Saturday, August 13, 2005

Ruminations of the resident INFP

Looking back here, I realize I haven't written that much about Paganism, other than a few posts about a certain lack of community in it. In one sense, I feel that it's very hard to write about, other than the odd "how-to" article, because faith in and of itself is a very private thing. Using language to describe the transcendent is also comparable to using a chainsaw to hew a stroke by stroke copy of Michelangelo's David: one, you're using completely different materials and two, the tools are very crude.

Truth be told, I almost gave it all up. Nothing worked anymore and it all seemed arbitrary and obtuse. None of my questions got answered, other than for a vague, "Because that's the way it is and always has been." Even the books I turned to for answers either used that same excuse or didn't answer the questions at all...like my question about the Sun and Moon.

Why are they considered to be Sun/Male and Moon/Female, especially since everyone sees a man in the moon? (Okay...unless you see the Japanese rabbit in the moon.)

It took Joseph Campbell on NPT this afternoon to give me an "AHA" moment about the Sun and Moon. He considered them to be the opposite, with the Sun being Feminine and the Moon Masculine and here is the reasoning:

The Sun is symbolic of the power and light of consciousness as well as the fire of transformation. It is the symbol of the eternal and transcendent - the Goddess. The Moon is symbolic of all the gods which are her children as it is continually being "born" by the Sun, since once a month, it "dies" (i.e., goes into the New phase.) It then reflects the light of the sun as it grows, matures and dies back again.

As I think about it - that's symbolic of the seasons as well. The Unnameable One of Winter becomes the Maiden of Spring, who becomes the Mother of Summer after She brings forth Her Consort? At the Autumn Equinox, the Consort dies, only to be reborn the next year and the Mother becomes the Crone of Fall.

Okay, I know - basic stuff. Still, I'm going to go before my head explodes. Have a good one, y'all.

1 comment:

Roxy said...

Interesting considerations!