Guiding Goddess and Lunar Horoscope for June 2019

May 29, 2019

June 2019 brings the heat of summer, socializing, and the drive to learn new things about ourselves. With the energy of Gemini and Sagittarius presiding over the Lunar Cycles, it is Goddess Persephone who guides and instructs us this month.

Persephone is the Greek Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld. As the spring maiden she is called Kore, a deity of growth, happiness, and agriculture; she represents the innocence and purity of youth. Kore is not a necessarily a name, but a word for daughter or maiden, similar to and sometimes interchangeable with the Greek word "parthenos" which means virgin, "unto herself".

In Her role as the Dark Maiden, Persephone is the Queen of the underworld, wife of the God Hades, and the keeper of souls. She embodies the wisdom of life and death, has powers of necromancy, and is skilled in magick and divination in all its forms.

Referring to Persephone as Kore denotes the stage of Maiden before she transitions into the full bloom of woman. As Kore, she has only experienced the safety of the world under the loving (and somewhat overbearing) protection of her mother, Demeter. She has no awareness of the weight of adulthood, no premonition of the utter and absolute change she is about to undergo.

For she is also the Kore of Hades: the bride, reflecting the innocence of Maiden before she experiences the intimacies of love, sex, and self-image.Her transition from daughter to bride, from maiden to woman, is one that every woman must make to properly move into the next stage of their life experience.

Most are familiar with the myth of Kore and Hades; some say she was abducted/raped, other tellings suggest she went willingly, and still others are a combination of the two. Whatever the route, Her journey to the Underworld and intimate connection to the God Hades triggers her evolution into Persephone. As Kore is the personification of spring, she is everything that spring is: blooming, growth, potential, and change. Her blossoming into Persephone is inevitable; it is her very nature, just as it is in our nature to grow and separate ourselves from our families and set out on our own. We long for the security and acceptance in the world we are born into, and yet we yearn for our freedom. As Persephone, the Goddess becomes a fully grown woman, the Queen of the Underworld, and is initiated into her authentic self.

Persephone, within herself, is an integrated duality – the perfect balance of light and dark, and it is only when she enters the Underworld (the dark night of the soul) and experiences the force of her power does she become fully aware of the split in her consciousness. This initiation into the realm of Queen is so revolutionary that it not only transforms Persephone, but the world around her.

Persephone’s rite of passage brings her face to face with all that is authentically her. She is Winter and Spring, daughter and wife; naivety and wisdom, innocence and immorality; joy and grief, life and death. In her transition into Queen, she has learned to hold these seemingly conflicting pieces of her psyche as one essence in her heart. Her identity is no longer defined by her role as daughter; her sense of self no longer dependent upon the flowers and other maidens in the field.

She accepts her role and her place in the life she’s received and created, regardless of her lack of experience and possible fear. She leans into, flows with, and conquers what the Universe has provided her. Persephone accepts and merges the dueling aspects of her life experience into one harmonious consciousness: Queen, belonging only to herself.

JUNE 3^rd 2019: New Moon in Gemini

This New Moon brings the Twins with their duality, their dark and light – a nice tie-in to the Maiden-Queen energy Persephone brings forth.

Gemini is one of the most curious astrological energies, and this New Moon awakens that spirit in you. This lunar cycle drives you to sate your curiosity and learn something new. However, focus may be an issue, so be sure not to take on too many projects. It’s better to work one thing from start to finish, than to have 20 activities that never make it past the planning stage.

What subjects, hobbies, etc have you been drawn to invest your time in? Do it. Find the class, sign up, and actually go. Talk to people, ask them to teach you. Keep your heart and mind open when people ask the same of you. No money – try and barter a skill for a skill. Remember, the worst anyone can say is ‘no’. Then just ask somebody else, and keep asking until you get the ‘yes’.

Which brings us to the communication side of this Gemini New Moon. Socializing is going to be on your mind, but it’s a dicey subject. Be sure those who you give your words, your voice, your attention to are deserving. And be respectful when people choose your ear to listen to their truth – it’s an honor to be someone’s safe zone.

But be like Persephone this week. Explore the wild, talk to people who interest you. Let yourself do and have that thing you’ve been craving, even if no one else thinks it’s a good idea. You never know what wisdom and power you’ll pick up along the way.

June 17^th 2019: Full Moon in Sagittarius

I’m still trying to figure out how Sagittarius is a fire sign, because O-M-G does that energy carry some watery emotional weight. And this Full Moon is no exception.

Our feelings are cranked up to 1000 this lunar cycle, and that Sagittarius vibe pushes us to get a bit dramatic about it. You may be feeling extra-sensitive this week, but because Sag insists that it’s a fire sign, instead of crying yourself to sleep your instinct will be to fling your shoe at the offending party (shoutout to Tía Lisa and her chanclas of death!).

When we’re so raw emotionally it leaves us feeling more vulnerable. The vulnerable often lash out, even at those who are trying to help. This springs from our desire to control situations when we feel so out of control. It is important to understand that this desire for control springs from fear—fear of losing what we hold on to so fiercely: our image of ourselves.

The mythology of the Goddess Persephone illustrates the magick, expansion, and evolution that can happen we allow ourselves to move beyond our fear. We grow from Maiden into Queen.

Truths about ourselves can be hard to hear (especially from that little voice in our heads). Harder still to accept. But it is necessary to accept every truth about ourselves. It is vital to our being a fully integrated person; someone who fully accepts every part of themselves and honors and respects every part.

Fear can be a useful tool if used properly. With a Sagittarian’s optimistic enthusiasm, we can choose not to shun fear as the enemy but to embrace it as a friend. Instead viewing fear as a downward slide into misery and despair we can view it as a path upward toward courage and self-mastery.

Correspondences

Metaphysical properties/rules over: fertility, renewal, growth, sensuality, independence, freedom, new opportunities, embracing the shadow, intuition, divination, forbidden love, necromancy, Eleusinian mysteries, justice, authority, self-knowing

Archetype: Maiden and Queen

Colors: Red, burgundy, black, purple, indigo, green, brown, pastels

Crystals/Gemstones: quartz, rainbow hematite, garnets, agate, black onyx, pink tourmaline, sapphire, obsidian, coral, sulphur, and jasper

Fragrance: palmarosa, lavender, patchouli, benzoin, narcissus, bergamot, myrrh, copal, peppermint, floral scents

Symbols: pomegranate, flowers wreaths (especially worn in the hair), butterflies, crowns/tiaras, torch, censer, silver dagger, silver offering plate, wings/feathers, mirror, silver chalice, bones

Specific Offerings: pomegranates, nuts, dark stones and crystals, honey, potted pots, grains, pork, floral incense, gourds, skulls, poppies

Totems: bats, parrots, ram, hare

Resources:

PERSEPHONE Guiding Goddess Perfume Oil (limit quantities, available only during June 2019)

Persephone Goddess Mist

Queen of Herself: A Goddess Persephone eCourse with Priestesses Brandi Auset and Kimberly Moore

Ariadne's Thread: A Workbook of Goddess Magic by Shekhinah Mountainwater

Averno: Poems by Louise Glück

Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter by Carl Kerényi

Long Journey Home: Revisioning the Myth of Demeter and Persephone for Our Time edited by Christine Downing (highly recommended)

Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths by Charlene Spretnak

Mysteries of Demeter : Rebirth of the Pagan Way by Jennifer Reif