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Director's Message
At Hallows we experienced the myth of Kore's decision to descend into the Underworld, into the world of the unconscious, to begin the next chapter in Her life story. We, as ritual participants, walked the path of the Dark Divine, and embarked on our personal journey, committed to writing our personal myths.
Why We Need Ritual and Myth?
In 2011 we will continue the theme we began at Hallows: Writing our personal myth, our always-evolving journey, consciously writing the story of our lives. The spring myth will focus on the centuries-old symbol of Death and Resurrection. Just as the Earth renews itself and the plants, flowers, and trees magically resurrect themselves with the warmth of the waning sun, we too renew our lives with each turn of the yearly wheel. We will explore the evolution of our own personal journey, our life story-how we are fulfilling the call of destiny, and creating our personal myth.
Since Hallows many of you have expressed that everything in your lives, your consciousness, your personal myths is accelerating. That, I believe, is the power of myth and ritual-to rapidly accelerate spiritual, emotional, and mental growth. Why is this?
Myths are filled with symbols and archetypes that resonant in the collective unconscious. These symbols, when internalized, provide meaning for humans and help to integrate, guide, and unify the changes that fill our lives and existence.
When we step into the other-world of myth and journey with the heroine/hero, we too step out of the mundane world of everyday life and begin the quest for the Self: the integration of the ego-conscious mind with the shadow-those aspects of our unconscious mind that ego finds unacceptable such as pain, fear, struggle, mortality. The quest of the heroine is fraught with trials and she must confront adversaries and battle inner demons with a sword of truth, or arrows of enlightenment.
At Temple of the Goddess, we offer a modern-day myth within the context of our seasonal rituals. These celebrations take place within "the Wheel of the Year," an ancient and sacred ritual calendar marking the Earth's changing seasons and the Sun's never-ending journey across the sky. The Wheel represents the life cycle of continual birth, death, and renewal as expressed in the changing seasons. These changing seasons also represent a psychological "map of consciousness" facilitating human growth. They contain the framework for personal transformation, rites of passage, healing, empowerment, and manifestation.
Ritual brings the sacred into our lives. Rituals require thought and intent, which force us to step away from the accelerated pace that most of us live by and move into a space of timelessness. No matter what your religious beliefs, rituals can enhance the moments of your life by giving focus and attention to those things you have designated as important.
Rituals bring a sense of the divine into our lives, and they affirm and enhance our connection to the sacred, however we choose to define it. Joseph Campbell explains this connection with the divine in The Power of Myth: "A ritual can be defined as an enactment of a myth. By participating in a ritual, you are actually experiencing a mythological life. And it's out of that participation that one can learn to live spiritually."
Rituals are a collective way of relating to the divine energies and celebrating them. In the process of celebrating these life-affirming energies, we have the opportunity to change our lives for the better, to create our lives the way we want them to be.
Please join us at Spring Equinox and continue writing the story of your life. Blessings, Xia |
