The
month of November is the first month of winter
quarter and the commencement of festivals of
Samhain (sow-ain) and All Saints Day. This quarter
is under the guardianship of Cailleach (Old Crone
Goddess) until Yuletide. As the darkness unfolds,
the Gates to the underworld begin to open allowing
the dead to walk and rejoice with the living. The
Irish has given the named of La Shamhna for the
month of November, which means death. The Anglo
Saxon’s use this month of Blotmonath for sacrifice
for livestock that could not be kept for the
winter months. In the American backwoods the full
moon of November is referred by several names, the
Snow Moon, Beaver Moon, and Fog Moon. This is also
the time when deer shed antlers.
Hine moa
(Polynesian) The Goddess is associated with many
aspects of like and is represented by many
symbols. She is the tapa-beating woman who lived
in the moon; she was Great
Hina, the death mother; she was a warrior queen of
the Island of Women. Her name bears great
connotations of sacred vows, greatness, and
femininity.
Brogla (Australia)
she is
the Honored Aboriginee Goddess of the Dance. Her
name means “Native Companion”. She was taken away
by the Spirit dancers of nature because of her
great beauty and compassion towards the Dance and
Life itself.
Bixia Yuanjin
(Chinese)"Princess of Clouds": This Chinese Taoist
Goddess is responsible for dawn and childbirth, as
well as destiny. Dawn and childbirth are two
concepts often, and quite understandably, linked
in world mythology: the rising of the sun, the
bringing of light to the earth, is equated with
the child emerging from the darkness of the womb
to the light of the world
The Celtic tree of November of Elder commences on
the 25th of the month honoring the
darkness and awaiting the return of the Sun. The
Elder is symbolized by the White Goddesses Devi,
Danu, Anu, and Nut bringing life and death
together in full circle. The Celts believe during
this time the sun in being held prisoner. The
common Elder is considered as a shrub growing
along damp clearings. The Elder has white flowers
that bloom during mid summer and followed later by
red or blackberries. The flowers and pollen from
the elder can be boiled in oil to be used for
cuts, abrasions, and burns. The blackish berries
are used for preserves and wine, also can be dried
and made into teas rich in vitamins A, C, calcium,
iron and potassium. A distillation made from the
flowers can be used as a skin cleaner and also a
treatment for headaches and common colds. For
people who is drawn towards the Elder as a common
spiritual link towards truth and honesty in its
natural progression from within.




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.
