BETWEEN THE COLUMNS WRITING AND EDITORIAL STAFF

 

With each turn of the Wheel of the Year, we open ourselves to the inherent lessons offered by the cycles of nature; the changing seasons representing a psychological "map of consciousness" facilitating human growth. Myth and ritual contain the framework for growth and personal transformation, rites of passage, healing, empowerment, and manifestation.

 

In 2012 we embraced Change as our yearly theme. As Pagans, our teachings are found in nature, the seasons, cycles, and the cosmos . . . all of which are in a constant state of flux. In nature we find the reflection/lessons for how to grow, live consciously, and create the life we deserve. To that end we don't need to emphasize the need, or desire, for change. It is a given. We understand the clarion call of life for change, transformation, shape-shifting. That's the journey we shared ritually and mythically in 2012 . . . lessons on how change comes, how we can approach and embrace change . . . even consciously choosing what changes we want to make . . . the ways that change can be approached, embraced, and integrated into our lives.

 

That critical year of change prepared us for the NEW DIRECTIONS coming in 2013. Hopefully, we have prepared ourselves, individually, and as a community, and done both the inner work as well as the outer work in preparing the foundation for new possibilities and new growth in the months ahead. 

 

As the Founder and Director of Temple of the Goddess, I can personally testify to the changes of 2012. While writing our Autumn myth of Ganesha, I was cracked open in unexpected ways. Since then the changes of 2012 have been morphing into NEW DIRECTIONS for me and the temple. It is now time to grow our beloved temple to the next evolution of its own life cycle, as nonprofits must do, or inevitably, deteriorate. The vision has always been to create a nonprofit Pagan church that will be here for many, many generations to come.

 

After months of prayer, visioning, and looking to a future of NEW DIRECTIONS, it is time for me to step away somewhat from the Los Angeles temple activities and begin work on growing the organization on a larger scale with much more interfaith work and other temple programs, such as our affiliate program, GAIA-the school and credentialing arm of the temple, a prison ministry, as well as Nine Muses Arts. In order to do these additional programs I need to pass on a few of the many proverbial hats I've been wearing this past decade to some of the strong leadership pillars of the temple. More . . . 

 Crossroads of Consciousness

There's a great wave rising
I feel it climbing
up my back, through my spine
exploding the once
closed doors of my heart

I'm preparing to take flight.
The winds are adrifting
shifting my sight
I see through old eye
these new times.

by Lena Moon 2004
Reprinted We'Moon 2011

Imbolc or Candlemas - Candlemas is the feast of returning light, a festival of purification and dedication.  It is the day on which winter turns upward to the spring. Imbolc is the celebration of life as the Earth thaws and prepares for spring. Winter and death are cleansed away, and as the days lengthen, hope grows for the warmth of new life. Candlemas is nurtured beginnings, a sweeping away of the past and an affirmation of things to come.  

In 2013 Imbolc occurs on February 3rd at 7:57AM Pacific time. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, of new growth. At Imbolc we honor creativity, inspiration, and dedication to our life's path. As the days grow long, it is a season of hope for the life that awaits us in spring. It is a time to seek divination for guidance of the new directions you are embarking on in 2013.

In preparation for the new beginnings ahead, we first get rid of the old. We search our consciousness for remnants of the past, our unresolved fears, the nagging voices of doubt-we clear away the old to make room for new projects, new work, new relationships. It is time to make a fresh start, embrace possibilities, and trust in the mystery of the unknown.

Take time in the days ahead to go within and clear the detritus that blocks your path; then turn your heart and soul to the new path that lies ahead for you. Light a candle in celebration of your life and rededicate yourself to your life's purpose.

Spotlight On New Director of Religious Services: Rev. Kamala

At this time of NEW DIRECTIONS for us all, Temple of the Goddess is excited to announce that we will be holding our ritual Sabbats in a new location in Pasadena. We are happy to be sharing space with the Church of Truth located at the Center for Awakening Consciousness, 690 E. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104.

About the Center: "This church teaches that there is a power within us greater than anything that can happen to us, and that by understanding and by application of the laws of this power, we can be established in health, harmony and abundance."

Beginning with Spring Equinox, our services will be relocating to this lovely, warm space and the very welcoming new friends we've found there. In addition to our ritual Sabbats, we plan to hold our monthly moon rituals and classes at the center.

Our monthly classes and moon circles were suspended when we lost the space at Sutton Studios. Once again, our great thanks to the Suttons for the kind, gracious donation of space for so many years. They helped us grow and we are forever grateful for their generosity and support in the early years of the temple's formation.

Please join us for Spring Equinox, the first of our 2013 rituals on March 23rd. Following our "Year of Change in 2012" our theme for 2013 is NEW DIRECTIONS.

Temple of the Goddess is proud to be a part of this special Interfaith community event. Congregations of all faiths are joining together in a city-wide interfaith effort to provide shoes for the needy. The month-long shoe drive begins February 1st and culminates in an Interfaith Peace Walk on March 3, 2013. Participants in the Interfaith Peace Walk will walk a mile and converge at 2:00 PM at the Pasadena Memorial Park on Sunday, March 3, 2013, for an inspirational closing ceremony of music and prayer.

Representing Pasadena's rich diversity of religious traditions, prayers for peace will be spoken by members of diverse faiths, demonstrating a shared commitment to work and live in peace for the common good. Music will be provided by local performers from diverse spiritual traditions.

Please click here to go to our Pasadena Interfaith Peace Walk page and Like us. Look for an additional mailer with more specifics for the shoe drop off and participation in the closing ceremonies.

DONOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

Tonight as we move into a new year, it is a Native American legend, "Wolf and Boy." For some the Big Bad Wolf is the relentless hunter that will swallow us whole, but wolf is the spirit that runs wild through the winter forest, howling at the moon following its own inner guide, and finding a new direction. As you listen to the story imagine your own journey through the dark forest to find your own inner howling and longing.

 

WOLF AND BOY

A Native American Legend  

 

Once upon a time, there was a wolf, and this wolf was all alone. All of the other wolves had been caught or killed or driven off. But this last wolf, he stayed. And he did all of the usual wolfish things. He lived in a cave high up in the hills. He raided the occasional flock for a stray sheep.

 

He also would appear from time to time late in the evening on a trail from the fields running down to the village to frighten some milk maid or herds boy coming home a little too late from the watch. And this gave rise to the stories of great, gnarled, bloody teeth and wet, long, lolling tongue and fiery, red, hungry eyes . . . the wolf had quite a reputation in the village.

 

But that was not the worst of it. The most horrible thing of all, the thing that froze the souls of the old men, and caused the red faces of the young people to blanch, and the heads of the children to go deep under bed covers at night was what the wolf would do from time to time, in the cold crackling air of the frosty silver moon, high on the stark peak of the stony mountain near the village. He would sit up there and howl, howl with the sound of a thousand midnights down in a murky bog. Those who heard it swore it was a sound that only a beast could make whose soul was tortured and lost forever. And it chilled to the marrow everyone who heard it . . . everyone, that is, except one person.

 

For living in the village was a boy who had lived there all of his life. And yet no one really knew this boy. I mean, he spoke to folks, and they spoke to him. But no one really understood him or cared to. Even his parents were at a loss to understand his ways and his thoughts. So they mostly humored him. And the boy would lie awake in his bed at night wondering about his life and why he felt so lost among the villagers. And sometimes he would cry or sometimes he would be angry. But when he heard the call of the wolf on the mountain, right away he knew that here was a voice the like of which he'd not heard before. Here was a voice that spoke to him of feelings no one else knew that he had. And lying there and listening with every fiber of his body, he knew he had to seek out this wolf and know from it why it cried in the night. Oh, he'd heard the stories of the teeth, the tongue, the eyes so red and burning, but nothing would do except that he had to know that wolf for himself. Continued . . . 

 

Movie Review by Jeanne (Pythia) Leiter

I give kudos to Hollywood. This is the second animated feature that I felt the need to review. The first was Brave. That review can be read in Between the Columns, November 2012 in case you missed it the first time around.

This movie, Rise of the Guardians, is another wonderful story. The movie is based on William Joyce's series of books, The Guardians of Childhood. Joyce also wrote the movie story which led to David Lindsay-Abaire's screenplay. The Guardians are iconic characters who 'guard' human attributes, such as a very Russian Santa Claus (beautifully voiced by Alec Baldwin) guarding Wonder.

The main plot suggests that when children stop believing in our childhood mythical characters: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, E. Aster Bunnymund, the Sandman, and Jack Frost, then these characters grow weaker. If ALL children stop believing, will they disappear forever?

There is, of course, a villain. Pitch spreads fear and nightmares among the children and they begin to disbelieve. The children then make fun of Jamie, the one boy left who hangs on to his belief in these characters.

We see the story unfold through Jack Frost's eyes. We see him coming awake in a lake beneath a thick coating of ice, a piercing shaft of moonlight opening his eyes. He is a trickster, forever frosting a nose or causing a boy and his sled to dangerously careen through town. He jumps from chimney to chimney, trying to satiate his desire for chaos. He has no conscience, since as far as humans are concerned, he doesn't exist-therefore he's invisible. Also, he's invisible to himself, since he has no knowledge, no memory of his past life. His life began for him, as well as us, in that frozen lake.  More . . .