Tag: goddess of war

The Dark Moon May 10 – 13

The Dark Moon also called Lilith is astronomically the three days before the New Moon appears. The Moon, of course, cycles around us and appears with different “faces”, the full Moon, half Moon, quarter Moons. A new Moon is when it lies directly in the path between Earth and Sun, and appears to us to be in conjunction with the Sun. However, the three days before the Moon goes “new” every month it disappears totally from our view. To the ancients, it was a dark, mysterious time. Unfortunately, over the years as we moved from matriarchal religions to more male dominated religions, the dark and mysterious Moon has become demonized. It became the symbol of the “bad girl” and the baddest of them all is Lilith.

First mentioned in Sumerian mythology about 3000 years ago, Lilith was seen in Hebrew stories as the first wife of Adam. She was not too happy with the plan that she should submit to Adam and be that happy helper stuff that Eve fell for so she said “bye bye Adam” and went off to make her own way in the world. So forevermore, she was called the bad girl – the fallen woman – of the Hebrew Bible. Because the Moon has always been associated with the feminine the dark Moon, the time of mystery and secrecy eventually bore the name of Lilith.

Astrologically, the time of the dark Moon is the time when we should get in touch with the hidden side, with the side we hide from society because it is not acceptable. This is the time we need to assess why we keep the side hidden and why we dance to the rules of society.

Where Lilith is on your astrological chart indicates the area where we will often have a spiritual crises because we are hiding a part of our true self so as not to risk disapproval. Is it in Aries? Well, where is your fear of charting new courses? Gemini? Well, always seeking the unusual in travel is fun but are you running away from something? Scorpio Lilith brings passion and pushes us to be free of sexual inhibitions.

So use those dark days to see what you have kept hidden from yourself for fear of repercussions and assess if that is still working for you.

Another One of the “Girls” – Pallas Athene

Pallas Athene is one of the most interesting albeit confusing asteroid goddess. This is because of her basic duality. I am not talking duality like Pisces the Fish or Gemini the Twins. It isn’t that stark, however, she is the goddess of war and power as well as healing and wisdom. I guess, like most women, she figures she will have to clean up the mess others make so might as well get on with it. In her honor, the Greeks named their major city, Athens.

In classical Greece, this virgin goddess of wisdom was second only to Jupiter, king of the heavens, in importance. As the goddess of war, she was invincible in battle. In times of peace, however, her wisdom enforced the law and made sure justice prevailed. She was also patroness of the arts, architecture, cooking and weaving. Yes, insert your goddess multi-tasking joke here.

In the sky, Pallas Athene lies between the constellations Libra and Aquarius and opposes Leo – so when we use her in chart analysis, we see the flash of intelligence (Aquarius) and the driving originality of fiery Leo modified by Libra balance and fairness. For instance, someone with a well aspected Pallas in Taurus will have the ability to see beauty in new ways. Taurus is ruled by Venus – and is associated with the arts and beauty. A strong Pallas Taurus person is able to perceive art in a new way- with all senses – they might even “see” colors.* They could also be a fighter for the Earth – an ecological warrior. Taurus is the Bull, grounded in the Earth and earth resources (see my entry on Al Gore’s North Node in Taurus.) They will use the fire of Leo and the advanced mind of Aquarius to fight for Mother Earth.

Well aspected Pallas in Sagittarius people can become shamans or healers because the can actually see the big picture of someone’s health arc. Remember, Sag. is expansive in nature. Unfortunately, we also see Pallas Sag. people who have negative aspects and who can take that warrior energy and combine it with Sag’s belief in religious truth and become religious crusaders.

The main thing to remember is that Pallas packs a wallop of creative, fiery energy and high perceptive abilities. She was the original androgynous woman who competed quite well with men in the political and military arena.

*For more information on this see “The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion: How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense ” by Michael Jawer.