Overcome with inertia
and an inability to focus the last several weeks, this goddess
has had a hard time getting this issue of the Goddess Gift
up and going. Please forgive its late arrival.
Didn't quite manage to get it out on Oct. 18th (World
Menopause Day). But, thank goddess, it does seem to fit
the mood of this day too! Betcha' didn't know today is the
official Evaluate Your Life Day!
My blue funk really
started with the oil spill and the deafening cries of the
Goddess of Sea Creatures.
Pictures of pelicans (pre- and post-spill) were making me weep.
It was Sedna's anguish
that kept running through my head. I couldn't bear to watch the
news. Not even the Jon Stewart version.
The
next couple of months proved to be a caretaker's worse nightmare
. . . one calamity piling on top of another, like wave after
wave pounding the shoreline relentlessly.
Friends and family were under attack -- cancers, strokes,
near-death experiences, hospitalizations and surgeries, a car
wreck, a death, a leaky roof and a partridge in a pear
tree.
So let's just say that
I've been sad, fearful, confused, exhausted and wondering where
in the heck my usual strength, courage and confidence went! Why
aren't my usual coping mechanisms working anymore???
What's a girl to do? My usual Athena-type workaholism no
longer could distract me and I knew that even a week or two of
'cave time' wouldn't do the trick this time. The Goddess
obviously had a journey lined up for me & some very important
lessons for me to learn.
You gain strength, courage and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in
the face. . . .
You must do the thing you cannot do.
The
myths of Sedna appear in several cultures though under
different names. They give differing reasons for her
mutilation at the hands of her father. I've chosen the middle
road in my telling.
Sometimes she is portrayed as an innocent
victim, and in other versions she is being punished for her
greed or for her uppity-ness in refusing to marry the suitors
her father had chosen.
But all the various versions agree that Sedna
descended into the depths of the ocean where she became the
Goddess of All Sea Creatures.
She was an important deity, worshipped by a
culture of hunters who depended on her goodwill to put food on
their tables.
The Goddess Sedna wants you to
know . . .
A good cry can be wonderful sometimes, and sadness is
nothing more than love announced.
Sadness
and Unhappiness are not the same thing, and it is good
to remember that.
And
there is this: sadness cleanses the heart.
~ Neale
Donald Walsch
Sometimes we must spend some time exploring our
subconscious minds (represented in mythology by the
Underworld, including the depths of the ocean). And
we must delve into the dark, cold places in our lives
that we fear most if we are to find the riches that
rest there. We must face our fears and our
guilt and come to terms with them, painful as that may
be.
We must learn to accept that there is much that
is not within our power and give up the illusion that
we can always have control.
In spite of all our infirmities (and foolish
mistakes), we are still
worthy of love and respect and have every right to
require that others treat us well. (And, most
importantly that we treat ourselves with love and
respect.)
So you made a bad choice in your life
and chased after the bright, shiny thing and were
unlucky enough to actually catch it? Imagine that . .
. you made a mistake! Join the club. Who of us
has not done that a time or two?
But for goddess-sake, don't be too
quick to start playing the 'Shame and Blame' game.
Don't chop off your hands! After all, hands are the
universal symbol of strength, protection, and
spiritual power-- not to mention for 'warding off
evil'. And, pardon the pun, a handy thing to
have around!
Refusing to marry the young man her father had chosen
for her, Sedna defied him and ran off with a handsome
seabird who had seduced her with tales of his enormous
wealth and gorgeous nest. She soon learned what a liar
he was . . . miserly, mean and abusive.
Dad hears her pleas for help and arrives in his boat
to take her home. 'How dare she run away!', her
husband roars and all his bird friend bullies surround
the boat, the furious flapping of their wings stirring
up the waves.
Fearing for his own safety, Sedna's father threw her
into the ocean to appease them. When Sedna tried
to climb back into the boat, he cut off her fingers. As
she struggled to use her mutilated hands to try again,
he cut off her hands and threw them all into the water.
As Sedna sank, her dismembered limbs grew into fish,
seals, whales, and all of the other sea mammals. And
there to the bottom of the ocean she turned into a
goddess became the Inuit Queen of the Underworld.
Sedna is the Mistress of Life and Death to the Inuit
people because it is she who provides for food for them.
If she is not respected she begins to feel her wounded
hands sear with pain and, in her misery, sends sickness,
storms, and starvation to punish the humans.
Only when a shaman is willing to brave the
voyage to her home and assuage her pain will she let the
animals return, enabling the people to eat and remain
healthy. When people treat her with respect and concern,
they receive her blessings.
Continue reading (the full version) of the myths
of the
Goddess Sedna here. . .
One of the hardest lessons any of us have to accept is
that,no matter how terrifying the reality
is, the fear comes from
within us.
Trust that the
Goddess who gifted you with your unique traits and your
very own dreams knows how to help you make them come
true.
If, like me,
you sometimes feel burdened with an ineffective or
uncomfortable emotional response or worry, it can help
to talk to a goddess about it. But how do you go about
making her an ally? How should one speak to a goddess?
How do you get her attention, and what do you say?
Use this link to
learn how to talk to a goddess (and read my mantras
to Sedna).
Would you like to use this article in your
publication, ezine, or website? You may, as long as you
include the following complete text with it. A link to
your reprint of the article would be appreciated.
Sharon Turnbull, author and web-mistress of
Goddess Gift, believes that every contemporary
woman needs a bit of 'goddess-ness' in her life.
As the creative genius behind the popular Goddess Quiz
online, she offers you a just for fun, mini-version of
the quiz. Download your
free
Goddess Powers Report.
Bright Shiny
Objects that caught the Goddess' Eye!
When I was just about to
'hit bottom' with the Goddess Sedna, sinking into
the deep- sea-depths-of-despair, a series of women
named Julie magically appeared in my
life, bringing me comfort, guidance and most of all,
hope.
They say that when you're
ready to learn, a teacher will appear. OK, but I will
forever think of these Julie's as my very own personal
fairy godmothers.
Two of the Julie's
had unique gifts that I thought might interest
you.
One
was Julie Loar, an author who sent me a copy of
her award-winning book
Everyday Goddesses: Ancient Myths for
Modern Women.What a delight!
It's organized by the signs of the
zodiac. Each day has a featured goddess, a key
word (theme) and a contemplation.
Then
another Julie appeared in my life, writing me
about something she'd seen at my site.
Lo
and behold, this Julie seems to channel the
Goddess Athena.
When she speaks with the voice of
Athena, her voice is powerful and authentic. I was
astounded by the way Athena's messages spoke
directly to me and what I was experiencing at the
moment.
The Glass Art Goddess
Shrines . . .
Going, Going, (& Soon to be) Gone
The day is coming soon when the
last goddess shrine from the Goddess Glass Art
Collection will take its rightful place as an
object of lush, abundant energy in the home of one
who loves the Goddess.
We only have a handful left.
As always, dear readers, we offer
you the chance to be first in line . . . prices on
the 'chosen few' that remain will be going up the
first week in November. So
go ahead and get yours now.
Make no mistake, once you begin
on the path
that is truly authentic for you, it will change you,
transforming your life in countless ways. . .
you will notice and know
that great things are taking place.
This will sustain you when your path takes unexpected
or unwelcome directions.
Sometimes we must spend some time exploring our
subconscious minds (represented in mythology by the
Underworld, including the depths of the ocean). And
we must delve into the dark, cold places in our lives
that we fear most if we are to find the riches that
rest there. We must face our fears and our
guilt and come to terms with them, painful as that may
be.
