Artisan and writer Maia Heissler is the creator of a charming sub-culture of elfin creatures called “The Forest Friends.”  A pleasure to contemplate for all ages, she constructs these magical beings from natural materials and arranges them in dioramas of earth-connected and harmonious activities.  As lifelong companion to the “wild places and wild things” in her own backyard, her beautiful rune stone set (Lifestones) came about by allowing space for the deep meaning inherent in the movements of animals and the shapes of leaves, roots and branches to come to her as insights which she translated into beautiful symbols.  Maia’s goal is to re-sensitize people to the wisdom of nature and inspire us to love the earth, and  her recent book "Wild Things for the Soul" does just that with its blend of spiritual memoir, nature writing and DIY modalities.  

This year on my March 17 birthday (the day of the Celtic green!) I looked out over the expanse of drab lawn uncovered by the recently melted snow and saw that the robins had returned.  Spring enfolds very slowly here in central Ontario.  The robins touched with red busily foraging and the tiny buds barely visible on the highest branches are the first hopeful signs of renewal and rebirth.  Year after year, ravaged by the cold in myriad ways (I don't like winter) it's no wonder that I resonate with Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and her monumental struggles.  In the discovery of Her story and the deep meaning inherent, I found a myth that speaks to my own experiences with hibernation and illness, and my emergence into the light of recovery and transformation.

In Greek mythology, the maiden Persephone, daughter of the harvest Goddess Demeter, is abducted and raped by Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.  Facing abuse, adversity, and the bleakness of her new home, she still manages to find her true self and embody the dark and mysterious persona of Hades' new wife and Queen of the Underworld.  In the meantime, Demeter searches desperately for her daughter.  She neglects to nurture the land in the process, and the earth becomes a wasteland barren of crops or vegetation.  Eventually Persephone is rescued by her mother, but because she was tempted by Hades to eat pomegranate seeds, she must return to the Underworld every half-year.  Persephone now divides her time between the upper and lower worlds, with an awareness and existence in both the dimensions of the living and the dead.  She cannot return to her original innocence, as she has eaten the seeds of death and knowledge and has evolved from Maiden to Queen. 
 

The Persephone myth contains many layers of meaning for us today, and working with the story of her descent into darkness we learn that our own experience of powerlessness can be our greatest teacher.  When we are betrayed by our own bodies or by dire circumstance, we enter into an Underworld of disability and pain, and lose our yang energy and the ability to act of our own free will.   But like Persephone, when we surrender to the deep currents and dark places of our misplaced fears, many gifts and blessings can be found.  We quickly learn to trust and honour the mysterious workings of our bodies at a deep cellular level, which is very grounding and humbling.  We learn to trust our own unique purpose which may (or may not) include a healing crisis. We learn to slow down, to recognize our limitations and appreciate the small things in life, like the gestures of kindness and the everyday places we take for granted.  Illness becomes our teacher and the greatest gift is the "turning within" which occurs.  When in this yin mode we experience the peace at the heart of the world.  Peeling back the layers, we come close to the Divine Plan and can feel the location of the "key to the soul" - the sacred energies that are at play in our lives.   What at first feels like the push of The Dark Goddess into a life-shattering experience transforms into Her embrace!

As Daughters of the Goddess, we can keep the themes of Persephone's story close to our hearts.  She is the "green fuse" in our soul, and represents the regenerative energy and potential for growth and transformation.  Looking deep into the language of the myth we can develop the skills to transform ourselves as we adapt to all of our experiences, both light and dark, and move toward wholeness and awareness.  Persephone teaches us that at our core we are of the highest ultimate value, and have an intrinsic self-worth.   No longer afraid of the shadows in the Underworld, we have embraced the holy darkness, and claiming all parts of our soul, emerge into the light with joy and love both for ourselves and others. It is time to bloom, to ripen, to embrace our full power and celebrate our extraordinary triumph after a long and painful struggle.

For me, Persephone ultimately evokes springtime, sunshine and liberation! She symbolizes the recurring patterns and gravitations within my own self.  In Her name I acknowledge the healing of the feminine and honour our transitions, the cosmic dance of all  life,  and the sacred cycles of the seasons.  As surely as spring follows winter, and as the richness of the darkness moves creatively into the light, if we can surrender to our transformation nothing is ever lost.




unfurling first - the buds of willow
the grass - a thick carpet of green
the birds - can't stop their joyful singing
Persephone has returned!

In that spirit, I was taken by surprise to see a gorgeous miniature book entitled Wicca: Ancient Feminine Magic in one of my local recycling shops.   Not passed down to me from mysterious ancestors, but priced at $1, a unique find nonetheless!  A welcome addition to my magical library, it contains many inspirational passages such as this:

"Open the door.  There is magic in the wind outside, chanting to you.  The ways of Wicca are of pleasure and delight.  Approach Wicca with love and respect.  Learn to pay attention and listen to the world around you. Mother Earth holds many secrets in her bosom.  These secrets are whispered to those who will listen."

You just never know what you might find (or what might find you) in with those curios and clear-outs.   Blessings in Her!

Sky Woman Falls to Earth

In the beginning there was no earth to live on, but up above in the Sky World, there was a woman, Sky Woman, who dreamed dreams.  One night she fell through a hole in the sky and fell downward toward the great emptiness. There was nothing below her but a heaving ocean of water. The beaver, the otter, the muskrat and the turtle saw her fall, and fearing that she would drown, sent a flock of ducks to catch her.  The ducks flew underneath Sky Woman, caught her on their backs and set her safely down on the turtle’s shell.

After she had rested she told the animals what must be done.  She said that she needed soil which could be obtained from the bottom of the sea that covered the world.  The strong beaver was the first to go down toward the bottom.  He was gone for a very long time, until finally his drowned body floated to the surface.  The otter considered himself to be a much better swimmer than the beaver and he was the second to make the attempt.  He was down for an even longer time, and when his body surfaced he too was dead.  Finally, the muskrat attempted the dive.  He was underwater even longer than the otter, but his body eventually floated to the surface.  Sky Woman discovered a tiny piece of soil in the crevice of the muskrat’s paw, and she sprinkled this on the edge of the turtle’s shell.

As Sky Woman slept, the world grew from the edge of the turtle’s shell and extended as far as one could see in every direction.  By the time she awoke there were willows growing along the edge of the world, and they were the first trees to grow upon the earth.  The birds and the animals rushed about building countries and continents, until, in the end, they had made the whole earth, while all the time Sky Woman was riding safely on turtle’s back.  And the turtle holds the Earth up to this very day!



See the Goddess Series and more from this award-winning artist at www.davidparson.ca

“The process of creating is what sustains me, what connects me to my authentic self.  With divinity we grow…..to grace we aspire…..in love we cherish the day.”   David Parson

Way back in December of 1987, I wrote a poem entitled Women Are the Only Hope in a meditative moment.  Little did I know that the title would be the wording and precursor to a concept that would later appear in the collective consciousness, and expressed by (among others) Mendelson Joe!

I am lucky, in my life, to have side-stepped the church and organized religion.  At a very early age my Sunday-school experience felt deeply wrong.  I rejected the church completely, and luckily no one pressured me to return to the flock. So, as a free and unburdened spirit I spent years shedding the conditioning of the dominant society that keeps us all separated from what is truly important - the embrace of a spiritual path unique to each individual and an overwhelming love for the land. Accessing my own inner knowing and wisdom through reflection, meditation, dreams, oracles and intuitive affirmation was a big part of the process.  When I discovered contemporary Goddess literature and archaeology my joy was complete.  Among other eye-openers, I will never forget the electric moment of seeing ancient matriarchal carvings and Paleolithic goddesses for the first time in Lucy Lippard’s Overlay.   In the college library that day, the door opened to a NEW version of history - a woman-empowered history – and a feminine view of diety.    THERE SHE WAS - She had been there all along, waiting, and after all that seeking, the Goddess embraced me, and I embraced HER with all of my body, mind and soul.

For me, Divinity has always been a sacred presence, a circle around me encompassing all directions, guiding and illuminating, sensed as beauty and unconditional love, with the strongest connection happening when I spend time in nature away from the distractions of the left-brain world.   Wild nature is truly the lens through which myth, magic, and the sacred appear.  My bond to nature is a luminous connection and I am Gaia's daughter - She is my first love ever and always.    "Whenever I go into wild nature I renew my wedding vows."   In  nature it becomes crystal clear that the divine presence emanating from and animating the natural world and indeed, the entire universe, is FEMININE - abundant, fertile, yin, cyclic, ever-renewing, forgiving, and above all, loving and nurturing.  All things are born and nurtured by a mother - this love and nurture is the great cosmic principle of all life.  It is so obvious, yet our civilization, based on 2000-plus years of patriarchal rule, has tried very hard to conceal this great and beautiful feminine truth.  It is time to realign ourselves, men or women, with the Great Mother, to bring the principles of the Divine Feminine back into our lives, to recover what has been lost, and to bring a much-needed balance back into the world.

This chant invokes Her presence, Her embrace, Her counsel - open to the visions and the joy!

Holy Wisdom
Mother of the Universe
Mother of Creation
Mother of Divinity
Mother of Creative Potential
Mother of Sacred Silence
Mother of the Mysteries
Mother of the Cosmic Embrace
Mother of Unconditional Love
Mother of all the Gods
Mother of the Earth and all Her creatures
Be With Me Now
Bless me with your wisdom
Bless me with your vision
Bless me with your healing
Bestow upon me your grace
Bestow upon me your protection
Bestow upon me your joy
Bestow upon me your guidance
As I adore and honor thee
So be it
Blessed Be