CHAPTER 1
The ReawakenedMoonGoddess
For thousands of years, the Moon has attracted the fascinated gaze of humanityand evoked many myths, legends, and dreams. It was appropriate that the ruptureof spatial planetary barriers should be achieved by the physical landing on theMoon. The solar impulse for outward expansion and exploration had resulted inthe technological progress necessary to enter space, and on 9:18 BST, July 20,1969, the Eagle lunar module from the aptly named Apollo 11 mission safelydescended onto an area named the Sea of Tranquility. Neil Armstrong reputedlyspoke those famous words during the first Moon walk: "That's one small step forman, one giant leap for mankind." Within an hour of the landing of the Eaglemodule, a Russian spacecraft, Luna 15, crash-landed into the Sea of Crises.Those two areas of Tranquility and Crises symbolize the ambivalence of humanresponse to the influence of the Moon and the mutability of emotional balance.
While the planetary Moon appeared impervious to the intrusion, the correspondinginner Moon within the depths of consciousness proved more responsive to a humanpresence in outer space. A membrane, or veil, had been penetrated; humankind hadbroken free of planetary restrictions. By leaving Earth and looking back ontheir home world slowly revolving in space, the astronauts provided a moreinclusive vision of the universe. The Moon mission produced a powerfulphotographic image of Earth as one planet spinning in space. This visual symbolof our planetary reality reminds us of the One World and One Human Family,potentially dissolving limiting concepts of national barriers and racialantagonisms. This photograph of Gaia's beauty symbolizes an important humanturning point.
Lifting the spatial veil simultaneously opened an inner channel within thecollective psyche, which has grown ever wider since 1969. This involves arebirth of the inner Moon influence, so that balance can be restored betweenpositive and affirming lunar qualities and those now-imbalanced solar attitudesand tendencies which threaten planetary health.
As ancient matriarchal cultures faded and were replaced by patriarchalhierarchies, the lunar principle retreated further into the collectiveunconscious mind, away from the more dominating and aggressive solar masculineattitudes and values. Over the centuries, the Great Mother has become secondaryto the cultural power of the Father God, resulting in a devaluing and denial ofthe virtues of the feminine principle. Male fears of a resurgence of femininepower have often resulted in purges of those holding pagan beliefs, andChristianity has often sought to repress heretical matriarchal attitudes byabusing social power and using physical violence. The infamous witch trials andinquisitions provide evidence of great intolerance and are an ineradicable stainon the Church's expression of Christ's teachings.
Through the domination of masculine assertive and exploitative attitudes, theintellectual mind has reconditioned cultural worldviews so that rationality hasgained ascendancy over instinct, intuition, and feelings. Inner connections topersonal depths and to the vitality of natural life have withered away duringcenturies of patriarchal power. While this has helped to bring about certainmajor advances, such as the expansion of scientific knowledge and technology, weare now arriving at the point where a new way needs to be discovered before whatwas once beneficial to human progress becomes increasingly destructive to humanand planetary life.
Since the 1960s, the influence of the reawakened Goddess, symbolized by theastrological Moon, has been gathering strength once more. We live in a time whenthe value of instincts, emotions, feelings, irrationality, connectedness, andnurturing needs to be rediscovered and expressed within the collective mind. Weneed the vitalizing energy of the Moon Goddess to renew human spiritual needs,so that heart values may exert a more powerful role again, and so the importanceof unfolding individual potential may be acknowledged as necessary to the well-beingof society.
Signs of this intensifying shift in collective inner needs have been apparent inthe growth of the New Age, Alternative Culture, and Self-Help movements, whichattempt to introduce new attitudes and visions within all spheres of life in aneffort to revitalize and transform unfulfilling lifestyles. Since the inner MoonGoddess was reawakened, there has been a rapid growth in demands for personaland planetary nurturing. The emphasis has changed toward satisfying inner needsby creating a better quality of life, often through pursuing the various pathsof greater self-understanding.
For many women responding to the call of the Goddess, this shift has been feltthrough the growing influence of the Women's Movement, which allows for a fullerexpression of the feminist spirit. The social assertion of feminine power bydeveloping political awareness and within women's solidarity and consciousness-raisinggroups has been vitally important in starting a movement toward greatersocial integration and balance.
In Western societies, the role of women has grown again in importance, andlunar-influenced life-styles are becoming socially acceptable. We see this inemerging preferences for health foods, vegetarianism, complementary and holistichealth approaches, natural living, more awareness in child raising, naturalchildbirth, and an increasing female role in politics, work, business, andartistic creativity. One major movement now focuses attention on planetarynurturing, the need for careful ecological policies that avoid disrupting theEarth's delicate ecosystem. Ecological concerns are now internationallyrecognized; we are finally awakening to the responsibility and challenge of ourpotential to either destroy or heal the only home we have.
In the more spiritual realms, old, fading traditions are being reborn. Themysteries of Albion and the Celtic peoples are experiencing a popularresurgence, as many realize that a more pagan worldview matches their preferredperception of life. Wicca, or modern witchcraft, is similarly reinvigorated asthe Goddess calls her own back to serve her, and older shamanic traditions, withtheir emphasis on the attunement of nature and mediation between levels ofreality are now fashionable and appeal to many. Certain aspects of thesecontemporary needs are looked at in chapters 9 and 10, especially the potentialintegration of masculine and feminine...
