Thank you, Our Lady – December 12th

I’m thrilled she has an Official Day. Not all goddesses do, you know. But today is hers.

I was raised Catholic but never confirmed. There was a lot about it that I loved. I loved the songs, Bible stories and sharing special time (and donuts) after mass with my dad, but never connected with the message. As a young child, I remember sitting in mass, listening to the priest’s sermon, thinking – this guy doesn’t have it right. I knew God was not an angry or vengeful white man in the sky. That simply didn’t make sense to me. And, if something doesn’t make sense to me, I can’t give myself to it. That’s when I knew that I would never be able to be a Catholic for my dad. I also think that marked the beginning of my searching.

If you are on my Moon Tips list and/or have followed my blog, than you know a lot about what my practice is today. It’s the thing that honors all of who I am, and it honors all of who you are too. I follow the Old Ways, the earth-based spiritual practices that follow the seasons, the sun & moon, and hold all of life as sacred. AND, most importantly, the Divine Feminine is honored – women are included. That was and is a big deal for me. Every child wants to feel included. As a little girl, I remember the statues of Mary off to the side of the main altar and I drank her in. It wasn’t until later that I wondered why are her images always off to the side or why is her role in the stories so small, almost like an afterthought. I did not think that women were an after thought. My mother was certainly no afterthought.

Part of my self-education was learning about the Goddess. And the first Goddess that came into my heart was Our Lady of Guadalupe. I’m not sure if it was my Catholic upbringing that brought her to me, or that I loved her powerful image. Probably both. It has only been recently that I have come to know her story better and can see the links more clearly. At first, I thought I would spotlight many Goddesses on my website but really, I only have eyes for one. She is the one. In my experience I have come to see that the Goddess has many forms and I have learned to trust the form she chooses. In the end, it is the energy of the the Divine Feminine that I love working with. For myself, I am attracted to the snakes and the mermaids, the pomegranates and the woodland creatures, the birds and the Phoenix, the planets and the seasons. I honor the cycle of life, and today I honor Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Our” because the Goddess belongs to everyone, the Divine Mother.

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