Hail the Dark Goddess - Guest Post Priestess Amber Zeta

The Wheel Turns is excited to have Amber Zeta, Priestess, Mythologist, Change Agent, Goddessprenuer of Zeta Moon, and founder of Denver's Dark Goddess Festival, be our first guest blogger!

Take it away Priestess Amber!

The Dark Goddess Festival is an afternoon dedicated to the shadows, the inner mysteries, and the Dark Goddess!  A celebration of the Dark Mother, The Crone, and the Veiled One. I created this festival eleven years ago in response to a call from Kali Ma. It also came out of a desire to create a different kind of festival. At the time, I felt frustrated by how all the festivals had fees attached and back then, I barely had five dollars to my name. I felt jealous and upset that not only could I not afford the entry fee to attend festivals, but once in, it felt like a slap in the face as everything required a purchase to enjoy it, be it food, merchandise, or getting a reading or healing. The Goddess asked, “Why don’t you create a new festival then?”

So, I did. I felt called to bring to light the Dark Goddess because She is often misunderstood and taken for an agent of ill tempered forces. However, in my experience, She helped me out of my shadow self, into integration and understanding of myself in ways I was not reaching through other pathways.  The Dark Goddess represents our deepest desires, our primal instinctive side, and hidden knowledge as well as the potency of being you, your true you. Always through love, She cuts away all that does not serve a person; what is not in their best interest is severed. Like a tough love mother, She takes away what does not contribute to you, regardless of how you feel about it or how attached you might be to that thing. Only for your highest possibilities does She act. This is the gift I wish to share with others through the Dark Goddess Festival.

The Dark Goddess Festival remains free of vendors and an admission fee. There is entertainment, dancing, ritual, healers and readers available, for free or for reasonable fees, and a door prize raffle to help me offset costs of running the festival. I think of it as a gift I share with the community—the focus is on connection and experiences. I consider myself a bridge, connecting people to resources and others that may contribute to their lives and well being. This year, I would like to reach more like minded others who are seeking the Dark Goddess. I have a new volunteer committee to help me with advertising and marketing, a few of my lesser gifts. This year will be the 9^th Annual Dark Goddess Festival and as 9 is a very sacred number to the Goddess, I expect it will be a very potent and juicy one. I am looking forward to seeing what She has in store for the festival and us!

A mythologist, healer, and energy shifter, I have studied every metaphysical modality I can. I have a passion for learning and will always be reaching for the next level. I hold a  BA degree in Liberal Arts English with a Women Studies’ Minor and a Masters in Mythological Studies with a Depth Psychology Emphasis, which is Jungian and post Jungian theory. A practice witch and healer, I am honored to be a part of this growing Goddess priestesshood. Bright blessings and may the Darkness be Merciful!

Please feel free to visit Priestess Amber at her website; http://www.zetamoon.com

Are Those Your Real Clothes or Is That a Costume?

Sadly Halloween and Samhain are now past. It's time to put away all the fun clothes and chivalrous outfits we donned over the weekend, or perhaps several weekends. Luckily I've got one more event to attend, a Day of the Dead celebration. It's my last opportunity to wear skull make up and put on some of my favorite pieces.

I always feel more myself in my Witchy clothing, Halloween clothing or Renn Faire clothing. I feel we've lost something by not wearing dresses that require us to lift our hems, although I would never want to go back to not having the choice to wear pants.

But something magickal happens when I put on my floor length gowns and lift my skirt to navigate steps. Something I've learned is easier said than done. How did we as women navigate steps and curbs with all that long material around our ankles?

Looking towards the future, the Winter Solstice is coming. There will be holiday parties and more events attend, but not ones that require me to wear my Witchy clothing. Perhaps I'll create my own Winter evening, where I and my friends can dress up once more.

Happy Holidays! 

My Cave and My Blanket. Taos, NM.

As the calendar turned to February, I found myself thinking "where is my cave, where is my blanket?".  My calendar reminded me of how unnatural it is for us to go against the grain of winter.  All I want to do during these days is stay home, read, write and watch movies.  In short, hibernate.

But our society doesn't work that way, at least not in a big city.  We've constructed our world to run 24/7 nonstop and anyone who doesn't keep up that maddening pace is seen as going against the wheel.  "Move over or get out of my way!" seems to be the language of morning and evening drive traffic.

As one who follows the Wheel and is keenly tuned to the seasons, I feel the Earth slow down.  I'm blessed to live in a state where the seasons change.  As the leaves begin to fall in Autumn, I feel a sadness come over me.   As the days get longer, dark and cold, well, some days I'm down right miserable.  I know all about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but that's not it for me.  Its the going against the grain of Winter, when I all want to do is hibernate.

There is a place not too far from my home where time seems to move at the correct pace.  The enchanted land of Taos, NM.

Taos Pueblo, photo taken by Najah Lightfoot Bagley

Here the Tiwa People of the Taos Pueblo have been in continual existence for over 1000 years, making the Taos Pueblo the longest continually inhabited place, in North America.

And the magical town of Taos has grown up around the Pueblo. 

Taos Inn, photo taken by Najah Lightfoot Bagley

It takes a bit to get to Taos.  Its in the Northwest corner of NM, surrounded by the Blessed Sacred Mountains.  When you drive into town, you can smell pinion and fireplaces burning. Its quiet.  Taos is the home of mystics, writers, artists, cowboys, farmers, chili lovers and friends.  It is sanctuary.  Georgia O'Keefe stayed a spell at the Sagebrush Inn and painted.  Its the only place where I can get my favorite margarita, "Fire on the Mountain", which is made with Mezcal, at the Taos Inn.  In Winter, You can walk down the street at night and barely see another soul.  Yet take a turn into an Inn or Cantina, and there the whole town is enjoying dinner, drinks and camaraderie.

You can visit the Pueblo and feel the Spirit of the Earth, but watch out for the Pueblo dogs who take no prisoners.

We stayed in Taos for a few days, recently. We've been blessed to travel there since 1996.  In Taos, I can smell the pinion, hear the "quorking" of ravens, watch coyotes pad across the road and see the dogs take them down.  I can walk down the road, have a fantastic New Mexican breakfast or buy some sage at the Pueblo.  And even better, I can sit, be still and hibernate.

Hail to the peace and stillness of Winter.  Hail to the cycles of the Earth and to the Turn of the Wheel.

Winter Blessings to You,
Priestess Najah