The moon has been waxing and is nearly full. My husband and I will be attending a circle this coming Saturday, meeting some new people and celebrating this first full moon of the new year. The news is all a-buzz with the changing leadership that’s on the horizon, and while I like to stay in touch, it’s just about as overwhelming as the election itself. 
A full moon in winter reminds me to slow down, to take a moment to enjoy being in the cold air and staring up through the darkness to the beautiful moon. She reflects the light of the sun, but not so strongly that we can’t stare at her and wonder and reflect on our own small lights. The light in a window welcoming me home at night, the candle lit for warmth, comfort and sparkle, and the light within that shines all the brighter for my looking at it.
I had a hard day at work, so when I got home I found myself flipping channels on the good old TV. I landed on our local PBS station, and I discovered that there were others out there contemplating the face of feminine spirituality in a special about Mary Magdalene. It turns out that my husband’s birthday, July 22nd, is the feast day for Mary Magdalene. He’s always been a big supporter of strong spiritual women. The documentary, Secrets of Mary Magdalene, gave me some very interesting things to ponder on the nature of archetypes and how they change and evolve within the surrounding culture.
Since Dan Brown wrote his little book The DaVinci Code, there has been a flurry of other books on the topic of Mary, and the holy grail. It all comes down to what it means to be holy, and what it means to be a woman, and how you can be one in the same without having to be a virgin. Some say that she was a priestess of Isis, and as part of that role hooked up with Jesus as part of the fertility of the land. I think that is a possibilty, and all the theories are so darn fun to contemplate and play with.
She’s an earthy representation of the Goddess, as the moon is a celestial one, both of which I take much comfort from. As a teen I was a mystical christian, and I yearned for some sort of example of a woman who could be strong, smart, beautiful, and spiritual all at the same time. Later I found it in the Goddess and I am most content in discovering her reflection in the many faces she shows me, and sometimes even in the mirror.
Have a lovely first full moon of 2009.