Treasures

Today I went to a used furniture store to see about arranging a pickup for a desk I no longer need. Of course I had to do some browsing and of course I found myself in the back corner of the store where there were quite a few bookcases of books. It first appeared that the books they had were novels and the usual selection of cookbooks etc., but then I found the case with the books on religion, spirituality and self-help topics. In one of my earlier posts I wrote about my love of books, so it is no secret that I get a feeling of great satisfaction when I find some new ones to add to my collection. I feel like a hunter that has made a new conquest.

Today's treasures were four books: Ardath by Marie Corelli, Pagan Pride - Honoring the Craft and Culture of Earth and the Goddess by M. Macha NightMare, Great Swan - Meetings with Ramakrishna by Lex Hixon, and Sisters of the Earth a compilation of poetry and prose about nature written by ninety wonderful accomplished women writers.

I decided to choose a page at random from Sisters of the Earth and share it with you. I hope you like it as much as I do.

My Help is in the Mountain

by Nancy Wood

My help is in the mountain

Where I take myself to heal

The earthly wounds

That people give to me.

I find a rock with sun on it

And a stream where the water runs gentle

And the trees which one by one give me company.

So must I stay for a long time

Until I have grown from the rock

And the stream is running through me

And I cannot tell myself from one tall tree.

Then I know that nothing touches me

Nor makes me run away.

My help is in the mountain

That I take away with me.

Jai Mata Di

Anjea

ANJEA is an Australian Aboriginal fertility Goddess. She is an animistic spirit known to the tribesman of the Pennefather River, Queensland Australia. It is said that Souls reside within her between incarnations and when the time is right she places mud babies in the wombs of future Mothers.

When a child is born it is believed that a piece of a newborn baby's spirit remains in the afterbirth, so it is the custom for the Grandmother or Godmother to take the afterbirth and bury it as soon as the child was born and the cord severed. The placenta was gathered for a special burial because it was considered very sacred. It was buried in a very pristine place in Mother Earth so that the energy of Mother Earth could keep the purity. It was believed that the mother and child remained connected to the placenta. This placenta would never be destroyed or discarded by indigenous peoples.

The burial place was usually near running water, in the sand on the banks of a river.
The Grandmother or Godmother built a structure of twigs and sticks, arranged in a circle and tied together at the top to form a cone, like a small teepee, to mark the spot. When Anjea sees the marker she takes the spirit and carries it to away and safely places it in hollow tree.
It is left for some time, rumored to be left there until the person whose essence it was originally dies, and then it is time for the new child to be created. This she does by mixing the spirit with mud forming a baby, then this clay infant is put into another expecting mother.

The mixture of water and earth to form the clay that forms the baby is significant because of the
life-giving role of water to the Earth and to the people.

Anjea is not only a fertility Goddess but she is also an Earth Goddess. We honor her for her creative and giving spirit.



Jai Mata Di

Earth Day

Mother Earth

It is 42 years since the first celebration of this important event and it is now observed in 175 countries around the world. We all are aware that doing our part in conserving energy will ultimately help save our planet as well as save each of us - the citizens of Earth. Our natural resources are being compromised by the global elite - all in the name of greed, and for profits for the rich. We the people must stand up to the polluters, the pillagers and to those that have neglected to be responsible caretakers of our beautiful planet.

Clean air, clean water, free energy are our rights.

~Here's a reminder of our treasure ~

Jai Mata Di

The Great Goddess

In prehistoric and even earlier historic periods of human development, religions existed in which people revered their supreme creator as female. The Great Goddess, the Divine Ancestress, had been worshiped from the Upper Paleolithic Age of about 25,000 BC until the closing of the last Goddess Temples, at about 500 AD. The rise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam was the undoing of the Sacred Goddess Worship. The destruction of sacred icons and literature, the obliteration of historic records of the "pagans" or "heathens", as the Goddess worshipers were called, was major but not total. As more archaeological evidence is discovered and properly identified and deciphered, we can now see a much different picture of the veneration of the female Deity as creator and lawmaker of the universe, prophetess, provider of human destinies, inventor, hunter and valiant leader.
I can't help but wonder how errors in translations of ancient texts due to a bias in favor of the patriarchal beliefs and other unjust misinterpretations have helped to form this modern world of greed, wars, social inequities as well as the gross destruction of this planet we call home.



The Tao Te Ching was written by Lao Tzu 2500 (or more) years ago. There are many translations and my favorite is the translation by Jonathan Star,Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition. Here Is a Verse that explains The Goddess as The Creator.

Verse 6

Endlessly creating

Endlessly pulsating

The Spirit of the Valley never dies

She is called the Hidden Creator

Although She becomes the whole universe

Her immaculate purity is never lost

Although She assumes countless forms

Her true identity remains intact

Whatever we see or don't see

Whatever exists or doesn't exist

Is nothing but the creation of this Supreme Power

Tao is limitless, unborn, eternal -

It can only be reached through the Hidden Creator

She is the very face of the Absolute

The gate to the source of all things eternal

Listen to Her voice

Hear it echo through creation

Without fail, She reveals Her presence

Without fail, She brings us to our own perfection

       Jai Mata Di

Living in the maya

I haven't written for a while. I was caught up in the maya, the illusion of this earthly existence.
Thankfully though, not completely - every now and then I'd see and feel the Bliss, I'd be at the threshhold of a grand epiphany and then I would get distracted and I'd get pulled back into this
3-D world of ours, only to get stuck in the mundane for a while longer.


In Hinduism, maya is the veil that is to be seen through, like an epiphany, in order to achieve
liberation of the soul from the cycle of births, deaths and rebirths to which all beings are subject.
Ego-consciousness and karma are seen as part of the binding forces of maya.


Maya may be understood as the limited, purely physical and mental reality in which our everyday
consciousness has become entangled. Maya is held to be an illusion, a veiling of the true, unitary
Self—the Cosmic Spirit. The veil of maya may be pierced, and, with diligence and grace,
may be permanently dissolved.


Consider maya as the vehicle that we are given by the Divine Mother to reach our final spiritual
destination. All the twists and turns, all the detours and bumps in the road are all the experiences
and lessons learned, if we follow our divine paths, the veil will be lifted and we will all arrive
"Home".

                                                  Angels of Light Beyond theVeils

Goddess Blessings!

February Full Moon

Native American tribes of the North and East called the February Full moon the Snow Moon
since traditionally the heaviest snows fall during this winter month.
The Lakota Sioux called it the Full Moon When Trees Pop because of the heavy snows that cause the tree branches to break.

I can remember, when I lived in the north, the silence of a heavy snowfall. The snow seemed to muffle all the sounds - the silence was magical. It seemed as if nature gave us a momentary break from the all the hurry and scurry of our lives. When the snowfall ended and I ventured out to survey the scene it was all pristine, white and glistening. As I made my way through the fresh snow and maneuvered around the drifts, the only sound was the crunching of each footstep as I made my own path - creating a new journey.

At this Full Moon in Leo we may want to take some time alone to contemplate, find our own path and perhaps even re-create ourselves - find our own passions. Think about what makes your heart want to sing and create your own journey.


Jai Mata Di

Vision Quest

The Vision Quest is a Native American rite of passage in which the participant connects with the spirit world and receives messages to guide them in their spiritual and life direction. This shamanic journey is a type of initiation that prepares a young person for adulthood and may be a catalyst for pursuing their life's mission. Always done alone in the wilderness and while fasting, messages may appear from their Guardian Spirit or their Spirit Animal in visions or dreams

The following is a dream poem from the Anishinaabeg people...

Dream Poem

with a large bird

above me

I am walking

in the sky

I entrust

myself

to one wind

my feathers

sailing

on the breeze

honoring your brave men

like them

believing in myself

I am like the spirit

waiting

in my lodge

making me very old

Jai Mata Di