midwinter rites

Bonds of spirit, bonds of sisterhood. That is the glue that binds us together. In our blood and bones the cosmic web of life thrives. 

Cocooned in the wintering womb of Gaia, earth goddess, mother nature - our inner self and all or creation hibernates within - infinite and insulated. 

elemental sisters - water, earth, air, fire

All allied and at One - mind, body, soul - identity incarnate. In the bosom of an ever expanding cosmos augments the power of incubation. 

female fates & cycles

 "The psyches and souls of women

also have their own cycles and seasons

of doing and solitude,

running and staying,

being involved and being removed,

questing and resting,

creating and incubating,

being of the world and

returning to the soul-place."

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés

The Three Fates by Alexander Rothaug (ca. 1910). Jack Kilgore Gallery

Women were the first diviners, and goddesses were the first symbols of destiny. The Moirae of Greek mythology were a triad of fates who were said to spin, weave, and cut the thread of fate.

The Moirae determined and guided the moira—literally the “portion” or “allotment”—that every mortal received when they were born. 

As ambiguous goddesses of fate, the Moirae naturally also knew the future and were sometimes regarded as prophetic or oracular figures. 

The Moirae frequently appeared in ancient literature, art, and inscriptions and played a role in other myths.

The spinning wheel has many layers of meaning - the wheel of time and fortunes, of birth, life and death, of the passing of the seasons, of the cycles of things, and the creation of form from chaos.

In Hopi and other mythologies, Grandmother Spiderwoman gives advice, weaves a magic web, provides therapeutic cures, and is the wisdom keeper.

It is empowering for women to recall such archetypes of our abilities to weave our destinies.