and feel your chest expand, rising and falling with each breath.
Now feel your backbone connecting to the earth; you feel a silver cord connecting you and your life to the earth. Concentrate on the cord until you can feel it running all the way through you and deep into the earth. Tug on the cord; feel it give. Now, take the cord in your hands and follow it down, down, deep into the earth. It is dark as you go down and down, but you are not at all frightened, as you are a denizen of the dark. Trust in the universe and keep descending into the bosom of the Mother. Down we go, not falling, but moving purposefully, gracefully, following the cord into the earth. Now you see light. Keep moving toward the light and keep holding the cord as it leads you to the shining distance.
The light grows nearer, and you see that it is an opening, a cave, a safe place for shelter. Enter the cave. It is filled with firelight reflecting off a thousand crystal points. A lovely and mysterious older woman sits near the fire, warming her bones in her comfortable and dry cave. She is bestrewn with jewels and is dressed in a velvet and gossamer robe that is iridescent and shines in the firelight. Her visage is that of an incredibly wise woman, and you can simply tell she has all the knowledge of time and the history of the world.
The cave is beautiful, more beautiful than the palace of any king or queen. It is the Crystal Cave of the Goddess, and you are with her. Show your respect to the Goddess and light the incense at her altar at the side of the cave, which has piles of many shimmering stones and priceless gems, the bounty and beauty of our generous benefactor. Sit at her feet and take in her love, power, and grace. Sit quietly and hear the special message she has for you. You are her child, and she has dreamed a dream for you. When you have received your Goddess-gifted message, let the cord guide you back to the surface. Release the cord and bow in gratitude to the Great Goddess.
WINTER SOLSTICE GRAVE MOUND—
A GATHERING PLACE
You have gone to the Crystal Cave in the center of the earth for a centering ceremony. An actual site for a pilgrimage would be what is believed by locals to have been the location for winter solstice rituals The Stone Age-era Newgrange Mound in Ireland is the ultimate site for a Dark Moon magic ritual gathering. For 5,200 years, ritualists and tourists alike have gathered at this mound to wait for the renewing of the sun’s light and the promise that life will continue for another sacred year.
In a masterwork of sacred architecture, the artisans who erected the mound designed it so that only during the winter solstice can sunlight pass through an aperture in the roof of the mound. Magically, the sunlight illuminates the entire passageway floor, almost as if it is pouring onto the floor of the mound like liquid gold.
While any day is appropriate to visit this deeply special and spiritual site for spell work and magical workings, there is one optimum day of the year when your spirit can be renewed and reminded of the most simple and powerful sources of vitality and that death is a part of life. At sunrise on the winter solstice, the great Irish Neolithic mound of Newgrange captures the rays of the rising sun in a vigorous celebration of light as life. Each ritual celebrant enters the site under the enormous lintel stone of the gateway in the mound and proceeds through a sixty-foot-long darkened passage, which is believed to be representative of death. At the end of this darkened hall, the celebrant comes across a highly significant spiritual carving, known in legend as the Spiral of Life. At this point, the mound opens into a circular chamber, which is believed to resemble a woman’s womb. In the case of the Newgrange Mound, several burials have been found inside, while in many other sacred mounds only one special holy and royal personage has been found.
The sunlight continues to flow into the space until it rises up the Spiral of Life. At the moment the sun reaches the spiral, the sun’s light glints and sparkles off the bas-relief of the spiral shape, and the symbol itself flashes fiery colors of yellow, gold, orange, and red. It is a magical experience—as if the Spiral of Life comes alive this one moment of the year in a marvelous light play and resurgence of the sun as the giver of life. After a moment or two, the entire chamber room, or cairn, is awash with golden yellow light.
The Spiral of Life is one single line with no beginning or end. People the world over believe it is a symbol of rebirth. Irish scholar and Goddess historian Sonja Geoghegan advances the theory that the central chamber in the Newgrange Mound site was a birthing chamber as well as a burial chamber to encompass the entire circle of life and to “encourage transmigration from one generation to the next.” Fascinatingly, the single steady line of the spiral itself has also traditionally been linked to a ninety-day period, showing that the creators of this uniquely beautiful triple-looped spiral symbol may have had in mind the three trimesters of the human pregnancy cycle. Geoghegan’s work on the Newgrange Mound is very compelling, especially in conjunction with the fact that the design and layout of the mound itself is very much like a woman’s uterus and birth canal. The simple wisdom of these Stone Age builders has lasted many lifetimes and provides connection to the eternal cycles of life and death, light and dark, sun and moon.
James Churchward calls the triple spiral the “Roadway of the Soul” in his seminal source work on spiral symbology: “It will be seen that the spiral has no end, but when the center is reached, the line returns on itself. There is no starting point either of the spiral and no end given, consequently, these spirals are also the equivalent of a circle.… We are told man’s soul lives on until finally it reaches the source of its origin. Ana, 1320 BC, Egyptian Papyrus, ‘if we live on we must continue for ever, and if we continue for ever, life, the circle and eternity, man had no beginning.’”
—James Churchward, The Sacred Symbol of Mu, 1933
OUR LADY OF SILVER MAGIC: A FULL MOON INVOCATION
While the winter solstice occurs but once a year, the full moon is an opportunity for thirteen holy celebrations a year. The full moon is also the most powerful time of the month and the perfect time to celebrate with special people in your life. The following ritual will heighten your spirituality, your friendships, and your connection to the universal powers.
As I write this, it is a full moon in Libra, and I look forward to getting together with some of the sisterhood, some fellow lunar Wiccans, kicking up our heels in celebration of life and asking for what we need from the universe. We will wait until midnight, the traditional witching hour. We will gather in one of our favorite spots near water under the bright moonlight. You can perform this ritual in your home, garden, or a sacred place of your choosing.
At “the witching hour of midnight,” the power of magic is strongest. This is also the optimal time to call down the Goddess of the moon for a power boost of blessings and strength. By honoring her and inviting her into your circle, you will receive untold gifts of wisdom, joy, and beauty into your life. This mystery rite can be incorporated into your coven’s monthly moon sacraments.
Timing:
The best time to perform this ritual is midnight.
Supplies:
•1 large crystal (a geode, amethyst, or quartz or rock crystal would be a good choice)
•Goblet of wine
•An image of the Goddess
•Candles in sturdy glass votives
