N – Nature, Narrative and New Moon: Lilith

I’ve yet to see the new moon, maybe later tonight if the skies are clear.

What is it about a new moon? I think of many things, the dark invisible side of the moon, slowly coming to its fullness. Following its natural cycles of ebb and flow, light and dark. From the nigredo to the albedo – not only in the moon cycle but for all men and women, who go through the night of the nigredo (blackness – the dark night of the soul) and who seek wholeness within and peace without.

Is it time to set a new narrative for Lilith and free her from the negative connotations attributed to her? Yes, she does own many of those nasty qualities e.g. overly aggressive, secretiveness, deceit, addictions, flightiness, as do we all, men and women. We have blind spots to those qualities in ourselves, seeing them more readily in others.

How much are we conditioned by the Thou shalt Not commands? By our parents, schools, colleges, religious organisations? What of the natural needs of Lilith, her need to experiment more in the Garden instead of living in a sort of narcissistic langour? There was no room for negotiation or discussion. Her needs, especially those of her bodily and sensual ones, were distrusted and disregarded and just as worse, repressed. Anything that is repressed into the deepest layers of one’s psyche is in danger of erupting at a moment’s notice, like a volcano, spreading poisonous lava and gases in its path. Is it any wonder that an insensitive, thoughtless remark, made by that man or woman, touches a deep nerve within us and we explode in fury, our response seemingly inappropriate to the event?  Also, we are so numbed by political events and their nefarious agendas and the cruelty of our world that we are in danger of turning to stone –

If we can sit awhile with those painful feelings, even if we feel momentarily like wringing our child’s neck for breaking yet another glass, for having a temper tantrum, or we fantasise about setting the breaks to fail on the car of person who stole our partner and wishing ill upon the partner too, these are real feelings and these impulses are a natural expression of the life force. They do not have to be acted upon. It requires a conscious suffering, much like Lilith in the depths of the Red Sea, for a newer more constructive re-orientation.

Mother Nature – we spent a few hours yesterday afternoon at the Plettenberg Bay Nature Reserve a little way away. We were thrilled to see lion, cheetah, buffalo, giraffe, elephants, and much more – below is a brief video clip of those magnificent matriarchs – Nature is never narrow, always enriching …

May the new moon tonight herald new growth and nurturing.

Thank you for reading!

38 Comments on April AtoZ N Nature Narrative and New Moon Lilith

  1. ‘World Peace begins with Inner Peace.’ That is so true, Susan. I will definitely be borrowing this line.

  2. I had a quick glimpse of the not-so-new moon last night before clouds closed in. I could see the pale outline of the whole circle. Exquisite with Venus further toward the horizon.

    My Lilith life has become more ritualistic than it was–and more numbed, too. My hidden and less civilized feminine energies had an outlet in my marriage which included everything from anger to sexuality to willingness to expose personal wounds, but on my own, I face these worlds in dreams. Not in dreams of the enraged feminine or enraged anything, but in animal appearances. It’s ten years since my husband’s death and that’s one of the hardest parts. What do I do with my wild uncivilized self?

    The elephant video is exquisite. How I love these creatures and fear for them. I want to see the hippos, too. Best I can do is show you a wild turkey strolling through my fields in this highly unusual April cold and snow.

    • I saw the not so new moon only this evening for the first time when we went out. She’s growing .. I would have loved to have seen her when she was new new ..

      That’s an amazing question you ask Elaine – what do I do with my wild uncivilised self? The loss of Vic your container for all your expressions of your self is a hard one to bear – we have to bare ourselves even further when this happens.

      I’ll put up that hippo video probably under the W post – son Mike did what had to be done and has put it in my drafts.

      Thank you Elaine for coming by and sharing your thoughts and feelings with us.

  4. I think it’s the “Thou shall nots” that contribute to most of the anger and anxiety I’m the world. If we could all just follow our bliss!

    • Even from when we were children! No, not that, no not that .. No got entrenched! More YES! Thanks Pam for coming by 🙂

  5. Thank you for bringing an entire herd of elephants to my kitchen Susan. Those magnificent creatures have made my day, nay, my week! LOVE the video.
    Thank you too for shining your torch light on “We have blind spots to those qualities in ourselves, seeing them more readily in others.”
    This post resonates with me.
    And last of all, thank you for delivering this truth on your post today: Nature is never narrow..Indeed. It’s Mother Nature’s abundance that soothes us always, without question, complaints or judgement.
    hugs. xx
    O is for Overheard at Old Harry Rocks

    • Hello Arti, delighted at your response about the elephants, I’m smiling as I read your comment! As well as smiling about your response about Nature soothing us – it connects us to the elemental things in life! Hugs to you too!

  6. Wow susan I was smiling watching those lovely elephants: ) this post was so enlightening to me… cultural conditioning does not allow us to be who we are and we end up living up to the expectations of our traditions, cultures and some times even religion that can bind us,not really allowing us to explore and experience our authentic and true expressions of who we are… it has taken years for me to understand that the need to acknowledge the dark side of selves and the blind spots…. the line that struck me was that”if we can sit awhile with those painful feelings……. for a newer more constructive reorientation:)

    • Thank you Genevive for your lovely comment. It’s a fine line to tread between our outer worlds, traditions, cultural history and be our true selves within those ‘containers’. We can do our best within those restraints, though it is difficult to say the least! At the same time there is much that is very valuable and comforting about our cultures and traditions ..

    • Thank you Seema for coming by! I hope you enjoy your sightings of the moon, in whatever phase she is in!

      I’m running behind in everything – I look forward to checking out your posts over the weekend. We leave tomorrow morning for our return home ..

  8. Dear Susan, I’m with Deborah, my namesake, yes it’s time to rewrite Lilith’s story! And let us start here at the splendid “The garden of Eden” website! Do you know what I love best about visiting you? Reading through the abundance of your replies and others’ wonderful comments, they’re always so enlightening! Like Jeanie, I was struck by the truth of your last words, for the simple joy I experience whilst walking in woodlands opens me up in a way no other circumstance does. It’s like being unlocked and released at the same time, so I fully enter my entire being and gain hidden lightness, if that makes any sense. In soul, Deborah.

    • Hi Deborah, have JUST got back from a major hike on the Robberg peninsula …this was too was very wonderful in many respects. I’ll possibly use something of this hike in my O post.

      What a wonderful way of putting your experience of walking through the woodlands! Unlocked and released at the same time! And gaining hidden lightness! And how it opens you up … I agree re others’ comments – they are enlightening and many times are like lightning strikes that get to the heart of the matter – and soul. In soul to you and thank you! Susan

  9. there is a sense of relief when the new moon comes around , whatever the month has been about however sticky the dark has become I think there is a sense of renewal a new beginning an opportunity to line up to chart our course in another direction if we choose. thank you susan , very wise giving me much contemplation. lilith breaks her shackles when we free her from the prison of our ego minds- and so, as much as we cast another in to bondage there we go too.

    and wow to live on a land with such magnificence proud beings.

    • Thanks Sandra for your lovely comment. It’s powerful what you say in your last sentence – ‘…and so, as much as we cast another into bondage there we go too’. This is so true. We need to take that to heart, more than we do. That too is a choice …

  10. What a beautiful blog post. I found comfort in your third paragraph where you talk about the cruelty of humankind and the possibility of becoming numb to it all and turning to stone. There are events in the world that make me feel hopeless. But yes, sitting with the feelings instead of denying them is an effective process. Thank you for this.

    • Thank you Kalpanaa for coming by. It’s awful how events make us feel powerless and hopeless. Those are real feelings.. Perhaps even out of that feeling of powerlessness, something new may emerge. But better that feeling that denying them.

  11. I couldn’t help but think of the official ‘narrative’ many of us have been conditioned to accept. Also of ‘neoliberalism’ and the long shadow it casts, how, to challenge either is to be cast out and demonized, as Lilith once was (and is).

    I think this says something about our cultural conditioning and desire to be seen as ‘nice’ (pleasant and positive), and of our unconscious fear of being labeled and abandoned (socially and/or economically) by members of our tribes if we begin to question or say No.

    .

    • Thanks LB – There’s a risk of being outcast and demonised if we challenge the official narrative. Are we prepared to take the risk. Right now there’s a debate about an open vote or a secret one in one of our provinces about the premier of that province. If it’s an open vote and known who voted against him, there’s a risk of being assassinated. The mafia rules in that province … So, some are forced into silence or secrecy. Whistle blowers are in danger of their lives ..

  12. It is interesting for me as recently I read a post about not being judgmental according to the Dalai Lama. Yet even though I attempt to be considerate of people sometimes my anger flares up or I judge the goings on in the world. Nature often calms me down… watching the seagulls fly over my head, or listening to the teenage seagulls complain to their parents. I wonder what stresses these participants in nature deal with, as did Lilith or any of us for that matter? I wonder how Lilith finally came to accept her situation? Your posts do give me a lot to think about. Thanks.

    • It’s good that we are outraged at events or people in the world Gwynn! It’s important not to become overly detached. I remember a friend of mine who was so detached and wise because of her Buddhist practice, but she became very depressed. Luckily she became engaged with the world – How fortunate to be able to experience Nature! Any clue as to what the teenagers are squawking about? Thank you for coming by!

    • Hi Gwynn ~ I’m more or less echoing what Susan said, but it might also help to consider Thich Nhat Hanh’s description of “Engaged Buddhism”. In an interview with John Malkin on the website, “Lion’s Roar”, the beloved Buddhist monk and peace activist put it very simply:

      “Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on-not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you.

      When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war. So we were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism.”

  13. I do believe it’s time to welcome a new narrative for Lilith – it’s time to claim this.

    I love how you expressed “nature is never narrow, always enriching.” Your exploration of Lilith has been both expansive and enriching, and it is my great hope we’re able to move behind the chaffing bondage of the old paradigm insistent on keeping our viewpoint narrowed.

    Loved, loved, loved seeing the elephants – always a sight that makes my heart happy.

    • So pleased you enjoyed the elephants Deborah! And that you’re hopeful of Lilith and women being freed from
      Patriarchal shackles.

  14. Hi Susan … I may be in a lovely country with loads of opportunities – sadly being with someone who is constantly negative – a challenge to say the least. My blog has over the years been so enlightening for me – for my own learning, but through getting out and meeting others … and learning more … Nature teaches much … and those elephants – a good group … lovely – cheers Hilary

    • I hope the elephants brightened your day Hilary. Can you show the other the video? May that person be a little less negative? I know you were always pretty active, travelling around the UK and writing … if you want to come over here for 10 days or so for a bit of sunshine, you’d be very welcome! Susan. I hope to get video up of hippo wallowing in the pool tomorrow…

      • Thanks so much Susan … I’ll be back to see the hippo – and I’ve replied via email, otherwise … appreciate your care and concern. H…

  16. Yes, let’s free Lilith from the narrative enslaving her spirit for so long … too long. And in the process, let’s free ourselves from the constraints dictated us by society, politics, phrases like … a woman’s place … We can acknowledge those negative feelings, then let them go. Those nasty qualities forced upon Lilith and womanhood as a whole can easily be revered to positive. Interpretation is everything.
    Thank you, Susan, for such moving post.

    • We have to free ourselves first I guess Silvia (uncondition ourselves) and almost by example let others know that we are proud to BE ourselves. What politics, society thinks, feels, dictates need not restrict us in any way. We’re not going to break any law unless we are trangressed unfavourably. We can work together, in mutual respect. Thank you for coming by.

  17. Nature sits with difficult feelings like when the cheetah is hungry and has to stalk its prey with patience. We can learn so much about our own narrative by watching theirs…

    • I remember you Susan going out with a bunch of people early one morning on a game drive in search of wild dogs and how the whole day was spent doing this. Waiting, watching, observing. And how we can do this as well …thank you for coming by 🙂

  18. Oh, Susan. Thanks for including your elephant video. And I love your closing line: “Nature is never narrow, always enriching.” It’s so true. The extreme pleasure and powerful awareness of being alive I feel when I’m in unspoiled nature—a shaded forest, a moonlit lake at night, or sailing on rolling seas—always amazes me. It’s clear to me that the soul craves and finds nurturance and comfort in intimacy with wild nature: tangled vegetation, creatures of all sorts, mountains, seas, glaciers, and, of course, our own unconscious selves. This is reason enough to connect with the Lilith in us.

    Your marvelous observations never fail to touch me. Jeanie

    • I wanted to also put up a delightful scene of hippos wallowing and grunting in the water. My son Mike helped me with this one. I’ll see if can ask him to help me again with the hippos. I also feel such a connection when out in the wild, being in the wilderness, the connection to the deeper forces of nature with my own inner wilderness. We plan to do a rather massive mountain hike tomorrow on the Robberg. I may put up some photos on my O post .. Thank you for your kind words Jeanie!

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