Just some wisdom I came across today. Enjoy, be inspired, and know that all is as it should be.
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The hero put Medusa's head down for a moment,
remembering not to scratch it on sharp rocks.
There was a small soft patch of seaweed and of fern,
and Medusa having been a daughter of the sea
was welcomed by the plants there as a sister.
And her power transformed them: each stem,
each leaf, each tendril hardened into stone.
Sea nymphs, excited, brought more seaweed
to Medusa's head, to watch the magic happen
as fading green turned into semiprecious stones
and filigrees and dainty lace. This how coral came to be:
from those weeds petrified by Medusa's gaze.
~Ovid, Metamorphoses
Medusa is one of those ancient goddesses who was converted into a monster by later cultures. The familiar myth shows her as a terrifying figure, a snake-haired woman who turns stone anyone who looks upon her. Yet this winged, angelic figure was once a solar divinity, a great goddess whose very name means "ruler of humanity". Hers was the magic of transformation, which comes through centuries after her demonization, in the words of the Roman poet Ovid.
We demonize those whose power we fear. There would be no need to call her monstrous if Medusa did not represent a kind of power which makes some feel uncomfortable. She is like an inkblot test: we see in her the very thing we fear. That is Medusa's true mirror. Look into her face, and you will be frozen with your own inner terrors. And from that moment, you can move toward transformation, because you will know what you fear.
~Patricia Monaghan, The Goddess Companion (318)
