Anique’s Blog · April 2004
Sedna: the Crone Goddess emerges
I have been interpreting my life through the will of the Goddess for some years. In other words, I choose to view my life as a minute by minute interaction/collaboration with the Higher Power, Universe, Cosmos, Goddess, God, Buddha, Allah, you fill in whatever fits for you.
For some years, after the initial 5 year period of extraordinary joy and development which happened for me after I dis-covered/un-covered the Goddess in all her munificent glory, I plunged into a somewhat "dark" period where I questioned "Why?" Why, if the Goddess was all powerful/loving/compassionate/forgiving/magical/advocate of "do what you will but harm none", why were we living in a patriarchal system, where life is violated at every level in every possible sphere of existence? Why were we, women, Her earthly embodiment and the very carriers and nurturers of life, why were we vilified/murdered/raped/tortured/abused/ridiculed/trivialised and relegated to second class citizens? Why were animals treated in the same way? Why were men at the head of all major world religions, when everything I had researched, as written by women archaeologists like Marija Gimbutas, and male scholars like Joseph Campbell, clearly indicated that pre-patriarchy, the role of "priest/guru/religious leader" was actually enacted by women as priestesses/medicine women/wise old women skilled in the arts of healing, divination/channelling, oracular power and shape-shifting? That women held all positions of "power" and that a matrilineal approach to life reflected thousands of years of peace loving, agrarian life, where no weapons were needed and two legged creatures saw themselves as part of a whole "family" of living beings - each as valid and important as the other.
The more I read/researched, the more I became at once elated and depressed. Elated, because I needed to know that there had been another way for many hundreds of thousands of years before patriarchy. And depressed because I could not understand why it had to change. I could not understand why the Goddess had decided to "go underground". I talked with many wise women about my feelings, and I received much sage and healing information/responses. As diverse as the women I spoke with. However, there was one common thread. After sharing their ideas with me, they ALL said in one way or another "Anique, we do not see the whole picture. Have faith, the Goddess works in weird and wonderful ways. There is a reason for this. There is a lesson we have to learn". And of course these wise words were a reflection of what I always teach my students, that we do not have the whole picture or full information as to why the world has had to suffer under the yoke of patriarchy for the last 10 thousand years or so. To hold on to the faith, and now the scientific knowledge (thanks to carbon dating) that there did exist, for many hundreds of thousands of years, a prior world "culture" which venerated the Feminine Divine, a time when women were honoured as being sacred beings and men lived in their mothers’ houses with respect and protected all life as sacred. Where a feminine God/Goddess was worshipped through the wonder/cycles/expression of nature, and the magical expression of the "otherworldly" realms. And I teach my students that we have to live in the world today, as women of power, by remembering this vital information, and hold on to the faith that at some stage (I pray in my lifetime) the matriarchal consciousness will return to this beleaguered planet of ours, and we will once again live in Paradise.
Taking into account all the predictions made by serious scholars and charlatans alike, it became obvious to me that something was definitely brewing in the world, and had been for some time. This awareness began some years ago as I observed nature speaking to us through various Earth "disasters", as well as the balancing discoveries/inventions which made life a little more understandable and bearable. For example, if we were to take all the disasters which have occurred during the last epoch since the Internet was birthed, we can find the balance between the destruction of the planet, by man and natural forces, and the ability via the Internet to do something about it by proliferating information, lobbying governments/institutions responsible, supporting organisations involved in the struggle to right these wrongs, and just plain talking to each other.
In more recent times, I have observed a plethora of women becoming more prominent in the world arenas of power and influence. Admittedly, not all of them are necessarily "tuned in", but the fact that they are more visible and articulate, many choosing to reject heretofore patriarchal notions of power, is definitely a shift. Women are also choosing to forego having children, honouring the ancient knowledge that not all women are born to be mothers. Rejecting the patriarchal notion that women are only good "barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen". More and more women are choosing to gather for all sorts of reasons, to share their ideas, and discovering to their joy and amazement that there is a common thread to all our yearnings and understandings.
At the Gather the Women National Congress in San Francisco last year (2003) over 300 women from ALL WALKS OF LIFE gathered to express our concerns, our passions, our spirituality and our rage at the immature posturing of the patriarchs. Immature posturing, which is devastating our world and our lives with senseless wars and ecological/economic genocide. Women of all ages, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds and physical expression met and celebrated our power and beauty. We have a message and it is clear: We have matured and we KNOW what we want, and what we must transform.
Enter Sedna. A new, tiny planet in our solar system, which emerged from behind Pluto.
Unlike mythologist Kathleen Jenks’ interpretation of the ancient myth of the Inuit Goddess Sedna, which the planet is named for, I feel Sedna is an ancient Crone Goddess, not a child Goddess at all. And this is why.
Taking the fundamental elements from the many and varied versions of Sedna’s myth (for the best interpretation see http://www.hranajanto.com/goddessgallery/sedna.html an excerpt from "Goddess & Heroines" by Patricia Monaghan) we find that Sedna was not a child but a full grown woman, a maiden, or the "maiden aspect" of the Goddess, and a very beautiful woman at that. If we read between the lines, we find that Sedna did not want to be married, and when she is duped into marriage, as many modern women still are today by the "fairy tales" of prince charmings who will come and take them away to the castle of eternal marital bliss, she finds that the castle is in fact "a stinking mess". A most apt description for many married women’s lives today. When she complains to her father, the patriarch does what any self respecting patriarch will do and that is bond/side with the other patriarch in the scenario, the husband. When Sedna refuses to return to her husband, the father kills her in the most violent manner. He takes her out to sea in his fishing boat, throws her over the side and when she tries to cling to the boat for dear life with her hands, he cuts them off not once but three times at each finger joint. Note the magical number three. The pieces of her fingers fall into the ocean to become the fish and sea mammals. She then goes on to birth all the other life forms in the sea. After doing the work of the "mother aspect" of the Goddess, she goes on to rule the underworld realms of the deep oceans as the Crone Goddess "mistress of life and death". She is later referred to as the "Old Woman" (capitalisation by Patricia Monaghan) which clearly defines her as a Crone.
Why is it so important that we recognise Sedna as a Crone?
Let us look at the archetypal qualities of the Crone.
In Vicki Noble’s monumental/groundbreaking work - "Motherpeace, A way to the Goddess through Art Myth and Tarot" (a book which should be made mandatory reading for all young people at college), she writes about the Crone:
"The Crone is the wise old woman, knows how to converse with spirits and work magical spells..her functionto assist people who are no longer where they were and not yet where they hope to gois the spinster, the creative spider-woman who weaves the world from her own substanceshe has gained control of the sacred fire..has learned the power of energy retention and transmutation".
Mary Daly describes the Crone as "separatist, who pares all that is alienating and confining away from the self..separatism is the paring away, burning away the falsewhich women in patriarchy desperately need to do in order to escape from the victimization so prevalent"
Astrologers have been telling us for centuries "as above - so below". This phrase is now bandied about by "new age" enthusiasts and serious students of the occult/astrology/divination/spirituality etc. and bears repeating. If we are to integrate the meaning of this phrase deeply, we need to understand that the process works just as well in reverse. Just as we need to understand the energies which Sedna will embody and therefore exert upon the Earth and all its beings, we must also understand that how WE define her, the energies we define in her, will in turn express themselves on us. In other words, we must be sure we ascribe the most beneficial and correct interpretation to her energies right now at the very beginning.
What the world needs now, as the music of Burt Bacharach tells us is love, yes. But more importantly we need wisdom. We need wisdom and the wealth of experience/knowledge/strength/vision/and courage to do what must be done to reverse the hideous imbalances which rock our planet. We need the authenticity of the Crone, she who dares to say what must be said because she no longer needs the protection/approval/money/sex of the patriarch. We need the compassion of the Crone who teaches us that we are all one and that we all take responsibility for what is. We must claim the wisdom of the Crone who is a woman unto herself and answerable to no one but herself. We could try to live with non-attachment, as does the Crone, focusing passionately on expressing our creativity and being radically alive, rejecting anything and everything which is anti-life. We must hear her teachings when she tells us that we must live our lives in balance, knowing that there is enough for all, creating Earth sensitive environments not only in our homes but more importantly in our souls.
What we do NOT need now is the innocence/vulnerability/inexperience/naivety of the child archetype, who is focused on play, exploration, and growth through learning by her mistakes. The time for mistakes is well and truly over. In fact many more mistakes will be fatal to our existence. We must be very cautious and clear about what we invoke.
I invite astrologers to examine the phenomenon of Sedna’s appearance at this time. A time when a matriarchal consciousness is desperately needed in the world. An epoch which has been predicted as "the end of the world". And this may well be so. If we mean the end of the world as we know it, under patriarchy, then I say "Hurrah! Bring it on!!" Let us sing Sedna’s praises and begin worldwide worship of her archetypal Crone energies.
For she is surely what we have been waiting for.
Anique Radiant Heart
