Good Morning Goddesses,

Although the new year is filled with tremendous possibility, I’ve been feeling this trepidation engaging my goals and getting a jump start on all that I want to create this year. I think I may have discovered another aspect of my shadow…Sloth!! It’s silly really, because if I look at my life and ask most of the people I know, they would talk about my work ethic and how hard I am willing to work for a project or goal (right everyone?? ;) ). But when I look at my personal goals, I can’t help but feel like I don’t waaaaannnnnnnaaaa. I feel like I just want to be there already, without the work it might take to get there!

And then I was thinking this morning – if who we are as individuals is simply a sum of our life’s experience plus maybe a little genetics, then why do I seem to be in such a rush to get “there”? As if “there” is any place but death, you know? Because once I get to the “there” that’s in my head right now, I’m going to have a new “there” that I want to get to and we really never get to the ultimate “there” until we die since we are all unfinished journeys – so what am I rushing to get “there” for? If poof I’m “there” without the work it would be like getting a diploma without attending any classes or taking any tests – that’s part of the diploma, those experiences. And since we’re in the school of life and our experiences, our failures, our successes, the people we meet, the opportunities we’re presented – that’s the coursework, the tuition that we all need to pay. Aladdin had a genie, but needed to “pay” for his wishes in the long run –pretending to be someone he wasn’t almost cost him what he wanted the most.

What if we were already “there”? Whole and perfect in the moment, everything that you need, you already possess and our movement forward wasn’t a chore or hard work, but actually an adventure – because who knows who you’re going to meet and what you’re going to experience…And maybe that piece of shadow I saw isn’t really sloth, but just another face of fear – of failure, of the unknown, of not being good enough, of people figuring out that I don’t have it together!!

So I have two challenges for you today – one is the creative project that I promised and one is a pair of sunglasses – well, not really, I just love the metaphor of the idea of perspective being like a pair of sunglasses – or how you view the world.

So on to the challenges:

Patty’s Challenges:

1. Every person that you meet or every event or circumstance that you are involved in (waiting in line at the post office, getting stuck in the airport, etc…) ask the question: “What’s the opportunity that this is”

2. Creative Project:

The ritual suggestion for Innana is a meditation “Journey to Meet Your Shadow”. Do the meditation. The project is to incorporate or welcome your shadow (or the many aspects of your shadow) into your life. I’ve included several different ideas on how you could do that below – feel free to choose the one you feel most comfortable with (or least comfortable!) or do them all!

1. Create a visual showing either a realistic view of your shadow from your meditation or something symbolic representing the feelings that your shadow embodies.
2. Write a poem
3. Write a dialogue between you and your shadow and “act it out” in front of the mirror taking on both you and your shadow.

Note about the creative project: Creativity was never a “talent” I felt like I was born with, but getting in touch with my creative voice was so empowering for me. I feel like creativity is similar to meditation and when you are creating, you are actually connected to the flow of the universe and result of your creation can also be very revealing.

If you need clarity on the project or have any questions, please email me and ask!

Enjoy!

Love to you,

Patty

The Nasty Shadow...Complaining

Dearest Goddesses,

Embracing the Shadow…I’m not sure if I’m embracing the shadow yet, but I am certainly seeing her a little bit more. John read the daily goddess from yesterday and had to question my “feisty warrior” reference. I think of all the people in my life, he sees that angry shadow unleashed – and I don’t think he would qualify it as a “feisty warrior” – maybe nasty bitch might be more appropriate!! But that’s the point, really! If I don’t let her out to be feisty, she comes out as nasty and if I don’t express her at all, she just sits there and turns inward.

I recognized yesterday that I also have a shadow – that may be related – that is ravenous once the dinner dishes are done. I can’t eat enough or fast enough and last night (of course as I was watching The Biggest Loser – what a great show!) I recognized that in order to deal with this issue of mine, I’m going to have to truly change my environment. And by environment, I don’t just mean my physical space – although I do think the set up of my house contributes – I mean habits, relationships, activities.

Another aspect of shadow that I took a look at (and still am) over the holidays was a book I got called A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen. I talked about the book a few weeks ago as a great concept – and have nothing but rave reviews after reading the book – and so far – failing to make it even a day without complaining! He says in the book that he can’t help but smile when people contact him asking him for the purple bracelets saying – I’ve got to get these for everyone in my life because everyone around me complains! Truth is, you wouldn’t be surrounded by complainers if you weren’t contributing! The awareness has been huge though, and I notice that sometimes it is a conscious choice to complain – to be a part of the conversation, to feel included, to have something to say!

SO…Please join me on this challenge – to go 21 days straight (yes if you are on day 20 and you complain, you start over) without complaining, gossiping, or criticizing. Here’s how the challenge works:

1. Order a purple bracelet from www.acomplaintfreeworld.org (they’re free) OR, just use a rubber band – that is what I’m doing.
2. Begin to wear the bracelet on either wrist.
3. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping, or criticizing, move the bracelet to the other wrist and begin again.
4. If you hear someone else who is wearing a purple bracelet complain, it’s okay to point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm BUT if you’re going to do this, you MUST move your bracelet first! Because you’re complaining about their complaining. (This is where most of my complaints are coming from! Ha!!)
5. Stay with it. It may take many months to reach 21 consecutive days. The average is 4 – 8 months.

There is lots of juicy shadow to be found when you take on this challenge – and complaining is an epidemic, especially in the US – you will help contribute to eliminating this disease! (And if you think I’m overstating there, I’m not. If you look at the amount of health problems that are eliminated when complaining is eliminated from people’s lives, it is staggering.)

Okay – tomorrow I will share a creative project for you to take on this week.

Patty’s Challenge: Put a rubber band on one wrist and start to eliminate complaining from your diet. Take on Maya Angelou´s quote below as a mantra:

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”

Love to you,
Patty

Embracing Your Shadow

Dearest Goddesses,

Well I think that Embracing The Shadow is a perfect place to begin the year. Embracing the Shadow instead of trying to ignore it, change it, force it, mold it, challenge it, belittle it – EMBRACE IT! For only when we truly embrace our shadow and understand its point of view can we do anything to try to make a difference in our lives. I have an awesome example that I love to use that fits this idea perfectly…

When I was living in New York, I got a lot of parking tickets. So, I would put it in my bill pile for when I sat down and did my bills and by the time I did that, I would think that I didn’t have the money to pay for the tickets – OR, better yet, I would write the check, put a stamp on the envelope and then put the envelope in my bag where it would sit for weeks. So, time goes on, penalties begin to accrue and instead of a $35 ticket, the charges are now $65 and now I really don’t have the money and the check that I wrote that is still sitting in my bag is useless. But if you wait long enough and don’t DEAL with the tickets – either in the form of payment or going to the municipality and haggling, the city gives your information to the Marshalls who come and tow your car. So instead of a $35 ticket and just paying it – it was $150 for the towing, $25 for the storage fees, $65+ for the ticket. Ignoring the ticket NEVER worked, making myself wrong for this vicious cycle – also NEVER worked. The shadow – my anger, at not having better habits, of not being more responsible, of the fact that I was working so hard and didn’t have enough money to take care of all of my bills, that other people had it so easy, (I could go on and on) – was never embraced, I just ignored it, I just let it fester and when the marshall came – I added the “injustice” of the city of New York to the things that I was angry about. And although I’m not getting parking tickets anymore – I see that I need to do some work embracing my anger – that feisty warrior. She has value to add to my life and I am ignoring her and it is permeating through many aspects of my life. Phew – and I thought I was going to share a funny story about my vicious parking ticket cycle.

Patty’s Challenge: Work with the Ritual Journey for Innana

More about the shadow tomorrow –

Many blessings,

Patty

Innana: Embracing The Shadow

The following is excerpted exactly from The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and the illustrations are by Hrana Janto. For more information on their work, please visit the following websites:

Amy Sophia Marashinsky: http://www.amysophia.com/
You can download the meditations included in the ritual suggestions at http://deepspiritualnourishment.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

Hrana Janto: http://www.hranajanto.com/

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I went there

of my own free will

I went there

in my finest gown

with my rarest jewels

and my Queen of Heaven crown

In the Underworld

at each of the seven gates

I was stripped seven times

of all that I thought I was

till I stood bare in who I really am

Then I saw Her

She was huge and dark and smelly and hairy

with a lion’s head

and lion’s claws

devouring everything before Her

Ereskigal, my sister

She was all that I am not

All that I have hidden

All that I have buried

She is what I have denied

Ereskigal, my sister

Eriskigal, my shadow

Eriskigal, my self

Mythology

Sumerian Queen of Heaven, Innanna (pronounced eh-na’na) tricked her father, Enki, God of Wisdom, into giving her the hundred objects of culture, which she then gave to humankind. Desiring to pay a visit to her sister, Ereskigal, she journeyed to the underworld. There she was stripped and killed, and left to hang on a hook for three days and three nights. Inanna was allowed to leave the Underworld only if she found a substitute. She chose her sun-lover, the shepherd Damuzi, who, in her absence, had usurped her place on the throne of Heaven.

Meaning of the Card

Inanna is here to tell you that a journey to the Underworld is the way to wholeness for you now. It is time to dance with your shadow, reclaim what you’ve denied, embrace your own Dark Sister / Dark Self. You need all those aspects of yourself that your parents, caregivers, teachers, society have deemed unacceptable in order to achieve wholeness in your life. Whether it be your talent, your beauty, your inner vampire, your anger, your madness, you are required to surrender to the journey and embrace your dark side. If you are already in the Underworld, the appearance of Inanna may signal that the time for your return is at hand. Journeys to the Underworld to embrace your dark side are a law unto themselves. They take as much time as they need to take – you can’t just fit them into your schedule. When it is time for you to journey, you will and you will not be done until you return. Take comfort in the fact that all journeys to the Underworld do end and that you will indeed return – much different from who you thought you were when you went.

Ritual Suggestion: Journey to Meet Your Shadow
You can download this meditation at the following site for $1.50 http://deepspiritualnourishment.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=47&zenid=c636244961ac59cbabec57082d290766

Find a time and place when and where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie comfortably with your back straight. When you feel ready, take a deep breath and release it, letting everything go. Breathe in and let your body relax. As you breathe out, drop your body as if you were removing a suit of silk clothes, letting it lie in a pool at your feet. Breathe in and see the entrance to a tunnel. It can be one you are familiar with or one you invent. As you breathe out, see yourself standing before it. Breathe in and enter. The tunnel is warm and well lit. You begin to go down, down, down. The tunnel is safe and feels pleasant. You are going down, down, down, deeper and deeper and deeper. Now you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You are at the threshold of the Underworld. Step out into the Underworld.

Call what you need to see – your shadow, your dark side. Call this entity to you and it will come. What does it look like? How does it make you feel? It asks you for something and you give it freely (Note: If you experience any fear, either before the journey or when you meet your shadow, keep breathing deeply and acknowledge the fear. It is there to help you. Being able to witness all the parts/aspects of ourselves, with or without fear, is what brings us to wholeness).

It is now time to return, so bid your shadow good-bye for now and return to the tunnel. Now you are coming up, up, up, through the warmth and the safety of the tunnel, feeling energized, feeling refreshed, feeling relaxed. Up, up, up, till you reach the entrance of the tunnel. Take a deep breath and, when you exhale, you are back in your body. Take a deep breath and, when you exhale, if ready, open your eyes. Welcome back!

2008 Daily Goddess

Dearest Goddesses,

The 2008 Daily Goddess is inspired by the magnificent work by Amy Sophia Marashinksy in her book and card set The Goddess Oracle, illustrated by Hrana Janto. These very talented women put together a fantastic work of art which has been a guiding light for me over the past few years. Through a meditation, I chose the Goddess cards to represent one per week for the entire year. Since each goddess represents a different theme, it will be an opportunity to focus a little further on one theme.

At the beginning of each week, I’ll provide the goddess, the poem, the mythology, the meaning of the card and the ritual suggestion – which is usually in the form of a meditation - as an attachment which will make it easier for you to refer to the information throughout the week. And then the daily goddess emails will be my musings about that particular theme and I will have a daily challenge as well.

During the week, I will also introduce a creative project that I will encourage you all to take on. I truly believe that a connection with your creative self is similar to meditation and you are more connected to the flow of the universe. And if you are sitting there saying that you don’t have a creative bone in your body…well, knock it off! All the tools you need already lie within you – it is simply up to you to access them and set them free.

I certainly hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

Much love,
Patty