Ardea Herodotus

Perhaps you’ve noticed our new logo for this blog. It is the heron. Why this particular bird? The heron has been a representation of the Goddess for a long time. Below is the heron’s story as told by my friend Kay Pannell.

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Ardea

The name Ardea Herodotus is the Linnaean classification for the heron. The Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote in the 8th Century BC. His history of the fall of Troy included this:

After the fall of Troy, Prince Aeneas traveled to the area around Rome. One of the lands he visited was the land of the Rutuli, whose capitol was Ardea and whose ruler was Turnus. Turnus had been betrothed to Livinia, daughter of a neighboring king.

Unfortunately, the king decided to give her to Aeneas instead. (You’d think after Aeneas’s brother Paris took Helen of Troy away from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, he’d have wised up about taking a woman away from a man with an army—but no). A war ensued between Aeneas’s fleet and Turnus’s army. During the hostilities, the city of Ardea was burned. Herodotus reported that from the ashes of the city a white bird arose that no one had seen before. It was the heron, and for ever afterward, the heron was called Ardea. When Carl Linnaeus began his classification in the 17th Century, he called the heron, Ardea Herodotus, for the story.

The word, Ardea, also translates as “earth goddess” in Greek.

 

Written by Kay Pannell

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Thanks, Kay.

This story is here to stay. I hope you enjoyed it. Now here’s my post for this week.

 

How to Give Back to the Gods

How do I give back to the Gods? It’s something I think about daily. When I was younger I had no idea. But then I encountered this quote:

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.   – Leo Buscaglia

This hits the mark I think. We may not thing we have much to give back but all of us has something, our talent—the gifts the Gods have given us.

When we use our unique gifts to help others, the Gods smile upon us. For this is why we were given the gifts. To make each other’s lives more enjoyable.

Using your talents doesn’t mean you have to make it a business. You don’t need to produce products or live on a demanding schedule to serve others.

Maybe you like to cook or bake. Prepare some food and take it to a friend who is sick. Or take it to an elderly woman who lives alone and on a fixed income. This will mean a lot to someone who needs something but has no other way to get it. (Be careful to ask about dietary needs and allergies to guard the person’s health.)

If you don’t cook, do you play music? Go to a children’s hospital and play for the kids. You don’t need to book gigs and have tons of followers. You’ll still make an important difference in the hospital.

Can’t think of some particular gift to share? Donate some of your time and do volunteer work for some charity. For example, I donated time at The Peninsula Humane Society. I helped with the small animals.

Now, I write this blog. This came as a surprise because of my dyslexia. But I was led to writing by the Gods themselves. It’s hard to argue with that.

But you don’t need the Gods’ intervention to tell you what to share with others. Try something. You won’t know what is a helpful activity until you experiment a little.

Here are some possibilities:

Your local animal shelters

Retirement home/hospice

Homeless shelters

Soup kitchens for the homeless

Local Hospitals

The World Wildlife Fund

Green Peace

Habitat for Humanity

Consider looking up local organizations that need volunteers. Just donating a few hours a week can make a big difference.

Express compassion and love as you invoke your talents. This pleases the Gods.

By pleasing the Gods we honor them.

You can make a difference for the Gods.

How do you please the Gods with your talents? Let me know in the comments section. Thank you.

Blessed Be,

Moonwater SilverClaw

P.S.

Don’t forget about the workshop, sign up now.

Buy the workbook Beyond the Law of Attraction to Real Magick now and give me the receipt number and get $10 off your ticket to the workshop! You can sign up for the workshop below. See you soon.