Anique’s Blog · April 2005

The Dark Goddesses

We live in a world where all things "dark" are at best suspect and at worst negative. We are not taught to live with the life-death-life cycles of the Earth and Nature. And of course we are part of Nature. The timeless rhythms of dawn, day, night and then dawn again; the seed which grows to flower, then dies to be reborn as a new plant; the Moon which waxes from dark to new, from new to full, then wanes to dark again. These rhythms are natural and necessary for a rich and full life.

We need to learn to sit in the dark, to wait in the void with peaceful hearts to allow whatever needs to unfold in our lives. The Dark Goddesses can teach us this priceless lesson.

Samhain, or Halloween as it is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere, is the time of the year when the veil between the world of matter and the world of Spirit is the thinnest. At this time, we honour our ancestors and celebrate our Mother Line. We connect with our loved ones who have passed and remember them with love and respect. Our wise Crone energies surface - this is a powerful time to meet The Dark Goddesses.

Samhain, which falls on April 30 in the Southern hemisphere, is one of the cross-quarter days which mark the actual beginning of the change between the Solstices and Equinoxes. So between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, we have Imbolc which means Feast of Newness, which heralds the change which will lead to Spring, and between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, we have Beltane, time of celebration of renewal; then between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox we have Lughnasad, the Celebration of the Harvest, and between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, we celebrate Samhain, when we prepare for the magic and transformational work of Winter.

Three of the Dark Goddesses can guide us through this time.

Firstly, Hecate, Queen of the Underworld, and keeper of the flame at the crossroads.

Then we will meet Lilith, Keeper of the gate to the Underworld, who receives the souls of the dead.

And Kali, the Dark Mother who is both Creatrix and Destroyer, who cuts away what must die in order that we be reborn.

Anique Radiant Heart