Core concept behind Goddess in Flames

Goddess in Flames is a work of fiction: a heroic romance that is inspired by true events. Taking place at the height of religious reform during the early modern period of Europe, the story follows a band of wood-dwelling pagans to explore the forgotten truths in their practices. The beautiful wonders as found in their mythology—a poetic paragon of our living breathing earth. The power of change demonstrated by the turn of the seasons, and the magic of ritual. A great journey between worlds awaits, where fairies and Goddesses are palpable beings. Where love knows no bounds. Where both man and woman are free to explore their power, and their passions as one. It is a story that will detail the grim tactics used by the Inquisition as they carry out a task to suppress a coming age of defiance. Their attention to record keeping, censorship, and techniques in extraction by way of torture will pave the way for a modern bureaucracy written in blood, drawn from the innocent. This is the tale of The Witch and how she came to be as we think we know her, and who she truly was.   

The Sun

Most prolong the inevitable for as long as they possibly can. Most live out their lives convinced that it will never end. But then, when the day does indeed come to them, as it has a thousand times, and a thousand times more it will happen again, they ask themselves the same question, it never fails..., is this truly the end of this ill-gotten faery tale. For they have lived and lost, but never really lived at all, measuring their lives with things they bought, and blindly passing by every beautiful thing that they saw. I've watched them do it time and time, over and over again. My children that have forgotten me, though love them still I do, despite such disregard I receive from them. And as I lay dying, I too join them in marvel, staring up at the woman who put me here. Writhing in agony for three days, I gaze at her glory, and accept my fate without fear. Since the day of my birth, my love was for her. I awoke, full Spring, pursuing my lover. I'll never surrender but only to her call. For it is to her that my heart will always belong. From the morning I rise, until the day I Fall. Everything I am, I will sacrifice and so she will claim it all. My body goes cold as I prepare for death. For the Goddess I seek, her light is nearly spent. I am soon born again, as I am Horus, and she is Set, and we are no more enemies, as we are star crossed lovers, to whom we owe each other an eternal debt. Light for darkness is our loss and gain, through joy and pain. But until the end of time, it is a game I will forever enjoy playing. Till today is the past, until an eternal shadow is cast, when everything is nothing, only then can we be together at last. She is the moon and stars, and I am the light of day. She is the woman of my dreams, that I will never claim. But still I will always love her, even as my light fades away, and the snow covers the face of the Earth, to which are the ashes of my withered remains.


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Exploring the forgotten

Spent all day working on my new novel today. I am pretty excited about it thus far. The more I progress, the more I realize the breadth of the world I am trying to recreate in this piece, and it is quite the adventure. Writing about the 16th century is like exploring a whole other world, that is bound by the strangest rules. Imagine a time where simply speaking your mind could land you in a dungeon where you are to starve or freeze to death, or caught in a malign torture device designed to twist, tear, or break an individual until they are forced to confess to crimes that which they could never possibly commit. While at the same time, it is a world of beautiful forgotten natural wonders. It really is a ying and yang type of universe, but so very fascinating to me. My goal in this piece is to guide my readers through the trials and tribulations of the renaissance period, and show them the beauty of a culture that has been misconstrued for so many years by ancient political propaganda. The word Witch as we understand it today is such a vague term compared to its true meaning. From the Anglo-Saxon word Wic, which means to bend or shape, it has taken on many different forms over the centuries. Like the many shape shifters in Irish mythology, it's meaning has evolved and transformed in our minds, and now I believe we are finally returning to that magical time when it can return to its true form. Nature dweller, or one who understands the wisdom of the earth, that was its true origin. Today however, as a result of the horrendous witchcraze period, we misunderstand the word as a symbol of evil, instead of enlightenment. The same charges that were leveled against accused witches, and heritics, were used to justify the enslavement of the Africans (who were brought to the New World, supposedly to christianize them), as well as the enslavement of the Irish who worked side by side with the Africans in The early days of America. The same immoral justifications would eventually lead to the destruction of other cultures, and the wholesale genocide of Native Americans. The patriarchal powers of the world have been training their subservients to view the world as a dead machine, to which men have a god-given right to pillage and destroy for many centuries. It is that same mentality that would lead into the witchcraze and slavery. We went from, "if one is different from the majority, then we should have power over them" to "if someone or something is different, then I should fear it" when we should be thinking, "we are all apart of this living earth, and so we should take care of each other, for we are all family." This piece is about a culture that once understood that concept.
I have learned a lot be studying the work of Starhawk. If anybody is interested in learning more about these topics, I strongly recommend you checkout some of her books at your local Library.

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Location:Witch, witchcraze, pagan, book, writing, novel, Irish, Celtic, Starhawk