May we open,
may we flower,
may we deepen
our desire,
May we walk this world
with eyes wide open,
May we walk with
hearts on fire.

"Hearts Starve as well as Bodies: Give us Bread, but give us Roses..."
(woman during the Lawrence Textile Strike)

"Everybody needs Beauty as well as Bread, places to Play in and Pray in, where Nature may heal and give Strength to Body and Soul"
(John Muir)

"What we need at home, of course, is people who will change their lives, risk their careers and their jobs, their relationships with their families, their bosses, and their church groups by taking a stronger stand than most people are ready to take; by saying truths that most people are not ready to hear. Without that courage things like this can't be changed. With it, they may still not be changed, they may fail, but without it, and without mass mobilization, there is no chance."
-Daniel Ellsberg

"Once unions were against the law but slavery was fine.
Women were denied the vote and children worked the mine.
The more you study history the less you can deny it:
Rotten laws stay on the books till folks with guts defy it!
Have you been to jail for justice? I want to shake your hand...
sitting-in and laying down are ways to take a stand.
Have you sung a song for freedom or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice? Then youre a friend of mine."
-Anne Feeney in "This is What Democracy Looks Like"-
Post Seattle, WTO, Nov 1999, where "the teamsters and the turtles finally joined forces" for social AND environmental justice, and the Global Justice Movement was born, along with the slogan: Another World is Possible! For the necessary cultural paradigm shift to occur, we must live the world we have imagined, and birth it into being with positive creative solutions for change.

"While we fight for our lives, we must live lives worth fighting for. Live free." (unknown)

Drumsound rises on the air,
its throb, my heart.
A voice inside the beat says,
"I know you're tired,
but come. This is the way."

is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful, parched, holy mouth." ~Hafiz

Inspiration is not garnered from litanies of what is flawed; it resides
in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, recover,
reimagine, and reconsider. Healing the wounds of the Earth and its
people does not require saintliness or a political party. It is not a
liberal or conservative activity. It is a sacred act. -- Paul Hawken

On the Dance in this Time, and Building the Rainbow Bridge...

"Through the Spirit Dance they had been given, they would bring to life their golden dream... It was to be a new world in which Earth and Spirit are as one... They called upon their loved ones, so many hundreds now on the side of Spirit, to lift them up into this radiant dream. They danced that golden dream into the ground, set it into the reality of the Earthen plane, made their half of the Rainbow....."

"the Sun Dance is a dance done by men and women honoring the Light of Father Spirit, which gives us and our world the flowering of life from year to year; all primary cultures have such a dance of yearly renewal. By contrast, the Ghost Dance is the ecstatic dance that invites our ancestors' help in the new century's awakening of a renewed Earth, with the full flowering of Spirit in each individual. Here we see that to form the Rainbow Bridge, the Sun Dance must be blended with the Ghost Dance. These powerful rituals must now come together in one great ceremony, one eternal dance of renewal for Mother Earth and all her children."

"When all are included in a good way, the discordant song will become harmony and the light will automatically become a rainbow. Thus, all of you who are alive become the rainbow upon which the generations will cross into this new and Golden Time.
The Rainbow also represents another aspect of our movement into this new time- lightening up! It reminds you that you will find joy and happiness by creating them through singing, dancing, and celebrating together in gratefulness for the beauty Creator has given.
You must release your heaviness and those things that burden you- lifting your attitude, practice, and vibration to a higher level. You must let what you love and brings joy call you forward from moment to moment, for in no way can you bring this radiant time by doing things that displease or de-energize you. Rather than working for it, you must dance your lives as the old ones did. Nurturing ceremony and joyful celebration will not only be the hallmarks but also the means into this wonderful future."

(Brooke Medicine Eagle, the Last Ghost Dance)

A personal note: Every time I got tired or felt disconnected from my body and its movement with the music this weekend at Symbiosis (especially Sunday), I tried to let Spirit take over and bring it back, and it worked.... when I first started doing ecstatic/trance dance years ago (Gabrielle Roth's 5rhythms, and other methods/ways) it was about dancing your prayers, letting the dance be a journey, moving energy and emotion through. It's not always about the music, or the exercise, or good dancing, or your body at all, but about the journey. This time, I also thought about dancing for the ancestors, a new concept for me to wrap my thinking around... its about dancing our dream, our vision of a golden time, into the ground, and calling on our ancestors for their help... its about connecting spirit and ancestors to the earth itself, rooted in the physical plane of this earth, this reality, this time, here and now... making the dream manifest, doing the work, doing the dance, praying, celebrating. So I danced for my ancestors, for our dream, for Spirit, and holding that sacred intention- I was able to dance fully, wildly and ecstatically, for hours, and that was the work I had to do for the earth and spirit in that time.... that was my offering, my gift, my ritual, my thanks, my call, my prayer... raising the vibration, gathering and celebrating with my tribe.

Message from the Hopi Elders--

We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For...

We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour
And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?

Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do,

Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.

"We are the ones we've been waiting for..."

The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

So many numbers, so many systems, from so many cultures. la la la... who am I? Does this define me?

Mayan Dreamspell:

I am a Blue Lunar Storm. Self generation/catalyze. Disruptive, Change the World. Change comes with disruptions! As catalytic agents, we induce responses and reactions, to stimulate transformation.
Blue Storm Declaration: circulate energy! Usher in renewal and reconfiguration! Thunderous outbreaks can be positively purifying. Unleash intensity while remaining anchored to the center of stillness, around which dances chaos. As awakened thunderbeings, we have unlimited capacity to influence, be it through our vigor, charisma, or stillness...
My Guide is the Blue Monkey. I change using magic, illusion, and play. I need to be sure to respect and understand the power and responsibility of magic. The Blue Monkey teaches complete discipline of the mind. Blue monkey also says do not forget to play, ‘monkey around’ a bit and don’t take yourself too seriously!
My Ally is the Yellow Sun. Universal Fire/Enlightenment. Good allies or partners for me- those that shine bright like the sun...
My Occult is the White Wind. Communication/Spirit. I would do well as a writer or speaker, having the magical ability to communicate, and/or the messages I receive from Spirit are about magic. Perhaps this is a good way for the Blue Storm to make changes - through communication..
My Challenge is the Red Moon. Universal Water/Purifier. Needing to learn to just go with the flow...trusting in the universe and letting go of control, letting destiny unfold. As a Blue Storm the desire is to change things but I must learn what I can and cannot change.


Human Design:

I am a 5/1 Generator
My Mode is To Wait
My Theme is Frustration
My Strategy is Wait to Respond
My Profile (5/1) is the Heretical Investigator
"These people are often our leaders, generals and gurus. They are natural leaders. Their personal nature is very private, but in times of need they are good at finding solutions for organizations, governments and society as a whole. Others have the expectation that these people have the answers, and if they don't deliver a practical solution, their reputation is ruined." Very private, but very tribal and community oriented, at the same time...
My Definition is Split Definition
My Authority is the Emotional Solar Plexus- a well defined emotional center.

Astrological Birthchart: Wow. Just had a reading done. Too much info to get into. For now. To start:
Both Sun and Moon are in Sagitarius, with a Leo rising. A lot of Earth and Fire... which together make volcanoes, the slow burning... An enormous amount of creative Fire in the 5th house. Both the Sun and Moon are squared by Saturn: a challenging angle, Saturn can either be a wet-blanket/big block for my creativity, or I can use it to create the structures on the earthen plane needed to support my creative endeavors. As a Sag: Very idealistic, independent, generous, also very stubborn and perfectionistic. Needs to be free to travel. Needs spontaneous play. Loving to dive into the 'deeper/more abstract subjects of life' but not so good with the 'details of living'! Known to be blunt, honest, and truthful. Very intuitive, can be a 'psychic sponge' and have trouble knowing whats mine and whats other peoples 'stuff'
A lot of creative energy, a lot in the lower half of the chart, the 'roots'... Pluto in Libra at the bottom: the need to 'go underground' at times.... to hibernate or disappear for awhile, and to nurture my roots. It also says I would be a good actor, speaker, writer, or communicator. And this: "You, and your entire generation, are heavily involved in investigating and idealizing foreign and exotic intellectual systems and religious philosophies. The most extreme ideals will be pursued with gusto. You will be at the forefront of humanitarian attempts to improve the lot of those who are in need of assistance. You will be comfortable with the concept of the "global village." "

la la la yada yada yada and etc etc....

In the Dagara Tradition of West Africa... I am a Mineral person- the visionaries, teachers, communicators. Mineral is the bones of the earth, and the storage place of memory, the principal of creativity, resources, stories, and symbolism. It is the elemental energy that allows us to remember, to communicate with one another, to express our feelings, to receive messages from the Other World, and to remember our origins and purpose in this life. Mineral people are storytellers, fascinated with myth, symbolism, traditions and rituals. They are the town criers who know what happens now, and what has happened for countless generations. They know how to praise and how to warn. They constantly remind us in stories, proverbs, songs and poems of the deep healing signifcance of staying connected.

In the Card system, I am the King of Hearts...
"Because you are good at understanding the world of emotions, others look to you for guidance. Love and compassion come easily to you, and you make it a point to express them to all and in all you do. This is your strength and your gift to the world. Your creative and artistic abilities bring joy to you as well. Your innate wisdom about the power of love carries you through all of life's travails. "
"The king of Hearts is an emotional, family oriented person. He is passionate, artistic, and good-natured. On the down side, he is sensitive and can be easily offended. "

My Birth Goddess is Rhiannon (Great Queen) - the lunar Welsh Goddess of fertility and rebirth, transformation, wisdom, and magic. Goddess of ethereal beauty, she was born with the first moonrise, Muse of poets, source of artistic inspiration, she was worshipped outside amidst the trees at woodland alters and underneath the Moonlight.
As goddess of fertility, Rhiannon gave birth to a son, Pryderi, at Yule - the winter solstice being a significant reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth. (Centuries later, in 273 C.E. (Common Era), Christians adopted this time of Yule as Jesus' birth).
Ultimately, Rhiannon is honoured for granting the wishes of those who could ask for what they want, and she is known to scorn those who cannot, or will not, ask for what they want.

INFP- the healer/feeler/dreamer Idealist
Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
(Introverted Feeling with Extraverted Intuition)
Primary Goal: finding the meaning and purpose in life, and serving humanity.
Primary Mode: focused internally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your personal value system. They dont express much emotion, but they have an intense internal emotional life... there is a lot going on under the surface!
INFPs are flexible and laid-back, until one of their values is violated. In the face of their value system being threatened, INFPs can become aggressive defenders, fighting passionately for their cause.
They are idealists and perfectionists, who drive themselves hard in their quest for achieving the goals they have identified for themselves.
INFPs are highly intuitive about people. They rely heavily on their intuitions to guide them, and use their discoveries to constantly search for value in life. They are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things. Often loners or hermetic, they are familiar with the darkside or search for the esoteric.
Generally thoughtful and considerate, INFPs are good listeners and put people at ease. Although they may be reserved in expressing emotion, they have a very deep well of caring and are genuinely interested in understanding people. This sincerity is sensed by others, making the INFP a valued friend and confidante. An INFP can be quite warm with people he or she knows well.
INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. On the other hand, INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them.
INFPs do not like to deal with hard facts and logic. When it comes to the mundane details of life maintenance, INFPs are typically completely unaware of such things. They are often disorganized and prone to being late or unprepared...
INFPs are usually talented writers. They may be awkard and uncomfortable with expressing themselves verbally, but have a wonderful ability to define and express what they're feeling on paper. INFPs also appear frequently in social service professions, such as counselling or teaching. They are at their best in situations where they're working towards the public good, and in which they don't need to use hard logic.
INFPs focus deeply on their values, and they devote their lives to pursuing the ideal. They often draw people together around a common purpose and work to find a place for each person within the group. They are creative, and they seek new ideas and possibilities. They quietly push for what is important to them, and they rarely give up. While they have a gentleness about them and a delightful sense of humor, they may be somewhat difficult to get to know and may be overlooked by others. They are at their best making their world more in line with their internal vision of perfection. They often create their own fantasy world and live very much within it. They may daydream about what is important to them, and sometimes others wonder if they are in touch with reality. They often get lost in their thoughts and books, and may develop a special ability in communicating, such as writing. They are somewhat reserved, especially in new situations.

"The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has defined it..." (David Orr, Earth in Mind)

For the unknown Strangerman, who thought he was dancing with Me, who wanted to dance with me, days and days to come... and in his sweet boldness at first meeting/greeting, had the misfortune to touch a raw vulnerable nerve and set off some Goddess fire... sorry friend. Its all love.

Dancing With Kali

When worlds fall apart...

What is this great sorrow,
and did I have any part
in creating the sorrow,
the pain, the dissolution
of all our beginnings...
we can only begin to
begin again.
This is the Great Turning,
this is the time of the Kali Yuga,
that great goddess returning.
Death and destruction begets
the new spring.
What did you see when you
danced with me? You wanted
a piece of my joy, my bright goddess
spirit shining, light and free.
Did you want to dance only with Aphrodite,
or dare you to dance with Kali, too?
To dance with me is to dance in shadows, too.
We’re all artists here. How could you dare
to assume to know the artist in me?
Am I really the artist you wish to see?
Am I really the artist I wish to be?
There was the day the doctors told me
I had little hope of recovery
from cycles of destruction and despair.
If by that they meant the feminine psyche-
then I hope I never do.
I abandon all hope, stop waiting to be served:
my spiritual reality is in taking responsibility.
Letting hope die, I cant be touched anymore.
I look into that deep chasm carved by my tears;
I protect what I love, turn away from my fears,
I cry out for clarity, coherence, a cooperating
mass of crystalline cores, our selves whole
and our lives full-
Calling for my sisters, oh mama,
will you be with me today,
on this day of all days?
I need my sisters tonight,
to comfort and caress me,
no sex, nothing sacred, just
that solid nourishing soul food,
a real love I can taste and hold
and carry home with me, that
lasts after the morning is done,
and I am alone again in my day.
O mama mama ma ma... oh, Ma.
Bless.

Give me ONE

Oh Goddess oh Mama ma ma oh amma Ma
ma ma.... bless. Oh sweet One hold me
as I heal... I open to infinite divine love
I heal this heavy heart hurt with hawthorn, damiana,
crystal rose quartz. Activating chakras of self-
love with words and mists and visualizations,
years and years melting away to reveal one core truth-
I cry and I call out- Oh mama... Give me one,
just one, who will meet me where I am... one
glance of a lover like Rumi fainting in his door,
Oh God give me ONE
one vision one voice
one land one love
one family one tribe
one home one purpose
one path one mission
one craft one trade
I’m a lone gypsy in hunt of a caravan
I’m a warrior teacher healer visionary
with too many options and too many paths
too many tribes calling... come home, Welcome Home
and I’ve never had a home, a community, to claim me,
to call my own...or a craft to contribute to the circle
that is our global community... I’m just still asking
the Fool’s Question- what do I have to offer? And
wondering- When do I, the Fool, begin the Hero’s Journey?
Crying out- twisted laughter- in answer to trickster Coyote Clown:
Oh Mama, I’ve joined the Circus
Papa, I’ve Gone West
Sister, Brother, I’m off to Sea...
Leaving on a jet plane...
Don’t know when I’ll be back again...
Always mobile, always moving,
Oh my love, will you come walk this path with me?
This is a Water year, transforming, next one come is for Fire,
for Big Dreams made manifest... so dream big with me, baby...
Its fitting... Our family is a fire family, fire tribe... radically self-reliant,
This will be our year. But now, gathering in community, standing in the fire circle,
we’re all singing, chanting, praying to a pantheon of Hindu
and Celtic and Mayan and Greek deities till
and I don’t know if my head is pointed
East, West, South, North, don’t know if I’m walking
the good red road or the long black dark
road, don’t know what culture to claim, if any at all.
I’m not trying to be Indian, not trying to Be
anything but to breath and feel some kind of
spirit in my blood... surely that’s a white’s birthright, too?
Surely my ancestors were shamans too?
When confusion reigns
and all I want to do is jump in the saddle,
grab hold for the ride... I ask...but with which tribe? Nomadic or local?
The prophecy’s proclaim: the time of the lone rider is over...
Its time to gather ourselves, celebrate in the current carrying us...
And does trying to claim or create culture make me Neo-tribal
or just tribal or just present in today’s mass making of memories,
a new meta-mythology in evolution, a new people being born?
Knowing that ultimately it is all ONE, One Love, One Family-
Permaculture Principals proclaiming is time to think global, get local, get tribal,
but I’ve never been local since I left the home where I was born...
So how do I choose? Chart the way back to the true home within my heart?
And meanwhile my Polish blood family continues
to draw the same scene, over and over....
A little log cabin by the river in the woods, the sun
and mountains shining down as benevolent guardians...
Is this a dream for the future, our family’s cry for its own
Welcome Home, an immigrant people displaced, dispersed,
wandering rootless... or some ancient ancestral memory lingering in
this craving for land... we all want to invest in land, want to return home...
To hear that Welcome Home, come home!
And meanwhile my Rainbow Family tribe- come to make the earth Green again,
we’re all looking for land-shares, work-trades, land partners, land to buy,
land to grow and land to live, land for community and land for
peace of place... land in Mendo, Sonoma, Costa Rica, Nicaragua...
Land for when the shit goes down and the world gets crazy...
‘Cuz you know it will....2012, US facism, Climate Weirding, Culture Crafting...
Land trusts, land to land our bones and land to trust our souls to grow-
Is this the ultimate goal, in this spiritual revival,
the End Game... success defined, in our survival?
I still dream of that cabin, of those mountains, still draw the same
scene over and over in journals and scribbles, still ask
where’s my tribe? Where’s the one love, to come create
that home with me? Is this even my dream, or a cultural craving, or
the ancestors of my past calling out in my cells? Still I ask, is there spirit in these bones?
Still I wonder- am I drafting the home of my dreams, is this my destiny,
this daily drawing same as breathing? How do I get there? Is it even time to land,
or are we still flowing with that living river, letting go of the shore, trusting the One, following the path of prophecy, the OneFamily destiny, seeking out our true community?
Who’s going to gather and celebrate, in this current with me, now? And then, tomorrow,
Who’s going to fly up in the flames of the new year, and land to manifest a new reality,
here with me? Oh Ma mama amma ma Ma
I cry and I pray, Great Goddess guide us,
help us find our way HOME, help us find our way
back to ourselves again...
posted by:
~B'ea~Ma*Grace.~