Tropical Storm Fay

Sitting outside on my patio last night, I see the palm trees bending and dancing as the wind swishes through, rain lashing down through the screen and into the pool.  The breeze whips into all these directions and I know we are experiencing one of the outer bands.  As Fay approaches Florida, she brings layers of weather phenomenon - some quiet and hot and still (the calm before the storm), some violent and strong (pelting rain, blowing winds, dark skies). 

   

It makes me appreciate why I am here in Florida, the look of my trees and bushes - all green and lush, like a tropical rainforest.  The smell in the air is tantalizing and clean.  Off with the A/C; goodbye to the electricity - time to hang outside and see the miracles of the Great Goddess as she balances our ecosystem.  And the beauty, the gift, is that the WORLD as I know it - finally stops and heeds Mother Nature.  People stay home, stores are closed, schools are closed, everything gets simple again.  Not many things can do that like a storm from MAMA EARTH.

It's given me an opportunity to nap some more and be still (learning more Meow and Doggess- Goddess lingo) and READ.  I love to read.   I have a stack of books by my bedside, one on the dining room table, a stack in the Creative room and a full library in the Goddess Studio.  I have done much of my intellectual learning by reading.  It keeps me open to new ideas and others' life stories.

                   

Yesterday, the three books of choice being digested were:  HERLAND, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman as recommended by Goddess Christina who I am totally missing laughing with at Tuesday's mornings Hollywood Laughter Yoga Circle.

This book was written in 1915 by a Goddess who was truly aHEAD of her time.  She writes a story of a country called HERLAND where only women reside that gets explored by three men.  The book is written from HIS perspective.  And what is so awesome, is that her astute observations and visions are so compelling and true NOW, even though it was written so long ago.  Reading this book made me feel hopeful and happy.

 

Describing herself as a humanist, Gilman wrote that: "it is only in social relations that we are human...to be human women must share in the totality of humanity's common life.  Women, forced to lead restricted lives, retard all human progress.  Growth of organism, the individual or social body requires use of all of our powers in four areas:  physical, intellectual, spiritual and social."

BE THE PACK LEADER by Cesar Millan.

And interestingly enough, in this book, I had just read - the four things needed for healthy human balance are intellectual, emotional, spiritual and instinctual. This great book is all about communicating with a pack member through ENER-chi.  Kudos to WSM Cesar for thanking and acknwledging women in the first seven pages of this book.  And for his VIEW that women hold the KEY to helping put our world back into balance. 

Hmmm, I see so many connections. Tee hee!!! Let me dig further in these gardens and see what else crops us...

I am also really enjoying this book called Mama Gena's Marriage Manual.  Yummy!!!  This Goddess runs a School of Womany Arts in New York.  Any Goddesses ready to check it out with me, let me know.   She advocates building a village by creating and surrounding yourself with Sister Goddesses.   I'm in!!!  

I will share more as I absorb more.

Thank you Tropical Storm Fay for empowering and educating me while slowing me down to my instinctual ANIMAL nature.  Back to the hammock I go.  Tee hee!!!

Doggess Goddess Language

I've always been a Cat.   Physically in many other lifetimes although I still feel it in my bones and in my heart meow.  As such, it has always been easy for me to intuitively communicate with Meows.  Mine, those I meet on the street, those who cross my path...

Trying to learn how to communicate with GingerMama, my Doggess Goddess, I am trying too hard, not exhibiting patience, reading too many "experts" that do not resonate with my heart.   So, I stopped.  I took a deep breath.   GingerMama and I went outside to try something different.  I  sat at my creative table and made some space.   Tackled a pile of paper - things torn out from magazines, old cards, funky paper - sorting and clearing and cutting and filing.  And I relaxed and released the stress of learning a new process and not being kind and gentle with myself.

Ginger Mama was laying out under the table, sprawled out and sleeping peacefully. All of a sudden, she let out a yawn and gave a big stretch and I felt her toe pads touch mine.  Our feets were connected.  I had an A-HA moment.

My Goddess Auntie Catalina was the first to share with me how wonderful the scent of the paws and the toes of a doggess goddess can be.  And I truly get the scent thing.  Reverting back to my animal nature and connecting with GingerMama in an earth form.  

For me, however, it was the heat.  The heat emitting from her toes.  The transfer of heat from her toes to my toes and the wave of ener-CHI that transferred into me.    If I remember my high school Physics correctly -  heat transfer from GingerMama to Goddess changes the internal energy of both systems involved (possibly Law of Thermodyamics).   And it happened.   A warm, loving exchange of energy that had us both sighing and stretching and happy.

I have practiced this for years with my Meows - taking daily naps and quieting my mind and slowing my body down.  Body to body, connected by fur and skin, allowing the Ener-chi flow from Meow to me.  Letting the Meow heat and purr vibrate through my skin and into my bones and flow through my veins.  It makes for an awesome internal massage.

To show me that I am getting it and keep up the good work, the Universe sends me a sign.  Among the pile of dog training/language books I have, Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer)'s book, Be The Pack Leader, jumps off the shelf and lands open on Page 120 - "...learning how to communicate rules, boundaries and limitations through ENERGY.  There is no substitute for that energy and bond - no tool that money can buy - and almost no experience on earth can rival the kind of spiritual closeness that occurs when you and your dog are truly, naturally in sync."

By Goddess, I think I've got it!!!

"IN ORDER TO REALLY ENJOY A DOG, ONE DOESN'T MERELY TRY TO 

TRAIN HIM TO BE SEMIHUMAN.  THE POINT OF IT IS TO OPEN 

ONSELF TO THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING PARTLY A DOG"

- Edward Hoagland

What's in a word?

This word is so loaded. So many implications. It stirs up so many emotions. Most people can't say it or hear it.

I have chosen it to represent me. It is my spiritual name. My label, in a society that labels me patriarchally (my father's name, my husband's name). It is my way of re-MEMBER-ing who I am. It is my way of re-MIND-ing others of the choices available. It is my way of embracing my feminine, my YIN energy. It is me opening up to the essence of being a woman.


What is a GODDESS?

To me, it is the merging of my INNER CHILD with my FEMININE ESSENCE.

And what does that really mean? Well, applying the KISS Method - keeping it short and simple.

INNER CHILD: wise soul that inhabits your body

FEMININE: having qualities and/or attitudes traditionally associated with women.
Well, that definition of FEMININE just answers it all for me - NOT!!!

ESSENCE: nature or quality of something

I am still trying to figure this out for myself as I navigate through what our society and environment (thank you 4th Estate a/k/a media) bombards us with as FEMININE.

By the age of seven, I was already deeply indoctrinated in the PRINCESS mythology (my gratitude to Walt Disney). Well, actually, let's give thanks to the Grimms Brothers and their fairy tales .... I am beginning to see a pattern.... and that gave me an image, a taste for what a girl was supposed to be when she grew up - and pictures paint a thousand words in solidifying meaning of a word.

My nieces are all indoctrinated Princesses (and they have so many "role models" to choose from - Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White).

Yet, they are GIRLs (Goddesses in Real Life) instead. I wonder where they will see this image so they can build healthy self-esteem and individuality instead of trying to be wannabe princesses.