The Order of the White Moon Goddess
Gallery Presents:
A Goddess Among Us
A Level II Final Project by Adept Rin Fairweather
Photo by Dana Gluckstein, 1989.
https://www.danagluckstein.com/copy-of-fine-art?pgid=jpk68v9e-ed1e28b3-73ad-11ea-be76-063f49e9a7e4
Ursula K. Le Guin
(October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018)
“We are volcanoes.
When we women offer our experience as our truth,
as human truth, all the maps change.
There are new mountains.”
-Le Guin, 2018-
Introduction
Some of the key components to working magick
are visualization, voice, and creativity. Ursula K. Le Guin
was a living embodiment of these qualities. Her writing style and imagination never
failed to stir the energy within me. She was an author, essayist, poet,
feminist, visionary, creator of worlds, and a fabulous crone. Though she may
prefer to be remembered as an American Novelist, she was a powerful woman who
will be remembered fondly. May her voice ring out through the ages.
Her Life
Ursula was born October 21, 1929 to Alfred and Theodora Kroeber.
Her childhood was spent in Berkeley, California. She had three older brothers, Theodore,
Karl, and Clifton. Her father was a notable cultural anthropologist who became the
first anthropology professor at University of California, Berkeley. (1). Her mother
was an author known for penning Ishi, an ethnography that developed from her
husband’s collected data on the last known Native American from the Yahi tribe. As noted in the documentary, Worlds of
Ursula K. Le Guin (2018), Ursula remembered
growing up and being exposed to the many interesting conversations of her
parents and their friends. This is highly evident throughout her works. “Her
writing was never simply about creating a magical or strange world. It was
about crafting a laboratory to play with identities—race, ethnicity, gender,
sexuality, or class—in a way that forced readers to think about how cultural
prejudice colored their views of other people.” (8). Ursula attended Radcliffe
College and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian Literature and
Renaissance French in 1951. In 1952, she attended Columbia University and
earned her Master of Arts degree in French. She was able to continue her
studies in France where she met her husband, Charles Le Guin. He was a
historian who later became a professor. Le Guin gave
up the idea of getting her doctorate, taught French, and went to work as a
secretary so her husband could finish his doctorate. (7). The two were married
in 1953 and had three children. They lived out the rest of their lives in
Portland, Oregon. Ursula juggled most of her writing while raising her kids.
She wrote and published for nearly 60 years. She died at her home in Oregon at
the age of 88 in 2018. “Her son said that she had been in poor health for
several months and stated that it was likely she had had a heart attack.” (7).
Her Work
Though Ursula is most well known for her works of science
fiction and fantasy, she has written an incredible variety of things. She
authored, “21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories, four collections of essays,
12 children’s books, six volumes of poetry and four of translation. The breadth
and imagination of her work earned her six Nebulas, nine Hugos,
and SFWA’s Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In
2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished
Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors
to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.” (6).
At the beginning of her career, Ursula’s work was rejected
by publishers many times before she eventually set her sights on science
fiction.
If you would like to see a complete listing of her works,
they can be found by exploring her website. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/about-ursula Rather than listing them all here,
I would just like to share some of her work that has impacted me the most.
v
The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)- Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite book of
all time is, this is what I tell them. This book explores the idea of gender,
which is a hot topic today. It was way before it’s
time. Today it faces some criticism, but it is well worth the read.
v
A Wizard of Earth Sea (1968)- The very first book I ever read by Ursula. It contains
magic, the power of naming, and shadow work in a roundabout way. After reading
it, I actively sought out more of her stories.
v
The Telling (2000)- Cultural Anthropology shines in through this one. It explores myths,
legends, and the importance of keeping these things alive. It is set in the
same universe as The Left Hand of Darkness.
v
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975)- This is an entire book filled with short stories.
My two favorites are “Direction of the Road,” which contains the interesting
perspective of a tree, and “The Ones Who Walk Away From
Omelas.” Omelas is one of Le Guin’s most well known stories. It addresses morality in a unique way.
It certainly affected me.
v
The Space Crone (1976)- Feminism at its finest. While the beginning uses some profanity, the
bottom half offers important insight to the usefulness of a crone. I read parts
of this at my UU church during a croning ceremony.
You can read the whole thing and some of her other essays here. https://monoskop.org/media/text/le_guin_1989_dancing_at_the_edge_of_the_world/
v
So Far So Good (2018)- “Ursula sent off her revised manuscript for So Far So Good for
copyediting on January 15, 2018. She died January 22. This book, then, is the
last collection of her poetry she would edit; it is her farewell.”(4). All I can say about this collection is that it is
both sad and beautiful. She knew her time was coming to an end.
v
Catwings (1988)- There are four of these books and I added it here
for the children. My son liked it and I enjoyed reading it to him. The title
gives it all away.
Spirituality
Photo by Rin, 2021.
Dao Song
O slow fish
show me the way
O green weed
grow me the way
The way you go
the way you grow
is the way
indeed
O bright Sun
light me the way
the right way
the one
no one can say
If one can choose it
it is wrong
Sing me the way
O song:
No one can lose it
for long
-Le Guin, 1975-
One of my most prized possessions is an English version of
the Tao Te Ching crafted by,
you guessed it, Ursula K. Le Guin. It includes 2 CDs of her narrating. Her personal
commentary is also charming. I found it in a secondhand store stuffed in with
other religious books. As someone who enjoys learning about other spiritualities
and reading science fiction/fantasy, you can imagine my surprise and delight at
finding this. Ursula’s father had a unique copy of the Tao that he often read.
It was an item of intrigue for Ursula growing up. He had chapters in it marked
to be read at his funeral. When he did pass, the family read from it. Ursula
kept the book and marked her own chapters to be read at her own funeral. She
put together her version of this famous text because she, “wanted a Book of the
Way accessible to a present-day, unwise, unpowerful, and perhaps unmale reader, not seeking esoteric secrets, but listening
for a voice that speaks to the soul.” (5). While Ursula preferred to keep
religion at a distance, her great love for the Tao Te
Ching is clear. The themes are present in her writing and personal interviews.
(3). She has been referred to somewhat jokingly as a “nonviolent Daoist
anarchist.”(3). I can only wonder at what she would
think about being included in our lovely Goddess gallery.
Inspiration
While putting this project together, I was also reading Laura
Tempest Zakroff’s book, Sigil Witchery. (9).
I decided to create my own sigil for stimulating creativity and getting
words to paper or computer. There are other ways of creating sigils, but I
chose Zakroff’s method because it is much more
intuitive. It’s no mistake that this sigil somewhat
resembles a fountain pen. I will explain it briefly from the bottom up. The
base is an arrow that is also like a pen tip. It points to whatever you are
going to be using for your writing. As we travel up. it looks like flower
leaves for growth, v for voice, or vocal chords. When
I was finished burning a candle for prayer one day, I took a good look at the
wick and the ends had curled up to look like a tiny flower. In this case, I
drew the flower as a flame for the spark or illuminating idea/s. Above that, is
my representation of a sound wave turned sideways, getting louder. This part
came to me when I was doing science with my kiddo. We had to play with a
microphone and look at our voice waves in a computer program. The long curly
things coming out of the wave are meant to be waterspouts from a fountain. It’s supposed to be the nourishing, bursting forth, and
spreading out of ideas, which are represented by seeds. There are ten spouts
and ten seeds for transformation, like the tens in our tarot decks. At the top
is a diamond for light, imagination, fortitude, and brilliance.
Photo by Rin, 2021.
To Use:
There are many ways to utilize this. Trace it with a finger
onto notebooks or computers when getting ready to do some writing. You could
draw it out in color. I suggest in blues or purples as it relates to the
throat, third eye, and crown chakras. You could sketch this and put it in your
pocket when you are hunting for ideas. If you prefer to compose outside you
could trace it in the dirt or in whatever spot you like to sit in with chalk.
It could also be placed in a prominent place in your study. Basically, get creative.
For spiritual or magickal writing, I suggest
clearing/cleansing a space, lighting your candles, and centering yourself
before use. Since this is my own creation, you may wish to create a short
activation spell before using it. That way you develop your own connection to
its use. However, it can still be used without specific activation, as long as you feel connected to it. Feel free to use this
in your writing and I hope you find it useful.
An Original Song
The best way to honor Ursula’s legacy is to simply write
something. I created this short song inspired by some of her spacey themes and
included the title of one of her books in my song lyrics.
The Long Way
I’ve lost you somewhere
In a place I cannot go
To a place I cannot know
The sadness comes
And the sadness goes
Now I must move on
But I’m stuck in my mind
In a place that’s out of time
Wandering a vast unknown
To claw my way out
Through the webs of all my doubt
I catch a glimpse of you from on the other side
(Chorus)
You are worlds away, worlds away, worlds away
You are standing on the farthest shore
Worlds away, worlds away, worlds away
And I can’t seem to find you anymore
On and on I adventure
On and on I remember...you
On and on I will follow
It’s a long, long way
The beauty of your heart
Remains apart of me
The best I’ve ever seen
I’ll carry it wherever I may roam
And when we meet again
I’ll tell you where I’ve been
Your love a beacon, guiding me back home
The end is not the end
That’s what we always said
I won’t regret the time that I’m alone
Instead I’ll voyage on
Across the stars and over seas
To places meant for me
Learning lessons, gaining wisdom as I go
(Chorus)
You are worlds away, worlds away, worlds away
You are standing on the farthest shore
Worlds away, worlds away, worlds away
And I can’t seem to find you anymore
On and on I adventure
On and on I remember...you
On and on I will follow
It’s a long, long way
To you
Art Piece
The following pendant contains two stones and is wrapped in
18 gauge silver plated copper wire. I chose a blue apatite for intellect and third eye stimulation. The
triangular cabochon is a druzy agate, chosen for
balance and creativity. Again, the triangle is like a V for voice.
Photo by Rin, 2021.
Bibliography:
1.
A.L. Kroeber. (2021, April 06). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._L._Kroeber
2.
Curry, A. (Director). (2018). Worlds of Ursula K Le Guin. [Film]. The
Center for Independent Documentary.
3.
Herman, Jonathan. (2018). Remembering Ursula K. Le Guin
(1929-2018): Author, Activist, Amateur Scholar of Religion. https://rsn.aarweb.org/remembering-ursula-k-le-guin
4.
Le Guin, U. K. (2018). So Far So Good. Copper
Canyon Press.
5.
Le Guin, Ursula K. Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching. Shambhala, 2009.
6.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ursula K Le Guin Literary Trust, 2021, www.ursulakleguin.com/
7.
Ursula K. Le Guin. (2021, March 23). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin
8. Scher, Philip. (2018). How Ursula
K. Le Guin’s Writing Was Shaped by Anthropology. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/ursula-le-guin/
9.
Zakroff, L. T. (2018). Sigil Witchery: A Witch’s Guide
to Crafting Magick Symbols. Llewellyn Books.
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author.