Mother Rot and 13 Moons
an invitation to deepen
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She Arrives in October
She is feared by some and hated by others. In general, she is misunderstood. Tellingly, though, she is embraced and loved by the ones she affects the most. She creeps in at the very tail end of summer but before the killing frosts.
She is Mother Rot. She brings with her decay, mold spores, fungus, and toadstools. In her wake, she leaves moldering piles of fallen leaves, decomposing overripe fruit, slime, and composting earth. Salamanders, worms, pill bugs, and maggots are her workers. Her younger sisters Flora, Pomona, and Ceres are hailed as providers of bounty and beauty. They are alluring and desirable, fertile and fecund. On the other hand, she is resisted and revolting to most in the human world.
However, the trees and all of nature welcome her as a beloved grandmother whose presence is sweet and wisdom is desirable. She arrives in October as the year is thinning and the dying time is near. It is precisely now when nature needs her the most. She is a death doula, a midwife for the soul of nature.
She arrives gently and unobtrusively each year and begins her work of ripening, softening, dissolving, and decomposing. She guides all things back into the ground, back into the belly of Mother Earth herself. She is gentle, kind, and wise even when bringing death.
Her wisdom is such that the magic of her work is that she brings death in a way that will provide the matrix from which new life will emerge. While not filled with the promise held within the seed as Persephone is when she returns in spring, Mother Rot holds the promise of transformation through death. The trees know this. Nature knows this, so they do not fear her as we do. Yet, her kindly invitation of a softened death extends to us all.
So, at this time of year it is wise to walk in the woods and give thanks for her work. Notice her toadstools, her piles of moldering leaves, the decaying over-ripe fruit that has fallen to the ground, and see past the dying to the transformation she wields
Hecate in Disguise
For many years, I’ve pondered Mother Rot's identity, and I’ve finally realized that she is a form of Hecate. With her close connection to the seasonal cycle of birth, life, and death and her appearance just after Persephone returns to the underworld, how could she not be?
In the triad we know as Persephone, Demeter, and Hecate, a personified form of Maiden, Mother, and Crone, Hecate the Crone is undoubtedly the most mysterious and transpersonal. She guards the crossroads of life and guides souls through transitions and transformations, especially the final transition of mystery and fear we call death. We could peel the layers back further, and we would come to understand that she is also a shadow aspect of the High Priestess (an identity claimed by both Persephone and Demeter through the Eleusinian mysteries), one who cautions of the dangers of delving too far into the underworld.
As Mother Rot, she presents herself as a nature spirit, entirely in harmony with the oldest form of Persephone, a vegetative spirit, and as a chthonic deity as Queen of the Underworld and Hade’s bride.
So here we find Hecate ministering her psychopomp’s duties to the natural world in the guise of Mother Rot. Hecate as the psychopomp and the High Priestess’ shadow may be intimidating to work with, but Hecate as Mother Rots is far more inviting, gentle, and grandmotherly. I think that is because we are familiar with and accepting of the natural cycle of the year and the seasons. We expect trees and plants to die back each autumn and many animals to hibernate. This yearly transformation and the appearance of Mother Rot gently remind us that death is a part of life, even for us.
Evening is a predator; it's hands clasped behind it's back - bentearthward, tip-toe-y: this-away and that-away, foot-lightly, evasive; allstealth-y - all stalk-y and hand upon hand:
it descends.
But, still these Rot'tober, prolapsed rain clouds and the unrest-y inhabitants of the Ever-light, (who commute around the sun), haunt me and the hurry-home suburbs; (unkempt beyond credibility), with brambles everywhere and the sanguine bespatter of their berries through the veins and arteries, through the protoplasm of the vertebrate and invertebrate earth.
Light is encoded within the common patterns, the mechanisms of frequency; the penumbral and imaginal landscape.Within the crevices, the gaping sockets of inverted eyes, the dryheave of the sorrow of separation; of the abandoned and forsaken.Trickery plays coquetry with my peripheral eye.
All stealth-y.
All stalk-y.
The All seeing.
The Un-see.
~ Kate, @thegreeswoodslaugh on Instagram
13 Moons of Samhain
The Moon calls to many of us, and I'm no exception. I love the Moon for her mystery, wisdom, and the profound comfort she has brought me over the years.
If you're experiencing a longing to connect with the Moon more deeply and discover your relationship with the powerful imagery and archetypal energy of our loveliest celestial light, I have an invitation for you.
In 2019, I began offering a yearly inner journey and creative experience called 13 Moons of Samhain. A creative community of moon lovers gathers for thirteen guided inner journeys that introduce you to thirteen aspects of the Moon and invitations to create art on MoonCircles cards like the ones below.
13 Moons of Samhain has received updates over the years, and this year, I'm including new videos and a live Zoom gathering where I'll share with you how to use the MoonCircles Cards you created for personal divination, reflection, and the gathering of inner wisdom.
The Hedge Mystic community has grown nearly 800% since beginning in November 2022. That means most of you have never worked with me or participated in one of my online offerings.
I'd love to introduce you to the creative, intuitive inner journey work I've found so powerful, illuminating, and satisfying. As a Hedge Mystic subscriber (free or paid), you can easily and affordably experience this profound work during the two weeks of 13 Moons of Samhain at a special discounted price.
I'm opening registration for 13 Moons of Samhain today. The Welcome Module contains lots of information and instructional videos, which are especially useful if you're new to intuitive collage and MoonCircles Cards.
Use this LINK to go directly to the Hedge Mystic enrollment page for 13 Moons of Samhain.
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I love this depiction of the softening decay of Mother Rot! Surely she's an inspiration for someone's fairytale/ folktale creation! I'm also curious about the three phases of life or faces of the feminine. Although it's an old concept it's always felt incomplete. In my personal belief system, there are four life aspects/ phases... Maiden, Mother, Sovereign/Queen and then Crone. In her sovereign phase, women have birthed and are in the final stages of bringing up their children/creations and their focus and energy shifts into becomming masters of their domain. A time when they serve their extended families and communities with vigour and hard earned wisdom, unencumbered by childrearing responsibilities and care for social or cultural restrictions. When grey streaks are forming in our hair, before we fully embody the white and grey of the Crone. Crone is the softening, the decline into old age, when vigour seeps away, a time when all elders should be allowed/allow themselves to rest and enjoy the twilight years, where we are sought out for our wisdom and honoured by our communities. As I transition from the mother aspect, I am moving into the space of the sovereign, with many more years of ruling as Queen before I embody all that the Crone symbolises. Do others feel the same?
🙏Thank you for all the details on Mother Rot & Her association with Hecate. Great read!