Isis: Mothering

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 conceived

carried

and birthed all life

Then, out of my love for you

my children

I gave you my beloved mate, Osiris

Lord of vegetation

God of the grain

to be cut down

and born again

I nursed you through sickness with my healing arts

I made you clothes and invented weaving and spinning

I watched over your first steps

helping you grow from infancy to maturity

I was even there with you

at the end

to hold your hand

and guide you to immortality

You were All

and I gave you all

and to you I was All

Isis, Great Goddess, All Mother

Mythology:

Isis (pronounced eye’sis), also known as Au Set (“exceeding queen”) and Isis Panthea (“Isis the All-Goddess”), was worshipped in many places including Egypt, the Roman empire, Greece and Germany. When her beloved Osiris was killed then dismembered and scattered by her brother Set, Isis searched out the pieces and reassembled them. She found all but his penis, which she replaced with one of gold. Through use of her magic and healing arts she brought Osiris back to life then conceived, through his golden penis, the Sun God Horus. When the temples of Isis were turned into Christian churches, Isis with baby Horus on her lap became the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Meaning of the Card:

Isis has appeared in your life to tell you it is time for mothering. Have you been giving all your mothering energy away without keeping some for yourself? Have you taken on a new project or just had a new baby? Do you feel that something needs extra mothering, but you aren’t up to it? Did your own mother or caregiver give you the mothering you needed? Isis says that it is important to get the mothering you need in order to heal past wounds. Everyone needs to be mothered, regardless of whether you are a maiden, mother or crone.

Ritual Suggestion: Journey to Isis:
You can download this meditation at the following site for $2.00 http://deepspiritualnourishment.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=69&zenid=c636244961ac59cbabec57082d290766

Find a time and a place when and where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie comfortably with your spine straight and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and release it with the sound “ma”. Take another deep breath and let go of all you are holding onto as you sound “ma”. Now take a deep breath and, as you release it see, sense or feel yourself on a smooth clear river in a small boat. It is a warm, sunny day and the boat is rocking you gently back and forth, back and forth. You lie in the boat on soft cushions while the boat carries you along. Allow yourself to surrender to the warmth of the sun and the motion of the boat. The sounds of the water lapping against the boat send you into a blissfully relaxed state. You are now able to ask “where do I need mothering?” You see, feel, or sense a time in your life, past or present, when you needed to be mothered and didn’t receive what you needed. Allow any feelings that come up to be expressed.

The boat drifts into a landing and stops. You sit up. Before you is the Temple of Isis. You get out of the boat and walk up to the Temple. Take off your shoes and enter the Temple. It is dark inside, except for an oil lamp which burns in the entryway. You take the oil lamp and continue into the depths of Isis’s temple. Find a spot where you feel comfortable and put the oil lamp on the ground, then sit before it and call Isis.

Isis appears and asks you what you need. You tell her of the time in your life when you needed mothering and ask her to mother you. Give yourself over to her and take in her divine mothering, till you feel full and satiated. Isis asks you for a gift and you give it to her with an open heart.

When you are ready to leave, thank her. Isis vanishes and you pick up the oil lamp, return it to its place, and leave the temple. The boat is waiting for you. You get back into the boat. The boat drifts into the river and heads back. You drift with it feeling relaxed, revitalized, and at peace. The boat lands on the opposite side of the river. Take a deep breath, release it slowly and, when you feel ready, open your eyes. Welcome back!

Giving Your Power Away

Good Morning Goddesses,

I’ve often thought that often as women, we “give our power away” but I don’t think that’s really the case anymore. I think instead that we simply are not connected to our inner power source and that when you are connected to your power source – “giving your power away” is another aspect of power that can transform the world.

It is when we share ourselves with the people in our lives – and with the world that we truly access our power – because it becomes contagious – like the giggles. Just like love, we shouldn’t keep it just for ourselves. I’ve included an article below which proves that giving makes you rich:

http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/2007/10/15/Charity-Makes-Wealth

I watched a video on YouTube where Napoleón Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich was describing what he learned from Andrew Carnegie and essentially the belief that “whatever the mind can conceive, you can achieve”. He gives a lesson (I encourage you to listen to it in full detail as I will just give an overview) in which you write down what it is that you want to achieve – be as detailed as possible. And then on another page write what you are willing to give in order to have what you want to achieve and then start giving immediately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GCaEZscfvA

When I’m acting pitiful, John likes to remind me of AIDS Ride Patty. Years ago, John did the Boston to NY AIDS Ride and I volunteered the last day of the race in New York and my job was to collect the bikes from the riders and lead them to a recovery area. I was in a zone – I took the bikes – I congratulated the riders, I told them where their bikes were and told them where they could relax and get snacks while also looking out for John when he came in. I remember the feeling in my body of being connected, having a purpose, helping these riders out – it really was powerful and it had very little to do with me – but I was giving.

Now, if you’re like me, you don’t always know the definition giving from a place of power – which does not mean giving until you are completely depleted and have nothing left. Giving from a place of power means you are connected to your source. Giving from a place of power means that you have and maintain personal boundaries – you’re not just allowing yourself to be a battery that other people feed off of, you know when to say no and you’re not worried about disappointing others. I’ve attached a meditation courtesy of Witch School* on psychic shielding and releasing. It’s important, if you are an energy sponge like me, that you are able to protect yourself.

* I highly recommend www.witchschool.com – for something like $50 you become a lifetime member and are able to take unlimited courses online. You don’t need to be a lifetime member to take courses there either – just sign up and you have access to a level.

Now, on to the creative project…Again, I’ve included a few choices…

A good warm up activity for any of the projects is to listen to or make some music…I always find listening to tribal drumbeats gets me into a powerful zone – it’s hard not to feel that drum in your whole body. (I just put native American pow wow into youtube.com and a bunch of stuff came up.) And if you don’t have anything to listen to – get a pot and a spoon and make your own drum beats! Move your body to the beat of the drum.

If you want the experience of power in your body I recommend the following activity:

In front of a mirror (or if you have a video or digital camera, even better) and as if you were a piece of stone carving away a powerful stance, move your body into that stance (I would suggest doing this with your eyes closed) and then opening your eyes to look at the image in the mirror. This is a great exercise to do if you have someone else to work with – one person acts as the sculptor and one acts as the sculpture – and then take a digital picture of your poses.

For a visual representation of power, I recommend the following activities:

1. With sculpy or modeling clay, make a charm or amulet that represents power that is small enough to fit into your pocket – so you can carry it around to remind you to connect to your inner power. (you can also find a natural object – a rock or a shell that could fit in your pocket)
2. Create a mandala (or color in an existing one – I’ve included a website) that represents power and put this in a prominent place in your home or office to remind you to connect to your power.

http://www.coloringcastle.com/mandala_coloring_pages.html

Enjoy!

Love to you,

Patty

Starting Shitty

Dearest Goddesses,

I suppose since I had ideas other than just sharing myself and my musings with you with this new goddess format (I want to write a book) there is no mistake why it has been so confronting for me – especially my promised creative project point. It’s Thursday – my promised creative project day and my head is scattered.

My dear friend Susan shared something with me that I’d like to share with you. She had met with a friend of hers and were discussing the idea of getting started – taking that first step and her friend said to “start shitty”… Perhaps if we could take that on as a given for starting, we wouldn’t have such an apprehension for what it was going to turn out looking like and we could push through the doubt, fear, insecurity that gets in the way of getting started. And I think this is a good segue into another aspect of power which is asking for help which may require admitting you don’t know it all or telling some “bad news” about yourself!

The truth is, the doubt and fear aren’t going anywhere – by ignoring it and not acknowledging it – it doesn’t make it go away or disappear. But acknowledging it, recognizing it the power that those forces have on you dissipates. By ignoring it, the power of your subconscious will actually create meaning for you and provide you with evidence that your fears and doubts are valid. You have the power to be responsible for your fears and doubts – thank them for sharing – and then do it anyway. Start shitty.

SO – my fear is that I’m not making a difference, that nobody’s interested in doing the creative project or my challenges anyway, so why bother. “And who are you to be writing a book on this, you’re life is a mess.” “You’re not an artist” “You’re not even doing the projects, what makes you think anyone else is?!” Okay – just a little of my negative self talk. I’m not writing this for you to tell me how great I am – although that’s always nice ;) My intention is to hopefully show how we all get stopped by our fears and doubts. Telling on ourselves, asking for help are ways to get through it.

So…I will start shitty and come up with a creative project that I think does Lilith and the inquiry into Power– and I welcome you all to take it on and do it.

Patty’s Challenge: Where can you “start shitty” – where can you tell on yourself or ask for help? Where is fear and doubt stopping you?

Love to you,

Patty

Physical Power

Dearest Goddesses,

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been experiencing this growing discomfort in my tailbone – it hurt to sit. I attributed it mostly to too much sitting and not enough exercise. Although it was annoying – it wasn’t really hindering me in any way - so not much thought went into it. Then last Friday, I was walking and cut the bottom of my foot on the remnants of an old sign post. The cut wasn’t a big deal, but because it was sore and on the bottom of my foot, I started favoring my other leg and my tailbone became more and more uncomfortable. Well, yesterday I must have moved weird and my lower back went out – like a kink I couldn’t crack – which made sitting, walking, laying, really anything, quite uncomfortable. And because I was uncomfortable, I didn’t want to work or talk or do anything really – I got super crabby and was a slug on the couch trying to get comfortable.

It was clear to me the connection my physical body and power. When I feel healthy and pain free, I can more easily connect to my power source. If I happen to be feeling particularly skinny or “hot” then there is no need to connect to my power source – it is clear that it is spilling out of me. If I’m achy or in pain or feeling fat – well it takes much more digging to connect to my power source.

I happen to believe strongly that illness, pain, dis-ease, anything that happens in the body is your body’s way of telling you that there is something that you need to deal with - and the more severe the pain, the more serious the dis-ease, you’re body is saying NOW! I can look at my pain related to what’s going on in my life and there are no surprises.

Louise Hay wrote a fantastic book called You Can Heal Your Life which discusses how our limiting beliefs, if gone unchecked long enough can cause dis-ease and the power of affirmations to change those limiting beliefs and reverse the patterns of dis-ease. In the back has a list of problems, probable causes and a new thought pattern to take on. Let’s look at mine:

Problem: Lower Back Problems

Probable Cause: Fear of Money, lack of Financial Support

New Thought Pattern: I trust the process of life. All I need is always taken care of. I am safe.

Problem: Feet

Probable Cause: Represents our understanding – of ourselves, of life, of others

New Thought Pattern: My understanding is clear, and I am willing to change with the times. I am safe.

Problem: Cuts

Probable Cause: Punishment for not following your own rules

New Thought Pattern: I create a life filled with rewards

My dear friend Nancy SantoPietro wrote an excellent book called Feng Shui and Health, The Anatomy of a Home. Taken a step further – she explores the relationship between dis-ease, the chakras (energy centers within your body) and the feng shui bagua which correlate to different areas of your home which represents different areas of your life. So my discomfort is in the base of my spine which correlates to the first chakra or Survival Center which is represented in the Wealth Corner or gua (pg 217).

SO, I had been thinking that another aspect of power – or of my own definition of power – related to finances (which is connected to the discomfort I am feeling in my body, related to different areas of my home, related to my circumstances, etc.) Everything is interconnected – all junk that we need to deal with that is clogging up our power supply. I suppose the goal is to clear out those clogs so that energy can flow smoothly – through your body, through your home, out into the world. It is up to us to clean up the messes, clean out the clutter that is affecting the flow – we are in control – which brings us back to integrity.

Patty’s Challenge: Inquiry questions: Is there something that your body is trying to tell you? A message that you are not dealing with that is showing up as pain or dis-ease? Where are you feeling blocked or clogged? Where do you keep your physical clutter? What actions can you take (a small step forward is all that is necessary) to clean up your physical and emotional clutter?

Love to you,

Patty

Power: Choose it, or not

Dearest Goddesses,

Well – Lilith came and scared me away last week with all her talk of power! Since I wasn’t feeling “powerful” it was really hard for me to write about it – I felt a bit like a fraud. And since I didn’t hear from anyone, I made it up that I really wasn’t making a difference anyway. So, I’m done feeling sorry for myself and I think Lilith deserves another week!

I think my experience last week is telling – that we look for “power” outside of ourselves when really it’s always within us – we either choose to experience it or we don’t. I also think it’s interesting to note that power is very much connected to perspective – and what our definition of power looks like. I’ve been told many times how powerful I am when I’m not feeling up to par – essentially, when it comes right down to it, we are not qualified to judge ourselves on our level of power play. To truly find out who you are for other people – just ask them. When I was doing a Landmark Education program, I had to “interview” people in our lives about me – I asked questions like, what do you like most about me, what about me bugs you, what would you miss most about me if you were never to see me again, have I ever disappointed you. Not only was it incredibly insightful and I was able to clean up a lot of messes (Mrs. Ryan told me that it really bothered her that I didn’t use a coaster – I was able to immediately clean this up and under normal circumstances, it never would have come up and forever she would see my coasterless cup and freak out.) as well as see truly how I showed up for the people in my life.

So – what is your definition of power? I think mine is being able to be true to my word – doing what I say I’m going to do by when I say I’m going to do it; making a difference for people; being in action; being in communication; having the resources to follow through; I think my definition of power has a lot to do with my relationship to integrity. None of those things that I listed require outside circumstances to be aligned – they are all action items – all within my control. It’s when circumstances that seem out of my control present themselves – I allow myself to get pushed off the track. Perhaps if I had been in action and communication last week I would have pushed through my circumstances – and created alternative circumstances. And through all of my life’s experiences, it is so clear to me that those things that seemed insurmountable and “end of the world” a lot of times created the greatest of opportunities.

Well, certainly a start to truly exploring power. Please let me know if you need me to resend you the Lilith attachment I sent last Monday. I look forward to delving deeper into power – and especially our definitions of it.

Patty’s Challenge: Begin an inquiry into the question “What is my definition of power?”

Love to you,
Patty

Finally...Power

Dearest Goddesses,

Well, I am glad that we are exploring power this week. I have a lot of juicy stuff to talk about. I am attaching Lilith so that you can sit with her and explore her in more depth and see how fits into your life.

I will have to write a little more later on her as I have not left enough time this morning – or else we will embrace Lilith and our own power tomorrow…

Love to you,
Patty

Lilith: Power

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 dance my life for myself

I am whole

I am complete

I say what I mean

and I mean what I say

I dance the dark and the light

the conscious and the unconscious

the sane and the insane

and I speak from myself

authentically

with total conviction

without regard for how I might look

All the parts of myself

flow into the whole

all my divergent selves unite as one

I listen

to what needs to be heard

I never make excuses

I feel my feelings

deeply and profoundly

I never hide

I live my sexuality

to please myself

and pleasure others

I express it as it needs to be expressed

from the core of myself

from the wholeness of my dance

I am female

I am sexual

I am power

I was greatly feared

Mythology:

Lilith (pronounced lil’ith) was originally the Sumerian Queen of Heaven, a Goddess older than Inanna. The Hebrews took the Goddess and transformed her into the first wife of Adam, who refused to lie beneath him when having intercourse. She insisted that because they were created equal, they needed to have sex equally. When Adam refused, she left him. Thereafter, in Jewish mythology, she was described as a demon.

Meaning of the Card:

Lilith appears to tell you to take back your power. Where are the places you have lost or given away your power? What beliefs do you hold that deny your power? Have you been told that powerful women never find mates? Or that women can’t have power because that would make them unfeminine? Have you been teased, shunned, ostracized by others when you’ve stepped into your power? Are you afraid of misusing your power to dominate or manipulate? Lilith says that the way to wholeness for you now lies in acknowledging that you’re not connecting with your power, then second coming to terms with and accepting your power.

Ritual Suggestion: Cord Cutting Ceremony

You may do this ritual suggestion at any time. Working with the lunar cycles will increase its power. A good time to cut cords is at the dark of the moon. The time to put on the cords is the day after the full moon. You may wear the cords till the new moon or keep them on for a longer or shorter period – whatever feels right for you.

You will need rope, yarn, string, or whatever feels right. It should be sturdy enough for you to wear for the length of time you have chosen. You will also need a pair of scissors, a knife, and an incense burner, cauldron, or wood-burning stove. You can do this alone or with others.

Preparation: Choose up to three ways you have not been in your power. Perhaps you’ve been afraid of stepping into your power or your beliefs keep you from expressing your power. Next decide on a date to put on the cords. It could be right now or you might want to align with the cycles of the moon. When you have decided on your date, assemble all the things listed above.

Ceremony: You may cast a circle or do whatever is appropriate for you. When ready, pick up your cord and cut it to the length desired. The length you choose will be determined by where on your body you plan to tie it, for example, your ankles, wrists, throat, waist. The place you choose will be determined by what the cord represents. If you want to transform what keeps you from walking in your power, you might tie cords around your ankles. If you have trouble speaking your truth, you might choose your throat. If fear of your sexuality keeps you from your power, you might tie the cord low around your hips. Do what feels right.

As you are tying the cord next to your skin, speak the meaning of the cord. For example, “This cord symbolizes my desire to be in my power by speaking my own truth.” When finished, go on to the next cord. You may choose to work with only one cord at a time or you may work with three. Be sure you can give attention to all the cords. During the days leading up to the cord cutting, you will need to focus on each cord and what it represents by looking at the cord or feeling it next to your skin.

On the day or night you have chosen to cut the cords, have the incense burner, cauldron or wood-burning stove, matches and a knife or scissors ready. You may cast a circle or do whatever is appropriate for you. When ready, light whatever you are using. Do you want to dance and drum wildly, shout the meaning of the cord and how you take you power back as you cut the cord? Or do you prefer to sit quietly, state the meaning of the cord and your desire to take back your power, then cut the cord? Do what is appropriate for you. You may want to cut each cord differently. Cut the first cord, go on to the next till all the cords are cut. Now take the cords and put them in your incense burner, cauldron, or wood-burning stove and watch them burn. Allow yourself to feel a surge of power as you watch each cord turn to smoke.

If you want to dance, let your dance symbolize your intention to take back power and whatever the cord means to you. When finished with your dance, cut your cords and put them in the fire.

If you are doing this with a group, the group can drum or play music. Each member will have time in the center of the circle dancing her cords. When she is done with her dance, she can cut the cords herself or designate another to cut them. She places them in the fire and when they have burned, it is the next person’s turn till everyone has danced, cut their cords and burned them.

Take a deep breath and feel your new sense of power. If you have cast a circle, release what you have called in with gratitude. Give thanks to Lilith for pointing the way to your power.