Fly by Night Loosening the Grip on my Autobiography on Friday the 13th Seems every month I have more and more big announcements. Don’t know how long this will continue, but this month is no exception.
Mother Masika and little Z
After much lamenting about how to release my autobiography, I have come to a decision. You know it takes two years to release a book if you do it with a publisher, and while I had very interested publishers who wanted my autobiography, I didn’t want to wait. Nor did I want to edit it down. I made a decision. I will begin my journey with you on my own terms. Just you and me.
First of all, I named my autobiography Fly by Night. It said so much in so few words, and touched on many of the most memorable moments of my life. You’ll see what I mean when you read the book. I’m going to offer Fly by Night as PDF downloads that are in installments, not necessarily chapter by chapter, but in chunks that make sense together. I’m doing this because honestly, I am still writing the remaining parts of my life. But the first release is done! Autobiography.ZBudapest.com
And, I want to hear what you think as you read each segment. I’m hungry for feedback from you, and encouragement if it suits you. I had Bobbie make a special place for you to be able to participate with me and review Fly by Night with me. Its here: FlybyNight.ZBudapest.com Please come and talk to me there. Fly by Night is a detailed look into the attic of my life, with never before seen photos and untold stories. By releasing Fly by Night this way, I get to write it as long as I want it to be and I get to include all of the photos I want to share with you. No limitations. I so enjoyed revisiting the photos of my life. My beautiful ancestors. To read the newest releases of the next chapters of my autobiography, please visit my autobiography website http://autobiography.ZBudapest.com And, please share this link! So, one more autobiography surprise for you too. I’m also going to offer a DVD disc of Fly by Night and on it will be the PDF segment and an audio MP3 of me reading that segment to you … no frills, it’s just a nice recording of me in my home reading to you. Maybe a comment or two, my dogs moving about, a few cars going by outside and life happening in an intimate reading of Fly by Night with you. The download version will be a zip file with both the PDF and the MP3 in it, and it’s a big download. Both are available through the Women’s Spirituality Forum’s online store as of Friday the 13th. I can’t say I have a schedule for the next installments, but I will announce it here. I’m facing another hip surgery soon, so life has to mold its self around my writing schedule. But we can begin our journey together, so please enjoy the first installment of Fly by Night. I have another really big announcement for you as well. After many years of thinking, processing and listening to you, I have decided to offer a Dianic Clergy Priestess training and certification. It’s been designed to train women in the Priestess Arts while all remaining on equal footing. With the exception of myself as the High Priestess, all Dianic Clergy Priestesses will hold equal stature. You can read and learn more about this training in this edition of Goddess. Blessings upon all of you,
Z Budapest “We all come from the Goddess, and to Her we shall return Like a drop of rain flowing to the ocean…”
Buy your copy here: Autobiography.ZBudapest.com Let me hear you! FlybyNight.ZBudapest.com
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Dianic Tradtion and Brigid, Holy Day of the Waxing Light – February 1st These revivals of pre-Christian and Wiccan religious traditions over the past three decades have been the primary inspiration and source material for many of the ritual customs and the overall flavor of the Pagan holy days being practiced by witches and other modern Pagans today. These seasonal ritual themes focus primarily on the fertility cycle of the Goddess and Her male consort. Most Neopagan and Wiccan traditions celebrate the sexual and fertility cycle of nature exclusively in heterosexual terms, with particular emphasis on the life and death cycle of the God within the Goddess’s eternal, rotating journey throughout the seasons. Where the Goddess is eternal and immortal, the God is understood as seasonal. He is born from Her, mates with Her, dies at the appointed season, and is reborn again through Her. In the Dianic tradition, where the Goddess is the sole focus of religious practice, the cycles of women’s lives merge and overlap with the Goddess’ seasonal, mythic cycle. The Goddess, Source of All, who births and contains all, always contains the God within Her, as He is a variation of Her; one of Her sacred creations like the trees, the rocks, and all other creatures. While acknowledging that His seasonal journey is different, Dianics do not celebrate the God’s mythic journey through the wheel of the year as part of Her and our mysteries. Dianic tradition creates rituals that celebrate the changing and eternal Goddess as She transforms throughout the year and women’s likewise cyclical nature.1 In the Dianic tradition, where the Goddess is the sole focus of religious practice, the cycles of women’s lives merge and overlap with the Goddess’ seasonal, mythic cycle. The Goddess, Source of All, who births and contains all, always contains the God within Her, as He is a variation of Her; one of Her sacred creations like the trees, the rocks, and all other creatures. While acknowledging that His seasonal journey is different, Dianics do not celebrate the God’s mythic journey through the wheel of the year as
1
Other women’s holidays based on the research of Jane Harrison are included in Z Budapest’s The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries.
part of Her and our mysteries. Dianic tradition creates rituals that celebrate the changing and eternal Goddess as She transforms throughout the year and women’s likewise cyclical nature. 2 The holy day of Brigid (named after the Irish Goddess) on February 1 st is also known as Imbolc (meaning “in the belly”), Festival of the Waxing Light, Bride/Brigid’s Day, Oilmelc (meaning “ewe’s milk”), Groundhog Day (in the United States), Badger’s Day (in the United Kingdom), and Candlemas (February second). The earth begins to waken from winter’s sleep as the pale sunlight grows stronger with each passing day. The first signs of renewal appear as the crocuses bloom and early lambs are born in the snow. The hope and faith sustained through the winter cold and darkness has turned to a certainty. Seeds that have been resting in the earth crack their casings and send out a root, initiating the discovery of individuation. In the mythic cycle of the Goddess, She shapeshifts from the hag that entered into spirit at Yule, conceives Herself anew, and mysteriously emerges at Brigid in the form of a young girl dressed in white. It is the greatest of women’s mysteries, demonstrating the eternal and ever-changing nature of the Goddess who never dies,3 analogous to the transition from the waning dark moon to the waxing new crescent moon in the sky each lunar month. For Dianics, the transition time between Brigid and Spring Equinox symbolizes rebirth and the time of infancy and early childhood. There is no way to predict the precise date at which She transforms herself from the hag to infant again. Part of this mystery is to feel the change to know it has happened. In the Dianic tradition, February first is the time when formal initiation into the Dianic tradition takes place. Of all the rituals in Dianic tradition, the initiation ceremony is the only one held secret. Initiation, from the Latin inire, means “to go into”; initium, “a beginning.” We are initiated into mystery, into the awakened self.4 Our ritual of initiation is known only to those women who have received it, and only initiates may facilitate this ceremony of welcoming in new Dianic witches. If a woman is already initiated, then she rededicates herself at Brigid. Throughout the season of the earth’s awakening, like the tiny seeds within the earth, breaking their casings and stretching their tiny tendrils out and up toward the earth’s surface, it is a time of personal individuation, of formally declaring who you are. Out of the dark earth, close to the heartbeat of the Mother, a woman defines her spiritual path to herself, and names and claims it. These are some questions for Dianics to muse on for this season as we renew and review our spiritual
2
Other women’s holidays based on the research of Jane Harrison are included in Z Budapest’s The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries.
3
A Witch Alone, 51.
goals and personal values: What am I spiritually dedicated to? What are my spiritual goals for the coming year? What is stirring inside me that seeks to grow? How will I nurture this growth? How will I deepen my connection to the Goddess who is both within and without? (Includes excerpts from her book, Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, Llewellyn 2007) About the Ruth: Ruth Rhiannon Barrett is a pioneering pagan musician, recording artist, author and teacher of women’s magick and ritual arts. She inherited Z Budapest’s Los Angeles ministry in 1980 where Dianic seasonal rituals have continued uninterrupted since 1971. Ruth served as High Priestess of the Moon Birch Grove coven until cofounding Circle of Aradia where she served the Los Angeles women’s community as its religious director for twenty years. During this time Ruth created a comprehensive Dianic curriculum evolving out of her foundational studies with Shekhinah Mountainwater and Z Budapest in the mid-1970’s. In 2000, Ruth relocated to Wisconsin and co-founded Temple of Diana with her partner Falcon River. Temple of Diana is now a federally recognized national Dianic religious organization with groves in California, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Temple of Diana offers community rituals for the seasonal holy days, classes and workshops in Dianic cosmology, ethics, magical practice and ritual making, study programs toward initiation and ordination including The Spiral Door Women’s Mystery School of Magic and Ritual Arts (opening new groups in Los Angeles and Michigan this September). Temple of Diana also produces special events and conferences including the Daughters of Diana Gathering this October 8-11, 2009. For more information, visit our website: www.templeofdiana.org.
On A Side Note: Ruth’s daughter, Amanda Barrett of The Ditty Bops (left), has been nominated for a Grammy Award for their album Summer Rains (MP3). Our favorite Youtube video of The Ditty Bops: http://youtube.com/watch?v=XA8G5NMJVgc
This newsletter is sponsored by the Women’s Spirituality Forum. Please help support our efforts to help keep the Goddess Alive!
Behold the Fires of Brigit, and Embrace Her Purifying Flame! All Hails to Thee, Brìghde! -Celtic Triple Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Smithcraft! ARADIA CHANT - To be performed at Pantheacon The ARADIA CHANT, click to listen, (Buy your own MP3 download) was channeled in HONOUR of exalting the WARRIORESS ASPECTS of WOMANKIND as called forth by those that are NOT afraid to INVOKE the RIGHTEOUS RAGE of WIMMIN, and for whom the preservation of human Sanctity is paramount! Dedicated to Witches, everywhere who stand up for Wimmin's AUTONOMY in the Great Cosmick Scheme of things....
This newsletter is sponsored by the Women’s Spirituality Forum. Please help support our efforts to help keep the Goddess Alive!
Z’s Newsletter Morphs into a New Magazine called Goddess You might have noticed we have moved into a new online magazine format, making it much easier for all the sisters to read the Goddess. You’ll be able to find the current issue at this URL: http://issuu.com/zbudapest/docs/goddess The Susan B. Anthony Coven Number One has been writing all of the articles and art for you over the last year, and in this issue we’re delighted to add into the mix the voice of Ruth Barrett and Diana Paxson. The Goddess is focused on bring you the Dianic voice, as well as real sisterhood as expressed through the Arts. Learn more about how YOU can contribute to the Goddess here.
LINK TO US: Women’s Spirituality www.Women-Spirituality.com The Goddess www.The-Goddess.net Goddess Belief www.GoddessBelief.com Dianic Wicca (Dianic Wicca University) www.Dianic-Wicca.com Hex Spells www.HexSpells.com Marija Gimbutas www.MarijaGimbutas.com Witch Trial www.WitchTrial.net
I came across this great website called The Story of Stuff and I wanted to share it with you. You have to take a few minutes and watch this video! It pulls together all the threads of discussion about how wasteful we’ve become as a society. Z and I were chatting about how it used to be when you’d buy your meat from a butcher who wrapped it in a little paper. Now we use plastics, styrofoam and paper for the luxury of not waiting for the butcher. It’s excessive.
What part do you play? Can you change?
We think we’re seeing the time for change upon us as we scale back our costs and consider our STUFF. Enjoy.
Please share the Goddess with your friends.
I have a new piece of music you might enjoy … Z titled it Temple of Athena and you can preview it on my website … www.Sidhewolf.com and if you’d like a copy for yourself or as a gift you can purchase it from the Women’s Spirituality Forum’s online store. Temple of Athena is a listening epic and I arranged it to take you through a range of emotions in the nearly twelve minute excursion into the auditory world of the Goddess Athena. And here’s the part you enjoy the most … My Life on the Z-list’s latest Z Budapest video … I got her to sing a little bit this time. Watch Z’s video … here! For those with Kindle readers, we’ve contacted Z’s publishers to get them to release her books in Kindle format for you. Kindle is that new fangled reader that Amazon sells.
Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries - Kindle
Summoning the Fates - Kindle
Do you have a website or blog? We’d like to exchange links with you! Email us for more information: zbudapest AT gmail.com Subject title: Please consider cross-linking with me.
Do you have a spiritual business you’d like to advertise in the Goddess?
After more than thirty years in circulation, The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries is still a ground-breaking book in the forefront of women’s spirituality.
Get your own copy of Z’s out of print books and DVDs at the Women’s Spirituality Forum online store.
You can get autographed copies of Z's books here!
Check out Z’s Witchy Tarot Class.
The Razor's Edge: Cutting Out the Bad Goddesses I jumped out of my living-room armchair in disgust, snapped off the TV, and stalked into my back hallway -- the place I pace when I'm peeved. It was the second time I'd been sucked into watching the same raunchy History-Channel program about the Roman emperor Caligula (one of the sorriest excuses for a human being the Roman Empire ever spit out -- if Cali-boy ate baked baby for breakfast, I wouldn't be surprised). What irritated me most is that the show kept on and on about how this scudzy dude adored the Goddess Diana. And of course the producers emphasized the Roman-Diana's underbelly -- human sacrifice, orgies* -- the kind of stuff Caligula ate up like oatmeal with honey and nuts on top. Problem is, the History Channel's probably spot on about the Roman Diana -- or at least the Diana worshipped at Lake Nemi, where Caligula spent a lot of his free time. Ancient Rome was a smelly patriarchy -- so why wouldn't its goddesses too be smelly? Unfortunately, this show will teach hundreds of thousands all over the world how scrungy "goddesses" are. Also unfortunate, few of us in the Goddess Movement know the difference between your gardenvariety patriarchal goddess (or as I call them, "Big-Daddy" goddesses**) and non-patriarchal goddesses. As a result, we help cut off the rest of the world from the Goddess at a time when we all desperately need Her. Since most of the world knows about Her only through Her Big-Daddy persona, it's easy for the world to reject Her. Let's face it, the goddesses in Big-Daddyland can smell as bad as a seven-dayold dead fish. In Big-Daddy societies, the Goddess is shrew (Hera), siren (Venus), or powerless stick figure -- think the Christian Mary. Or think Usas, the early Indo-European Goddess of the Dawn (as far as we know, Usas did nothing but get raped by her Daddy, Dieus,*** forerunner of Zeus and a whole host of other IndoEuropean Daddy gods, including the Germanic Tiwas, the Baltic Dievas, the Anglo-Saxon Tiw and the Hindu Mitra). So who are the Big-Daddy goddesses, and who aren't? Easy. Any goddess plunked down in a Big-Daddy society is 99% certain to be a Big-Daddy goddess. This includes (but is not limited to) goddesses in:
Classical Greece Ancient Rome Egypt during and after the pharoahs Ancient Norseland The lands of the ancient Maya, Aztecs and Inca Modern Hindu countries
A few who aren't Big-Daddy goddesses are found among:
The ancient Minoans The ancient Indus Valley Civilization Pre-pharoanic Egyptians Old Europeans (Neolithic Eastern Europeans) The modern Moso/Mosuo of the Chinese-Tibetan borderland Modern European Basques The Hopi (at least until a few decades ago). Many, many more who've been lost to history -- because they didn't write the history texts.
Now I can hear many of you howling. "You've dumped my fave goddesses into the dustbin!" I'm not saying, my dears, that Big-Daddy goddesses don't have their awesome sides -- most do. My guess is, though, that their awesomeness is a leftover from pre-Daddy-God times, or the result of a resurgence of the Goddess after the patriarchy took over in any specific part of the globe. So if Cybele, say, is your Goddess of choice, just try to be more aware of which of Her is solid-gold Goddess -- and which is burnt Daddy-God crust. (Buy Switching to Goddess from Amazon) *"Orgies" in the Roman Empire could get pretty kinky and ugly -- especially when all-powerful and mentally unstable emperors like Caligula were in on them. **"Big Daddy" gods are father/sky/war gods like Zeus, Jehovah, Allah, Yahweh and Odin/Wodan. They appear as early as 4000 BC, in the Middle East (as, for example, Ninurta of the Sumerians). ***Peter Jackson, 2002, "Light from Distant Asterisks: Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage." Numen: International Review for the History of Religions 49, Issue 1, 61-102.
Nut Nut is an Egyptian Goddess. There are references to Her in their creation mythology as well as in the death and afterlife mythology. It is pronounced “NOOT� and her name means night. She is a Goddess of the heavens and the skies and she represents resurrection. Her archetype also says she is Goddess of firmament and rain, a warrior Goddess who is skilled in the domestic arts. In creation myths she is a great weaver who wove the world. She is the ever present unfathomable unknown. She is the immensity of the star filled sky. Mother night is another name for Nut. She represents the unconscious, the moon, the feminine and emotional. She is associated with the element air and rainbows. Sycamore trees are sacred to Nut. Her glyph is 2 crossed arrows against leopard skin. Nut is depicted in many ways in Egyptian art. She is a woman standing on her toes, bending forward in a perfect arch with her fingers touching the earth opposite her feet with her hair falling down like rain. Her four limbs connect with the earth and are pillars at the 4 points of the compass. She is a great protector and her body shields the earth from the chaos of the cosmos and the thunder was considered to be her laughter. From this position in the cosmos she gives birth to the sun in the east every morning and swallows the sun each night in the west. She is called the Great Deep and the Celestial Vault. Her image is painted on the inside of sarcophagus of the dead so she can mother them and protect them on their journey. Clearly, the Goddess Nut is supremely important to the mythologies and belief systems of the ancient Egyptians.
“Synchronicity is a coincidence that is more because it is full of meaning. Synchronicities seem to arise at the quantum level. They are the clues that the Universe provides and they can direct us to the meaning of our lives. They are magic”. CJ Jung.
As a human firstly and I witch secondly, I especially love this quote by Jung. He was truly a man with great foresight. Witches know and have known since the beginning that when we cast a spell, light a candle, send energy or say a prayer in the sake of practicing magic, we are active participants who are tapping into the collective unconscious. It is the vital force which permeates all of creation. It contains no duality. There is past and future and light and shadow. We are all dancing particles of energy in one with the Goddess. We are no different than our ancient ancestors who looked into the skies and the earth to find themselves. We are all underneath the great protective shield of Nut’s loving embrace as we live our lives in this magic filled world. There are little miracles and blessings everywhere. We are as the new mystics of this millennium. Practicing the old ways brings us closer to a direct connection with the Divine. It is time to awaken the collective unconscious so that we can reclaim our values and beliefs that have been lost or purposely discarded by those who fear it. Witches, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!! It is time to hear the call from the Mother. How lovely that the full moon is rising behind me and Imbolc has just passed a week ago. Can you feel the stirrings in the earth? Can you feel Her? Can you feel yourself waking up too from your winter doldrums? What a wonderful web we weave when we dare worship the sacred Mother from the old ways and see the blessed miracles and synchronicities that are in every atom and every moment. May you never hunger, may you never thirst. May you always be one with the Mother Goddess Nut. Blessed Imbolc tidings.
THE WEIGHT OF MA’AT Before the gods and goddesses of Egypt formed the pantheon that was worshipped for millennia, Ptah created the Earth by bringing it up from the waters of the cosmic soup by Ma’at. Without Ma’at, there would have been no creation, and Ptah would not have been able to sustain the earth, the peoples and all that lived. In short, no matter how powerful all the other gods and goddesses, including Isis, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut and all those whose names inspire, comfort and deepen our souls knowledge, there was none of them who would exist without Ma’at. The word ma’at in Egyptian meant “Truth”. The Goddess Ma’at is both the incarnation of that concept and the concept itself. She is Truth. Balance. Order. Justice. Equilibrium. Ancient Egyptians believed that the Universe was both morally and physically in perfect balance. Because of Ma’at, they knew that everything in the universe had a pattern, an order, a cycle everything made sense. If Ma’at did not exist, then everything would return to chaos. She is the very order of creation. It is Ma’at who benevolently governs the tides, the rising and setting of the sun each day, the cyclical changes of the moon, the yearly flooding of the Nile River upon which the entire population of Egypt depended for its harvests. Everything which has a discernable pattern is governed and sustained by Ma’at. She keeps everything in its Divine Order. She is the basic structure from which all things operate when they are acting in accordance with their right nature. She is from the beginning, providing the stabilizing force that ensures Time unfolds as it should. Ma’at is pictured in papyrus and in carvings as a beautiful young woman, winged, and wearing a plume of an ostrich feather in her headband. An ostrich feather is very beautiful, and for the purpose of Ma’at also, extremely lightweight. Ma’at is also the funerary Goddess who is the Guardian and Gatekeeper between death and the next life.
When the person’s soul/heart is brought before the judges Ma’at and Anubis after death, it is placed on a scale and Ma’at’s feather is placed on the opposite side of the scale. If the heart is light because the person has led a morally exemplary life, true to the principles of Ma’at, then the person’s soul is allowed to pass into the embrace of Mother Isis, merciful Goddess of Beauty and Light, to be renewed into the next life. One could say that Isis Herself is a manifestation of Ma’at. If the person’s heart/soul is found to be too heavy, weighed down with many transgressions and selfish acts, that person’s ka/ba is thrown to the hippopotamus-lion-crocodile monster Ammit, who devours it. Ammit is an anagram for Ma’at and as such is the dark aspect of Ma’at. If Ammit devours the heart/soul of the person at this judgment, they are obliterated forever and cease to exist in any form - ultimate death. However, Ma’at could take the role of Mercy, overriding the strict measure of Justice, by intervening to save the ka/ba from oblivion.
Ma’at was an entire code of conduct that was the underpinning of the whole Egyptian civilization. It created a standard of scrupulous personal integrity to which all tried to adhere. This code of moral conduct created an awareness of the great web of all things and how all is interconnected and no one or nothing functions apart from everyone and everything else. The three fundamental attitudes of behavior compliant with Ma’at, both concept and the Goddess, were: “There is no yesterday for the lazy person, no friend for the one who is deaf to Ma’at, no festival day for
the greedy.” The idea of greed and its many forms and subsequent evils were considered a detriment to society, and a weight one did not want to carry into the judgment after death. One was only supposed to have what one needed, and was supposed to be charitable, kind and generous to others. Each person had their work and did it to the best of their ability to please Ma’at, to reflect Ma’at. Ma’at was Honesty, Generosity, Absence of Jealousy, exact remuneration for one’s work. Though there has only been one temple to Ma’at found so far, surely there must have been much sacrifice and prayer to Ma’at at home altars. The Temple of Ma’at was built by the only female Pharoah, Hatshepsut. Each year, the Festival of Ma’at took place just before the Lamentations of Isis, the beginning of the first part of the Osirian Mysteries. To be initiated into the sacred ritual of rebirth, one had to prepare, cleanse oneself of false piety, and examine the true nature of one’s heart. The Judgment of Ma’at was not an event that took place only after death, but was rather, constantly, yearly being performed. At the Festival of Ma’at, participants ate honey and eggs and said to one another, “How sweet a thing is Truth”. A beautiful verse from a papyrus called The Eloquent Peasant: Speak Ma’at. Do Ma’at. For She is Mighty. She is Great and Endures. Her value rests in the hands of those who use Her. Ma’at leads one to Sacredness.
We live in an important time. We live in a sacred time, a time of great magick, as we have witnessed the Great Cosmic Wheel turn on the pivot of the election of Barack Obama as this nation’s President. Barack
Obama is only a human being, but all great persons in our herstories have been only human beings. I see Barack Obama as a person chosen to lead us, not only us as citizens of the United States, but citizens of the world, into an order far more true to Ma’at than what we have endured for the past two decades. In his campaign he promised greater transparency in government - Truth. He promised a return to a government of the people and by the people which is for the people instead of the elite few, the top one percent of the economic pyramid. This is Ma’at. He has promised to work for equality of opportunity, of salaries - Ma’at. In the last issue of “Goddess”, I wrote of Hekate and how She is the Power present at the Crossroads, the One who illumines us at the point of choice of our direction, what path we need to choose for our greatest good. It is Hekate’s Wisdom and Light which guides us there - and which powerfully guided this entire nation in its election choice of Barack Obama. Now She hands Her great torch to Ma’at. Ma’at must take us into a time of integrity: Integrity in our social institutions, integrity in our banks, integrity in our elected officials underpinned by a return to personal accountability. Ma’at will guide us well, as I believe she now guides our President, who is dedicated to Her principles. Perhaps he carries a cellular memory of an ancient former life in Africa, where Egypt was the greatest power for thousands of years, and at the pivot of that power was Ma‘at. In any case, it is because he himself values Truth, Justice, Balance, Order and Integrity that he was elected. We as a nation are resonating with the desire for those values. And it is Ma’at who is the embodiment, the divine incarnation of those values. In ancient Egypt, the Pharoah had no greater duty than to completely and daily embody the qualities of Ma’at. May Ma’at continue to guide Barack Obama, causing time to unfold as it should, and may She guide us each day to a place where Balance is restored and the Cycles of Nature are once again recognized, respected, and revered. And may we all meet the day after our death with the lightness of heart equal to Ma’at, and say to one another, “How sweet a thing is Truth.”
The Forgotten Queen of Egypt When I found out that Z wanted to do an issue of Goddess about Egypt, I was very excited. I have been fascinated with ancient Egypt since I was a child. I’ve read both fiction and non-fiction about the time, and have been privileged to go see the King Tut exhibit when it came to the Field Museum here in Chicago. I watch everything I can on the new findings they have made. It all makes me want to learn so much more. So for this issue, since we are covering aspects of ancient Egypt, I thought I would discuss someone whom the patriarchy of Egypt tried to bury in more ways than one, the Pharaoh and Queen Hatshepsut. Ma’at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. She lived from 1508 BCE to 1458 BCE and reigned for almost half that time. Daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose Nefetari, she was born into the royal lineage directly, and seemed destined, as did most royal daughters, to at most make it to Great Royal Wife status if she was fortunate, and otherwise to live in obscurity since unlike other royal houses both then and now, the Egyptians rarely made diplomatic marriages with their daughters as pawns in international politics. However, since she was their only child who lived to maturity, that put her in a unique circumstance, which she was clever enough to use to her advantage. When Hatshepsut’s father died in 1493 BCE, she was married to her half brother Thutmose II, son of a royal concubine, to legitimize his claim to the throne, and became Great Royal Wife. She was also a Priestess in the temples, and carried the title God’s Wife. She and Thutmose II were married for only three years, during which time she bore him one daughters, Neferure and served, from all indications, very much as a power behind the throne. There are many depictions of Hatshepsut from his reign that show her acting on her own, which was quite unusual for a queen. Thutmose II died in 1479 BCE, and his son Thutmose III, also by a concubine, was placed on the throne with Hatshepsut as his regent. Her daughter Neferure assumed her Queenly roles in the temple, and Hatshepsut governed the empire. A tomb inscription from Ineni, the royal architect, describes the succession: “He (Thutmose II) went forth to heaven in triumph, having mingled with the gods; His son stood in his place as king of the Two Lands, having become ruler upon the throne of the one who begat him. His (Thutmose II’s) sister the Divine Consort, Hatshepsut settled the affairs of the Two Lands by reason of her plans. Egypt was made to labour with bowed head for her, the excellent seed of the god (Thutmose I), which came forth from him.” 5 Later Hatshepsut was declared Pharaoh in her own right by the Oracle of Amun, a role which she assumed gradually, giving the people of Egypt time to get used to this highly unusual turn of events. About this time, she appointed the chief priest of Amun as her vizier.
5
Extract from the biography of Ineni, translated by J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt; historical documents, vol. 2, Chicago: 1906, p.341
Hatshepsut was a highly effective ruler, who reestablished trade routes that had been disrupted during the Hyksos invasions. She also sent an expedition to Punt (modern Somalia) of five ships, each of which carried over two hundred men. This expedition returned to Egypt with thirty-one live frankincense trees, which were successfully transplanted into the gardens at Deir el-Bahri, the first time that had ever been attempted with foreign trees.
Hatshepsut was also a prolific commissioner of building projects. With the royal architect Ineni, she designed several temples and other large projects. She also restored to its proper glory the temple of Mut, which had been damaged extensively by the Hyksos. Her most famous project is her funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri, which is at the mouth of the Valley of the Kings. In fact, it was the grandeur of this temple which inspired later pharaohs to have their tombs placed in the valley. The center of the complex was Djeser-Djeseru, the Sublime of Sublimes, a colonnaded tiered garden where the aforementioned frankincense trees were installed. From all indications, Hatshepsut ruled very well and kept Egypt prosperous and strong. As far as anyone knows, she reigned until her natural death at age fifty, which was actually quite elderly for Egyptians in that time period. Thutmose III assumed the throne after her twenty-one year reign in what all accounts show as a standard peaceful transition of power from monarch to heir. Initially her monuments were allowed to stand in peace as evidence of her reign, but near the end of Thutmose III’s reign and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, for some reason which has not been recorded there began a systematic defacement of all her monuments from the her time as pharaoh – some simply chiseling out her name and image and others where there are visible attempts to replace her name with that of Thutmose III or one of his successors. From what scholars can gather the defacement began after Amenhotep II became co-regent with his father at the end of his long reign, and it is considered quite possible that it was Amenhotep II who wanted her memory erased since he was quite blatant in trying to claim many of her greatest works as his own. Also, he is supposed to have been trying to reinforce his claim to the throne since having only the blood of the pharaoh in his lineage was not enough. The royal line was viewed as going from mother to daughter in the line of Isis, whose Egyptian name Aset means “Throne”. He also tried to break the royal female lineage by attempting to eliminate the holy offices of the Queen and Princesses at the various temples and refusing to list his wives or daughters in any of his monuments. He also refused to have his wife use her titles as God’s Wife or Great Royal Wife. All surviving records show that he felt womyn had become too powerful in Egypt. The monuments of her from her time as Thutmose II’s queen are all intact, so it was evidence of Hatshepsut as pharaoh that they wished to erase. If it was not for the accounts of scholars of her time and Greek historians who recorded her name and reign, she would have been unknown to us in all her accomplishments. Fortunately for us, their efforts to wipe out her existence as pharaoh did not succeed, and womyn can read of her now more than three thousand years after her death.
CANDLEMAS: A TIME OF INSPIRATION The time has come to rededicate ourselves to the Muse, to our Dianic ways, to the Coven, a time to step up to the altar with promises to the Goddess and vows of self love. Yes, Candlemas marks the time when new witches are taken into the fold and when old ones renew their commitments, when ceremonies of Naming, Initiation and Dedication are taking place everywhere, when stepping across the threshold of love and commitment is in order. The Goddess Brigid is widely acknowledged at this time, for she is known as the Goddess of Poetry, Inspiration and Smithcraft, which at one time, was very magical and sacred. Much of Brigid's mythos has been lost to us, but so powerful was her hold on the masses that the church had to integrate her into the fold by renaming her Saint Brigid, thus keeping control of their congregations. A few years ago, Shekhinah Mountainwater shared a story with me about a trip Patricia Monaghan took to the British Isles with an archeologist. While visiting the sacred site, Monaghan toured an archeological dig that revealed unearthed corridors with statuary and artifacts. She noticed an area with many places, some covered, where her group was not invited to go. However, she decided to take a peek anyway and found all these Goddess statues that were a collection of materials from the days of Brigid worship. When she exclaimed surprisingly... "Wow, it’s the Goddess!" ‌ the archeologist became very angry and quickly covered up the images, shooing her away. According to the story I was told, the mound visited had indications of seasonal and solar ceremonial practices, which meant that Brigid was a solar deity. This makes sense, for she is often called Goddess of the Sacred Flame. As a solar deity, she expresses all stages of Life as well ... stages of Birth, Life, Death; Maiden, Mother, Crone; Spring, Summer, Winter. I also learned from Shekhinah, that at one time Brigid's temples were presided over by nine priestesses who kept her sacred eternal flame burning in their sanctuaries, day and night, much like the Vestal Virgins of Rome. At St. Brigid's Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland, the flame survived, tended by nine nuns. At one point the Pope ordered the flame to be extinguished and staying that way for hundreds of years, but it has recently been rekindled, burning still today and tended by women.
Brigid has always been honored at Candlemas, but I also honor Aradia, daughter of Diana, at this time as well, for she is the Goddess of my Italian ancestors who brought the magic of the Craft to her people and the oppressed. I relate to her, especially in my work with recovering sisters, and especially at this time of inspiration, when the ancient wisdom teacher within gives us our instruction. Another avatar Goddess honored at this time by our native American sisters is White Buffalo Woman, for she, like Aradia, brought the magical teachings of the sacred pipe to her people, thus releasing them from the bondage of oppression as well. So, Candlemas marks a time when the inner avatar comes alive within us, when our soul is reawakened with our unique gifts and talents, bringing warm inspirations that pour forth from the heart leading to personal commitment, and since this spiraling flame also signals the coming of Spring, these vows also spark the actions we can take when the time is right. It's time to rebirth a new world ladies, and as women we are capable of doing it as long as we continue walking the path of the Goddess, sharing our experience, strength, hope, wisdom and talent with those around us, for I truly believe the feminine spirit is creating the changes necessary to remake the world. Some say it's a great time to be alive, others say it will get darker before the dawn, but in any case the only thing we can do as patriarchy grasps its last breath is focus on our personal healing, strengthen our bonds with each other and bring the Goddess to life everywhere in our communities, in our own particular ways. Patriarchy not only failed the needs of humanity but is still busy destroying life on Mother Earth at a fast pace, and we should all be totally outraged by it! Those that are not are dead asleep, but sleeping or not we have a job to do, and it is time to step forward to do it. Time is of the essence. Woman are bringing in the New Age, we see it everywhere, but in order step up the pace we must quit distracting ourselves with needless occupations that keep us asleep. We are strong, survivors of the most hideous conditions, and the time has come to stop being victims, to let go of petty obsessions and use our powerful magic to do what's right, to act with courage and conviction, to effect life now and for generations to come.
Women have always had the power of Life and Death, even though many sisters still conform to Patriarchy today out of the sheer necessity to survive. Some don't even know about the Goddess yet... so we carry a message to these sisters when we have the courage to be who we are... turn away from Patriarchal mindsets and stop enabling the dysfunctional ways of others. Women give birth to life. We wouldn't exist if not for women or sustained if not for Mother Earth. So why do some keep giving power to Patriarchy? Are they not in enough pain yet? Of course they are. They just don't know another way because pain is familiar. But how much pain must we tolerate before we get up off our complacent butts and look for another way? How long must it take to unite as women in our healing efforts? What does it take to motivate us? Another abusive relationship? Another meaningless job? Another obsessive or codependent episode? Another geographic move? Another relapse into our compulsive behaviors or addictions? Another fatal illness? Another exercise in futility until we completely blow ourselves up? Well, that's what it took for me... until the Goddess ripped the blinders from my eyes, shook me from my deep hypnosis and reunited me with reality again, along with her sacred ways. Until then, my life couldn't or wouldn't be anything but miserable, and that's a fact!
FEAST OF BRIGID
So let's make those vows and commitments this Candlemas, to the Goddess, ourselves, our coven and the world around us... to be true to ourselves above all... and the best we can be as her daughters... for together we create the momentum and magic needed to rebirth a new reality, where the Sacred Feminine shines and lasting peace on Earth is not just a vague longing, but a reality.
Sisters of the Circle... Witches of the Maze, Turn the wheel forward now To fill another page, Open to midwinter skies Drawing down the Moon, Weaving water, fire and air To Touch the Earth anew
Behold the time of Candlemas When darkness kisses light When sisters gather round again As magic fills the night A time of dedication, For Maidens, Mothers, Crones, When promises from deep within Our hearts & souls are known Thaw the snows of innocence Break up winters spell Spiral up the flickering flame Where creative fires dwell, Fan the spark and inner force Let us wait no longer, Bringing vows to carry forth As waxing light grows stronger
Kundalini's twisting now Inspirations rise... And everything she touches, Will change before our eyes, Charge the night with magic, Take the mantle on With power in her holy name Let the spell be done! by Silverwitch
UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS
The Goddess Temple of Orange County Events at The Goddess Temple of Orange County are designed for women - Sunday services
The Sacred Circle ~ Recovering & Reclaiming Ancient Ways to Heal our Lives Events in The Sacred Circle are for members only, unless otherwise stated. CIRCLES WILL BE OPEN TO ALL WOMEN THIS WINTER! Call JoAnna 775-882-1599 for membership inquiries. WINTER MOON CIRCLES: Join your Sisters in the Circle for an evening of full moon Goddess Magic! Please … RSVP by Wednesday before so Hostesses can prepare properly! SOUT BAY AREA February 14 - Join JoAnna, Z and the Susan B. Anthony Coven No.1 at Pantheacon in San Jose March 21 - Spring Equinox with JoAnna HIGH SIERRA March 7 - at JoAnna’s
CAYA Coven Circles – Amazon Sabbats, Grove of Artemis Visit their website at cayacoven.org for more information.
Dianic Wiccan Clergy Priestess Overview It is the goal of the Women’s Spirituality Forum to provide our members with herstorical and philosophical foundations of the Dianic Tradition; including ritual and spiritual practices from which to provide Clergy Priestess services to the public. Dianic Tradition is an ancient Goddess and woman-centered, Earth-based, feminist denomination of Wiccan religion. We are a teaching tradition. In the Dianic Tradition, clergy are required to complete course work that enriches their understanding of the sacred feminine Craft through cognitive and practical hands-on experiences to use in their roles as clergy priestesses to the Goddess and Her women.
What is Dianic Clergy? Clergy is a Greek word meaning “heritage” and from its origins, developed into a name for the persons who kept records and practices of the heritage. In the Dianic Tradition, we refer to the Clergy Priestesses as the active keepers and practitioners of our traditions, records and practices. These are Goddess priestess women who provide spiritual support to women (and their families) worldwide; and support women’s rights as feminists.
Ordained Dianic Clergy is not the same as an Ordained Daughter of Z Budapest. Ordained Daughter is an honorary title for exemplary community service gifted by Z Budapest directly. It has no legal ties to the Women’s Spirituality Forum.
What can I do with this? Ordained Dianic Clergy can perform public rituals, including marriage rites, under the legal auspicious of the Women’s Spirituality Forum non-profit status. The Women’s Spirituality Forum, Inc. is a 501 ( c ) (3) tax-exempt religious, educational, and charitable organization. Income you earn as Dianic Clergy and keep is not tax deductible. Income you donate to the Women’s Spirituality Forum, Inc. is tax deductible. The same is true for portions of the income donated to the Women’s Spirituality Forum, Inc., but only the amount of the donated portion would be tax deductible.
What is expected from students enrolled in this program? The Women’s Spirituality Movement, which reclaimed the Dianic Tradition, was based on two principles of action; movement happens through the written word and through the physical doing. We will require both from you. Expect to produce high quality materials that you will use in your Clergy Priestess practice. We expect you complete your training in a reasonable amount of time. You may not complete this training in any less than a year and a day, and not more than three years and three days. We have made concessions for life’s complications during your period of training by allowing you longer than a year and a day to finish, but also realize that this is a very serious and intensive program for only the most dedicated of Goddess Women. Live In-person trainings are required. Online classes in the Dianic Wicca University are required. More on requirements and fees. Ordination as a Dianic Clergy Priestess is required before you will receive any acknowledgement of successful completion. This ordination must be inperson at an event of our choosing. You will be required to complete an academic body of work using a variety of mediums (written, video, audio, etc.). You will attend in-person events where you will be required to perform leadership skills and be observed. If you meet all these requirements satisfactorily, you will receive ordination as a Clergy Priestess and an official certificate. Who should apply? Women-born-women who live their lives as females, and are seeking to enrich their lives and the lives of others by becoming knowledgeable about and intending to become practicing clergy of the Dianic (Feminist) tradition of Wicca, an Earthbased theology, as founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest.
Statement of Dianic Wiccan Faith As a Goddess and woman-centered, Earth-based, feminist clergy, you must support, defend and be prepared to propagate the basic principles of Dianic Wicca as follows: 1. Maintain a living practice the Manifesto of the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number One. 2. Practice the Dianic Wiccan Rede code of ethics that honors the Earth and Her creatures, "And it harm none, do what thou wilt." 3. Honor a feminine aspect of deity.
Ethics of the Dianic Wiccan Faith
Manifesto of the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number One (Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries p.1-2)
Dangers of Magic (Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries p.10)
Only the Women’s Spirituality Forum can ordain clergy under the auspices of their non-profit status. While other non-profits might have their own clergy, their credentials are not substitutions for the training and credential of the Women’s Spirituality Forum.
The Application for Dianic Clergy Priestess is online
Goddess Resource Links Z Budapest Website Dianic Wicca University Online Dianic Nation Women's Events Z's Blog Z's Events Schedule Z's MySpace Calendar Z's University Calendar Z's Books Summoning the Fates Holy Book of Women's Mysteries Celestial Wisdom Grandmother of Time Grandmother Moon Goddess in the Office Goddess in the Bedroom Holy Book Herstory Have you ever wondered the who, what, where and when's of the creation of the Holy Book of Women's Mysteries? We've put together a web page that highlights the answers to these questions.
Please share the Goddess with your friends. Have you done your self-blessing today? We do self-blessing every day. In fact, it's the first thing I do every morning when I rise as I'm preparing to get dressed. It's good mental health. Do your self-blessings and life will be sweeter. The SelfBlessing is on page 120 of the Holy Book of Women's Mysteries.
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