Moss agate cabochon
The dark green dendritic tendrils of moss agate firmly link it in our minds with the growth of trees, forests, and the Earth itself. Unlike other agates, moss agate is not banded and forms abstract patterns. However, it is still part of the agate family—a variety of chalcedony composed of silica. It has long been used as a semi-precious gemstone due to its beauty and aesthetic appeal. Moss agate is primarily milky white with veins of iron or manganese minerals running through giving it tones of organic green suggesting moss or lichen.
Tumbled moss agate
The dendritic quality of the stone’s patterns reflects the branches of trees reaching into the sky toward the sun for light, as well as the roots growing deep into the soil for nourishment. Throughout many world mythologies, trees have long been considered sacred beings—the bridges between Sky and Earth. Moss agate holds this energy as well. It harmonizes Yin and Yang—Sky and Earth—bringing balance, stability, and growth. Likewise, in the human biofield it resonates with Tiphereth—the Heart Chakra—the mid-point along the energetic helix flowing up and down the spinal column. It balances the lower-frequency base chakras and the higher-frequency upper chakras—this place of balance is the source of compassion. When properly tapped into, moss agate will radiate for us the deep, strong pulse of Gaia—the Earth itself.
Yggdrasil — the Tree of Life
Moss agate is an appropriate stone to work with for the month of May because of its energetic signature suggesting growth and abundance. As the leaves begin to bud and unfurl we are reminded of the sacred cycle of Nature—the returning warmth of the Sun and the awakening fertility of the Earth. The month of May marked the great festival of Beltane among the pagan tribes of ancient Europe, as is still celebrated by Neopagans today. The word Beltane means “Fire of Bel”, a reference to the Sun. Bel, or Belenos, was a Gallic solar deity whose name means “Shining One”. Ancient people knew the return of the Sun after the long, dim winter would once again herald the warmer season of growth. They marked this auspicious time with the festival of Beltane and the tradition of the maypole. Still celebrated throughout Europe to this day, Beltane and the maypole dance represent vestiges of pre-Christian spirituality strongly immortalized in folk tradition. Symbolically speaking, the maypole represents the Tree of Life—what the Norse tribes called Yggdrasil—the bridge between Sky and Earth. Fertility symbolism aside, the maypole dance marks the time when the energy of the Sun once again radiates upon the Earth in order to encourage the growing season. By celebrating this time with ritual and dance, ancient peoples validated for themselves the turning of the seasons from winter to summer by revering the obvious forces of Nature—allegorically represented in various guises from region to region.
Edwardian Maypole Dance
The festival of Beltane is sacred to Nature spirits—the Devas and Fairies. These beings are the energetic intelligences of the Plant Kingdom. From beautiful, delicate flowers to tall, majestic trees, the Devas come out to play during this time of celebration and all of Nature is buzzing with life. The ancient peoples of Europe also knew these beings well as they developed artwork representing what we now call the Green Men. These leafy-faced creatures can be seen throughout the architecture of medieval Europe. Found primarily in churches, cathedrals, and graveyards, the Green Men of old were reformulated as local guardians of the Christian buildings set up on the sacred sites of the pagan peoples—Kildare, Glastonbury, Chartres, etc. Originally, local deities or guardian spirits inhabited sacred springs or groves—special locations where offerings and celebrations were made. These sites were appropriated by the Christian Church in the attempt to eradicate indigenous pagan practices. Despite evangelical efforts, the power of the pagan sites remained and continues to shine through the veneer of imposed Christianity.
Green Man carving
The all-pervasive power of the Kingdom of Nature is perhaps best represented by the figure of Pan. Depicted with the hindquarters and horns of a goat, Pan embodies the lusty, verdant Rites of Spring. He is the unadulterated power of Nature. The name Pan comes from the Greek Paein, meaning “pasture” or “field.” In northern Europe, Pan was known as Cernunnos, whose Latinized name means “Horned One.” These ancient horned deities represent the transformative power of the shaman. In a time before widespread domestication, ancient peoples lived in close relationship with wild animals and valued them, yes physically for their meat and furs, but also spiritually as energetic totems on the Inner Planes. This is obvious from our earliest known artistic expressions on the cave walls of Lascaux and Chauvet. These cave paintings depict a host of wild creatures, some now long extinct, suggesting deep reverence and also mythic or dream-like potency. We also see mysterious half-human, half-animal figures who seem to bridge the confines of physical reality, existing in the magickal realm between definitions. During the Paleolithic, the split between humans and Nature was not felt the way it is now. Humans lived at the mercy of the weather and wild animals. Nature held phenomenal sway over the lives of our ancestors, which is why the four seasonal Fire Festivals of the Celtic tribes were of such great importance—they kept us in tune with the cyclical nature of the world in which we played only a small part. Unlike today’s notion that we have absolute power over every element—that we have the ability and right to engineer the world in which we inhabit—the shaman lives intrinsically tuned with both the subtle and awesome creative, and destructive, powers of the Cosmos. The shaman remembers that Pan is the encompassing All—the Pangenitor, the All-Begetter—and the Panphage, the All-Devourer. It is this rhythm the needs our respect. Too often we deny Nature’s power of destruction and attempt to harness it to our own discretion.
The green tendrils of the moss agate remind me of our lineage reaching back to pre-Christian times. My personal ancestry reaches back to medieval France, so the images on the French cave walls speak particularly strongly to me as the tribes of my ancestors painted them. No matter our personal ancestry, we can all trace our lineage back to a time before the Abrahamic monotheisms that have formulated the last 4000 years of our history. All of our ancient ancestors, the world over, were pagan shamans, living in a mysterious world governed by the forces of the seasons and the Sun—inspired by the tides of the ocean and the Moon—aided and guided by our animal and plant siblings. Their awareness was entirely local, and yet, what meaning they made of the stars we can never fully know. Despite the passage of thousands of years, and the advance of all-powerful institutions, when I sit quietly, alone in Nature, I feel the same inspired awe that must have moved the cave-painters to depict herds of elk, mammoth, and lions deep in the dark. It is these figurative roots through time that make moss agate such a special reminder at this time of year when lush, green life springs back to the Earth.
Lioness shaman — Chauvet Cave, 32 000 BCE
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