August Gathering: Pallas Athena

August 21st, Friday 6:30pm

Join us for this sacred gathering to honor the Goddess energies that are available for us to work with. This month we are working with Pallas Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Arts and Strength.

ATHENA'S POWER
The modern day Athena is the truly capable wise-woman, multi-tasker, career juggler, devoted mother, dedicated spouse/partner, loyal friend, and community leader. To the outside world she appears to have it all together. Yet, Athena can, as life moves forward, find herself lost to her own true identity. She may have never (or since childhood) focused on just who she really is without all those titles. This is not to say that she doesn’t derive a great deal of satisfaction from her conquests. Her bravery in going after what she wants is stellar and she does achieve great things. But sometimes this paints Athena into a corner…..the corner of her own accomplishments! Conversely enough, all this greatness can actually get in the way of Athena truly coming to know and expressing herself from her core.

Athena is a force to be reckoned with, strong, wise and capable. Yet, this can become at times a façade of strength that creates a well of loneliness within her soul. Athena-inspired women know no fear, or at least that's the face they present to the world. Rest assured, Athena;s can be tough, independent, clever and resourceful women. However, the soul call, now that the skills of strength and wisdom have been honed, is to go back and take adventure in the exploration of her weaknesses. For it is often in her very “weaknesses” that the seeds of her true greatness lies dormant. Athena needs to learn how to trust her incredible strength, enough to become truly vulnerable. For in fact, it takes great strength to reveal such tenderness. And it is this display of tenderness that will balance her outer shell of perfection and bring her into her own.

Athena is truly the last step for the Goddess becoming in each of us. She has proven that she can succeed. She has the strength, the wisdom and the courage. Now all she has to do is trust it and let go! Dare to fail! Dare to feel foolish! Dare to make a mistake! Understand that mistakes are actually a part of every creation and are always a pivotal point to even more successful outcomes. Athena reminds us to open up to our softer side. She reminds to kick-butt and take names.....WITH LOVE. She wants us to know that we are creator Goddesses and that we are the embodiment of the divine feminine!

ATHENA’S MESSAGE
FIND YOUR VOICE
Athena empowers you to surmount fears, giving you the freedom to explore your independent, clever and resourceful side. Invoke Athena to "find your voice" and overcome self-expression obstacles. Communicative energy forms a healing power that facilitates the reconnection of body, emotions, feelings and psychic energy. Effective communication not only leads to positive outcomes for your projects, but the ‘true you’ is honored whenever you express your honest feelings instead of voicing what you expect others want to hear. It is your responsibility to make yourself known.

According to the Goddess Goddess herself, Anita Ryan-Revel creatrix of the amazing website, Goddess.com.au, if Athena is speaking to you, it is likely you are adept at "conquering" the difficulties in your life - one by one, each time you conquer another difficulty, you feel on top of the world. But, ask yourself why you are entering cycles of seemingly impossible tasks, only to surmount them then search out more. The rush that achievement brings may be providing you with an endorphin surge that is addictive - you may be compelled to seek out bigger and better challenges to sustain your habit. If this sounds familiar, you may be presenting a strong and courageous face to the world, but really you're drawing on your strength rather than devoting time to exploring your weaknesses. It's time to unclutter your life of all the issues dragging you down - the lower you are dragged down the harder you have to fight to get back on top. And while fighting for what you want is sometimes necessary, it is important to recognize that it may be equally appropriate to "get out of our own way". There are two modes of creation, through building up and cutting away. It may be time to balance the two and bring more peace into our lives.

ATHENA SAYS…
Pick up your sword and declare battle against the clutter in your life, both internal and external. There is as much satisfaction to be found in simplicity as there is in resolving complexity. If you have clothes in your wardrobe you haven't worn in a year, give them away. If you have books on your shelf that you know you are not going to read again, pass them on. What junk is lurking in your drawers that you haven't used (or even laid eyes on)? Throw it out! Toss out sticky bottles of who-knows-what at the back of your fridge - fill it instead with fresh fruit, and top up with water ready for the Summer. Spring clean your immediate environment, and feel how much lighter you feel!

Now, is the time to use that “can do” attitude to bring about a lightening of your own load and releasing what is not necessary in your life or what may be bringing you down energetically. Aside from the space clearing which can certainly open the doorway to a floodgate of new energy, there may be a need for an attitude adjustment. Remember, the answers do not lie in other people, places or things, but in your own internal beliefs and attitudes which may be creating a drain on your energies. Athena, in her eternal wisdom, is asking you to go inside and spring clean your own heart and mind. Use some of that awesome wisdom and strength for your own edification. This is what will clear the way for right action. This is the difference between funding your will and controlling and forcing. It is a relinquishing of the need to control and the drive for perfection in order to allow and trust that in the care and feeding of your soul, all else that is right and good will flow.

ATHENA AFFIRMATIONS
I totally accept myself, just as I am, right here and right now
I let go of perfection
I am beautiful and radiant
I am the embodiment of the Goddess
I am healthy and happy
I am welcoming peace
I allow myself to be quiet and still everyday
I feel absolutely supercharged
Today is my chance to be healthy
I honor the strength of my body and move with grace and ease
My vital energy resurfaces naturally
I enjoy the foods that are good for me

SYMBOLOGY

ATHENA TOTEMS
Athena is often pictured with sword, shield, an owl and/or Nike, the Goddess of Victory. Nike, in the modern world is associated with the famous slogan “Just do it”! She is the perfect companion to Athena, as this is the true secret to Athena’s success…she is a doer – a mover and a shaker and a masterful creator of her world! Other names for Athena are Pallas Athena (Greek), Minerva (Roman) and Sulis (Celtic).

GEMSTONES
Moonstone, lapis lazuli, dark aquamarine, selenite

ORIGINS OF ATHENA

Greece
Zeus' favorite daughter, Athena was the beautiful warrior Goddess who stood guard over the ancient city of Athens. A goddess in whose honor was made an entire city, as well as temples and statues, not the least of which was the Parthenon. The most celebrated statue of the warrior Athena was that of the Parthenon, the work of Phidias. The Goddess, standing, wore a long chiton; her head was helmeted, her breast covered with the aegis (body plate with head of Medusa), her right hand rested against a spear and in her left hand she held a winged Victory (Nike-goddess of victory).

In addition to her undisputed supreme qualities of wisdom, intelligence and warrior prowess, she was adopted as the patron of the arts and craftspeople of Athens, and her brave swordsmanship made her an inspiration to the military forces. Athena's grace and intelligence and wisdom were underlying qualities to her immense courage and strength.

Athena's functions are many: she is venerated among the great divinities for her qualities of warrior-Goddess, Goddess of the arts of peace and Goddess of prudent intelligence. To Athena the warrior - her oldest manifestation - belong the epithets Promachos ('who fights in the foremost ranks') and Alalcomeneis ('who repulses the enemy'). She is the protectress of towns and the guardian of acropolises. The pacific Athena protects various industries. She is preeminently the Ergane, or working woman, and is the patron of architects and sculptors, as well as of spinners and weavers. The olive tree owed to her its fruit. Her wisdom, which earned her the epithet Pronoia (the Foreseeing), made her the counselor-Goddess (Boulaia) and the Goddess of the Assembly (Agoraia). Athena's emblem is the owl. She is often depicted as well with sword, shield, aegis, serpent, armor, helmet and at times Nike, the goddess of victory.

There are two stories pertaining to Athena which may have earned her the misnomer of being considered a "man's goddess". The stories respectively of Arachne and Medusa (the Gorgon), depict Athena striking both of these women with horrible curses which contribute to their demise. An interesting way to interpreted these stories (and others) is to recognize that archetypally Athena may be reminding us to accept the parts of ourselves which we deem to be our weaknesses and that potentially by eradicating them instead of integrating them we may be contributing to our own demise metaphorically speaking. It could also be relating to our need to support other women in our life and to accept their support, as well as to more fully embrace the divine feminine inside of ourselves.

Rome
Minerva, the Roman virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and the inventor of music, was equated with the Greek Athena. She is the daughter of Jupiter (whose Greek counterpart is Zeus), and in much the same way as Athena, sprang as a adult from her father's head wearing armor and bearing weapons. Minerva is usually depicted wearing a coat of chain mail and a helmet, and carrying a spear. As Minerva Medica she is the patroness of physicians. She is thought to be of Etruscan origin, as the goddess Menrva or Menerva. As her Greek counterpart, Minerva has 2 symbols, the olive tree and the owl.

Celtic
In Celtic lore Athena/Minerva's equivalent is Sulis. Sulis was a goddess of healing who ruled over the remarkable hot spring beside the river Avon near Bath (Aquae Sulis). She was not only a water deity, but her name Sulis is obviously linked with the sun, probably related to the heat of the waters. Thus she represents 2 of the elements, water and fire. Her association with Minerva may have related with the craft of healing. According to mythologists, the shrine of Sulis Minerva at Bath provides a superb example of the hybridization of Roman and Celtic religious beliefs and practices of the times.