Never Mind That Tragic Martyred Saint! Let’s Celebrate Aphrodite’s Day!
Forget the celibate martyr for whom this day is named. In the name of the Goddess Aphrodite, we reclaim this day for beauty, pleasure, and love.
pleasure
Goddess Sunday: Blessed Bastet
In ancient times cats were worshiped as Gods; they have not forgotten this. ~ Terry Pratchett On this first Sunday of Summer, as our brothers and sisters in Egypt today celebrate their dramatic progress towards democracy, we welcome the glad and Summery energy of beautiful Bastet! Bastet (the name now preferred by most Egyptologists), is … Read more
An Affirming Environment
For improving your behavior, a supportive environment isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.— Michael Highstead, CEO of Habit Busters, Ltd. In her recent (free!) newsletter, Elizabeth Genco Purvis, the “Marketing Goddess” wrote, “One of my mentors said something recently that really shook me up. He said, ‘Your environment is stronger than habit.’ When you think … Read more
Let the Luxuries Flow
All enjoying is your best gift to yourself. — SARK How was your weekend? How have your artist dates been going? You are having one every week, aren’t you? Did you do your homework? What luxuries did you bestow upon yourself? You did treat yourself, right? I hope so. What are the luxuries that you … Read more
Magic Touch
Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. The least we can do is try to be there. — Annie Dillard Have you noticed a continuing thread that runs through all of the exercises I’ve been suggesting since we got back from our reading deprivation week? Yes, they are sensory timeouts, … Read more
The Muse and the Daimon
The Muse, nae poet ever fand [found] her,Till by himself he learn’d to wanderAdown some trotting burn’s meanderAn’ no think lang [long]. — Robert Burns, “Epistle to Willam Simpson, Ochiltree” from 19 May, The Celtic Spirit, by Caitlín Matthews Thank you to our friends who are sharing their answers to yesterday’s exercise. We complete it … Read more
Blessings of May Eve!
Throughout my whole life, during every moment I have lived, the world has gradually been taking on light and fire for me, until it has come to envelop me in one mass of luminosity, glowing from within… The purple flush of matter fading imperceptibly into the gold of spirit, to be lost finally in the … Read more
Step One: Recovering a Sense of Safety (cont.)
Reason is powerless in the expression of Love. — Rumi If I had to pick one of the most consistent themes of the human experience that I see in my Tarot practice, it would be the suffering that people undergo when, for any number of reasons, they are unable to connect to or express their … Read more
Reclaiming the Virtue of Temperance
Temperance: Eat and carouse with Bacchus, or munch dry bread with Jesus,but don’t sit down without one of the Gods. — D.H. Lawrence Any discussion of Temperance, by me at least, would of course have to include a brief mention of the Temperance Tarot card. While the original Greek virtue was called sophrosyne, our word … Read more
Saturday Poetry: From Blossoms
Peaches Batik I © by M BaldwinFrom Blossomsby Li-Young Lee (1957 – ) From blossoms comesthis brown paper bag of peacheswe bought from the boyat the bend in the road where we turned towardsigns painted Peaches. From laden boughs, from hands,from sweet fellowship in the bins,comes nectar at the roadside, succulentpeaches we devour, dusty skin … Read more