The White
Moon Gallery Presents
Psyche
by Nessa CrescentMoon
© All
original material in this site is under copyright protection and is the intellectual
property of the author.
http://www.univ-rouen.fr/flaubert/03corres/conard/images/psyche.jpg
Psyche is an ancient
Greek Goddess who guides and inspires us in the effort to remember our own Divinity. Our own psyches are a mirror
of our own inner Goddess. We are Divine. Psyche did not start out as a Goddess When we study the myth of Psyche, we are reminded that life
takes us into dark places as well as light. She can teach us what it means to
be Human and Divine.
Psyche’s
Story
The Most Pleasant and Delectable
Tale of the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche is contained in The Golden Ass written by the Roman Lucius Apuleius in 160 AD. This is a brief version of this story:
Psyche was the youngest daughter of an
king. Her beauty was such that men would worship her instead of Aphrodite. Out
of jealousy for Psyche Aphrodite sent her son Cupid to shoot one of his arrows
of love at Psyche so that she would fall in love with a real monster of a guy.
Cupid accidentally pricked himself with his own arrow and fell in love with
Psyche. It came to pass that Aphrodite’s praises were not sung and love did not
abound.
Psyche’s father consulted an oracle said that Psyche must be wedded
to a monster on the top of a mountain. Psyche then was led to the mountain and
abandoned there. Cupid, instead
telling Aphrodite that he was in love with
Psyche called the winds of Zephyrus to sweep her down the mountain, and into a
palace where her every wish was taken care of by invisible hands.
Cupid visited her during the night in the palace bedroom, never
allowing Psyche to see him; but Psyche was alone in the palace by day.
Although they
were satisfied with the relationship they had; she was lonely for her family
and asked her husband to allow her sisters to visit. Cupid
consented and warned Psyche of her sisters'
treachery: their purpose was to persuade her to look upon his face; if she did
so, she would never see him again. He also told her that she was pregnant with
their child.
The sisters arrived and began hassling Psyche for details on her
husband. They were amazed and jealous at the magnificence of her home, her
jewelry, and her clothing. Psyche could not answer the many questions her
sisters had for her, for Psyche had never seen her husband and she had no idea
where his riches came from. She explained that she had never laid eyes upon the
man who loved her in the dark.
Her sisters told her that her she was foolish; that this husband
of hers was hiding something, he probably was a monster! Psyche was distressed
by this that she forgot Cupid’s warning and took her sisters' advice. They had
advised her to hide a sharp knife and a lamp, and while he slept she would be
able to see if he was a monster. In the event that he was evil she should use
the knife to kill him.
By following the bad advice of her sisters, Psyche found that
her lover was the beautiful God Cupid. Mesmerized by Cupids beauty, she gazed
at his lovely wings and forgot the knife and caressed the bow and quiver that
lay at the foot of their bed; she pricked a finger on one of the arrows. Desire
rushed through her, and as she bent to kiss her lover, a drop of hot oil from
the lamp fell on his shoulder.
In that moment he
realized that she had seen him, Cupid leapt out of bed and attempted to fly
away at once; Psyche caught hold of his leg and was pulled upward with him, her
strength gave out and she fell to the earth. Cupid the left her there in the
valley alone and he flew to his mother, Aphrodite. Psyche was devastated.
Upon discovering Cupids love for Psyche,
and hearing Cupid’s tale Aphrodite was so enraged that she had Psyche brought
to her. Psyche suffered the wrath of Aphrodite, who challenged her in many
ways. Psyche’s tasks symbolize our own pathways that take us on a journey of
growth to transformation.
Task 1- Sorting the Seeds--- Psyche was placed in a room full of assorted
grains and told to sort them by nightfall, which she did with the aid of an
army of ants.
Task 2- Gathering the Fleece---
Psyche was ordered to gather Golden Fleece from the solar rams. She
accomplished this by following the advice of a whispering reed, to wait until
the sheep were asleep and then gathering the fleece caught on the thorns.
Task 3- Collecting the Waters –
Psyche was commanded to bring a container of water from the dangerous waters of
the
Task 4-
Retrieving Persephone’s Potion --- She was ordered to descend into Hades and
return with a box containing Persephone's beauty potion.
…Psyche knew she was close to the end of her
journey, her tasks almost completed. As she reached the surface she thought about
how much she needed the beauty potion before her reunion with Cupid. When she
opened the box a huge cloud of sleep mist whooshed out and Psyche fell to the
ground. Cupid flew to Psyche's rescue.
He put sleep back into the box and Psyche awoke and completed her final task.
Cupid then appealed to Zeus, who agreed to make Psyche immortal, Aphrodite was
satisfied. It was with great ceremony that Psyche was married to Cupid, shortly
there after; a daughter was born to them, who we refer to as Pleasure (Voluptas/ Bliss/Joy).
”Through
the process of meeting the challenges of her tasks and integrating her
experiences Psyche grows from an innocent young girl into a mature goddess.
Psyche is a rich reminder of our imperative to grow; she reminds us that the
process of life takes us into dark places as well as light, just as the
butterfly emerges from the dark chrysalis into the light.” ~ Michael Babcock.
Empowerment Exercise
This can be used in ritual to redirect the focus inward, where
our true source of power resides.
http://thor.info.uaic.ro/~busaco/paint/in-the-name-of/Butterfly.jpg
For Yourself
Know yourself now,
How you are now,
What you think now,
What you believe now.
You may be different,
You may think differently,
and may believe differently
in the future.
You can recall the past
Recall who
you were
What you thought
What you believed
Recall that past and remember that it can not be changed
Think of the journey instead.
Tell me…Now
Who you are now
what you think of now
and what you believe now
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
Excersise : 1. Write in your
journal who you are, what you think, and what you believe right now.
2. Read what you write
out loud to yourself, let it sink in.
3. Don’t look back until
you feel the need, until you feel something has changed.
4. Repeat this process as
needed throughout your lifetime. This is the journey of you.
“I sometimes get the feeling
that truth changes from moment to
moment
…it’s interesting how it
changes as we learn and grow”
~Nessa
Connecting
with the Goddess Psyche
Need:
Blank paper & crayons
1 candle (your choice of color)
[lighter+ candle holder]
Quartz crystals [1 or more]
A pin or a knife [or something]
in which to carve symbols into the candle.
Oil of any scent, to dress
the candle.
Directions:
Prepare sacred space.
Perform your self blessing [ please use the oil if you like].
Sit in your sacred space and carve
any Psyche’s symbols onto the candle, along with symbols that are special to
you [your name, your sigil, etc…]
Dress candle with the oil.
Light your candle and connect with
Psyche by inviting her into your sacred space.
Once you feel her presence, being to
draw on the blank paper.
This drawing is an offering to Psyche
[without & within]; whatever you are inspired to do- just let it come out
on the paper.
When you are finished drawing, thank
Psyche for the connection, tell her of your gift to honor her presence in your
life.
The drawing, place the drawing on
your altar or wherever you feel the best place for it is.
You may let the candle finish, or you
can light it later to reconnect.
Bibliography
1) GODDESS KNOWLEDGE
CARDS: Susan
Eleanor Boulet Trust. Text by
Michael Babcock.
2)
http://owlsdottir.com/goddess/psyche/psyche.html
3)
The Illustrated Dictionary
of Greek and Roman Mythology by Michael Stapleton
4)
http://www.fjkluth.com/psyche.html
5)
Metamorphoses
(also known as The Golden Ass) by
Apuleius 0674990498
6)
http://www.bulldancers.co.uk/data/pages/seriesinfo.html