Allowing The Door to open

Dearest Goddesses,

Thank you for reaching out over the past couple of days – and Galina – thank you for sharing with the whole group what it is like to be the change you want to make in the world. It was certainly inspiring. Being complaint free is a definite challenge and if more young people took it on, I think middle & high school would be a very different experience for everyone!!

I also want to thank John for the stand that he took for me yesterday in the email he sent to all of you. While at first I was a little embarrassed (even though his sentiment made me cry) I am so grateful that I have someone willing to take a stand like that for me. There is no mistake that after I made the request for everyone to respond to me once a month that I didn’t send out a goddess email for 3-4 weeks. I mean, there were lots of circumstances – but it is no mistake. I recognize my craving to receive but how difficult and uncomfortable it is for me and how I’ll actually set up situations where I either don’t receive, can’t receive, or dilute receipt! And I also think it’s perfect that John sent that email on the same day my mediation told me to focus on my heart chakra – and that the “emptiness” I felt yesterday wasn’t like there was nothing there – I’m a loveable person and have a lot of love to give – but I think what I felt was the safe door I put there to protect myself – allowing me to keep a little distance; allowing me not to get too involved, too attached so that it doesn’t hurt so much when I don’t get the response I’m looking for.

Phew!! Cerridwen is stirring her soup with me this week!

“I am open to transformation, I am willing to let go all that exists in my life that does not serve my greater good, I am willing to receive all the love and abundance that is available to me; I clear my eyes so that I can see what there is to see, I clear my ears so that I can hear what there is to hear. I allow love to flow freely from me and I am open to receiving all of the love that flows back toward me. And I send light and love to those parts of myself that don’t feel loveable…” (Thank you Nancy for your amazing meditation tapes and your inspiration…)

Well – thank you for allowing me to give and share. I welcome all of your thoughts and insights and miracles – please keep sharing with the group, with me, with your world.

If the mantra above works for where you are – I encourage you to be use it, change it, work it into your life. Sharing it with you certainly helped me to see the work I need to do to share myself fully and let people in.

Love to you,

Patty

Opening The Heart

Dearest Goddesses,

I got a temporary but pretty intense case of the blues last night. I had no idea what it was that set it off, but was glad that I woke up feeling a little lighter. I did a chakra meditation and it really was amazing. I simply sat silently going envisioning white light going down my body stopping at all the chakra centers. Each center had a very distinct feel and filled with its respective colors and in each of the centers I had a vision of a stick figure woman in different poses or with different movements – from yoga, to dancing – it was a lot of fun. When I got to my heart center though, dead quiet – like the twilight zone – abandoned. It took a lot of concentration for me to visualize a piece of grass (your heart center resonates to the color green). And then when I got to my first chakra at the base of the spine – I felt overwhelmed with the color red. So those are the two chakras that I need to work with. I did feel like it was Cerridwen’s way of helping me identify my fear – or give me a direction in which to focus.

I’ve included a brief chart below on the chakras, their location and their color so that you can also do a similar meditation and see if you notice any blocks to be able to then do some work on that particular chakra.

Because the heart center links the bottom three chakras with the top three chakras – and it was the one I needed the most work with – I’ve included some information on the heart chakra from The Chakra Handbook. Another excellent resource for information on the chakras and its link to Feng Shui is my dear friend Nancy SantoPietro’s book Feng Shui & Health: The Anatomy of a Home. It’s especially a must read for anyone who is experiencing illness of any kind.

The heart chakra information is attached in a word document – please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any other questions about any other chakras.

Patty’s Challenge: Find a time and a place where you will not be disturbed and guide yourself through a chakra meditation. All I did this morning was envision a white light at the top of my head coming into my body through the top of my head. I stopped at each chakra center, and visualized it filling with its respective color. I noticed the feeling of the space and whether it was open or not and the moving stick figures were an added bonus. If you are color blind or have difficulty visualizing color, I sometimes use associations – things I know to be a specific color – for instance grass or trees or a green apple for the heart center; a blue sky for the throat chakra, etc.

Chakra: Location: Color:

1^st Chakra / Survival Center Base of Spine Red

2^nd Chakra / Social Center 2 inches below navel Orange

3^rd Chakra / Will Center Solar Plexus (sternum) Yellow

4^th Chakra / Heart Center Center of Chest Green

5^th Chakra / Throat Center Throat Sky Blue

6^th Chakra / Third Eye Center Between Eyebrows Indigo

7^th Chakra / Crown Center Top of Head Purple

Blessings,

Patty

Transforming Fear

Dearest Goddesses,

I think if I had to think of one thing that I would want to have transformed, then I would have to say fear. But if I look at my fear – it seems elusive – like I can’t get a good look at it. Like the more I chase after it to dissect it, the faster and more elusive it becomes. When I stand still and ask myself what I am afraid of – very little concrete comes to mind. But when I look at where I want to be and where I am and the distance in between, if I ask myself what is getting in the way – I would unequivocally say fear.

So what I am afraid of? Success? Failure? Living full out? Responsibility? Being Vulnerable? Rejection? Acceptance? Getting Started? Following Through? Perhaps a little of everything? Maybe what I’m looking for is simply to transform my fear into something tangible so that I can recognize it and deal with it directly instead of spending time and energy wondering and analyzing what I’m scared of.

And I think, if I were Cerridwen, listening to this, my response to me would be “Knock it off Kennelly! You’re great, stop wasting time with this silliness.”

And so, since I’m channeling Cerridwen and if you find yourself fearful, I deliver her message with love, compassion and laughter…”Knock it off! You’re great, stop wasting time with this silliness.”

Love to you,

Patty

Cerridwen: Death & Rebirth

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 give you life

I give you death

it is all one

You travel the spiral path

the eternal path

that is existence

ever becoming

ever growing

ever changing

Nothing dies that is not reborn

nothing is born that does not die

When you come to me

I welcome you home

then I take you into my womb

my cauldron of transformation

where you are stirred and sifted

blended and boiled

melted and mashed

reconstituted then recycled

You always come back to me

you always go forth renewed

Death and Rebirth are but points of transition

along the Eternal Path.

Mythology

To the Welsh, Cerridwen (pronounced ker’rid-when) is a triple goddess – Maid, Mother and Crone – whose totem animal is the great white sow. She is associated with the moon, inspiration, poetry, prophecy, shape-shifting, and life and death. Cerrdwen had two boys. One was beautiful and one was ugly. Because she wanted the ugly one to have something of his own, she made him a magical brew. The brew took a year and a day to complete and would make him inspired and brilliant. She set Gwion, her assistant, to watch the brew and bade him not to drink it. Accidentally some drops of the brew splashed onto his hand and he put his hand in his mouth. Instantly, he knew everything, including the fact that Cerridwen would seek his death. He ran away and she ran after him. After many shape-shiftings, he was swallowed by Cerridwen who gave birth to him nine months later.

Meaning of the Card

Cerridwen’s appearance in your life heralds a time of death and rebirth. Something is dying and needs to be let go of, so something new can be born. We know the earth’s dance of death and rebirth as the seasons. Matter cannot be created or destroyed, but undergoes transformation. So do we. To live fully and in wholeness we need to accept life in all that it is, which includes death and rebirth. Let go of what does not serve you and your wholeness.

Perhaps you have reached the end of a cycle, a relationship, a job, and you fear letting it go. Or feel that you are dying, when only a piece of you needs to give way to the new. Perhaps the idea that there is death and only death is too painful for you to accept. Living in a patriarchal culture has deprived most of us of the Goddess’s way of death and rebirth. Wholeness is nurtured when we become conscious that every step on the path of life is also a step toward death and rebirth. Wholeness is achieved when we can say yes and do our dance with death and rebirth. Cerridwen says you will always get back what you give to me. It will be changed, it will be transformed but you will get it back.

Ritual Suggestion: Cerridwen’s Cauldron
You can download this meditation at the following site for $1.75
http://deepspiritualnourishment.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=37&zenid=c636244961ac59cbabec57082d290766

Find a time and a place when and where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie comfortably with your spine straight. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and release it again to a count of ten. Take another deep breath and release it again to a count of ten. Take a third deep breath, and as you release it, see, feel or sense a tunnel. It can be a tunnel you know or one you imagine. Stand outside of the tunnel and run your fingers along the entryway. Smell it. Enter the tunnel. It is warm and comfortable, well lit and pleasant, and you go down, down, down, deeper and deeper and deeper. Down, down, down, feeling relaxed, comfortable, until you reach the end of the tunnel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, the light of the Otherworld.

You step out into the Otherworld and are met by Cerridwen. She takes your hand and leads you to her cauldron. It is enormous and black. Cerridwen stirs the cauldron. She asks you to put in the cauldron whatever needs to be transformed or let go of, whatever needs to die. You put it in the cauldron and watch. Cerridwen stirs the cauldron.

Cerridwen finishes stirring, puts down her staff, and reaches into the cauldron. She takes out what you put in and places it in front of you. It has been transformed into exactly what it needs to be. You thank Cerridwen and she asks syou for a gift. You give it to her freely. Ready to return, you walk back to the tunnel, taking with you what has been transformed in Cerridwen’s cauldron.

Now you are going up, up, up, feeling refreshed, energized. Up, up, up until you are back at the entrance of the tunnel. You walk out of the tunnel and take a deep breath. As you release it slowly, you come back into your body. Take another dep breath, and if ready, open your eyes. Welcome Back!

Freedom of Choice

Dearest Goddesses,

I was chatting with John on my way to the Internet café today about the idea of rhythm and its connection to clarity. He had some very interesting things to say – that for him rhythm is experiential – it’s something he either knows he’s experiencing or is clear that he’s not. Not really knowing what actually affects rhythm, he did think that there was something about consistency that related or affected rhythm. Consistency of purpose – which links to clarity, for it’s that purpose that I keep getting stuck on. And so one thing that I’ve allowed myself to be consistent with – is getting stopped!

I think he’s definitely on to something. One thing he’s great at is making a decision and then seeing it through to the end. He gets stopped – but it’s usually temporary – and then he perseveres. I’m not short of great ideas, it’s facing the decision, the choice and then seeing it through that evades me. My consistency is getting to a certain point with a project and then getting distracted with another project that might be “better”. Clarity, choice and then consistency of purpose.

I read a great book called Life Paint & Passion and the basis of the book was just allowing yourself to create. Setting up your creative space, choosing a paintbrush, choosing a color and just creating. It is an awesome exercise for people like me who sometimes feel like they have to have it all figured out ahead of time before they get started. You don’t need to know where the painting is going to lead, you don’t have to have a vision in your mind – it’s all about the process – of choosing a paint brush, choosing a color and then putting it on the page. When you feel complete, the painting is done.

My challenge for you for the weekend would be to do this exercise. Get a piece of paper, some paint brushes and paint (or watercolors or crapaas or colored pencils or crayons or even cut out images for a collage…) see what you are attracted to and place it on the paper. Don’t think, don’t edit, just be…

Have a great weekend…

Love to you,

Patty

P.S. I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (THANK YOU MAURA!!) and it was simply fantastic. It is a must read for anyone, but especially to those who have any connection to Brooklyn.

Listen for the Beat

Dearest Goddesses,

I must be dealing with some bad electrical mojo because now that my internet is up and running, my computer seems to be on the fritz...

In my effort to look at rhythms and find my own beat, I can't help but hear that annoying skipping sound which manifests itself as distraction, circumstance, fear, anxiety, depression, gossip - any number of things that keep me from the flow - keep me from my greatness. I'm not sure those skipping sounds ever fully go away - but I think the more you tend to flow with your own rhythm and not focus on the skipping, the more it simply becomes part of the background - part of the song - like a scratch, scratch, scratch. I'm looking at my own beliefs and how they manifest quickly. I decided that there is something about the house that I'm living in that is hindering our ability to get our communications up and running. So of course - I've found a lot of evidence to support this. I think that's why it's so important to spend conscious time with gratitude - to find evidence to support the beliefs of "Everything works out for me" "I am open to the abundance of the universe" "I am always taken care of", etc.

One thing that keeps coming at me these past few weeks is the idea of clarity - Clarity of where I am going, what it is that I am up to - the ability to see the big picture. It is through clarity that you can begin to hear your own beat, fulfill your own needs, get taken care of.

Keep working on your rhythm ladies - recognize the skipping sounds in your own life, but don't fool yourself into thinking that's your beat. It's just a part of a greater song that you need to discover.

Love to you,
Patty

Finding Your Rhythm

Dearest Goddesses,

Well, I hope you have missed my daily musings – I certainly have missed them. I’ve had a challenging month personally and logistically – and finally am feeling like we’re back up and running, taking steps forward.

Of course the past few weeks for me have been all about the next goddess that was on my list – Morgan le Fey representing Rhythms. I sort of felt like a salmon this past month, flowing upstream – only not making as much progress as they do! Communication was harder logistically, even when I did communicate, I felt disconnected or felt like I was saying the wrong thing – it was very strange – very “out of body”. So I suppose the time was my way of reconnecting to my own rhythm – listening a little harder at what there was for me to hear, reconnect with my heartbeat, reconnect with the world, get myself centered.

Connecting to your own rhythm really is key – and sometimes recognizing that you are fighting is the first step to figuring out what that rhythm is. Allowing yourself to get quiet, to turn off the white noise that you allow to distract you (television, telephones, internet, spider solitaire, cleaning, suduko) you’ll be able to hear a beat that starts to light you up. I’m certainly in it right now – not quite feeling like the current is flowing strongly in my direction yet – but I’m not fighting to get upstream anymore. I’m working on finding my own rhythm instead of just jumping in on someone else’s dance cause it might seem easier to dance to (or just louder!!)

I’ve missed you all – I look forward to hearing all about your own rhythms and rediscover that beat that drives me. Drink in Morgan la Fey – enjoy her. And for more of her mythology, definitely pick up Marion Zimmer Bradley’s, The Mists of Avalon – thank you Melissa for introducing me to that delicious book.

I will ease in to today – and look forward to tomorrow.

Much love,

Patty