"The Original Creatrix"
Dear Rosies,
Once a month the women of the community around our Hawaiian homestead gather together for a temple and spa night. Imagine a gorgeous dark sky filled with stars, glowing lights, tropical flowersin clay vases, soaking pools, loungers in the Balinese style, instruments playing, voices raised in song, bodies soaking and steaming and massaging and resting. It is a spiritually nourishing space, especially for those healing the mother or sister wound, and learning to trust other women. And it's physically nourishing: last night there was a tea of mugwort and butterfly pea and rosemary fresh from the garden, fresh kava from a neighboring farm and beautiful food made by a sister who is has become a fine vegetarian chef.
Each of the nights is themed to honor and recall a different female archetype or goddess, to reconnect to the potent holy sacred feminine in all of her guises.
Last night the hosts chose Gaia, in honor of Earth Day.
Gaia, often personified as Mother Earth in Greek mythology, represents the primal Earth goddess who emerged at the dawn of creation to become the very foundation of life. She is depicted as nurturing yet formidable, embodying the fertile soil and the life-sustaining environments of the world.
Throughout various cultures, the Earth as a deity is revered under different names: Terra or Tellus in Roman mythology, Pachamama in the Andean indigenous beliefs, Prithvi and Bhumi in Hinduism, each of these figures symbolizing the earth's generative and sustaining powers. Bhumi, also known as Bhumidevi, is portrayed as a nurturing figure with attributes of fertility, purity, and wisdom, central to the cycles of nature that govern life. These goddesses are often depicted as maternal figures, integral to creation myths and embodying the universal reverence and intrinsic connection humanity shares with the planet.
One of the woman who leads in this community, Shiloh, is a musician and circle leader, and she composed and shared a song for Gaia last night, which included lines such as "the original creatrix", "the jewel of the galaxy", "her kiss is cosmic ecstasy" - such a potent love song! Imagine loving this planet with which we are always intertwined like that- reverently, surrendered, grateful.
On this Earth Day, we are planting trees on the farm. We are mixing up new plant formulas and medicinals. But most of all, we are bowing down and giving thanks to the abundance and grace of this planet and her perfect ecology for human experience.
From that love, we make better decisions, personally and professionally and politically, to love this planet better - in deeply practical ways - to be less extractive, abusive or unconscious.
Here are some additional resources from Rosebud that you might enjoy:
- Love Your Mother Earth: Sourcing, Making and Packaging Consciously
- The Importance of Biological Diversity and Ethical Sourcing
- Podcast: Ep. 33, Healing Trauma (Pt. 3): Nature and Spirit
To more joy, less suffering, a soft heart and an open mind,
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