Goddess Magic + the Underground: The Gemini New Moon
The Gemini new moon arrives this Thursday, May 25th! Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of Truth & communication. And as any empathic cosmic babe will tell you: what feels true doesn’t always look like the truth. Appearances are deceiving.
So, this lunar month’s Patron Goddess, Persephone, is going to show you her patent, teeth-on-edge way of surrendering to what feels true.
If you’ve been hanging back from reeeally going deep with moon magic, Persephone is the perfect Goddess to initiate you into it! The Gemini new moon is also a great vibe for taking a creative, intellectual approach to Goddess Magic--ideal for hyper-analytical cosmic babes who struggle melting into the woo-woo, so the magic can happen.
Let’s dig in!
PERSEPHONE: THE DARK FANTASY
“Call it inevitable, call it the doomed fate of love. Call it karmic, fucked up, the dance of the wolves. Live it, love it, call it life. Call it Led Zeppelin. Yeah, yeah. Really, I don’t really, really don’t fucking care.”
Persephone has Lolita eyes. Her irises are cosmic-blue, like tiny Neptunes glowing in her pale face, & lined in midnight-black. She wears fishnet stockings, big clunky shoes, & oversized men’s t-shirts--only in black. Her Tumblr page is an homage to heartbreak & every social media bio is filled with MCR or Lacuna Coil lyrics. She wears her bleached-white hair parted into pigtails & cotton-candy pink nail polish on her fingers. She could be 13 or 23 years old. She looks as if she’s simultaneously blossoming & fading away.
Persephone feels with her mind. She’s suspicious of her own instincts & bends perception to suit her thinking. She’s an intellectual without much focus; airy without taking anything lightheartedly. She’s secretly terrified of her ability to rationalize her feelings into any direction she wants them to go.
Persephone is also intensely psychic. Although she can’t get a reading on her true feelings, Persephone internalizes everyone else’s emotions around her. She’s overwhelmed with how much darkness people lock away within themselves.
Her family is hella dysfunctional. Persephone’s is the kind of family where the males openly project their mommy issues onto the women, who are expected to make nagging remarks about it, but ultimately laugh it off. A woman’s indignation will only be mocked, until she’s finally convinced she’s just constantly PMSing & oversensitive. Practically begging to be belittled.
In fact, that’s why her mother fawns over her. She treats her like a woman-sized child princess. She also tells everyone, from baristas to coworkers, “My daughter is my best friend! We’re like Gilmore Girls!”
That smudged boundary between mother-daughter disorients Persephone. She’s suffering a touch of arrested development: the inability to mature beyond a specific point in childhood or adolescence. Womanhood, whatever that means, is crashing down around her, but she feels as if she’s still waiting to feel innocent & new. Everything has always been complicated: love tinged with seething resentment. She watches her life unfold as if it’s someone else’s weird, sick dream: a John Waters movie overdramatizing the absurdity while downplaying the really twisted pieces of the plot.
Appearances are so deceiving.
Persephone is retrospective, moody, & compulsive. One of her favorite teenage pastimes is shoplifting nail polish from the drugstore, then crying Wet ‘n Wild mascara-tinted tears into her pillow that night from shame & guilt.
“I saw this girl dancing, and I moved closer to her because I liked the way she looked, haughty and sexy but not in a slutty way, and when I got closer to her, I realized she was me and I was looking at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like the kind of girl I’d always wanted to befriend.”
Insecurity. Self-doubt. Alternately lachrymose & aloof. Persephone broadcasts herself as misunderstood & needy for commiseration, making her easy prey for people looking for a scapegoat. Predatory men can taste Persephone in the wind. They spot her out of the corner of their eye even in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.
Already attracted to the darkness, she interprets any man who wears his shadow for all the world to see--like a poorly administered prison tattoo--as lucky: a sign of a person who chooses to dwell in the True World.
Unsurprisingly, Persephone is bulimic. It doesn’t have anything to do with dress sizes: making herself vomit is the single activity that gives her satisfaction. She wants to purge the darkness. She’s disconnected from her own feelings, but can feel everyone else’s toxic emotions writhing around her insides.
Her ultimate fantasy is of swimming in a dark, cold lake full of black eels, just because then the outside would finally match the way she feels inside.
That’s why Persephone is drawn to the Underworld. The story always goes that she was snatched up while picking wildflowers.
The truth about P.? She was in the field digging around for the entrance of Hell.
For weeks, she’d been waking up in the middle of the night gagging. She felt like a white canvas: her mother blasting her with faux mirth while secretly binging on Little Debbie snacks in the pantry. The boys in class bullied her for having something they didn’t, though if you polled any of the student body, no one would be able to articulate what it was exactly.
Persephone knew: it’s only a matter of time before they were strong enough to pry that unknown thing away from her.
If she couldn’t even name it, would she miss it once it was gone? Should she just let them have it? Or should she create the right circumstances--the perfect situation in which to succumb?
“I’ve read Flowers in the Attic and The Other Side of Midnight and Go Ask Alice and I don’t want to read any more books where the girl dies in the end. ”
Out in that flower field, Persephone was looking for an initiation into the True World as it felt like to her.
Her biggest hope for the world: that people realize innocence isn’t a virtue. That it’s merely a happenstance, like red hair or rainy weather.
“They should have called me a harlot and a slut, a poseur and a tease, a nubile and naive, a slattern and a sleaze, a vandalist and anarchist, a dirty dilettante with a fatal and fervent disease. ”
Persephone corresponds with The Magician of the Major Arcana: a card about self-individuation & learning to mediate between conscious & unconscious realities. If we are co-creating our realities with the Divine, then Persephone latched onto the aspect of the Divine that is Chaotic & Luciferian. Think: fallen angels thirsty for self-control & resentful of constraints. Persephone invents her own meaning to life, one that places pain & victimization as central to it all.
All disorder eventually finds its center.
For Persephone, the conscious reality seemed like just a dream--separate from her shadow-world, where she felt trapped & lost. When she learns to sort & integrate the experience (through shadow-work & therapy & perhaps a long hike over the Pacific Crest Trail), she’ll evolve into a new archetype.
For now, Persephone defines herself in relation to her personal Villain: the predator whose darkness she was seduced by, which sucked her down deeper than she ever intended to fall, until she forgot what was up & what was down.
Eventually, Persephone is rescued by her mother, who has to stand up against the Patriarchy in her own way in order to do it.
PERSEPHONE AS A PATRON GODDESS
“That girl in the backseat of the beater, I wonder if she’s bored d restless, stuck in this small town, hating the slow, stoned laughter and the same rock song on the radio. I hope she caught a glimpse of me through the steam. Even if she only saw my tear widen and my legs kick off the ground, she might think I know where I’m going. She might think I’ve found a way. ”
Persephone is most famous for being the Queen of the Underworld. She symbolizes the archetypal Survivor, demonstrating triumph over oppression & subjugation as the Other.
In her mythology, Persephone is defined by how she contrasts the 2 other major players: her devoted, vindictive mother Demeter & Hades, the Underworld God who’s swept Persephone into his shadow realm. No one tells her own story from Persephone's point of view.
Magic is about actively creating your own world.
Persephone is the Patron Goddess of Surrender & Survival. She favors the black sheep of the family. Sufferers of disconnection. The secret-keeper for adults in her life who take advantage of her subservience to them.
As a Patron Goddess, Persephone is for the cosmic babe who needs a very conceptual entry point into practicing magic. This is the type of cosmic babe who’s intrigued by Sacred Feminine mysticism & suspects some kind of satisfaction lies beyond a magic ritual, but doesn’t know how to start. What happens when you start pulling threads on a twisted, already threadbare illusion?
What will be left when it’s unraveled?
If you’re interested in seeking Persephone’s patronage, bear in mind that Persephone can only take you so far. Even if you define yourself as the family's black sheep right now, you won't be for long. You are actively creating your world.
For continually evolving cosmic babes, you will eventually move onto another Patron who meshes with the themes of your journey into the Conscious Feminine. What Persephone can help you with now is your transition from seeing the world as something inflicted upon you--the way Persephone believes it is, in my characterization.
GEMINI NEW MOON RITUAL
Gemini is ruled by Mercury: the planet of Truth & communication, so this week’s new moon ritual should be all about resetting the message you’re broadcasting out to the world. What are you actually saying about yourself--through your appearance, activities, the people you hang with? What events, people, & circumstances seem to keep circulating into your life,
Gemini is an air sign, so make your ritual space bright & sparkling. Hang wind chimes around the room & open the windows. Burn a jasmine-scented candle. Wear light, airy fabrics, like chiffon. Drape yourself in a kimono & glitzy fake diamond bracelets. Wear a flower crown & spin synth-y jams, like Freeze Pop.
Place The Magician card on your altar, surrounded by Moldavite, Fire Opal, & Topaz. Decorate the altar with flowers & pomegranates, in honor of Persephone. When you’re ready to dip the paper where you’ve written your magical intention, fill the chalice with pomegranate juice (like Pom) or sparkling water.
Your intention for this cycle should be about aligning how you think, feel, & move through the world with your Truth. When preparing for the ritual, build a circle on the floor of wildflowers & stones, wide enough for you to sit comfortably in with your journal & a pen. You can choose to just meditate in the circle, or use the time to craft your magical intention.
When crafting your intention, answer the Q: If I’m a love letter to the universe, what do I say? What’s written on me? And how does the universe seem to be responding?
The key insight for this ritual: If you don’t like how the universe is responding, what should you change about how you express your core message?
Also ask yourself: What’s the Big Idea behind what I do? What’s the Big Idea behind who I want to be in the world?
When you can answer, write the intention on a piece of paper. (This is what you’ll dip in the chalice at the end of the ritual.)
If you invoke Persephone to oversee your ritual, offer her totems symbolizing the girl you were: a friendship bracelet from the girl who kissed you at summer camp & you never saw again; a Tinker Bell-themed diary filled with obsessive scribbling about your middle school crush; a tube of lip gloss you stole from Walgreens, but never used out of guilt.
Remember, Persephone chose to initiate herself into the Underworld, because she believed the True World was made of darkness. Your ritual should initiate you into your own version of the True World--which has it’s own vibe & flavor. Gemini isn’t about playing in the dark, but about finding clarity & expressing ourselves in alignment with that clarity.
If you find yourself really gravitating towards the darkness, know that Persephone allies well with the volcano Goddess Pele: the babe on a mission to purge the darkness before it can smother her. Together, these Goddesses can help you get clarity on what’s actually in your shadow, then take action to sort it. You want to present yourself to the world in your full & glowing Truth--uncomplicated by past wounds & drama. Visit this link to find more posts I’ve written about dealing with shadow-drama, so you can work on finding clarity.
A Gemini new moon ritual is actually a great occasion to invite your bestie to do magic with you. While in the ritual, you can create an alliance for keeping each other on-point with your messaging. You can help each other craft an alter ego.
During the Gemini season, find opportunities to clarify & refine your message. Stay focused. Go on a media diet, maybe cutting out an hour of screentime a day. Replace the time with an activity that makes the message more real & clear for you. That could mean spending the hour meditating, or organizing your schedule, or reaching out to people who might be able to help you practice living in better alignment with that message.
This is also the season to act as the superconnector! Call friends & family to tell them something true about the way they’ve affected you. This conversation should parlay what you’ve decided is the message you’ll be working on for the next 6 months, by the time of the Gemini full moon.
For instance, tell your mother that you want join up with a local literacy program, because her reading to you every night shaped who you are as a person. Donate a few bucks to the American Library Association in her name. You’re connecting with her & bringing that connection to a wider cause. Super-connection.
And all relating to your own core message.
In 2 weeks, when the full moon comes, do a Goddess ritual for self-love. Self-love is the antidote to shadow-hoarding. If you want to begin the good work of fully accepting who you are & begin integrating your darkness, start with magic that makes you feel good. This post shares my favorite Goddess Magic for beauty, love, & devotion: rituals for feeling sweet, bright, & luxe. I recommend any of them & because this is the Gemini new moon, invite your bestie along for a little Goddess Magical evening!
If you want a little inspirational reading, check out D. LaPorte’s new book: White Hot Truth: Clarity For Keeping It Real On Your Spiritual Path From One Seeker To Another. Here’s my review of it. You’ll find links to where you can buy it, plus where to access to her book club community. I think a Truth-seekers club is absolutely perfect for Gemini season!
O, btw: KIMMY SCHMIDT IS BACK! Probably my fav Netflix series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is about a woman who was held hostage in an underground bunker by an insane preacher for 15 years. (Hmm.)
When the FBI finally rescues her, Kimmy ascends out of the ground smiling: “It’s all here… everything is still here!” After spending half her life underground, Kimmy discovers that the apocalypse never happened... and she actually gets to live her life now.
So, the show depicts this Victim-turned-Survivor who goes to NYC & becomes a whirlwind of optimism & positive influence on a cast of sophisticated-yet-down-&-out characters uncharmed by her outdated 90s references.
If you spent any time around me in 2015, you knew I couldn’t shut up about the Goddess-tropes in Kimmy Schmidt. I think the show shows what happens to us as women when the Triple Goddess is perverted by Patriarchy: The Virgin Goddess is kidnapped & raped by a man with a Messiah-complex. The Mother Goddess (Jaqueline, played by Jane Krakowski) devolves into an emotionally codependent gold-digger treated like a used Kleenex by her husband. And the Crone Goddess (Lillian, played by… ) wages a pointless battle against progress & the gentrification of her poverty-struck neighborhood. (A kind of gentrification that would only improve the lives of everyone in the hood.)
If you’re down with these themes of surrender, survival, & self-clarification: go Netflix you some Kimmy. (And, seriously, I would actually love to hear your observations about any Goddess-tropes you spot! Email or Tweet me!)
A few thoughts to wrap up.
Persephone is a mild, but crucial Goddess in my personal pantheon. Like all the Goddesses I feature in this column, I took a lot of creative license & embellished her in such a way that I think you would find relatable. I hope that whether you are, were, or know someone who is a Persephone, you recognize the signs of someone crying out for authenticity.
As Goddess Girls, our job is to be as real & vulnerable as we can be. We have to let ourselves feel our own darkness, while allowing others to process their’s, too.
Magic is not a positive-vibes only zone. There’s hella shadow to process, especially in a world that still--for the most part--refuses to admit this hologram of human busy-ness casts a huge shadow. Young cosmic babes feel it especially. And the only way to lighten it up is to start showing what it looks like when you take responsibility for living your own Truth…
...Not because you’re a Feminist or your mother’s daughter, but because you actually know what message you’re here to send.
As always, please email or Tweet me your thoughts, feelings, & comments!
Merry magicking!
All quotes from The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey. Photos via Pinterest. Help me credit the artists here.