Greetings friends.
So today's archetype we'll explore is the archetype of the maiden.
So this is of our youthful young feminine selves.
Within the maiden archetype you'll find qualities of hopefulness,
Of excitement for the new and a joy in the possibility of life that perhaps we have felt as young children.
So many goddesses are portrayed in young maiden form.
A lot of the huntress goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology such as Artemis and Diana are often seen running through the woods with their bows and arrows unhindered by concerns and unhindered by male counterparts or husbands to tell them what to do.
But the goddess I'll focus on as we look at the maiden aspect is the goddess Brigid.
So Brigid is the Celtic goddess of fire and forge,
Her name means bright one.
And she can go by many names and she has indeed transcended time and religion.
You may know Saint Brigid or Bridey,
Brigantia where the name Britain came from.
So she's such a popular deity she's been around for so long that she has so many personifications it's kind of hard to keep track sometimes.
But Brigid's maiden form is sometimes called Bridey,
Again where we get the word bride from.
But Bridey is represented as a young girl and she appears in our Wheel of the Year at Imbulk which is February 1st or 2nd and this is not exactly the start of spring but it's the first stirring so we'll see the first green shoots,
We'll see the first snow drops of the year.
So just a little sparkle,
A little nod to the fact that life is returning after the Yule season.
So Bridey,
Bridey the maiden,
She represents hopefulness,
Innocence and joy in nature,
In the elements.
And certainly when we're thinking about how archetypes mirror elements of ourselves,
The maiden is one that we can lose track of sometimes and we might call this connecting to our inner child or simply reconnecting to joy we have felt perhaps when we were younger and unhindered by responsibilities.
So meditations around the maiden aspect usually involved reflecting on the things that bring us joy and the hopes and dreams we may have had in the past.
So with that in mind we'll prepare for our meditation as always take as long as you need to find a comfortable place,
A restful place to lay down or be seated,
Make sure you are warm and comfortable.
Allow your body to begin to relax as the breath is slow and calm.
This slow breath just helping guide the body into restfulness,
Guide the body into calm and prepare to just let the physical body rest as we take our journey through the mind's eye.
Feeling restful and feeling calm in our minds eye we'll imagine ourselves walking through a beautiful spring meadow the sun is warm on our skin and we feel the softness of the grass beneath our feet allow all of your senses to absorb your environment you may feel the warmth of the sunshine upon your skin or the kiss of a gentle breeze you may smell grass or the gentle scent of flowers on the air you may hear leaves and branches rustling in the breeze or the sound of birdsong in the distance allow yourself to take in this beautiful spring meadow this beautiful space of nature and see the potential in this space around you the shoots and plants are just starting to spring back to life in spring season you know that come summer this field will be a riot of color you know that come summer this field will be a riot of color and as you continue to walk over this meadow space you see before you despite it being only springtime there is a sea of wild flowers in front of you every single color shape and size you can imagine these might be real flowers that mean something to you roses daffodils violets or they might be flowers that you have never seen before amazing colors even sparkling or shining and sparkling and you may see them in the spring season and you may feel the warmth of the air these are amazing colors even sparkling or shining in the light and as you gaze over these beautiful flowers you notice that each one represents something to you and it may be that the color and shape of the flower means something to you or that it's a flower that represents something to you and it may be that the color and shape of the flower means something to you or it might be that there's physical words floating on or around the flowers and each and every one of these beautiful flowers represents a hope or a dream that you have somewhere within your heart or your consciousness and these hopes and dreams can be as big and as simple as to be happy to feel safe to be content or as detailed as wishing to train to be a vet or to travel to a certain country or to dye your hair a certain color or to be a doctor or a doctor or to dye your hair a certain color any dream or goal that you have ever held exists within this wildflower meadow and as you allow these ideas and dreams to swirl around your mind with excitement and hopefulness you begin to create a beautiful bouquet of flowers you pick the flowers that bring you most joy or most excitement or simply because they're the ones that speak to you right now so take your time create your wildflower dream bouquet and when your beautiful bouquet is ready when you're happy with it just take a moment to drink in the colors drink in the hope and excitement that this bouquet represents for you and feel free to channel the maiden goddesses bridey Artemis and Diana and all maiden aspects of any goddess that speaks to you the maidens represent freedom hope and looking at life without the cynicism that sometimes we gather as we grow older maybe you even imagine your inner child speaking to you as you look upon these flowers what would she say how excited would she be by this beautiful collection of dreams you And when the time comes,
When you know it's time to leave this beautiful meadow,
You take a final look at your beautiful bouquet,
Taking in the beauty,
The hope and the dreams within.
And then you place the bouquet back onto the earth,
Back onto the grass of the meadow,
And all at once each flower,
Each stem reconnects back to the earth.
Once again,
The flowers live and they are here now so that they can continue to grow.
Each one of your dreams,
Each one of your hopes is still here,
Still growing,
Still tended by your love and light.
So you feel hopeful and full of excitement as you leave this beautiful meadow knowing that the flowers are here for you always.
So my goddesses,
As the time comes for us to bring our awareness back to our body,
Our breath and the world,
Feel free to take your time to gently stretch and move,
Maybe wiggle the fingers and toes and whenever you feel ready to do so,
We'll gently open the eyes and bring ourselves back to the room.
Welcome back.
So take your time if you just want to sit with these ideas of your hopes and dreams and you can just absorb this energy and let the mind wander if you wish.
If you do feel ready to do so,
To start our little assignment here,
What I want you to do is visualise that bouquet once more and I want you to record that bouquet in some way.
So you may just make one long list of words.
You may paint what the bouquet looks like.
You may make a collage of some of the ideas and dreams represented within that bouquet.
You can create anything you wish in order to remind yourself of this bouquet that you created for yourself.
So it can look however you like,
However you wish,
But when it is done,
I would love you to put it up somewhere where you can see it,
Maybe near a place where you work or where you meditate,
Just so that that little hope,
That little sparkle carried within the maiden's energy can remind you that we all have hopes,
We all have dreams.
Some we will realise,
Some maybe not.
But even having these dreams and goals can bring us joy and excitement,
Just to remind ourselves how many possibilities there are in the world.
And we may remember when we were young when everything and anything seemed possible.
I want you to just remind yourself of that as often as you can.
So thank you for joining me today,
My beautiful goddesses.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
