RE-INVENTING EARTH-BASED GODDESS RELIGION:
PaGaian Cosmology

expressed in
The Triple Spiral

The story of the un-covering of the Triple Spiral at “Newgrange” in Ireland, is one that I can identify with (See The Stones of Time by Martin Brennan). The indigenous name of the place is Brugh na Boinne - meaning 'house of Boann', Goddess of that place - only named as “Newgrange” since 1378, when it’s significance had long been almost forgotten. The process of remembering and unfolding the significance of the place in the context of the many other nearby sites similar to it, over the hundreds of years since then, has been fraught with complexities. The motif itself – the Triple Spiral – has only received the light of the Winter Solstice again, as it was evidently designed to do, since the 1960’s, after a millennia or two of being hidden away. Since then, there has been a slow dawning in the minds of some contemplating it, that it may represent the indigenous “Goddess” of that place, the Land Herself, as She was known in Her three aspects – Eiru, Fodla and Banba – this being the Sacred metaphor for the great cosmic energies.

The Female Metaphor/Goddess, in Her three aspects of Virgin, Mother and Crone - may be understood as a cosmological dynamic intrinsic to life and transformation: the Dynamic of Creativity organic to the Unfolding Cosmos. Her threefold nature has been storied by the ancients as Virgin, Mother and Crone, as they observed the waxing, peaking and waning of All Being. She may thus be celebrated in all Being – in the particular, in the web of life, and in the Cosmos - in Her three phases, through the annual Seasonal cycle which manifests this Creativity.

Essentially and briefly, the Virgin is the Spinner - the Urge to Be, manifest particularly in the Light part of the cycle. The Mother is the Weaver - the Place to Be, manifest particularly at the Solstices - the Gateways between Light and Dark. The Old Wise One creates the Space to Be, manifest particularly in the Dark part of the cycle. All three are needed in a balance and flow. Their stories have been distorted or lost over millennia of patriarchal narrative; and this affects what we believe, about ourselves and our place in the Universe. It is possible to restore ourselves by re-storying ourselves … to re-create expressions for the Divine/Sacred. The texts chosen for our lives create the texture. And we may align ourselves with the Creativity present in every breath, and in the Wheel of the Year.

THE FEMALE METAPHOR - VIRGIN, MOTHER, CRONE -
OF THE DYNAMIC COSMOLOGICAL UNFOLDING: Her Embodiment in Seasonal Ritual as a Catalyst for Personal and Cultural Change

Ph.D. thesis by Glenys Livingstone, University of Western Sydney, 2002.

BOOK NOW PUBLISHED AND AVAILABLE TO READ ON-LINE:

PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion

by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.
iUniverse:2005
ISBN: 0-595-34990-0

TO BUY:   iUniverse    Amazon.com

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Some Links:

Meta-Religious Essays:  www.thegreatstory.org/metareligious.html

Elisabet Sahtouris – evolution biologist, futurist,author: http://www.sahtouris.com/

Brian Swimme – cosmologist: http://www.brianswimme.org/

Seasonal Moments – the Earth-Sun turas and more: http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/

Susun Weed - Women's Health: http://www.susunweed.com/

Alexandra Pope – lecturer on menstruation and menstrual health, psychotherapist: http://www.wildgenie.com/homepage.html

Moon Diaries:  www.moondiary.com.au