A message from Mother Earth to Sweat Lodge

I had dinner with the Goddesses of Earthen Moon last night. Through Margaritas and good food we spoke of the snow and rain that has kept us from building the Sweat Lodge the past two weekends. The land has been cleared of the English Ivy and other brush and the plans are in order to begin building the Women's only Sweat Lodge at Earthen Moon. 

We have all felt the urgency and excitement of completing this sacred task very soon. But it seems Mother Nature has gotten in the way of this outdoor work. The past two weekends have found us ready to begin and yet, an unexpected snow storm and then heavy rain cancelled those plans. 

Through the Margaritas and good food, Mother Earth began to speak to me. I said Her words to Jamie to consider, but through Margaritas and good food there often seems to be doubt in what one hears. And so as I went to bed later in the evening I asked Goddess to give me clarity and this is the Vision I received as I woke this morning.

Through me, Mother Earth gifts this message to Sacred Sweat Lodge! Aho!

"Greetings to the Sweat Lodge that will one day sit upon my Sacred Soil; that will one day be embraced by my Sacred Trees; that one day will provide a Safe Place for Renewal, Rebirth and Vision to many Women! That will one day be led by a Spirit like none other, Jamie Allen! Greetings and Welcome! 

I come to tell you that I am not ready for you to sit on my Soil. You see, I am healing and need to lay Fallow a bit longer. Do not feel an urgency; I will tell you when it is time. I am healing from all the pulling and digging that the loving hands of beautiful Goddesses did to prepare the path and the place for You to be built. And I am sore. 

I also Desire Time to soak up the Prayers and the Energy that are now being bestowed in this Place. I am honored that Jamie visits every day to give thanks for the gift of this area; I am honored that she received the Vision and carries that Energy to this place so the Vision can become reality; I am honored that Jamie and Alison bought this Land so that Women will have a Safe place to Visit; to be in Ceremony and Circle; to tell their Stories and most of all to Heal! Just like I need to Heal for a bit longer!

I am soaking it all up my Dear Sweat Lodge in preparation for great and wonderful work that will be done on my Soil. 

So, I ask You to wait. I ask you to help Jamie take deep breaths of Me as she learns to Wait. Much must be done before it is time. And while she and Alison are taking care of other things I can continue to Heal and to Soak up all that I need to be that place of Sanctuary, of Healing, of Renewal! 

I am honored Dear Sweat Lodge that You have chosen this area of Me to live on! I am honored that Women will Desire to walk the Path to You and I will Show them the Way! I await the many Goddesses who will Sit upon me, Pray upon me and Heal in my Embrace! 

The Time will be Soon, but Wait for my Call to You! It will be the Perfect Time and all will go well! Do not hurry. Watch and Wait! Blessed be and Love from Mother Earth to you Sacred Sweat Lodge! Aho!"

I Am Ashamed!

I am ashamed! I am ashamed of this country! I am ashamed of those I love in my family who feel they hold the Truth and that their way is the only way. I am ashamed to say that we are related. I am ashamed that they want this country to be a white man's country; only speaking English; only filled with European blood; and if they had their way it would be totally run by men.

I am ashamed of this country at large and I no longer stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance (ok, so if my parents are there I at least stand, but that is out of respect for them and that I don't want to have another debate with my dad!) as I only pledge "allegiance" to Goddess.

I am ashamed of the way "the neighbor" is treated even tho' it is not in their creeds to treat others in this way. Oh crap, I forgot....."we are sinful and unclean and cannot free ourselves" (Lutheran confession liturgy). I am ashamed that there are people who want to close the borders and make English the only language spoken in this country.

And so, with that in mind I posted about what it would have been like if the Native Peoples on this continent had closed borders; if they had in fact made a law that only their languages could be spoken in this country. Nope, they opened up their land, their homes and their hearts and welcomed the "immigrants" into this beautiful country.

I am ashamed as to what was then done to them and is still done to them. And who did it? White Christians. I cannot and will not forget this. It was the White Christian who stole the land; massacred the Native Peoples; brought disease to the Peoples and who stole their culture, their languages, their way of living. All in the name of their Christian God!  And their numbers were too great and they won!

They drove the Peoples onto reservations; these people who truly understood what it meant to share with the neighbor and how to honor and worship the Spirit. They knew the Land! Knew Her! They held Women in high esteem! They taught their children their cultures and how to treat others and the earth! 

I am ashamed!

And now the White Christian Voice is trying so hard to keep those "not like them" out of this country that wasn't theirs to begin with.

I say take down the Statue of Liberty. This is no longer a country that opens it's heart and land for anyone else.

But I do see hope! I see changes and that is why the White Christian Voice is getting louder and louder. They know deep in their souls that the tide is changing. The Shift is coming! There are now more of "us" then them. But the difference is that we don't have to be loud! We just do what we know to do! Love and care for all of creation and listen to the Spirit as She speaks in, with and through us to return to Peace, Love and Life!

I sense the Shift as I move through the Forest on my Walks. I sense the Movement as I converse with others who no longer believe the lies and the betrayal of the White Man Christianity (and I will acknowledge there are ones in that religion who feel the same way I do!). I have a deep stirring in my soul that Patriarchy is coming to an end and it will be ugly for awhile as those who are enmeshed in the angry God mentality; the power and control and the war mentality try desperately to hold on to what they will now loose.

And I am proud! Proud to be counted in those who are enlightened and will help others as this change comes about. I do not stand saying I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! I stand with others saying this must stop and it must stop soon!

She is here! She is now! She is beautiful, kind, loving and waiting! Stand with me! It is time! I don't want to be ashamed any longer!

Aho and Blessed be!

Eve and the Serpent

Goddess Eve has been holding me hostage now for about a week. Now, I don't mean hostage in a negative way at all. She has been very present with me and as such I haven't been able to get her out of my mind. So today on my very cold walk after work, I called out to Goddess Eve and I asked Her what She had to tell me.

There was a brief pause and the stillness was deafening and I heard Her say:

"My Story is being held captive and I need you and my other Sisters to speak the Truth, live the Truth and love the Truth that is My Story. My Story! Not the Story that was hijacked by the patriarchal writers of the book of Genesis found in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament is what the Christians call it), but My Story and the Story of the Serpent! I have been in your Heart and Mind because the time is now as Goddess is getting stronger every day! This story holds back so many people who would see through the veil otherwise."

I told Eve that I would be glad to be Her Voice!

Here is the HerStory!

"I was created at the same time as the other Mammals. We were all created in the Image of the Divine; both female and male! One day my friend the Serpent came to visit. She told me great stories of this Garden, for you see She was created way before the Mammals. She knew the Wonders and the Magic held in the Rock People, the Mountain People, the Cloud and the Water People. She knew all the Plant and Animals, both in the Sky and in the Water! She was the Wise One! She was the Healer and Spoke for the Divine.

And so this day my friend the Serpent and I were walking in the Garden and She posed a Question to me, "Do you know there is a Tree in the middle of the Garden that is the most beautiful and has the most delicious Apples on it?" Of course I knew of this Tree, but I had never felt the desire to eat one of the apples from that tree. We walked to it and I gazed upon it. Yes, the apples were the reddest red I had ever seen.

Let me tell you, Sister, the Desire to eat one of these apples was overwhelming. Serpent told me I must ask the Tree for permission, and so I did!

Grandmother Tree then told me HerStory of how She grew from a very tiny seed that is housed inside the delicious apples She produces. She taught me about the precious Seeds that reside inside of me too.

I asked if I could eat of Her Fruit and She told me that I could but to know that this was the first step in Understanding that I embodied the Divine. She told me that when I ate the Apple that my eyes would be opened and I would see the beauty of my body; hear my own Divine Voice; and understand that I was the Vessel who would bring other humans into this gorgeous Garden. She explained that this was a great honor and responsibility to be the Caretaker, the Mother, the Creatress! I would be the very Vessel that the Goddess would continue to Create through! I would be transformed; re-birthed; I would be shedding my Old Skin of Understanding! Was I ready?

Serpent Friend slithered up my leg and around my back and let me put the apple on Her Head. She blessed it and I was ready to taste the juiciness of this Gift!

Yes! My eyes were opened! The sky was the bluest ever; the Moon spoke directly to me; the Sun lit up my face and I felt the warmth spread through my Body. Oh, my Body! What beautiful Breasts, what powerful legs and arms, what an intelligent brain and loving heart, and how juicy my Labia and Vagina were. How had I not noticed this beautiful container for the Goddess Spirit that was Me?

I laughed a deep and glorious Laugh and Grandmother Tree and Serpent laughed with me. Before I knew it, all of Creation laughed with me and then it happened! Oh, my Sister, the most glorious thing happened! Goddess embraced me and held me tightly to Her and said, "My Daughter, you are gifted for all time to be my Vessel in the World. I have been waiting for you to be ready to Hear YourStory. You are the one I anoint to be my Co-Creator! You are Woman and you will be my Birther in the Garden. As more Women appear some will give birth to other humans; some will birth great ideas, some will birth Me! But Woman will be the Voice for the Divine. And my Voice is LOVE and TRUTH.

And so you see, this is not the story at all that people have been told for so many eons. MyStory is trapped in the lies and betrayal of a Patriarchal God who punishes and passes Judgement. This is not The Truth!"

I waited a bit not knowing if Goddess Eve was finished with HerStory. She was letting it soak into my very DNA so that I had one of those Ah-Ha moments! I Re-Membered! It was as if I was right there in the Garden! And I heard a Laugh, right there on my Walk:

"My Love, of course you Remember! You were there! You see all Women throughout time and all Women Present and All Women in the Future were there! It is in Our DNA! We were not the betrayers of the Trust of God that ended up getting us thrown out of the Garden. You see, we were never asked to leave the Garden. We are still in the Garden. And yet as time progressed and the Patriarchal Story took hold, people began to forget that the Garden is ours to tend and following the Patriarchal Story of Power and Control we began to Use and Abuse what was given to all as a Gift! Love and Truth were replaced with Hate and Lies! We did not bring "Sin" into the World. It came as a manifestation of a Story that encourages the use of Power and Control for one's own agenda. And Goddess Grieves!

So, please be my Voice! Be the Voice of the Goddess! Tell MyStory in the correct way! Speak up for Me and in turn you will be speaking up for Goddess and for all Creation; both male and female, rocks and mountains, clouds and water and all animals that swim, fly or walk!

Or Slither.... like my best friend Serpent. She was given a very bad rap in this old story found in Genesis. In that Story, Eve, Adam and the Serpent were all punished for being ready to be Transformed, to be Enlightened and to be Empowered to carry on the Creation that Goddess began out of Love and Truth!

Tell my Story dear Sisters and Brothers! Speak it loud and clear! And Love like you Know that you too Embody all that is the Divine!"

So that my friends is what Eve had to tell me! And so, I am speaking HerStory which is MyStory and is YourStory! Speak it with Love and Truth!

Blessed be!

Elder of the Woods

I now live in a Cottage in the Forest.

Oh not in reality, but it is now where I look out from into the world. I would love to live in a cottage in the Forest; tucked away amongst the trees, the smell of wet leaves, the birds flitting from one tree to another. I would love to one day, have that little one bedroom cottage in the Forest.

I grew up playing in the Woods behind my house. I can still go back there when I walk through Woods surrounding my apartment complex. Even then, there was magic there. I loved when I would finally get deep into the Forest and could see nothing but trees surrounding me like a protective shield from a world that wanted nothing more but to pull me into the lies of a patriarchal society brimming with competition and materialism. I could be free in the Woods. I could be anyone or anything I wanted to be; and I very often was.

From my imaginary cottage, I see the world in a different and refreshing way.

I imagine a fire in the fireplace and a large cauldron hanging over it bubbling away with a stew made from vegetables I harvested from my own garden. I see an oak table with chairs around it waiting for women to join me for a cup of tea or cocoa while we talk of all that women share when sipping on their favorite beverage. I might even have home baked scones and a bit of butter and jam to add to our time together.

Here is where time stands still when I want it to. Here is where I slather Autumn Earthsong's Boo Boo Balm all over the still open wounds caused by years of wrong decisions and living in a world where bigotry, hatred and misogynist attitudes picked away the very skin that covered my precious woman body.  

Here in this Cottage in the Forest is where I will finally heal those open wounds and bear the scars with the pride of a Thriver!

There is Peace and Contentment in my Cottage in the Forest. I welcome the song birds and the vultures. I encourage the coyote to sit at my door step and the Wolf to lay by my bed. Mother Brown Bear will bring her cubs to me in the Spring to babysit while she forages the Forest for food for her precious young.

I am the Elder of the Woods, the caretaker of my part of the Forest. I see things here that not everyone is invited to see. I am able to live within the confines of Death and Life and not be afraid when my own time comes. I learn things here as Elder of the Woods that will be offered up as gifts to those who visit with me at my oak table sipping a cup of tea and maybe even having a scone or two. I have Knowledge and Wisdom to share. It is what an Elder of the Woods who embodies the Goddess is called to do.

In the Forest I watch the Moon Goddess change Her Visibility and Her Brightness. I am now so in tune with Her Energy that I too move from Full to Dark and back again in a month's time. I no longer Bleed but my Feminine Clock is set to Her Pulls and Her Power. It is different being a Crone. My eyes See, My Heart Knows; My Senses are heightened to Know the Turning of the Wheel.

I have learned these things from my Cottage in the Woods.

The reality is that I will probably always live in an apartment complex or maybe even one day have to move in with one or both of my parents to care for them as they begin to feel the pull toward what they call Heaven. But even then, I will reside in my Cottage in the Forest.

There is still much to learn here; much to discern and much to share with another woman around that Oak Table with a cup of tea and a scone.

And I bet that these scones that I will actually make with my own hands will be full of chocolate chips. Isn't that the preferred food of a Goddess?

The cauldron is bubbling with a hearty stew, the tea pot is singing her song, and the scones are hot out of the oven. I sit at the Oak Table waiting your arrival.

See you soon!

Blessed be!

the Vulneralbility of Nakedness

A lot has gone on this week in my search for the Puzzle pieces of my Feminine Voice. I keep thinking I am done but then I realize I have pieces that had either fallen on the floor (don't you hate when that happens?) or just hadn't been discovered in the box it came in. And so I have finally come to realize that this will be a life long process. On some days it is exciting like this week and then some days like today it is not. But it is necessary if I want to continue to grow and evolve and be able to help other women as they struggle to do the same.

So, I went for my walk this afternoon deciding that going back to the new path through the Forest would be good for my Soul. I was not ready for the surprise I got.

Two weeks ago when I found this new path it was exciting and new and despite it being in the middle of the winter, it was full of life and light. Today, not so much. Today, even tho' the sun was shining like two weeks ago, today, all I could see was the Nakedness of it all. The only thing I could think about was how all we want to do is cover up; protect and clothe those parts of us that make us vulnerable and human. And as a result make us miserable.

Today, the walk was amazingly depressing.

The bare branches seemed to reach out to me (you know like in those horror movies when someone is walking in the forest in the middle of the night in deep fog, and a branch catches them and they scream!); the bark on the trees pulling away like skin on a sunburned back; the acorns and pine cones were black and decaying. I tried, I tell you I tried to find the beauty that was there 2 weeks ago, but it would not show itself.

Today I was to notice the Vulnerability of Nakedness. The rawness of it all. Right in front of my eyes were the imperfections that spring and summer cover up so well with leaves and moss and all sorts of alive and growing things!

But not today.

And it made sense really. You see, I finally realized that I do not want to have a partner in my life and I put an end to a "fake" relationship with my very toxic sister.

 I took off all the clothing that society and religion had talked me into putting on and I claimed two very valuable pieces of the puzzle of my Feminine Voice. My letter to this "woman who came from the same womb as me", was raw, it was scabby and it made me very vulnerable. But it was necessary so that Spring can come to that part of my Life Puzzle. No longer do I need to hang on to Oliver Branches that never took root thus continuing the decay and toxicity of a relationship built out of this odd thing we call "family."

The Forest was Naked Today and Goddess needed me to see it. I needed to embrace the Death and Dying that is necessary for Life and Growth.

It was a long walk as most Naked Journeys are. And I found a tree that had long ago fallen and formed a natural bench and I sat and gazed around me at what was a Message of Endings and Beginnings. There in the Forest I put the two found pieces of my Lift Puzzle into their assigned places and they fit just right. And it was good and it was right; even in it's Vulnerability and Nakedness it was Perfect in it's Imperfection.

As I write I remember a poem by Rumi that is hanging on my refrigerator that Goddess gave me when I decided to quit work and move to South Carolina:

"Come to this street with only your sweet fragrance.
Don't walk into THIS river wearing a robe!
Paths go from here to there,
but don't arrive from somewhere!
It's time now to live naked."

Being naked opens us up to new adventures and understanding and yes, it makes us vulnerable but that really is OK. That is what Living is all about. When we cover ourselves with Masks and Belief systems that are not our own then we are like the Dead and Dying Forest Pieces.

The surprise tho' is that even in the Dead and Dying and Decaying places of our Soul, there is New Life just ready to push up through our Soil sending blossoms to adorn our Naked Journey!

Blessed be!

Ode to Persephone

                                                                Ode to Persephone

Ah Persephone! 
Daughter of the Great Demeter! 
Lover of Hades! 
Maiden of our lives! 

How is it with you in the Underworld? 

Are you preparing yourself to leave the embracing arms of your Lover Hades
    so that you can bring Spring to the Land Above?

Do you remember that you must leave in just a few short months? Leave the soft kisses 
   and the Darkness of the Underworld Lover to join your grieving Mother? 

Do you know that the Upper World anxiously awaits the return of Your Joy and Delight that 
   looks so much like flowers and fruits and green leaves and seeds bursting forth from the cold ground? 

We have missed your smiling face, your joyful laughter, your incredible sense of Fertility and Growth! 

How is it with you in the Underworld? 

Are you preparing to come out into the Sun Light and Dance in the Meadows as they blossom at 
   your feet? Are you preparing to bring us hope that the Sun will warm us, that the ground will sustain us, that our very lives will no longer be trapped in Darkness as you have been for these cold Winter months? 

What do you have to tell us about the Darkness, Persephone? 
What can you tell us about accepting the Love of that which is Unknown and Unseen? 
What can you teach us so we don't get lost in the Underground times of our own lives? How do we find that Pomegranate that allows us respite from our own Darkness? How do we find a Lover amongst the Death and Dying of our Lives?

We patiently await your arrival our dear Sister Persephone! 
We stand with your Mother Demeter at the entrance to the Cave; pacing but knowing we must be patient for Spring comes when the Wheel Turns and we cannot make You arrive any sooner. Your Time with Your Dark Lover has almost come to an end. 

May we see you modeling the willingness to be in the Dark when it is our Time to do so. May we watch as you Love Your Time there, teaching your Sisters that the Darkness is not Forever. May we seek You out, Beautiful Goddess, when we are caught between coming and going; sometimes getting so use to the Darkness that we hesitate to Leave on our own. Or so comfortable with the flowers that we resist the hard decision to travel deep within our own souls.

But just like you, Dear Sister Persephone, we hear the call of Mother to come out and bless the land with light and joy, with smiles and playfulness, until we must go back to rest in the Darkness where we too will find our Hades to Love us even in our Dark Times!  

It is the Way of Women. So much we have to learn from you! So much we must re-member as our very own Feminine Voice calls us to Turn with the Wheel from Spring, to Summer, to Fall and to Winter. Those times where we are called to Listen, Learn and Teach! Thank you dear Persephone! Blessings on your journey to the Upper World! 

Blessed be! 

Gathering with Women

She stands alone gazing at the Full Moon; Listening!

And yet, in reality She stands with All Women throughout Time. All Women of all ages! She Stands; Listening.

When I began blogging a year ago, I named this blog Gaia Speaks. I knew that She spoke to me on my walks, through nature, animals, stones and other humans. She had a message for me from Her and I wanted to share it with others. For you see, We as Women carry the Stories for the next generation. We hold Stories in the Sacred container of our Womb (not just literally) and We Speak them when it is Time. We Speak them in Love and Truth.

But we must Listen! And to do so we must be willing to Stand and Wait!

And as such I have been standing Alone with Goddess; Listening and then Speaking when She asks me to.

Now I Speak as the Mystic Crone!

Yesterday, I spent 2 hours Working with Women. Now, I work every day with women, but this was different. This was Sacred Work. We were clearing a path through the Forest. And this was not just any path; this was a Sacred Path as it will be the way to get to the Earthen Moon's Sweat Lodge.

A wonderful woman, Jamie, has had a Vision on her heart and in her mind of a Sweat Lodge for Women nestled amongst the trees and ivy in her backyard. She and her amazing partner, Alison, have Dreamed of a place where Women will gather for healing, for transformation, for respite, for fun, for support, for learning and for Story Telling!

Women are the Keeper of the Stories remember!

Yesterday 7 Women gathered at Earthen Moon, the home of Jamie and Alison, to work together to assist in the realization of this Dream. Why? Because Spirit called each of our names to arrive at a certain time and place to join our Stories together. It was an honor that Spirit put it upon the heart of Jamie to ask us to gather for a Time such as this.

And we pulled Ivy and got dirty! But most of all we did what Women do when we Gather. We began with a blessing of the land and ourselves and the Dream. We laughed and we teased, but most of all we told Stories. We shared not only our work talents but our hearts and souls in Love and Truth. We looked out after each other, making sure those who needed rest go that rest and those who could reach up higher or were stronger took on those tasks requiring those skills. There was on need to "measure up" or to prove anything. Women don't need to do that you see. We have a Story to tell and Stories to Hold!

Together, we told the Story of how Women Gather! 

And thus we Told the Story of Earthen Moon!

There are Times when we Must Stand Alone to Listen. But even in those Times we Gather with All Women from the Past, the Present and the Future. For We are the One's called to do so and to then Hold the Stories, Tell the Stories and most of all Live the Stories!

So mote it be!