Charge of the Goddess

All who seek to know Me, know this... All your seeking and yearning will be in vain unless you understand the Mystery that if what you seek is not found within, you will never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I will gather you to my breast at the end. from Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente

“The Universal Power never judges or criticizes us. It only accepts us at our own value. Then it reflects our beliefs in our lives.” – Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life

"Everything you’ve longed for “out there” is already within you. The path to authenticity travels through your own heart, mind, body, and spirit." — Patricia Lynn Reilly, IAW Empowerment Program

The Key to Our Power

"The key to our power is feeling. When we fearlessly own the full spectrum of our emotions (which also serves all of our creations), we begin to own the truth of who we are. Sometimes to discover this, we have to descent to ur depths to repair old wounds or unearth old desires. But out of the old pieces and the new we form a new creation -- our lives. The results of such work are always positive even if some of the steps we take to achieve them cause pain. But that pain is short-term. The pain of never owning our full, rich, authentic selves lasts forever." -Karen Andes, A Woman's Book of Power

Why Women Need the Goddess

“Even people who no longer "believe in God" or participate in the institutional structure of patriarchal religion still may not be free of the power of the symbolism of God the Father. A symbol's effect does not depend on rational assent, for a symbol also functions on levels of the psyche other than the rational. Symbol systems cannot simply be rejected; they must be replaced. Where there is no replacement, the mind will revert to familiar structures at times of crisis, bafflement, or defeat. Religions centered on the worship of a male God create "moods" and "motivations" that keep women in a state of psychological dependence on men and male authority, while at the same legitimating the political and social authority of fathers and sons in the institutions of society.” - Why Women Need the Goddess - by Carol P. Christ

If you would give as I do, Give from the place where nothing can be taken away from you – Give from the place of the spirit. See everything as formed from that inexhaustible spirit For the moment that it’s given, lasting as long as its purpose is. Have faith that nothing is taken away from you That has not outlived its purpose. Relinquish the idea that you have anything to do with it And in that you’re your clinging and self-doubt will fall away. -Cassia Berman www.thegirlgod.com

Learning To Abandon the World

I am learning to abandon the world before it can abandon me. Already I have given up the moon and snow, closing my shades against the claims of white. And the world has taken my father, my friends. I have given up melodic lines of hills, moving to a flat, tuneless landscape. And every night I give my body up limb by limb, working upwards across bone, towards the heart. But morning comes with small reprieves of coffee and birdsong. A tree outside the window which was simply shadow moments ago takes back its branches twig by leafy twig. And as I take my body back the sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap as if to make amends. by Linda Pastan

My Fear for my Daughter

"My fear for my daughter, then, is not that she will someday at in a sexual way; it is that she will learn to act sexually against her own self-interest.”

- Peggy Orenstein, Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Punching Children

Last week, my son was punched in the stomach at school. The boy ran and lunged into him with his fist, knocking the wind out of him as he knocked him to the ground. I have been angry and distressed since. My son internalizes things, and the result for him has been that he has been physically sick to his stomach and unable to sleep since Friday. He has now missed 2 full days of school and 2 half-days.

My son asked to talk to me and his father afterwards but was told he could not. I was not called for 3 hours.

I could go on and on about all the reasons I am unhappy about this, but it boils down to one thing: injustice.

I have kept my kids at their private school this year despite my great unhappiness with my daughter's experience there. It seemed very important to my son to stay there, and as a single mom I don't have the luxury of taking them to 2 separate schools. (I barely could manage our 3 hour commute to this school.) I felt that my daughter was heartier, so I made the decision to keep them both there, with precautions.

But this confirms for me that what is bad for one will be bad for both.

For a long time, I have wanted to protect my children. I thought sending them to a private school was doing that. I thought in giving them a good education they would always have something to stand on. I thought I was making a worthy sacrifice that would yield great results.

But in doing so, I was also overlooking one of my own core values, which is that all children are equal. And I see very clearly now, that they are not here. And I am realizing that I should not be surprised.

So, while my daughter has been penalized for every little thing this year, including an immediate conference in front of her peers and their parents for the crime of coloring in too many pages of her journal, a punch in the stomach seems to be no big deal. I was told we shouldn't shame the children.

Or, more accurately, we shouldn't shame this child. Shaming my children is fine.

I was reprimanded for posting the following to my Facebook page: "Not happy about my son being punched in the stomach. Don't kids at least get sent home from school for this???"

Clearly the needs of the aggressor outweigh the well-being of my son.

I have learned....

"I have learned to trust myself and so have the women with whom I sit in circle. We no longer choose to expend our precious life energy scrutinizing every facet of our beings to figure out what is wrong with us. Instead, we celebrate ourselves as gifted and powerful children of life.”

– Patricia Lynn Reilly, Be Full of Yourself

Loose Woman

They say I’m a beast.
And feast on it. When all along
I thought that’s what a woman was.
They say I’m a bitch.
Or witch. I’ve claimed
the same and never winced.
They say I’m a macha, hell on wheels,
viva-la-vulva, fire and brimstone,
man-hating, devastating,
boogey-woman lesbian.
Not necessarily,
but I like the compliment.

– Sandra Cisneros, from Loose Woman

Step Out

“To step outside of patriarchal thought means:…overcoming the deep-seated resistance within ourselves toward accepting ourselves and our knowledge as valid. It means getting rid of the great men in our heads and substituting them for ourselves, our sisters, our anonymous foremothers.”

– Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy

"If one becomes utterly still, the earth will speak in a language that can be understood."

- Ann Linnea

No one saves us but ourselves

Walk the path.
No one saves us but ourselves.
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path.

— Siddhārtha Gautama

Support

“Many of us are better at providing support for others than we are at providing support for ourselves. We still think it’s selfish to focus on ourselves, as though there’s a finite supply of support.”

- SARK

"And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?"

- Rumi

Special Day

Today is a very precious day for me.

It is my son's 9th birthday, who I am so completely in love with and proud of. He is such a wonderful combination of a sensitive, kind, fun boy - and completely himself. I just love the man he is becoming. I couldn't be more proud.

Today is also my anniversary with my sweetheart. It has been a difficult month of moving and making some big changes. I'm very grateful that my love came early from Norway to help me with everything. We had planned to spend this day together, but the extra week meant so much to me. I am so thrilled to have a wonderful, loving and supportive partner. In so many ways, my life is richer than I ever thought it could be.

Some words on Silence from Audre Lorde

"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.

Death, on the other hand, is the final silence. And that might be coming quickly, now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or had only betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words. And I began to recognize a source of power within myself that comes from the knowledge that while it is most desirable not to be afraid, learning to put fear into a perspective gave me great strength.

I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you."

– Audre Lorde

Good Friday

"Think of everything you've ever experienced that was painful; that's the meaning of Good Friday. Think of all the ways that love ultimately healed your heart; that's the meaning of Easter." - Marianne Williamson

History

"Because men have a history, it is difficult for them to imagine what it is like to grow up without one, or the sense of personal expansion that comes from discovering that we women have a worthy heritage. Along with pride often comes rage – rage that one has been deprived of such a significant knowledge."

– Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party

“Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me.“

-Alice Walker

Happy Poetry Month!!

"For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives."

– Audre Lorde, Poetry is Not a Luxury