A little bit of Wicca slips in there sometimes...

So, I'm typically a bit of an eclectic...Spiritually speaking, I mean. I'm not Wiccan, and not generally pantheon-oriented, but there are a couple of Goddesses and Gods that I do hold near and dear. ;)

This time of year, I tend to connect with Hestia (Roman: Vesta). In Greek Mythos, Hestia was the Goddess and protector of the hearth. She was a homebody, and was happy to hang back on Mt. Olympus while the other original twelve (including Aphrodite) went off on wild and crazy adventures. Hestia took an oath that she would remain a virgin (along with Artemis and Athena), and that she would attain a future of her choosing, rather than the choosing of others.

I must say, I connect with Hestia for a number of reasons. Clearly the virgin thing isn't one of them. Ahem. The first is the fact that I, too, am an unapologetic homebody. Sounds strange for a Gemini, probably, but as I was discussing with a friend the other night, my moon sign is Pisces. Often the moon is a greater indicator of one's inner consciousness than their sun. Our Sun sign (mine being Gemini) is what we show people, and likely what Freud would refer to as "Ego", while the moon sign is our inner working, psychological and emotional motivations, etc., or, with relation to Freud's theories, the "Id". I'll show you my bubbly, friendly, funny, silly Gemini, but when I'm alone, I'm the quiet, reserved, overly sensitive, intuitive, dreamy and painfully disorganized Pisces.

I'm digressing. My point is that I seem to be tapping into a deeper part of my personality...and perhaps that's good. Maybe that makes me somewhat self-aware. Or maybe it makes me a big weirdo with a penchant for wingnut theories. Anyway.

Back to Hestia. I feel most confident when I am providing, feeding, warming, caring, and welcoming. Understandably, I am certain that I do not yet possess the warmth or wisdom necessary for one to carry this out, but this is much of what I enjoy doing. I love having people in my home. Caring for them. Feeding them. Making them feel welcome.

That said, I also love Hestia's calm, grounded, peaceful self-assuredness, which I KNOW that I do not yet possess, but will strive to do so. In my naivete, I am knee-jerk. I am unwise (in the best way possible, of course! ;) ), and I am insecure. Hestia was at peace with her lot...Hestia was ambitious enough to go after what she REALLY wanted, breaking the mold of what was technically expected of her, and chose a life that was unconventional. She was comfortable with that, and did not compare her life to that of others in order to be driven by shame or self-consciousness. She walked forward, only toward her own happiness, regardless of the myriad of expectations that would have been placed upon her. She listened inside, rather than out.

In my youthful(ish) abandon, I strive for her warm, nurturing groundedness.

The other Goddess that I will admit to having something of an affinity for is Artemis (Roman: Diana). Artemis was also one of the three Virgins (seriously, what is that about?!), but she was the Goddess of the hunt, protector of animals, and protector of women, particularly women in childbirth. Anyone who knows anything about my previous career endeavours may find that a little uncanny.

Artemis was scrappy. She was maternal, in spite of never having born children herself. She also, however, had little patience for nonsense, as she took the heinousness of cruelty very seriously, and had little sympathy for the perpetrators.

I love that she fought. She was Hestia's antithesis in a way. Hestia was peaceful and non-confrontational, for the most part, and Artemis was a "take no prisoners" kind of gal. She fought for those who could not fight for themselves. I dig it.

They both intrigue me, for different reasons. Perhaps my admiration for them, like my astrological signifiers, denotes two different but equally important parts of my personality.

Or maybe I'm just a big weirdo with a penchant for wingnut theories. Who knows? :P