The Old Ones have gathered
Round me, holding my hands
And sheltering my broken heart,
Supporting my body and soul
As I am stripped of everything
I’ve ever known, everything that
Gives me meaning and heretofore
Has defined me as me
As I navigate the Death Mysteries,
Erishkigal’s meat hook and the
Promise of new tomorrows,
New life and disintegration of
What no longer serves me,
I wonder…
Who is the Me that will move forward?
Who is the Me that will fade away?
How will I know the difference and
Will I be able to discern what to burn,
What to seed for new growth and
What to release to the winds of change?
Can I, like Inanna, release everything
Walking naked into the new now?
It has been a long, deep descent into the
Cave of all time – the Cave of Before,
Now and a Future still very much unknown
I have learned much, released much, crying
Tears upon tears upon tears and still I know
There is more to come
I don’t want to question every choice, every
Decision I’ve ever made and, yet, Death
Calls us to do that, calls us to be the Serpent
Who sheds her skin clearing the energies
Of the past so that She may move forward
Creating… truly creating… new life
No longer a fallow entity, but a well-tended
And nourished/nurtured landscape of still
Unknowable, but effing amazing potential
If only… IF ONLY… we acknowledge the
Powerful lessons Grandmother Hecate
Has taught us in this season of Death and her
Great mysteries, in this season of the primal below
As the Sun’s light grows and as we approach
That point on the Great Wheel known as Imbolc,
I look to the old stories and rituals realizing
This new now is a both/and place – a portal –
Where we stand with one foot still in the darkness
and the Death Mysteries as we simultaneously
fly toward the Light of a new day and new life
Light. Dark. Death. Life.
Truly they are two sides of the same thing
Intertwined so that we may find our true
Standing in any given moment
I stand with my heart in the both/and of
These places of stillness and contemplation,
Transformation and the tiniest movement
Of seeds of new growth, these places
Of new gifts just waiting to be revealed
It is truly a portal as I contemplate walking
Through to the next light, the next dark,
The teachings of the both/and, living in the
Life of one who moves between the realms
As Her Soul is called to a new life
As She is called to exist in
The Magical, Mystical Immortal Realm
Where one may/can walk through
All the worlds simultaneously knowing,
This is not only their work in the world,
But their gift to the world
AND
The gift to their Soul.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Arlene Bailey