The Journey of a Lotus...

The Rising Feminine Energy

2011-01-15T11:14:00.001-05:00

"Your whole era, your whole Earth is geared to that at this moment, and that is one of the changes of this New Age. It is called the arising of the Goddess. It is not just in woman, it is also in man."

~ P'taah... Transformation of the Species

At the beginning of every major turning point in human history, a new energy washes over our planet to bring about change. We are now leaving the age of Pisces, which has lasted some 2,160 years. The New Age of Aquarius will take its place for the same period of time.

Slowly but surely, the cosmic influence of Aquarius will usher in harmony, peace, understanding, sharing, and an unprecedented time of love, as we wake up and realize that we are all ONE family.

All of humanity will be affected by this change. Those whose actions are rooted in fear will have a difficult time of it. The days of ego-based thinking are over. This realization may take several generations to sink in, and become a way of life. But it will happen. Cosmic cycles are no accident. God's clock is perfect.

Over the past 50 years or so there has been an unmistakable resurgence of the feminine energy on this planet. It is all around us to wonder about, behold, appreciate, and bring into our way of being. It has been suppressed in women and men for thousands of years. The days of suppression are over. Now, men will cry more because of their greater sensitivity, and women will be honored as equals, as they should be.

What is feminine energy? How will it help to transform this planet? Why will it affect women as well as men?

Each man and woman on this planet has a root gender. It was assigned to us when we lost our ways in the physical pleasures of Earth millions of years ago, as we separated into physical man and physical woman. When that happened, the predominant consciousness or polarity of physical man was masculine, but a small vestige of the feminine principle was given to him well. The reverse holds true for each woman.

Located in the left side of our brain is the masculine force. It is the part of us that is assertive, logical, analytical, doing, controlling, aggressive, striving, projecting, hard, organizing, rushing, thrusting, always pushing us to survive, and has its origin in our minds.

The right side of the brain is feminine or that which is creative, delicate, intuitive, nurturing, receptive, tender, surrendering, synthesizing, integrating, soft, feeling, and the part of us that "knows" without explanation. Its roots reach deep into the heart.

The feminine helps us to "be." This form of energy softens the constant male-driven "doingness" of our lives, which has become part of our misguided and relentless efforts to survive in the material world.

The balance of the male-female polarities within each individual will also help us relax into the knowingness of who we really are. Once we begin to awaken to this knowledge we can then decide who it is we really want to be.

The ancients say that many aeons ago it was the female energy that dominated the masculine for a very long time. Eventually, the scales tipped in favor of the male energy, and we have been experiencing that imbalance and its influence for thousands of years. Now, the two polarities or consciousnesses must be brought together and blended until balanced and equal. The influence of Aquarius will help us do that. To be honest, it will accept nothing less.

During the spring of 2001, I looked out my kitchen window, which overlooks a field belonging to the local school. Young children were playing baseball. There were many young girls playing side by side with the boys, and the boys really enjoyed having them be a part of it. These magnificent, Little Winged Ones know in their young and innocent hearts what's going on with regard to the rising feminine energy. They're much wiser than we realize.

There is a lot of this kind of female-male balancing taking place today all over the world. I often wonder how many people see it as a rise of the Goddess energy that is making such a big impact on the spiritual transformation of the human family, and this magnificent planet.

Today, young fathers are mothering their children; women are stepping forward in sports, industry, politics, business, and the like. Men are creating and expressing with their heart, shedding tears, writing poetry, hugging one another. Women are stepping forward, standing on their own two feet, expressing their feelings, and being heard. It's all melding together on schedule, and speaks to the dawning of the Aquarian Age.

There is no doubt that the birth of the New Age we are entering has been influenced and guided by the emerging feminine energies of some very remarkable women. Eileen Caddy, Shirley MacLaine, Maryanne Williamson, Betty J. Eadie, Carolyn Myss, Jani King, the Peace Pilgrim, Mother Teresa, Jane Roberts, Mary Margaret Moore, Zoev Jho, and many others have given us so much to think about in their inspirational books, and other forms of communication.

Yes, the men have contributed as well by allowing their feminine, creative energies to flow from their souls. It's an amazing time to be alive. And it is not over. It is just the beginning. We're just now getting into Aquarius.

Today is the time for balancing our masculine and feminine energies in order to have fulfilling, romantic partnership s and long term unions with another. It is a part of being in harmony with the Aquarian forces that are lighting the way into the New Age.

The rise in feminine energy will also bring with it the realization that what is important is not "having" but "being." The time has come for us to stop concentrating on the external, material world for our happiness and fulfillment. In its place, the feminine will constantly remind us that we have souls; something we have forgotten for quite some time. And this will surely add to the quality of romantic unions.

Here's what Eileen Caddy, whose remarkable life story was told in her book, "Flight Into Freedom," had to say about the rising feminine energy. Keep in mind that she received many messages and visions from God throughout her lifetime...

"In a vision, I was shown a man and a woman. On the man were the words 'Light, Intellect' and on the woman, 'Love, Intuition.' I saw there was a great friction between them, even hatred and enmity. Then the woman lay submissively on the ground and the man walked all over her, wiping his feet on her.

I heard a voice say: 'Arise, oh woman. Be not subservient to man, for are you not his helpmate? Are you not here to complement each other and so bring unity and harmony and complete oneness?' The man must have heard the voice too, because I saw him kneel down beside the woman and gently pick her up. He removed her filthy garment and put on a pure white one.

Then I saw two great hands take the man and woman and mould them into one lump as if they were made of clay. The hands placed the clay into a potter's wheel and created a most beautifully shaped pot. I watched the pot being placed into the fire of purification. When it was taken out again, it shone brilliantly as the sun. It was so beautiful I knew only God's hands could have created it.

I now saw growing out of the pot blooms of every colour and description. I realised that was what could happen when there was no longer any division between man and woman, light and love, intellect and intuition. There will be everlasting peace and goodwill only when they come together as one."

Finally, the emerging Goddess energy will remind us that our Source is neither male nor female. Rather, our God is the union of all energy in the universe, both feminine and masculine.

Indeed, we are on the brink of an exciting New Age.

SA-ROC "The First Mother"

2010-11-06T05:06:00.007-04:00

Link to listen to song

I am the Earth and Water, I am the Full Moon. I am the First Mother, the Universal Womb. They call me Sacred Lotus Wisdom of the kind Supreme. The mother-ship that brought the first terrestrial being. I came from distant plants and now I have returned. I am the great Goddess come to you in human form.

Mysterious by nature, I hold my magic wand, cast my cowrie shells and read them in the dirt I stand on. My power is electric, you fell it in my gate. I will live on when other perish in the end of days. They call it immortal, I move thru space portals. My body turns to dust I trade it for a better model. I am the Shrine keeper, the civilization Teacher, I am the sun's reflection and
the Divine Receiver.

I birthed the last Gaints, now called the Juggernauts, when I designed the trees I made the roots from my natty locs. I am the fertile ground and I am heaven's skies. I'm made of dark matter and full of pure light. I'm just a tiny proton inside the smallest atom. I am a black-hole pulling stars inside my chasm. You think you know me but my name eludes you well. I am your consciousness and I'm your dream-spell. I am but all things yet I am none at all. Enemies fear me but mostly they just respect and awe.

Saroc the mc hails from the southeastern area of Washington DC, a city that’s a mashup of poverty stricken hoods, a strong radical movement, and a fierce loyalty to cultural preservation. This is the cocoon from which Saroc was birthed and bred. A product of Afrikan-centered parents, Saroc developed a rebel mentality from an early age. She grew up on the music of Jimi Hendrix, Gil Scott Heron, and Earth,Wind & Fire. Her musical soundtrack was a klash of sounds, from gogo, to rock, to hip hop. This foundation began an aural quest for different sounds and concepts in music. It wasn’t until 2002, when Saroc met Atlanta producer Sol Messiah, that she began her love affair with the mic. Armed with the lessons and musical genius of Sol Messiah, she developed a sound that was 1 part hood poetry, 2 parts otherworldly, and totally new and fresh. From subject matter ranging from melanin to pyramids, Saroc spits metaphysical ideas over melodic hip hop beats, seeking to fuse knowledge of self with great music. She seeks to create not just a couple of albums, but a full-fledged musical movement. A cultural griot, Saroc intends to reinstate the art of emceeing to its former glory, passing down the legacy 1 sixteen at a time.

Purchase her albums here

The Power of the Divine Feminine

2010-11-06T04:56:00.004-04:00

The deep power of the womb is the essential power of creation. It is the divine feminine power that created everything that is.

Mapped within every woman is an access point to the divine creative power. This access point is located behind the position of the physical womb structure in women. It is this point of energy that directs the soul development of a baby while it is in the womb.

However, when enlivened it can also enhance the woman's soul development and power.

Unfortunately most women are unaware of this power point. Further, this power point is wounded within them. Historical attacks upon and subjugation of the feminine have obscured the information and shut down the womb power of women. In addition, personal wounding (sexual attack or abuse, grief, shame and guilt regarding sexuality, miscarriage, abortion, hysterectomy etc.) has robbed this power point of its essential energy.

Once this healing has begun then the womb power literally rewires the energetic within us. This rewiring allows our physical bodies and energy bodies to hold the higher vibratory frequencies that are the divine feminine. When fully rewired our connection to the divine feminine is no longer an external or ephemeral experience-it is us.

As a woman this energy is your birthright!

Womb Cleansing Ritual

For a deeper cleansing of old issues the following full month experience can be used very effectively either with the menstrual cycle (as the moon cycle) or the external moon cycle as the time period. Both menstrual cycle and external moon cycle offer powerful experiences. However, men and menopausal women must do this exercise by using the external moon cycle.

The experience lasts from full moon (or onset of menses) to the next full moon (next menses). If you are engaging external moon cycles then pay attention the aspects of the moon and what particular things that moon affords extra power to address (I like the explanations at shamanicastrology.com which provide a Mayan calendar and interpretation for determining this). In fact, if you find an external moon with properties akin to your issues then this is the strongest effect.

On the full moon (or menses) give an offering to the Mama Quilla (Mother Moon) honoring her power and asking to release the old issues you have identified. Each day till the new moon (or ovulation) you will need to spend some sacred time in the following practice.

1) Begin with prayer or ceremony for connection to the divine.

2) Identify and bring forward the issues emotionally and mentally that you wish to address.

3) Take 100% responsibility for all that it entails. You might think that others abused you or were at fault for that old issue. However key to clearing it is to take your power back and take responsibility. Total responsibility recognizes that everything that has come to you while in the body was the soul's attempt to awaken you. It realizes that you came to earth with energy ready to bring you the experiences you needed to progress. Total responsibility realizes that you have body imprinted with that energy of the soul and of parents and that imprint draws your experience to you. Even if others abused you it was your energy that ultimately drew that out of others to bring to you. You must re-own this energy through taking full responsibility. To do this you must realize the root energy on you (usually some form of unworthiness or lack of self-esteem) that is that imprint upon you. Further, you must acknowledge that this is your energy and that you take full responsibility for what that energy drew to you.

4) Achieve true forgiveness to others involved and toward self for your own less than divine reactions. True forgiveness sees that everyone is an unwitting player in a larger game of illusion. Each is driven by their imprinted energies and responding from their wounds. No one is any better or worse in this grand game. Each person has a divine nature. Forgiveness is the practice of seeing this and becoming non-attached to who did what or why. Further true forgiveness requires the subsequent opening your heart to the situation, self and others.

5) Replay the old situation, events or feelings from your divine self. See yourself back in the old situation or feeling, but this time respond from your highest open heart. Review the situation from your divine self and divine reactions.

To aid this daily practice you may wish to choose a situation in which you feel most divinely connected and can receive hints or messages to help your progress. For example if you feel connected in nature, do the daily experience while taking a walk or sitting in nature. Read the signs of nature as hints (like you would interpret a dream) as to where to go next internally to really address all aspects of the issue you have brought forward.

Your dreams may also be vivid during this time. Use those vivid dreams to identify areas that still need addressing.

Ideally by the time you reach the new moon (or ovulation) you are in the empty state with respect to your issue. This means you have drained all the emotions and are feeling relatively non-attached or in a state of divine reaction and forgiveness when you think of the aspects of the issue. If you don't feel totally clear that is fine. Just accept the level of release you have attained as appropriate. Some people experience feeling empty as depression or loneliness. Be sure not to engage any such interpretation. Feel and know this emptiness as divine.

If you are following your menstrual cycle you have now invested that ovum with all those old issues and you will exit them on the menses. If you are following the moon cycle, know that the emptying of the moon itself is moving those issues out of you.
From the new moon (ovulation) to the next full moon (next menses) is the time of refilling with divine possibility. Each day engage in the following practice.

1) Offer a prayer for the highest possible to enter and fill you.

2) Connect the central axis of your luminous structure all the way through your body and into Earth and Sky.

3) Breath deeply pulling energy from the earth to fill the central axis of your luminous structure.

4) Circulate that energy throughout your triangles.

5) From the top of your head contact a divine source (or source of unconditional love) and breath that energy down into and filling the central luminous axis.

6) Circulate that energy throughout your triangles.

If you are mesa holder do the above exercise while siting inside your spread out mesa. Use your khuyas to aid connection to divine source. Thank your mesa, khuyas and sources after the experience.

Allow for the importation and circulation of energy to reform you. Try to stay without expectations of how that reform will take shape, look like, or feel. By the time the second full moon arrives you should be feeling different from the prior full moon.
Regular engagement of these practices will vastly improve the exit and clearing of old family line issues. As you clear you will find that you are no longer being highly triggered by these issues in daily life. As well you will find that your sexual and numinous dreams increase and violent dreams decrease during mid cycle. All of these are good signs that your menses are beginning to work with you toward the necessary clearing prior to enlightenment.

Women Are Not Just Pretty Faces and Vaginas. Period.

2010-10-04T15:17:00.001-04:00

AS A young girl I often wondered what I would become when I grew up. I remember childhood games where we assumed adult roles such as doctors, patients, mamas and papas.

It was fun because we were imitating what we saw around us at that time. Now, it’s all a faded memory.

Today, I am a grown woman, and am shocked, like most women, at the fact that when most men look at me, I somehow get this creepy feeling they only see a vagina and a face. It’s just the drool in their look filled with sexual connotations that creeps up my spine.

No matter how high I have climbed the professional ladder, there is still no way of making sure that I don’t get regarded as a sexual object ever ready to fulfill men’s lustful desires. Let’s face it, for most men, looking at women as if they were merely buttocks, boobs, vaginas and faces is like a pastime that they get away with everyday.

The patriarchal system not only represses women through its culture-traditional practices but through sanctioning men to always perceive women through the lens of sex. That could explain why the pornography industry thrives so much where men’s exploits over women are a key feature. But, I digress.

Honestly, if I had a choice, I would lock up my face, buttocks, boobs and vagina in a secret closet to free myself from the undesired attention that they attract from men. When men ogle at me, I feel stripped to the bone marrow and reduced to a walking thing with my humanity torn apart. And all just because I am a woman living among males who have no sense of shame about how they treat women like pieces of meat to be devoured at any go.

In my opinion, a new age type of harassment that most women do not even regard as a violation of their essential human rights is seriously on the increase especially in professional circles. I think of it as white collar male pervesion. While most men now shun from direct physical violence they’re guilty of stripping women of their dignity with their eyes and other non-verbal cues. Most men feel that they can regard any woman as a potential sex partner to salivate over. Through whistles, winks, stares and other types of non-verbal and non-violent actions, men are getting away with invading women’s private space.

Some common forms of unwanted male attention include:

edging close, touching or groping mainly in public places
wolf whistles (which women in some countries consider flattering), hissing, clicking
overt staring and leering
untoward affection – an arm around you, a ‘close’ hug, a kiss, a pat on the bum
personal questions that have sexual innuendos
inappropriate comments about how you look, what you think, and
and anything beyond

The feeling of being regarded as a walking vagina and face in spite of my achievements, intelligence, passion and vigor pushed me to an edge that I looked for women with similar experiences. From their stories, it is quite clear that it is very difficult to hold men to account when they treat you as if you are a vagina and face, ready to be taken to bed.

In fact, most women who tried to report on men in the workplace lost their cases because there was no physical abuse, molestation or touching which made the case weak. The unwanted attention from men with clear sexual connotations is regarded as innocuous to warrant any remedial action.

There are many ways to violate a woman’s body, and unless society wakes up, efforts to address gender violence will be in vain.

Take, for example, a friend Lisa (not her real name) told me that her manager approached her desk and licked his lips suggestively.

“I would like to insert my stiffy into your box to get that document I asked for earlier. For you safety, I am clean in case you think I might have a virus,” he said.

Lisa was so dumbstruck and offended, she said, that she just walked away. Later on, she asked him not to speak to her in that manner again. But it only got worse as the manager made weird hand gestures, groping his private parts and telling her that she could have it all. Lisa said that she lodged a complaint with the leadership at her organization, unfortunately, mostly male. She was informed that she did indeed have a pretty face and what else would she expect but to get such comments.

Laws in most countries are silent on unwanted male attention on women. If not confronted by the affected woman, unwanted male attention can seed dire consequences such as rape.

In another example, Tendai (not her real name) also had a manager who offered sexual favours. The manager constantly told Tendai that she had such a pretty face and that she was a full woman whom he would love to handle in his bedroom. It is clear from the comments that he simply regarded Lisa as a vagina and a face to be exploited for purposes of satisfying his sexual ego.

In some cases, even boardroom comments are pregnant with subtle stereotypes. Sadly, it is very difficult to bring such cases to book. However, women need to stand up and face up to these male perverts.

Women are so much more than just a vagina and a pretty face. We are leaders with our own rights. We are human beings with a humanity within us that needs to be respected and honoured. We are not merely vaginas and face put on earth to pleasure men.

About the Author

Glenda Muzenda-Raftopoulos writes widely on gender justice, human rights, women’s rights, democracy, and sexuality, and contributes frequently to both print and online media outlets in Southern Africa. She maintains a blog: www.theWomynSpeak.com. Glenda is a 2010 Human Right Advocate with Columbia University. Email: thewomynspeak@gmail.com

The Sacred Teaching of the White Tigress

2010-09-29T20:36:00.003-04:00

A woman who is free in her sexual/sensual nature is SUCCULENT. This succulence is the gift of the feminine to the world and is a woman's most powerful magnetic force.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT:

White Tigress practice is designed to empower a woman to claim her birthright as a sensual, ecstatic, juicy woman.

The core of this training for women has two main principles:

* Every woman innately already KNOWS

* Compassion is result of this practice (cum-passion: the blending of orgasm with love).

Thus the White Tigress emphasizes the listening to one's inner wisdom and guidance above ALL ELSE. Designed for the gentle awakening of the Vital Life Force (Sexual Qi) along with the cultivation of the Sensual Goddess, these simple, yet profound practices are shared in an atmosphere of acceptance, safety and integrity.

If you cannot face directly into your sexuality, You will never discover your true spirituality. Your earthly spirit leads to discovering your heavenly spirit. Look at what created you to discover what will immortalize you.

-White Tigress Manual

The following information is meant to give you a short introduction to an elite sect of Taoist sexual and spiritual practices dating back 3,000 years. Until recently, most of these teachings were kept secret or taught only to a few initiates. In 1986, Hsi Lai, a practicing Taoist and Tai Chi master, began studying with one of the few living female Taoist Immortal in Taiwan. Years of study later, she gave him permission to record and teach this knowledge to westerners. He has since published several books on many of the techniques, philosophies, and healing arts of the ancient Taoists. For anyone interested in a more in-depth study of the information I am about to give, I refer you to The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress and The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon by Hsi Lai.

The word Tao means "The Way". At it's heart, Taoism presents a harmonious way of living created by balancing the natural forces of "Yin" and "Yang". Yin-Yang is a symbolic representation of universal process that portrays a changing rather than a static picture of reality. All parts of reality as we observe it can be classified under the title of being Yin or Yang.

The harmony and balance of these forces are what Taoists believe create a healthy, fulfilling and peaceful life. A life with these forces out of balance creates disease, chaos, and death.

The writings that were the foundation from which early Taoist practices and philosophy were built came from three sources. Lao Tzu who is said to be the author of The Tao Te Ching, Huang Ti, who wrote The Yellow Emperor=s Internal Medicine Classic, and Ko Hung the author of Pao P’u Tzu. Over the years these writings have been interpreted in many different ways leading to a division of sects, schools and divergent practices. The more traditional schools recognized three distinct practices in Taoism. They are:

1. Internal Alchemy- the process of forming the elixir of immortality.

2. Meditation- the method of achieving tranquility and the Tao.

3. Hygiene Practices- physical restoration methods and yoga.

The White Tigress teachings will bring health, balance and tranquility to a person's life.

From the Tao Te Ching translated

by Stephen Mitchell

Taoists say: "Sex is the reason we are born and it is the reason we die." What they mean by this is that it was sexual energy that gave us life and it is the misuse of sexual energy that causes premature aging, illness, and eventually death.

To understand how to achieve immortality we must look closely at three energies that the Taoist call the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures are our essential life energies that create everything physical, mental, and spiritual.

The first treasure is "Ching" or "Jing". Ching is our sexual and physical energy and is related to P'o or Earth Spirit energy. It's physical manifestation is the sperm, the egg, as well as the whole body. Ching's primordial energy is to motivate us to procreate and be sexual. It is expressed in the blood and sexual fluids of both sexes. The emotional expression for Ching is sensuality and giving.

The second treasure is "Qi" or "Chi". This is our breath and vital energy. We could not live even a moment without Qi. Qi animates the physical body and activates the mental function. It also animates and attracts us to be sexual. The physical expression of Qi is through the orifices of the mouth and penis for men, and mouth and nipples for women. The emotional expression of Qi is passion and kindness.

The third treasure is "Shen", the mind and spirit energy. Shen relates to the Heavenly Spirit or Hun. It has to do with our spiritual existence and creates the consciousness of sexuality. Shen is expressed through the eyes, and this is where the saying "the eyes are the windows of the soul" comes from. Both compassion and wisdom are the emotional expressions of Shen.

A Taoist could not achieve immortality without fortifying these three treasures. Each treasure builds upon the next. Ching is needed to create Qi. Qi is needed to build Shen. In that order. But there is a limit to the amount of Qi (life energy) we have. We are born with a certain amount and when that Qi is used up the body can no longer exist and we die.

Fortunately, Ching (sexual energy) can be cultivated and made stronger. The Taoists found if they could increase their Ching they could restore and revitalize their Qi. When a person's Qi was strong enough it activated Shen (spirit) and illumination of the mind/spirit was attained. For this reason, the conserving and gathering of Ching was of utmost importance to a Taoist seeking longevity and spiritual enlightenment.

So how does a person increase their Ching?

Before we can begin to look at ways to increase sexual energy, we must first look at the ways we loose sexual energy. A woman loses Ching every time she has her period. A man loses his Ching every time he ejaculates. To conserve Ching, a man must decrease (not eliminate) the amount of times he ejaculates and a woman's needs to decrease (not eliminate) her menstrual flow. Some texts on Taoist sexology state that a woman needs to limit her orgasms to conserve her Ching. This perspective comes from a male centered philosophy that has mistakenly treated a woman’s restoration the same way as a man’s. Nothing could be further from the truth. Females Taoists know that orgasms do not deplete a woman's Ching. Rather, by using certain techniques, she can make full use of it's energy to benefit her health and well-being.

Conservation of sexual energy is only one part of the equation. For full physical restoration and revitalization a person needs to do more than just conserve his/her Ching. One must also practice methods to build and cultivate it. The techniques for doing are different for men and women.

Sexually speaking, Taoist view men and women as equal partners. To restore youthfulness and vitality, each must capture in the other what is lacking in themselves. Men tend to be more yang in nature; their sexual energy tends to be more active and external. A woman is more yin in her nature and therefore her sexual energy leans towards receptivity and internal experience. One need only glance at male and female genitalia to find legitimacy in this theory. To restore his sexual vitality a man must seek out yin experiences. For a woman to restore her youthfulness and vitality she must seek out yang energy. It is by looking beyond our inherent natures we find methods and techniques that bring greater longevity and health.

"White Tirgess: Sexual Secrets of China's Female Consorts and Taoist"

Purchase the Book "Sexual Teaching of the White Tigress" here

Ancient Egyptian Sexuality by Caroline Seawright

2010-09-28T15:20:00.003-04:00

...Revel in pleasure while your life endures
And deck your head with myrrh. Be richly clad
In white and perfumed linen; like the gods
Anointed be; and never weary grow
In eager quest of what your heard desires -
Do as it prompts you...

-- Lay of the Harpist

Sexuality in ancient Egypt was open, untainted by guilt. Sex was an important part of life - from birth to death and rebirth. Singles and married couples made love. The gods themselves were earthy enough to copulate. The Egyptians even believed in sex in the afterlife. Sex was not taboo... Even the Egyptian religion was filled with tales of adultery, incest, homosexuality and masturbation... with hints of necrophillia! Masculinity and femininity itself were strongly linked with the ability to conceive and bear children...

Marriage

To the ancient Egyptians, the most attractive women tended to be the fertile ones. A women who had children was seen to be more fortunate than ones without. Taking after Isis, the mother goddess of Horus, Egyptian women strove to be intelligent, wise, mystical and mothers. Where her twin sister Nephthys was barren, Isis was fertile.

In the Egyptian community, men had to prove their masculinity by fathering children, while the women had to be able to bear these sons and daughters. Being a mother meant being able to keep her marriage secure and to gain a better position in society.

But an Egyptian family was not just a status symbol - the Egyptians loved their children and were not afraid to show it. But there were some advice to parents, written by scribes:

Do not prefer one of your children above the others; after all, you never know which one of them will be kind to you.

Adultery in Egypt was wrong. Women got the worst punishment for adultery - a man might just be forced into a divorce, but a women could conceivably be killed for that crime. In the Tale of Two Brothers, the adulterous wife was found out, murdered and her body was thrown to the dogs.

Unmarried women, on the other hand, seem to be free to choose partners as they so desire, and enjoy their love life to its fullest.

Itinerant Performers and 'Prostitutes'

The Egyptian sacred 'prostitute' (who was probably a highly regarded as a member of Egyptian society because of her association with different gods or goddesses (such as Bes and Hathor), rather than the street walker that the modern mind imagines) advertised herself through her clothing and make up. Some of these women wore blue faience beaded fish-net dresses. They painted their lips red, and tattooed themselves on the breasts or thighs and even went around totally nude. There is no evidence that these women were paid for these fertility-related acts, so some believe that word 'prostitute' is probably an incorrect term for these women.

Photo taken with kind permission of the Petrie Museum, London

Another idea, pointed out to me by Daniel Kolos, an Egyptologist academically trained at the University of Toronto, is that this premarital sexual activity might be a prerequisite for marriage. One of the theories that disassociates these women from being prostitutes, is that their sexual activity could be part of a "coming-of-age ritual", just as circumcision was one for males. With Egypt's heavy emphasis on fertility as the defining nature of a man or a woman, this idea is a highly likely probability.

Other theories could be that the young virgin girls joined itinerant performing groups - dancers, singers and the like - and during their time with these groups they experienced their first sexual encounters. If a girl became pregnant, she would probably leave the troupe to head home to her family with proof of her fertility. (Motherhood was venerated, giving a woman a much higher status in society, so pregnancy was something to be proud of in ancient Egypt.)

These travelling groups of women were strongly linked with midwifery and childbirth-related deities. The goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet and Heqet disguised themselves as itinerant performers, travelling with the god Khnum as their porter. Carrying the sistrum and menat instruments - instruments with sexual overtones - they showed it to Rawoser, the expectant father. Knowing that his wife, Raddjedet, was having a very difficult labour, he told these women - the disguised goddesses - about his wife's troubles, and at their offer of help, he let them in to see her.

These women do not seem to be pay-for-sex prostitutes, instead they seem to be a link with the divine, a helper of expectant mothers and singers, dancers and musicians. This is not to say that there were no pay-for-sex prostitutes in ancient Egypt, it it just that there is little evidence of this found. Considering Egypt's very different image of sexuality, the modern concept of both sexuality and prostitution do not fit this ancient society. Women operated under a totally different cultural imperative than women today, thus ancient Egyptian sexuality must be looked at without modern prejudices. It seems that these female performers, these 'prostitutes', were treated with courtesy and respect, and there seemed to be a well established link between these travelling performers and fertility, childbirth, religion and magic.

Contraception

The Egyptians had their own ways and means of getting around the fact that sex produced children. They had both contraceptives and abortions, mostly these were prescriptions that were filled with unpleasant ingredients such as crocodile dung. Here is one of the nicer ones:

Prescription to make a woman cease to become pregnant for one, two or three years: Grind together finely a measure of acacia dates with some honey. Moisten seed-wool with the mixture and insert it in the vagina.

-- Ebers Medical Papyrus

Incest

From the close family relationships in Egyptian mythology and the fact that Egyptians seemed to have no taboo against incest, many have concluded that incest was rife in ancient Egypt.

There were probably some brother and sister marriages, but more likely than not, the siblings in question would have been half-brothers and half-sisters. The problem arises from the limited Egyptian terms of kinship, which are very confusing. A 'father' could refer to the actual father, the grandfather or male ancestors, while 'mother' could be the same, but for the females of the family. 'Sister' could mean a lover, a wife, a mistress or concubine, niece or aunt!

The royal family, on the other hand, did have more incestuous marriages. The royal blood ran through the females, not the males. To become pharaoh, a man had to marry a royal princess... which would be his sister or half-sister.

The prevalence of brother-sister marriages within the New Kingdom royal family, a custom in obvious contrast to contemporary non-royal marriage patters, appears to have been an attempt to reinforce the links between the royal family and the gods who themselves frequently indulged in brother-sister unions.

Even the gods had sex in ancient Egypt. Ra (in the form of Atem) masturbated his children Shu and Tefnut into existence!

Atem is he who masturbated in Iunu (On, Heliopolis). He took his phallus in his grasp that he might create orgasm by means of it, and so were born the twins Shu and Tefnut.

-- Pyramid Text 1248-49

Nut and Geb

Nut, the goddess of the night sky, and her brother Geb, the god of the earth, were originally thought to be in a constant state of love making. Ra grew angry with his grandchildren, and commanded their father Shu to separate the two lovers. The god of the air took his place, and trampled on the ithyphallic Geb, and lifted Nut high into the air. Nut was found to be pregnant, and was then cursed by Ra - she would never be able to bear her children on any month of the 360 day year. Thoth managed to win a game against Khonsu, god of the moon, and used some of the light of the moon to create five extra days (making the year 365 days). During those days Nut gave birth to her five children - Isis, Osiris, Nephthys, Set and Horus the Elder (not to be confused with Horus, the child of Isis and Osiris).

Nephthys and Osiris

Some tales of sex and the Egyptian gods is on the seamier side - one of the reasons given as to why Set and Osiris hate each other was because of Nephthys, Set's sister-wife. She was barren (she represented the desert, as did Set), and she hit on the plan of disguising herself as Isis and seducing Osiris. Getting Osiris drunk, Nephthys took Osiris to her bed, and the two had drunken sex together. Osiris dropped his garland of melilot flowers in the act of passion. Set found the adulterous goddess and the flowers, and knowing who the flowers belonged to, he began to plan Osiris' death. The child of this union was thought to be Anubis, god of mummification.

Now as the overflowings of the Nile are sometimes very great, and extend to the boundaries of the land, this gave rise to the story of the secret intercourse between Osiris and Nephthys, as the natural consequence of so great an inundation would be the springing up of plants in those parts of the country which were formerly barren.

Isis and Osiris

After his first attempt, Set managed to kill Osiris again and cut up his body into numerous parts. These parts Set spread all over Egypt. Isis, Nephthys and Anubis searched Egypt, and managed to retrieve all of the pieces of the body, except one - Osiris' phallus. Set had dropped the penis into the Nile (making it fertile), where it was eaten by a fish. The god and goddesses pieced Osiris together and created the first mummy. Using her magic, Isis fashioned a replacement for Osiris' missing part, either out of clay, wood or gold, and attached this to her dead husband's body. Through magical spells, life was breathed back into Osiris' body (though some dispute this and believe that Osiris was dead at the time)... The goddess managed to share a time of passion with her husband who impregnating her with their child, Horus. Osiris then passed into the afterlife, becoming god of the dead.

Horus and Set

Then Set said to Horus: "Come, let us have a feast day at my house." And Horus said to him: "I will, I will." Now when evening had come, a bed was prepared for them, and they lay down together. At night, Set let his member become stuff, and he inserted it between the thighs of Horus. And Horus placed his hand between his thighs and caught the semen of Set.

-- Story of Horus and Set

After Osiris' eventual death, while Horus was growing up and planning his own revenge, Set and Horus engaged in a homosexual relationship. In one part of the myth, Set proclaimed to Horus, "How lovely your backside is." Informing his mother Isis about his uncle's ardour, Horus is told to catch Set's semen rather than becoming impregnated by the murderer of his father. Set, in doing so, was planning on humiliating Horus by showing the gods that Horus would be filled with someone else's semen.

Horus and Isis's next plan was to 'impregnate' Set with Horus' semen. His mother spreads powerful unguents on Horus' penis, after which he ejaculated into a jar, and they spread it on some lettuce, a favourite aphrodisiac to the ancient Egyptians. Set then ate the semen-covered lettuce, and so Horus (rather than Set with his first 'attack') bacame sexually dominant over his uncle. Set then asked the gods to bring the semen forth from the 'impregnated' one, to humiliate Osiris' son. The semen comes out of Set himself, and he becomes the laughing stock of the gods!

Hapi

The Egyptian god if the Nile, Hapi, was a masculine deity, given female properties because of the fertility of the Nile river. Without the Nile, there would be no Egypt. Due to the duality of Egyptian thought, there were two Hapi gods - one of Upper Egypt wearing the water lily (lotus) on his head, and one of Lower Egypt wearing papyrus. He was usually depicted as a blue or green coloured man with a protuding belly, carrying libation jugs. He also has full breasts, indicating his ability to nourish Egypt. Despite being a hermaphrodite god, both the northern and southern versions of Hapi were given wives - Nekhbet in Upper Egypt and Wadjet in Lower Egypt.

Min

Lettuce was thought to be the favourite food of the fertility god, Min. He was depicted as a god with an erect penis, wearing a feathered crown and carrying a flail. Lettuce was his sacred plant, and an aphrodisiac to the ancient Egyptians - this particular species of lettuce was tall, straight and secreted a milky substance when pressed!

Another aphrodisiac was the onion. They were forbidden to the priests who had vowed celibacy, for fear that their passion might take over, and that they might desecrate themselves!

Fennel, ginger, pomegranates, coriander in wine and radishes mixed with honey were thought to have aphrodisiac qualities, too.

The water lily was also a symbol of sexuality, as well as immortality and health. It was possibly even a narcotic that the Egyptians used, but it was more likely to be a sexual stimulant.

Some of the more unusual aphrodisiacs included pearls dissolved in a cup of wine, baboon faeces added to aphrodisiac ointments!

Artwork

The Turin Papyrus contains various pictures of sexual activity, perhaps focused on Ramses II and his many wives. It has been theorised that, more likely, it is just the fantasies of an ancient Egyptian who happened to sketch them out on papyrus, or an artwork poking fun at the sexual side of the Egyptian lifestyle. Most of the positions drawn on this papyrus seem to be rather uncomfortable!

Another sexual sketch - this time graffiti - from ancient Egypt shows a woman with a pharaoh's crown, maybe Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC) engaging in sex with a male that many presume to be Senmut. This sketch has caused many people to believe that Hatshepsut and her favourite courtier were lovers.

From various sources, it seems that the Egyptian preferred method of intercourse were face-to-face or from behind.

References in writing to sexual intercourse between men are as rare as those to sexual intercourse between men and women; the absence of references in writing to sexual intercourse between women reflects the general male bias of the written record. Homosexual intercourse between a king and his general is implied in the fragmentary 'Tale of Neferkara and Sasenet', in the description of secret nocturnal visits by the king to the general, detected by the hero of the tale; although the tale is damaged, it reads as if the nocturnal visits are considered illicit.

-- Sexuality in ancient Egypt, Digital Egypt for Universities

After Life

The Egyptians thought of their afterlives as more of a continuation of life on earth (albeit a better life). This being the case, the Egyptians believed in sex life after death!

Egyptian men had false penises attached to their mummies while Egyptian women had artificial nipples attached. Both would become fully functional in the afterlife, where they were free to engage in sexual intercourse, if they so desired.

There were even fertility dolls in many graves - women with wide, child-bearing hips that were often carrying children in their arms. Other fertility dolls, known as paddle dolls, don't have any legs, and their bodies end in very wide pubic area, with tiny heads and arms.

These dolls show that the Egyptians believed that fertility and sex were interlinked, though the ancient Egyptians quite clearly enjoyed sex in its own right!

A special thanks goes to Daniel Kolos, an academic Egyptologist (MA in Ancient Egyptian Language and Literature, University of Toronto) for suggestions and ideas about ancient Egyptian sexually active unmarried women and the roles they played in ancient Egyptian society.

Who were the Amazons?

2010-09-28T15:12:00.004-04:00

The Amazons were a race of warrior women within Ancient Greek civilization. Though their origins remain in dispute, the lands most connected to the Amazons are Libya, Thermiscrya, which is on the Anatolia peninsula of modern day Turkey, and the Black Sea region of Eurasia. Until quite recently archaeological evidence concerning the Amazons has been scant, but highly suggestive that indeed a mythic race of warrior women may have fought along side men with equal status. Yet, such evidence does not follow with the traditional Greek mythic view of the Amazons. The Amazons in Greek myth were an entirely autonomous race, with entirely different customs than that of mainland Greece (or for that matter the Peloponnesus), and their prominent presence within Greek mythology served a very suggestive purpose within Greek myths. This purpose whether to reinforce the status quo, or the patriarchy of classical Greece, lends itself open to interpretation. Thus, there are two views of the Amazons which have taken a prominent place within the research sphere on the Amazons. Namely, up until very recently (in the 1990s) the Amazons were seen only as a mythological phenomena. Only recently has archaeological evidence suggested the existence of the Amazons (and evidence is still being unearthed throughout Eurasia). Taken as either an archaeological phenomena, a myth, or a mixture of both, a picture of the Greek Amazons can be gleaned. The following pages examine the Amazons, in their mythical, cosmological, and archaeological aspects.

Who were the Amazons?

What is known of the actual Amazons within the Aegean is very little, and yet intrigue about a race of dominant warrior women in the bronze age has flourished from ancient times into the present. The obvious question asked by most scholars has been, "who were the Amazons, and did they actually exist?". Research into the Amazons is extremely limited and at times contradictory. There are numerous accounts of the origins of the Amazons, most concurring that the black sea region was their original settlement. To what extent the Amazons settled into the Black Sea region has not been fully ascertained. Some sources say they reached as far south as Libya, some to the Anatolia peninsula, others as far west as the Mongolian region of Eurasia. These accounts are further conflicted by the later Greek accounts of the Amazons. According to the Greek accounts, when the Greeks themselves began to settle into the area of the black sea, they found no Amazons. As a result and to explain this discrepancy, the myth of Hercules and Hippolyte was created to explain their disappearance. According to the myth, Hercules led an expedition through the Amazon land to obtain the girdle of Queen Hippolyte (the queen of the Amazons), during this time he managed to expel and conquer all the Amazons in the district.

Regardless of the myth, modern and ancient scholars remain perplexed by the question of whether the Amazons existed at all. Plutarch, a Greek historian, concluded that the Amazons did not exist as a race of warrior women per se', but were merely women fighting alongside men in battle. Herodotus, another Greek historian, believed that the Amazons did exist within Greece. Other scholars have even ventured that the women were in fact male Persian soldiers who shaved their beards off and dressed as women in battle. These theories and questions have been compounded by the view of Amazons within Greek art. The early depictions of Amazons were similar in style and likeness of Athena, as time progressed Amazons were given the likeness of Artemis. The final depictions of Amazons share slightly Persian features, a likeness (since the Greeks were in constant conflict with Persia) which can be best viewed as anomalous.

Outside of the questions of the Amazon origins, other questions pertaining to Amazons concern their view of men, and if they were a fierce (blood thirsty) people. The Greeks often questioned (as do modern scholars) how the Amazons, a race composed entirely of women, were able to sustain themselves throughout the generations. The most credible theory holds that the Amazons had contact with men from other lands, the Amazons kept the female children born to them, and sent the male children to live with their fathers. As to the Amazons blood thirsty nature, Quintus Smyrnaeus wrote of them during the Trojan Wars:

"In the pure rapture of triumph the Amazons charged, and with anguished groans and shrieks the Greeks perished, their manhood withered by the women from the fierce and untamed northlands. Like Goddesses amidst earth born heroes the Amazons pursued their reeling foes, dashed them down, cut them apart, and, scoffing, tossed them through the air - till the Greek formations dissolved in consternation."

The Amazons by and large were a race of fierce warriors, who on numerous occasions laid siege in Attica, and were even a threat to Athens. What is certain is that the Amazons were formidable fighters which the Greeks feared, but as to the Amazons being blood thirsty the question still remains.

Traits of the Amazons

The Amazons were a race of fierce warrior women. Speculation into their lives and the way they lived has been passed down through generations by myths and legends. Whether they were feared or admired, scholars have looked at the Amazons in one of two ways- as a purely mythological phenomena, or as a mixture of a mythological phenomena with marked archaeological evidence. Only within the past 5 years has archaeological research suggested that the Amazons were not purely a matter of mythology. To understand the Amazons, one must look at them from both view points before formulating a conclusion. The Amazons did exist in a functional mythological context, and recent archaeological evidence has only begun to scratch the surface as to their formal origins.

The Amazons were fierce warrior women. From birth they were brought up to be warriors. Female children in the Amazons tribes were said to have their right breast seared during childhood to facilitate the use of a bow. Their main weapons were the bow, the librys (a double edged axe), and a crescent shaped shield. The Amazons were said to be able to tame and ride horses long before mainland Greece acquired the skill. The ability to ride on horseback gave them an obvious edge in battle and added mobility. Accounts as to the culture and rulership of the Amazons remain sketchy, however some sources say there were two Amazon queens; one who ruled over domestic affairs and one who ruled over battle and warfare. Conquests of the Amazons were throughout Greece, and their legacy of fierceness and triumphs in battle were noted by the Spartan leader Lycurgus as well as many Greeks.

Were Spartan Women Remnants of the Amazons?

Research concerning the Amazons and Spartan women is at best sketchy, however, it is evidenced by many historians that the Amazons did have some elements and influences in common with Sparta. Spartan women had much more political freedom than within other cities such as Athens. A Spartan woman was expected to be fierce and be able to defend her land. This can be exemplified in the goddess Artemis. The patroness of Sparta and of the Amazons, Artemis was the goddess of the wild hunt, protector of animals, protector of women, young girls, and youth, with a connection to adolescence and childbirth (The Amazons in later Hellenistic periods were associated with Dionysus the god of wine, as either his allies of his opponents.). Though the worship of Artemis was common throughout the Greek world, only in Sparta was a warrior spirit and sense of equality allowed to flourish among the upper-class Spartiate men and women.

Was Sparta influenced by Amazon women? If so what are the differences and similarities between the two cultures?

The answer to any of these questions is not entirely clear in that there is a limited amount of information on the Amazons. It is not beyond speculation to say that if the Amazons did exist that they lived largely within a matriarchy (female dominated), rather than in a patriarchy (male dominated) as in Sparta. It is also not unlikely that the Amazons had different ideological concerns than the Spartans. Perhaps the Spartans created their view of women from the stories they heard or from actual meetings with the Amazons? Or perhaps the law giver Lycurgus, who upon hearing tales of the Amazon battles in the Trojan war, was inspired to raise the status of women, and give them the same brisk upbringing as a Spartan male. It is unlikely that the Spartans simply allowed women the right to own and take over their land if their husbands were away at war, and take a second husband if need be, overnight. Such a right on it's own remains contradictory to the rest of Greece, which did not allow women to own land (and also excluded many other rights as well), or in some cases did not allow them to take a second husband if the first died. It is more than likely that the women of Sparta were allowed to own land in times of war, simply because Sparta feared a revolt from the helots, and required strong women to fend off such an attack. In such a case, the reasoning of Plutarch on the Amazons would seem to fit, that the women fought among the men as near equal.

Did the Spartans originate from the Amazons?

No definitive answer can be given, there is a possible influence, but it is unlikely that the two interbred or otherwise, and a limited number of resources leave many questions concerning the Amazons and the Spartans open to interpretation and further research.

What Is the Double Goddess? by Vicki Noble

2010-09-28T15:01:00.003-04:00

The Double Goddess is an ancient icon with luminous meaning for contemporary women, expanding on the single images that have prevailed in prior considerations of the Goddess. Among the numerous female figures important in the ancient world appear many twin figures of two women as well as symbolic dual female representations such as the Double Axe, birds, lions, leopards, and snakes. I see these Double Goddess figures as profoundly representational of the whole yin-yang female biological cycle and its shamanistic relationship to life on this planet, human evolution, and the development of civilization.

The long and rich heritage of Double Goddess figurines and painted images reflect the organic cycles of nature that informed the ancient Goddess religion, archetypally expressed through the body of every woman as the repeating alternation between ovulation and menstruation. These two aspects of the feminine are iconographically depicted in the multivalent and widespread image of two divine women, expressing the dual ples of nature: death and life, dark and light.

The image of the Double Goddess is a vital missing piece for modern women, as it graphically portrays our exquisite and unique bipolar existence in a positive, healthy way.

The Double Goddess reflects female autonomy, offering very important icons for modern women trying to find again (re-member) our ancient, integral sense of self and wholeness.

The innate back-and-forth mystery of ovulation and menstruation, unique to our species and magically ( magnetically) synchronized with the cycles of the Great Goddess Herself in Her dual planetary aspects as Earth and Moon, and the mythic forces of life and death.

The Double Goddess represents the idea of female sovereignty in a context of ancient female yogic and shamanistic practices and principles that formed the organizing structure of most ancient cultures in the world before patriarchy.
These double images as well as the aried mythologies of Double Queens found in different parts of the ancient world suggest that the icons represent a female lineage (matrilinearity) in the form of a continuous "storied tradition" of female
sovereignty.

We'll probably never know if any of the Double Goddess images from ancient civilizations were meant by their creators to represent physical love between women. Or, more accurately, we may not ever be able to prove that such a likely contention is true. Certainly some Double Goddesses are portrayed in such intimate ways that contemporary scholars discussing them have become tongue tied or shy about what they are seeing. Some double figures show two separate women in significant intimate contact, embracing or wearing a shawl around their shoulders or a girdle around their hips, which may indicate physical same sex love.

Lesbians who have shied away from the Goddess movement because of its largely unconscious, but profoundly heterosexist bias, can relax into the knowledge that a lineage exists, going back to the beginnings of human civilization, sanctioning female to female relationship as the original, matriarchal bond and a model of community leadership. This model has mostly been ignored by mainstream culture, even though it is a truism at this point in history that lesbians were and are the vanguard of the women's movement. Significantly for our discussion, much of this impact was made through the influence and productivity of lesbians couples, in a contemporary version of our ancient Amazon Queens.

This model can be seen in the tantric counterparts, Athena and Artemis. Athena, credited with inventing all of civilization's arts, became Goddess of the city-state, crafts, and culture, and Artemis remained Goddess of wild nature. Both remained "virgin" neither was willing to relate romantically with men and both were connected with Amazons.

Rarely does a scholar mention the all to obvious likelihood that either or both of these Goddess types might have found their sexual fulfillment with other women. Artemis, the shaman-priestess, might naturally discover her romantic partner in Athena, the physical warrior and head of state. Instead, both are treated not as if their Virgin Goddess status referred to the intactness of a woman belonging to herself, but rather as a kind of insular chastity that repudiated sexuality altogether.

With the mass of recorded history, mythology, and artifactual evidence, the existence of Amazon Queens and warrior women can hardly be contested, yet it is consistently denied, ignored, and erased by contemporary academic scholars. Amazon warrior women exemplify female resistance movements everywhere. They evoke the wild women who,like Miranda Shaw's eternally transgressive Indian yoginis, " always speak truthfully and are proud of their strength; women whose minds are powerful and energetic; women who delight in shrewish behavior and speak boastfully; women who are fearless, revel in their own ferocity, and women who derive pleasure from the fact that they are untamable."

The warrior woman stands her ground in the physical world, like an archer or martial artist. The priestess fights her battle on the invisible plane, using the tools of her trade to support the powerful working of her focused mind. Together, in the tradition of Amazons from every time and place, they fight back in an ongoing refusal to allow the world to be destroyed.

Purchase the book the Double Goddess by Vicki Noble here

The Cosmic Egg, Serpent and the Enlighting Orgasm By Makeda Voletta

2010-09-27T18:33:00.002-04:00

Sexual energy is our creative and vital life force energy. The health of our internal organs is a direct reflection of the potency of our sexual chi. This is why cultivating our sexual energy is so vital for our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health. All indigenous people had sacred sexual practices; however, the most well known are the Taoist practices from China and Tantra from India. Both have divine feminine roots. They ascend from the darkness. It is impossible to separate sacred sexuality and the Goddess. Throughout many ancient traditions you will find the serpent, the bird and the egg. The egg and the serpent are symbols of female sexual energy, (re)birth, resurrection, and the divine feminine circular eggs and spiritual spirals of the Goddess.

It is in the lower self where the kundalini serpent (jing) resides. The kundalini serpent wraps around the cosmic egg and devours it. The egg arouses the serpent to replicate in two and uncoil up the tree of life (our spine) up into our pineal gland (third eye) which leads us to higher levels of enlightenment. We can also bring it up to the crown chakra so it may combine with “shen” our spiritual energy and can then be brought down to our womb space (right under our navel) and stored as chi (our vital life force energy).

The divine twin serpents represent the unity of two. The twin serpents represent duality and the double helix of DNA. Hence, we see on the symbol used by the medical community, the dual serpent rising up the spine where it is joined by wings. This symbol represents healing. From the elevation of the twin serpents, comes the all seeing bird that flies high. The snake(s) inform the Goddess of the underworld. The Bird informs the Goddess of the Upper world. Don’t underestimate the lower chakras or the flesh. Heat rises. So the power and enlightenment in the crown is depending on its foundation. The foundation feeds the crown.

If we look throughout the world, nudity, owls, cats, snakes, darkness, menstrual blood and sexuality are considered to be “evil”. People are afraid of the dark side. This fear has been embedded in the vaginal walls, wombs, breasts and minds of women all over the world. Many women verbally and violently express extreme hate for their menstrual cycles and will go to great lengths to not have one. Many women speak so negatively about our moon cycles and have never been introduced to the powers inherent in our moon time (menstrual) blood. During our menstrual cycles that is when we are the closest to spirit. It should always be a time of retreat, relaxation, meditation, creation and destruction. It is time for us to divine and receive divine messages from the Goddesses and our ancestors. It is a time for us to conduct rituals with other women who are close to us who are also bleeding at the same time. Our moon time is our most powerful tome, spiritually. This is the reason why a menopausal woman becomes wiser. She maintains her wise red fluid inside of her, to only be transformed into deeper layers of wisdom. Women should not be experiencing super long or super heavy menstrual flows or be in excruciating pain. If we do feel these things it is symbolic of something highly toxic in our diet and/or life. It is also linked to past traumatic issues and weak vaginal muscles.

In the powerful book, “The Great Cosmic Mother – Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth”, authors Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor write,

“ The biblical myth of Eve and Adam and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden is another tale of the separation of the female from the male, at Yahweh’s command. According to Hebrew and Christian teachings, Eve-the “first woman” –is the cause of the “fall” of humanity from paradise into earthly suffering. She is the source of the “Original Sin”.

In Genesis all recognizable elements of the much more ancient Mother Goddess myth, symbol, and ritual are present. Here is the Garden of the Goddess and her wise cosmic serpent, the tree of knowledge with its dark soma fruit, the fig of the Cretan Goddess-which became, for Westerners, the magic apple of the European “White Goddess.” Here also is a strong trace of Near Eastern creation mythology, which tells how the Great Mother shaped the first human beings from earth dust and her own saliva and breathed her breath of life into them. Eve means “life”, and Eve is called the Mother –of-All-Living. Adam means “son of the red Mother Earth.” These legends, these creation myths, go back thousands of years before the Hebrew patriarchs wrote the Bible.

But in Genesis, it is a Father God who creates all life. And the first woman is born from a man’s body. A very interesting biological reversal! In this opening book of the Bible, this historic-political ideology of the patriarchs is clearly stated: The new male God forbids Adam and Eve to participate in the sacred mystery rites of the Great Goddess. They may not eat of her fruit and gain transcendent knowledge. Of course, Eve, who was the priestess of the Goddess, disobeyed Yahweh’s command. She tries, with the magic aid of her serpent, to persuade Adam to partake with her the narcotic fruit and sexual rites leading to ecstatic illumination and rebirth in the Goddess’s Garden of Immortality. And this is “Original Sin” in the established doctrines of the Hebrew and Christian religions.

Lilth, in Hebrew legend, was the rebellious woman created before Eve. She was portrayed as part snake and wearing wings-“the winding serpent who was Lilith”-and was blamed by Yahweh for having tempted Eve to reveal and initiate Adam into the mysteries of the garden. Lilith represented the ancient Canaanite worship of Astarte-Asherah, and also Ishtar of Babylon. Her relation to the very old Snake-and Bird Goddess is obvious, and her rebellious naughty mysteries were those of yoga, of kundalini and spinal illumination (mysteries and techniques indigenous to the Near East, as well as to Europe and India, until the Hebrew patriarchs set out to censor them). Far into medieval European Christian imagery, the serpent in paradise is pictured with a woman’s head and breasts.

Significantly, Eve’s punishment for her “sin” consists of patriarchal marriage. Her desire must be only for her husband, she must leave her Garden and follow him over the barren male-ordered earth, condemned to unwanted pregnancies and painful childbirth. In other words, patrilocal marriage, in which she is isolated from her women’s collective and deprived of her ancient knowledge of herbal contraception and narcotics used for painless labor. She is no longer priestess and midwife to the Goddess. She will now bear children bitterly and they will “belong” to the man. She must also passively male love to Adam on her back, he enacting as the male Sky Father over her meek female Earth. She must play the role of “corrupt matter” chained to a husband forever striving to “free” his immortal spirit from her.”

The Goddess and her Garden are more ancient than the bible. The Goddess and her abundance of succulent fruit (symbols of female sex organs) was turned into the “evil temptress.” The world’s main religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, guided by patriarchal ideology, are highly responsible for drilling the idea that sex and sexual desire is sinful into the minds and laws of practically every nation of people. To deny your lower chakras is to deny your roots. It is to disconnect from your source of life. It is to cut off your divine connection to your mother, the darkness, the divine feminine. Sexuality is certainly divine. Sexual energy is spiritual energy and the flesh is sacred. To deny our physical flesh and deep, dark center is to deny ourselves. The laws of physics demonstrate that the farther we are away from our center the more off balance we become. In order to remain balanced as we walk across the tight rope called “life”, we must connect to and strengthen our center. That is where we access the truth, our ancestors and our strength. It is vitally important for all of the muscles in our body to be strong and tight. Despite this fact, most people do not think of strengthening the muscles that support their reproductive organs. Pelvic Prolapse is a condition in which one’s internal organs begin to sag and fall down into the pelvic and urogenital diaphragms. While this complication occurs in both men and women, this article will focus on women. Pelvic Prolapse is a serious condition that can cause pain during sexual intercourse, problems urinating, chronic constipation, back pain and tissue bulging through the vagina. Becoming a common occurrence in much of the world. Giving birth vaginally takes incredible strength and coordination of all of the core muscles. It is important for women to know that they are able to give birth vaginally to all of their children without having this situation occur. However, just as an athlete trains before competing, it is important for women to train for giving birth. It is important to note that women who have not given birth can also develop this condition if they do not put in any work to strengthen those muscles. Over time, all muscles weaken and atrophy if stress is not put on them.
Many women have heard of Kegel exercises but that is analogous to doing bicep curls with the air. In order to for our muscles strong and tight, we must put stress on them. There is a long documented legacy of vaginal strength training and vaginal weightlifting in ancient China. The royal women in China used a Jade Egg several thousand years ago as a way to strengthen and control their vaginal muscles. Remember, it is one thing to have strong muscles and another thing to have superb control over them. The Jade Egg is an egg made from the Jade stone. It works by inserting it into our vaginal canal and learning to manipulate it in a variety of ways. We can eventually learn to pull the egg up and down, side to side, squeeze it, twirl it, flip it, and everything in between. Our vaginal canal is one huge muscle so over time, the use of the Jade Egg makes our vaginal walls wetter, thicker, stronger and tighter. The added benefit is the fact that manipulating, squeezing, tugging and focusing on the Jade Egg enables us let the egg increases our sensitivity and transforms negative energy. All of these intense, focused contractions build a lot of sexual energy our clitoral and genital region. Thus, it is analogous to starting a fire. It causes our libido to rise and so will the intensity of our orgasms. As women, it is vital to have frequent and deeply intense orgasms because it helps us to increase our estrogen and shorten our menstrual cycle. The more that we are in a moist, aroused state, the more enjoyable our menstrual cycle becomes. Another added benefit is being able to hypnotize your partner with your vaginal dexterity. During sexual interactions your partner can certainly feel the contractions and it is extremely also pleasurable for him (or her).

Jade is believed to stimulate white blood cells. Jade opens up the heart chakra to love energy. Jade is a good luck stone that helps facilitate prosperity, deep wisdom, compassion, peace, balancing of male and female energies, courage, wisdom, justice, stamina, love, fidelity, humility, generosity. It is associated with the astrological signs of Libra, Aries, Gemini and Taurus and it vibrates to the number eleven. The element associated with Jade is water. In all of the sacred sexual practices I have studied, female sexual energy is considered to be water and male sexual energy is fire. This is why it is so important for women to orgasm often and to be wet often. It is not in anyone’s best interest to let the rivers run dry. Female sexual energy is associated with water because it takes a little bit of time to get to its boiling point. Work must be put in to make the molecules go crazy and thus turn into vapor. Male sexual energy is analogous to fire because it is quick to get hot and quick to burn out. Since men are visual creatures they can get incredibly aroused just at the sight of someone they find attractive. But it makes sense because men are programmed to spread their seed and women are programmed to be selective.

Black Jade enhances expressiveness, intelligence and perception. It is thought to be a magic stone by the Mayan and Aztec cultures. It is used to treat disorders of the Reproductive Organs. Many women store trauma in their womb space and their vaginal canal. It is important for women to heal these issues before giving birth, because the baby will grow in the womb and come into the world via the vaginal canal. The new born baby can then pick up all sorts of imbalances and trauma that the mother never dealt with. The Jade Egg also helps to calm the nerves because it stimulates all of the reflexology points in the vagina, which in turn help to balance the meridians associated with all of the body’s organs. And my favorite thing about the Jade Egg is that it makes a woman more sensitive and more orgasmic. Women have more than one G-spot. We have many, and you will discover them once you start working with the ancient cosmic egg.

A freelance fitness/swimsuit and fine art model, Makeda Voletta is a trained and professional dancer in a variety of dance styles from the Carribean, South America, North America and Africa. She is a dedicated student of the body and all of the methods involved with bringing the body to it’s highest level. Makeda has a B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science with a concentration in Strength and Conditioning and a minor in Nutrition. Having completed two years of graduate work at Columbia University in Applied Physiology and Nutrition as well as plenty of self study, Makeda is a self-proclaimed body science nerd. Along with finding gems of her knowledge and captures of her beauty here, you can find more at www.QueenLioness.com and at www.EliteArtandScience.com

Rain Queens of Balobedu

2009-09-08T16:52:00.003-04:00

While re-reading a wikipedia entry on Ororo Munroe (aka Storm), I came across a reference to what may be a real life inspiration for this groundbreaking character, the Rain Queen.

The people of the Limpopo Province located in South Africa are known as the Balobedu. Their hereditary Queen, the Modjadju, is known as the Rain Queen. The royal line is matrilineal, when the reigning Rain Queen dies, her eldest daughter inherits the title---whereas sons are considered part of the royal family they are not entitled to the throne. The Rain Queen is believed to have power of tide and storm, wind and rivers. In addition, female members of the royal family are said to have the power to see visions.

Modjadji or the "Rain Queen", is the only traditional ruling queen in Southern Africa. Historically she was known as an extremely powerful magician, able to bring rain to her friends and drought to enemies. Her position as paramount ruler is based on this power. Modjadji have been feared and respected for centuries. Not a single African king would seek her wrath, fearing punishment meant drought. Shaka Zulu sent top emissaries to request her blessings.

Visitors to the area always brought gifts and tribute, including cattle and their daughters as wives, to appease her so that she would bring rain to their regions. The custom is allied to an emphasis on fertility of the land and the population.The name Lobedu is thought to derive from the practice, referring to the daughters or sisters who were lost to their families. The Rain Queen extends her influence through her wives, because they link her politically to other families or villages. Her status as marrying women does not appear to indicate lesbianism, but rather the queen's unique ability to control others. The Rain Queen is not meant to marry, but bears children by her close relatives. She is cared for by her “wives”.

There are several accounts which relate how the Rain Queens assumed power. One such story as it that in the 16th century an old chief was told by his ancestors that by impregnating his daughter, Dzugundidni, she would gain rain-making powers. In another account, Dzugundidni was impregnated by her brother, but only she was held accountable. Dzugundidni was forced to flee the village and found herself in the Molototsi Valley, where she established a village which became the kingdom of the present day Rain Queen.

In the past Rain Queens were expected to have children with close relatives so that their children would be born of royal blood. The mantle of Rain Queen is always passed from mother to daughter. In the past, when one Rain Queen was close to death, she was believed to commit suicide by ingesting poison so as to allow her daughter to rise to power quickly. However, due to the influence of Christian missionaries, some of these practices have been abandoned.

The belief in the Rain Queen's powers are reinforced by the beautiful gardens which surround her royal compound. Surrounded by parched land, her garden contains the world's largest cycad trees which are in abundance under a spectacular rain belt. The Rain Queen is a highly respected figure in South Africa and many tribes revere and respect her and her land. Her influence is so powerful that even when surrounding states are warring with one another, they rarely invade or even touch her land.

The last Rain Queen, Majobo MOdjadji, was the 6th in a line of the Balobedu tribe's Rain Queen's. She was crowned on April 16th, 2003 at the age of 25, after the death of her predecessor and grandmother, Queen Mokope Modjadji. Before her death, she was the youngest Queen of the Balobedu Tribe.

Although respected for her abilities and lineage, Makobo was seen as too modern to be the next Rain Queen, which may have been why there was such a long delay before she was crowned. Custom dictated that rain queens live reclusive lives, hidden in the royal kraal with their 'wives.'. Modjadji, however, liked to wear jeans and T-shirts, visit nearby discos, watch soap operas and chat on her cell phone. Modjadji also had a boyfriend, David Mogale, who was believed to have fathered her second child. He is the former municipal manager of Greater Letaba Municipality. He is also rumoured to have moved into the Royal Compound to live with her. This caused great controversy with the Royal Council as the Rain Queen is only ever supposed to mate with nobles who the Royal Council themselves chose. Therefore Mogale was banned from the village, and the Rain Queen's two children have never been recognized by the Council. On the 10th of June Makobo was admitted into the Polokwane Medi-Clinic with a then-undisclosed illness and died two days later at the age of 27. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the late Rain Queen's death. Some villagers believe she died from a broken heart when her lover David Mogale was banned from the village by the Royal Council to put and end to their love affair. Mogale himself claims that the Royal Council poisoned Makobo as they saw her unfit to hold the much-revered position of Rain Queen, and this was the easiest way to have her removed. Hospital staff believed she died of AIDS whilst others are concerned with the disappearance of Makobo's brother, Mpapatia, last seen on the day of Makobo's death. A fire broke out in the local chief's house where Makobo's coffin was being kept before her funeral. The fire was extinguished before Makobo's coffin suffered any damage, but the event seemed to arouse more suspicions of foul play surrounding Makobo's death. Officially Makobo died of chronic meningitis. Because Makobo's daughter, Princess Masalanabo, is fathered by a commoner, the traditionalists are not likely to accept her as the rightful heiress to the Rain Queen Crown. Therefore there are worries that the 400-year old Rain Queen dynasty may be coming to an end. No new Rain Queen has been chosen since Makobo died.

The Science of the Goddess

2009-08-30T19:03:00.001-04:00

This episode will be on the science/origin of the goddess/woman. Special guest will be Moorish Brooklyn aka God Intelligence. Check the brother's YouTube. Username is moorishbrooklyn.

The Great Goddess

2009-08-03T11:17:00.004-04:00

She has been known in ancient times and continuously throughout history even up to the moment by names too numerous to mention. She predates Christianity (who adopted her names, her liturgy, her holidays, her rites and her places of worship) by thousands of years. Remains of her temples and her images have been found on every continent and in every country the world over. For the last two thousand years she has been abused, misused, maligned and cast out by those "in control". Her worshippers have suffered rape, the rack, nail screws, stonings, skewerings, stampede, flayings, quartings, burning, drowning, disembowlment and any number of unmentionable tortures in the quest to rid the world of her influence. And yet she lives on, not in our memories as a quaint fertility object from a distant and barbarous past, but as a living breathing regenerating entity upon which all humans reside. She is Gaia, the Great Earth Mother. She is also the triple Goddess; maid, mother, and crone or the creator, the sustainer and the destroyer. She is the virgin AND she is the sacred whore. The Goddess is back, (although she never left) and she is seeking retribution for the sins of the fathers and the sins of the sons back seven generations.

To understand the defilement of The Great Mother we need only look to the language of our times. As children we were instructed not to say certain words, because they were "bad words". "Cunt, bitch and whore", are representative of those words. Yet when we investigate their etymology we find not words of debasement, but words of honor and names of the Great Mother.

The Bitch Goddess of antiquity was known in all the Indo European cultures, beginning with the Great Bitch Sarama who led the Vedic dogs of death. Artemis-Diana, leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs" was another such Bitch Goddess. Harlots or "bitches" were identified in the ancient Roman cult of the Goddess Lupa, the Wolf Bitch, whose priestesses the lupae gave their name to prostitutes in general.

Cunt (Kunda): Derived from the Oriental Great Goddess Cunti, also known as The Yoni (vulva) of the Uni-verse. Other words coming from the same source are "cunabula", a cradle or first abode, "Cunina," a Roman Goddess who protected children in the cradle, "cuntipotent, having all powerful cunt-magic, "cunicle", a hole or passage, "cundy"; a culvert; also cunning, kenning and ken meaning knowledge, learning, insight, remembrance and wisdom. In ancient writings the meaning of the word was synonymous with "woman". Kunda : Saharan, Goddess of the Kuntahs a tribe who traced their beginnings to "the cleft of the Goddess". Kundas were children begotten out of wedlock and were considered divine gifts of the Goddess Kunda.

Horae : Multi Cultural, Known in Persia as "houris", in Egypt as "Ladies of the Hour", in Babylon as "harines". Semetics called them "whores" after Hor (meaning a hole) who was the ancestress of the Horites. In Greece the Horae were Aphrodite's celestial nymphs, who performed the Dances of the Hours, acted as midwives to the Gods and inspired earthly Horae (harlot priestesses) to train men in Sexual Mysteries. The dance the hora was based on the priestesses' imitation of the zodiacal circling of "hours". Time-keeping is known as horology because of the systems devised by these ancient priestesses of the Goddess. The Horae were called "fair ones, begetters of all things, who in appointed order bring on day and night, summer and winter, so as to make months and years grow full." The Vestal Virgins serving in the temples of Vesta and Hestia in Greece and Rome were originally harlot-priestesses. The temples of Aphrodite at Eryx, Corinth and Cyprus were served by a thousand sacred harlots apiece. The promiscuous priestess-shamans of Japan were called Holy Mothers. Every Babylonian woman prostituted herself in the temple before marriage. The original meaning of the word prostitute is "unmarried woman". (Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. . .Walker, B.)

The words "cunt, bitch and whore" are not slang, a dialect or any marginal form but true language words of the oldest stock. Words are not evil or good, they simply are. It is the connotation that society gives them which labels them "bad". In the case of these Goddess related words it was society (now ancient society), indoctrinated by pagan-hating religious hierarchy who sought to defame the feminine in any and all forms. It is time we become reeducated to the true meanings of language and seek to reinstate The Great Mother on her rightful throne of authority, wisdom and knowledge.

In all things there is polarity and the polarity allows balance. White is to black, day is to night, male is to female, positive is to negative, up is to down, in the same way that virgin is to the whore or creator is to destroyer. We do not judge the day as being "better" than the night, nor black as being more powerful than white. We only experience day because it is balanced by night, or summer as balanced by winter. Who are we then to judge a whore as being less righteous than a virgin? When we understand that, all is balance; all has an opposite pole. We can even make peace with the atrocities of the dark ages for they were balanced by the strides made in the Renaissance. A dark age vs. an age of enlightenment.

From Barbara Walker's Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

How to get your sexy back with Dr Sunyatta Amen

2009-07-13T23:43:00.003-04:00

Dr. Sunyatta Amen is a Naturopathic Physician with a mission to teach the world to live a natural, sexy life through movement. Dr. Sunyatta, who grew up in a family of traditional healers, wanted to share with others the healing methods and carry on the family tradition.Through the ancient art forms of belly dance and her signature Sexual Tai Chi and Sexual Kung Fu, the charismatic Dr. Sunyatta teaches that movement, both external and internal, are keys to vibrant health.

Phoenix Crop Circle

2009-06-15T20:14:00.005-04:00

A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colourful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple and blue, according to some sources [1]). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of myrrh twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being immortal and invincible — it is also said that it can heal a person with a tear from its eyes and make them temporarily immune to death. The phoenix is a symbol of fire and divinity.[2]

Link to Wikipedia article

The bird soul born out of the cremated body entered Egyptian mythology as the Phoenix (bennu), sometimes a man, sometimes a firebird. The name was Greek, meaning "the Phoenician," a reference to sacrificed sacred kings of Astarte at Byblos, where they were frequently burned. The cult moved to North Africa with Phoenician colonists and was carried on at Carthage where sacred kings perished in flames to a very late date. Their bird-souls, reborn from the flames and flying to heaven, gave rise to the myth of the Egyptian Phoenix who periodically cremated himself and rose again form his ashes. His worshipers, identified with the god through his sacraments, partook of the same power of heavenly flight. A common expression for death was "flying away".

Information via Encyclopedia of Women's Myths and Secrets

Dr Sunyatta Amen " Sexual Kung Fu" Returns to OCCULT SCIENCE RADIO

2009-06-13T23:47:00.004-04:00

Dr. Sunyatta Amen is a Naturopathic Physician with a mission to teach the world to live a natural, sexy life through movement. Dr. Sunyatta grew up in a family of traditional healers and allopaths and wanted to merge healing methods and carry on the family tradition. With Dr. Sunyatta's philosophy of Movement As Medicine TM, she shares her knowledge of healthy movement to the world. Through the ancient art forms of belly dance and her signature Sexual Tai Chi and Sexual Kung Fu, the charismatic Dr. Sunyatta teaches that movement, both external and internal, are keys to vibrant health. "The minute people start moving they feel energetic, refreshed and renewed", states Dr. Sunyatta. In addition to teaching the sways, shimmies and undulations of belly dance from her MamaSita Movement & Wellness Studio in Washington D.C., Dr. Sunyatta travels the world teaching the many art forms of healing movement. These forms consist of ancient exercises that focus on restoring and revitalizing the body's core and reproductive system by focusing on internal muscle strengthening. With the integration of proper dietary guidelines and movement, Dr. Sunyatta has helped thousands of women heal womb issues such as fibroids, cysts, long menstrual cycles, and fertility issues without surgery or drugs. Dr. Sunyatta's signature classes include Womb Yoga, Sensual Tai Chi, Sexual Kung Fu, Funk Yoga and Belly Dancehall. Dr. Sunyatta also teaches a culinary favorite called Kama Sutra Kitchen. Her holistic approach to men's health issues is unparalleled and addresses prostate issues, erectile dysfunction and sexual health with optimal health solutions via Sexual Kung Fu. Dr. Sunyatta is well regarded as an expert on the link between diet and more.

Dr. Sunyatta Amen's Website

Rise of The Divine Feminine Lecture by Delbert Blair

2009-06-13T00:59:00.001-04:00

Women charged with Witchcraft in Zimbabwe

2009-05-30T22:16:00.002-04:00

A HARARE magistrate has called in witchcraft experts after a Murehwa woman found NAKED outside her brother-in-law’s house in Highfield claimed she FLEW there in a winnowing basket with two others on a mission to kill him.

Regina Sveto, 21, was seen by passers-by outside the house wearing “red headgear” and “some black strings around the waist” just after 6AM on Sunday, the Herald newspaper reported.

Dozens of people soon gathered, some throwing stones at her until the brother-in-law she was on a mission to kill RESCUED her from the mob.

After admitting to a charge of public indecency for public nudity, prosecutors recommended that the woman be given a non-custodial sentence.

Prosecutors say the woman will now be a state witness in a future prosecution of her father-in-law Elias Zemba and aunt, Filda Zemba, whom she claims “flew her” to Harare on the mission to kill her brother-in-law.

Sveto claims the trio “took off” from a cemetery in Zihute Village under Chief Mangwende in the dead of the night, but once they got to Highfield, she balked when asked to carry out the killing. Her father-in-law and aunt then FLEW OFF, leaving her stranded at the property.

Refusing to take chances, Harare magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe said the woman should be remanded in custody just in case she “flies back to Murehwa”.

Guvamombe then told prison officers: “If she escapes, the Prison Service should explain.”

Experts from the Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) were expected in court on Thursday to provide guidance on the bizarre case which is set to reignite a national debate on witchcraft.

Guvamombe said: "This narration is a bit of a novel situation and we need guidance from the experts to clarify certain issues. We cannot solve it on our own. She insists that she magically flew from Murehwa to Harare and if we release her on bail, she might fly back to Murehwa.”

The practice of witchcraft is illegal in Zimbabwe after witchcraft laws were changed in 2006. Under the colonial-era laws that existed before then, it was a crime to accuse anyone of practising witchcraft.

New laws say anyone accusing another individual of witchcraft must show proof of their allegations. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 2004 says judicial officers can rely on expert evidence “as to whether the practice that forms the subject of a charge… is a practice that is commonly associated with witchcraft.”

Prosecutor Austin Muzivi said they were determined to charge Elias Zemba and Filda Zemba with practising witchcraft in what would be a test case for the country’s witchcraft legislation.

A WOMAN who claims she flew 75 miles in a winnowing basket with two witches is probably telling the truth, a witchcraft expert told a Harare court on Thursday.

Regina Sveto, 21, “hissed like a snake” and “went into a trance” as Sekuru Nelson Jambaya, the vice president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) testified that witches can travel as far as South Africa during the night and “fly back as soon as their mission is accomplished”.

Court 18 at the Harare Magistrates Court was jammed to the rafters as court officials, magistrates and lawyers all raced there to watch proceedings in the rather unusual case.

Sveto has pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency after she was found naked outside her brother-in-law’s house in Highfield suburb just after 6AM on Sunday.

She claimed she had “flown” there from Murehwa, some 120km east of Harare, with her father-in-law and an aunt. Their winnowing basket aircraft taxied off from a graveyard in Zihute Village under Chief Mangwende -- their mission to kill her brother-in-law.

Once at the house in Highfield, she claims she balked when asked to kill her brother-in-law. Her father-in-law, named in court as Elias Zemba, and the aunt, Filda Zemba, then took off and abandoned her.

Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe has asked for expert opinion before passing sentence. After listening to Jambaya’s evidence on Thursday, Guvamombe ordered Chief Mangwende to be summoned to give his opinion on June 4.

The magistrate has also ordered that the woman be kept in custody, “just in case she flies back to Murehwa”.

Jambaya said the woman’s account confirmed what traditional healers have always believed about witches and wizards.

He told the court: "According to my knowledge, if the woman said she flew from Murehwa in a basket, then she is a witch. Witches do a lot of this and they are known to travel naked at night.

"It is also possible for witches to travel as far as South Africa during the night for the purposes of witchcraft, flying back as soon as their mission is accomplished.

"Some people use magic to protect their homes and families against witchcraft and in such cases, the witches and wizards become powerless and are subsequently exposed.”

As Jambaya testified, Sveto “hissed like a snake”, according to a report in the Herald newspaper.

At one point, she was seen to suddenly become weak, leaning heavily against a prison guard.

Then, in a sudden burst, she shouted: “You are liars! You are only senior in terms of your jobs but you are powerless against me. Why are you leaving criminals to roam free out there and harassing an innocent person like me? I have no case to answer, didn’t my medium brief you?”

“She immediately collapsed and lay prostrate on the floor for several minutes before a relative revived her by placing salt into her palms,” the Herald said.

She regained consciousness some 10 minutes later, by which time the court was overflowing with curious on-lookers.

Sekuru Jambaya advised the magistrate to impose an appropriate deterrent sentence.

The woman should be sent back to Murehwa to allow her headman to take up the matter with the chief. Relatives should also be encouraged to "join hands to cleanse her" with the help of a traditional healer, he suggested.

Prosecutors have asked the magistrate not to impose a custodial sentence on Sveto. Prosecutor Austin Muzivi said the woman was likely to be a state witness should Elias Zemba and Filda Zemba be charged with practising witchcraft, which is a crime in Zimbabwe.

A 2006 law says anyone accusing another individual of witchcraft must show proof of their allegations. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 2004 says court officials can rely on expert evidence “as to whether the practice that forms the subject of a charge… is a practice that is commonly associated with witchcraft.”

More information regarding Zimbabwe Witchcraft Laws

Goddess Worship

2009-05-26T16:00:00.009-04:00

In the beginning, the goddess was known, loved, and revered by humankind. The goddess, as the Creatress, was given primary reverence. Archaeology has turned up many clues that point to the earliest. Cultures being matriarchies; this does not mean female-controlled but rather ruling partnerships. Between men and women. Because the women were responsible for bearing and raising the all-important children, they tended to live in fixed groups, agricultural communities that provided as stable base for the hunting of males. Women domesticated animals, learned the intricacies of growing plants, and establish small religious centers. They developed medicine, divinated, writing, pottery,weaving, and other types of art and domesticated crafts.

The female elders passed the laws that regulated the communities, keeping the people in peaceful harmony among themselves and with outsiders. Archaeology’s present methods at dating antiquities are still being refined; knowledge is limited. As new methods of dating are discovered, the time of humankind on this planet is pushed further and further into the past. At present calculations, matriarchies and worship of the goddess extend back 40,000 to 50,000 b.c.e. During paleolithic times, sacred objects and the dead were painted with red ocher, a symbol of menstrual blood for recreation. Religions sites such as caves and temples contain the remnants of shells, particularly cowrie shells, which represent female sexual organs. Ancient cave paintings, bas reliefs, and statues were overwhelmingly of the goddess; male depictions during these times were only in peripheral positions, as were their symbols.

Some what later in history the goddess began to be pictured with animals, trees, and symbols of water. Sometimes she was portrayed as being part animal. This is symbolic linkage of her direct connection with all nature. The religious beliefs, the mysteries and rites developed by ancient women, grew organically out of women’s supreme roles as cultural producers, mothers and prime communicators with the spirit world. The Mysteries of creation, transformation, and recurrence- the primal mysteries of All religious- emerged from women’s direct physical and psychic experiences of the mysteries: in bleeding, in growing a child, in nursing, in working with fire, in making a pot, in planting a seed. In pottery-craft and myth alone,we can see the development of a religion. The pot was seen to have the body shape and internal womb of the mother.

In neolithic Europe, clay was said to have"a woman's soul”, and no man was allowed to see the female potter at work. Clay, sacred to women and the goddess, was often marked with theMaze-like windings of the magic underworld, a place for transformation. Aruru –Ishtar, the Cosmic Creatrix of Babylon, was imaged as a potter. A divine potter, shaper of life. The making of cult vessels was like the shaping of life, and the Babylonians words for rebirth were (we are as fresh-baked pots). From this, we can see the absurdity (and political cooperation) of the notion of a male-god-father making human beings from clay or dust. The biblical image is stolen without shame from the earlier Sumerian and Babylonian goddess creation stories. Such a patriarchal version of creation is very recent; the facts of women’s experience of life are primordial. It is the woman who goes through the sacred transformation in her body and psyche- the mystery and changes of menstruation, pregnancy, birth, and the production of milk.

It is woman who first shaped a seed into food, earth into pottery, fire into a tool, the struggle for survival into human cultures. During the millennium before Jesus, continuing into the first five hundred yrs. Thereafter, the major divinity of the Mediterranean world appears to have been Auset of Africa,( called Isis by the Greeks), dark mother of many names, Great Mother of the Mediterranean. Isis inherited a long matriarch tradition of Africa who signs were the color red ochre and the pubic v, as well as spirals and circles and human identification with animals.

Scholarship since the 1960’s has recovered what the ancients knew: Isis was an African deity, whose origins were in Nubia, or upper Egypt. The study of Nubian archeology and history has established the centrality of the dark mother Isis, who is considered to have exemplified African matriarchal traditions. It was only through the royal women that the Nubian ruler inherited the throne. All kings and queens had to be born to a queen. Usually the ruler’s sister. The seamless fit between religion and daily life in Africa is suggested by the fact that an African woman, as priestess of the dark mother, was “mistress of heaven” as well as “mistress of the house”. The image of Isis most popular at the height of the roman empire appears to have been that of Isis nursing her child, Heru (called Horus by the Greeks, Apollo by the Romans, and Jesus by the Europeans.).

Besides queen of sea, Isis was considered queen of heaven and of earth, and was easily transmuted into the christian holy mother. Legions of the roman empire, whose ranks were drawn from subordinated dark peoples of three continents, carried images of African Isis, as images of Isis melded together with west Asian divinities Cybele, Inanna, and Astarte all over the known world, from Africa to Asia, to Rome, France, England, to the Danube. At Benevento, where the great Isis flourished in the roman epoch, her followers were later called witches. If you’ve gotten this far I bet you’re asking why haven’t I heard of this before? And if the worship of the goddess is real what happen? Why are we not embracing the goddess now? I’ll go briefly into what happen in part.

If life is inherently evil, the church fathers needed someone to blame; and who better to blame than the Woman, who created life from her own body? Living women, also, can be publicly punished, as the iconic and illusory devil can never be. The myth of feminine evil which has dominated the westernized world for over two thousand yrs. led logically and directed to the religiously targeted murder of women as witches during the Great Inquistition of Europe. The number of deaths from the inquisition was euphemistically underestimated as a way of denying about five hundred yrs. of systematic persecution and slaughter by the holy christian church. The deaths range from 1 million to 9 million people burned as witches between the fifteen and eighteenth centuries (between 1200 and 1500 people were officially killed as heretics). In 1484, pope innocent the eight pronounced a papal bull against the now suddenly discovered crime of witchcraft. He denounced witchcraft as an organized conspiracy of the devil’s army against the peace and common order of the holy christian empire( a peace and common order which people living under the empire had rarely experienced.)

And thus the war against women was officially launched by the christian papacy, as a diversionary tactic to keep itself in power through the strategy of sheer terror. In the late middle ages, dominated by the christian inquisition, the delivery of a pregnant woman was no longer considered a sacrament but a dirty business, and the woman who attended the poor at child birth were frequently considered social outcast or worse. They were charged with again witchcraft, tortured, and burned. One witch was burned alive in Scotland for the sole crime of bathing some neighborhood children, for hygienic reasons, in the midst of epidemic. Health care and healing were publicly discouraged by the christian church, which officially believed that life was supposed to be diseased, wretched, and painful- this is god’s will, as punishment for human sin.

People who tried to alleviate suffering or cure illness, especially through ancient folk and herbal medicines, or simple hygiene were suspected to be agents of the devil. During the time of catholic-dominated Europe, it was also a crime against god to miscarry. Even if a woman miscarried after being beaten by her husband, she could still be put to death for her “sin” against the father because all miscarriages were suspected by the clergy of being intentional abortions. The celibate clergy always tended to believe women were guilty until proven dead. Even the word Hell, comes from the Norse goddess Hel of the underworld. Though christian theology gave its underworld the name of the Goddess Hel it was quite a different place from her womb of regeneration. The ancients didn’t view the Underworld as a primarily a place of punishment. It was dark, mysterious, and awesome, but not the vast torture chamber Christians made of it.

The idea of eternal torture in hell arose with ascetic Patriarchal religions like that of Zoroastrian Persia, Judaism, and Islam. Masculine preoccupation with pain stood in contrast to the matriarchies’ preoccupation with pleasure, a physic outgrowth of the severities of ascetic life. There is reason to believe hell’s nastier torments were INVENTED primarily to intimidate women into obeying new patriarchal laws. Zoroastrian priests insisted women who were unfaithful to their husbands would go the hell and have their breast torn open with iron combs. Women who scolded would be forced to lick hot stoves with their tongues. Women who showed disloyalty to men would be hung up by one leg, while scorpions, snakes, ants, and worms dug their way in and out of their bodies. A similar vision inspired Grunwald’s medieval picture of the hellish torments in store for those who committed the crime of loving. But not even the Persians supposed the torments of hell would go on forever. That refinement of cruelty was left to the Christians.

The Jews adopted the Persians hell as a place for punishing the majority of women, judge hopelessly unworthy of the Father-Gods heaven. Men could be consigned to hell for holding to much unnecessary conversation with their wives,or for taking feminine advice. While I'm at it, let me give you a little info on this thing we call Sin. Sin the original Moon-god of Mount Sinai, “Mountian of the Moon.” He was born of the Virgin Queen of Heaven, Nanna or Innanna. He ruled the land of SINIM (ISAIAH 49:12), which meant “land of lunar mountain” and was an older form of Zion. His Chaldean name was Kingu. He was the god who received the Tablets of Law from the primal Mother of Creation, Tiamat as Moses’s god, he still had the same mountain-throne and the same tablets. A biblical scholar has pointed out “the Jehovah of the Hebrews” was merely another transformation of “the primitive lunar deity of Arabia. The God Moses met on Mount Sinai claimed to be the god of Abraham, though he said Abraham knew him by a different name (Exodus 6:3). In fact, Abraham may have been the same deity. Very ancient documents used the name Abraham or ab-ram as a synonym for ab-sin, moon-father.

In the 12th century b.c the Babylonian heaven was ruled by a trinity consisting of Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar, represented by the sun, moon, stars. And this info is barely scratching the surface of the suppression of goddess worship by patriarchal societies or male dominated religions.

Information from Khepera of myspace

The Dance of the Goddess

2009-05-20T23:28:00.006-04:00

In both Sumerian and Babylonian times when the matriarchal societies dominated, Keti tells us, women danced different styles of belly dance. Feminine divinity was worshiped and the Goddess was seen as the prime creator and the nurturer. Throughout history belly dancing has expressed these quintessential feminine qualities.

The cult of the Goddess Ishtar which existed around 4500 BC celebrated the fertility of the divine feminine. Belly dancing was used in her rituals for magical purposes, sexual excitement, fertility rites, for honoring the earth and for birthing. Belly dancing movements also harmonized with the lunar cycles and connected participants on a kinetic level to celestial rhythms.

The Fellahine is one particular dance style performed as a celebration dance designed to give energy back to the earth after a bountiful harvest of such crops as lentils or corn. Some of it's movements include stomping, as if the dancer was earthing her joy in to the ground.

Keti also believes woman at these temple gatherings would perform their dance for the other women to suggest how potent and sexy they were, and as an avenue to express and embrace their passion.

In both the Goddess temples of the past and in the dance today, we see sacred movements and mudras being used as a way of connecting to divine energies, both feminine and masculine. There is one belly dancing gesture that has particular spiritual significance. This gesture is performed at the beginning of some Arabic dances. A dancer may be seen to make a small pyramid with her hands and place it on her forehead. This is used specifically as a mudra of protection and also opens and draws attention to the third eye.

The ankh is also another potent Egyptian symbol that can be expressed in the dance. On one level it represents an open door or window and is associated with the arabesque in architecture. It was a shape for society to look through but for eastern woman to look out of. The ankh is also a symbol for the marriage of the feminine and the masculine. It's top half can represent the vagina or labia and also the potency of the divine feminine. For some it represents everlasting life, that which can only be attained when this alchemical union takes place. Traditionally the ankh also acts as a doorway to other dimensions or to the underworld. A temple dancer may utilize the symbol of the ankh in dance by spreading her arms out and then lifting them upward into a circle. A dancer both accesses and projects arcane wisdom by incorporating such sacred geometry into movement and dance.

The Language of Baladi

The country folk of Egypt performed a style of dance called baladi. The baladi is both folk law and a drum rhythm but as a dance it is used to communicate the sensuality of the divine feminine. It was originally performed on the outskirts of the cities and had an intrinsic earthiness that reflected the culture's spiritual connection to the earth.

There are five languages that are expressed during a traditional baladi dance. The first part of the dance incorporated the movement a shawl about the shoulders called a "milexa". A dancer would gently wrap and then unveil herself revealing her cheeky shoulders. The second language of baladi used the milexa as a veil around the hips. A dancer would seductively remove the shawl from her shoulders and begin to wrap it around her hips. This suggestive movement hinted at the feminine power laying beneath her shawl.

Next the dancer would unveil herself, untying the hip scarf and generating energetic hip movements. Eventually she drops the milexa and begins dancing a new language with her free hands.

She uses suggestive hand movements to bring attention to other parts of her body but particularly her face. Her hands glide past her eyes as she gives a quick intense glance to someone and in fact this move is called the "glance of the eye". This is a subtle movement but very powerful.

The fourth language expresses the suggestion of a smile. The dancer glides her hand past her mouth and may move her finger tips in such a way that she is expressing a little naughtiness. As the dancers body is no longer shrouded in veils and she has brought attention to all her aspects, she can then use her whole body to express herself. This dance reflects a mythical unveiling of the woman's heart, sexual center, eyes, voice and then finally the full physical body.

The Feminine Mysteries

Belly dancing has often been linked with the powerful female mystery cycles and the balancing of woman's energies. It is said that in the temple of Artemis at the full moon, the woman would shimmy wildly to build up their sexual energy during ovulation. The shimmy is a fast shaking movement of the buttocks, belly and inner thighs that stimulates the ovaries. At dark moon, at the time of bleeding, the woman's movements would be softer and snakier, taking energy in and focusing a woman's' awareness inward.

Likewise women today can utilize these same dance moves to assist them in balancing their own energies during these powerful times of their cycle. By doing the shimmy and shaking her hips, a woman can release outwards some of the energy that builds up in the preceding weeks to ovulation, assisting her in releasing her emotions. During her bleeding time she can use the slow circles and snakier movements such as undulations to bring energy into her being to nourish her in her time of regeneration.

In matriarchal times men involved themselves with the spiritual significance of women's cycles and the importance of the menstrual cycle was widely acknowledged in the community. However Keti says that today most woman do not have a proper cycle at all and so are out of tune with the feminine mysteries. This is partly due to the Pill, hormonal factors, and from tampons which have a tendency of hiding bleeding.

Many women simply use pain killers and go about there daily routines at the time of menses remaining just as active as any other time. The importance of setting aside time to be still during menses has been lost Many women see menstruation as an interference in their lifestyle because they do not realize its sacredness. By taking up belly dancing women can now reconnect with these cycles both lunar and personal, and in doing so reclaim the lost aspects of self.

Rhythms of Motherhood

One of the most basic belly dancing moves is an earthy round circular movement of the hips which Keti says mimics not only the sensuality of courtship but the movement of birthing. Throughout history during the months preceding a birth, a pregnant women would sway and rock as a way to stay in tune with her baby and to prepare her body for birth. This belly dancing movement also toned the pelvic floor and uterine muscles. This type of exercise was not jarring on either the lower back or the knees, the typical weak areas in pregnant women.

During labor these woman used slow swaying figure eights and hips circles to assist with the contractions and the delivery of the baby. Older woman would surround the mother in labor and play rhythmic drums while the younger woman danced around her breathing in sync with her contractions. The birth became a dance and the drums and the dancing evoked a trance like state, a natural form of opiate. Birth in this instance was an initiation into the powerful feminine mysteries. In this way a pregnant mother could participate actively in her birth, connecting with her sense of power. This is unlike the births of the west that have traditionally been a passive experience for the mother.

The Dance of the Seven Veils

Keti believes that the dance of the seven veils is perhaps the most famous of all the eastern belly dances to be incorporated into a western society. It has captured the hearts of men and women throughout the ages with its exotic and tantalizing allure. Yet there is symbology that underlies this dance that is on one level a spiritual initiation.

Symbolically the shedding of veils is akin to the opening of the seven seals or chakras alluded to in Revelations in the bible. In this respect shedding a veil during a belly dance can signify the removal of a seal from one of the chakras - the spiritual energy centers in body as understood in many spiritual traditions, particularly in Eastern cultures. Keti believes that the removal of a veil not only corresponds to revealing a new level of consciousness but that when specific music is played near a chakra it evokes different dance movements reflecting that level as well. Therefore exactly where an instrument is played upon the body will determine which level of consciousness will be evoked.

When a veil is removed from the sexual/survival centre at the base chakra, very earthy drums are used. This chakra represents the level of instinctuality, survival and anamality. It also involves birth and death and represents our most physical and primal energies.

A second veil may then be removed from the sacral or belly chakra. This is our area of relating and creating and it is where a dancer utilities belly and hip movements accompanied by heavy guitars. In Egypt the kanoon, a deep harp is played which is positioned in the belly area as well. The high guitars played at the solar plexus or diaphragm area release a dancers' energies of fire and passion which are typified in such dances as the flamenco. The heart rending sounds of the saxophone or violin are played near the heart to open one up to love and in this area we find expressive upper body movements and chest circles. The throat chakra is the conduit for the singing voice and speaking and at this level there are many suggestive gestures around the mouth.

The uplifting sounds of flutes palpitate the third eye and the crown chakra and the dancer's arms flow upward representing the movement toward spirit. These higher chakras are activated by the higher tones and can be utilised for direct communication with God through such activities as Sufi dancing and ecstatic trance.

In terms of consciousness, belly dancing relates primarily to the womb, the sacred feminine. Yet its movements incorporate both the fecund earthiness of the Goddess and the inspiring air energies of the God. The dance itself becomes one of balance and harmony with the accompanying music from the drums, strings and flutes used to embrace all the elements of earth, fire, air and water.

The Seven Gates to the Underworld

The significance of the number seven in the veil dance is also related to the spiritual initiation where a woman delves deep into her own shadowy and unconscious aspects to reclaim disassociated aspects of herself. A woman can step into empowerment when rejected parts of herself are acknowledged and accepted. This dark journey involves stripping away any masks, roles or belief systems that prevent her from knowing her true essence. Typically this journey is represented by passing through seven mystical portals or gates that are part of her decent to the underworld. In this descent into the depths of self a woman becomes completely stripped and vulnerable. Yet it is in this vulnerable honesty that a woman regains her power.

The initiatory metaphor of stripping or releasing is on one level related to a woman's menstral cycle and the phase of the moon. The initial journey of descent into the underworld and stripping away can be aligned to the time when many women have premenstrual tension and release many emotions in the seven days prior to bleeding.

If we look at the following seven days of the cycle they are spent bleeding and are connected to the time of the dark moon when a woman travels deep into the core of her being. This is when she is at her most potent and is at the height of her feminine power yet she does this from a still place, where she can also take the time to regenerate and nurture herself.

The next seven days which are when the new moon waxes are akin to how a woman's energies begin to enliven where she makes her journey back into the world again resurfacing with regenerated energy. Then at the full moon when the light from the sun is reflected at its greatest the woman is at the height of her sexual power and she is also her most fertile. This is the fruitful time of ovulation when she is her most active and she stays at this pinnacle until her energy subsides and she begins once more to make her descent again with the waning of the moon.

In her thesis on oriental dance Keti has researched old myths focused on the theme of descent and has related them to women's growth today. She explains that these mythical stories once associated with belly dancing are resurfacing partially because their spiritual significance are only now being revealed.

In one Babylonian myth the goddess Ishtar descends into the underworld to reclaim her dead husband. During her descent she meets seven tests and has to pass through seven gates . At each gate she sheds a metaphorical veil like a piece of jewelery, or her beauty, or her wealth.

She ultimately uses the power of seduction to tempt her way through the gates but while she is shedding each veil she is also surrendering her attachments It is when she is fully naked revealing her true essence that she can then finally rescue her husband or reclaim her masculine side. It is only after this reunion that an alchemical marriage of balance can then take place.

As women we can also make this descent into self awareness where we shed the veils that protect ourselves, which are inherently the veils of self forgetting. Only when we are stripped and completely vulnerable can we express the raw potency of our womanhood. If we consciously choose this initiation then we must be prepared to lose everything, to stand in our bare essence, and in doing so then reclaim our powerful masculine side.

In the Greek tradition this same initiation was taken by Demeter a mother goddess of the grain. In one version of the myth Demeter like Ishtar also descends into the underworld but this time the descent is made to save her child not her husband. Her maiden daughter Persephone is abducted to the underworld by Hades. Demeters' motherly instincts drive her to unbridled grief over her loss and during this time the earth becomes barren. Nothing grows, nothing is reborn.

Eventually the father god Zeus forces Hades to release Persephone and the earth's abundance is finally restored. Once again there is the suggestion that it is only through this descent into the darkness that the lost child/maiden aspect of ourselves can be reclaimed.

Corruption of Feminine Myths

The myth of the seven veils can be traced to many cultures, as it has been rehashed time and time again, and each culture has created a different ending to the story reflecting their psyche and mythology at that time. However it is only in the bible version that the unveiling of the feminine leads to a decapitation of the masculine. This is revealed in the story of the exotic dancer Salome`.

Salome`s mother was very calculating so she manipulates the beauty of her daughter for her own ends. Herods lust for Salome` was so strong that he agrees to present Salome`s mother with the head of John the Baptist if Salome` will dance for him. The dance of seduction that Salome performs for Herod is the revealing dance of the seven veils. However the unveiling of the feminine power in this instance leads to the symbolic death and Freudian castration of the male.

Each mythic version of the dance of the seven veils has a different ending however this story ends with a separation rather than a reunion. Keti believes that much the of the Islamic and Christian philosophy relating to women and sexuality reflects the fear surrounding the rehashing of this particular myth. She believes many men have been subconsciously afraid of the sexual power of the feminine and so a millennial of patriarchal cultures have dominated.

The Suppression of the Feminine

In the east, belly dancing traditionally has been one of the few outlets in which women could express their feminine power - that which has been continually denied. The Koran has a sura or chapter on Women which relates directly to suppressing feminine sexuality and also to belly dancing as well. It states that women "should cast down their eyes and guard their private parts"....and they should never "reveal their adornments". Women were to "cast their veils over their bosoms" and they should never be allowed "to stomp their feet". Veils of course are common place in that society, so are the downcast eyes. However the obvious relevance to dancing has only been partly subverted. In fact it is during belly dancing that a woman's 'adornments' become most exposed even if just for other woman.

However it is not just in eastern society where belly dancing has been frowned upon. In the early 1900's Oscar Wilde produced a play based on the myth of Salome`. The star of the play was Maude Allen. Because Maude Allen performed some belly dancing movements on stage she was accused of various crimes and had to go to court. Her major crime was that she was seen to stimulate herself without the aid of a man. This was viewed as a most heinous act and one newspaper titled its lead article about her "The Cult of the Clitoris". Such was the fear in those times about the power of feminine sexuality.

Invaders of the Heart

With this sort of paranoia surrounding female sexuality it is not surprising that in even in the countries where belly dancing originated, it was not a respected dance. Belly dancing was mostly done in private by local women and only made its mark publicly via a band of gypsies called the Ghawazee.

These people were known as "invaders of the heart". They were wandering Indian, Turkish and Jewish nomads who had no shame about their bodies and they did not hold to social conventions, celebrating the dance whenever they pleased. When a belly dancer was required for a social function the local women of respect were overlooked and the Ghawazee were hired. Being nomads they carried little and would in fact wear their wealth on their bodies. The coin belts so popular in the belly dancing costume today harken back to the days of the wandering Ghawazee.

Because of the social conventions surrounding belly dancing in its traditional home countries, the dance eventually became a game, the dance of oriental allure and suggestion. The Egyptians say every girl is born a dancer but if asked to dance, no matter how experienced, Egyptian girls respond with "Oh I can't dance." Eventually the girl gets up and shyly begins to move so the beginning of the dance is always slow, subtle and alluring, hinting at what was to come. Then the dance gets faster and in the end the dancer reveals her true potency through a tantalising and climatic finish.

This style of dance tells a story of the unveiling of femininity. Its slow build up enraptures the audience. Baladi movements are designed to both give and take energy from the audience. Some belly dancing connoisseurs believe the most beautiful dancers are those fully in tune with their own inner energies. These are the dancers who appear to be dancing for no one but themselves. This type of outward expression of the inner experience is what transforms the dance from a sexy girlish display into something more profoundly sacred.

Reclaiming the Goddess

Keti believes that it is opportune now for women to go deep within themselves to reclaim their femininity through such tools as belly dancing. It is time to explore all the powerful faces of the Goddess that reside within. However she believes it is also time to revamp the old myths of descent, and to create new endings for our own personal stories. Society needs to start equating the dance and the potency of feminine sexual power with a new outcome rather than with the old myths of the evil seductress, the corrupted mother, the death and castration of the male and the loss of innocence. She believes that every time women enact a new mythology through the dance in a way that is meaningful to them, that this then makes a huge shift in the collective consciousness of women globally.

In 1997 Keti co-ordinated a concert entitled `The Exotic Journey' which explored all the feminine roles associated with belly dancing in the last 5000 years. Women from her classes danced the mythical stories of Salome` and the dance of the seven veils, the descent of Ishtar, the priestesses in the temple of Artemis, the unveiling of Isis and even the story of the Houri - the holy haws of Babylon. Over 20 faces of the Goddess were explored and given a voice, and their energies were thanked and released in the dance. She believes the energy from these old myths have finally been put to rest so that the women of today can write themselves a new myth and create a new paradigm for the sexes.

We can all assist the birthing of a new paradigm that reflects harmonious relations between men and woman. Both men and woman can stand in thier full power but still stand together as equals. Using the dance to rewrite the myths is one way of doing this. Some of the women in Keti's classes have been examining their lives in relation to their own suppression in today's society. They have been performing their own stories to reclaim lost aspects of themselves. Keti is attempting to use belly dancing as a medium to rewrite some of the old myths so as to unveil the power of the feminine for both personal and planetary healing.

Dance into Ecstatic Health

Eastern woman, who have traditionally belly danced in community groups as part of their day to day lives, are said to be more content as they have a secure sense of identity and connection to other woman. Belly dancing both stimulates and soothes the reproductive system and so many woman who regularly dance suffer little or no menstrual or menopausal difficulties. Keti said that in Turkey most women don't know what pre-menstrual tension is and assert that they feel very good during menstruation. Their society even supports them during this powerful time of renewal, as women are excused from both prayers and household chores for a couple of days, if they choose.

These women often gather in groups to drink tea and to dance and some will dance by themselves in their homes every day. Keti says that these women do not get menopause as early as western women and that cervical cancer, w one of the highest killers in women, is almost unheard of. This may be because many of the movements in belly dancing are concentrated in the belly region and assist lymph and blood flow to and from the area thereby both increasing circulation and reducing possible congestion. The health benefits for women who belly dance are then quite obvious. Keti said some GP's and gynecologists are already referring some of their cases to her.

Reclaiming the Body

From a metaphysical or bodywork perspective many women hold suppressed emotions in their sacral or belly areas especially guilt and sexual shame. Keti's research has found a direct link to incest victims who still carry emotional residue and pre-menstrual tension. Many woman who have taken up belly dancing have gone through profound emotional breakthroughs with accompanying physical changes. Often they have less pain and congestion around the time of menses and many neck and back problems are corrected.

Belly dancing has significant healing value for incest survivors and also for individuals who have had negative sexual experiences. Keti has worked with a lot of woman in their forties. Belly dancing is healing for them because it gives them an outlet to be sensual and sexual in a situation that its free from sexual obligation. The dance is an invitation to express the feminine power of the self instead of being an invitation to another. This safe environment then assists women in reconsecrating the sacredness of their bodies. Their primary relationship is with themselves and then secondly with the other women present in the class. In this nurturing atmosphere a woman can explore how her body moves and so find new ways to communicate.

Shifting Consciousness

Belly dancing has only been a focus in the west for the last 1000 years. It initially reflected an oriental fantasy for western minds, something that had the same hidden allure as the mysteries of the harem. This is why it came to be identified as simply a dance of seduction and associated with stripping. From a traditional view men were seen to lose some of their power in the face of this unashamed feminine sensuality and they called this `The Little Death'. So often such dances were ridiculed out of fear. It is now time to change that old fashioned view of this powerful exotic dance and to fully embrace belly dancing as a sacred expression of the divine feminine. In reclaiming the power of women in this way we move one step closer towards healing the rift between the sexes and also assist to create a peaceful new world.

Information via www.yoni.com

"Sheila-na-gig"--Ancient yoni (gential) worship

2009-05-19T23:52:00.005-04:00

The Sheila-na-gig was a craved representation of a naked woman swatting with her knees apart, displaying her vulva (yoni) shown as a vesica piscis or double pointed oval. Looks alittle similar to what Kim was doing minus the hands....Sometimes the figure appeared all over old Irish churches built before the 16th century, but Victorian prudery defaced or destroyed large number of them. Some have been found buried near the churches they once embellished. Medieval Christians understood very well that the protruding tongue was a sex symbol. Their pictures of the lusty devils showed with long phallic tongues and sticking out the tongue at someone became their favorite gesture of insult "fuck you". After doing alittle more research I found that these images of Sheila-na-gig along with others was used as a form of magic (apotropaic) to ward away evil from their chruches. Along with pictures of the yoni the phallic was also used. It was represented by the tongue. Lingus is "tongue" in Latin and was derived from the Sanskrit lingam "phallas". Showing the tongue between the lips was once a sacred gesture representing the lingam-yoni; to this day the folds of the vulva are properly called labiae, "lips". By the Renaissance time, the old deities with their protruding tongues were declared devils, so it became conventional to show devils making this gesture.

Sheila-na-gig figures closely resembled the yonic statures of Kali which still appear at the doorways of Hindu temples, were vistors lick a finger and touch the yoni "for luck". Some of the older figures have deep holes worn in the yonis from much touching.

The protruding ribcage on many examples of the sheila-na-gig imitates the figures of Kali as the death-goddess, kalika, evidently remembered in Ireland as the Cailech or Old Woman, who was also the Creatress and gave birth to all races of men. Celts generally protected doorways with some female-genital fetish, wihc is why they setled on the horseshoe, classic Omega-sign of the Kalika. In India it stood for the feminine cosmos within which Shiva ever performed his creative sexual dance, although he was assimilated to the Kalika and given her title of Destroyer.

Derivation of the term sheila-na-gig is obscure. It meant something like vulva-woman. Gig or giggie meant female genitals and may have been related to the Irish "jig", form French gigue, in pre-Christian times an orgiastic dance. In ancient Erech a gig seems to have been a holy yoni; the sacred harlots of the temple were known as nu-gig.

From Barbara Walker's Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

Sacred Menstrual Blood

2009-05-19T20:03:00.007-04:00

From the earliest human cultures, the mysterious magic of creation was thought to reside in the blood women gave forth in apparent harmony with the moon, and which was sometime retained in the womb to coagulate into a baby. Men regarded this blood with holy dread, as the life-essence, inexplicably shed without pain, wholly foreign to male experience.

Most words for menstruation also meant such things as incomprehensible, supernatural, sacred, spirit, deity. Like the Latin sacer, old Arabian words for "pure" and "impure" both applied to menstrual blood and to that only. The Maoris stated explicitly that human souls are made of menstrual blood, which when retained in the womb "assumes human form and grows into a man". Africans said menstrual blood is "congealed to fashion a man". Aristotle said the same: human life is made of a "coagulum" of menstrual blood. Pliny called menstrual blood "the material substance of generation," capable of forming "a curd, which afterwards in process of time quickenth and groweth to the form of a body". This primitive notion of the prenatal function of menstrual blood was still taught in European medical schools up to the 18th century.

The Bible's story of Adam was lifted from an older female-oriented creation myth recounting the creation of man from clay and moon-blood. So was the Koran's creation story, which said Allah "made man out of flowing blood" but in pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was the Goddess of creation, Al-Lat. The Romans also had traces of the original creation myth. Plutarch said man was made of earth, but the power that made a human body grow was the moon, source of menstrual blood.

The esoteric secret of the gods was that their mystical powers of longevity, authority, and creativity came from the same female essence. The Norse god Thor for example reached the magick and of enlightenment and eternal life by bathing in a river filled the menstrual blood of "giantesses" that is of the Primal Matriarchs, "Powerful Ones" who governed the elder gods before Odin brought his "Asians" (Aesir) out of the east. Odin acquire supremacy by stealing and drinking the "wise blood" form the triple cauldron in the womb of Mother-Earth, the Triple Goddess know as Kali-Maya in southeast Asia.

Odin's theft of menstrual magic paralleled that of Indra, who stole the ambrosia of immortality in the same way. Indian myth called the sacred fluid Soma in Greek, "the body", because the word's eastern root referred to a mystical substance of the body. Soma was the object of so much holy dread that its interpretations were many. Soma was produced by churning of the primal sea "ocean of blood" or sometimes "sea of milk". Soma was drank by priests at sacrificial ceremonies and mixed with mild as a healing charm; therfore it was not milk. Soma was especially revered on somvara, Monday, the day of the moon. In an ancient ceremony called Soma-vati, women of Maharashtra circumambulated the sacred female symbolic fig tree whenever the new moon fell on a Monday.

A combination of honey and menstrual blood was once considered the universal elixir of life, the "nectar" manufactured by Aphrodite and her sacred bees, which kept the very gods alive. Similarly, the great secret of Norse mythology was that the gods nectar of wisdom, inspiration, literacy, magic, and eternal life was a combination of honey and "wise blood" from the great Cauldron in the bell of Mother Earth trough a late patriarchal revision claimed this hydromel or honey-liquid was a mixture of honey with the blood of a male sacrificial victim known as Wisest of Men. The honeymoon of a lunar month would inclue a menstrual period, the real source of what ws euphemistically called the moon-honey or honeymoon. The honey moon spanned a lunar month, usually in May, the month of pairings, named after the Goddess as the Virgin Maya. In an archaic period, sacred kings seem to have been destroyed after a 28 day honeymoon with the Goddess, spanning a lunar cycle, as the queen bee destroys her drone-bridegroom by tearing out his genitals. A bridegroom contacted the source of life by copulating with his bride during menstruation, according to the oldest oriental belief. Even the Great God Shiva was helpless unless his phallus was baptized in blood from the vagina of Kali-Maya, his Shakti and mother, in the Tantric ritual known as Maharutti.

Egyptian pharaohs became divine by ingesting "the blood of Isis", a soma-like ambrosia called sa. Its hieroglyphic sign was the same as the sign of the vulva, a yonic loop like the one on the ankh or Cross of Life. Painted red, this loop signified the female genital and the gate of Heaven. Amulets buried with the dead specifically prayed Isis to deify the deceased with her magic blood. A special amulet called the Tjet represented Isis's vulva and was formed of red substance jasper, carnelian, red porcelain, red glass, or red wood. This amulet was said to carry the redeeming power of the blood of Isis.

It is still specified in the Left Hand Rite of Tantra that the priestess impersonating the Goddess must be menstruating, and after contact with her a man may perform rites that will make him "a great poet, a Lord of the World, who travels on elephant-back like a rajah. In ancient societies both east and west, menstrual blood carried the spirit of sovereign authority because it was the medium of transmission of the life of clan or tribe. Among the Ashanti, girl children are still more prized than boys because a girl is carrier of "blood". The concept is also clearly defined in India, where menstrual blood is known as the Kula flower or Kula nectar, which has an intimate connection with the life of the family. when a girl first menstruates, she is said to have "borne the Flower". The corresponding English word flower has the significant literal meaning of "that which flows". The Bible also calls menstrual blood the flower (Leviticus 15:24).

Taoists said a man could become immortal (or at least long-lived) by absorbing menstrual blood, called red yin juice, from a woman's Mysterious Gateway, otherwise known as the Grotto of the white tiger, symbol of life-giving female energy. Chinese sages called this red juice the essence of mother Earth, the yin principle that gives life to all things. They claimed the Yellow Emperor became a god by absorbing the yin juice of twelve hundred women.

Female blood color alone was often considered a potent magic charm. the Maori rendered anything sacred by coloring it red and calling the red color menstrual blood. Andaman Islanders thought blood-red paint a powerful medicine, and painted sick people red all over in an effort to cure them. Hottentots addressed their Mother Goddess as one "who has painted thy body red"; she was divine because she never dropped or wasted menstrual blood. Some African tribes believed that menstrual blood alone, kept in a covered pot for nine months, had the power to turn itself into a baby.

Easter eggs, classic womb symbols of the Goddess Eostre, were traditionally colored red and laid on graves to strengthen the dead. This habit, common in Greece and southern Russia, might be traced all the way back to Paleolithic graves and funeral furnishings reddened with ochre, for a closer resemblance to the Earth Mother's womb for which the dead could be "born again". Ancient tombs everywhere have shown the bones of the dead covered with red ochre. Sometimes everything in the tomb, including the walls had the red color. J.D. Evans described a well tomb on Malta filled with reddened bones, which struck fear into the workmen who insisted the bones were covered with "fresh blood".

From Barbara Walker's Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

Sacred whores, Temple Harlots, and Holy Virgins

2009-05-18T18:40:00.008-04:00

Sacred whores and Temple Harlots or horaes were known as dispensers of the grace of the Goddess. Ancient Harlots often commended high social status and were revered for their learning. As embodiments of the Queen of Heaven, in Palestine called Qadeshet, the Great Whore, the harlots were honored like queens at centers of learning in Greece and Asia Minor. Some even became queens. The empress Theodora, wife of Justinian, began her career as a temple harlot. St. Helena, mother of Constantine, was harlot before she became an empress-saint.

In an Egyptian story, a priestess of Baubastis demanded all of man's worldly goods for one night of her love. She said "I am the hierodule; I am no mean person. Until recently Egypt still had a clan of women called ghazye, "sacred whores," who were greatly honored in the time of the Mamelukes and prized as brides when their period of services ended.

Temple prostitutes were revered as healers of the sick. Their very secretions were supposed to have medical virtue. A Sufi proverb still suggests this opinion: There is healing in a woman's vagina. Even their spittle could perform cures. Jesus's cure of blindness by spittle (Mark 8:23) was copied form a matriarchal tradition. A clay tablet from Nineveh says eye dis-ease can be cured by a harlot's spittle. Harlots were sorceresses, prophets, and seers. The Hebrew word zonah means both a prostitute and a prophetess.

The Tantric word for a sacred harlot was Veshya, probable origin of the Goddess's oldest names in Greece and Rome, Hestia or Vesta, the Hearth-mother, served by the Vestal Virgins who were originally harlot-priestesses. Hearth and Earth both arose form the altar of the Saxon Goddes Ertha, or Heartha, the northern Hestia-Vesta. In the matriarchal age, every woman's hearth-fire was her altar. The hearth was also the omphalos, feminine hub of the universe, navel-stone of the temple, around which the sacred harlot performed their Dances of Time. Sometimes the alternate word hus (house) carried the same sense of " a place of worship", because every matriarch once worshiped the Goddess of her own hearth, which she could share with more than one hus-band. Hence the word hussy, Lady of the House, by Christian definition a promisuous woman.

Dancing harlots came to be called Hours: Persian houri, Greek horae. Egyptian temple-women also were Ladies of the Hour. Each ruled a cerain hour of the night, and protected the solar boat of Ra in the underworld during his passage through her hour. The Dance of the Hours began as a pagan ceremony of the Horae (divine whores) who kept the hours of the night by dances, as Christian monks later kept the hours of the day by prayers. Time keeping is horology because of the systems devised by these ancient preistesses of the Goddess. The oldest authentic Hebrew folk dance is still called hora after the circle dances of the scared harlots. The Hebrew word hor means a hole, cave, or pit, common synonyms for both a sacred prostitute and the Goddess she served, whose yoni was represented by a hole, cave, pit or pool of water in the heart of the temple. A similar Latin term was puteus, a well or pit, source of the Spanish puta, "whore".

Holy whores were called "virgins" because they remained unmarried. Like medieval nuns, they took veils as a m badge of their office. Istar-Asherah-Mari-Anath was not only the Great Whore but also the Great Virgin. Her Greek name was Athene, also described as a "virgin"; but Athene's temple, the Parthenon, was served by promiscuous hierodules like all other shrines of the Goddess.

Information taken from "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets"

Midwifery

2009-05-18T17:23:00.003-04:00

From Anglo-Saxon med-wyf, "wise-woman or witch". Even in the Christian era, priestess of the Great Mother maintained their monopoly of obstetrics, for most men were afraid of the taboo mysteries of birth. The Bible declared a new mother sacer or untouchable for as long as 66 days after giving birth (Leviticus 12:5) and by canon law, a mother was not allowed to enter a church until 40 days after childbed.

For the first half of the Christan era, the arts of medicine remained almost exclusively in the hands of "wise-women" because ancient healing shrines had been devoted almost exclusively to the Goddess's priestess. In ancient Egypt, midwifery was the province of Sevenfold Hathor who gave each infant its seven souls. The Malayan Semai still say all midwives are holy, partaking of the spirit of the First Midwife who lives in the highest of the seven heavens, each on of which ruled by one of the Seven Celestial Midwives, identical with the Hathors. An earthly midwife is a sort of fairy godmother, with a spiritual tie to each child she brings into the world.

Mexican peasants attribute similar powers to the recibidora who combines the functions of the obstetrician, godmother, priestess, and witch. She performs complicated knot-magic in binding and tying the umbilical cord and cast spells for the future fate of the newborn.

Pagen Rome recognized several kind of midwives, who received separate offering after a successful birth. There was the obstetrix who performed the delivery; the nutrix or nurturer who encouraged the mother's milk and taught techniques of nursing; and the ceraria priestess of Ceres charged with birth rituals. All were connected with the women's temple, like the Greek Horae who were temple-women on earth and ascended to heaven as midwives to the Gods.

Medieval Christianity detested midwives for the connection with the pagan matriarchy and Goddess worship. Churchmen viewed them as implacable enemies of the Catholic faith. Handbooks of the Inquisition stated: "No one does more harm to the Catholic faith that midwives," because they invariabley offered newborn children to the service of the devil with a magical baptism by the kitchen fire. The real reason for ecclesiastical hostility seems to have been the notion that midwives could help women control their own fate, learn secrets of sex and birth control, or procure abortions. The pagan women of antiquity had consideralbe knowledge of such matter, which were considered women's own business, not subject ot male authority. Patriarchal religion however forbade midwives to assist thier patients in preventing conception, relieving themselves of unwanted pregnancies, or easing their birth-pangs.

Towards the end of the 19th century male doctors moved in on the last remaining area of exclusively female medicine, and took themidwifery-trade away from women. At the instigation of the American Medical Association, the U.S. Congress outlawed midwives, and the new male "obstetricians" replaced them. Frequently, an elder midwife found herself out of work, or even in jail for illegal practice , in a community most of whose members she had brought into the world!

Information taken from "The Woman's Enclyclopedia of Myths and Secrets"

Huna: The Ancient Hawaiian Shamanic Way

2009-05-11T08:57:00.003-04:00

Huna is a modern or western label given to an ancient system. In ancient times these teachings were not called Huna, because Huna means secret. Since they were well known, they were obviously not a secret. We use the term Huna because it is widely recognized; however, in ancient times, other labels were used.

Huna comes from ancient times, it is one of the original arts and sciences of healing and spiritual development. We believe that it may be as old as 35,000 years and is a part of the original teachings of the peoples of the earth which were centered here in Hawaii on a continent which now, no longer exists. All that remains physically of that land are the mountain peaks of the island chain called Hawaii.

Huna was originally called Ho'omana. Ho'o means to make. Mana means life force, equivalent to Ki (as in Aikido), Chi (as in Tai Chi) or Shakti in the Sanskrit language. Taken together the word Ho'omana means empowerment or to empower.

The teachings of Huna that are humbly shared by Matthew James are different from most seminars available (even other seminars in Huna). Pappa Bray (the son of Daddy Bray) gave Tad James permission to learn, practice and teach the Huna of the Bray family. This lineage is now entrusted to Tad's son Matthew James and therefore, it is more than a seminar, it is an introduction to a way of empowering yourself shared through a honored lineage.

Huna is about empowerment, about increasing your spirituality, energy, and metaphysical healing powers. What if you could experience and connect physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually with a Higher Power that can empower you to bring into your life whatever you desire.

The Huna teachings are very similar to the Egyptian teachings of initiation into the Order of Melchizedek during the Third Dynasty. Huna, in Hawaiian, means "secret." Huna, in its purest form is ancient knowledge enabling a person to connect to his or her highest wisdom within. Understanding and utilizing the fundamentals or "seven principles" of Huna is intended to bring about healing and harmony through the power of the mind. This healing art and earth science is spiritual in nature, experiencing its concepts gives us the opportunity to integrate mind, body and spirit. One might acknowledge Huna teachings as one of nature's tools helpful in development of inner knowing and enhancing innate psychic abilities.

Seven Principles of Huna

* IKE -The world is what you think it is
* KALA -There are no limits, everything is possible
* MAKIA -Energy flows where attention goes
* MANAWA -Now is the moment of power
* ALOHA -To love is to be happy with
* MANA -All power comes from within
* PONO -Effectiveness is the measure of truth

Huna teaches that the high self cannot manifest a prayer unless it receives the needed mana from the middle and low selves. Thus, it is essential, according to Huna teaching, to accumulate a surcharge of vital force before beginning to pray to the high self. A great deal of emphasis is given in the Huna teachings to how this is done.

Huna teaches a number of ways to accumulate extra energy:

1. Asking and commanding the low self to build up a surcharge of vital force for use in prayer

2. Physical exercise

3. Deep breathing, which causes more blood sugar to be burned -- this is the main method used

4. Posture

5. Nutritious food

6. Visualizing vital food rising like a fountain of water from the base of the spine up through the top of the head

7. Holding a mental attitude of gaining personal power and strength such as the attitude you would maintain when preparing for a race

8. Proper sleep and rest

9. Affirmations spoken out loud, "The universal life force is flowing into me now. I can feel it!"

In addition to the need for a surcharge of mana, there is the need for "the Clearing of the Path." Clearing the path means removing all thought forms that could sabotage the prayer. Such thought forms can occur in the conscious or the subconscious mind.

Huna teaches that the only sin that exists is hurting another person. You must balance out the hurt on all levels.

The last step in the process is to create a proper thought form prayer. Huna teaches that thoughts are like seeds. They create reality. You clear the path, remove negative thoughts in the low and middle self. You can write your thought form prayer on paper. Now visualize it. Build up vital force in the shadow body of the lower self for the use of the middle self when the prayer action begins.

Say the prayer aloud three times.

Now you must see the prayer manifested. Do this daily until the desire result is accomplished.

According to Huna teachings this is the same process that accounts for the phenomenon of Apports. This usually refers to the of physical objects over long distances by discarnate spirits. The explanation the Huna gives is that the discarnate spirit somehow obtains an accumulation of extra vital force and uses it ot dematerialize the physical object into its etheric, or shadow, form, then moving the object to the desired place and materializing it back into physicality.

Huna teaches that it is also possible for the high self to control such things as weather, animals, insects, plant life--actually anything in this physical plane. The final goal of Huna teachings is the integration of the three selves.

Emotional Acceptance

2009-05-05T13:15:00.001-04:00

EMOTIONAL ACCEPTANCE

by Jennifer Hoffman @ urielheals.com

You understand the concept of acceptance in spirit, where you allow each person to be in their own energetic vibration and know that each one is vibrating at their highest potential in each moment. It is necessary to bring this understanding to the level of the emotions for this is where the energy becomes stuck and is unable to move. The emotional attachments you have to outcomes, to others, to beliefs and to desires is what requires release to bring you into harmony with the spiritual growth that you achieve through your healing work.

The emotional energy of the earth experience is dense and fear-based and it is the density of this energy that allows it to collect in multiple layers in your consciousness. Each emotional experience has an energetic imprint that becomes encoded in your DNA and can be released through your healing work. It is this imprint that feeds your desire for closure, restitution, resolution and an outcome that responds to your expectations. Embedded in this imprint is lifetimes of emotional experiences that form the layers of your emotional body.

Emotional acceptance occurs when you honor the emotional energies that you and others carry and allow them to be transmuted through the removal of judgment and expectations. This removes the imprint and all of its lower vibrational energies, as well as your attachment to it. Without the imprint you are able to be in acceptance of all emotional energies, yours and those in your soul group. You remove the connections to your expectations and allow yourself the freedom to accept others' choices of emotions as theirs, without being connected to them.

Your emotions are never bad or wrong, they are simply your representation of the earth's energies as you experience them through your emotional body. Accept these energies as a physical experience of your soul's journey and become the observer. Each person has chosen to heal a specific emotional vibration that they must experience. Learn acceptance and you can resist the urge for attachment, to change them and transform their emotions. The lesson of releasing attachments is one that all of humanity is learning and with it comes the release of the density of the emotional energies and the opening for the higher level energies that come with acceptance in all things and freedom from fear.

Lotus: The Ulltimate Female Form‏ (from Sharon Cauldarn book)

2009-05-05T11:19:00.003-04:00

This essay is an introduction to the intriguing topic of sex and women. I write from personal experience in the Voodoo community that I am a part of in west Africa. My experiences with the black tantric system and the supreme chief of Voodoo is chronicled in Mark of Voodoo: Awakening To My African Spiritual Heritage.

Buy book here

Like the earth, woman possesses the ability to be inert and passive as she receives seeds and germinates life. Like water, woman flows following the form of any container that needs filling. You see woman does not have a single form. She defies this obstacle, is changeable, and does not let herself be mastered. Like an abyss or a grotto, woman does not allow herself to be grasped. She is the void which can only be appropriated by being filled. Sex plays an important role in keeping a woman filled from the spiritual-energetic perspective. This essay explores those conditions that fill, and those that deplete.
From an energetic perspective, the woman’s spirit structure is less stable and more penetrable than the male’s. After all, she conceives, houses, and grows babies within her being. Receptivity, flexibility, and nurturing are appropriate and valuable assets for this enormous task. But woman’s penetrable, generous nature also leaves her vulnerable to the carnate and discarnate spirits around her.

Sex That Depletes; Sex That Fills
Sexual interactions are dynamic situations that can consume a woman’s essence or fill her. An aggressive embodied partner can ruthlessly consume her essence, sucking her life force right out of her; aggressive disembodied spirits can continue the rape after the sexual act with her embodied partner is completed. An empty woman is all too common in our world. But a woman who has been filled during the sexual act and by any number of aspects and relationships in her life is most rare and exquisite, like a lotus: woman in her ultimate form.
When a woman has been ravished, her malleable and pliable characteristics enable her to recuperate from depleting ordeals. She reorganizes herself by extracting from her store of life force energy, accessing her wisdom, and utilizing her creativity. Under ordinary circumstances, she moves right back into her roles in life, no matter how demanding. Since the more filled she is the more abundant and powerful her life force becomes, establishing a relationship that keeps one filled is essential to one’s evolution. The opposite is also true. The longer woman lives empty, the less chance she has of retaining enough of her depleting life force to last a full lifetime, much less accumulate enough life force energy with which to flourish and grow.
There are many ways to deplete a woman just as there are any number of ways to keep her full and abundant. Sexual encounters are extremely important, and gaining an understanding of how they impact a woman will provide enough information so that any one interested can create endless situations directed at filling-or depleting a partner.

Our Vital Energy Source
Both men and women possess a vital energy source that is essentially life force energy. This energy is accessed by our physical bodies, processed from the food that we eat and by our chakras from the universal energy available to us. Life force energy feeds our spirits and supports harmony between our physical and spirit bodies. The energy is needed to fuel us so that we perform our activities of daily living and eventually raise our levels of consciousness. This supply of vital energy can be depleted or enhanced according to an individual’s conduct. Participating in extreme spiritual practices, prematurely, is one way to deplete that energy. Engaging in activities that allow an energy vampire, embodied or disembodied, to steal that energy is another. Sexual relations is another.
Sexual encounters that fill a woman, and a man for that matter, is the basis of white tantra. Two practitioners engage in specific sexual maneuvers that are rooted to an ancient spiritual discipline. The sexual acts achieve an energetic eruption, orgasm, catapulting both spirits to higher dimensions, like the Hindu deities Shakti and Shiva. Once they descend and separate, each one should retain some positive influence from their journey together. Both should be filled. Even though the spiritual tradition acts as an enhancer in the cases of spiritual tantra, a similar result can be achieved by a man and a woman not affiliated with a spiritual discipline.

Is There a Discarnate Spirit in the Bedroom?
Discarnate spirits will be attracted to the powerful energy that has been produced. They come like vultures to feed. Shielding the energy field that the two lovers have created assures that they alone absorb and use the powerful energy that they have produced. If the energy is allowed to leak and be consumed by discarnate spirits, then the woman and man will not receive the full benefits of their act.
Aggressive spirits will not settle at consuming the energy surrounding the couple; if allowed they will enter them and devour that which each has retained. Since the woman is more easily penetrated than the man, she is more vulnerable to ravishing and is usually the one who gets depleted after the encounter. Sometimes the carnate male partner will consume the woman’s share of potent energy created during their encounter. Certainly there are cases where the woman acts as the vampire consuming the man’s share of what they have created together.

The role of orgasm
To ensure that the woman is filled from the sexual encounter, she as well as her partner must achieve orgasm. And an energetic container, or shield, should be constructed around the activity and should remain in place for a few hours following the sexual encounter. Right after the act, the shielding should be modified to allow the participants to separate and remain shielded, so that each can absorb their gold from the encounter. One should not steal energy that belongs to the other.
This behavior also ensures benefits on the physical level as well. The sexual encounter provides the woman the opportunity to regulate the proper balance of hormones within her body. The man can add to the delicate balance, the small amount of testosterone that the woman requires to maintain the health of her sexual organs. This is also true for the man pertaining to estrogen.
I have had many women complain to me that their man demands sexual relations daily. This is not amour, this is self-nourishment and control. With that morning “quickie” he is fueling up. It is fine to nourish someone if you understand what you are sacrificing. That is to say that you have extra potential that your spirit can afford to give up on that day and remain healthy; and thus consent to share it with your partner. And that your partner does the same for you when you need an extra boost.
Whenever a human being is forced to comply with a demand that is difficult or torturous, they leak excessive, unregulated, amounts of their energy potential or life force. The person making the demand and controlling the situation consumes their energy. These situations may under some circumstances be consensual, but the woman may not understand just how detrimental the situation can be to her.

The importance of being selective
When a man enters a woman’s body, he makes a significant imprint on her spirit. Obviously, an imprint can be most deeply etched when done from within the person. Without regard to male homosexual activity and other penetrating sexual behaviors, a woman does not usually get access to the interior of the man. Therefore, most often the woman is more deeply imprinted during sex than the man. This strongly suggests that the woman should be cautious as to whom she lets enter her temple, because the engravings that a man can leave can remain with her spirit-eternally.
Spiritual adepts can imprint the woman deeply with very powerful programs. The programs literally render her captive. I use examples of extreme situations in order to make important points. Adepts like the vampire and werewolf spirits have sex with a woman and leave her physically dead or imprint her so deeply that it is almost like replacing her spirit with one of their own.

It wasn’t the milkman-or was it?
This powerful programming is partly why incest and rape are such heinous crimes; Because they leave such indelible imprints within their victims. Like a woman’s first sexual partner, the imprint can be such that the children that she conceives from another encounter later in life can retain the characteristics of her first lover. This is where the joke about asking a woman if she slept with the milkman originates, when the new baby does not favor either the mother or the father. What they usually don’t realize is that the baby favors the woman’s first lover or a sexual predator-incest perpetrator or rapist. This is also the origin of why young girls are encouraged to retain their virginity; It is not simply a religious matter.
These situations serve to demonstrate the importance of a woman being selective about her sexual partners.

Crystal's and Stones Guide

2009-05-05T11:08:00.000-04:00

AGATE--A variety of chalcedony. Tones and strengthens body and mind. Imparts a sense of strength and courage. Facilitates ability to discern truth and accept circumstances. Is grounding but also energetic. A powerful healer. Works with chakras and attitudes according to the color of the stone.

ALEXANDRITE--A variety of chrysoberyl that aids internal and external regeneration. It has a positive influence on the nervous system, spleen and pancreas. Helps to align the mental and emotional body. Associated with the Crown Chakra.

AMAZONITE--A variety of feldspar. Soothes the nervous system, strengthens the heart and physical body. Aids in alignment of mental and ethereal body. Brings joy and upliftment, creative expression. Facilitates clearer vision of one's own harmful tendencies making them easier to release. Associated with the Throat Chakra.

AMBER--A fossilized resin from prehistoric pine trees. Exerts positive influence on endocrine system, spleen and heart. Healing, soothing, harmonizing. Electrically alive with solidified golden light. Stabilizes kundalini awakening. Activates altruistic nature. Spiritualizes the intellect. Associated with the Navel, Solar plexus and Crown Chakras.

AMETHYST--A variety of quartz, light to dark purple in color. Strengthens endocrine and immune systems. Enhances right brain activity and pineal and pituitary glands. Powerful blood cleanser and energizer. Helps with mental disorders. Provides purification and regeneration on all levels of consciousness. Transmutes one's lower nature into the more highly refined aspects of their high potentials. Enhances psychic abilities. Excellent for meditation. Aids in channeling abilities. Has calming, strong protective qualities. Associated with the Third Eye and Crown Chakras. Healing, divine love, inspiration and intuition.

AQUAMARINE--A variety of beryl. Clams nerves, reduces fluid retention. Strengthens kidney's, liver, spleen and thyroid. Purifies the body, enhancing the power and clarity of the mind, aiding in creative self-expression. Physical/emotional/mental balance. Helps banish fears and phobias. Excellent for mediation. Inspiration, peace, calmness, love. Associated with the Throat and Solar plexus Chakras.

AVENTURINE [green]--A variety of quartz. Purifies mental and emotional and etheric bodies. Aids in releasing anxiety and fear. Stimulates muscle tissue. Strengthens blood. Emotional tranquility, positive attitudes towards life. Brings one into alignment with their center. Independence, Health and well-being. Associated with the Heart Chakra.

AZURITE--Enhances flow of energy through nervous system (because of copper content). Helps body utilize oxygen. Strengthens blood. Facilitates clear meditation. Cuts through illusion and enhances psychic abilities. Initiates transformation. Cleanses the mental body. Inspiration, creativity intuition. Associated with the Third eye and Throat Chakras

BLOODSTONE--A variety of chalcedony. Strengthens and oxygenates bloodstream. Enhances physical/mental vitality. Strengthens heart, spleen, bone marrow. Aids in balancing iron deficiencies. Reduces emotional/mental stress. Powerful physical healer. Stimulates movement of kundalini. Inner guidance, altruism, idealism. A highly evolved mineral. Associated with the Root and Heart Chakras, known for linking them together.

CALCITE--Aids kidneys, pancreas, spleen. Balances male/female polarities. Alleviates fear, reduces stress. Emotionally balancing. Grounds excess energy. Increases capacity for astral projection. Works with Chakras according to color of stone.

CARNELIAN--A variety of chalcedony. Very highly evolved mineral healer. Energizes blood. Aids kidneys, lungs, liver, gallbladder, pancreas. Aids tissue regeneration. Aids in vitalizing the physical/emotional/mental bodies. Aligns physical and etheric bodies. Enhances atunement with inner self. Facilitates concentration. Associated with the Navel, Solar plexus and Heart Chakras.

CELESTITE--Enhances thyroid functions. Reduces stress. Relaxing, peace of mind. Accelerates growth. Aids personal creative expression. Helps one adjust to higher more rarefied states of awareness. Associated with the Throat Chakra.

CHRYSOCOLLA--Aids in preventing ulcers, digestive problems, arthritic conditions. Strengthens lungs and thyroid gland. Enhances metabolism. Excellent for female disorders. Alleviates fears, guilt, tension. Helps clear subconscious imbalances. Activates feminine qualities. Associated with Heart and Throat Chakras.

CHRYSOPRASE--A variety of quartz. Balances neurotic patterns. Eases depression and sexual imbalance. Aids in fertility. Calming, balancing, healing for physical/emotional/mental bodies. Helps one see clearly into personal problems and bring out inner talents. Associated with the Heart Chakra.

CITRINE--A variety of quartz. Good for kidneys, colon, liver, gallbladder, digestive organs, heart. Tissues regeneration. Detoxifies physical/emotional/mental bodies. Enhances body's healing energy. Diminishes self-destructive tendencies. Raises self-esteem. Powerful alignment with Higher Self. Attracts abundance. Associated with the Navel and Crown Chakras.

COPPER--Influences flow of blood. Supplies strong energy to body and mind. Aids metabolism. Helps detoxify the body. An aid for exhaustion and sexual imbalance. Aligns physical/emotional bodies. Raises self-esteem. Strong conductor of energy. Copper bracelets should be worn by those afflicted with arthritis of the hands or fingers.

DIAMOND--Enhances brain functions. Aids alignments of cranial bones. Breaks up blockages in the Crow Chakra and in the personality. Master healer. Dispels negativity. Purifies physical/etheric bodies. Reflects will and power aspects of the God. Enhances full spectrum of energies in body/mind/spirit. Alignment with High Self. Associated with all Chakras.

DIOPTASE--Strengthens cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Excellent aid for ulcers, nervous stomach, heart troubles and blood pressure. Vitalizes, balances, tones body/mind. Emotional stability. Excellent for use with healing and affirmations. Associated with the Heart Chakra.,/p>

EMERALD--A variety of beryl. Strengthens heart, liver, kidneys, immune system and nervous system. Aids in alignment of subtle bodies. Enhances dreams, meditation, deeper spiritual insight. Represents the potential of divinity within us all. Prosperity, love, kindness, tranquility, balance, healing and patience. Strong emotional balancer. Associated with Heart and Solar plexus Chakras.

FLUORITE--Strengthens teeth and bones. Improves absorption of vital nutrients. Beneficial for blood vessels and spleen. Grounds excess energy. Excellent for advancement of mind, greater concentration and meditation. Helps one grasp higher more abstract concepts. Facilitates interdimensional communication. Powerful healer.

GARNET [red]--Strengthens purifies vitalizes and regenerates bodily systems, especially the bloodstream. Has strong affinity with Root Chakra, helping to harmonize the potent forces of kundalini. Stimulates pituitary gland. Aligns subtle bodies. Love, compassion, enhanced imagination. Associated with the Root and Heart Chakras.

GOLD--Purifies and energizes physical body. Improves circulation, strengthens nervous system. Balances and develops Heart Chakra. Balances hemispheres of the brain. Aids in tissue regeneration. Attracts positive energy into aura. Amplifies though forms. Aids personal illumination. Associated with Navel, Heart and Crown Chakras.

HEMATITE--Positive effect on bloodstream. Activates spleen. Increases resistance to stress. Helps circulate oxygen throughout the body. Strengthens physical and etheric bodies. Energizing, vitalizing. Enhances personal magnetism, will and courage. Slightly grounding. Powerful stone for those attuned to it.

JADE--Strengthens heart, kidneys, immune system. Helps cleanse blood. Increases longevity and fertility. Aids eye disorders and female problems. Powerful emotional balancer. Radiates divine unconditional love. Clarity, modesty, courage, justice, wisdom. Peaceful and nurturing. Dispels negativity.

JASPER [all colors]--A variety of chalcedony. Strengthens liver, gallbladder, bladder. Powerful healer, main impact on the physical body. Represents the Earth Element.

KUNZITE [pink spodumene] --High lithium content makes Kunzite beneficial to individuals with addictive behavior. Strengthens cardiovascular system. Aids manic depression. Excellent balancer for physical/emotional/mental bodies. Powerful stone for opening/healing the heart. Helps one surrender to Higher Self. Enhances self-esteem. Tolerance, acceptance, soothing and calming. Associated with the Heart Chakra.

KYANITE--Strengthens Throat Chakra. Enhances creative expression, communication, truth, loyalty, reliability, serenity. Connection to casual plane. Facilitates astral/interdimensional travel. Associated with the Throat and Third Eye Chakras.

LAPIS LAZULI--Strengthens skeletal system. Activates thyroid gland. Releases tension and anxiety. Energizes Throat Chakra. Augments strength, vitality, virility. Facilitates opening of Chakras. mental clarity, illumination. Enhances psychic abilities and communication with Higher Self and Spirit Guides. Associated with the Third Eye and Throat Chakras.

LEPIDOLITE--Aids muscles, strengthens heart, beneficially influences blood. High lithium content aids emotional/mental balance and stability. Aids sleep. Enhances expression of one's inner light and joy. Associated with the Heart Chakra.

MALACHITE--Aids functions of pancreas and spleen. Reduces stress and tension. Aids tissue regeneration. Strengthens heart, circulatory system, pineal and pituitary glands. Aids sleep. Vitalizing for body/mind. . Excellent balancer on all levels. Associated with Heart and Solar plexus Chakras.

MOLDAVITE--A deep green silica based tektite (meteorite) that fell to Earth about 15 million years ago. Aids alignment with Higher Self. Balancing and healing for physical body/mind. Aids in channeling extraterrestrial and inter-dimensional sources. Associated with the Heart and Third Eye Chakras.

METEORITE--Helps reveal past lives from other planets and galaxies. Enhances connection with extraterrestrial energies. Expands awareness. Similar to obsidian but denser. Associated with the Root Chakra. MOONSTONE--Has healing affinity with stomach, spleen, pancreas, pituitary gland. Unblocks lymphatic system. Relieves anxiety and stress. Aids in birthing process, helps female problems. Emotional balancer, helps lessen tendency to over react emotionally. Flexibility in attitudes. Aligns emotion with Higher Self. Associated with the Heart Chakra.

OBSIDIAN--Beneficially influences stomach and intestines. Connects mind and emotions. Slightly masculine energy. Grounds spiritual energy into physical plane. Absorbs and disperses negativity. Reduces stress. helps clear subconscious blocks. Brings an understanding of silence and "the void". Detachment but with wisdom and love. Powerful healer for those attuned to it. Associated with the Root Chakra.

ONYX--A variety of chalcedony. Relieves stress. Balances male/female polarities. Strengthens bone marrow. Aids detachment. Enhances emotional balance and self-control.

OPAL--Stimulates pineal and pituitary glands. Aids eyesight. Emotional balancer. Enhances intuition. The full spectrum of colors resonates with all Chakras. Helps conscious connection with highest aspects of being. Bad luck is brought to the wearer, if Opal is their birthstone and they purchased the item themselves. Opals should always be *given* to those born in October and not purchased by them for their own use.

PERIDOT [olivine]--Balances glandular system. Aids tissue regeneration. Has beneficial influence on heart, pancreas, spleen, liver, adrenals. Purifies body. Enhances bloodstream. Overall balancer and tonic for body/mind. Aligns subtle bodies. Increases intuitive awareness. Reduces stress. Stimulates the mind. Accelerates personal growth, opens new doors of opportunity. Associated with the Nave, Solar Plexus and Heart Chakras.

PYRITE--Aids dige Strengthens and oxygenates blood. Enhances brain functions. Influences a more positive outlook on life. Enhances emotional body, strengthens will. Helps one's ability to worth with others harmoniously. Practicality. Associated with the Root, Solar plexus and Heart chakras.

QUARTZ [clear]--Enhances the crystalline properties of blood, body and mind. Activates and enhances pineal and pituitary glands. Emotional balancer. Stimulates brain functions and amplifies though forms. Full spectrum energy activates all levels of consciousness. Dispels negativity in ones energy field and environment. Receives, activates, stores, transmits and amplifies energy. Excellent for meditation. Enhances interdimensional communication and communication with Higher Self and Spirit Guides. Associated with all Chakras.

RHODOCHROSITE--Aids spleen, kidneys, heart, pituitary gland and circulation of blood. Enhances memory and intellectual power. Emotional balancer. helps heal emotional wounds and traumas. Powerful healer for those attuned to it.

RHODONITE--Aids central nervous system, thyroid gland, body reflexes, pituitary gland and pancreas. Strengthens immunity. Improves memory. Eases physical/emotional trauma. Reduces stress. Aligns Root and Heart Chakras for bringing love into action and manifestation(red and black variety). Self-esteem, confidence. Enhances energy levels in body/mind. Pink variety (without black) helps impart understanding of strength within vulnerability. Associated with Root and Heart Chakras.

ROSE QUARTZ--Aids kidneys and circulatory system. Increases fertility. Eases sexual/emotional imbalances. Helps clear stored anger, resentment, guilt, fear, jealousy. Reduces stress and tension, cools hot temper. Enhances self-confidence and creativity. Aids development for forgiveness, compassion and love. Sometimes known as "The Love Stone". Associated with the Heart Chakra.

RUBY--Aids regeneration of physical/spiritual heart. Enhances circulation. Vitalizes blood and entire body/mind system. Strengthens immunity. Activates sluggish or dormant conditions on physical/spiritual levels. Refines lower passions. Courage, integrity, selfless service, joy, spiritual devotion, power, leadership. Helps banish sense of limitation. Associated with the Heart Chakras.

RUTILATED QUARTZ--Regeneration of tissue throughout the body. Enhances life-force. Strengthens immune system. Stimulates brain functions. Eases depression, facilitates inspirational. Increases clairvoyance. Highly electrical, more intensity than clear quartz. Pierces through layers of emotional/physical/mental density. Transmutes negativity. Enhances communication with Higher Self and Spirit Guides. Very powerful healer. Associated with all Chakras.

SMOKY QUARTZ--Strengthens adrenals, kidneys, pancreas. Increases fertility, balances sexual energy. Aids depression. Mildly sedative and relaxing. Initiates movement of kundalini. Dissipates subconscious blocks and negativity on all levels. Grounding, centering. Excellent for meditation. Enhances dream awareness and channeling abilities. Associated with the Root, Navel and Solar plexus Chakras.

SODALITE--Aids pancreas, balances endocrine system, strengthens metabolism and lymphatic system. Balances male/female polarities. Alleviates fear. Clams and clears the mind. Slightly sedative, grounding. Cuts through density and illusion bringing clarity and truth. Enhances communication and creative expression. Associated with the Throat and Third eyeChakras.

SAPPHIRE--Strengthens heart and kidneys. Activates pituitary gland. Aligns body/mind/spirit. Stimulates psychic abilities, clarity and inspiration. Creative expression, loyalty, love. Aids connection with Higher Self and Spirit Guides. Strengthens will, expands cosmic awareness, dispels confusions. Excellent for mediation. Associated with the Throat and Third eye Chakras.

SELENITE [gypsum] Strengthens bones, teeth. Soothes nerves. Has positive effect on brain, aiding powers of concentration and clarity. Enhances willpower. Grounded white light. Associated with the Crown Chakra.

SILVER--Enhances mental functions. Aids circulation. Strengthens blood, physically and etherically. Strengthens pineal and pituitary glands. Relieves stress. Relates to the moon, subconscious, female aspect. Emotional balance. Excellent energy conductor.

TIGER EYE--A variety of chalcedony. Beneficial for spleen, pancreas, digestive organs and colon. Emotional balancer. Enhances connection with personal power and will. Grounding, centering. Helps soften stubbornness. Enhances clear perception and insight. Slightly masculine energy. Associated with the Navel and Solar plexus Chakras.

TOPAZ-- {gold}Tissue regeneration. Strengthens liver, gallbladder, spleen, digestive organs, nervous system. Detoxifies body. Warming awakening inspiring. Abundance. Associated with Navel and Crow Chakras.
{Blue} Tissue regeneration. Strengthens thyroid gland, enhances metabolism. Emotional Balance. Cooling, soothing, peace, tranquility. Creativity, self expression. Enhances psychic perception, communication with Higher Self and Spirit Guides. Associated with the Heart, Throat and Third eye Chakras.

TOURMALINE [all colors]-- Aids Balance of endocrine system. Aids sleep. Strengthens, vitalizes, body/mind. Activates and enhances crystalline properties of body/mind. Aligns subtle bodies. Dispels fear and negative conditions. Strong protective influence. Enhances sensitivity and understanding. Powerful healer, highly electromagnetic.

TOURMALINATED QUARTZ--Clear quartz with black tourmaline crystals inside. Balances male/female polarities. Aids in balancing extremes. Grounding, very protective, dissipates negativity. Combines forces of clear quartz with those of black tourmaline. Associated with Root and Crown Chakras.

TURQUOISE--Tones, strengthens entire body. Tissue regeneration. Aids circulation, lungs, respirator system. Vitalizes blood, nervous system. Aligns Chakras. Enhances meditation. Creative expression, peace of mind, emotional balance, communication, friendship and loyalty. Associated with the Throat Chakra.

VARISCITE--Soothing, calming, balancing for body/mind. Aids blood, heart. Emotional stability. Helps one recall past lives. Self confidence. Abundance. Associated with Heart and Solar plexus Chakras.

ZIRCON [hyacinth]--Strengthens the mind. Aids bowel problems. Balances pituitary and pineal glands. Aligns subtle bodies. Emotional balance, self-esteem. Aids sleep. Similar properties as in diamond and quartz crystal. All around healer. Associated with all Chakras.

The Journey Within....

2009-05-05T11:05:00.000-04:00

There was a time when I was not Happy with My Self

So I had a Long, Hard look at My Self

I decided I needed to Change My Self

Most importantly the Image Of My Self

Especially the Image I had of My Self

So I began the Self Improvement of My Self

So That I could be Happy with My Self

As I Dug Deeper within My Self

I really started to Find My Self

When I really began to Discover Myself

I realized That it was quite Difficult to change My Self

Oh, for a little while I Fooled My Self

Into Believing I was Someone Other than My Self

Then I realized I had to Deal with Myself

So I began to acknowledge My Self

Then came the Realization of My Self

Then I accepted My Self

I even came to like My Self

Because I was Stuck with My Self

Because I was Blessed with My Self

Because I was Encouraged by My Self

Because I was Loved By My Self

In the Discovery of My Self

I really found My Self

My True Self within My Self

The True Love Of My Self

Resides within me