - Devotional Section In Her Name

Lion of Ishtar


One of the lions on Ishtar's Gate.

10/15/2011

Temple Detail


Column detail of Hathor Temple.
Hail Lady of the House of Jubilation,
The One Who Fills the Sanctuary with Joy,
Mistress of the West and Lady of the Sycamore!

Temple of Hathor


Temple of the Goddess Hathor, Egypt.

Photo courtesy of Sacred Sites.com and included on this page:  Hathor Temple


Student application deadline

Just a reminder that we are nearing the end of the Nov. 1st enrollment date for our Temple of Learning home-study courses. Those student applications received after this Friday (the 21st) will be saved and processed for our Dec. 1st enrollment. If you have any questions please let us know. Thank you, and many Blessings In Her Name!

10/11/2011

Full Moon Blessings


Nighthawk flies on shifting strands of moonbeams and stardust.
Blessings of the Full Moon in Aries to all:
May She inspire the fire of creativity within you!

Sarasvati Vandana


Saraswati Vandana

May Goddess Saraswati,
Who is bedecked with white kunda flowers,
Who has worn pure white clothes resembling snow and moon,
Who is holding a veena as her danda or instrument
to draw the attention of her devotees/students,
Who is sitting on a white lotus
And one who is worshipped at all times by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
May she remove my laziness and ignorance.
My salutations to such a Goddess of knowledge.



Enjoy more devotions to the Goddess in the "Honor" section of our site: In Her Name

The Swan of Sarasvati


The Goddess Sarasvati sometimes rides upon a swan, which is said to be able to discern untainted milk, from milk mixed with water. This symbolizes the ability to recognize pure wisdom for the benefit of all beings.

Reminder: Temple of Learning

We are currently accepting applications for the Nov. 1st enrollment in our home-study school.

Please see this section for more information:  Temple of Learning

Traditional Ute Earth Prayer


Ute Earth Prayer

Earth teach me quiet, as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering, as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility, as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring, as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage, as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation, as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom, as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance, as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal, as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself, as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness, as dry fields weep with rain.

Photo:  Ute rock art.

See the Devotions pages in the Honor Section of our website for more prayers:  In Her Name

Welcome!

All are welcomed In Her Name,
and In Her Name, all are Blessed!


The beautiful painting currently on the entrance page of our website is by Montserrat.