Secrets of The Old Woman Who Never Dies
The Ancient Ways of the Moon Phases
by
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Excerpt from Chapter 1
AN EXAMPLE OF ONE CYCLE
Four to five days after the last quarter Moon, go out for several nights, before dawn, and look up; and when you have noticed the waning moon has disappeared from the sky, you will know that within 24 to 36 hours the Moon will meet the rising Sun, lost in its light. About one day after New Moon, the tiniest fingernail sliver will appear, called “first light”. It indicates that you can begin to get a sense about the “something” that is new. For example let’s say you realized in the previous cycle that you needed to do a complete housecleaning because you are a “terrible housekeeper”. That need may show up at the New Moon. Keep watching, and during the week from New to 1st Quarter, that New Moon intent will have taken form as you impulsively manifest that urge.
At First Quarter (half light, half dark) be prepared to observe what social, parental, or other barriers suddenly arise to confront or delay your activity—dentist appointments, casual company, long telephone calls, a broken washer, a flood… Don't worry—you are supposed to struggle at this point, in order to have strong spiritual muscles at the Full Moon. Get rid of any false beliefs, your own, or others’, that frustrate your plans. Move ahead with all speed and direction. You might discover that your mother’s methods don’t work for you and you have some better ideas.
At Full Moon consider how your activity, now well-defined and partially or fully completed can be of value to others. Even if your New Moon intent was "only" to do spring cleaning, what is a clean house in nice order for if not to share it with company? You decide to invite company for dinner and realize that you have been missing the social contacts because you felt ashamed of your house—the Full Moon “enlightenment”.
Last Quarter Moon, again half light, half dark, is very complex. A number of scenarios could present themselves. Take one example only, here, that of the thorough house cleaning. Having enjoyed fulfilling feedback on your lovely house and dinner, you could conclude that your lifelong habit of leaving the dirt to pile up for 6 months at a time is not really how you want to live. You realize that you only do that because your mother did the same. You intentionally let go of that habit and that value and go through your house lightly once more, picking up and straightening to practice your new way of keeping house, promising yourself you will continue to keep it in good order. Then you turn away from this month’s activity toward what may be coming next. The key to this stage of the month is to mentally "make an offering" of your month's experience, as part of your foundation as a social being. Perhaps in this example, you invite a group to meet regularly in your house. Follow that by considering your present needs that have arisen out of the month’s activity, and the desire to attract some answers to them in the next new phase. In some sense you are changing—consider what that might mean. You may have to deal with some unfamiliar situations. Some examples of needs or as yet unsolved problems that could have arisen out of this month’s activities in relation to the group are (a) someone you don’t get along with will be coming to the group, (b) you have dogs who bark incessantly when you have company (c). Several hours a week of preparation are needed for the host/hostess to prepare for this group. Where will you find that extra time? You will not need to look far at any Last Quarter Moon for future needs.
You can see and know this in your life every month without reading further in this book, without buying anything, without knowing the first thing about astrology. The Moon is out there, you are busy living your life, and you can simply step outside, check the Moon's light-dark balance, and ask yourself, "Am I moving in harmony with the energies I see in the sky?" If you spend a few minutes four times a month observing how your life just naturally flows into these four foci of energies you are “in the flow” and doing what you are supposed to be doing.
We invite you, if you drive, to watch the different kinds of behaviors you see on the road throughout the four phases. They say laughter is healing—this part of your practice is healing for sure. Later as we put the Zodiac signs together with the phases, the commuter behaviors become even more interesting! Health food stores also provide great information about phases and signs, if you ask questions about how their customers behave during any given phase. We are meant to find satisfaction and joy in our lives and to learn to play with our experiences. You may even laugh at yourself. Life is so serious sometimes that we don’t accept the lighter side, but playing with the phases helps us to stand outside ourselves and realize “it’s not always about me”.
OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OURSELVES
The ritual of honoring the faces of the Moon is my terminology for the re-visioned ancient Moon ritual, and its modern counterpart (See Chapter 7). We see the Moon’s cycle as a cosmic ritual played out in the sky. It no longer requires mirroring with a specific shamanic practice. The Ancients used many different rituals, but the key to all of them was that they created Sacred space and while they were in that space there was no-time; they were just Being, and open to the god’s energy. We can create our own sacred space through intent and/or ritual in ways familiar to our own lives. It can be simply a practice of intentionally paying attention to the Moon energies. This becomes the ritual for us when we stop what we are doing in ordinary time, and notice where the Moon is and the pattern of shadow on its face. We can intentionally tune in to the energies by locating the moon’s phase in the sky, reminding ourselves of its energies, then checking to see if we are aligned with the phase energies.
As we connect with the Moon phases in this or other ways, “time stops.” We are Being in the moment aligning with the energies, as intent, or a meditation. These moments offer the opening to an alternate reality or interstice, where changes can occur, and intent is the most important basis for that. Doing this small intention frequently helps us maintain ourselves in the openness of non-linear time and space more of the time. This is the primary relationship—our relationship to the universe, the Divine, and ourselves—in a world where relationship is a major issue at this time. But even more important, because the primary relationship is between Sun-spirit and Moon-soul and by extension Earth itself. We think there are frequencies reaching us from the Moon and Sun, as we discussed above. Focusing on Sun and Moon might enhance our own efforts.
We have a view of the universe as a silver-light web by which every body out there is connected and through which frequencies run free. Some writers, such as Lynne Taggart, are now saying that when we do healing work or pray for a healing, we connect to an energy focus in the universe to which we have a resonant connection. If we could understand how to use that connection we could call forth whatever we need. The attitude and energy of prayer is one way, and there are others, such as the Moon path. The Sun-Moon connection is our first outpost on the way out to the infinity in the sky. Staying connected keeps us open to whatever gifts the stars may send to us, so look up and reach for the endless potential in the black sky. Let go of all the old fears of night, the unconscious, the unknown, eclipses, dark of the Moon—all are sources of renewal.
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About the Book
Old Woman Who Never Dies has been a culture name for the Moon from Neolithic to modern times. She taught the early world about life after death, about the monthly renewal of all things, and how to follow a path of alignment with both personal and a greater human destiny. In the beginning He Who Made All Things set the mechanism in the sky for this role—and other, deeper, aspects of consciousness—although humanity later forgot them in the complications of civilized life.
Virginia and Judy, in their youth, separately stumbled upon this forgotten ancestral, but eternally contemporary and practical, spiritual path. Years later when they met, they decided to share their astonishing revelation with a world of people who are struggling with the changes and technical-intellectual overwhelm of the 21st century.
The Moon does indeed guide the traveler through the darkest night—even that of the soul, of which Moon is the earthly symbol. Herein the authors provide the science, the prehistory, and the art of following the lunar cycle and its phases. In the process, they may also lead you into a bonding with Moon and even Earth which, in our urban development, large segments of contemporary generations have missed entirely. We ask you to sink into the cool and peaceful timeless place of long-forgotten mysteries of the Moon, purged of the violence and greed which man has inevitably included throughout history. Experience the blending of science, the divine, and the personal, and learn how to return to the place of eternal beginning.
About the Author
At age 81, Virginia has successfully managed two careers, one as a registered art therapist, University level art teacher, and mental health professional, the other as a professional astrologer, author and teacher. She has a B of A in Art, and a Master’s in Art Education from the University of Washington, with numerous specialty certifications in several related fields.
Early in her active working life Virginia owned, directed and operated a large day care center. It was during this period that work with children and their parents drove her to examine astrology and art therapy together as a means of better understanding the life process. She used both in her second career in the mental health system, where she worked with the other end of the spectrum--the elderly, and with death and dying, grief and loss. These experiences led directly to the long journey of the Moon path, spanning both careers, unfolding the phases as a model for the life cycle itself.
She began her professional astrology practice in 1957, teaching both privately and in the local Western Washington Community College system. She has published many articles on astrology, aging and metaphysical topics. Her first book was the children’s novel, The Magic Moth. It was followed by The Digested Astrologer series text books co-published with Joanne Wickenburg. Other books have been The One Remains and God’s Bagel, her personal journeys with Light-Body work and the ancient Hebrew Letters.
With the exception of eight years in Central Washington, Virginia has lived all her life in the Pacific Northwest—in Coos Bay, Oregon, where she was born, in Portland Oregon where she grew up, and in Seattle, Washington from 1947 to the present, near her three children and five grandchildren. Her primary interest at this time is with the Moon and astrology as models for evolving consciousness. She spends her time writing, doing astrological research, and exploring shamanic work, a natural result of living with the ancestral Moon.
Now Virginia is ready to invite you to share the Ancestors’ dance with The Old Woman Who Never Dies--in essence a re-visioning of an ancient Earth-Sky ritual that began the human journey on this planet. (The Old Woman Who Never Dies was a Neolithic name for the Moon, which persists to this day in the Navajo of the Southwest and other tribal groups around the world.) The Old Woman's dance is a model or key for living all the stages of life, as well as the daily life. Many of these keys meet the reader directly from the author’s deep and varied life experience. They will not only strike a chord for readers of many different backgrounds, but they also will reveal the level of grassroots divination—the ability to see one’s life in a natural but cosmic context, simultaneously including past present and future.