Our friend Tim sent this lovely photo of his Mother’s Day altar and said I could share it here. Wishing all mothers and those who mother or love and honor The Mother a Happy Mother’s Day!
Posts Tagged ‘Divine Feminine’
13 Oct
Bumpety Bump Bump ~ More Comment Bump Ups
Continued comments related to the recent Bradley Loves post … the following discussion comes from Jean Haines’ blog, and is actually between Jean and me after I left my previous comment-then-turned-blog-post. Do check out the extensive comments left by people on this [my] blog. It’s so encouraging to witness how many men get this!
In response to my comment, readable by clicking here,
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Thanks, Jean! Big hugs and cheers … the change is happening. We just need to remember not to fear tuning into Nature and the true power that comes from living in harmony with our beautiful planet!
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You bet! I do question, though, even the consideration of altering the earth’s ley lines. I don’t want anyone who isn’t totally in tune with me playing around with my energy lines. . . 🙂 Any thoughts? ? ? Hugs, ~Jean
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I’m not suggesting that WE create new ley lines. I’m suggesting that we each tune into our little plot of land right where we are and nurture and heal the Land as She speaks to us. If we listen, we will hear and know what to do. That’s not manipulation. That’s harmony, with humans doing what we can to do whatever it takes in our little spot to lift the vibration, which might mean something as non-exotic as picking up trash, pouring on composted chicken poop, covering it with mulch, letting it rot down all winter and then planting in it next spring.
It might mean getting to know the natural flora and fauna of our area. It might mean turning degraded, abused land into an eco-haven for bees and butterflies. It might mean learning how to commune with herbs, not just for their chemical constitution but for the spirit of the herbs and learning FROM THEM how they can heal on many levels.
I have big issues with people who aren’t in tune with the Earth and who are totally ungrounded in their spot on Earth, channeling anything into some mental construct of a line. If you’re not in tune with Earth, you’ve got no business monkeying around with ley lines, and if you ARE in tune with Earth, then likely you’re already very busy exactly where you are, ley line or not, co-creating heaven on Earth — not as a mental construct, but as a tangible, palpable, walkable 3D reality.
Those who fear anything pagan or magical will have a field day with Sarah Anne Lawless, LOL, but this post of hers on Bioregional Animism has much to offer: https://laurabruno.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/sarah-anne-lawless-the-song-of-the-land-bioregional-animism/
(My comments precede and then link to her actual post.)
As Gurumukh, the kundalini yoga teacher says, “You must start somewhere, because if you don’t start somewhere you’ll be nowhere!” Start where you are. You don’t connect with the Earth in an abstract way from your computer or from or by meditating in your head. You do it with love, with all of you, and that includes actual contact and actual action. The communication is available for those willing to humble themselves to listen to it.
All land is sacred. All of it. So is all sea and sky. Fire is sacred. We need to remember this sacredness and bring it back to the Elements, back into our world. That’s how we shift with our beloved planet. By loving her, not just with our heads, but with our hearts and especially with our hands. Get ’em dirty! It’s good for you. Hugs, Laura
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5 Oct
“Time to Stand Up: The Buddha’s Life and Message Through Feminine Eyes” ~ New Reading Group in Goshen
Our friend Tim is actually running this reading group, but we decided last week that I’ll be hosting it in the blue house next door, aka “Haus am See.” Since I know some locals read this blog but don’t necessarily frequent the places Tim left flyers, he said I could post his announcement here, in case anyone’s interested. If you don’t live near here but find the book of interest, why not start your own reading group in your location? Tea, a book and good conversation: great excuses to gather when the weather outside turns chilly.
Friends,
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Fall is approaching and I think it is a good time to see if we can get the reading group back together. I included you on this email because you were part of the Thich Nhat Hahn reading group or because I thought you would be interested in joining in.
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This time around, I’m suggesting we read: Â Time To Stand Up: Â The Buddha’s Life and Message Through Feminine Eyes.
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This is what the publishing company says about the book:
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“Time to Stand Up retells the story of the historical Buddha, one of the greatest sacred activists of all time, as a practical human being whose teachings of freedom from suffering are more relevant than ever in this time of global peril. Evolving onward from the patriarchal template of spiritual warriors and their quests, former nun Thanissara explores awakening from within a feminine view where the archetypes of lover and nurturer are placed as central and essential for a sustainable world.
Vital is an investigation into the pinnacle of Buddhist practice, the realization of the “liberated heart.” Thanissara questions the narrative of “transcendence” and invites us into the lived reality of our deepest heart as it guides our journey of healing, reclamation, and redemption. As the book unfolds, the author examines traditional Buddhism–often fraught with gender discrimination–and asks the important question, “Can Buddhist schools, overly attached to hierarchical power structures, and often divorced from the radical and free inquiry exemplified by the Buddha, truly offer the ground for maturing awakening without undertaking a fundamental review of their own shadows?”
Chapter by chapter, the book relates Siddhartha Gautama’s awakening to the sea-change occurring on Earth in present time as we as a civilization become aware of the ethical bankruptcy of the nuclear and fossil fuel industry and the psychopathic corporate and military abuse of power currently terrorizing our planet. Thanissara relates the Buddha’s story to real-life individuals who are living through these transitional times, such as Iraq war veterans, First Nation People, and the Dalai Lama. Time to Stand Up gives examples of the Buddha’s activism, such as challenging a racist caste system and violence against animals, stopping war, transforming a serial killer, and laying down a nonhierarchical structure of community governance, actions that would seem radical even today.”
Thanissara explores ways forward, deepening our understanding of meditation and mindfulness, probing its use to pacify ourselves as the cogs in the corporate world by helping people be more functional in a dysfunctional systems–and shows how these core Buddhist practices can inspire a wake-up call for action for our sick and suffering planet Earth.”
Here is the link: Â http://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/time-to-stand-up/
I’ve started reading the book and it is very good! Please let me know if you are interested in joining in and please feel free to pass the information on to other folk.
I also put up flyers at Maple City Market and The Electric Brew.
Blessings!
Tim
[Laura again — if you’re interested, please contact me and I’ll get you connected to Tim]
1 Oct
Re-Enchantment in Canterbury
In an earlier version of this lifetime, I was an English Major on a Ph.D. track. I left academia due to a traumatic brain injury that temporarily left me unable to read, or to remember print I somehow managed to clear, or to tolerate fluorescent lights in classrooms. On a soul level, though, all was in perfect order, as I felt academia so bereft of the magic and enchantment I imagined it could foster. I’m so happy to learn of this much needed movement to re-enchant the academy. Thanks, Becca!
Some delightful gems here:
“One cannot make enchantment happen, one can only cultivate the conditions that allow for its occurrence.”
“… the need to address patriarchy both inside and outside the academy, without shaming men who want to be allies, and without recreating an essentialist gender binary.”
“Ritual. If we are to revive enchantment we need ritual, but it must be ritual that is meaningful for who we are now. Perhaps for many we are in a time between rituals, seeking the meaning that will enchant.”
The River Stroud and the Westgate Gardens – Photo by Becca Tarnas
Canterbury: I couldn’t have imagined a better place to hold a conference titled Re-Enchanting the Academy. Although cars run on the narrow streets and the ninety-degree angles of contemporary buildings can be found throughout the city, one can feel the Chaucerian age palpably. Cobblestones, thatched roofs, white walls between dark wooden beams that seem to bow out at the middle, as if the centuries are weighing on the building like a elderly man carries a potbelly. Canals and bridges, gardens and stone walls, crawling ivy touched by the crimson blush of early autumn—the air seemed to tingle with enchantment, but an old, slow enchantment, one that has settled deep into the stones along with the overgrown moss.
English Redwood – Photo by Becca Tarnas
I came in to Canterbury after a non-stop flight from San Francisco to London…
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17 Sep
James G ~ Medusa
Reader James G emailed me a short piece he wrote on Medusa and some little known mythology about this much feared Goddess. He gave me permission to post it here. (I added paragraphs for easier blog reading.) Thanks to James for this rich sharing and reclamation:
The myth of Medusa is one of my favorites. The snake and serpent are all over the ancient world. The serpent has to do with wisdom and the snake is your thoughts. The snake moves in the same way as your thoughts, like a wave. Medusa symbolized a conscious, wise woman. In Ancient Greece an awake, wise, conscious woman was feared. She could stop a patriarchal mind(ego) in its tracks. Turn it to stone.
The other piece to this myth is the reflection. The ancients believed when you looked at your reflection, you were seeing your conscious, your higher self or your soul. Your true self. You can tell a lot about someone by the way they look at themselves in the mirror. If you’re truly awake or enlightened, you will see yourself as perfect.
So back to the myth. You have Medusa and her sisters walking around with all this knowledge and wise thoughts. (That’s why they’re portrayed as evil.) Perseus, a demigod, can’t learn enlightenment by just memorizing facts and accepting any information that’s true or false. He has to use her reflection to get at the true knowledge. The true matriarchal, higher self knowledge. Him getting the knowledge from her is symbolized by cutting her head off and putting it in a bag. Anytime he needs that knowledge he can pull Medusa out and freeze any left brain person in their tracks. I think this myth is as valid today as it was in Ancient Greece.
[Perseus with the head of Medusa, Benvenuto Cellini (1554), image from Wikipedia]
20 Apr
Three Videos by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
David and I listened to these talks last night, and they are just so lovely, I had to share. How did I not know of Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee before last night?! I guess it was just the right time, because the layers of synchronicities were quite astounding — from labyrinths to Sufi’s to story to … well, all of it! Happy Moon-Day. Enjoy the Mystery. 🙂
Changing the Story: The Need for Magic
Spiritual Work of the Feminine
Mystery of the Sacred Feminine: Sexuality and the Sacred
Laura, this is so well expressed! Many thanks! Hugs, ~Jean