my cuzz sent me this…
Powerful Woman’s Motto:
Live your life in such a way that
when your feet hit the floor in the morning,
Satan shudders & says…
“Oh shit….she’s awake!!”
this was the first thing i read this morning. i think i’m set for a goooooood day of my own making.
*grin*
I just found this following random links off the Faerie Con page. Aside from the oddness of going from the indulgent fantasy world of faeries to the serious work of women, I am surprised I haven’t heard about these amazing women and their work before now.
From the website…
On October 11, 2004, 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all over the world–the Arctic Circle, North, South and Central America, Africa, and Asia, arrived at Tibet House’s Menla Mountain Retreat amidst 340 acres of forests, fields and streams in upstate New York. Within a few days of convening, the grandmothers agreed to form a global alliance; to work together to serve both their common goals and their specific local concerns.
The first council gathering was a time of hope and inspiration. The grandmothers are both women of prayer and women of action. Their traditional ways link them with the forces of the earth. Their solidarity with one another creates a web to rebalance the injustices wrought from an imbalanced world; a world disconnected from the fundamental laws of nature and the original teachings based on a respect for all of life.
Take a look at the whole story: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/
Last night, just a turn beyond the summer solstice, westlinwind took me to her drumming circle. We stopped first at the 500 year old white oak on the property. The oak has a little plaque on it stating that the tree has been living here since before William Penn took possession of this part of Pennsylvania known as the Brandywine Valley. She is a magnificent oak with limbs sagging from their own weight, each one larger than most of the trees we live with today.
As I approached her, her massiveness grew as my gaze angled upward. Reaching out, I placed my hands on her rough skin, closed my eyes and immediately felt the weight of her history; a slow, low, rhythmic pounding ran through my body as we breathed each other in, making me feel dizzy and delighted.
Drumming in a circle of women is an amazing experience. Drumming under a 500 year old oak tree who has watched centuries of creatures pass by, consumed with their short lives, is something else again. I had the distinct feeling that other women have drummed under her, matching drumbeats to heartbeats to pounding sap, sharing secrets, exchanging air.
We stood under her as one told of her known past, a surveyor’s mark, the efforts of men to help support her heavy limbs with cables and prayers. We circled her, placing our hands on her, feeling her rhythm change from the slow pounding I felt alone to a faster rumble, taking in our human hearts.
Breathe …
“Penn Oak” at London Grove Meeting
this is important
A better way to celebrate Mothers Day…
The women of Ohio, U.S.A., call upon the women of the world, from day-old babies to our most senior elders, to stand with us on May 13, 2007, to save the world.
We will be standing for the world’s children and grandchildren, and for the seven generations beyond them. We dream of a world where all of our children have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe, and enough food to eat. A world where they have access to a basic education to develop their minds and healthcare to nurture their growing bodies. A world where they have a warm, safe and loving place to call home. A world where they don’t live in fear of violence–in their home, in their neighborhood, in their school or in their world. This is the world of which we dream. This is the cause for which we will stand.
If you share this dream, please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signifiy your agreement with our dream. We ask you to invite the men and boys who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world. Please feel free to sit rather than stand. Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones can talk together about how we can bring about this world.
See http://www.StandingWomen.org for more details and to register your commitment to stand with us.
eta: and then i found this site, which was inspired by the same story and came up with the same idea. go here: http://www.standintheparkforpeace.org/
global warming:
the scientific community came out in one, dire voice proclaiming that global warming is a FACT, is OUR FAULT, and must be addressed within the next 10 years or we will have no way out.
and the bush admin said it refuses to make energy cuts mandatory.
cervical cancer:
a short while ago, we found out that cervical cancer is caused by human papilloma virus, which is sexually transmitted. now, Texas wants to FORCE sixth grade girls to be vaccinated against this virus.
EXCUSE ME but NO!
this vaccine was fast-tracked through approval. do YOU really trust the FDA and Merck to insure the safety of this vaccine given their track record (i.e., vioxx)? but more importantly, do you really think the government has the right to force women to be vaccinated from something that MEN carry?
methinks Merck is trying to recoup their losses and they are using our cervixes to fix their bottom line.
*ahem*
i think it’s time to give full voice to RAGE AGAINST THIS MACHINE! especially us women. we are not Merck’s guinea pigs and our children’s world should not be destroyed by short-sighted, immoral government slaves to oil.
the drumming circle was quite large last night. i was tired from a very stressful week. someone told me, the only thing worse than being a lame duck employee is being the new kid on the block. i’m not sure i agree…this is pretty bad. i fear the next two weeks are going to be longer and harder than i had anticipated. for the most part, my colleagues are sad but happy for me, a few seemed strained and just a couple are spitefully hostile. but, none of this is my problem anymore, i tell myself. over and over.
so, i needed to be drumming with women more than i realized. it took me awhile to loosen up enough to find the rhythm. i don’t think i succeeded completely…but that’s ok. it’s always ok to fuck up there. no one judges you there.
as the talking stick went round, the theme that emerged was, “what an annoying week!” but, of course that was just the top layer of talk, just the opening words. the talk dug deeper, as it always does, unearthing stories of lousy jobs starting and stopping or going nowhere, of mothers and children coming together, of starvation, aids, courage and strength in the face of oppression and ultimately of love and the pursuit of peace.
i’m learning to love quaker women.
they put me in the center of the circle for my birthday. i didn’t expect that. i still feel a bit of the outsider…not really part of them, though that’s just me feeling that way, without a shred of evidence to support it. bells, bowls, gongs, a tuning fork to my heart. sitting in the center, being centered. it was amazing to feel so surrounded, safe and special.
and then…the sound of a balloon farting in my ear! i opened my eyes to see balloons being blown up and the air squeezing out, with impish glee through tightly held, rubbery lips. ha! bunch of silly women bringing me back, laughing and taking it all none too seriously. so, for the next two weeks i’m gong to go to work with balloons in my pocket.
i really love these quaker women!
With so much going on, it’s hard not to feel as though doom is right around the corner. So this was nice to read.
Sacred Journeys by Kim Elkington
Today is the close of the third traditional powwow or spiritual gathering I have attended in six weeks. This year a number of very important teachings were shared that affirmed and informed, some of which I would like to pass on to you.
The first concerns the 500-year-old native prophecy of the Condor (people of South America) and the Eagle (people of North America).
…
the rest is here: http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/sacred_journeys_10
this was posted in reply to barbaraQ’s blog entry about the not quite equal status of iraqi women under the not yet new constitution…i thought i’d record it here too.
women have power over life…we are the creators of life. women have power over death…we nurse those dancing with death; we soothe those kissed by death; we bathe, swaddle and let go of those taken by death.
men, fearful of our power to create and let go of life have usurped death. they starve, slash, soil and condemn to death all those they fear. and they fear us. they use death as a tool to shave our heads; cover our faces; bind our hands; burn our bodies.
so, what do we do? we do as the witches did. hide our staffs by our brooms; till our soil with our swords; fill our cups with our teas and cast our stones to the wind.
but there’s more to think about here than what i wrote to barbara. there’s more we must do privately and communally. the above is a start. we live our lives privately, honestly, fully and as nobody’s slave or fool. communally, we protect ourselves and other women, raise our children to recognize the power and worth of women and men from womb to grave. we shout. we write. we protest. we get in their faces and we don’t let up until they recognize their mistake and atone for their sin in the face of mother, daughter, lover, goddess, gaia.
and we don’t accept a lesser status…ever.
