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Hello and blessed full moon! The first full moon of the year. We are also looking forward to Imbolc next Thursday, and that’s always a fun sabbat, I’ve gotta get my Brigid’s cross out now that I’m thinking about it. We’ve got the lunar new year coming up in a couple more weeks as well, so still plenty of fresh new energy to work with for the next little while.

But Imbolc is for next week, and this week, I want to talk about a deity. It’s been a minute since I’ve done any kind of deep-ish dive on a deity but it feels right. And this week I want to talk about the goddess Selene. We’ve mentioned her a few times on the podcast, most notably in the Moon Magick episode, but let’s dig in a little deeper.

Let’s talk about Selene, her mythos, her magick, her correspondences, and then we will talk a bit about how we can commune with her and even maybe work with her. If we feel like we want to.

According to ancient Greek mythology, Selene is the goddess and personification of the Moon. She is traditionally the daughter of the Greek Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. Her function in a practical sense is to drive her moon chariot across the heavens. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal shepherd prince Endymion. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as moon and lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself.

Surviving descriptions of Selene’s physical appearance and character, apart from those which would apply to the moon itself, are few and far between. There is no mention of Selene as a goddess in either the Iliad or the Odyssey, while her only mention in Hesiod’s Theogony is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Eos. She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three Homeric Hymns, which gives the following description:

And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.

My favorite story of Selene tells of her love for a handsome shepherd prince called Endymion. She was so obsessed with him and his beauty that she begged Zeus to make him immortal. Well Zeus came up with a compromise and caused Endymion to fall into an eternal sleep so that he wouldn’t age or die. Selene visited him every night when her chariot was in the sky to watch him sleep.

So that’s kind of a dry history lesson about Ms. Selene, but what about her magical issues and correspondences? How can we work with Selene in our own practices, and why would we even want to? Well, as for why, there’s the simple fact that Selene is for all intents and purposes, the moon herself. And as witches who use the phases of the moon in our craft and to support our spellwork and to mark the passage of time, it makes sense that we might want to pay tribute to her, and to get to know her in a more personal way.

But even beyond that, Selene is powerful especially in matters of dream work, enchantment, nightmares, youth and beauty, and cycles. Which is a big one, in my opinion. I feel like that’s probably one of the more profound ways we can work with her. When we are beginning a new cycle in our lives, when we are trying to end a destructive cycle and begin a cycle of healing, when we are stuck in the midst of a cycle and can’t seem to find our way forward, these are huge, significant times. And so it makes sense to ask Selene for help.

As the moon goddess, as the moon herself, she is constantly moving through cycles. Beginnings, middles, endings, she is never ever stagnant. She never gets so comfortable in a particular phase that she doesn’t continue to evolve. That isn’t her way. And so we can ask her to support our efforts when we are trying to make big, important moves.

Now, I spoke about working with deities in a very general way back in the Deities episode, but to briefly recap, before we just start invoking any deity, it is a good idea to learn as much as we can about them. Try to understand the basic history, the more prominent myths and traditions associated with them, learn what correspondences they may have, so that when we do approach them, we will be able to present a suitable offering for them. And once we’ve done whatever working we had in mind with this deity, we can’t forget to thank them afterward. Once we’ve got a deity’s attention, we want to be sure we remain on good terms.

Working with deities takes time and planning, especially the first time you work with them. This isn’t something to try the day before you start your spell. This could take weeks of planning. Save this kind of work for your larger spells. There are deities that I recognize on my altar with offerings, statues, and so on, but I’m not necessarily working with them. I just have a particular affinity for them and so I keep them on the altar. I won’t bother them with small time issues that come up. But if I’ve got something big brewing, you best believe I’m going to petition them for help.

But you know, that’s a lot easier to do, or at least a little more comfortable, when we are already on familiar terms. I’ve already paid my respects, I’ve already demonstrated that I’m interested in who they are and what they got going on. But this is not to say that you have to like, keep a bunch of deities on retainer for when you need help. You can approach a deity for the first time when you need their help. Just come correct.

Once we’ve done our homework and learned all we can, then we can create a space for her on our altar for the duration of the spell, and even for some time afterwards. Keep flowers, herbs, crystals, candles, runes, or incense that are significant to this deity. Even pictures or a small statuette of them can go a long way toward gaining their favor. Meditate with them for some time. Develop a bit of a relationship at least.

In the case of Selene, moonstone and selenite are going to be well received, and so is quartz and also silver. So if you’ve got a small silver dish that could function as a vessel for offerings, that would work well. As for plants, herbs, and flowers to keep on the altar, rowan, moonwort, datura, night blooming jasmine, casablanca lily, or really any white flowers that invoke the moon.

I do suggest that if you are curious about working with a particular entity, any entity, a god or goddess, a spirit, an ancestor, an elemental, whatever, that you take your time. You may find it beneficial to work with one particular deity for months at a time. I personally have found that I tend to have seasons in my life where I will feel called to work with one deity. Not necessarily for spells or anything, but just to learn about them, and learn from them, sort of an apprenticeship, I suppose. And it seems as though certain deities will come to me at different times or phases in my life, and beyond any magic that we may or may not do together, it’s the knowledge and the wisdom that comes from those relationships that I take with me.

So. Once that relationship is established and you’ve done a bit of work with them and you feel that connection, it will be easier going forward to work with them again. It won’t require quite so much effort on the front end, but you will still want to approach them with respect and they will still want those tributes. Gods and goddesses love to be remembered, they love to be honored, and they don’t deserve disrespect. And many of them flat out won’t tolerate it. So we just gotta keep all that in mind.

Selene is in my experience, a very gentle goddess. A very soothing presence. There’s a wisdom and a gravity to her that feels very centering. So if that’s an energy that you feel you might benefit from, consider Selene. And that’s all for me today. Please enjoy the full moon in Leo energy and all the excitement of Imbolc next week, and we will talk again soon.

My name is Eli Ro, and this is the Middle Aged Witch podcast.

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