Free Step

"Who is that comes of Her own free step upon the realm of the dark queen?" Holy Mythos 8:2
yes I swear that is a 'k' at the end of 'dark' 🙃

Ooh, this verse! It practically leapt off the page at me this year.

So greeted, the The Daughter begins Her descent....

The gatekeepers refuse to allow Her entry without Her giving up some item to their hands. At the first gate, it is Her moon-axe (verse 4; a labrys, like these Minoan ones, were never weapons, being both impractical in shape and always made of delicate materials), and then at each of the following gates She releases the symbols of Her offices:

• Princess of the World:
       "the Maid came to a second gate, and was again halted by the keeper thereof. And the gatekeeper said: Give me the circlet from Your head and You may pass. And the Maid gave the silver circlet into her hands and passed through the gate." v5-6
  
• Priestess of the World:
       "And She came to a third gate, and the gatekeeper said: Give me Your white linen headdress and You may pass. And She did this and passed bareheaded through the gate." v7
  
• Queen of Heaven:
       "And She came to a fourth gate, and the gatekeeper said: Give me Your blue cloak and You may pass. And She gave Her blue cloak into the hands of the gatekeeper, and passed through the gate." v8 A blue cloak is a strong symbol of the Queen of Heaven, most recently seen in the Virgin Mary, but is seen in earlier Queens of Heaven who wear the starry night sky as a mantle; see also 1:10:11
  

After these, the removal of Her sandals, girdle, and finally Her hair, are to remove Her dignity so that when the Daughter arrives at last in the Underworld She is reduced to nothing but Her white robe.

The Daughter is slain with merely a glance from the Dark Queen; Her passing into that awful oblivion is what we commemorate tomorrow on Hiatus. Kala, today, is the last day of our year; tomorrow we pass into the void between two years, and hope for Eastre....