The month of October was named after the goddess Astraea, the daughter of Zeus and Themis and lived among humans during the Golden Age. As the autumn leaves turn to gold and fall during this month, Astraea departs for the underworld. In the American backwoods the full moon of October is the Hunters Moon or Blue Moon. In Ireland it is the month of Deireadh Fomhair. In Sweden it is called St. Bridget’s Summer, while in Germany and Switzerland it is referred to the summer of St. Gall.

 

Pele (Hawaiian) the Goddess of Fire and the Kilauea Volcano. She is said to appear as a wise crone or a

beautiful young woman with a fiery temperament. As a young woman, Pele met Lohiau; they

fell in love and were wed. After awhile she longed to return to her volcano and so left him.

Pining away for her, Lohiau nearly died but Pele sent her sister Hiiaka to retrieve him. Hiiaka and Lohiau

fell in love during their journey and Pele, after an initial outburst, in an act of generosity,

allowed them to leave and be married. She found a new lover, Kamapua'a, whose temperament matched

her own and even now their fiery courtship continues. Lava Goddess symbol from Honolulu

 

PTESAN-WI (WHITE BUFFALO WOMAN) At a time when the Lakota people were in great need, two Lakota men saw a "wakan" (holy) woman floating toward them. When they met and saw how beautiful she was, one of the men thought of her only in a physical way and acted disrespectfully. He was struck by lightning and became a pile of ashes. The other behaved properly and she instructed him to tell his people to prepare a medicine lodge for her arrival. She taught the Lakota people many skills, giving them the sacred medicine pipe and showing them how to pray. She told them that the pipe binds together the sky, the earth and all life on it. She also said that the buffalo is a sacred being, representing the universe and standing in the west to hold back the waters. When all the buffalo are gone and the waters cover the earth, the sacred hoop will end.

 

 

Artemis is the Moon Goddess to both the Greeks and the legendary Amazons, She was associated with the waxing moon. She is said to be the same Goddess as the Huntress Diana of the Romans.She was the Goddess of wild places and all things wild and was also referred to as the Bear Goddess, Hunter of Souls and was said to be a shapeshifter. She was portrayed as tall, slim, lovely and dressed in a short tunic by the Greeks. Her chariot was pulled by silver stags and she roamed the forest, mountains with her nymphs and hunting dogs.The amazons (also referred to by some as Moon Women) worshiped her on the sixth day of the New Moon. She was defender of women who were threatened by men and acted swiftly when her help was needed. She is associated with young girls, magick, sorcery, enchantment, psychic development, purification, woodlands and healing.

 

                             

 

The Celtic tree of October of Gort and will continue to the 27th when the commencement of Celtic tree of Ngetal will begin. The Reed is a giant grass that reaches up to 12 feet in length. The reed represents the mysteries of death or the hidden roots to all life. We also become focus unifying our energies towards family, fidelity, and trust. The reed had the duality of symbolizing, Royalty or the Tree of Doom. Reeds are also burned to honor household spirits and a family’s patron deity; and in ancient Scotland, a broken reed was an omen of familial betrayal. The Egyptian canna-reed which grows from thick roots like a tree was an ancient symbol for royalty in the eastern Mediterranean and was used to make scepters and arrows hence the Pharaohs of Egypt would should arrows in every direction to symbolism the Sun-god and their own sovernty. If the scepter broke the kind was believed to have lost his virility and vitality. The Irish used the reeds for thatching of roofs. A house was not completed or established until the roof was thatched. The dead stems rattle in the wind and are commonly referred to commonly as broom. The broom is a wide, bushy shrub that grows in abundance in the British Isles, and blooms in yellow pod-shaped. Its branches are often dried and used as brooms (as the name suggests,) and a decoction of young branches and seeds can be used to treat malaria, gout and painful joints. It is also a good diuretic. Oil drawn from the stems (by heating them over and open fire,) can be used to treat toothaches, and for the removal parasites such as lice.

 

In the beginning when the First Woman, the Goddess was created, she became fully-grown in four days. It seemed that every Dine (Navajo) Indian tribesman wanted her for his wife. She did not love any of them, but she did like the handsome ones. Of all the men, however, she thought the most attractive was the Sun-God. Of course, she thought he could never be her husband. To her surprise, one day Sun-God came up behind her and gently tickled her neck with a feathery plume. She was engulfed with warm sunshine, and in a magical way the Goddess became the wife of Sun-God. He fathered her firstborn, a son. Not long thereafter, the Goddess was resting beneath an overhanging cliff when some drops of water fell upon her. Soon the Goddess gave birth to a second son, fathered by Water-God. Because the two boys were so close in age, they became known as the Twins of the Goddess. They lived in a beautiful canyon that later became a part of Dine (Navajo) landAbout that time, a Great Giant roamed over the country and ate every human he could catch. He discovered the Goddess but did not want to kill her, because at first sight he fell in love with her beauty. The Goddess knew of the Great Giant's evil ways and would have nothing to do with him. He became very jealous of her when he saw footprints of the Twins outside her Hogan. She saw the Great Giant approaching, so she quickly dug a hole in the centre of her floor and there hid her two children, whom she dearly loved. She covered the opening with a flat sandstone rock, spreading dirt over it to prevent the Great Giant from finding her Twins. Another day, the Great Giant saw the children's tracks. "Where did these children come from?" he asked the Goddess. "I have no children." she replied, because she knew that he would try to kill them if he found the Twins. "You are not telling me the truth," he said. "I see children's footprints in the dirt, right here." The Goddess laughed heartily and said "Those are only my hand prints. I am very lonesome for children, so I only pretend by making tracks with the heels of my hand and the tips of my fingers, like this. These are the tracks of my children." "Now I believe you," he replied. As the Twins grew larger, their mother could not hide them any longer. She was alarmed for their safety because of the Great Giant, who saw them one day and tried to catch them. But the Twins were too quick and got away. The Spirit who made the Goddess appeared with a bow made of cedar wood for Sun-Child. "It is time for you to learn to hunt," she said to him. "We must now make some arrows and another bow for your brother," said the Goddess to Sun-Child. "Mostly, we want to hunt for our father," said Sun-Child. "Mother, who is our father and where does he live?" "Your father is the Sun-God, but he lives far away in the East," replied the Goddess. Another bow was made for Water-Child and many arrows for both Twins. They began their journey to the East and travelled as far as they could, but without success in finding Sun-God. When they returned they asked, "Mother, have you lied to us? In the East, we looked everywhere and we could not find our father, the Sun- God."
"He must have gone to the South," she said. Again the Twins set out on another journey, this time to the South, returning without success. "Please try the West and then the North, if at first you do not find your father in the West," said the Goddess. She sent the Twins again on their hunting journey, anxious to keep them away and out of sight of the Great Giant. Many moons later, the Twins came back and said, "Mother, have you lied to us four times? Our father was neither in the North nor the West."
"Now I will tell you the truth, my sons," said the Goddess. "Your fathers, the Sun-God and Water-God, live far away in the middle of the great Western Water. Between here and there are great canyons where the walls of the cliffs clap together and would crush you. "Even if you should succeed in getting through the canyons, there are the terrible reeds that you must cross. Their long knife-like sharp leaves will cut you into pieces. "If you should escape the reeds, you can never cross the Grand Canyon, which comes first before you can reach the Great Water. You can never, never cross the water where your father's house is in the middle of the Great Water, the Western Ocean." "But, Mother, we want to go and try to find our fathers," said the Twins. The Goddess taught the Twins a song of protection for their next journey: "We are traveling in an
Invisible Way to seek our fathers, the Sun-God and the Water-God." This song she taught them to sing four times, the magic number. Day after day as they traveled along, they sang their song for protection. One day, as they passed a little spider hole in the ground, they heard a voice say, "Ssh!" four times. The Twins looked into the hole and saw Spider Woman. "Do not be afraid of me, I am your Grandmother. Come down into my lodge," she said four times. "We cannot enter your lodge, because your doorway is too small," said the Twins. "Please blow toward the Eastwind, Southwind, Westwind, and Northwind," Spider Woman called out. The Twins blew in the four directions and the entrance enlarged enough for them to go through. Inside and to their amazement, they saw the lodge walls covered with bundles of bones wrapped in spider webs, exactly the way spiders wrap flies in a web. "Do not be afraid, my grandsons," said Spider Woman. "These are the bones of bad men whom I killed." Spider Woman talked with the Twins about encounters they might have on their trip. She taught them songs for their protection and explained what they could do to overcome obstacles they might meet on their way. "I will give each of you a magic Feather- Plume. Hold it before you as you travel, straight up or sideways to carry you safely forward," she said to the Twins. "Be on the look out for a little man with a red head and a striped back. He will resemble a sand-scorpion, only a little larger--about the size of a Jerusalem cricket," she explained. "Thank you, Grandmother, we'll be on our way," said the Twins. Many days later, the Twins heard a voice from the ground. It was from the little man with the red head. "Do not scorn me because I am so small," he said. "I can and want to help you. Put your hands down on the ground and spit into them four times. Now close your fists, saving the spit until you come to the Big Water. There you can wash off the spit." The Twins did exactly as they were told, and after thanking the little man with the red head, they again began their travel. Soon the canyon walls that smashed together loomed ahead of them. They repeated Spider Woman's prayers, holding the Feather-Plumes sideways. As they moved forward the clapping walls stopped long enough to allow the Twins to walk through safely. When they came to the jungle of sharp reeds, again they sang the song Spider Woman taught them, touching the tops of the reeds with their magical Feather-Plumes. Behold! The reeds turned into cattails, which pleased the reeds so much that they quickly opened a wide path for the Twins to pass through. A puzzling encounter for the Twins was the giant cliff. They walked around and around its rim, making a complete circle and finally returning to their starting place. They were making no forward progress, so they sang songs taught them by their mother and Spider Woman. They prayed over and over again. When they opened their eyes, a beautiful Rainbow appeared, creating a large bridge for them to cross over the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. After this spectacular adventure, the Twins continued West for a long time, until they saw the Great Water before them. The Water spread so far, they wondered, "How can we ever reach the Turquoise House of Sun-God, which we know is in the middle of the Great Water?" The Twins walked down to the beach to the edge of the water and washed the spit off their hands, singing and praying at the same time. Behold! The Rainbow appeared again! A long Rainbow Bridge stretched before them from the beach to the Turquoise House. Onto the Rainbow Bridge the Twins raced happily, find their two fathers, the Sun-God and the Water-God, who welcomed them in the Turquoise House at the end of the Rainbow Bridge.

 

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