FRESH EGGS OSTARA 2023

 Ostara 2023      
   

  Fresh Eggs

 

 

Newsletter of the Women's Spirituality Forum 

Edited by Lisa Crow and Tinnekke Bebout

 

 

 

WHAT'S FRESH?

Our beloved Zsuzsanna has stepped fully into the 21st Century with her own Patreon, and you're all invited to join her there! Z has been doing audio recordings on her favorite subjects, starting with Death and our relationship with it. Many otherwise unpublished or unreleased media from Z can be found exclusively there for the members.  Join Z on Patreon today

 FROM Z:

I was born on the Festival of Peace on January 30th, when there were three festivals of peace celebrated by the Romans. I feel that this ritual was given to me around my birthday, as a birthday present in 2017. I am sharing it with you hoping that you do it remembering that on our planet, we have several wars going on. Plus the war on Women, realizing that every day 3 women in the U.S. are murdered. Choose a good full moon and perform this ritual with sisters that you know.

Ritual for Peace

(Light a silver candle in a circle of wildflower petals)

Say:

Silver One!

You who are honored three times a year

with humble marches

Maidens honored walks

When even the powerful

wear none of the insignia of their office

as we pray at your public altars

for continued peace.

We are back again.

Put your mighty silver force

your mighty ray of the soul

ALL:  if you please!

against the war lovers' selfish blindness.

Let war be obsolete.

Only you can do this.

Then it is done.

 

(Light a golden candle in a circle of rose petals)

Say:

Golden One!

Yellow sunflowers, heralds of wealth

milliards of honeybees laden with golden drops

celebrate your holy presence.

Come back to us!

Teach us the ancient arts

of tolerance and fair trade.

Pour your wisdom in the drops of honey so that even the most mean-spirited

will finally be able to feel you.

Make your women especially strong

All:  if you please!

so that we can endure the torrents of abuse

and stop our bitter lot of war at home.

As we shall slay the mind's monsters

that harmed us amongst our own kin

bring us back the love we deserve.

This you can do.

Then it is done.

 

(Light a black candle in a circle of dried bones)

Say:

Black One!

You are the peace of death

precious jewel reward after a life well spent.

Peace unutterable.

We celebrate you with all the

ancestors who have gone before us.

We remember that our time too is but brief.

You need not our kind

to help you hurry death.

You shall surely come

 

and call our names one by one.

Absorb our fears of each other.

Make our hate

be absorbed by your holy death.

Let your peace not be

the only one we know.

This you can do.

All:  if you please!

Then it is done.

 

Silver One

Golden One

Black One

Make it so!

(Light a silver candle in a circle of wild flower petals)

Say:

Silver One!

You who are honored three times a year

with humble marches

Maidens honored walks

When even the powerful

wear none of the insignia of their office

as we pray at your public altars

for continued peace.

We are back again.

Put your mighty silver force

your mighty ray of the soul

ALL:  if you please!

against the warlover's selfish blindness.

Let war be obsolete.

Only you can do this.

Then it is done.

 

(Light a golden candle in a circle of rose petals)

Say:

Golden One!

Yellow sunflowers, heralds of wealth

milliards of honeybees laden with golden drops

celebrate your holy presence.

Come back to us!

Teach us the ancient arts

of tolerance and fair trade.

Pour your wisdom in the drops of honey so that even the most mean spirited

will finally be able to feel you.

Make your women especially strong

All:  if you please!

so that we can endure the torrents of abuse

and stop our bitter lot of war at home.

As we shall slay the mind's monsters

that harmed us amongst our own kin

bring us back the love we deserve.

This you can do.

Then it is done.

 

(Light a black candle in a circle of dried bones)

Say:

Black One!

You are the peace of death

precious jewel reward after a life well spent.

Peace unutterable.

We celebrate you with all the

ancestors who have gone before us.

We remember that our time too is but brief.

You need not our kind

to help you hurry death.

You shall surely come

 

and call our names one by one.

Absorb our fears of each other.

Make our hate

be absorbed by your holy death.

Let your peace not be

the only one we know.

This you can do.

All:  if you please!

Then it is done.

 

Silver One

Golden One

Black One

Make it so!

Ostara 2023 by Sharon McCarthy

 Good Morning!

 

The Wheel of the Year brings us to the Vernal Equinox, and we are profoundly ready for a new season!

Today the Sun’s position at noon is directly above the equator ~ rising due east and setting due west.

Twice a year at the Equinoxes, the Earth’s axis tilts neither towards nor away from the Sun.

 

That’s an apropos lens through which to reset our inner compass as we ask ourselves ~

What are we tilting towards, and what are we tilting away from?

It’s time to renew our regard for the preciousness of all life in response to Spring’s awakening.

 

Are we intentionally living in accord with our heart’s desire, or somehow holding ourselves back?

Are we already moving beyond people, behaviors and ideologies that no longer nurture our well-being?

Spring gifts us with the energy to rebirth the loving ways we bloom into balance.

 

Today the Sun enters Aries at 2:24 pm PDT and begins the astrological solar year anew.

It’s an auspicious time to release the multitude of conflicting habits we carry in our bodies.

We can imagine the feeling of emerging from an egg, shedding a skin, or flowering from a bud.

 

As we move into days of increasing Light, we also honor the Dark from which we emerge.

Our luminous health depends on the vitality of our green allies whose roots thrive in the dark fertile soil.

May we practice compassion while facing all the light and dark in this world, as well as within ourselves.

 

Tomorrow the New Moon in Aries adds potency to Spring’s new beginning.

The bright side of the Moon faces away from us, while it positions itself between Earth and the Sun.

With clear intention ~ our work and play, gardens and relationships will flourish with the increasing light.

 

Our inner balance supports the impetus and fulfillment of our intentions.

So we attend to the health of our nervous system, our organ systems, and our relationships.

One practice that facilitates balance is drawing energy and awareness to our center, from our crown to roots.

 

Increase equanimity by slowing the vibrational busyness acquired through constantly leaning outwards.

Imagine ourselves as that mythical egg, “that balances upright on the Equinox.”

Feel as if we’re standing at the equator with the Sun above us and Earth firmly beneath our feet.

 

Aligned with the continuity of our vertical center, we can feel the golden rising of Spring.

Blessed with the conscious rhythm of our breath, the rising and falling of our diaphragm touching our liver.

Sensing our liver, we activate the vital energy that blossoms our dreams into the world.

 

Emerging from the chrysalis of winter, gradually transforming ~ we open our wings, open our hearts.

We allow our heads to rest upon our vertical center which helps to equalize our balance.

We rest our weight evenly upon our two legs and let our feet feel their connection to our beautiful Gaia.

 

Spring is springing.  Our hills are greening.  Birds are singing.  Bless our roots and wings!

May we spend some time today 'finding center' and offering ourselves the loving care we most need.

Green Blessings of Renewal!  World Blessings for Peace and Equanimity!

 

Peace and Love,

Sharon  McCarthy

 

Zsuzsanna Budapest is calling the women back to our sacred land to meet in 2024! Join her in the redwoods of California to sing, dance, celebrate over a half century of Goddess culture, and howl at the moon! Goddess Festival Information

This is a teaching coven. We are educating our sisters about our sis-ters from the past.  Some newsletters will include a lesson, a reading from the book and discussion questions for you to answer. When we meet, we will go over the answers. These questions are posed to inspire you to really think about what you have been taught about religion and how that way of thinking has influenced you  and those around you. 

 Our hope is that you start a group wherever you are and discuss the meaning of the works we study with each other and wake up a few more ladies from their patriarchal propaganda trance. We are focusing on political spellcasting and educating our sisters about our sisters from the past. Patriarchal culture has deprived women from knowing about the Elders who went before us; we reclaim them in order to invite to us a better future. These are important tasks for the times in which we live. Please join us in this work. 

 To join, please send a request with the following information: 1) Why you are interested in joining the coven and 2) What skills/abilities you have to contribute to our sisterhood.  

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE! We are asking all coven members to set up a monthly recurring donation via PayPal (instead of an annual fee, as we have done in the past). This will give Z a more steady and predictable stream of resources so we can stay ahead of the curve and bring our ideas and events to life, including our next biggest event: Goddess Festival 2024 (where coven members get a discount)!  

Just click here and follow the directions:  https://womensspiritualityforum.org/wsf/index.php/contact

Goddess of the Month - March 2023: Dziewanna

Tinnekke Bebout

 

Devana by Viktor Korolov

 

WHO IS DZIEWANNA?

 Dziewanna (Jeh' van na)is a Slavic goddess who filled many roles in our rich culture. Daughter of Perun and Dodola, She is the Spring Maiden and revered by farmers as Goddess of agriculture. However, She is unlike Persephone in that role. She does not come back from sleeping under the Earth in winter. Lada, who is the Spring Mother, does that. Dziewanna is a Maiden Huntress and a fierce warrior. While some have claimed a link between Her and the Roman Diana, their roles are only superficially similar. There are traces of Her worship that have been found from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans of an ancient wild forest goddess in the oldest relics. She is wild and free, Mistress of horses, Who rides through the land awakening the plants and banishing the winter crone, so that Lada may return. There are many spellings of Her name depending on the tribe of Slavs. Some of these include:

 

Dziewona - Poland

Dilwica - Serbia

Devana - Czech, Russian

Debena - Slovenia

The Maiden

One of the interesting things about Dziewanna is that Her name translates as "The Maiden" or shares linguistic roots with the word for maiden in every tribal Slavic language. It's also fascinating that Her name also translates in Polish as "Giver of Life". "The people believed that the God Zywie, the Lord of Life, used to transform himself into a cuckoo, in order to address the faithful with ominous voice. This deity is the male counterpart of Jiva, the Slavonian Goddess of the Spring, whose name is a contracted form of Jivana, in Polish Ziewonia, that is, "the giver of life" (jizn')." - J. Grimm, Deustche Mythologie.(1) No matter what version of Her you encounter, She is a true virgin, whole unto Herself, Her hair wild and free. Like Mokosz, Her free hair is very much a part of Her iconography, as it is a cultural designator of a woman not bound to any man. Women in Slavic cultures traditionally bound their hair into tight, complex braids as part of their preparations for marriage. The thicker and heavier the braid, the better in Slavic cultures, where part of the wedding ritual was "the buying of the braid" by the groom. However, the picture is even more interesting for those who take the time to learn about Her. Dziewanna is married; married and free of the control of a man at the same time. In a world of cultural boxes that put Maiden Goddesses squarely into the category of unmarried and having no romantic relationships, She is something of a pickle. Her mate, Veles, is a strong deity as well, Lord of the Earth, Water, and the Underworld, as well as poetry and music. He is also Lord of Magick and is heavily associated with dragons. Unlike the ownership marriages of other cultures, the ancient marriage of Dziewanna and Veles is one of equals where both are whole to themselves, meeting as helpmeets and partners who complement one another. They both take other partners at various times and also spend time alone. There is no trace of jealous rages in their stories, just a self-assured partnership. Together they had one son, Jarilo, Lord of all things green and growing and also a warrior, who returns with the Spring every year from the land of the dead. There are stories of Jarilo being son of Veles rival Perun, but if you look at the oldest folk references, especially those fom old Serbian, his full name is Jarovit Kobilic, Kobilic being a surname that translates as "Son of the Mare". In all Slavic cultures, Dziewanna is the Mare, and is represented by a mare in much of the iconography, so you see that Jarilo's roots as the son of Dziewanna and Veles are easy to find. I find in Her and in Her relationships with Veles and Jarilo a wonderful model for modern womyn who are wanting to be truly free in themselves and have a relationship of love with any kind of partner.

 

Multifaceted Goddess

Looking into the nature of Dziewanna, there are so many places to find Her and commune with Her. Pomerania in northern Poland has an area with heavy associations both in names and in legends of Dziewanna and Her Wild Hunt. The villages of Zydowo and Polanow and the surrounding forests and lakes are deep in this lore. The track of Her Hunt is said to go from Gallow Hill the Holy Mountain of Polanow. On the Holy Mountain is a sacred spring identified in local lore with the Wild Virgin. At the outlet of the Radew River near Zydowo is the hillfort of the Goddess. Southeast of Zydowo is Stone Lake, which is said to contain two bells at its bottom. These bells are associated with the Winter Queen Marzanna and with the Spring Maiden Dziewanna. During the spring festival of Maslenitsa, it was traditional for men and women to work together creating a straw figure dressed in women's clothing which would be driven around the village during the festivites until sunset of the final day, when the people would carry it out of town to "Bury Death". The creation of this figure usually took place in the home of the last person to die prior to Maslenitsa. Depending on the location, the figure would either be buried at the roots of an oak tree or thrown into a body of water. After this figure is banished, they bring back into the village a prettily dressed doll which is called many things, but most commonly the May Queen or Dziewanna. This doll represents the fertility of the coming season and the warming of the Earth. In addition to all this work as Goddess of Spring and Sacred Mare, Dziewanna is also the Maiden Huntress who protects all wild places. She is free and roams the forests with on horseback with Her hounds. She is also Goddess of the Moon. As a lunar goddess, She was said to run through the Carpathians with Her pack of wolves.

 

Wild Huntress - by Tinnekke Bebout

Ahwoo! The wolves howl!

Whose soft footsteps are in the night?

Do you see the moonlight flashing on Her bow?

It is Dziewanna, Wild Huntress taking flight!

On Her white mare She rides,

Her faithful pack at Her side.

She chases away the Winter Crone;

She opens the way for the return of life.

Follow Her, the Wild and Free One.

Join Her hunt if you dare.

Send Springs blessings to us, Lady!

Banish death and the dark!

Send the chill of Winter's Breath

Back to the Land of Ice and Snow.

Summon Your son, Lord of the Growing Things

To bring us plenty of fruit and grain.

Lead Your spouse, Lord of Rain

To bless our fields and make plants grow!

Thank you Lady of the Wild Wood

For giving us sustenance in the dark

When the grip of ice was upon the land

And nothing green can ever grow.

 

(1) Jacob Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie (p. 543)