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How hesitant the crescent moon sometimes appears, peeking from behind drifting clouds that hide its slender glow. A pale imitation of its fuller, bolder phase, the crescent moon represents new beginnings but may also symbolize hesitation. How many of us mask our radiance, human imitations of the crescent moon? How many of us remain in this phase rather than ascending into our fuller selves? Marta Monahan, author of Strength of Character and Grace : Develop the Courage to Be Brilliant, extols us to release our brilliance. "Each of us is born with the full equipment to be brilliant....Our natural instinct as human beings is to seek brilliance. This instinct is nurtured by conscious commitment, or it is smothered and debased by others and us....Yet brilliance rises to the surface even in the worst of circumstances. A life of brilliance is a life of wholeness. It is to be satisfied with material success and personal happiness but not to stop there. It is to be fulfilled in sharing success -- material, moral, intellectual and spiritual -- with others." As we travel through our lives, much as the moon traverses the sky, we too can light the path for ourselves and others. Radiating our brilliance brings us closer to dreams, to desired achievements and to satisfying success. In Sacred Contracts: Awakening Our Divine Potential, Caroline Myss emphasizes our need to shine -- especially in the face of adversity. "Your divine potential is the fullest expression of your spirit; it is discovering the depth of your capacity to create and to express love, compassion, forgiveness, generosity and wisdom...Never revealing its full measure at once, your potential motivates you to discover the greater purpose and meaning in your life...Like heroes in a mythic journey, we are meant to struggle to make the right choices. Our divine potential calls us to rise above the Self's basic needs for survival in the physical world. We're called to grow beyond the self." Clarissa Pinkola Estes, in Women Who Run With the Wolves : Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype also regales us with visions of our divine potential. "The archetype of the Wild Woman and all that stands behind her is patroness to all painters, writers, sculptors, dancers, thinkers, prayermakers, seekers, finders -- for they are all busy with the work of invention, and that is the instinctive nature's main occupation. As in all art, she resides in the guts, not in the head. She can track and run and summon and repel. She can sense, camouflage and love deeply. She is intuitive, typical and normative. She is utterly essential to women's mental and soul health." The fierce Wild Woman is kin to the Warrior Woman. Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover : Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine, brings our warrior aspect into clearer light. "The Warrior is often a destroyer, but the Positive Warrior destroys only what needs to be destroyed in order for something new and fresh, more alive and more virtuous to appear....When the Warrior is connected to the [queen] energy, something truly splendid emerges." Splendid indeed, as filled with glory as the sliver of the crescent moon, ready to ripen into future fullness: glowing bright in the heavens, lighting the path of many, guiding the stars on their journeys through the universe. Basking in the shimmering moon's luster, we too can contemplate achieving vibrance and brilliance.
By Loretta Kemsley
Loretta Kemsley's Personal Portfolio: Women's Writings
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[ Fiction Moondance Cover Art by Elizabyth Burtis-Lopez Copyright © 1996 - 2002 Moondance: Celebrating Creative Women |
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