The Goddess of the Moon - by Sasha Fenton
"The Moon in mythology and in many religions represents the female force
which reflects the male force of the Sun. In Hebrew she is known as
Levanah, in Roman mythology Diana and in the Greek tradition as
Persephone and also Aphrodite. In the Egyptian tradition she is Isis,
the female member of the powerful trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus.
To the followers of ancient traditions of witchcraft, she is Brid,
Maiden-Goddess of the waxing Moon; Diana, Mother-Goddess of the full
Moon and Morrigan, Crone-Goddess of the waning Moon. The following lines
are an extract from a ritual associated with the Moon Goddess:
Behold is the Three-Formed Goddess:
She who is ever Three - Maid, Mother and Crone.
Yet she is ever One;
She is in all women, and they all in her.
Behold her, remember her,
Forget not one of her faces.
If you would like the goddess to grant you a wish, then take a piece of
paper in the planetary colour of the person (or object) that your wish
concerns; then light the candle and wait for it to burn down, as it does
so, the spell will be working. Here is the invocation which will help
the spell to work.
Upon this candle will I write
What I request of thee this night.
Grant what I wish you to do;
I dedicate this rite to you.
I trust that you will grant this boon
O lovely Goddess of the Moon
Most religions take some account of the Moon's position in their
festival calender; for instance, in the Christian tradition, Easter and
Whitsun still 'float' according to the Moon's orbit. It is interesting
to note that Easter was a Greco-Roman festival associated with Ishtarte,
the predecessor of Aphrodite/Diana. These godesses, like the beginning
of the spring season itself, speak of fertility and growth and the
renewal of life.
In the Jewish tradition, special prayers are said when festivals fall at
the time of the New Moon (Boruha Levanah), prayers for each new Moon are
said at the beginning of the lunar month (Rosh Hadesh). Astrologers
watch the Moon carefully and there are some who will not even discuss a
new project on a 'void of course Moon' which is when the Moon makes no
major aspects to other planets. It is my guess that in all traditions
and beliefs the Sun and Moon were, are and always will be the light
which makes us turn our heads to the sky and our thoughts heavenwards.
The image of the Moon as the supreme female, the complete mother, is
strongly represented in the egyptian goddess, Isis, who presided over
herbal remedies and Lunar magic.
If you wish to invoke the goddess Isis, draw a circle late at night,
concentrate your thoughts and viualize an image of the goddess while
asking for what you want. Above all, ask for the love and strenght to be
able to cope with your troubles and live a kindly and decent life. Here
is a tiny extract from 'The Worship of Isis Rituals':
And over these tides the Great Goddess presides under the aspect of the
Moon.
As she passeth from her rising to her setting, so answer these tides
unto her.
She riseth from the sea as the evening star, and the waters of the earth
rise in flood.
She sinketh as Luna in the western ocean, and the waters flow back into
the inner Earth and are still in that great lake of darkness wherein are
the Moon and Stars reflected. Whoso is still as the dark underworld lake
of Persephone shall see the tides of the unseen moving therein and shall
know all things.
Therefore is Luna also called the giver of visions.
In the Kabbalistic tradition, the Moon, this time known as Levanah, is
associated with the section of the Tree of Life which is called Yesod.
Yesod, the Foundation, is situated towards the base of the Tree just
above Malkuth.
Yesod is the ninth path of pure intelligence and it purifies the
emanations. Yesod contains two totally different images; the watery Moon
of Levanah under the presidency of the water element archangel, Gabriel,
and also the magical image of a beautiful naked young man who is known
for his strength alongside the powerful God name of Shaddai el Chai, the
Almighty living God. Nothing in the Kabalah is easy to understand, but
the idea behind Yesod is that the universe was a vaporous and watery
chaos which was gathered into order by the strength and power of God.
Genesis - Boraishis. Here is a Greco/Hebrew version of the Isis worship
ritual:
Our Lady is also the Moon, called of some Selene, of others Luna, but by
the wise Levanah, for therein is contained the numbers of her name. She
is the ruler of the tides and flux and reflux. The waters of the Great
Sea answer unto her, likewise the tides of all earthly seas, and she
ruleth the nature of women.
In Kabbalistic divination, Yesod rules the instincts, habit patterns,
food, home environment, sex and sexual organs. This is also the wife in
a male reading, and the ninth month of pregnancy.
Before we leave the world of religion and magical belief I would like to
advise you to perform all ritual and psychic work during daylight (exept
for the Isis invocation), even if you are only trying out ideas for
size. This is because one's resistance is low after dark, and low-level
entities may be drawn in due to the unbalanced forces of the Moon and
your tired mind. If you are at all tuned in to your own lunar phases,
then avoid doing any psychic work at those times when you know you will
be at low ebb. I know, for example, that I tend to feel tired, ratty and
off-colour just after the new Moon each month, probably because I was
born a couple of days after a full Moon.
Good luck with your magic, may the Goddess of the Moon guide your
instincts towards greater understanding and the ability to help others
along their paths towards enlightenment."
