Crowned with Stars: The Archetypal Journey to
Wholeness
The
Woman Clothed with the Sun is
crowned with stars. The crown is a
symbol of honor, victory and sovereignty, as well as of wholeness and
completion. The crown sits on the top of
the head and so represents the wisdom and knowledge of the crown chakra, the
spiritual energy center that unites us to the Divine, and is often depicted as
radiant energy surrounding the head of a goddess, god or saint. The crown of stars represents this archetypal
journey of the awakened soul.
The
twelve stars in the vision are believed to symbolize the twelve signs of the
Zodiac. Just as the solar hero has to
go on the hero’s journey through the twelve zodiacal signs to become whole,
Lady Wisdom also offers Her daughters the same possibility of wholeness.
The
Zodiac, made up of the twelve constellations on the elliptic, describes the
twelve archetypal journeys the human spirit experiences here on Earth. The signs represent different energies of the
four elements: fire, earth, air and water and they represent three different
modes of energy: cardinal/initiating, fixed/concentrating and
mutable/dispersing energies.
l Aries is the first fire sign and its cardinal energy
drives us to discover our self-identity.
It is original fire that comes out of nowhere, the light out of
darkness. Aries is the archetypal
Virgin Huntress, Diana and Artemis, the scout, adventurer and
wild woman who tests herself against the world to find herself. Artemis was the goddess of teenage girls
before they married, teaching them to listen to their instincts and be true to
themselves. The Celtic Morrigan, the
battle goddess, as well as the Amazons and Valkyries, are also Aries
goddesses. For a woman , Aries can
represent the Virginal phase of adolescence.
Self-discovery is the task. Aries calls women to freedom, return,
and renewal.
l Taurus is a solid, fixed earth sign, concerned with
establishing our self-worth, our talents and our values. The archetype is Gaia, Mother Earth
and the whole realm of matter and our relationship with it. The Spring Maiden, Maia (the Pleiad who gave
her name to the month of May) and the Celtic blossom-faced goddess, Blodeuwedd,
symbolize the beauty and pull of desire of this astrological month. The cow-headed Egyptian goddess Hathor oversees
fertility and pleasure, and the Hindu
goddess Lakshmi watches over abundance and joy.
Aphrodite/Venus, as the goddess of the body, love and connectedness, is
the archetype of the wisdom of our instinctual nature symbolized by this earth
sign. Changing Woman is a Native
American personification of this Earth goddess. Taurus is beauty, fertility,
sexuality and wealth, all the good things in life.
l Gemini is a mutable, airy mental sign, and symbolizes the
Mind and how it works - the need to understand and learn and experience. The archetype is the Teacher. Minerva is the goddess of wisdom, strategy,
schools and commerce. Pallas Athena
symbolizes the mind's quest for knowledge and the ability to communicate
it. The Indian goddess Saraswati is the
Goddess of Knowledge and all literary arts. Her name literally means the one who flows, which can be applied
to thoughts, words, or the flow of a river. The Nine Muses are also teachers of
knowledge. The Egyptian goddess Seshat,
the divine measurer, is a scribe and record-keeper, the goddess of knowledge
and writing as well as building and mathematics.
l Cancer is the cardinal water sign, quickly able to feel
the emotional atmosphere, motivated to do something about it. Cancer symbolizes the archetype of the Mother,
the emotional energy that nurtures souls and life and creativity. The Moon represents this aspect of
Wisdom: the changing energy which engenders growth as well as the ability to
feel what the other needs and be able to love and nurture beyond the ego
self. The Virgin Mary is a Mother
goddess, the Mediator who helps us in times of need. The Lady of the Lake is such a watery mother, as well as Cerridwen, the Welsh goddess of the cauldron of death
and rebirth, the moon, inspiration, poetry, prophecy, shape-shifting. Hestia,
the goddess of the hearth, is also the goddess of the home, which belongs to
Cancer. At best, our inner Self is our
true home, our secure refuge.
l Leo is a fixed, steady fire sign and symbolizes the
self-confidence of the archetypal Queen, source of Creative Power, the
creative artist as well as the individuated person. The Egyptian Lioness goddess Sekhmet is
the fierce sun aspect of Leo; Guinevere as well as Cleopatra are the guides to
Leo's vitality. Bast, the Egyptian cat-headed goddess of pleasure, joy,
music, dance, health and healing, embodies the cat energy within women. The Celtic goddess Brigit was the goddess of
smiths, and healing and craftsmanship, especially metalwork, as well as a patron
of learning and poetry. She is a fire goddess who creates out of fire.
l Virgo is a
mutable, earth sign and symbolizes self-knowledge and healing in a mindful,
practical way. Demeter and
Persephone, the divine Mother and Daughter, are the Virgo teachers of the
harvest and the seed, the fulfillment and renewal of purpose. They are the
archetypal need for completion and renewal and appear as goddesses of agriculture, grain,
harvest, fruits, flowers, and the fertile earth. The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis is a
healer and the goddess of ritual magic, among other things. She searched for and recovered the 14 pieces
of Osiris and brought him back to life.
She was the Divine Mother with her son Horus. Many of the Black Madonnas
of Europe, renowned for their healing miracles, were once Isis and Horus
statues.
l Libra is a cardinal, airy, socializing sign that
motivates us to accommodate of the Other, the Beloved. The Archetype is Marriage and Partnership. Hera, goddess of the Full Moon, symbolizes
the need to unite with another, the urge to be perfected by the beloved or to
actualize our true passions. The tale of
Psyche and Eros speaks to the requirements of conscious love and partnership. The Courtesan is also an archetypal image
for Libra, the woman who uses sexuality, art and intellect to influence men of
power.
l Scorpio is an intense, fixed water sign, concentrating on
the hurtful emotions that need to be released.
It deals with the energies of death and rebirth on an emotional level.
But it is a watery death and a fiery rebirth.
Scorpio demands that we confront the overpowering emotions that can
threaten to swamp the ego. The Dragon Tiamat symbolizes the titanic struggles
within our own feeling nature that show up when we are intimate with others. Scorpio’s archetype is the Death
Crone, Hecate of the Triple Crossroads, Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, or
the fearsome Kali, the Hindu Great Mother of Death and Rebirth. In Russia, there is the Baba Yaga,
another fearsome old hag who deals out death and rebirth.
l Sagittarius is the last, mutable fire
sign and represents our search for Wisdom and Truth, and the archetypal energy is embodied in the High
Priestess and Wise Woman, Storyteller and Priestess. White Buffalo Calf Woman brings a new teaching
and a new ritual to the People and sets the highest value as Peace. Sagittarius asks, 'How do we honor truth in
our lives?' The Egyptian goddess Maat personified Truth
and Justice, Law and Order. The concept of Maat represented the divinely
appointed order of things, the equilibrium of the universe within the world,
the regular movements of the stars, the sun, the moon, the seasons and time.
l Capricorn is a
cardinal earth sign that symbolizes the social order we live in and our desire
to contribute our talents to the world.
It represents the societies we create.
Lady Sovereignty symbolizes this commitment to administer the Earth's
bounty for her people. Goddesses with
specific 'jobs' would belong to Capricorn.
The Hours, who regulate time, and the Seasons, who bring forth the
changes in seasons.
l Aquarius is an
idealistic, fixed air sign which is concerned with high ideals. It represents our search for freedom and
equality for the group, and the archetype is Paradise. Star goddesses rule this
sign that symbolizes the archetypal realm. Spider Woman spins the web of
fate. Fata Morgana, Morgan le Fey of
Avalon, works the warp and weft of our lives.
The Ancient Queens of Heaven, Nut and Hathor, Isis
and Aphrodite, all find their place here as well.
l Pisces, the last,
mutable water sign, opened to the feelings of the collective Unconscious. It is the Cosmic Woman, Lady Wisdom. Aphrodite, born of the ocean's foam and the
phallic power of the heavens, symbolizes the final goal of our earthy experience
– the Wisdom of Love. The Goddesses of Compassion and Mercy -
Kuan Yin, Sophia, and Lady Wisdom belong to Pisces. For
centuries, Kuan Yin epitomized the great ideal of Mahayana Buddhism in her role
as "bodhisattva - a being of bodhi, or enlightenment," who is
destined to become a Buddha but has foregone the bliss of Nirvana with a vow to
save all children of God. Pisces knows
we are all in this together, and this water sign gives birth to the highest forms
of Wisdom.
Starting with Aries, the original energy comes into Being. In Taurus, it takes on the many forms of life. In Gemini, it achieves consciousness. And in Cancer, it grows into an emotional body and soul. From Aries to Cancer, incarnation takes place. Then starting with Leo's fire, we engage in creativity, in Virgo we learn service, in Libra partnership and in Scorpio we undergo renewal. From Leo to Scorpio, we learn the lessons of the Heart, how to tame our passions. Finally, from Sagittarius to Pisces, we find our place in the cosmic order. Sagittarius teaches cosmic law, Capricorn strives to build viable structures and processes to serve the group. Aquarius envisions a more perfect use of the collective mind and Pisces opens us to the Wisdom of the cosmos.
The twelve
stars of the Woman’s crown speak to
these astrological symbols and life paths.
Each one of us has our initiation to complete, our wisdom to be learned,
our purpose to be contributed to the world.
We each get to wear the crown of stars when we tread the path of Wisdom.
Besides the
Goddess crowned or adorned with the stars, there is also the image of the body
of the Goddess covered with stars. Nut,
the Egyptian sky goddess, was the personification of the heavens and the sky. Her body was covered with stars, and she was
said to give birth to the sun out of her womb each morning and to swallow him
each night. She represented the great
watery abyss out of which all things come and to which all things return. She was called Nut, the great Lady who gave
birth to the gods.8
The
Celtic goddess Arianrhod was another Queen of Heaven, especially of
reincarnation. Her home was Caer
Arianrhod, in the constellation Corona
Borealis or The Northern Crown. It is in the area of the circumpolar stars,
those stars which circle the North Polar Star and never set. Here at the court of Arianrhod, she is the
Goddess of the Silver Wheel of birth and rebirth, and the stern mistress of
Destiny. Taliessin, the great Celtic
bard, says that he remembers three periods of time spent in Arianrhod's
ever-spinning castle in the Corona Borealis, where he underwent initiations,
perhaps in former lives. It was believed
that souls went to Caer Arianrhod between incarnations.9
Very
often, the Goddess as Queen of Heaven was regarded as a literal star, usually
the morning star and evening star, which is often the planet Venus. There are many myths and legends which
connect the morning star with wisdom, and it is depicted as a place from which
a savior of the people comes. Isis was associated with the star Sirius, called the Nile
Star. It rose in the east just before
dawn on the first day of summer, heralding the rising of the waters of the
Nile.10 For the Egyptians,
this star literally stood for new life, since the Nile's yearly rising was and
is the source of life for them.
These
goddess-images of the starry heavens offer us the promise that the Divine
Feminine has the power to give birth to new life. The Divine Feminine offers us the Wisdom of
life. The starry realms hold the ancient
wisdom of the Cosmos, which is at the center of the mystery of the Divine
Feminine.
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