Tears of Transformation

Today in Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine
is my latest article called

Tears of Transformation

Walks Tall Woman felt the tears of transformation run like slow moving, lazy rivers down her cheeks. The truth had taken root in her heart and the impregnated seed of change had been planted in her womb. It would gestate until it was time in the future for the Clan Mother to give birth to her new, more vulnerable self. She quietly sat and reflected on the words Mountain Lion had spoken before she asked a question. ‘How can I be an example to other women, Mountain Lion, when I have to learn these lessons for myself?’

Click this link Tears of Transformation or the one above to visit Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine to read the full article.

Mojo Monday ~ Believing

There is something about this time of year that encourages many adults, even those who no longer believe in magic, to suspend that rational way of thinking.  The holiday season is a time of Santa, elves, flying reindeer, and speed traveling around the world in one night.  It is a time of encouraging the young ones to continue to believe in wonder, mystery and magic.  

In one of my all-time favorite books The Book of Awakening, author Mark Nepo writes about the topic of believing.  It is one of the shorter essays in the book, but is nonetheless a deeply contemplative sharing.  It begins with this quote: "Believing is all a child does for a living." ~ Kurtis Lamkin.

Here is how it continues:

"Picasso once said that artists are those of us who still see with the eyes of children.  Somehow, as we journey into the world, more and more gets in the way, and we stop questioning things in order to move deeper into them and start questioning as a way to challenge things we fear are false.

As a child I used to talk to things -- birds that flew overhead, trees that swayed slowly in the night, even stones drying in the sun.  For years, though, I stopped doing this freely because of what others might think, and then I stopped altogether.  Now I learn that Native Americans do this all the time, that many original peoples believe with their childlike eyes right into the center of things.

Now, almost fifty, I am humbled to recover the wisdom that believing is not a conclusion, but a way into the vitality that waits in everything."

* When you can, talk with a child about how they see the world.

I am so moved by this short essay by Mark Nepo.  Is there anything particular about this passage that resonates with you?  

As a child did magic and creativity play a big role in your life?  Was it encouraged or discouraged? 

Imagine you have a magical pair of glasses that can allow you to return and look at the world through the eyes of your former child self.

What do you see when you look around yourself right now?

What do you see when you walk outside and look around?

Try communicating with any animals you see - cat, dog, squirrel, birds, or maybe even wild turkeys perhaps?  What do you want to tell them?  What do you think they want to tell you?

Now try communicating to the trees, bushes, flowers, and grass your thoughts and feelings.  Now share a message with the sky, the dirt, the rocks and water if there is any nearby. If it isn't too cold out take off your shoes and stand on the ground in your bare feet. What does communing with our earth mama feel like?  Do you hear any messages in return?

Considering how we are also about to end one calendar year and begin another one anew, is there anything that you want to believe as you enter into a new cycle?  Are there some beliefs in magic and wonder that you want to recover and feel deep in your soul?

Mojo Monday ~ Courageous Acts of Art

Art is a personal act of courage,
something one human does
that creates change in another.- Seth Godin -

In the past couple of days there were two stories I came across that are completely unrelated, except for an invisible red thread that I saw connecting them.   I recognized in both stories some common messages about the power of art.  Both are also stories about courage and how art can save lives and transform challenge and hardship into beauty and creativity.

Alice Herz Sommer photograph from The Times

Let me introduce you first to Alice Herz Sommer, who just turned 110 years old in November and is the world's oldest pianist and holocaust survivor.  In July 1943, Alice, her husband, and their six-year-old son Raphael were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp.  Theresienstadt was originally designated as a model community for middle-class Jews from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.  Many educated Jews were inmates of Theresienstadt.  In a propaganda effort designed to fool the Western allies, the Nazis publicized the camp for its rich cultural life.  Alice played more than 100 concerts in the camp along with other musicians.  Her young son Raphael remained in the camp with her, performing in a children's  chorus at the camp.  Unfortunately her husband, Leopold Sommer, was later sent to Auschwitz and although he survived the camp, he died at Dachau  in 1944.

As a child in Prague, Alice spent weekends and holidays in the company of Uncle Franz (Franz Kafka) and other notable figures like Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke who were friendly with her mother.  When Alice moved to Israel after the war, Golda Meir attended her house concerts, as did Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Isaac Stern. Today Alice lives in London, where she still practices piano for hours every day.  Alice has been victorious in her ability to live a life without bitterness and she credits music as the key to her survival, as well as her ability to acknowledge the humanity in each person.  Here is a short featurette from a documentary made about Alice called The Lady In Number 6.

The next story is about Camille Seaman who is currently a 2013 TED Senior Fellow and a Stanford Knight Fellow.  I was introduced to Camille by a wonderful syndicated interview by Richard Whittaker called Camille Seaman: We All Belong to Earth.  Camille has many artistic talents, but she has become most well known as a photographer.

Let me share with you first Camille shares about being introduced to photography as a teenager in the interview: 

So in high school they recognized that I was at risk of getting into trouble, ending up pregnant, on drugs or whatever. So they put me in this after school program and they gave me a Nikkormat film camera. They took away the manual and said I’d have to figure out how to use it. They taught me how to bulk load black and white film. They taught me how to develop using an enlarger and chemicals, all that. Then they said go out and photograph your experience.  I didn’t realize it, but that probably saved my life because I was given something creative in my hands, so I could express whatever anger, frustration or emotions I was feeling as this teenager. So I did. I photographed everything; all my friends, all of our adventures. I realized having that camera in my hands gave me excuses to be somewhere in a positive way.

Later on in the interview Camille shares about her experience with facing fear while she learns to surf. Let me share an excerpt with you.

     I was like, okay. I started to try to paddle out and my balance was terrible. It felt really awkward. The water was so dark, cold and murky. This was at Bolinas and the Farallons were 29 miles away. And there were all of these great white sharks out there, which meant they could possibly be here. That was all I could think about and I freaked out. I turned to him and was like, “Oliver, I’m scared.” He turned and looked at me and then he paddled away. And I was so mad. I was so angry. I was like, “Oh my god! He was my friend since we were like 16 years old and he just abandoned me.”
     I tried for a while and then it was like, forget this. I got out of the water and just waited for him. I was like you’ve got to get out sometime. And when he came out and I asked, “How could you? I told you I was afraid and you just left me.” And he said something that really resonated. It was really a great truth. He said, “No one can teach you to manage your fears, but you.” And he was right.
     From that day on, I would go out and I would sit on the board. I got a little better at paddling. I got a little better with the balance. And I still sometimes would freak out. Then I would be like, okay, what’s the worst that could happen? Well, a shark could bite you and kill you. Well, is that happening now? No. Okay. You know, you kind of just work through it. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, I can drown. Is that happening now? No. So I surfed for over a year every day. And then I was hooked.

Camille's courage, love of adventure and travel and a free plane ticket later lead her to fly to the Arctic Circle.  There is a point where she is fives mile away from the nearest town and all she can see in all directions is just white and she has an epiphany.

 On this extreme part of our planet I was realizing that I was a creature of this planet, that I was literally made of the material of this planet—that we all are. And in those moments, I realized the absurdity of tribe, of border, of culture, of language—because at the bottom of it all, we are all made of this material. We are all earthlings. There is no separation. There is no distinction. None of us were born in outer space. We will all return to the material of this earth.
     What was so clear was that I was standing on my rock in space. I understood the immensity, and also the minuscule nature of that. I understood that I meant nothing in the scale of time and space and history of this planet. That it would blow over my cold dead bones without a thought. But the fact that I could stand there on the ice and actually ponder such things was a miracle. That was a self-realization at its finest. It made me realize what my grandfather was trying to show me.
     I started to think about that; if my sweat becomes the rain, whose sweat is this ice? How many ancestors ago, what creatures created this? They’re all my relations, all my relatives. And in that, I understood the integral nature of this planet—that we truly are a web of life.

Here are two of her amazing photos.

The Last Iceberg photo by Camille Seaman

Photo by Camille Seaman

Here is a TED talk given by Camille about her iceberg photography experiences.  

The experiences of these two women inspired me.  What are your thoughts?

Creativity and art (music and photography) play significant roles in Alice and Camille's lives.  What forms of creativity and art play a role in your life?  

This post began with a quote by Seth Godin that reads: Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.  Do you agree with this quote?  Have you ever felt changed by an experience with art?

The Sacred Space In Between

Today in Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine
is my latest article called

The Sacred Space In Between

“My Grandmother Twylah taught me that the Sacred Space can be found in between the in breath and the outbreath.   Holding the breath to the count of ten allows us to stop the outer world and to open the door that leads to the inner world of the Self.  I developed a way to get to that place within myself so I can connect to my Orenda (Spiritual Essence).  By inhaling, holding the breath for a moment, then exhaling, I can calm myself and enter the Stillness. Then I listen to find the small, still voice of love within my heart.  The voice of the Orenda, which always speaks from love, stops the outer world’s chaos from impinging on my senses.  In this place of quietness that exists within myself, I am able to find the Eternal Flame of Love from the Great Mystery that feeds the voice of my Spiritual Essence.”

Click this link The Sacred Space In Between or the one above to visit Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine to read the full article.

Indian Paint Brush painting by Thomas Blackshear

Mojo Monday ~ Giving Thanks

“Embrace your ordinary life, whatever its wrapping,
for in the embrace you will hear the whisper of Gratitude.
Listen for her in the ordinary activities of your day,
in the ordinary encounters with loved ones,
and in the ordinary challenges that greet you each morning.
She speaks from the depths of you, in the voice of your ordinary life.” 
~ Patricia Lynn Reilly

Yesterday my husband and I hosted a Gratitude Gathering at our home with some dear friends.  We all prepared delicious vegetarian or vegan dishes for a pot luck.   (I sensed that the wild turkeys that wander our neighborhood were saying their own words of gratitude for us non-meat eating folks yesterday.)   There were fun stories and plenty of laughter around the table.  Our 7 year old twin daughters Aubrey and Maya also made their first sweet potato pie all by themselves for the occasion, though they were quite thrilled when our friend Patty showed up with a vegan pumpkin pie, their favorite.  

I was so incredibly grateful that everyone, save for our friend Sandy, who had to work, was able to attend.   A few of our friends live up in the mountains and if the weather had been snowy they might have had to cancel.  It ended up being a stunning clear day, nearing a high of about 69 degrees.  Following our meal we played for a bit in the backyard with our Frisbee chasing dog Shanti and then we all went on a little walk to a nearby river trail.  

In fact one of the things I am feeling so incredibly grateful for right now is having discovered that a river trail was re-vamped just a block from our home. The trail in the short time we have begun using it has come to feel a bit like it is our own private sanctuary.  It was wonderful to share it with our friends and we all oohed and ahhed at the stunning views.  While sharing in a rose petal and lavender ceremony of gratitude a large gaggle of geese flew overhead in their traditional "V" formation.  

Here is a short little slideshow to share some of the beauty of the day:

This picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Right now I am so incredibly Grateful for family, friendships, fur-kids, bountiful food shared with love, the beauty of nature and living so immersed in it, our comfy home and our spacious yards, including our big mama oak tree and majestic redwood.

What are you grateful for at this point in time?

In what ways might you honor or celebrate your thankfulness this week?  

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.
It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing,
and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” 

~ Melodie Beattie

Mojo Monday ~ The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart

In the Fall of 2009 Daphne Rose Kingma was on a walk with a dear friend who had come to visit her from Europe.  He had lost his job.  His wife had left him.  His financial portfolio had dwindled to less than a third of its original size.  He had also had to move and on top of it all he’d been diagnosed with a slow-moving degenerative disease that would, ultimately, be fatal.   She describes how he was in need of deep comfort as well as distraction from his anguish during his visit.   The walked and hiked, had picnic lunches, attended a concert, an art gallery opening and went to a Buddhist temple to pray.  On one particular afternoon while out walking he asked her to make him a list of the ten things he needed to get through his crisis.

Daphne, who was already the author of a number of books, including Coming Apart, 365 Days of Love, Loving Yourself and The Men We Never Knew, thought to herself when he posed the question, that it was a lot to ask, and that it was practically like asking her to write a book.   Yet, when they returned home from their walk and she sat down to contemplate his question, she found that within minutes she had created a list for her friend.   Her list would become the basis for her latest book called The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart.

In the Introduction Daphne shares “When hardship hits, especially when a bunch of things pile on all at once, we can be shaken to the core, and life feels completely out of control.”

“When life throws us a curveball, our first response is shock, denial, and disbelief.  We can’t believe that this --- or all of this --- is actually happening. Once we digest the fact that it really is happening and that it won’t go away, we begin to bargain, to try to manage the unwieldy monster.  Maybe it’ll change tomorrow.  Maybe my wife was just threatening –she’ll be back.  Maybe the bank miscalculated the dividends.  Maybe the hospital got the X-rays mixed up.  In this deeply painful emotional state, we’re torn between facing the truth of what has occurred and still hoping against hope that somehow the nightmare will be repealed.”

“But when bargaining no longer works, then what?  How do you mend your heart after loss?  How do you carry on or begin again?  What can you do when your wife walks out?  Your child dies?  Your husband takes you to custody court and “buys” the right to move your children six states away?  How can you keep on reaching when your dreams when your efforts keep coming to naught?  When you come back shattered from war?  When every cent you squirreled away has vanished in WallStreetspeak and cybersmoke, and at age sixty-four with a PhD you find yourself weirdly, working as a paint consultant at a hardware store?”

The following chapters outlines the 10 things one can do to find emotional and spiritual balance in the midst of crisis. Here is a small taste of each chapter.

1.If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Cry Your Heart Out.

“He who sits in the house of grief will eventually sit in the garden.” – Hafiz

“Hard times, more tha any others, reveal to us the truth that the signature of our humanity is our emotional nature.  What differentiates us from stone and butterflies is the degree to which what happens to us affects us on an emotional level.  We don’t just experience things – get a divorce, lose our house, watch our dog die from eating poison –we have feelings about these events.  It is the depth and nuance of our feelings – of our joy, sorrow, anger, and fear –that give texture to our humanity.”

2. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Face Your Defaults.

“Awareness in itself is curative.” – Fritz Perls

“Your defaults are whatever you do when you don’t know how to cope or what to do next…Defaults are habitual behaviors, and they’re not always the best way to cope.  New –and especially, difficult --- circumstances howl out for new solutions: improvisation, imagination, ingenuity.  But when we’re intimidated, scared, and overwhelmed, most of us resort to our default behaviors because, well, we always have, and there they are.”

3. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Do Something Different.

“We all like to stay on the little crutches that are familiar.” Jules Zimmer

“Different circumstances call on us to be different.  To grow or die.  To expand or contract.  To fly or get lost in the rubble.  As our world changes, we must change.  When our circumstances are altered, we must alter our response to them.”

4. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Let Go.

“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” – Michael Peake

“When your life is falling apart, there’s always the impulse to hold on: to him, to her, to it; to the way it was, to how you wanted it to be, to how you want it now.  But in order to get through a crisis, you will have to let go of whatever is standing in your way or causing the problem; these are the handcuffs around your ankles, the tin cans tied to your tail.  You will have to let go of whatever isn’t serving you, whatever you no longer need, whatever keeps you from moving forward, whatever you’re so attached to that you can’t see where you’re going.”

5. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Remember Who You’ve Always Been.

“He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.”  Cesare Pavese

“When the tectonic plates of the world are shifting beneath your feet, it is hard to remember that there’s a continuous thread of genius, of power, of responsiveness that runs through your life, that, since the beginning, you’ve had certain qualities to bring to the task at hand – no matter how fraught it may be with challenge and frustration.  Who you are now is who you’ve always been.  You didn’t wake up today as somebody else.  You are a single, talented, rare, unrepeatable human being.  There is something at your core that’s unique to you, that always has been and always will be.”

6. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Persist.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.  The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” – Wolfgang von Goethe

“Persistence is the spiritual grace that allows you to continue to act with optimism even when you feel trapped in the pit of hell.  It is the steadfast, continual, simple – and at times excruciatingly difficult – practice of trudging forward until the difficult present you’re scared will go on forever is replaced by a future that ha a new color scheme.”

7. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Integrate Your Loss.

“Enlightenment doesn’t occur from sitting around visualizing images of light, but from integrating the darker aspects of the self into the conscious personality.” – Carl Jung

“In order to get through the crisis you’re in, you will have to accept what has happened and then integrate it into the fabric of your life.  Your integration of the content and the meaning of the crisis will be the sign, the hallmark, that you are moving through this challenge.”

8. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Live Simply.

“Do what you can.  Where you are.  With what you have.”  - Theodore Roosevelt

“Living simply is paring away --- stuff, obligations, expectations, people.  It’s removing all the glut and rubble from your life, making space in your house, your heart, your brain, and your life for exactly and only what you need.  It’s getting down to the core of things and returning to a way of living that most of us can only vaguely remember: pleasures that don’t cost piles of money, rewards you don’t have to buy in stores, amusements that don’t require a screen or scrabbling with hundreds of other people to get to.”

9. If you want to get through this crisis you will have to Go Where the Love Is.

“In times of crisis, love must prevail.” ~ Linda Laurie

“In the end, love really is the only thing that matters.  We’ve heard that forever, and to some degree we believe it.  Be do we really live it?  Apart from romantic love – which, for a lot of us, consumes a great deal of our time and attention as we look everywhere for “the one” – we’re not generally whiling away our afternoons just loving each other to pieces.  Why does it take a nightmare to wake us up to our need for love?  Why is compassion the last thing on our agenda, after the ball game and a trip to Target, after we’ve answered our email and voicemail, checked Facebook and Twitter?  We have gotten so terribly far away from our gaping beautiful need for love because, somehow along the way, we have become immersed in all our distractions.  Our actions often seem to indicate that we believe that things, not relationships, will nourish us; that noise, not silence, will give us peace; that electronic stimulation, not morning sunlight, will fill our souls with excitement.  We have gotten so far away from the truth of our need for love that it’s almost as if the cosmos itself has had to bust our chops so we would wake up and remember.  Love is relationship.  It is the energy that passes between people when they are in close enough proximity – emotional, physical, spiritual – for that energy to pass between hem.  It is the energy too that passes between people and creatures, people and natures, people and the mystery.”

10. If you want this crisis to transform you, you will choose to Live In the Light of the Spirit.

“On many occasions when I was dancing I have felt touched by something sacred.  In those moments, I felt my spirit soar and I became one with everything that exists.  I became the stars and the moon.  I became the lover and the beloved.  I became the victor and the vanquished…the singer and the song…the knower and the known.” ~ Michael Jackson

“Spiritual life gives us a shimmering new awareness that this life is not the whole of things.  As we move through the paces of our spiritual practice, we begin to hear the whispers deep inside us.  Gradually we come to know, to remember, that there is something deeper and more ancient in us, something forever-ish at our core, something that was and will always be, something whose scope is vast and whose breath is eternal, something that we call god or spirit or soul.”

Each Chapter ends with some questions.  Here are some to contemplate from each section:

Cry Your Heart Out ~ What’s the old ache in your heart that you’ve never wept over? 

Face Your Defaults ~ What are your most prominent default behaviors?

Do Something Different ~ As far as you can tell, what is this crisis asking you to do differently?

Let Go ~ What are you holding on to that is impeding your freedom as you endeavor to move through this crisis?  Debilitating friendships? Unproductive work relationships?  A lousy marriage?  Hopelessness?  Despair?  A standard of living you can’t afford?

Remembering Who You’ve Always Been ~ What, if you think about it quickly right now, is your signature strength?  If it doesn’t come immediately to mind, ask yourself what you liked to do when you were a child of six or seven.

Persist ~ The area of your life in which you are most discouraged and to which you really need to bring the practice of persistence is ______________.

Integrate Your Loss ~ What is the crisis, the difficult experience, the loss or change of status that you are trying to integrate right now?

Live Simply ~ What are ten things you could get rid of immediately?

Go Where the Love Is ~ What’s the kind of love you still need?  How would you like that to show up for you now?  What is the offering of love that you would like to give? 

Life in the Light of the Spirit ~ What experience or experiences have you had that connected you to your own transcendent and eternal nature?

Concluding message from the author:

Peace Be With You

May the depth of your crisis remind you of who you really are.  May your pain bring you into the light of awareness.  May your journey through it give you hope.  And when you have made it through the storm, may you feel great peace and joy.

Lastly here is a video of the author being interviewed on Santa Barbara TV.

November ~ National Photo Posting Month

Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks initiated November as the National Photo Posting Month. I have committed to participating and will be posting a daily photo via Twitter and Facebook  and thought I would give updates here on the Red Boa blog every five or seven days.  

(If you want to play along the hash tag for participating is #NaPhoPoMo)

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Mojo Monday ~ Weaves the Web

Gossamer threads of life hold me,
Perched between Earth and Sky,
Weaving the web, dreaming the dream,
Through the two worlds I will fly.
With you as my muse, Mother,
I create the substance of dreams,
Allowing the artist within me
To fashion my life with esteem.
I mold the clay of experiences
Into a sacred Medicine Bowl,
Capturing the essence of living
As it sings deep in my soul.
Your secrets of creation, Mother,
Have taught me when to destroy
The chains that have bound me,
Limiting the expression of my joy.
You have taught me how to labor,
Giving birth to the visions within,
Setting them free like silver arrows,
Kindling the fire of Creation again.

~ Jamie Sams

On Saturday I traveled up into the mountains to meet with my Vision Quest spirit guide and to gather with some clan sisters. As we talked and shared about the experiences so far this month I realized how fitting it was that an extra burst of creativity had been very much a part of my life.  As part of the Vision Quest spiritual journey we are reading the book The 13 Original Clan Mothers by Jamie Sams.  It just so happens that the month of October is represented by the Clan Mother of the Tenth Moon Cycle, Weaves the Web. "Weaves the Web represents the creative principle within all things.  Her moon cycle falls in the month of October and is connected to the color pink.  Working with the truth is her Cycle of Truth. She teaches us how to use our hands to create beauty and truth in tangible forms.  Pink is the color of creativity.  Weaves the Web shows us how to use crafts and art to create our ideas and dreams in the physical world.  Through using our hands, we show our willingness to be of service to All Our Relations."

In addition to the writing I do for blogs and Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, and the creative process included in my Vision Quest, I have also been participating in the amazing course by Jenafer Owen called Storywalking: Retrieve.  (You can find out more about Jenafer's on-line courses at Inspired Inquiries.) We have been creating collages the past few weeks and  then this week during a guided meditation the most amazing traveling companion revealed itself to join me on my journey ~ a whale. Below is an artistic rendition of my friend as I envisioned.  The message my whale had for me ~ "We are going to plumb the depths...and swim among the stars."

I also could not resist participating in the course being offered by Brene Brown (and sponsored by Oprah) called The Gifts of Imperfection.  During the first week of class I wrote permission slips for myself, took the pledge and created a courage heart, which included a short list of my most trusted confidants, or as Brene Brown puts it, the list of those who love me because of my imperfections.

Permission Slips, The Pledge, Heart of Courage

It was rather interesting that even through I had read the chapter She Who Weaves right at the beginning of the month, I had not fully connected all that had been blossoming creatively in my corner of the world.  Of course October is also the month that includes Halloween, a favored holiday in our home, and there have also been creative opportunities in the creation of costumes.  My twin daughters chose to be a fox and and owl this year and we put together playful , comfortable and simple costumes for them to wear.

There is more from the introductory chapter about Weaves the Web that also bears sharing. "Weaves the Web is the Guardian of the Creative Forms in all things.  She helps us express our creativity in a positive manner and use the energy available to us.  The Clan Mother is also the Keeper of Life Force and instructs us to create health, to manifest our dreams, to develop and use our talents, and to access our spiritual potentials.

The Clan Mother of the Tenth Moon Cycle is the Mother of the Creative and Destructive principles; she shows us when to destroy limitations and create anew.  She also teaches us when to nurture our creations, because she is the Keeper of Survival Instinct.  When our physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual survival is at risk, Weaves the Web shows us how to tap into the life force to grow beyond this stagnation.  She is an artist, a creatress, and the muse who beckons and inspires us to create the beauty found in our heart's desire.  Through making something tangible and filling that creation with beauty, we are shown that the stuff of dreams can be expressed, giving form to our visions.  She is the Clan Mother we turn to when we are afraid of failure or lack self-expression."

The last sentence above "She is the Clan Mother we turn to when we are afraid of failure or lack self-expression" is one that I had somewhat suppressed this month, but has been ever so present in a deeper and more subconscious way.  On Saturday I also experienced a heart tuning by a beautiful young woman from Costa Rica who practices Reiki and is also a yoga instructor.  After the heart tuning she shared with me that there was one message she was receiving for me which was that "It was okay for me to release the fear.  That the fear was not necessary."  I nearly teared up at hearing those words for I knew I had been suppressing deep seated fear for a couple of months.  I had been pushing and stuffing it down, in an attempt to make it go away, and here I was being told by a messenger that I could just release the fear.

Grandmother Spider art by Amethyst Moon Song

Let us return to the final paragraphs about Weaves the Web from The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers.

"When we follow the steps necessary to bring our dreams to life, Weaves the Web shows us how to use the life force found in the four elements of air, earth, water, and fire.  We learn how to mix these elements with the creative essence that is our gift from the Great Mystery.  This creative spark is called the Eternal Flame of Love and live inside our spiritual Essences.  When the desire to create is in place, we are then able to make the decision TO BE.  We then give form our our Spiritual Essences or Orendas through self-expression.

Weaves the Web, life Grandmother Spider who wove the web of the universe, teaches us how to weave the web of our experiences.  She shows us how every circle we create grows to touch the circles created by all other life forms.  The webs we create can trap us, if we do not create them in truth.  We are asked by the Clan Mother to work with and for the truth in order to manifest a world dream that all living things can share.  A web that is created in greed with eventually trap and devour the one who wove it because it was woven too tightly to allow giving, receiving, and sharing.  A web woven too loosely, without care, lacks the craftsmanship that is necessary to make it strong and durable.  A web woven from fear will attract the lessons needed to overcome that fear.  A web woven from the love of creating and desire to share the abundance caught in the web's silvery fibers is a web that will endure until the dream is fulfilled.

Weaves the Web is the Clan Mother we turn to when we need the skills to make our dreams real.  She shows us how to take the actions necessary to tap our creativity and go with the flow.  Giving birth to our dreams is always accomplished by having the desire to create, deciding to create, and taking the actions necessary by using the flow of life force to give birth to the dream in the tangible world."

Image by Sandy Stewart

Has creativity been flowing in your corner of the world this month?

Are there dreams that you have been longing to birth?

Are there fears (fear of failure) holding you back?

What would it take to release your fear?

What do you desire to create?

Are you taking actions on your desires?

Consider this quote from the chapter Weaves the Web:

"Weaves the Web taught the children that every painted symbol had meaning to an artist and that every color had a significance when an artist created an object of beauty."

What symbols resonate with you?

Do certain symbols show up in your dreams, thoughts, art or objects that draw your attention?

What colors are you currently drawn to at this time?