Goddess of the Week

Just shy of a year ago, on March 7th last, Gaea came up as card of the week. I considered it auspicious then, and I consider it so now, as She is a Goddess of fruitfulness, growth, and creativity; and as we ascend inevitably towards Spring in the north, Her appearance heralds the approaching growing season, as we, like Persephone, come out into the light.

She is Greek, and Her name means 'Earth'; She is the eldest of the Gods, sprung directly from primeval Khaos. She alone created the Heavens (Ouranos), the Mountains (the Ourea), and the Seas (Pontos); then with Ouranos She gave birth to the Titanes, and many other Deities besides. Her children are legion; They include Time (Khronos), Memory (Mnemosyne, Who would be mother of the Muses), Necessity (Ananke), the Fates (the Moirai), and many, many, more.

Gaea is also mother to innumerable monsters (such as the 'unmanageable' Ekhidna), Whom She loved and defended just as fiercely as Her more beautiful children; She knows They are an integral part of the whole, all necessary, and so all loved.

This week then promises to be very fruitful and creative. Things will start to come together, and momentum will build; and luxuriant growth will be all around. Now, I know, 'growth' is often a euphemism for painful experiences and the hard-won lessons learned from them; in this case I think we are talking about a genuinely gentle and good sort of growth. This is the kind of growth that feels like the first good, long, satisfying stretch after a season of hibernation. We are waking up, and starting to see signs of spring, up here at least; and probably the best advice I can give is to watch and observe the Earth at this time. That's good and grounding advice at any time, I know; but this week especially there are profound truths to be seen.

In the southern hemisphere it is perhaps a little more literal, in that it is fast approaching the autumnal equinox and the beginning of the harvest season; look around you to see what is coming to ripeness at this time.

Either way, this is a time of luxury, of lushness and richness, for Gaea is above all bountiful. Inspiration is everywhere, if you will look; and the life-force is strong and unstoppable. It is all a dense tangle of green.

What does She say?

Devote yourself to green.

I am everything. Everything you do involves me. Everywhere you go you rest on a part of My Body.

The problem lies in where and when you forget this. Remember this, and you will solve half your problems. Really. It is quite simple.

You are all My children, monsters and angels, creation and destruction. I am ever moving, ever changing, ever growing--and ever collapsing, ever rotting away to something else.

How do you honor Me? Simple things. Wear green. Pick flowers. Paint. Put your hands in the soil. Look up at the sky. Watch the Sun go down. And be at home.

References (of course!) from Theoi.com.