Maiden, Mother, Crone. Each of these symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the Moon. In this weekend, I touched the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone in backwards order, reminding me of the triple-headed Goddess Hecate. Hecate stands at the three thresholds, at the place of intersections, of transitions, from the beauty of youth to the ripening of motherhood to the wisdom of the aging.
Hecate and the lunar phases
We also stood at the place of intersections, of transitions, at three thresholds this weekend. Not only was it the intersection of of the solstice and the strawberry moon, but a third, more unusual thing was happening – a major lunar standstill which only occurs every 18.6 years. This is a moment of stillness that can grant us unusual insights.
We find the Crone waiting for us at the Charming Owl in LaPorte, inviting us to begin our full moon ceremony. Elsbeth teaches us higher wisdom in these ceremonies, wisdom she has strengthened over time and is sharing with us on this day. We leave the expected donation in the box for the energy transfer. This offering is the way we develop generosity and open our heart chakras to receive her wisdom. We write down our hopes and prayers and place them in a bowl.
Selenite Tower with my Blue Fairy Agate Crystal charm attached
She has decorated an altar with white cloth and flowers, a tower of selenite capturing the light from outside the window. We each bring a gift for the altar, something the spirit called us to share with each other. She asks us to scoot closer and draws a circle of protection around us. There are only three of us seeking wisdom tonight, so together we form a circle of four. She invites the spirit guides and angels to surround us. We pass around the talking stick and share with each other what is in our heart. Each of us brought a poem. She teaches us about the significance of the season and leads us in a meditation. We all closed our eyes and concentrated on sending positive energy out of our heart chakras and into the bowl of hopes and prayers, which was unexpectedly full due to the buildup over months. An unexpected blessing for joy came over Elsbeth. As she shared with us, we all felt the energy running through us from our open palms. After this, we all felt filled by the spirit and sang a song together that Elsbeth taught us before opening the circle up for us to depart.
The next night, a group of four of us joined a ceremony and drum circle on the beach to celebrate this lunar event. On this night, a couple dozen people of varying types, but mostly women, gathered in camp chairs around a fire. A man fed the flames while the two female spiritual leaders led us in a spiritual ceremony. After the ceremony, the drumming began. I watched the other women during the drum circle, reflecting on their beauty. A primal feeling welled up inside me, and I had to dance and drum and move my body. I remembered what it was like to rage inside my cage and I let it all out.
On the way to the beach, Jonna had shared a piece of art with us that depicted a woman in a womb of sand, umbilical cord reaching to the surf. With my eyes closed, listening to the surf and feeling the drums, I felt like this woman, connected to the universal Mother: the surf the blood pulsing through the womb, the drums her heartbeat. We are mothers and we are daughters, connected by blood and soul and spirit to all the mothers before and after us.
The next day, Jonna and I were doing a hot yoga class in the Heights. The class was taught by beginning instructors, each who took a twenty-minute turn leading the class. The first instructor was a young, lithe blonde woman in form-fitting yoga gear with exposed midriff : the beautiful Maiden. She had us start in a seated pose, arms before us resting on our legs. She said that we could leave our palms up to receive energy, or have them face down to retain energy and ground ourselves. I chose to leave mine up. She led us through a series of sun salutations, and then left us with the second instructor to lead us through stretching moves. I was periodically wiping the sweat off my face and attempting my best not to lose my balance in some of the poses. This first instructor was walking around the room, helping to support the students in their poses. At one point, she placed her hand under my outstretched palm to steady me. I didn’t want to accept her help, because I was embarrassed about how sweaty my hand was. She held my gaze and encouraged me. “Come on, its okay,” she implored. I wanted to look away from her because I felt too aware of my own shortcomings in light of her youthful beauty and grace. She held eye contact with me and continued to support and encourage me, and I accepted this help because in the end, I truly needed it.
In my tarot card reading from a few weeks ago, the reader said that I should reflect on Demeter as a goddess to show me my path. Hecate was intricately involved in the story of Demeter and Persephone. She witnessed Persephone being abducted and taken to the underworld, and helped Demeter find her by lighting a torch. I am wondering now if this weekend I was being shown the light in my journey to find my stolen “daughter”, and what does it all mean spiritually. Perhaps in the past I had been more like Persephone, lost in the underworld, but then as Demeter, I went searching for my lost self, and the heady inspiration and divine light of Hecate helped me find my way.
I contemplated the meaning of the references to energy through these weekend experiences. In each of the experiences, there was a transfer of energy. The Maiden gave me strength, the Mother gave me connection, and the Crone gave me wisdom. My job now is to carry those lessons into the next chapter as I continue to seek spiritual enlightenment on my way to self-actualization.
Lady Justice rises above the skyline along the freeway. You might notice her as you are making your way north out of Houston, just as you pass the Aquarium. You might glance to your right and see her mighty stance, her afro, the blindfold across her eyes, scales of justice in one hand and a sword in the other. She looks over Congress Plaza, and she reminds us of systematic racial injustice. She is an inspiration designed to make you think and feel, to reflect on women’s ability to affect social change. And on this warm June afternoon, we have an occasion to come visit her, to pay her homage by trying to capture her in digital form. As we stood on the street corner to get the best view, a unique piece of architecture across the street caught our eye. It was a narrow white building with red and green trim and a green spire. A patio area stretched out in the back and seemed to go on for a city block. We wandered in and found a beautiful green and flowered wall. Words in neon pink spelled out “Las mujeres no lloran, las mujeres facturan”, which translated means roughly, “Women don’t cry anymore, women monetize”. It’s a line from a recent Shakira song. Essentially it means, women don’t spent time crying over lost love, they make money off of their pain. It speaks to the sense of a woman’s self-worth, that she will rise above those who want to hurt her and find the advantage in her position.
On the way back to our car, Leilani told us stories of helping others get to the Family Law Center. It reminded her of one of her idols, a powerful woman named Poppy who was an advocate for personal freedom. This woman started out working at NASA in the early years, even earning a Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work on Apollo 13. She felt a call to leave that career behind to become a lawyer who held domestic abusers accountable and looked after young people who needed help. She helped women stand up for their right to determine their own choices, to give them access to opportunities and resources, and grant them the power to control their own lives.
Found on the wall in Hardy & Nance Studios “Coyote Woman” 19.05.22 — ALLISON CURRIE
After this, we headed to the main event: a Portraits in June art exhibit at Hardy & Nance Studios. Our first studio stop was for drinks, but our second stop led us to Kiki Neumann. Kiki is a folk artist who makes art out of recycled materials, mostly license plates these days. She found her way to artistic expression almost thirty years ago. She was feeling lost after losing a corporate job, and was encouraged to pick up a hammer and make something. And then she did, thereby taking ownership of her own life. This first product, a bench, gave her a sense of accomplishment and energized her to do more. Her art provided her a way to make something beautiful out of the outcasts of human life. She was eager to greet her fans and encourage them to like and share her work, and even blessed us with a sign encouraging people to vote. Her actions remind us that art can be a powerful way to connect and relate to others.
A Portrait of Kiki
On our way into the rest of the exhibits, we continued to connect with each other and even strangers by placing two of our hands on a particular structure and hold hands to form an electric circuit. I took photographs of one of our friends walking through the painted hallway, marveling at how her appearance seemed to be matched and enhanced by the colors. We wandered through the art exhibits for a little over an hour, looking for pictures of naked girls for one of us to decorate her bathroom with. When women experience their body viewed through the eyes of an artist, it can lead them to a place of acceptance and help them to see their true beauty, the way our friend felt when she viewed the photos we took of her in the hallway.
True Beauty
As we reached the main gallery, a woman approached us to ask if we were all together. She explained that she had really wanted to participate in the portrait activity, where you paint a portrait of another, but you had to be paired up to do the activity and she was here solo. This was a woman who was not afraid to advocate for what she wanted, even to total strangers. I offered to pair up with her, despite having very little experience with painting. The paintings had to completed in fifteen minutes, so there was no time to worry about getting it exactly right. I sat in front of the easel, not even being quite sure where to start. She asked if I was a painter, and I told her “No, I am a poet”. Interesting choice, choosing to define myself in this way. The experience of creating this portrait allowed me to see how a stranger viewed and depicted me, and my expression helped me understand how I viewed myself. Through the experience of completing a task outside my comfort zone, I felt more confident and powerful.
The Stranger Painter and I
After this, we made our way out and over to Saint Arnold Brewing Company. There was a Summer Solstice Festival going on, hosted by a company called Thorn and Moon Apothecary. After we secured a table in the shade under the shelter of the roof on the patio, we ordered beer and food and made merry. One of my friends and I stepped out to check out the vendor booths. When we reached the booth for Thorn and Moon, someone called out my name. I realized it was a friend of mine from school, Jessica, who I had hired to be our wedding photographer 11 years ago. She was an entrepreneur now, the proprietor of her own business and organizer of festivals such as this. I remembered there had been a fire at the place of her business, years ago, and I had thought that it had a negative impact on her business. In fact, it had done the opposite, and allowed her to grow even stronger. There lies real power in owning and growing your own dreams, in creating your own destiny, forming your own empire. She is now well-known in the metaphysical shop world in this city, and in fact even a new friend of mine from across town recognized her from the photo I posted and knew her as the shop owner.
Jessica
I reflect on the connection of all these powerful women: Lady Justice, Shakira, Poppy, Kiki, Jessica, even the stranger painter and these three beautiful women I surrounded myself with this night, even myself. We are all emblems of strength and beacons of light. We show each other and other women how to be strong, to value ourselves, help each other stand up against injustice, how to create our own paths, how to be brave and try new things, to step off into the void and walk away from the fire knowing we will rebuild even stronger than before. These women, they are all powerful, and they are all astounding in their own way.
Found on the wall in Hardy & Nance Studios – Coyote Woman Affirmations by Allison Currie
