Embody the Goddess

"A goddess is a woman who emerges from deep within herself. She is a woman who has honestly explored her darkness and learned to celebrate her light. She is a woman who is able to fall in love with the magnificent possibilities within her. She is a woman who knows of the magic and mysterious places inside her, the sacred places that can nurture her soul and make her whole. She is a woman who radiates light. She is magnetic. She walks into a room and male and female alike feel her presence. She has power and softness at the same time. She has powerful sexual energy that’s not dependent on physical looks. She has a body that she adores and it shows by the way she comfortably lives and moves in it. She cherishes beauty, light and love. She is a mother to all children. She flows with life in effortless grace. She can heal with a look or a touch of the hand. She is fiercely sensual and fearlessly erotic and engages in sex as her way to share with another in touching the divine. She is compassion and wisdom. She is seeker of Truth and cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She is a woman who knows that her purpose in life is to reach higher and rule with love. She is woman in love with love. She knows that joy is her destiny and by embracing it and sharing it with others, wounds are healed. She is a woman who has come to know that her partner is as tender, lost, and frightened as she has been at times. She has come to understand the scars of the boy in him and knows that together, love can be the relief, the healing of their wounds. She is a woman who can accept herself as she is. She can accept another as they are. She is able to forgive her mistakes and not feel threatened by another’s even when attacked. She is a woman who can ask for help when she needs it or give help when asked. She respects boundaries, hers and another’s. She can see God in another’s eyes. She can see God in her own. She can see God in every life situation. She is woman who takes responsibility for everything she creates in her life. She is a woman who is totally supportive and giving. She is a Goddess." ~ Artist Rafael Espitia Perea

Clear the Clutter

"As we learn to let go of the extraneous chatter that clutters our mind, 

we discover that our true nature - our essential self - 

is actually the center of awareness, peace and compassion."

--Joan Borysenko

Live Your Life on Purpose!

Reminder:  We are car pooling to Santa Monica on Saturday, January 28th for the Alchemy of Sound meditation event.  It will be an amazing experience; a vibrational journey.  Contact Lori if you want a ride.

Remember Who You Are

image copyright 2011 Lori Steed Sortino   www.essencecaptured.com

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.  Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." 

~ ee cummings

Unconditional

Willing to experience aloneness,

I discover connection everywhere;

Turning to face my fear,

I meet the warrior who lives within;

Opening to my loss,

I gain the embrace of the universe;

Surrendering into emptiness,

I find fullness without end.

Each condition I flee from pursues me,

Each condition I welcome transforms me

And becomes itself transformed

Into its radiant jewel-like essence.

I bow to the one who has made it so,

Who has crafted this Master Game.

To play it is purest delight;

To honor its form--true devotion.

- Jennifer Welwood

Peace Trust Faith Freedom Love

image: copyright 2011 Lori Steed Sortino

"May today there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilitie s that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us."

- St. Theresa Prayer

I have made mistakes.

I regret those that I have hurt.

I honor the lessons.

I ask for gentleness and honesty.

I seek to understand.

I am eager for adventure.

With that comes consequences.

Please meet me in the exploration of it all with an open heart and a willingness to become better for the experience.  Walk with me boldly and courageously in life.  Let us dare to be fully present, without apologies for who we truly are, building community as diverse and beautiful as each day's sunrise and sunset and as expansive and limitless as the starry night sky.

Come to the Circle

Bring your flame to the still quiet grass,

Look, a small flame is licking

Like an orange cat

Against the legs of your dreams.

Bring your flame to the fire,

Look, how the shadows shape-shift

Slip away – come back bright

To curl around your heart.

Come to the circle, woza, woza,

There is one place left,

It is yours.

- Ruth Everson

Steppin' Out

"It has always been scary
to step into the circle of firelight,
to show up in the company of strangers,
to ask for entrance or to offer it. Our hearts race---
Will we have the courage to see each other?
Will we have the courage to see the world?
The risks we take in the twenty first century
Are based on risks human beings took
Thousands of years ago.
We are not different from our ancestors,
They are still here, coded inside us.
They are, I believe,
Cheering us on."
--Christina Baldwin in Calling the Circle


In Center Circle, we see the trepidation as women answer to call to join the circle. As each individual reaches her own personal comfort level of "being" in the group, she gently unfolds a bit like a rose bud opening, and shares a bit about the experience of pushing through the fear of judgment and the wondering if she will fit in, or more importantly, be accepted for who she is.  We receive testimony after testimony of the relief in finding acceptance, love, and then a sense of belonging and the building of trust and bonds.  It is a process as ancient as the stars.  Come, join us.  You are being called.  Answer the call.

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.


~ John O'Donohue ~


This came across my in box this week, and it ties nicely with what our theme was for conversation in our last circle gathering. We continue to support one another in breaking the patterns we no longer wish to continue and discuss the process of starting new patterns. There is so much emotion surrounding these changes, and it is so helpful to see that each of us are working on different details, but that the emotional work is so similar that we gain tremendous benefit in sharing the practices, progress, and breakthroughs. We listen with empathy, encourage one another to stand up for ourselves, and we are fed by the common ground that we all grow from.

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

What Is There Beyond Knowing?

Our first meeting on March 20 was the first day of Spring 2011 and those of us who attended drove there in heavy rain, passing flooded underpasses, downed trees, and wailing sirens.

We look forward to sharing our experiences from that first night over the next few days.  Stay tuned.  Today, we wanted to share this poem, which found its way to us through Joel and Michelle Levy's Thought for the Day email this week.

What Is There Beyond Knowing?

What is there beyond knowing that keeps

calling to me?  I can't

turn in any direction

but it's there.  I don't mean

the leaves' grip and shine or even the thrush's

silk song, but the far-off

fires, for example,

of the stars, heaven's slowly turning

theater of light, or the wind

playful with its breath;

or time that's always rushing forward,

or standing still

in the same -- what shall I say --

moment.

What I know

I could put into a pack

as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it

on one shoulder,

important and honorable, but so small!

While everything else continues, unexplained

and unexplainable.  How wonderful it is

to follow a thought quietly

to its logical end.

I have done this a few times.

But mostly I just stand in the dark field,

in the middle of the world, breathing

in and out.  Life so far doesn't have any other name

but breath and light, wind and rain.

If there's a temple, I haven't found it yet.

I simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass

and the weeds.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(New and Selected Poems Volume Two)