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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com


 
           
 
           The Spiral Dance
             1979; Starhawk
             p 159
 
                              The Goddess In The Kingdom Of Death
 
             In this world, the Goddess is seen in the moon, the light that shines in darkness,
             the rain bringer, mover of the tides, Mistress of mysteries.  And as the moon waxes
             and wanes, and walks three nights of its cycle in darkness, so, it is said, the
             Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death.
 
             For in love She ever seeks Her other Self, and once, in the winter of the year, when
             He had disappeared from the green earth, She followed Him and came at last to the
             gates beyond which the living do not go.
 
             The Guardian of the Gate challenged Her, and She stripped Herself of Her clothing
             and jewels, for nothing may be brought into that land.  For love, She was bound as
             all who enter there must be and brought before Death Himself.
 
             He loved Her, and knelt at Her feet, laying before Her His sword and crown, and gave
             Her the fivefold kiss, and said,
 
             "Do not return to the living world, but stay here with Me, and have peace and rest
             and comfort."
 
             But She answered, "Why do you cause all things I love and delight in to die and
             wither away?"
 
             "Lady," He said, "It is the fate of all that lives to die.  Everything passes; all
             fades away.  I bring comfort and consolation to those who pass the gates, that they
             may grow young again.  But You are My heart's desire -- return not, but stay here
             with Me."
 
             And She remained with Him three days and three nights, and at the end of the third
             night She took up His crown, and it became a circlet that She placed around Her
             neck, saying:
 
             "Here is the circle of rebirth.  Through You all passes out of life, but through Me
             all may be born again.  Everything passess; everything changes.  Even death is not
             eternal. Mine is the mystery of the womb, that is the cauldron of rebirth.  Enter
             into Me and know Me, and You will be free of all fear.  For as life is but a journey
             into death, so death is but a passage back to life, and in Me the circle is ever
             turning."
 
             In love, He entered into Her, and so was reborn into life.  Yet is He known as Lord
             of Shadows, the comforter and consoler, opener of the gates, King of the Land of
             Youth, the giver of peace and rest.  But She is the gracious mother of all life;
             from Her all things proceed and to Her they return again.  In Her are the mysteries
             of death and birth; in Her is the fulfillment of all love.
 
             *Traditional Craft Myth
 
 
                                                                                            1771
 


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