Tribal Wives

Six British women swap their everyday lives for life as tribal wives in some of the most remote communities on earth. Like many women today juggling career, home and family, they feel that something is missing. By spending time in societies where female roles are very different, they hope to find answers that could change their lives.



Watch the full documentary now:



Kuna/Panama. The Kuna Indians are a deeply spiritual people who live on a stunning scattering of coral islands off the coast of Panama. A monogamous tribe with tight-knit families, they are a deeply spiritual people who believe that their homes and families are protected by ever-present spirits.

Waorani/Ecuador. 46-year-old Karen Morris-Lanz stays with the Waorani, one of the world’s most isolated tribes, deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle. Once known as the savages, they have a fearsome reputation. But behind this formidable facade is a way of life unchanged for centuries.

Afar/Ethiopia. The Afar are one of Ethiopia’s most fiercely independent tribes, nomadic cattle and camel herders with a tough reputation, carrying guns to protect their herds from rival clans and wild animals.

Himba/Namibia. The Himba are a semi-nomadic tribe of pastoralists who live on the harsh sun-baked plains of northern Namibia. The women are striking, covering their hair and bodies in red ochre.

Maasai/Tanzaniai. The Maasai are one of the world’s most famous and largest tribes in Africa. They are polygamous, with men allowed to have up to ten wives, and women expected to marry and bear children from the age of 14.

Mentawai/Indonesia. The Mentawai live deep in the jungle on a remote island off the coast of Indonesia – a monogamous tribe where women are tattooed and sharpen their teeth. Their lives are dominated by the spirit world and male sikerei, or witch doctors, watch over the village.

Yoruk/Turkey. Twenty-three-year-old Charlie Brades from Hampshire joins the Yoruk, a tribe of nomads who live in the remote mountains of southern Turkey. Charlie is fiercely independent but her life has been far from carefree.

Babongo/Gabon. Linda Plover from Liverpool is going to live as a Tribal Wife with the Babongo in southern Gabon. Linda is haunted by memories of a poverty-stricken childhood and feels an overwhelming sense of bitterness towards her mother.

Raramuri/Mexico. 40-year-old Michelle Frost from London is travelling to northern Mexico to stay with the Rarámuri, an ancient tribe who live perched on the edge of the spectacular Copper Canyon.

Kitava/Papua New Guinea. Becky Camilleri, a PA from London’s East End, travels to the idyllic island of Kitava, off the east coast of Papua New Guinea. Becky is successful, talented and beautiful but unlucky in love.

Karen/Thailand. Jackie Davis from Bristol spends some time with the Karen, Thailand’s largest hill tribe. Jackie is divorced, with two young children, and grappling with life as a single parent.

Hamar/Ethiopia. Anna De Vere from London is going to stay with the Hamar in southern Ethiopia. Anna has a comfortable life in London, living with her partner and running her own business, but deep down she has a feeling that something is lacking.

Mourning the Death of Grandma Shadow

Sun enters Scorpio today! And I am awakening to the dark powerful fumes that are already swirling around me, oozing from the depths of my emotional well. Words dancing on a page, my inner self diving deeper into the dark waters of the world down under. My dreams are revealing the lost motion picture that rerun in the dark empty theater filled with pink smoke that was too foggy for me to see the truth in its rawness. My dreams are showing me what I am unable to see, hear, taste or smell when my eyes are open and I am walking upon the earth. More so the events that are occurring in my waking life are like astonishing and challenging riddles who's answers are now shining like a stellium of planets that were hidden behind the moon.

Here's my emotional prose that reflects the Scorpion Sun as it shines through me!

I am not afraid of dying any more, if ever I were.
For I have longed to die in many ways and have died countless times,
embracing its many faces and the places it shows up.

I allow myself to die,
that part of me that is old, weary, wrinkled up, tired, lifeless
from being the way it’s been,
the grandmother of self-rejection, self-sabotage,
and denial, fear and anger.

I now allow her to die and rest in peace.
She wants to die, actually.
And to me that is the most beautiful aspect of this grand event.
She is now ready to die,
She no longer wants to even fight with me,
She no longer wants to resist and be against me,
She no longer wants to be crouched up in the corner
and drenched in the shitty waters of my basement
while living in the lower levels of my existence.

She no longer has the power,
She admits that her time is up,
She has done her part,
She has played her role as Grandmother of the dark past.
I honor and respect you for that Grandma Shadow.
You are meaningful! You were a necessary part of me.

I didn’t know the depths of that until 46 years later.
I accept your resignation. I accept your stepping down.
I am at peace with your slow death.
I don’t want it to be painful for you.
I don’t want it to be any more of the agony it has already been.
I let go of you, I allow you to let go of me.

Death is beautiful and you are even more beautiful!
I will take your teachings,
I will awaken to the lessons you have already instilled in me.
I will integrate them into all of me
I will forever love and honor you
for all that you stood for and all that you reflected.
I surrender and allow you to transcend,
to transform and if need be
to rise up like a phoenix from the old ashes.

The Power of 7

How many of you are into Numerology or have an interest? Do you know your Personal Number? Do you know what Numerological Year you're currently in? And are you vibrating with it? I know what year I am in and it's been quite an interesting one. So used to being a social butterfly and travel bug, this year I have been glued in place. Now that we are nearing the end of the year I am beginning to feel the shift from Yin to Yang.

I am in my 7 year - which says.... "Book a room in your favorite monastery and reflect, review and renew. This is a relatively quiet and introspective year, an important pause before the more hectic "eight" year ahead (the peak of this cycle). Enjoy its slower pace. Eat well. Rest well. Recognize what you've outgrown and say the proper eulogies. Keep polishing your skills. And become very clear about your definition of success. Visualize yourself achieving it. Let your imagination (and careful work) lay the tracks for next year's manifestation."

Damn it! I couldn't have described it any better. Many are wondering ... where is she. Some will never see me again. And although I have The Eco Goddess Temple page on facebook, ironically it turns out that I have no access to anyone I know. I may see their page through a google search or when I click on a name but can not comment nor leave a message. From where I sit.. there is absolutely no search capacity on our facebook page. (I don't think that's normal but I don't care.) It would be exhausting trying to ask facebook to please reconvert my personal page back to a profile page like most humans that have one. I've sent 3 or 4 request but never heard back so that page is no different in its current function. I don't not find tweeting practical and for the life in me, I have no energy to splurge on other social networks. I'm just not there! An anti-social eco chick! Funny how the universe and the chain of events conspire on behalf of our higher good. I am where I need to be and no where else. And I am now beginning to plunge even deeper into the darkness now that it is that Season of "letting go" and the dawn of winter cold is almost at my door. If you need to find me you'll need to join me in the other world where there's no up or down, no in or out, no top or bottom, no noise or drama.... an infinite space in an infinite time. See you there! :-)

Or you'll find me blogging every now and then right here. The writer in me just can't get enough. I better keep writing my book. If you haven't completed the Sex Life Survey yet, please do so now. I am working on giving away a round trip ticket someplace - since I am not traveling as yet, I'd like to see someone else go!! <3 <3 <3

The "Support and Rush Out" Point

"Support and Rush Out" is a strong acupuncture point of "letting Go". This is a small part of the branch of Classical Five Element Acupuncture within the magical world of Chinese Medicine. I used to enjoy learning about the various meridian points in the body during my acupuncture sessions with acupuncturists that I worked with over the years. My favorite was a native Chinese woman, Dr. Lu, who's father was an acupuncturist where she grew up immerse in such an environment. My visits with Dr. Lu were both healing and educational. I asked questions as though I was in a classroom. And I didn't know the name of many points in my body but I knew when she needed to stick one of those really fine needles in there. I always looked forward to tuning up my body. Plus she would follow the needle treatments with an invigorating acupressure massage that got my energies circulating nicely. I particularly love the enchanting, poetic names chosen to describe each meridian point, such as "Window of Heaven", "Union Valley", "Inner Pass", to name a few. These names are titles and symbols that stimulate images and draw you to a doorway that greets you with stories that unfold and speak of the condition of the world within. These gateway points took me into the deep mysteries that lie within the frame of my own mind/body, making healing a truly adventurous and spirited journey.

The "Support and Rush Out" point is found at the colon 18 point and corresponds with the Autumn season and the element of metal. This acupuncture point works for a patient who has been unable to "let go" for a long time; for one who feels it's almost normal to collect more and more garbage. To let go is a frightening prospect-what will be left? But when the trees let go of the past year's leaves, nature has something new in store. The end of one cycle gives rise to the next. As we let go of what we thought was ourself-physical waste, old habits, beliefs, assumptions, and identifications-we are supported by a new vision of who we are without all that old "stuff." Sometimes we can't let go little by little. We may be too stuck. We may need to let it rush out, supported by a new and clearer vision of our true selves, the inner treasure. At the right time, then, this acupuncture point, "Support and Rush Out," and no other, may be the one to turn the course of disease.

"Welcome Fragrance" is another point for the colon. What images does this evoke? Such a befitting name. This colon meridian ends just to the side of the nose. Having let go of the old and stale, our first breath of pure new inspiration will be a welcome fragrance. When our Lungs and Colon function as nature ordained they should in our body/mind/spirit, then simply living our lives through the highs and lows, through sunshine and dark clouds-every moment, every new experience-can in its own way be a treasure, a Welcome Fragrance.

Large Intestine - Metal Element Correspondences

Color - White
Flavor - Pungent
Sense - Nose
Emotion - Sadness
Tissue - Skin
Climate - Dryness
Sounds - Crying
Odor - Rotting
Season - Autumn
Direction - West


Suggestions for living in harmony with the autumn season:

* Go through your closet, desk, garage, medicine cabinet - any cluttered storage area-and discard what you no longer need. Then donate, sell, or otherwise circulate what might be of value to others.

* Do a mental inventory: Examine attitudes (prejudices, envies, hatreds, jealousies, resentments) stored within your psyche. When possible, contact those with whom you harbor old "stuff." Attempt to resolve the hurtful old issues, and then let them go.

* For issues you cannot resolve directly with others, or for old issues with yourself, write them on paper, being as specific as possible. Then burn the paper, symbolically releasing the content.

* Take time each day to breathe slowly and deeply. As you inhale the clean autumn air, feel yourself energized and purified. Feel the old negativity, impurity, and pain leave your body and psyche. Then contemplate briefly who you are without these identifications.

It's no wonder Autumn is broom time!
The witches have a lot to teach us about the power of her broom and this season!


excerpts from http://www.5elements.com/docs/elements/metal.html

How does your Venus call you?

SPECIAL!! SPECIAL!!
I am offering VENUS ASTROLOGY READINGS for only $20.00!!
Schedule an appointment today to have yours taken from under the covers! She's probably been sleeping too long!


"Oshun, oh Oshun, I feel the brush of your sensual whisper against my chocolate skin, I feel you nudging me ever so gently to express you, to feed you. You want me to wear long wide flowing skirts, if any clothes at all). You like charm belts hanging between my waist and my hips; exotic jewelry from Africa, India, the Middle East and those made by my native American kin, dangling down my arms, hanging on the long sensual lines of my neck; you sometimes say sexy cast and cauldron corsets will warm your arms. You like me to wear feathery & sensually appealing earrings bordering my face; body candy that lace my hands and fingers and art that decorates my third eye. For the gateway of pleasure and creation, between my legs, you say let the light of the moon shine on your womb, while sexy trimmings of mother earth fall over my nipples and mount of Venus.

Oshun my female lover, you urge me to have peacocks sketched in henna above my ankles and Moroccan inspired designs along my hands and my arms awakening the purrs of the White Tigress in me. Within me is your flame of desire for cultural delights and the musical lyrics & melodies of exotic lands resounding through me as we bubble with flirtatious laughter while you talk and I listen & you listen as I talk. The whisk of ancient goddess temples filled with the fragrance of amber and Bulgarian rose that fills my nose, takes me back in time eras I once knew. Oshun you call me, I know you do because I desire to sense, feel, hear and taste you in everything I do. You are the sensual flame in me, the lightning bug within that LIGHTS UP the dark corners of the WORLD!!"~ Surya Devi




Who is Oshun, really? Herein I'll call her Venus because that is the title of this planet in the world of Astrology. But her essence goes by various names, like Aphrodite and Oshun. She's beyond sheer femininity, she's the queen of many of life's good things. She's the happy girl that finds the perfection in the eyes of her lovers as she stares into its mirrors; she's a sensuous drip of honey, a lusty carefree giggle. She's strings of pearls and a deliciously lazy afternoon just laying in the grass or creating the art of your heart. If you want to raise your inner Venus (Oshun) then walk your fingers across a silk satin sheet, sniff the fragrance of calla lilies or run a bubble bath with lavender blossoms floating on top, candlelight and stones lacing the tub with Sufism music playing in the background. Venus (Oshun) is wicked too, orgasmic and fun; she's graceful and artistic. She's the blend of sensuality and fertility of earth in her Taurus radiance. She's sweet harmony and a dancer on her toes in her aesthetic, airy Libra nature. You can hear her singing through wind chimes, or the morning songs of birds.

Venus (Oshun) is erotic by nature; she's both wild abandon and good taste. She's the goddess of Love that makes the wheels of sensual desires spin and the earth so pleasurable. So why is it that so many of you, like me, don't have such a good relationship with her? We each have our own different stories indicating deprivation or denial of her needs and expressions as she lives as an archetype or goddess within each of us. The Venus (Oshun) of today is hopelessly frustrated due to her opposing nature in us. In the west, Marilyn Monroe was an icon of Venus. Then there's Oprah, Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Onassis, just to name a few! Each of these women are (were) beautiful and rich, yet they are (were) all poignantly unsatisfied. What they possess in money, status and beauty, they seem to lack in true love and personal happiness. Sounds familiar?

I have a flirtatious Venus in Sagittarius, I want to play around with my flirting partner, to be "friends first". I have a naturally friendly style that has often been mistaken for serious interest and in the end I attract unwanted Mars. My Venus yearns for adventure and the freedom from restrictions, she desires to travel and roam the earth like a gypsy, living a bohemian lifestyle. She's usually very lucky in love when she travels and is mesmerized by foreign men. She wants to go horseback riding (better yet, own one). Venus in me gets a kick out of laughing and making others laugh even with my dry sense of humor. Her nature in me is that which is spiritually inquisitive, actively questioning and seeking answers from nature and the higher realm. Finding (always) the chance to be teacher, but student alike.

One good thing on my side is my intuitive knowledge of Astrology. Isn't that what many run to astrologers for? Hoping for some happy, pleasing Venus news. In a chart she gives clues about your relationships and finances. The downside here is that people tend to go searching for ways in which a certain part of their chart, or inner self can serve them through knowledge or some prediction of the future. The irony to this is that one can find your Venus in your chart and also discover that it may not match who or how you are living or have been most of your life. This does not mean that your Venus is wrong, it means your Venus has not been expressed truthfully and authentically.

Astrologer, Dana Gerhardt asks, "What if the Venus placement actually suggests where we're meant to SERVE her interests, rather than the other way around? In ancient times when someone's life was going bad, the oracle's job was to identify which god or goddess had been offended and which offering would set things right. Most astrology books tell me that Venus in Sagittarius means I love freedom, sports, travel, foreign land and people, philosophy and big ideas, oh, and I love in a big way. But it would certainly be more interesting if they said not "what I am like" but rather "WHAT I NEED TO DO" to appease the goddess of Venus (Oshun) in me. Until then its all potential and desire for Venusian pleasure and for many theirs may very well remain a sleeping beauty on a thorny bed. Can astrology bring the magic kiss of a King that will awaken the Venus in many more women as well as the collective Venus (Oshun) spirit for all women? You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make it drink. It's up to YOU!

As with all of life, there again are dualities and as much as Venus is all about beauty, pleasure, money and the sensual delights of living and the abundance of the earth, she also has a dark side. Let us begin by acknowledging the stain that 2,000 years of Christianity have spilled on Venus' erotic free-for-all. Most of us discover our erotic feelings during our youth, alone and in secret. Not able to share than with any one forever suffocates our sexuality with a certain uneasiness and shame. We are constantly taught about the methods and values of work and earning money but little is ever said about the skills and importance of pleasure. Add in the the legacy of celibacy and courtly love combined with our contemporary notions of romance, we've lost touch with the true desire and expressions of the Venus archetype as it personally and uniquely dwells within each of us. With Venus stained and pushed in to our dirty cloths basket and no temples to honor her, such neglect has left her a pretty mad and dissatisfied maiden or shall I say bitch.

Psychologist James Hillman in "Pink Madness" describes a pissed off Venus as such. He thinks that she is angry. And I concur with that. She is very hard to find these days with women taking the masculine role and needing to control and prove their worth while neglecting their own sensual pleasures and needs. Venus (Oshun) is hard to find because women dress in contrast to their nature and are busy or too tired to soak in their own bath tubs or cook a nurturing meal in their own home. Some women rarely see nor spend time with their children because they are busy winning the bread and investing their energies in building corporate America or someone else's dream. This goddess of sexuality expects us to recognize that sex is a sacred and soulful force. She is calling us to ignite and unite with her divine spark to become instruments of pleasure. But how can a mother of 3 or a cosmopolitan female executive's home smell and reflect as her very own sensual domain when her playground is in the board room?

Venus is asking us to annihilate boredom and fatigue with heavenly delights and joy - to taste, smell, heat and touch the richness of the earth and the beauty of the world. She wants us to know that ecstatic communion with the divine life force during sacred sex will make us feel healed and whole. Then our lives and all that we encounter will be blessed with the Venusian laughter, sparkle and grace. Sadly when we minimize her gifts, seclude it, sneak it or shun it and feel guilty about it, we have grossly scorned and dishonored her place and power in the bigger framework of our lives. Then she is a goddess out for revenge and Venus does this through a "pink madness", says Hillman.

"I shall invade every nook of the contemporary world that has refused me so long with a pink madness. I shall pornographize your cars and food, your ads and vacations, your books and films, your schools and your families. I'll get into your T-shirts and underwear, even into your diapers, into teenie boppers, their slogans and songs, and into the old ladies and gents in retirement colonies on walkers in San Diego and Miami Beach. I'll show you by showing, until your minds are fuzzed pink with romantic desires, with longings to get away - tryst, nests, sweets. That is, the civilization will be crazed to get into my preserve, my secret garden. I will excite your entire culture so that even those attempting to cure their neuroses, as well as their sober psychoanalysts will have nothing better to talk about than desire, jouissance, seductions, incest, molestations, and the gaze into the mirror."

Venus is an obligation to living! No matter where she is placed in your chart, you need to answer her questions. Do you make that particular part of your life beautiful? Do you offer her time for sensuous experiences and simple pleasures? Do you allow yourself to let go, open up and surrender? Do you laugh? Do you appreciate? Do you play? Do you bring joy to others through your own? Play it cool for too long, then your passion fades and disappears and you wonder what happened to your life? Venus says, "Rev up the FIRE!" You may get into trouble; maybe you'll even start a war as she was known for starting the Trojan War in Greek Mythology. She's also known as Orisha Oshun in the African world. Life would not be the same, nor would it be quite as safe. But then, without your Venus or Oshun, would it really be much of a life?

The Eco Goddess Temple

Note from Surya:
I have been pursing and studying the field and energies of Astrology for well over 20 years. I continue to deepen my studies of Astrology, enhance my intuitive skills and learn how to make peace with the planets (the deities) as they exist in me. I am learning what it means to give them offerings as we do in the African traditions and how to create rituals around them. The Eco Goddess Temple is the space in which I am cultivating love and bringing each of the planets alive. I create talismans and symbols for each of them. My son is one of my Venus creations. He has a triple Venus ruled-planet of Taurus and although I have a Capricorn sun, Venus is my ruling planet. If you are interested in finding out your Venus placement and lighting up your VENUSIAN fire, email me: ecosensualliving@gmail.com. Better yet, join the Eco Goddess New Moon Circle (Wed, Oct. 26th @ 9pm) - we'll be glowing our moon and lighting up our Venus there!

Wise Woman Susun Weed visits the Eco Goddess Temple!

Wise Woman Susun Weed is a guest at the Eco Goddess Temple! The Green Witch talks about herbal infusion, menopause & the emergence of the butterfly woman; the divine feminine goddess spirit; her new book, "Down There" and more! This is part 1 of a 2 part interview.




Stay tune for Part 2!

Full Moon Breakthroughs!

The Moon comes into her Fullness in Aries on Tuesday, October 11th.  What a perfect day since the number 11 is about partnership, two and not one; and it holds the vibration of balance and justice. The sun is also currently in Libra the sign of partnership, when one stands by, with and in harmony with another.

Uranus, the planet of change is also in Aries, the signs that says, "I am" so the combination of the Sun, the Full Moon and Uranus provides a recipe for a "Breakthrough".  Essentially its time to transform breakdowns into breakthroughs. If you are feeling that 'enough is enough", allow yourself to take the risk of shattering the old patterns and limitations that have kept your energy from flowing. You will be amazed at the vitality and empowerment this "Breakthrough" can bring to your life. Uranus brings the energy of radical change and the universe has given us all the tools to shake us up, to get us moving and flowing with it.

As I did my sunrise yoga this morning, I found myself adhering to the need to shake myself up during each posture. As I breathed, stretched and moved, my body and mind needed more so I began to shake my body with each posture.  Then the spirit of the drum began to call me. I picked up the drum after my yoga session and began drumming and moving to its beat with my dog dancing and barking right along with me.  Only I had to teach him not to bark to the beat and he got it. :-0 It was a nice shake up that stimulated and nurtured all my organs!

This is a good time to break free of any old habits that are keeping us stuck in beliefs of lack and limitation.  Whether you're dealing with a health, or money, or love stagnation or all three, this is a time to release and let go of anything -real or imagined - that's holding you back.  

Here's a suggestion of what we could collectively do on Tuesday, at 10:00 pm Let's say this abundance & money prayer/affirmation together.  This was recently shared with me and the results are already happening.  But before I share the prayer/affirmation with you I'd like to share the update I gave my goddess friend who shared the prayer with me. 

Good morning Ayesha,

Just wanted to let you know that the prayer of abundance is already working. The following day I received a money order in the mail. The day after, I got a call from my attorney who shared that the company I am suing wants to settle with a certain dollar amount. I refused the offer because I believe I can and will get more. This came as a surprise since they refused to settle initially which is why I have requested a jury trial.

The day after that I booked a client who prepaid for her session the very day. This week I also wrote a chapter of my book I am working on and a lady graphics designer that I reached out to weeks ago to ask to design my book cover happened to finally get my email that very day and responded positively.

I am saying it often through the day and I actually like the feelings it evokes. On Thursday, I (40 something) played basketball with my son and two others youngies we met on  the court.  Something I haven't done in years. (I played basketball for my Jr high and Sr high school teams.) All on day 3 of our master cleanse with so much energy I was amazed. 

I am opening up to receive more and deep emotional healing is happening. I've had powerful healing dreams and have been sleeping more like a bear the last 3 days. We are talking 4 hour naps and I am not up all night either.

I shared the prayer with my personal assistant, which I have been blessed with, and she said the prayer the evening I gave it to her and got a job the next day. 

Most of all I am beginning to feel my heart expand even wider as I continue to integrate my womb- heart!!

 Thank you my beloved sistah!! I love you!!

So here's our Full Moon in Aries gift to you: ( modified it to include the energy of the goddess....

PRAYER FOR UNEXPECTED MONEY &* ABUNDANCE

                                                       
                                     I dwell in the midst of infinite abundance.

The abundance of God/Goddess is my infinite source.

The River of Life never stops flowing.  It flows through me into lavish expressions.
Good comes to me through unexpected avenues.
God/Goddess works in myriad ways to bless me.

I now open my mind to receive my good.
Nothing is too good to be true.
Nothing is too wonderful to happen.
With God/Goddess as my source, nothing amazes me.
I give freely and fearlessly into life and life gives back to me in fabulous increases
of abundance.  Blessings come in expected and unexpected ways.
God/Goddess works in wondrous ways to bless me and protect me...
and I am thankful, and so it is!

(Say this prayer with feeling and conviction and belief)

I shall not go into the possible gruesome side effects of this Full Moon in Aries because by now I think you all are grown enough to know of the potential of going against the flow. However, this is a time, as we're in the "SHIFT" to fully connect to the loving energies and to totally understand our connection with the Divine Goddess Spirit & the God Masculine Father, which moves through our collective breaths.  We all have free will and choice in every matter and it's time to choose LIFE, choose LOVE, choose PROSPERITY. It's time for all of us to shift into a higher consciousness and to activate the power within. 

With the spirit of the Earth & the Blessings of the Moon... I love you all!!!


The Eco Goddess

The Damned Truth about Being WHOLISTIC!

 "I dreamed I had a child, and even in the dream I saw it was my life, and it was an idiot, and I ran away. But it always crept on to my lap again, clutched at my clothes. Until I thought, if I could kiss it, whatever in it is my own, perhaps I could sleep. And I bent to its broken face, and it was horrible...but I kissed it. I think one must finally take one's life in one's arms.   - Arthur Miller, After the Fall                                        

WHOLISTIC/HOLISTIC - is a common word with a distorted definition that has yet to be corrected and fully understood. Those who claim wholistic/holistic health ideals are just as in the dark about what it really means. We proclaim integration of mind, body & spirit, yet there is a significant element of truly being wholistic/holisitic that is often missing from the consciousness of those who attempt to practice this lifestyle, those who's professional titles include the word as well as the broader scope of society that illusively benefits from its usage. We can not be whole until we embrace every and I mean every single part of our being.

 According to James Bugental, author of The Search for Authenticity, any facet of ourselves which we reown, no matter how unpleasant it may initially appear to be, contributes to our empowerment and well-being. Holding onto a virtuous or competent self-image does not feed our self-esteem if that self-esteem inaccurately reflects our relationship to ourselves. As we regain disowned facets of ourselves, we gain self, and are less invested in our self-image. As a result we feel more complete, more open to pleasure and love; we gain power that we have previously invested in others; we become larger.

It's time to think without the box!

We need to be committed to our own wholeness, more so than to our own goodness. We get so stuck on wanting to be good, doing good, living good that we end up being lopsided, walking around with one side of our energy body being weighed down. Picture a scale that has unequal quantities on each side. What does it look like?

The Judeo-Christian ethic has influenced us to repress qualities in ourselves which do not reflect our religious and social ideals. Yet by attempting to be overly good, we relegate facets of ourselves to the dark closet of our unconscious, where without the light consciousness, they become twisted and distorted. Those of us who  are most are identified with our virtuous personas may even unknowingly, act out the evil that we so actively defend ourselves against acknowledging.

According to Erich Neumann, the Christian ethic based upon a one-dimensional virtuous God inevitably leads to the projection of evil; it needs to be replaced with a new ethic, which involves a multidimensional God who encompasses both good and evil and also requires each individual to take into himself all the ugly, distorted, and evil qualities he previously rejected. In my opinion the religious world was created out of the need to control mankind, to gain power as a form of mental slavery and entrapment that sought and succeeded in limiting the infinite capacity and power of humans while distracting and diverting our attention from the god/goddess force we already are and we already embody within us causing the greatest destruction to earth and humankind.

That's why when friends say to me, mostly in parting, "Take care, be good, don't do what I wouldn't do," etc.  I often respond by saying, "I don't want to be good all the time, I don't just want to be naughty, I need to be naughty!!"

According to Strephon Kaplan Williams:
 

Love is not the absence of fear.

Love is not the absence of hatred.

Love is the embracing of each aspect of life to transform it by integrating it within the whole.

I watched the movie, Henry's Crime last night. I've been picking some movies that really dip into and challenge the unconscious world and the established order of thinking. Henry was played by Keanu Reeves. It was a comedic love story about a man who since grade school was labeled as "The Most Nicest Person". He was the epitome of nice. And I mean to his detriment! He served time for a crime he did not commit, remained nice and never rattled on his friends. It was rather strange seeing Keanu play a role as such given his stardom in the serial film, The Matrix. But by the end, I could see why he accepted the role. The Matrix was also a deep movie. It penetrated my psyche. In the end, even in his nice role and demeanor, he created the perfect crime (activating his dark side) for the time he served and gained the love of a very hard cold, insensitive bitch who was a striving actress in the film. You've got to see this film with new thought. You can't approach it with the old.

In her book, Your Secret Self: Illuminating the Mysteries of the Twelfth House, Tracy Marks, shares that the paradox of our commitment to wholeness and our willingness to embrace our shadow self, is that as a result, the light of consciousness and compassion transforms these dark pieces of ourselves and enable us to become more capable of love. By owning our shadow, by refusing to project our evil into the world at large (we do that when we deny our own), we not only develop greater empathy for suffering humanity, but we also contribute to socio-political change. Wars are based upon projection; environmental pollution is based upon the repression and denial of our connection to the world around us and of the long term consequences of our actions.

Damn it!!! "We can't throw out the baby with the bath water!!"

Wake the f*ck up world! Awaken from your slumber! The world is both ugly and beautiful and so are you. Learn how to live with it! It's a new day, a new way! With the current planetary forces in motion the universal vibes are making sure that we all see our own darkness. No one is exempted!! And I mean no one! So strive for wholeness not goodness! Embrace all of you not part of you ....then you shall become and know what it means to be authentically WHOLE or WHOLISTIC/HOLISTIC!

We cannot stand the sight of our dark side, so we repress it, push it under, thinking we have thereby disposed of it. But we have not. We have simply pushed it into a place where it both has us in its grip and automatically projects itself on the person or the nation we do not like; so the tension and strife and anguish we will not stand in ourselves is carelessly and irresponsibly cast out to increase the tension and strife and anguish of our world.

                                                      - Charles B. Hanna

TEARS: The Natural Path of Cleansing!

Tears cleanse our hearts and heals the waters of our wombs.
- Angelique Shofar

  

Four of us have embarked upon a journey of cleansing together. And yesterday marked the first day of our 3 day ease into a 10 day Master Cleanse.  We are carving out a 3 day ease in and a 3 day ease out after the 10 day cleanse. My 1st day began with the element of water and the power it holds in cleansing our minds, hearts and bodies through the natural process and necessity of shedding tears.


Easing in and easing out of a fast or cleanse are of equal important since I strongly believe that preparing for a cleanse entails readying ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually and not just food wise. I see the ease in period as a way to begin to be still, look deep within, commune and connect with oneself while communicating with our inner child to gently hold its hands and walk into the cleanse together. This part of our being  - our inner child - will challenge us the most.  It is that part of us that craves, that finds excuses, that pulls you into habits and detrimental patterns, that part of us that kicks and screams and resists change. In addition, creating and clarifying our intentions and goals are paramount and sometimes this can require more time than not.

The sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep.  

~Henry Maudsley

The first day was a day filled with tearful moments, moments of emotional outbursts and breakdowns. The last of which took place moments before closing my eyes to go to sleep. I sat in bed writing and bringing light to my own dark shadows. With each pen stroke, the dark corners lit up as I began to see more of me that I could not see in the past.  I began to understand the many ways in which I have dishonored and mistreated my self and deprived my own self of love based on the choices I had made. From not sleeping when I am sleepy, eating when I am not hungry - but rather stuffing my emotions down so I won't feel them; turning down opportunities because I could not see beyond what looked like nothing; being to busy to stop and cry; not listening to the voice of my heart because it got drowned in the dark waters of my inner being.

I was swimming in the darkness of my being last night and it was painful, it hurt so much as the dark memories I'd rather not remember or those in which my inner self had cleverly locked up were now pouring out, spilling on to the pages of my notepad. As the tears streamed down my face, I began to become aware of the increasing relief from the power of tears that cracked me open and allowed energy to flow once again. I could feel my head, my neck, my shoulders, my chest begin to melt as the weight I carried shift and lift gradually making me feel lighter in heart, mind and body. It brought moments of magical relief as my tears began to set the inner cleanse in motion.  These tears that came brought about a revelation that was an initiation into this journey of cleansing....beginning with my heart.

Every woman is wrong until she cries, and then she is right - instantly.  

~Sam Slick (Thomas Chandler Haliburton)

Today - Sunday - is day 2 and I am gaining deeper clarity and guidance on what I NEED from this cleanse; my vision is still shaping and becoming clearer and I trust that by Tuesday morning, I'll be as ready as I need to be.


On this day, I attended a spiritual service that blazed the light brighter in my heart. As I write this post, the song is still playing in my mind... "Ashe, Ashe! My life is a good life! Ashe, Ashe! My life is a good life! The leader read a few words written by one of the members. Interestingly, he gave an analogy of the fictional character we all know as  "Pinocchio" who with each lie his nose grew longer and longer.

We all know the story. He said that humans can be like Pinocchio. The results of lying to ourselves appear through the symptoms of being tired all the time, having no energy to do anything, confusion, uncertainty, etc. I recognized myself in that. I too had lied to myself, denied my wholeness, hid my divineness, covered my true self in all kinds of rubbish! It was not long ago that I was one of those people crying every day... I am so  tired, I am so weary, I have no energy....until I began to realize that if I am healthy and nothing is physically wrong with me that it must be coming from a deeper place.

So I began to focus on my center of creation - my yoni, my vagina, my womb. If I was going to recreate a new life, a new me, then I had to begin at the sacred spot in which I came through and in which I created my child. I began to discover that I was loosing all my energy, all my power from this divine space between my legs. I wasn't loosing energy from  having sex. On the contrary, I was loosing power from not using and building the muscles that I carry in that sacred space. They say when you don't use it.... you loose it.  No different than the heart muscles.

 by Eva Waldauf

"Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again."  - Alex Tan

I began to consistently cultivate a daily practice of descending into my sacred womb space, strengthening, honoring and loving my creative center. I began to understand more and more that until I access my womb heart in a deeper way than I would only be living superficially, from the surface and a place of untruth. I soon re-discovered and re-membered that the ultimate truth could be accessed through the gateways where my yoni lies and deep in between my legs, "down there" where most all the world beginning with our parents and outward into the limbs of society have mustered up a range of untruths, experiments, fictitious myths, horrible stories and a darkness that we still live in. We have been erroneously programmed by medical and religious institutions alike and have developed detrimental habits of lies as a result that deters us, scares us, hides and conceals us from the secret door way to life and wisdom. This is the sweet spot of the universe where divine powers or great magnificence leads us back to our true god and goddess nature.

Today, my energies are increasing more and more and I am amazed and in awe over the power of my womb heart. At mid-life my ignition has been jump started; I am feeling youthful, alive and connected with my womb more than ever before. The beauty of green womb living is growing like the tree of life inside of me.



This cleanse is a step up the path of love. For love is the ultimate medicine; love is that which surfaces when the toxin, the dirt has been cleansed and cleared away by the waters of our tears.  The beauty is in the journey and not the mad rush to arrive someplace or to have an orgasm. As long as I am still breathing, still alive, there is definitely more to learn, more to feel, more to experience and more to share in the spirit of love.

Every one that embarks upon a journey of cleansing would benefit from integrating crying with their cleanse - be you man or woman. Tears are a necessary part of being fully alive; they are the domain of the divine feminine. In order for a woman to come into her womb power and her true goddess spirit she must allow her self to cry regularly, while men will never truly know and relate with wombyn or understand the power of the divine feminine until they honor their own tears and the need to shed them.

~  The Eco Goddess (Angelique Shofar)

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.   

~Isak Dinesen