Santa Fe, New Mexico
May 22, 2011
2:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Walkabout:
Convening the Cosmic Caravan of Crones
“When one dreams alone, it is only a dream.
When many dream together,
It is the beginning of a new reality.”
----Hundertwasser
As with Sedona, Arizona, I have felt there was work to be done here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so I have NOT been compelled to move on without “permission,” from the One who is orchestrating this cavalcade. She is known to some as the Blessed Mother, to others as the Divine Feminine, and to still others as the Female Principle of Existence, or “right brain” processing. You can call her what you will -- my Sikh friends call her the Adi Shakti; Buddhists, Kuan Yin -- but She is running this Walkabout show, no doubt about it.
The work I refer to above seems to be nothing more complicated or arduous than delightful encounters with many spiritually mature individuals who are deep into their own practices and welcome contact with others with a similar or matching level of commitment and activation. In these energetically-charged encounters -- no matter how brief -- the alchemical magick of this journey manifests itself again and again.
Most of these individuals are women 50 and above who are not afraid to use the word “crone” as an honorable badge of elder wisdom. But the heart-centered men and younger people who also show up to cheer along the sidelines have also blown our minds with their sensitivity to both the significance of, and the need for, invoking and thereby strengthening the feminine energies in the world in order to bring about a greater balance between masculine and feminine polarities.
For example, I have been privileged to spend time with poet Tomas Myers and his wife Rahmaneh, on their two-acre spread, on the outskirts of this richly historic pueblo. In his book of poems, essays and journal entries, Spun Wonderment (2009) Tomas has written:
Invoking Holy Mother
Loving Mother, lovely Mother. . .
She who mends and soothes. . .
Bless us with your words,
Embrace us with your tenderness,
Engage us in your work.
You who move the Earth. . .
Remove our fears
And bathe us with your tears.
Instill the voice of peacefulness,
Yet waken us from lethargy, and hear our hearts rejoice.
Let us make a place within
Which welcomes all your children home,
And call gladness here to stay
Where pain had dwelled.
* * *
On Mother’s Day (May 8) and for a few days thereafter we spent time with Sikh friends at their ashram in Espanola 30 miles North of town. We got up with them at 3:45 a.m. several times for morning prayers, yoga practice, songs and chants. Actually, the turban I have learned to tie on suits me, and I may keep it!
The following weekend we spent learning and doing Dances of Universal Peace at a the Hummingbird Retreat Center in the Jemez mountains with a diverse interfaith group. About 2/3 of those we danced with have chosen to change their American birth names to appellations like Tara Andrea, Kaeylarae, Maboud, Shems, Shivadam, Sat Jeeven, Shakura, Harnal, Gurubai, Hamida, Wahab and Tasmina, etc.. Many are Sufis, some Sikhs, for both of these traditions place a high value upon the integration of physical and spiritual practice, with dance as an obvious medium for connecting the two.
In Santa Fe, with our RV parked at Rahmaneh and Tomas’ place, we walked -- often along the Santa Fe River’s woefully dry bed -- with women who believe, as we do, that even seemingly small acts such as walking and talking with intention and purpose, if practiced consistently and prayerfully, can have a large effect upon world consciousness. That is why a number of women we have walked with along the way have become “virtual sole 2 soul walkers,” that is to say, people who commit to walk in their own neighborhoods with specific intention and purpose, asking and answering the question for themselves, “What is MY Walk About?” Another way to ask the question is, “What am I passionate enough about to use some time to focus my energy upon?” Your intention could be a single word, or a phrase; a heartfelt though wordless prayer, or a definite major purpose statement. It could be personal, or professional or planetary. Just let it be your conscious choice. And may you be determined to work with it until it absolutely inspires you!
The next step would be to find others of like mind to walk with, and so on and so on . . .gathering your own womentum and finding ways to express it with distinction in the world.
Women seem to have a knack for integrating such individual guidance into the collective consciousness to affect the outcome of events large and small. What I am talking about is not a “Movement” as such, but it certainly is an awareness that something BIG is afoot, because it truly does encompass a majority of humanity. We can be and in fact are all a part of it, in our own unique ways, as we join our light together, and shine it into the darkest places of our collective consciousness.
Women are also instinctively aware that the more we tune in to our bodies and the seasons and signs of nature -- such as the phases of the moon -- the more effective agents of change we become. We are not pushing the river, we are flowing with it, and are more likely to be in a position to gauge the timing of the tides as well as the seasons for planting divine ideas into the collective awareness.
* * *
Yesterday, driving with sister-crones Rahmaneh and Basira to a trail head in the aspen and pine forested mountains northeast of the city, we came upon three graceful female deer grazing by the side of the road. They raised their heads to take us in, and we made deep contact with them. As we began our hike a short time later, we acknowledged that together, simply by being in relationship, and by our “say-so” we formed a “receiving device,” and that we would be open to whatever came through us. We joined hands and set our intention that our walking would somehow help to bring in a fresh new wave of happiness, holiness and health for all mankind. Although I don’t recall the exact words of our intention for the walk, it could be stated something like this: “May our walking become a moving and heartfelt prayer to alleviate suffering, and spread compassion far and wide, in the name of the Divine Feminine.”
We hiked together, happily conversing and exchanging information and inspiration for about 5 miles wearing our three hats, one yellow (Rachmaneh), one blue (Basira) and one pink (Doris). I thought of these as the primary rainbow rays of grace and balance -- integrating wisdom, power and love. Later, when we stopped to meditate, I saw us as the three graces in Botticelli’s painting “Primavera,” and again the three graceful does came to mind. I had to laugh, for we three ageless grandmother crones truly were representing something every bit as fresh and hopeful as the world has ever seen -- an expression of ever-new joy.
Then, Rahmaneh shared a concept with me. “Do you know what the ‘trim tab factor’ is?” she asked. I didn’t. She said that a large vessel could not be made to change direction quickly simply by using its rudder. However, a rudder with a trim tab is one with a smaller rudder within the rudder. The little rudder can be more easily turned, and can be a very effective aid in the turning process.
Humanity’s boat, I ween, is in need of a course correction. Sooner or later, we hope you will join us as we embody the trim tab factor. Others have described similar concepts, for example: “the tipping point,” “the critical mass” and/or “the hundredth monkey.” When the Dalai Lama said, in 2009 that “Western Women will save the world.” He must have had something like this in mind because we are well-educated and seasoned, with the leisure and the means to put our minds and hearts to the task of positive change. A small but determined number of us could set our intention to be the rudder within the rudder that anticipates the way the ship needs to correct its course -- not as we would but as the greater good would direct. All that is required is a little willingness to let go of our past agendas (that have not worked) to be open to a greater one, that belongs to none of us, but truly serves us all.
* * *
So the working title of our film project, and this blog: “Gathering WOmentum” has now taken on a universal aspect: As we go, we are “Convening the Cosmic Caravan of Crones.” If you do not feel ready yet to accept the label of crone, no matter. Someday it may suit you just fine when you see yourself, finally, as one of the doyennes of a new dawn.
As we journey, we gratefully follow after the ancestors who have gone before and paved the way for us. I am aware of them, both male and female, as concentric rings around us. They help me to see clearly that the path, the destination and the traveler are all one, as space and time collapse into each other. The joyful and glorious end, just around the next bend, although hidden from our sight, has always been known from the beginning.
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