December 22, 1999 marked a true cosmic millennial event! The full moon - at its closest point to the earth - and the setting sun were to be opposite each other in the evening sky. This occurs once every thousand Earth years. The sun and moon balance each other. We need both. The sun radiates heat, light and energy; the moon provides mystery, romance and the assurance that we are not alone. Two days earlier I felt compelled to swim in the ocean for an hour before sunset. The waves were gentle, the water was clear and cold (like refrigerator water), and the sky’s palette of colors was mesmerizing. After some time I was joined by several dolphins! They flipped and sprayed, drifting closer and closer - I was held spellbound. The shore was mostly deserted and the luminous moon hovered over the horizon. Here I was witnessing the setting sun, the rising moon, and the playing dolphins.

The next day, as I gathered my things to leave for the evening, I watched the setting sun from my back bedroom balcony, wondering when the moon would rise. As I opened my front door, an enormously brilliant moon greeted me! Apparently, my house is situated in line with the sun’s setting and the moon’s rising.

On December 22nd - the Cosmic Millennium - I planned to observe the setting sun and rising full moon from a vantage point on a bluff overlooking the ocean in Torrey Pines Park. Although I had invited several friends, I was accompanied by only the little critters, who already lived there. The sun slowly set amidst a splendid display of color. It got colder and darker, but there was no moon. I put on all the layers of clothing I had brought with me and walked up and down the path to keep warm. So... like... WHERE’S THE MOON? I came out here more for the experience of it all, than to photograph such an event. There is no way I could photograph opposite ends of the sky. Yet I wanted to be there to experience standing in the balance between the sun and the moon, the masculine and the feminine, the light and the dark. Now it was only dark.

Maybe I got all excited about nothing and the moon was someplace else. I was almost ready to leave and look for it later, but everyone I knew would be asking me about it. How could I tell them I became impatient and tired while waiting for the New Millennium? So I just stopped and fixed my eyes on a point along the vast distant horizon. I almost lost my footing when I suddenly noticed two wisps of thin clouds just above my focus point. The nearby sky grew increasingly lighter and the clouds glowed a delicate silvery-white. It wasn’t a stadium or a shopping mall - it really was the moon! The first noticeable arc was brilliantly radiant. I held my breath for as long as possible, then yelled loudly - probably scaring away any of the nearby critters who had also been watching. I photographed the rising moon, bracketing with various exposure settings, certain to get at least one fine frame of film. I stood in silence for a while, high above the north bound traffic, wondering how many other people were able to witness this cosmic millennial dance of the sun, the earth and the moon.

I slowly wandered back down the path in the moonlight, singing an old Ukrainian song about the moon. In the song the moon kept its nightly vigil over the sleeping children and their dreams. Their dreams of political freedom for the Ukraine would come true as they grew up and helped their motherland. As a young girl I always felt the overwhelming burden of the oppressive sorrow of a captive people and the hopelessness to do anything about it. Several years ago the Ukraine had won political freedom, although many struggles and difficulties still continue, some of the sorrowful burden has been lifted. There is renewed hope in dreams.

Some very important insights were illustrated for me that evening as I waited and waited for the moon to rise. In very ancient times the Feminine Goddess was in power and people lived in matrifocal societies. Eventually the male god worshiping tribes violently subdued these cultures and people have been dominated and controlled within patriarchal systems ever since. Most people want peace on our planet. Yet as long as women are abused, raped and used as part of every battlefield - we will not have peace. Women’s bodies are sacred as the earth is sacred. As women heal themselves, the earth heals also. We need balance and partnership between the feminine and the masculine within ourselves and amongst each other. Women do not need to 'get power' to control and compete, we are already innately powerful because we are women. As women, we naturally have the power to create, communicate and cooperate - if we are healthy. It is our responsibility to not fear our Feminine Goddess power, but to acknowledge it within ourselves and to encourage it within our Goddess-sisters. We need to raise the feminine energy on the planet to be in harmonious balance with the masculine energy that has been in dominance for what feels like forever. This is no small task. I only know that it is our responsibility and that it will bring us a lot of joy!

My lifelong personal mission has essentially been to empower women. I have been on a very long healing journey to feel relatively secure within myself. It has been a lot of work, since most of my life I have felt weak and fearful. My vision has been to create Goddess Temple Events™ for women of all ages to come and feel proud to be a woman and leave empowered to live a more playfully serene and dynamically productive life! Dance and other creative arts from various cultures give expression to the multi-faceted beings we are. This is a fun, clean, safe and healthy environment - without any alcohol, drugs or smoking. Since our first joyful, magical gathering on January 6, 2000 - the first New Moon of the New Millenium - each of the women and young girls present at the Goddess Temple Events™ has seen the love, acceptance and caring reflected in the eyes of all present. We do not idolize any 'super stars', but we experience how brilliantly magnificent each person truly is. We are each a Goddess! Undoubtedly, we will all be transformed. When we leave, we will inevitably transform all others.

And so we have been transforming for over three years. Now it is time to create a tangible network among women, for we embody the positive solutions needed for our planet at this time. Hence the creation of this website, which we can all enjoy!

Hugs & Blessings, Larysa

Original: 12/24/99 Revised: 04/30/03

© 2003 by Larysa Tanya Shmorhay
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