Revisioning Medusa: A Myth of Creative Release.

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Shadow Work by Karen Mullen Smith.
Shadow Work by Karen Mullen Smith.

Astro-Mythic Musing on Friday’s New Moon at 14 Cancer 28’, 23.57 BST.

Waldemath Lilith is at 9 Gemini 45’ conjunct Jupiter at 9 Gemini 17′

Uranus 25 Taurus 56’conjunct fixed star Algol at 26 Taurus 30’

South Node 10 Libra 59′ conjunct BML True, 11 Libra 12′

What if Perseus’ slaying of the Medusa is not so much an act of killing the feminine as a releasing of the feminine from the binds of the unconscious?

What if instead of a tale about the proverbial solar hero (Perseus), slaying the dragon (the feminine), the story is one of redemption and liberation through an inner marriage with the masculine?

On the new moon which happens at three minutes to midnight on Friday 5th July (UK), the demon star Algol, a fixed star in the Perseus constellation, is closely conjunct Uranus, planet of radical change.

In star mythology Algol is the blinking eye of the Gorgon in the centre of Medusa’s head, held triumphantly in the hand of Perseus. In the myth, Medusa’s slain head is carried by Perseus across the land and is given to Pallas Athena. Each time a droplet of blood falls upon the land, plants begin to shoot up. Athena-the one responsible for the curse of Medusa in the first place-attaches the emblem of the Gorgon’s head to her breastplate when entering battle as a talisman of power, protection, and magic. Asclepius, God of medicine is gifted two vials of Medusa’s blood from Athena, one that kills and one that cures.

Once the dragon has been slain, that is, once unconscious material that has held us in the grip of the Death-Mother, or the primordial soup, has been released and made conscious, it becomes an ally, a power, and a protection. Basically, we’ve walked through the valley of death and survived.

Medusa is both monster and transformer, keeper of ancient feminine power, an oracle, and a channel through which primordial wisdom pulses once freed through creativity and the active masculine principle.

This New Moon it is the redemptive and liberating aspects of the Medusa myth speaking through Uranus that feels most alive for me.

A time for change. A time to accept that the gift and the curse are one in the same; the curse becomes a gift when energy bound in a repeated pattern is released through a new channel, breaking through the frozen floor of consciousness… but not without caution- Medusa will turn us to stone if we meet her ill equipped.

What makes Perseus different form the other would-be-heroes’ is that he has invoked the protection and gifts of the gods for his quest.

Slaying Medusa’s head releases the winged horse Pegasus, and the giant Chrysaor with his golden sword.

And when Perseus cut off her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so called because he was born near the springs of Ocean; and that other, because he held a golden blade in his hands.

Hesiod, Theogony

Perseus and Chrysaor are the Poet and warrior divine; Chrysaor’s blade reaches far beyond the material realm while Pegasus is the creator of Hippocrene, a fountain on mount Helicon which was sacred to the muses and said to inspire poetic inspiration. The Poet, the Artist, the Shaman, and the Sacred Warriors enter territories that Angels fear to tread and mere mortals are fools, quacks, or fraudster for trying… at least without the right spirit to do so. A crack in the fabric of the veil between the seen and unseen worlds allows for holy or sacred transmission.

Creativity is itself a strong channel however invoking the gods through ritual invites a divine quality… like Perseus in his pursuit of Medusa, protection and tools offered by the gods enables a powerful and transformative release of energy.

Pegasus and Chysaor are born from the abyss, the same abyss that we humans can rise out of to claim our creative life. If our gift is not claimed i.e., if we remain in a state of frozen libido, the power can implode becoming a poison, and the curse- read intergenerational trauma or any other kind of debilitating trauma-remains.

We can view the things that have happened to us as a curse or else harness the energy and transform it into the gift and our unique way of seeing the world. As is often quoted from the Gospel of Thomas-

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

Referring to Algol as the demon star may be a patriarchal over-lay- the dark feminine as evil- however it is also a cautionary message about the destructive elements of creative energy.

This New Moon, Uranus gives the jolt of electricity needed to push through our apathy and release previously stagnated or frozen libido. Uranus may be the extra voltage needed to make the switch from curse to gift or from poison to medicine.

The new moon could be a good time to connect with the unconscious mind through dreams, writing, art, dance, shamanic-type practices, or ritual, to explore what wants or needs to be expressed and released from the underworld.

The new Moon chart shows a couple of other indications that it is a good time to do some shadow work. Dark Moon Lilith is in an almost exact conjunction with Jupiter highlighting the places where we have felt most exiled, scapegoated or persecuted, and the inherent feelings and emotions attached to those experiences. Asteroid Lilith is conjunct the lunar south node which may offer an opening into a remembrance of the self before the initial wound, or else a reconnection with wisdom previously known in how to free the soul from heavy karmic burdens.

* At the time of writing this blog, Medusa was conjunct my Ascendant in Leo.

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