April-May Archetype: The Virgin. Coming of Age
Lifecycle Archetype of April-May: The Virgin
Associated Lifecycle Stage: Teen-Young Woman, Post Menarche.
Associated Moon Cycle Phase: Gibbous Moon, Waxing
Associated Season (Sun Cycle): Spring. Perfect balance.
Associated Womb Cycle Phase: Follicular Phase
Associated Phase in Cosmological Cycle: Galaxies and star clusters fully formed and expanding.
Associated Gifts: Coming of Age and Self-Knowing. Self-Choice and Free Will.
The Virgin asks us the question: What does it feel like when we realize the previous months' focus and fully experience our own self-hood? What does it mean to be a virgin, a full and complete person embodied in our gifts and talents and sense of self-knowing?
As we shift from the cool wetness of April into the warming humid fertility of May in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is now more fully expressing itself and growing. The light is still expanding, but it has reached a point where the days are stretched into the evening time. The feminine lifecycle archetype that rules over this time period is the Virgin.
May itself has been devoted to the Virgin Mary by the Catholic church, and for good reason. In May, the plant kingdom is preparing for a time of fertility as pollen is produced by trees and plants.
The Virgin archetype is the teen-young woman who is complete in herself, past the age and stages of menarche, she has acclimated to her cycle and is now progressed into a stage of acceptance as her body is more mature and developed. She has “known” no one but herself, and knows who she is within. She can distinguish between herself and others and knows what is hers and what is other.
The Virgin is a girl who becomes a woman who is on the precipice of sexual transformation but remains intact within. She is not connected sexually to another person, makes her own decisions, and chooses her own destiny. This young woman has crossed the threshold of menarche and come into her own; body and soul.
The Virgin is embodied in her own selfhood, gifts, and talents. Sure of herself and confident in the person she is, she is attractive yet remains in control of her sexual life force and makes her own decisions regarding who she will give herself to when the time is right.
Often when we think of the Virgin, we might imagine a timid and innocent girl, but this could not be further from the truth. The Virgin is rather emboldened and cloaked in choice. She can say yes or no and is empowered by her choice to choose who she will give herself to and who she will say no to, for better or worse.
In the Cosmological cycle, this archetype is synonymous with when star clusters and galaxies have fully formed and the Universe continues to expand.
April Moon: the Maiden
The Virgin as an archetype produces feelings of tension in those around her as others attempt to try to control her. Some in her community may fear her growing sexual curiosity and doubt her ability to make good choices. There can be control issues between herself and others. When we conceptualize the Virgin Mary, we may see a teen become pregnant for whom a whole society can doubt the immaculate nature of her pregnancy and her choice. There is even a feeling of danger that surrounds her. Virgin figures in myth are of course symbols of how society tends to treat young women at this vital stage of development when their sexuality can seemingly work for or against an entire social group and become a fateful event that changes the very structure of society. After all, womb holders have been given the power to birth the next generation, including great leaders and players of fate.
For womb-holders, in our own cycles, as we circle back around to this archetype in our menstrual cycle, just before we become fertile, we may experience the tension imposed on us by society. Is our sexuality good or bad and are we allowed to make our own choices on who we will give ourselves to or not? There can be lifetimes of conditioning handed down to us through our parents and influences from peers, teachers, parents, aunts, and elders. It may even come from a church or religious fundamentalism. It can be helpful to deconstruct around this and find the true meaning of the Virgin: the One who Chooses for Herself. The sooner we step into our own choice, the sooner we can come into wholeness with this archetype.
The Virgin rules over the latest stages of the waxing Gibbous Moon and, for womb keepers, is associated with the end of the follicular phase. During this phase, the womb is still preparing for the coming ovulation as a woman is about to become fertile. We experience expansion in our bodies and system and feel energetic and even outgoing.
The Maiden Mythical Archetypal Journey:
I invite you to sit or lay down in a comfortable space. Check your space for cues of safety by looking around the room. Notice if there is anything you can do to make yourself more comfortable or feel safer. Find an object or image in your space that brings you comfort and connect with it.
Now, enter into The Stillness within your own being. It is important here to drop into a state of total and complete reverence, knowing you are about to embark on a journey into communion with the Virgin, Cosmic Feminine Archetype.
You are standing in the middle of a green grove, surrounded by whispy trees covered in leaves. Light trickles through the branches and leaves, glistening beautiful colors through the openings almost like stained glass. The sky is perfectly blue with billowy clouds, like fluffy, swirly waves that circulate across the troposphere.
In the center of this grove stands a young woman at the tail end of her teenage years. She is cloaked in a veil, but her figure gives away her body's maturity. You step toward her, curious of this cloaked woman. As you step closer to her, she lifts her veil from around her face and pulls it back over her hair. In her, you see galaxies and stars without end and a flash of light crosses your mind as life itself seems to be hidden behind her veil.
In the instant of seeing her face, you know immediately who she is: The Virgin. A transmission fills your sense of knowing. I choose. I am choice. I am free will. I can say yes or no.
Now wiggle your toes, legs, hips, and body up to your arms and hands. Move your head from side to side gently and return fully to your body. What was the felt sense of this experience like?
What did you experience in your body in the form of thought, image, sensation, emotion, and movement as you received the symbols of the journey?
You can journal about your experience or simply ponder it. If nothing comes to your mind, that is just fine too. The images and their revelations may come to you more slowly and over time and seasons, even years.