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FAIRMOON WRITES: Here is the first of a few 'creation' myths that will be posted here. I was going to write a better intro, but My kid is calling for me...Enjoy.
In the beginning there was Diana. She was every, all. She was the First consciousness, existing before even chaos and before time. Diana’s potential was great; within Her she held the seeds of all that could be.
She was the Crone Goddess; She was Spirit and Matter, Yin and Yang.
And She was alone.
She spent unknown amounts of time, resting and dreaming about what could be. She became curious about the power that She held within her. She ached for companionship, but the universe remained empty. Even thought she longed for someone to share this lonely space with, she feared the words in her heart that, “she must fall to become more than she was.”
To do so was a fearful prospect; she must leave all that she knew and jump into the unknown void of creation. To cast out her seeds, was to lose part of herself and what the end result would be, even she could not guess.
Her loneliness soon became more than she could bear and overwhelmed her fear. She allowed herself to fall into Matter, and in doing so split herself in two.
She remained Spirit, dark, ethereal, mysterious and feminine. A second consciousness entered the universe. He was Matter, light, substantial, clear and masculine. He was God. And he came in to existence with a spark, a flame and a big bang.
“Diana was the first created before all creation; in her were all things; out of herself, the first darkness, she divided herself; into darkness and light she was divided. [The God], her brother and son, herself and her other half, was the light.”*
God; Matter, spread out creating the universe, while Diana rested and watched what she had done. As Matter cooled stars formed, then planets with oceans and land. The vibrations that held Matter together with Spirit slowed as the cooling took place. Energy became less in the cooler matter and spheres of existence began to form.
As God fell into Matter Diana’s dreams became reality. He was the dynamic force that rules all of creation, making form from the formless. For a time there was complete balance in the universe. But it was not to last, a stagnant universe there could not be.
“And when Diana saw that the light was so beautiful, the light which was her other half, her brother the God, she yearned for it with exceeding great desire. Wishing to receive the light again into her darkness, to swallow it up in rapture, in delight, she trembled with desire. This desire was the Dawn.
But [the God], the light, fled from her, and would not yield to her wishes; he was the light which files into the most distant parts of heaven, the mouse which flies before the cat.”*
Again Diana was alone. She had created a Companion who fled from her. She wished to feel and touch the physical world that God had created, but she could not. She could only watch from a distance and dream. Wondering what to do she spent much time in contemplation and then seemingly from nowhere a voice came to her. It was the voice of her oldest and forgotten self, the voice of Diana before she became two.
“How could I reunite with the God?” She asked this voice. “How can I take matter back within myself?”
And The Mothers and Fathers who were before creation answered, “To rise you must fall. To become the greatest of all Goddesses, You must first become a mortal.”*
It was not possible for Spirit to take Matter back within. To Experience her dream she must enter the physical world. Then, and only then would the Goddess and God be again One.
So Diana fell once again. As she did she stripped from herself parts of her being, they became many souls that would lead many lives and go through many physical forms.
In the physical sphere the Goddess took the form of a cat and in this way she purred her way into the God’s arms. She then returned to her original form and they made love. Thus placing Soul within Matter. She used her powers to set the universe into motion.
“…she hummed the song, it was as the buzzing of bees (or a top spinning round), a spinning-wheel spinning life. She spun the lives of all men; all things were spun from the wheel of Diana. [The God] turned the wheel.”*
Diana continued to spin the threads of destiny. She put her energy into determining the nature of the souls now in physical form. She became the Nature of Living .
The God turns the wheel creating the journey and giving movement and to the souls. He is the Process of Living .
The very essence of life, the divine spark that animates all living things comes from the Goddess, while the God carries the spark forward through time and space.
Thus the universe remains in dynamic equilibrium where there are no extremes and no stagnation. The primeval deity became polar opposites constantly attracted and repelled by each other, yet with an element of the other within. Like the yin yang symbol the universe rolls over on itself constantly.
In perpetuity the universe moves as energy evolves into matter and then dissipates back into energy.
I’ve always loved the story of Diana and the beginning of the universe. When I first read the Vangelo Delle Streghe I was awed by the intensity of the witches story of creation. Whether you consider it a sacred work or not it’s a wonderful story of conception, movement, balance and finding ones place in the universe.
Published in 1899, by Charles Leland, the Vangelo Delle Streghe, also know as Aradia the Gospel of Witches, was one of the first works published that claimed Family Lineage Witchcraft remained in Europe. Charles Leland based this book a document written in the hand of a woman named Maddelena. Maddelena had been assisting him in collecting Italian Folklore and Myths. After giving the document to Leland she apparently disappeared and was never heard from again.
The authenticity of Aradia has always been in question. The theory’s run the gauntlet of possibility. It could indeed be genuine text of an underground Italian Goddess religion. Or, a second theory states that it is based on the family tradition of Maddelena’s family. And it remains possible that Leland wrote it himself based on his extensive knowledge of folklore. None of these theories have ever been substantiated to any degree.
Which makes is a true myth or legend in Dovetails/Oxford’s definition. Its origins no longer matter as it is the profound effect on Wicca and other Neo-Pagan faiths that give it Substance. Not all Pagan/Wicca faiths believe it to be sacred, yet it has shaped the roots of Wicca and most defiantly influenced the forefathers and mothers of the Wiccan Faith. This story is not the only Creation Myth held sacred by Pagans/Wiccans, there are others based on Celtic myth, Greek, and Egyptian- just to name a few. I chose this as the Creation story to share first because I like it, and I already had it written up. I will, as time allows write up a few others. Grace will also be posting a few different version of “Creation Myths” other the next couple of days.
The Creation Story in Aradiais only a part of the Gospel, and the version you just read was ‘rewritten’ by me, with quotes from the original text. To Read the original version please visit http://www.sacred-texts.com/p...”Sacred Text Archives.
*All Quotes are from Vangelo Delle Streghe or Aradia The Gospel of the Witches.
*A note about [God]. In the original text the name for the God used is ‘Lucifer’. I chose to change that name to God, as to not distract from the text, and the story of Creation, with a name that has created enough confusion in myth and religion. Lucifer means ‘light bearer’ and Prior to the 5th century the name was a honourable one, especially in Roman and Italian History. It wasn’t until after the 5th century that the name became associated with the Christian concept of Satan and became nasty. It is safe to say that to Original meaning of the name as ‘light bearer’ or ‘dawn bringer’ is the intended definition used in Aradia. If you are curious about the history of Lucifer read about it at =http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...Wikipedia
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