Volume 14 Issue 2
2017

Seasons of the Moon is a quarterly online magazine published by students and members of The Order of The White Moon, an eclectic international order of women dedicated to The Goddess. The Order provides personal empowerment and priestess training, and operates local groups. All contributions are original material submitted by our students and members. (We do not accept outside contributions.) Please direct comments and questions to the Ezine Editor.

Imbolc 2017

Holy Days
Imbolc, Ajna DreamsAwake

Sacred Sites
Tien Hou Temple, Ajna DreamsAwake

OWM Awareness
OWM Happenings, Ka Wahine Ahi

Crystal's Collection
Mother, Myth and Music, Crystal Spiritweaver

The Bardic Soul: Poetry and Song for the Spirit
Daughter of the Goddess, Mystic Amazon
Join Us at the Feast,Great Mother, Mystic Amazon
The Trouble with Spring, Crystal Spiritweaver
Gaia Awakes, Peace Whitehorse
Imbolc is Here, Peace Whitehorse
Ostara is Upon Us Now, Peace Whitehorse

Recipes fit for a Goddess
Tire d'Érable , Ajna DreamsAwake

Holy Days

Imbolc

The Wheel turns toward another Season. At this time of year, we sense the stirrings of our own life force as well as the life stirring in the still frozen ground. After months of retreat time and going within, hibernating and cocooning through the frosty months, we begin to feel alive once more. As the snows melt and the Earth warms up, we find ourselves spending more time outdoors. We feel a strong connection to the Goddess at this time, seeing the life burgeoning around us.

The days are getting noticeably longer. The sun rises higher in the sky, bringing warmth, and we are once again able to bask though the cooler temperatures remain. The sun is setting later in the evening, which allows more time to be outside in nature. We feel a quickening within, a need to move, to learn, to grow. As Mother Earth prepares Her Body for the Spring thaw and renewed life, so may we feel pregnant with expectation as to what the next season will bring. We have completed our retreat time, birthing the self into a new and wonderful creation, a Goddess, a Vision.

The Goddess Brighid is said to walk the earth on Imbolc eve. Welcome Her by placing candles in windows or light a ritual bonfire. Once the embers have cooled, rake the ashes smooth. In the morning, look through the ashes for a sign of Brighid's passing.

As a Goddess of Hearth and Home, Brighid can help motivate you to get a head start on your Spring Cleaning. Throw open the windows to let the fresh air in. Clear out the clutter, cleanse and purify every corner.

Herald the coming Spring by creating and burning paper snowflakes in a ritual fire. As you cut out the snowflakes, think about what you'd like to cut out of your life. Write down on the snowflakes traits, habits or thoughts that seem to be holding you back. As the snowflakes burn, know that you are clearing unnecessary baggage from your life. Bury the cool ashes in the earth or scatter them to the winds.

Alternatively, take a handful of snow or ice and place it in a dish. Visualize the intent to banish negativity from your life and send it into the ice. As the ice melts, feel the negativity drain away from you. Dispose of the meltwater outdoors.

Sacred Sites

Tin How Temple, San Francisco

Nestled on the top floor of a non‐descript building in San Francisco's Chinatown lies the first and oldest Buddhist Temple in America. The Tin How Temple was erected in 1852 in thanks for the safe passage of Chinese immigrants to the United States. It is dedicated to Matsu, the matron Goddess of seafarers. Matsu's formal title is Tin How (Empress of Heaven), and she is associated with Guayin (Kwan Yin).

In the 19th century, laws were in place that restricted where Chinese San Franciscans could live and work. Chinatown covered a two‐block area and remains a densely populated and lively counterpoint to the rest of the city. There are many temples within this neighbourhood, but the oldest and most revered is the one dedicated to Matsu.

Matsu was once a mortal woman named Lin Moniang. Her name means "Silent Girl" because she never cried as an infant. She was born March 23, 960BCE in Fujian Province. She was an excellent swimmer, wore red garments and was able to predict the weather and protect fishermen caught in violent storms, guiding them safely home.

One day, her father and brothers were out fishing when a typhoon arose. While praying for their return, she fell into a trance and dreamed that she was saving them. Her mother discovered her sleeping and tried to wake her. This caused her to drop her brother, who drowned as a result. When her father returned to the village, he shared the story of the miracle.

Lin Moniang died October 4, 987 at the age of 28. The legend has it that she climbed a mountain alone, declared herself a goddess and flew to heaven. Within decades of her death, miracles were attributed to her and she was officially recognised as a celestial being.

Matsu is the Goddess who protects fishermen and sailors as well as women in distress. She is also able to grant wishes and dispel evil. Matsu is widely worshiped in the coastal regions of China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. She is usually depicted with two demons (Thousand‐Mile Eye and With‐the‐Wind Ear). Both demons were in love with her, Matsu told them she would marry the one who could defeat her. Neither was able to and so they became her companions.

Paintings usually depicted Her in red robes, but in sculpture, She is always clothed in the jewelled robes of an empress holding either a ceremonial tablet or a jeweled staff.

Buddhist and Taoist religions adopted Matsu, claiming that her parents prayed to Guan Yin for a son, but Guanyin gave them a daughter instead. Matsu was a devotee of Guanyin and some believe she is a reincarnation of the Goddess. Matsu is revered in both the Taoist and Buddhist pantheons of deities as a manifestation of Guanyin.

Matsu's birthday is on the twenty‐third day of the third lunar month of the lunar calendar, usually in late April or early May. Celebrations include traditional dances, parades, rituals and ceremonies at the temple.

Walking past the souvenir shops, restaurants, barber shops and laundries you soon arrive at 125 Waverly Place. As you ascend the three flights of stairs, you move from the mundane into the mystical. The noises and scents emanating from the bustling streets below are replaced with blessed silence and wafting incense. The Temple's atmosphere, with its clouds of incense‐smoke, statues and altars, hasn't changed much since the earliest Chinese immigrants worshipped here in the days of the Gold Rush. Miraculously, the temple's altar survived the great earthquake in 1906.

Tin How Temple is open every day, 10 am ‐ 4 pm. For a small donation, you can light a stick of incense and commune with Matsu or at one of themany other altars. Step out onto the small balcony for a spectacular view of Chinatown. Silent reverence is expected, photography is prohibited.

http://www.scmp.com/culture/article/1937807/why-hong-kong-makes-such-big-deal-sea-goddess-tin-haus-birthday
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/travel/escapes/10buddhism.html?_r=0
http://www.chinatownology.com/tin_how_temple.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazu_(goddess)

Ajna DreamsAwake is a High Priestess and founder of Dark Moon's Heart School. Her personal journey of self‐discovery continues as she supports and guides women along their own healing paths.

OWM Awareness

White Moon Happenings

I wish everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous 2017!

Oles Fergus in the Sacred Three Goddess School completed Level I and is now an Initiate! You can see her gorgeous Level I Project on Arianrhod in the Goddess Gallery.

We are, of course, delighted to welcome our new students in The Sisters of the Rising Moon, Sacred Three and Dark Moon's Heart. We are always happy when sisters find their way to OWM!

If you're not an OWM student and you'd like to learn more about the Order of the White Moon, the schools offering Traditional White Moon Studies, or browse the Goddess Gallery, we welcome you to learn about us!

May the Peaceful, Compassionate and Healing Presence of the Goddess be with you now and always.

HP Ka Wahine Ahi is the President of the Board of Directors and the Head of the Order. She teaches White Moon lessons to women in the school that she founded, The Sisters of the Rising Moon School of the Feminine Divine.

Crystal's Collection

Mother, Myth and Music

In this issue I'm reviewing the album, The Year is a Dancing Woman Volume 1, by Ruth Barrett. Ruth Barrett is an accomplished musician and songwriter, and this album and its companion Volume 2 celebrate the wheel of the year.

When I came to the Goddess craft, the one thing I missed was music. Not just music for entertainment; that is abundant, though as we all know, its quality varies. I wanted path‐oriented music, something like my Christian upbringing, a story in song that I could relate to. I found this story with Ruth Barrett's beautiful Goddess‐centered music.

In genres from folk to renaissance to chant, including a cappella rounds, Ruth Barrett weaves the wonderful web of nature for women celebrating Goddess within ourselves.

"We will never,
Never lose our way to the well
Of her memory!
And the power
Of her living flame,
It will rise,
It will rise again!"
‐‐From "Way to the Well" by Ruth Barrett

Along with infectious, inspiring chants like this one, Barrett and her female singers and musicians sing Goddess‐centered festival songs. They tell the story of Goddess being born, growing into Maiden, Mother, Crone, and how this takes place in every woman:

"From mother to daughter
And daughter to babe,
At the breast of one woman
You are fed by us all.
…

Come into our dream!
Come into our dream!
Come into our dream!
Now it's yours!"
‐‐From "Come Into Our Dream" by Ruth Barrett

This album is great for rituals, personal or group meditation, and learning the Mother's Creation story. I found it especially comforting when I chose to integrate the Feminine Divine into my life. Musically the album is generally acoustic, which I like. Electronic music has its place, but these songs shine with simple accompaniment and sometimes, meditative music or natural water sounds as background.

Whether you are new to Goddess studies or have been Pagan for years, you'll gain a deeper appreciation of seasonal blessings through The Year Is a Dancing Woman. It is available on CD Baby, iTunes, and other online retailers, in CD and digital formats.

Crystal is a Level 1 student in The Sacred Three school. Music has always been important to her and is a joyful expression of her spiritual path.

The Bardic Soul: Poetry and Song for the Spirit

Daughter of the Goddess

If the dream ever fades away,
Your rose‐colored glasses may fall off;
Then you would see me for who I really am.
I don't know how you would react then,
Because you have me on a pedestal.

I am no saint, no Helen of Troy;
Only a human woman, albeit with a mind
At times torturously difficult to understand.
I can feel things that you cannot feel,
I can see things that no one else knows
Are there…

How will you feel about me then, when you
Realize how different I am from the bland
And conventional women that surround you?
A human being, yes, with ordinary quirks
And foibles, but… also a witch.

Magic runs in my veins; And despite
My outwardly conventional life, wildness
Is in my very nature. I must have time to myself;
And most of all, I must be able to worship
The Goddess in my own way.

Otherwise, I cannot be with you for long.
I have had the Call, and that runs stronger
Than any human hold on me, ever could.
Seek not to change me. It is hard to tell you
This, but you must know. Otherwise, you will
Be in peril of a broken heart…or from backlash
From my rage.

Rage if you should try to change me, or to
Keep me from the rituals that I do with my
Sister witches. I must learn and study;
And teach when there is something new
To pass on. I must heal when there is an
Opportunity; I must never be arrogant or neglect
My Sisters.

If you still want me when you know this, only
Then can we talk and plan for a future
With each other. I love you, but the wonder
And the magic of a Goddess daughter's life
Is something I will never give up; it comes
First.

Hold me now, while you can. I do wish that
You could join me on the goddess path, even
If by another route. For this is who I am;
Everything good comes from the Goddess,
Every talent, every joyous up‐rise of the heart.
My soul is Hers; understand this, and then
In the human way, I can be yours.

Join Us at the Feast, Great Mother

Oh, join us at the feast, Great Mother!
Come into our banquet hall,
Partake of the hot spice rum and cakes
While your hounds bask by the fire.

You shall have the main chair, the one
At the head of the table, to be your throne.
We will play cheerful music on the dulcimer,
And sing sweet songs of thanksgiving.

We will listen to anything you say,
And will share anything you wish us to.
There is great joy at being in your company;
We will gather around your feet to listen.

Oh, join us at the feast, Great Mother!
We have decorated the banquet hall for you;
Put velvets for your hounds to sleep upon,
And have candles in the sconces on the wall.

We will dance to your glorious moon,
Dance for you and sing to celebrate;
Joining together in the community of Souls
That bask in your all‐encompassing love.

Mystic Amazon is a High Priestess of the Order of the White Moon and an Ordained Minister, currently teaching at The Sisters of the Rising Moon. Her hobbies include writing, folk art, folk magick, Reiki, and reading.

The Trouble with Spring

The trouble with Spring
Is new things are born;
The birthing is painful
And leaves you forlorn.

The trouble with Spring
Is all of the flames
Destroying the old
So ashes remain.

The trouble with Spring
Arrives as a flood;
It carries you downstream
All covered in mud.

The trouble with Spring
Is breezes and gales
That capsize your boat
And tear up the sails.

The trouble with Spring
Is easy to find.
The question is whether
We let it inside!

The trouble with Spring
Just might be a gift,
A rainbow of color
To bless and to lift.

The trouble with Spring,
The ebb and the flow,
Is moving us onward
To more than we know.

The trouble with Spring
May leave you forlorn.
The birth may be painful,
But new things are born!

Crystal is a Level 1 student in The Sacred Three school. Music has always been important to her and is a joyful expression of her spiritual path.

Gaia Awakes

Gaia lays dormant, barren, fallow
Under the fallen leaves of brown
Until a gown of glistening white
Covers Her all around.

Gaia rests, and we rest, too.
Winter's stillness reigns
Across the land so diamond‐like,
As She Herself ordains.

Everything is quiet,
Sleeping winter's deepest sleep
And then across the land is heard
Springtime's first "peep, peep"!

Gaia wakes, and stretches,
And shakes off cobweb jewels.
She yawns and the wind blows,
As She brushes off Her tools.

And we look around we see
The fruits of Her good work,
Peeking up from 'neath the ground
Where springtime blooms do lurk.

Gaia is renewed again
With the promise of the spring.
Just listen on the wind and hear
The little birdies sing!

Imbolc is Here

Honor the Maiden and honor the Bride,
Imbolc is here this eventide!
Bless the tool and bless the seed,
Open the bottle and pour the mead.
Crocus from the earth break forth,
Yes snow still coming from the North.
Now in the middle are we here
Of the dark half of the Wheel of the Year.
Place Brighid in her floral bed,
With a gemstone on her head.
Wait to see, will Winter end?
What will the groundhog now portend?
Drag the plow from door to door,
Beg for pennies, candy and more.
Also known as Candlemas,
Get ready to greet the spring at last!
Do nought of picking or cutting of plants,
But sing the songs and chant the chants!
Decorate the harrow and plow,
Pour Water of Life upon it now.
Break a furrow newly turned,
And leave an offering freshly earned.
From the Earth the snowdrops bloom!
Light a candle in every room
To welcome back the warm, bright Sun,
Brighid's fire for everyone!

Ostara is Upon Us Now

Ostara is upon us now,
To the Maiden do we bow.
Equal dark and equal light,
Equinox, to our delight!

Decorate the colored eggs,
Of Winter left is just the dregs.
Persephone can now return,
The Equinox bale‐fires burn.

Demeter will no longer mourn,
Her daughter now has been reborn
From Hades bower within the Earth,
Spring has come to field and firth.

Bunnies hop about the land,
Calf and kitten, foal and lamb.
Flowers bloom and garlands hung ‐
Bless the Maiden, Spring has sprung!

Sun‐like roll and hot cross bun,
Feasting, merriment and much fun.
Ostara is upon us now,
To the Maiden do we bow.

Peace Whitehorse is a graduate of The Sacred Three Goddess School and a High Priestess in the Order of the White Moon. She is a teacher at the Peace Grove School of the Goddess and facilitator and High Priestess of the Peace Grove Coven. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and her Shetland sheepdogs, and is active in Sheltie Rescue.

Recipes fit for a Goddess

Tire d'Érable

Tire d'Érable (maple taffy) is made in the late winter and early spring as the maple sap harvest begins and snow is still on the ground.

The maple sap is boiled then poured in strips over clean snow, chilling it to a taffy‐like consistency.

¼ ‐ ½ cup 100% pure, maple syrup
Fresh clean snow

Popsicle sticks
Pot
Candy thermometer
Baking sheet to hold snow if you are indoors

Heat the syrup in a pot until boiling. Remove from heat once the syrup reaches the "soft ball" stage (115° C or 240° F).

Pack down an area of snow so that it is firm enough to hold the hot syrup.

Pour the syrup in lines on the snow and allow to set for 10‐20 seconds. Place one end of a popsicle stick into a line of taffy and gently roll the candy onto the stick. Repeat with the remaining lines of taffy.

As an alternative, you can make maple butter. Follow the directions for heating above. Allow the syrup to cool slightly in the pot then transfer to a bowl. Stir constantly for 10 minutes until the mixture is creamy.

Ajna DreamsAwake is a High Priestess and founder of Dark Moon's Heart School. Her personal journey of self‐discovery continues as she supports and guides women along their own healing paths.

The articles featured in Seasons of the Moon are written and/or submitted by members of the Order of the White Moon and are their own intellectual property. Please feel free to share this publication but do give credit where credit is due and link back to the source.

Thank you for reading, we hope that you have enjoyed it just as much as we have enjoyed presenting it to you.

Many blessings to you and yours,
Seasons of The Moon Staff

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Volume 14 Issue 2 2017