The maiden is here. Spring really is on her way. We can see her rising with the green leaves and shoots. Buds are forming on my peach, plum, nectarine and quince trees, as the energy rises. In the Temple of She! and the women’s mysteries this energy of spring is associated with the maiden.  She who rises with the sun, who dances with the breeze, and the element of air.  The maiden is wild and free, She is untamed and deeply connected to nature, to creativity and to play.

Many of us lose this connection and we forget to honour our creativity. We shun that power that rises through us, forgetting how to play, to laugh, to imagine possibilities. But of all us have her within us. All of us can reconnect with our inner child, that maiden energy full of potential and power. So how do we reconnect with this beautiful aspect of our being? There are many ways but essentially it is about being open, and allowing her to express herself. For this we need to let go of the critic, the adult, the responsible one (and often actually irresponsible one, for it is not responsible to deny her).  We invite her in, and wait. For me dance is a beautiful opening to Her. When we tune into the impulses of the body, and simply allow the body to move, to play…without judgement, we are learning to express her.  And we will dance Her tonight in the Temple of She! We will dance her peeping out of her cave, in and out in and out with the breath, allowing her to show herself to us. So that we can call her and move more freely, more nimbly, more spontaneously. And in so doing, She will dance us.

As i mentioned in my last post, drawing is another beautiful way to reconnect with your inner child.  Lucia Cappicone offers us her inner child work. She offers a full process worth investigating but quite simply we use the left hand (or the non-dominant one) to draw and dialogue with her. This is a wonderful process for developing a relationship with your inner child.  Mindfulness and meditation can help too. Starhawk offers us this meditation. It can be helpful to sit with this, to allow it to penetrate into your being, and then be open to the responses that arise in you.

“Visualize a silver crescent moon, curving to the right. She is the beginning of power, of growth , of generation. She is wild and untamed, like ideas and plans before they are tempered with reality. She is the blank page, the unplowed field. Fell your own hidden possibilities and latent potential, your power begins to grow. See her as a silver haired girl running freely through the forest under the slim moon. She is Virgin, eternally unpenetrated, belonging to one one but herself. Call her name, Nimue and feel her power within you.”

Starhawk reminds us that we are not only calling ourselves, but calling the Goddess into our lives. We are calling on that divine energy, that aspect of Her as The Maiden, that blossoms in us, as our own unique aspect of Her.

Artemis was my first Goddess. She was the one I felt such a deep connection to. She who lived in the forests and the Sacred Groves, she who dwelt with nymphs, and the spirits of the trees and the animals. She who was fiercely independent and belonging to no one was my way into the world of the Goddess. I did my honours thesis at university on images of her in the court at Fontainbleu, and i have been searching for her for ever. She is with me now, in my dance, in my kinder work, in my life. Here is an image of her by Caravaggio. She is powerful, riding her chariot across the open space, the crescent moon adorning her.

You can find images of the maiden Goddesses, find one that appeals and follow the journey. Follow that small girl you, rolling down sand dunes, climbing up trees, making daisy chains, splashing in the waves, searching for kissy things ( a soft sea urchin) and starfish in the rock pools, spinning and spinning with the joy of your body. You never know where you will end up.

Blessings

Sarah xxx