Kundalini Splendor

The Tantric Lovers
(for Aditi)

Even before we start
we know that
this is something rare,
sacred and
incalculable.

We do not know
why we have been chosen
for this rite,
why we are here together
in this place now.
We are guided
by our instincts,
our knowledge
of all that is.

What we are certain of
is that together
we will be one,
you will become
who I am,
and I you.
The lost tales of the past
have told us so.
The pictures,
the figures caught
in the sculptures.
Images on the
temple walls.

We do not need
words
or instructions
on how to do this.
We have possessed this knowledge
forever.
Already our bodies
have become the god/the goddess,
together locked into final reality,
a universe unfolding.

Dorothy Walters
February 27, 2013



(Image from internet)

(Note: the above poem was inspired by the account of a yogini who experienced a similar event while she was living in India.)

Rumi: A Lucid Confusion

In one of his poems, Rumi speaks of himself as being in a “lucid confusion.”  At first glance, this declaration might seem to be a palpable contradiction of terms.  But actually, they go together quite nicely, once we grasp his underlying meaning.

Anyone who attempts to fathom the terrible events now overtaking our world, must, of necessity, fall into confusion.  Likewise, those undergoing deep spiritual transformation are likely to be very confused, especially in the first stages of their journey, when the “old self” suddenly is melted away, and the “new self” has yet to be fully formed.   Indeed, one wonders, “Who am I?  What is the meaning and purpose of this overwhelming transfiguration?  Am I now some exalted being, ready to announce my august presence to the world?  Or am I victim of some delusion of grandeur—indeed, am I mad?”

Yet, once the battlefield of the spirit clears, once the smoke drifts away and one again gains a sense of balance, one discovers a great lucidity in the entire process that has overcome one’s customary sense of self and world and substituted a new vision.  One realizes many fundamental truths with a fresh intensity.  One knows that the world and all its beings are indeed part of a grand scheme, part of a field of oneness that can never be fragmented.  One realizes that the “great surprise” of transformation has prepared one to participate in that field with renewed vigor and insight.  One finds one’s true purpose—and becomes fully lucid even in the midst of the confusion which surrounds.

The worship of Kali is alive and well in Boulder.  Friday night of this event is open to all genders.  Saturday and Sunday are for women only.  You can find more about Vajra Ma through google.




The Tantric Dance
of Feminine Power

with
Vajra Ma

March 29-31
in Boulder, CO



Our community in the Boulder area has been deepening. It is such a blessing to feel the depth and subtlety of  our practice together. Because the enlivening of the inner landscape, the subtle body, is such a vital and rich part of the path, I have invited my beloved yogini sister, Vajra Ma, to come bring her offerings to us here.

Vajra Ma offers a form of subtle body movement meditation called the Tantric Dance of Feminine Power.




You can find out more about her work at www.greatgoddess.org and through this video.

For a PDF of the flier, click here.

Kali Puja will be held on Saturday night as well, for those who would like to join in our regular community worship.

Please be in touch with me if you would like to register for this event at puja@aditidevi.com. Space is filling up quickly.

I am very much looking forward to having Vajra Ma with us and to undertaking this workshop together.

Love and Jai Ma,

Aditi Devi Ma

Here is a wonderful discussion (from TED talks) about the relation of science and spirituality--in effect, Jeff Lieberman condenses the essence of "enlightenment" into language all can understand, explaining in terms of neurology and physics what "we" actually are as beings who are part of a larger reality.  I strongly recommend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N0--_R6xThs


The following was found on his website.  Obviously, Jeff is a "Renaissance" man, conversant with all the arts.  He reminds me of Leonardo de Vinci, who was a master of inventions of various kinds, and developed theories well ahead of his time, as well as being a great artist.

Jeff Lieberman explores the connections between the arts, sciences, education, passion, creativity, and the potential future of human consciousness. He hosts 'Time Warp' on the Discovery Channel, using technology to see beyond the limits of our normal human perception. He composes music in the duo gloobic, and has performed in Carnegie Hall. He shows technological sculptures around the world, to bring people an emotional and mystical connection with science and the universe. Having finished four degrees at MIT (BS: Physics, Math, MS: Mech. Engineering, Media Arts and Sciences), he is exploring the applications of technology to evolving and shifting human consciousness.

(picture found on Jeff's website at http://bea.st/about.php  )

In addition to his version of the Gita, Janeshwar (13th century saint) also wrote other poems.  Here is an excerpt from one of his works.  It deals with the notion that Shiva (potentiality) and Shakti (manifestation) are one (non-dual).  One cannot exist without the other.  In fact, they are the same essence.  This philosophical concept is expressed in Hindu thought through the beautiful image of Shiva and Shakti locked in union, a symbol that puzzles many westerners, but which is meant to convey more than sexual union.  It can be interpreted as the union of all the many pairs of opposites, and grasping this connection is essential to all initiatory experience.
The poem has special meaning for those who know the bliss of Kundalini, for then indeed lover and beloved are one, and all opposites are reconciled into a single unity.
Although I had assumed that "Janeshwar" was a foreign term for me, I discovered, while researching his name, that I had in fact posted this very poem some two or more years ago on my blog.  I had retained no conscious awareness of doing so, but obviously the poem made a deep impression on my at that time as well as now, so I am leaving the poem here for all to enjoy once more.
I love the notion (quoted above) that he may still be alive "anchoring his light body as a crystal of enlightened energy radiating" (out into the whole world). 


Amritanubhav (The Nectar of Mystical Experience)

by Janeshwar

Chapter One: The Union of Shiva and Shakti

From Abhayananda's (the translator and author) Introduction to Chapter
One:

"This, the opening chapter of Amritanubhav, is undoubtedly one of the
most strikingly beautiful poetic expressions of duality-in-unity ever
written. In it, Jnaneshvar, the poet, portrays, with symbol and
metaphor, that mystery which remains forever inexpressible in the
language of philosophy and logic."

The following is a selection of a few of the 64 verses from the first
chapter:

I offer obeisance to the God and Goddess,
The limitless primal parents of the universe.

They are not entirely the same,
Nor are they not the same.
We cannot say exactly what they are.

How sweet is their union!
The whole world is too small to contain them,
Yet they live happily in the smallest particle.

These two are the only ones
Who dwell in this home called the universe.
When the Master of the house sleeps,
The Mistress stays awake,
And performs the functions of both.

When He awakes, the whole house disappears,
And nothing at all is left.

Two lutes: one note.
Two flowers: one fragrance.
Two lamps: one light.

Two lips: one word.
Two eyes: one sight.
These two: one universe.

In unity there is little to behold;
So She, the mother of abundance,
Brought forth the world as play.

He takes the role of Witness
Out of love of watching Her.
But when Her appearance is withdrawn,
The role of Witness is abandoned as well.

Through Her,
He assumes the form of the universe;
Without Her,
He is left naked.

If night and day were to approach the Sun,
Both would disappear.
In the same way, their duality would vanish
If their essential Unity were seen.

In fact, the duality of Shiva and Shakti
Cannot exist in that primal unitive state
From which AUM emanates.

They are like a stream of knowledge
From which a knower cannot drink
Unless he gives up himself.

Is the sound of AUM divided into three
Simple because it contains three letters?
Or is the letter 'N' divided into three
Because of the three lines by which it is formed?

So long as Unity is undisturbed,
And a graceful pleasure is thereby derived,
Why should not the water find delight
In the floral fragrance of its own rippled surface?

It is in this manner I bow
To the inseparable Shiva and Shakti.

A man returns to himself
When he awakens from sleep;
Likewise, I have perceived the God and Goddess
By waking from my ego.

When salt dissolves,
It becomes one with the ocean;
When my ego dissolved,
I became one with Shiva and Shakti.

(image found on internet)

___________________________________________________________________________

Whether we know it or not, most of us live in "parallel worlds" much of the time.  Sometimes the "other world" is hidden because it is a secret, a place we do not care to share with the world at large because, we feel, we would be misunderstood or judged or "run out of town."  Kundalini is  such a secret world for many.  Because relatively few today understand with any fullness of perception, what kundalini is, what it involves, and how it affects the person being awakened, we are often loathe to share our "secret" with those closest to us, for fear they will think we have "gone off the deep end," or even worse (committed some unthinkable sin?)

But there are other kinds of parallel worlds.  When something quite out of the ordinary happens to us--say a dramatic synchronicity or some event that we cannot explain in terms of ordinary time or space--it is as though we have somehow contacted another reality, one that intersects but yet is separate from our daily experience.

Something of this sort happened to me recently.  As I was doing my morning sadhana (practice), feeling the flow of sweet energies within, I "heard" a word within that was totally unfamiliar to me.  The word was "Janeswar."  I had no idea who this might be, but I somehow thought it might be the name of some ancient poet--but when I looked it up that was not the case--or not exactly.  There was such a person in ancient India, and he had translated the Gita into the vernacular so that it became accessible to the common folk.  His translation was in verse, so he was indeed a poet.  That same morning (or a day or so before) I had had a mental image (again during practice) of a young man, naked to the waist, wearing yoga pants.  Now Janeswar was himself very young when he produced his translation.  I do not know if the image I saw was his, but it did suggest someone from India or the far East.

Now there is more to this story.  Of course, I wondered if I had some kind of connection with Janeswar, but mainly I forgot about the incident.  Then this morning, as I was looking around on the internet, I came across a site for a small ashram located in my city. Listed among the founders of the ashram was "Sant Jnaneshwar" along with this description:
"Jnaneshwar is still believed to be alive, anchoring his light body as a crystal of enlightened energy radiating from Alandi (the ashram) to the entire world."

(Image of Jnaneshwar found on the Alandiashram site)

The Buddha's Last Instruction

By Mary Oliver
(1935 - )



"Make of yourself a light,"
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal -- a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.
An old man, he lay down
between two sala trees,
and he might have said anything,
knowing it was his final hour.
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields.
Around him, the villagers gathered
and stretched forward to listen.
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves.
No doubt he thought of everything
that had happened in his difficult life.
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire --
clearly I'm not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value.
Slowly, beneath the branches,
he raised his head.
He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.

Buddha's last words seem, to me, to admonish his followers to listen to the inner voice, not outward authority, even if the advice comes from Buddha himself.  He warns his audience not to accept any notion as truth because it comes from him, but rather to test its validity in their own minds, and then decide.  Thus Buddha appears to contradict one of the primary tenets of contemporary Buddhism--to follow the dharma, the teachings handed down from the ancient past.  Perhaps I am wrong in my interpretation, but this is how it seems to me.
Indeed, should we follow blindly some external teacher, or should we adhere to the intuitions emanating from within, the "internal guru," who leads us well if we but listen?
The crowd at the end of the poem are frightened, possibly because they are losing their beloved teacher, possibly they are frightened at the prospect of directing their own thoughts and actions, rather than blindly following a source outside themselves.

(Note:  I am not opposing all teachers and spiritual leaders--merely saying that blind allegiance is not a safe or appropriate path.)

Many of us remain connected to others in relationships that are harmful to us in one way or another.  Such connections can become a major obstruction to us in terms of our own spiritual progress.  As difficult as it may be, we will flourish more if we can free ourselves from such obstructions--always remembering that such severings need not be confrontational but rather loving or at least sympathetic, and that good results will ensue for both of us.



A Sense of Closure
Cutting Cords

by Madisyn Taylor
(from DailyOm)

Sometimes the emotions we are feeling belong to the person we are in a connection with and an energetic cord must be severed.

In every relationship, people are constantly exchanging energy that can become a chord connecting two people. This energetic cord forms just below the breastbone and can remain long after a relationship has ended. This unbroken cord may leave an open channel between you and another person, through which emotions and energy can continue to flow. If you are unaware that the chord exists, it is easy to feel the other person‚s emotions and mistakenly think that they are yours. Besides the fact that this can limit the amount of closure you can experience in a relationship, letting this cord remain intact can leave you with a continued sense of sadness while creating feelings of lethargy as your own energy is sapped from you. Cutting the cord can help you separate yourself from old baggage, unnecessary attachments, and release you from connections that are no longer serving you.

Finding and cutting unwanted cords is a simple, gentle process that is best done alone and when you are relaxed. It is important that you are strong in your intention to release the chord between you and someone else. To begin, breathe deeply and perform a simple centering meditation. When you are ready, visualize or sense the chords that are connecting you to other people. Run your fingers through the cords to separate them until you find the cord you wish to sever. There is no need to worry, because the chord you need to sever will feel just right. When you have found it, determine where the cut should be made and then visualize the cord being cleanly cut. If you need assistance, Archangel Michael can be called upon to help you with his sword. Afterwards, if you feel that cutting the chord has left spaces in your energy field, then visualize those spaces being filled with healing sunlight.

There may be times where cutting a cord can help free a relative or loved one to reach new stages of growth. You‚re not severing a relationship, but you are severing the chords that are no longer serving you both. At other times, a cord may simply refuse to be cut because it is still serving a higher purpose. It is also important to remember that cutting a cord with someone is not a replacement for doing your emotional work with people. It can, however, be an enactment of that work upon its completion. In any case, cutting a relationship cord should always be viewed as a positive and nurturing act. By cutting the cords that no longer need to be there, you are setting yourself and others free from the ties that bind.

Psalm 15

Lord, who can be trusted with power,
and who may act in your place?
Those with a passion for justice,
who speak the truth from their hearts;
who have let go of selfish interests
and grown beyond their own lives;
who see the wretched as their family
and the poor as their flesh and blood.
They alone are impartial
and worthy of the people's trust.
Their compassion lights up the whole earth,
and their kindness endures forever.


(The Psalms, translations by Stephen Mitchell)

Orphan

an orphan & the Dharma do well together
last week the odd couple gave birth to a divine child
old friends don’t recognize me
“how different you look”, they say
 on Cold Mountain it is Spring
naked I chase butterflies & moonbeams
mountain outside, mountain inside
all is wholeness dreaming itself alive

- Robert Leverant

 Gazing at the Light

The lamps are different,
But the Light is the same.
So many garish lamps in the dying brain‚s lamp-show,
Forget about them.
Concentrate on the essence, concentrate on the Light.
In lucid bliss, calmly smoking off its own holy fire,
The Light streams towards you from all things,
All people, all possible permutations of good, evil, thought, passion.
The lamps are different,
but the Light is the same.
One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,
Endlessly emanating all things.
One turning and burning diamond,
One, one, one.
Ground yourself, strip yourself down,
To blind loving silence.
Stay there, until you see
You are gazing at the Light
With its own ageless eyes.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

This is My Heart

This is my heart. It is a good heart.
Bones and a membrane of mist and fire
are the woven cover.
When we make love in the flower world
my heart is close enough to sing
to yours in a language that has no use
for clumsy human words.

My head is a good head, but it is a hard head
and it whirs inside with a swarm of worries.
What is the source of this singing, it asks
and if there is a source why can't I see it
right here, right now
as real as these hands hammering
the world together
with nails and sinew?

This is my soul. It is a good soul.
It tells me, "come here forgetful one."
And we sit together with a lilt of small winds
who rattle the scrub oak.
We cook a little something
to eat: a rabbit, some sofkey
then a sip of something sweet
for memory.

This is my song. It is a good song.
It walked forever the border of fire and water
climbed ribs of desire to my lips to sing to you.
Its new wings quiver with
vulnerability.

Come lie next to me, says my heart.
Put your head here.
It is a good thing, says my soul.

~ Joy Harjo ~

(A Map to the Next World)

for H.T.
(Image found at ImageHousing.com site)

__,_._,___

Every Shaped Thing

By Ivan M. Granger
(1969 - )



Sighing,
every shaped thing
turns
heavenward.

Your altar
cannot seat
the thousand thousand
idols.

Holding them,
what do you have?

Each gilded god
says:

"I am
impoverished
by the sun.

I can only
point
up."




-- from Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey, by Ivan M. Granger

Amazon.com    

This is clearly a "political" entry, but in times as urgent as our own, I feel it is important to step forth and "speak truth to authority" by whatever means.  Although we pledge our allegiance to spiritual values and specifically to the cosmic powers of Kundalini and the immeasurable creative forces of the universe, there are times when we must pause and look at the actualities occurring in the "real" world of the society about us.

The following poem by Larry Robinson was written several years ago when there was a different president in office.  However, many of the issues named here still reside with  us, perhaps in a more distressing form.  I thought it appropriate to reprint his poem today, a date when our current president will give his own "State of the Union" address.
I personally approve of most of his agenda for the coming term, but cannot reconcile the high ideals he espouses with the continued use of drones by our military to target "suspected enemies" when too often innocent victims are also killed.   When did such wanton and reckless aggression accord with our vaunted "American" principles?  When will people awaken to the seriousness of such activity?  What possible gains could be expected from this deplorable technique?  Are we the land of the free and the home of the brave or the land of indiscriminate murderers and the home of the assassins?
I predict that there will be mass public outcry, once people grasp the seriousness of this policy.  I predict there will be marches in Washington and elsewhere, and a widespread loss of support for a leader we all had great hopes for but who seems to have forgotten or forsaken his dream of a better America for the aims of a clearly militaristic state.

So far our war in the Middle East has led to:

More Americans killed than died in the 911 attacks.
More military and ex-military dying by suicide than have been killed in combat.
Countless numbers of sufferers from PTS.
Infinitely more terrorists created by our actions than existed before 911 as these seek retribution and revenge for our intrusion into this part of the world. 

State Of The Union (2005)

Today the President speaks
of his plan to liberate us all.
The bodhisattvas have a similar plan,
but theirs will take a little  longer:
endless  lifetimes, in fact.

His, of course, is more urgent
due to the coming Rapture,
when all true believers will be lifted
out of their cars and clothes
and credit card debt.

I, too, pray for the Rapture.
After they’re gone we’ll untangle
the wrecked cars and the broken bodies.
We’ll wash their clothes and give them to the poor.
We’ll write off their debts and open their homes to the
homeless.

Then we’ll get on with rebuilding
our bombed cities and shattered lives,
our schools, our libraries and our poisoned soil.
We’ll clean our rivers, plant rice and bake bread.
We’ll sing and make love and drink red wine.
We’ll raise our children and do the laundry
and argue about much smaller things.

As for me, I want to smell
the just open daphne and go for a walk with Cynthia.
I want to prune the apricot tree
and talk with my neighbor
about the unseasonably delicious foretaste of Spring
this second day of February, 2005.

- Larry Robinson  2/2/05

The following article is from the GEMFormulas Home Study Course.  The first part of the article describes various kinds of suprasubtle energies.  The last part explains that adding gems increases the intensity of the suprasubtle response.  Kundalini, of course, is also a means of increasing one's suprasubtle reactions.  Many people report detecting unusual odors, tastes, sounds and the like after experiencing Kundalini awakening.

We have five physical senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste.  Every day we use these senses and they give us information about the physical nature of our world.

We also experience our world through our supraphysical aura, which also has sensory perception. In other words, we have the ability to perceive our world not only through the physical experience of these senses, but also through a higher, more refined level of them. Doing so gives us information about the energetic nature of that which we are sensing.

For example, through your supraphysical aura you can learn to experience subtle energies through touch. This is a skill we learn in gemstone therapy workshops. Applying gemstones in the aura helps us to learn this skill because the gems move upon on the flows of these energies and they also amplify them, so they're easier to feel.

Clairvoyance, or the ability to see the subtle energies, also tends to open up as we use gemstones.  Applying them lifts our vibrations so that we are more in tune with subtle energies, and so can perceive them more easily. When we learn to look at our world through our supraphysical eyes, we're able to see the subtle energies associated with all things, people, places, and even target areas.

Supraphysical hearing can be experienced by listening to the subtle sounds of life, which are expressed in all things and beings. Telepathy is another form of supra-physical hearing, but it includes the ability to communicate as well as listen.

Supraphysical smell and taste are rarer gifts.  They're the ability to experience the subtle energies via your olfactory nerves. The supraphysical scent of a thing, person, place, or even target area, is often unlike its actual physical scent. If you're able to perceive it, you can gain deeper insight into the object you are smelling.

Supraphysical taste is a sensation experienced in the mouth and tongue, and it also gives you special insight into the object you are tasting.  You don't have to put that object in your mouth to employ supra-physical taste. You pick up on the taste of a thing, person, place, or target area, and information about it comes into your awareness as it registers through your tongue.

GEMFormulas remedies offer a way to practice supraphysical smell and taste. Or, at least to find out if you have these gifts or would like to develop them.

Fill three or four small glasses half-way with purified water. Place a few pills of a different GEMFormula into each glass. Swirl the glasses. When the pills are nearly dissolved, sniff each one. Do they smell different to you?

Now take a sip of each one, one at a time.  See if you perceive a difference in the way each one tastes.

No difference?

Okay, now try each one again. Hold the sip in your mouth and this time, imagine its gemandala in your mouth.

When I did this experiment, I was unable to sense a difference in the physical smell or taste of the formula in each glass. However, I was able to sense the gemandala. Each one had a different type of feel or sensation.  It gave me the opportunity to get to know the gemandalas in a unique way. It internalized the gemandalas for me, in a way that I hadn't expected, or experienced before.

This week, find some time to try this experiment for yourself.  Have fun with it!

Best wishes on your journey to greater health!

Sincerely,
Isabelle Morton

This is a Dance

I have thrown away
my sanity,
flung it out the door
like an old rag
or a bowl of dried
seeds.

And I have cast aside
my garments.
Now wear next to nothing,
let my skin go free.
The neighbors may be shocked,
but what can they do?
I heard it was
a free country,
and besides,
who cares
what these neighbors think?

This is a dance
that I alone
can do,
swaying and turning,
the Beloved as my partner,
holding me close in her arms.

Dorothy Walters
February 7, 2013

(photo by annaA on Flickr)

Prayer to Kali

Every seeker treads
a different path.
Some call out names
and worship forms,
images of deity
that speak to them
at deep levels.

Others dispense with
all external things,
yet have taste
and feeling
of the god-being
entering within.

Oh, Kali, when you come
do not take my
breath away
too suddenly.
Do not make my heart
beat too fast,
like a locomotive
gaining speed
as it departs.
Do not ravage me
with joy,
cause me
to forget
who I am.

Dorothy Walters
February 2, 2013

The "Women of Wisdom" conference is of great importance.  It includes women from many areas, and the focus is on women's roles in facilitating the current evolutionary shift.  Go if you can.  If you can't go, you can participate through "live stream" as described on the website.  By all means look up their site at  http://womenofwisdom.org/conference/, which contains pictures and other descriptions of the events.  It is major.
Presenters include women from various backgrounds, such as Starhawk, who is probably the most famous wiccan (witch) alive; Cyndi Dale, noted authority on energy healing, frequencies and vibration; Nicki Scully, renowned metaphysical teacher; and Normandi Ellis, teacher and Egyptian scholar/mystic, who wrote "Awakening Osiris," which I consider one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.  Her latest is called  "Imagining the World into Existence, an Ancient Egyptian Manual of Consciousness."  As Jean Houston commented on this conference, "There is nothing else like this in the world."
For those undergoing Kundalini awakening, this conference is of special importance, since Kundalini is, I feel, the underlying energy of all the approaches to the paradigm shift--if you are experiencing Kundalini, you are, in fact, in the forefront of this momentous transition in human consciousness--and if you have not yet had Kundalini awakening, do not grieve, for there are many ways of participating in the shift, including the those offered by the conference presenters.

Announcing the 21st Annual
Women of Wisdom Conference
Feb. 14 – 18, 2013
Seattle, WA
Women Leading the Evolutionary Shift
Midwifing the New Paradigm
With special guests:

Starhawk Cyndi Dale Nicki Scully Normandi Ellis

Live streaming of Evening Events at 2013 Women of Wisdom Conference!!
WOW is going live stream! You can participate in two events at Women of Wisdom this year from any where in the world.
Feb. 14th – Starhawk’s presentation 7:00 – 10:00 pm Pacific Time
Feb. 15th – Cyndi Dale’s presentation 7:00 – 10:00 Pacific Time

Only $10 for one evening ~ discover the magic of WOW!

Even if you are not available at those times you will be able to view these presentations for one month.

Click here to sign up now!
Tell your friends about it!


Sign up for the WOW enewsletter!
Receive gifts of radio interviews by Founder, Kris Steinnes
of Jean Houston, Jean Shinoda Bolen and Starhawk

Click Here to sign up.

Bring a Friend Special available now
Bring a friend with you to your 3 hour workshop and pay only $25 for them ($26 with service fee). Just register for your 3 hour workshop and the option is right there to get one for your friend to attend with you! Offer good until pre-registration closes on Friday Feb. 15th at noon!
Women of Wisdom Conference 2013 Video

Please join us for our 21st year.
Let’s Raise our Feminine Spirit to Transform Our World!
Gift yourself with this life expanding experience – a time of reflection, rejoicing, renewing and connecting with other fabulous women (and men!). Each attendee is invited to share stories, make new friends and replenish your spirit – change your life!

You can order individual events or purchase an all weekend package.
Click here for weekend package pricing

In addition to our featured guests, Starhawk, Cyndi Dale, Nicki Scully and Normandi Ellis, there are 40 workshops given by a diversity of women leaders (and a couple of men!) sharing their gifts with our community. Please take the time to read all the offerings to select what is calling for you to bring into your life now at this very transitional and transformational time.

Exceptional, inspirational evening presentations and intimate, experiential workshops will revitalize you and leave you feeling ready to take on just about anything. While you’re at the conference, take the time to explore the many offerings we have as there is something for everyone. Women of Wisdom is an incredible gathering that will awaken your soul and invigorate your passions.

You can come and be a part of our ambiance without even attending an event. Our doors are open and it’s free for everyone to participate in the full expression of the Divine Feminine. These activities are open to men, except for the Pink Tent.

Goddess Market
The Temple with professional healers, psychic readers and body workers
Art Show
Community Corner and poetry wall – a meeting space for tea, snacks,
conversation and creativity
Connections with wonderful people to make life long friends with
Relax in our Pink Tent, for women to meditate and pamper themselves with quiet time & chocolates!

Men are welcome at all our evening events, including Sunday’s In the Rounds, and Sunday evening workshops. We recognize the men in our lives who support women’s empowerment and the divine feminine within themselves.

Please browse our wonderful selection of events to find the perfect matches for what you need in your life now!

“There is nothing like this in the world”.
~Jean Houston

Location
All Conference events are located at:
College Center Building and Library Building
North Seattle Community College
9600 College Way North
Seattle WA 98103

Pre-Conference workshop with Normandi Ellis is held at:
Standing Stone Healing Arts
943 N. 89th St.
Seattle, WA

 
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Membership
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Event Calendar
Download the 2013 Conference Event Calendar

Event Registration
** Bring a Friend Special! **

Pick a workshop, and then bring a friend for a reduced rate!

Click Here for information and links to Event Registration!

Volunteer, Work Exchange & Scholarship
Click Here for information on Conference Volunteering, Work Exchange & Scholarships

Recent Posts:
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February 5, 2013 10:59 am
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February 4, 2013 11:12 am
Origin and Purpose of the concept “Lovecurrency Embassy” by Ambassador Patricia Anne Davis, MA
February 3, 2013 10:50 am
Special Announcement: Live-Streaming for the Women of Wisdom Conference!
February 2, 2013 20:43 pm
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February 2, 2013 10:12 am
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Copyright © 2013 Women of Wisdom Foundation

Take Your Heart

Take your heart
give more of it than you can bear
bare more of it than you can give
then when the earth altar
on which you offer it, crumbles,
and the partnership
in which you offered it, crumbles -
keep offering.

Birrell Walsh

Since I come from a "literary" background (taught English and American lit for many years), I occasionally reflect on the writers I read and taught then--now looking at them from a very different perspective.  After we undergo certain spiritual "initiations" we do indeed view the world from a different angle.  We ask (of authors and others)--how truly "enlightened" are they?  Do they recognize the world of spirit?  Are they in touch with those realities which often are invisible to society at large?  Do they acknowledge the divine as an actual functioning essence in human experience?

Recently I was thinking about James Joyce, generally rated as the most important writer of the twentieth century.  Indeed, Joyce displayed brilliance beyond measure--his novel "Ulysses" demands close and prolonged reading.   Joyce, not one to be restricted by false humility, declared that all he demanded from his readers was a lifetime of dedication to his (Joyce's) works.

In "Ulysses," Joyce casts his main character--Leopold Bloom--as a Dublin Jew, possibly because this was a time when there had recently been overtly antisemitic activities in Ireland.  In some regards, Bloom is a kind of Walter Mitty character, the consummate outsider. He is a true "anti-hero"--a man more or less overwhelmed by circumstances.  His wife has been cuckolding him for some time with a brazen suitor named "Blazes Boylan," and Leopold has submitted to this continuing humiliation without protest.  He never confronts or complains, but goes about his own dreary existence as best he can, pursuing the small pleasures of his unremarkable life.  He and his wife even sleep head to feet, since no sexual contact is allowed.

Joyce excels in revealing the flaws and insufficiencies of each of his characters in turn.  He makes no allowance for the transcendent moment, the epiphany of divine revelation, focusing rather on the mundane "in seeing," rather than heavenly portents.  The world is as it is--plain, coarse, and unrelenting.  Life is compounded of trivia and petty experience. Nothing has meaning or significance beyond itself, except perhaps in terms of aesthetics or sensual reactions.  He is the ultimate "realist."

In contrast to Joyce is the Irish poet Yeats, sometimes called the "last romantic."  Yeats loved the Ireland of myth and mystery--where fairies still lived and the gods and goddesses of old still interacted with mortals on earth.  He was filled with nostalgia for the past glory of Ireland and proclaimed the magic of its present.  He was drawn to the supernatural in its many aspects.  He sensed the "mystery behind the mystery," the lure of that which is sensed rather than seen.  He wrote in "A Vision" a kind of complex and intricate foreshadowing of what was later presented to us in the "Enneagram," his schemata being based on the phases of the moon, in a volume channeled by his wife through automatic writing.  His work is accounted among the best of the past hundred or so years, displaying power and strength which are seldom matched by his contemporaries or successors.

A case might be made for a similar pairing of opposites in America, with Flannery O'Connor as the skeptical and relentless observer of humanity in all its faults and nakedness.  She writes from the perspective of a harsh Christian mysticism that allows for the numinous moment, yet insists on such absolutes as good and evil, and constantly judges those she portrays as sadly lacking in merit or valor.    Like Joyce, she stands above and beyond her subjects--each has a fatal flaw which often results in an absurdity which becomes a caricature.

Of course, some claim she thus reveals the shortcomings and follies of humanity in order--like Swift--to instruct and thus improve.  But there seems to be a lack of true love in her rendition, as if at base she detests that which she unmasks, even though she cloaks her condemnation in the guise of Christian orthodoxy.

I think the opposite of O'Connor would be Mary Oliver, whose love for nature, humankind, and the transcendent moment--permeates her writing.  She thus becomes a guide, not a judge, and her writing (for the most part) affirms an inherent lovability in both nature and human beings.  Few among contemporaries dare endorse either nature or humanity through such a perspective, for romanticism is out, and skeptical realism more or less rules the day.

What would have happened if each of these literary notables had undergone major spiritual transformation through, say, Kundalini awakening?  I think there would have been more affirmation, more expression of love in the work of Joyce and O'Connor, the two realists (though at times O'Connor writes as a Christian mystic, I see her as a realist in her insistence on human shortcomings.)  I think that Yeats and Oliver reached toward the transcendental vision and indeed perhaps did experience Kundalini as part of their overall creative experience.

Note:  The above is a "top of the head" reflection, a general summary of possible interpretations, notions which at this stage are neither complete nor final.  Rather it represents some ideas I have been toying with, and which possibly deserver further refinement and consideration. 

Sparrow Mattes

Cold breeze lifts the veil curtain
Rain taps the windows
Ice pelts form then quickly disappear
Thunder and lightening fill the mid-morning sky
Miles away a train sounds it's warning
High above, the jet's sky roar fades to hush
Rolling wheels with rain grooves tread the nearby street
The cat lays beside; curled in a cuddle of warmth
Her snoring joins the strange & wondrous symphony of sounds
I am in stillness, within a weave that is always in motion,
It is mid-morning
This is my altar

sparrow