Goddess of the Week - Oya(Change)

“In Africa, Oya is the Yoruban Goddess of weather, especially tornadoes, lightening, destructive rainstorms, fire, female leadership, persuasive charm and transformation.  She is also one of the most powerful of Brazilian Macumba deities.  When women find themselves in hard to resolve conflicts, she is the one to call on for protection.”  Wine is her favorite color, and her sacred number is nine.  (courtesy of  The Goddess Oracle) 

 

Oya comes into my life to tell me that it is time for change.  I have been floating along in my life, just existing, not making decisions, not making changes, afraid to move forward, afraid to move anywhere.   I am now acknowledging my paralyzation, accepting the need for change, craving change.  It is now time for me to step forward, make changes, and leave the bog of eternal stench (my traumas) behind me. 

Goddess of the Week - The Erinyes

This evening I picked the Goddess of the week - and it has turned out to be The Erinyes. The Erinyes represent Crisis, according to the The Goddess Oracle.   The Erinyes were the feminine personification of Vengeance in the Greek Pantheon.  The Erinyes were three netherworld goddesses who avenged crimes against the natural order.  Virgil mentions three of the Erinyes in his writings.  They were Alecto - who punished for moral crimes, Magaera - She was said to be the cause of jealousy and envy, and caused people to commit crimes, especially marital infidelity, and Tisiphone - who punished for crimes such as murder.  The Erinyes were connected with Nemesis as enforcers of a just balance in human affairs.  The Erinyes were known to drive their victims insane. 

According to The Goddess Oracle - “The Erinyes are howling after you because you and/or your loved ones are in crisis.  The way to nurture wholeness for you now lies in reaching out and asking for help.  Whether it is from the human, animal, or spiritual kingdoms, help is required at this juncture of excess, psyche-breaking stress, and instability.  Identify and name the the kind of crisis you are in.”

I think this is excellent advice.  Often when I am in crisis, I am not aware of how acute it is affecting me until it is almost too late.  Identifying and naming your problems, taking the leap to be honest with yourself when facing your issues is one of the most difficult things to do. 

Goddess of the Week

I have decided to focus on one Goddess each week.  I am going to use the Goddess Oracle cards.  (http://www.goddessoracle.com/GOF-home.html) 

I think this will be interesting psychologically and spiritually.  This week the card I drew is Inanna.  Inanna represents embracing the shadow.  In The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky, she states “It is a time to dance with your shadow, reclaim what you’ve denied, embrace your own Dark Sister/Dark Self.  You need all those aspects of yourself that your parents, caregivers, teachers, society have deemed unacceptable in order to achieve wholeness in your life.  Whether it be your talent, your beauty, your inner vampire, your anger, your madness, you are required to surrender to the journey and embrace your dark side.” 

What does this card mean for me in my life right now?  I think what it is indicating is that I need to embrace my talents.  Growing up my accomplishments were never recognized.  In fact, at times, I think my parents were embarrassed by my creative work, especially my poetry.  I think because they could read between the lines that spoke of my abuse, they hated it.  They never came to any of my plays, and tried to squash any attempts I made at creativity.  This is one of the reasons I have such tremendous self-doubt and self-hatred to this day.  It is time for me to recognize and celebrate the creative spirit inside me!  I need to stop listening to the negative messages programmed into my brain that create paralyzing self doubt.  I need to embrace my shadow self.  I need to nurture her and let her create.