ARCHETYPE
of
THE COMPANION
and
HER 3 FACES
of
THE COMPANION
and
HER 3 FACES
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At Disseminating moon I am the loyal Companion, who thrives on the power of partnership-- Matron, Matriarch, bosom of mature womanly love. I am the Handmaiden who forgoes personal desires for the duties of loving service. I am the Mate / Wife, claiming title and commitment within, or without, marriage. I am the Sister / Friend, sharing interests, causes, goals in a communal world.
I counsel fairness and cooperation to create harmony in relationships. I celebrate the fruitful prospects of fertile partnerships. Do you recognize the power of working cooperatively, side by side, with others whom you respect and love as equals? I am the source of that power in you. Do you remember dreaming of marriage, as a girl or woman? I hold forth that ideal to those who choose it-- yet, I remind you that marriage is a serious undertaking that goes far beyond the naively romantic wedding-dream. I admonish those who would make of marriage an “ownership” contract, that we have no rights of possession over another person’s being.
My moon-phase represents shared blessings, and it carries a message of balanced give-and-take. I advocate equal rights for all, through generative patterns of daily living that share the rewards of fertile friendship between all people and nations
The Companion leads us into the complex world of personal, familial, communal, and global relationships. She instructs us in matters of mutuality and reciprocity. She presents us with opportunities to experience commitment and shared responsibility.
Faithfully toiling behind the scenes, serving the needs of her people, the Handmaiden is the unsung heroine of the world. Humility and loyalty are her strength and power. The Handmaiden crafts gifts of the heart, made with loving hands, given in gracious service, dedicated to the spirit of health and well-being for all. She works quietly without fanfare, finding her reward in the accomplishment of a task well done. Sadly, she is generally taken for granted by the outside world-- which could not survive without her.
In this painting, she stands serene, yet purposeful, carrying her water jar to a sacred oasis in the dry mesa of her homeland. The azure vault of sky stretches forever above the boundless burnt-sienna badlands, where the Handmaiden carries the water and tends the hearth-fire for a thriving community. She walks a sagebrush-bordered trail with her familiar companion, Cat. Animals can always be found accompanying the Handmaiden on her rounds, lending moral and physical support to the woman at her tasks. She, in turn, gives loving consideration to her loyal pet’s needs.
There is little adventure or drama in the life of a Handmaiden. She is no servant, but a keeper of the traditional ways, a caretaker of her community, painstakingly tending her daily routine and keeping her hearth secure. She is directly descended from the great hearth-keeper goddess of ancient days-- Hestia-- sister and quiet companion to all the Olympians. Another of her fore-mothers is Hagar, handmaid to Sarah, in the biblical tale.
Invocation to the Handmaiden:
Help me love the work I do and do the work I love. Let me
appreciate the beauty and pleasure of simple tasks and shared joys
in daily living. Help me to allow others to serve me, as I enjoy
serving them.
The Mate-Wife establishes, upholds, and champions the honor of family, ethnic, or community heritage. She is the Matriarch who holds the keys to the kingdom in her regal grasp, standing equal to her partner in status and power. Once having stepped over the marriage threshold, a woman is never again innocent-- for she has been inside the sanctum and gleaned its deepest secret: in patriarchy, men gain stature when they can claim a wife.
In the painting, she sits in mindful meditation and holds sacred the memory of her ancestors. She is accompanied by her own equal companion, the cat, who mimics her contemplative gestures as it helps her conjure venerable forebears. She is the matriarch of her family and clan, given stewardship of its traditions and history. She may have children to whom she will bequeath the sacred heritage, but her primary role is as team-mate to her husband. The Mate-Wife is a mature woman, seasoned by experience, clear in her motives, unmoved by sentimental longings, and holding sovereignty of her own life.
Perhaps she is a modern incarnation of the Greek goddess, Hera, prototypical matriarch whose story foreshadows lives of famous women in our own times, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Rose Kennedy, and Jacqueline Bouvoire Kennedy who, each in her own way, stoically withstood a partner’s betrayals in order to uphold her own values of heritage, status, or honor. Such women have always been the unacknowledged power behind the success and fame of their high-ranking men.
Invocation to the Mate:
Help me honor my feminine heritage and claim equal power in my
relationships. Let me build sovereignty of my life, without
dominating others. Help me to believe in my capacity to bear
fruitful ambitions and produce a bountiful progeny.
The Sister-Friend is the part of us who knows best how to listen. She helps us learn from our mistakes. As Sister-Friends enter each other’s lives, they bring a new vision, a new hope for the future, a new sense of strength through womanly companionship.
In the painting, there are seven sisters-- four humans and three dolphins-- all sharing a magical moment of play under the watchful gaze of grandmother moon. In their enchanted bower, they stroke and groom each other in silent understanding of their ancient and primal bond. The dolphins come as teachers of the elemental power of female relations. The trees are without leaf, perhaps representing the barren aspect of female companionship, which suggests a different kind of creativity in which the progeny can be new ideas, visions, dreams of prosperity and healing for the world.
Perhaps this gathering of sisters are bringing down the energy of the Plieades-- the legendary constellation known as “the seven sisters” who are said to have transformed themselves in solidarity as protest against the crude and cruel treatment of women by the patriarchy.
Sister-Friends may meet in private, perhaps in secret, but surely always in confidentiality-- keeping each other’s counsel, sharing each other’s joys and sorrows with the compassionate wisdom and intimate wit that is born only out of female bonding. It is for this reason that patriarchal institutions perpetually strive to silence women’s movements and turn us against each other.
Invocation to the Sister-Friend:
Help me recognize and meet my sisters all over the earth. Let us
play together to heal each other. Let us bond together to re-create
an inclusive and respectful worldwide community of peace.