The White Moon Goddess Gallery Presents

 

Selene

 

By Josephine Wall

 


Moon Goddess

 

All Seeing Eye of the Night

 

A Level I Final Project for the Sacred Three Goddess School by Initiate Teresa Wenner

(©2022. All original material in this work is under copyright protection and is the intellectual property of the author.)

 

I have always had a passion for the moon, so it only seems fitting that I research a moon goddess. Whom better than to select the beautiful and mysterious Selene, adorned by her crescent moon.

As a child I remember my mother and grandmother carrying my sick brother around and saying,
“ I see the moon and the moon sees me - God bless the moon and God bless me”.

I adopted this somewhere along the line, but changed God to Goddess.

 

Selene:

Titan Goddess of the Moon

Who is Selene?

Selene was often worshiped as Phoebe the Huntress. She was also called Luna.

She was born on the Greek isle of Rhodes.

Parents:
Selene is the daughter to Titan parents Hyperion and to his sister Euryphaessa, also known as Theia.

Siblings:
Her siblings are Helios, who is known as the sun god, and Eos, known as the goddess of dawn.

Companions/ Offspring:

Selene fell in love with a mortal named Endymion whom Zeus made her immortal companion. They had 50 female children. There is controversy over who placed Endymion into an eternal sleep, Selene or Zeus. Their 50 daughters represented the 50 months of the Greek Olympiad.

Selene and Zeus parented several daughters Naxos, Ersa the dew, Dionysus (also debated to be the offspring of Semele), and Nemaia.

Pan and Selene produced Pandeia the goddess of youth. Some sources report her father was Zeus.

Selene was also said to be the mother of the legendary Greek poet, Musaeus.

The moon goddess is known to drive her chariot pulled by two white horses nightly across the sky.

 

Selene & Endymion - Ancient Greek Vase Painting (theoi.com)

https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/antikensammlung/home/

 

Powers:

Selene has the power to provide sleep and dreams to mortals, to allow then to have light in the night.
Selene comes to us in dreams, providing answers to questions we have asked.

Selene has the ability to awaken intuition, inspire love, mask reality, induce sleep, light the night, and control time.

Selene is often linked to Artemis, who was a hunter and the daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo and Hecate. All three are referred to as lunar goddesses.

 

Symbols:

Crescent – the crescent symbolizes the moon itself.

Chariot – the chariot signifies her vehicle and mode of transportation.
Cloak – Selene was often depicted with a billowing cloak.
Bull – One of her symbols is the bull which she rode upon.
Nimbus – In certain works of art, Selene is portrayed with a halo (also known as the nimbus), surrounding her head.
Torch – During the Hellenistic period, she was pictured holding a torch.

Selene’s Archetype:

The Lover: Passion and selfish love for others or obsessive love.

 

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/selene/

Offerings for Selene:
Alter or space to work with the goddess which could include:


 Paintings of the moon
Statues of the moon goddess
Moonstone
Horses silver and white
Moon water
Poem
Frankincense
Myrrh
Dragon’s Blood

 

Correspondences specific to the moon goddess in her aspect as Selene:


*Candle:  White
*Incense:  Myrtle
*Festival:  February 7th
*Color:  Silver, grey-white
*Day of the Week:  Monday (“moon-day”)
*Scents/flowers:  Myrtle, willow, white poppy, white rose, and wall flower

Attributes:
Passionate, lights the night, controls time, Changeable like the moon

Areas of Influence:
Agriculture, anything domestic, travel, long life, medicine, and visions



Orphic Hymn:


TO THE MOON [SELENE]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Hear, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light, bull-horn'd and wand'ring thro' the gloom of Night.
With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide Night's torch extending, thro' the heav'ns you ride:
Female and Male with borrow'd rays you shine, and now full-orb'd, now tending to decline.
Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon [Mene], whose amber orb makes Night's reflected noon:
Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night, all-seeing pow'r bedeck'd with starry light.
Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life:
Fair lamp of Night, its ornament and friend, who giv'st to Nature's works their destin'd end.
Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail! Deck'd with a graceful robe and shining veil;
Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,
Shine on these sacred rites with prosp'rous rays, and pleas'd accept thy suppliant's mystic praise.

https://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html


A Selene Goddess Full Moon Ritual

If you want to dedicate yourself in the moon goddess’ service, try this Selene Goddess Full Moon Ritual:

What You’ll Need:

1.   Silver or glass bowl or vase

2.   Silver or white dress or robe

3.   A clean bathtub

4.   Timing: Full Moon

What To Do:

1.   Fill your silver or glass bowl with filtered/purified water OR collected rain or spring water.

2.   Set it outside on the Full Moon somewhere where the moon’s rays will touch the water itself.

3.   Leave it to be charged in the Full Moon light for 3 hours.

4.   Bring the vase/bowl inside. Prepare a bath. You may add herbs associated with the moon, if you so choose.

5.   Pour about a cup of the moon water from the silver vase/bowl into the bathtub and say,
“Selene, Goddess of the Moon, Lunar deity of love and light,
may your healing, feminine power flow through the water
and fill me with wisdom, intuition, and connect me to the Divine Feminine.
So be it.”

6.   Turn down the lights, bathe in the moon charged bath water and emerge anew.

7.   Wear the white or silver robe/gown for the rest of the night. You have dedicated yourself to the Moon Goddess’ service.

8.   Save the moon water to cleanse and charge your moon altar and tools.

 

Other Resources:

Selene Goddess of the Moon: Empowerment With the Moon Personified (otherworldlyoracle.com)

Offerings to the Gods and Goddesses | Pagan Approach (wordpress.com)

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