[Bruna]

VI. ANALYSIS OF THE CREATION MYTH

A. The Creation Myth which is located at the beginning of the Chapter
Two of "The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk, expresses the attitude of
wonder, to the world which is Divine and to the Divine which is the
World.

1. In the beginning, the Goddess is the All, virgin, complete within
Herself.

a. The female nature of the ground is stressed because the process
of creation is a birth process.

(1) The world is born, not made, and definately not commanded
into existence.

2. The Goddess sees Her reflection in the curved mirror of space.

a. Water is the original mirror on earth.

(1) The image conveyed is similar to that of the Moon floating
over the dark sea, watching Her reflection in the waves.

b. There is yet another aspect of the mirror.

(1) A mirror is a reversed image. It is the same but opposite,
of reverse polarity.

(a) The image in the mirror is the embodiment of the
universal paradox.

(b) All things are one yet each is separate, individual and
unique.

3. The Goddess falls in love with Herself, drawing forth Her own
emanations which take on a life of its own.

a. Love of self for self is the creative force of the universe.

(1) Desire is the primal energy that motivates and that energy
is erotic.

(a) It has been expressed as the attraction of lover to the
beloved, moon to plant, and electron to proton.

(2) Blind Eros becomes Amor

(a) The love that is personal, directed towards an individual
rather than the universal sexless charity of the Christian
Agape or indescriminaate sexual desire.

(b) The Goddess' reflection takes on its own Being and is
given a Name.

(c) Love is not only an energizing force but an
individualizing force as well. It dissolves separation and yet
creates individuality. Again, it is the universal paradox.

4. The sense of wonder, of joy and delight in the natural world is
the essence of the Craft.

a. The world is not seen as a flawed creation from which we must
escape, nor is it in need of salvation or redemption.

b. However it may appear from day to day by the nature of its
deepest being, the world fills us with wonder.

5. Divine ecstasy becomes the fountain of creation and creation is
seen as an orgasmic process.

a. Ecstasy is at the heart of the Craft.

(1) During ritual we turn the paradox inside out, and become the
Goddess, sharing in the primal throbbing joy of union.

b. The Craft is a shamanistic religion, and the spiritual value
placed on ecstasy is a high one.

(1) It is seen as the source of union, healing, creative
inspiration, and communion with the Divine.

(a) Ecstasy brings about harmony.

6. By its very nature matter sings.

a. The song is carried forth on waves that become spheres.

(1) The waves are the waves of orgasm, light waves, ocean waves,
pulsating electrons, waves of sound.

(a) The waves form spheres as swirling gases in space
coalesce and form stars.

b. It is a basic insight of the Craft any energy, whether
physical, psychic or emotional, moves in waves, in cycles that are
themselves spirals.

7. The Goddess swells with love and gives birth to a rain of bright
spirits.

a. It is a rain that awakens consciousness in the world as
moisture awakens green growth on earth.

(1) The rain is the fructifying menstrual blood, the Moon's
blood that nourishes life.

(a) It is also the bursting waters that herald birth.

(b) And birth is the ecstatic giving forth of life.

8. The motion or vibration becomes so great that Miria is swept
away.

a. As She moves further and further from the point of union She
becomes more polarized and more differentiated, until She become
mostly male.

(1) The Goddess has projected Herself.

(a) Her projected Self becomes the Other, Her Opposite, who
eternally yearns for reunion.

(2) The energy field of the cosmos becomes polarized.

(a) It becomes a conductor of forces exerted in opposite
directions.