minutes from 2012

we gathered around the light,

with love and gratitude we released 2011

with hope and wonder we welcome 2012

for all of the women in my life

"Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past's influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine yourself as this woman."

“Imagine a Woman” © Patricia Lynn Reilly, 1995

sacred circle

As the music started, the sun began to blush while the wind continued to breathe. One by one, they slowly emerged from the depths of the earth. Moving with rhythms of nature, the goddesses created a sacred circle and danced in beauty and dreams.

mariposa del chaman




Butterfly, you are my Third Eye.

You are the one who gives me the power of flight.

I belong to you...

Did I even exist before you flew into my life?

excerpt from a short story begun in 2007

dance in beauty, love, poetry & light

“In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you.”
 
- RUMI

fairy princess

ribbons in her hair

a flower tucked behind an ear

rubber bands as bracelets

mother’s pearls - what pleasure

a crown of paper and a feather

oh nymph - oh fairy princess !

Christmas Day

Christmas arrived with a New Moon...

blessings of peace, love and wonder...


IMAGE: 2007 mixed media

Noche Buena

vintage photo from Grandparents' home, circa 1970s or 1960s
Tonight families gather to celebrate each other and to honor the Eve of Christ’s birth.

Those who are far away are missed more than ever.

Those who have passed away are always remembered.

A feast is prepared and enjoyed amidst laughter and song.

At midnight, bells ring to announce La Misa del Gallo, midnight mass with choir and candlelight.

Esta noche es Noche-Buena
Y no es noche de dormir.
– old Spanish verse

love love & more love

A relaxed and peaceful state of being is more appreciated than a tired, stressed out state.

Take a nap instead of wrapping those last gifts.

Sip a cup of tea and contemplate the true meaning of the season...

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda

Sri Gurudev playing with me, circa 1973
The circle calls to me.

The sun has not risen, but I have.

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda was born
on December 22nd in 1914.

The sun stands still.

I celebrate beloved Gurudev, today and always...

on the eve of winter solstice, I light candles and pray

The wheel has been set in motion again for the New Year.

I am entering a new phase of my life...and it is time to celebrate the light.

festival of lights

"May the light within you help dispel the darkness."

- R.L. Shep

mariposas en granada

White butterflies danced in her hair. Her eyes glowed with child-like joy and innocence. As she carved out her dreams, she sang songs of love...

excerpt from journal entry

life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

...You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."

- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

PHOTOGRAPH, copyright CASIMIRA

writing on wings of dragons

To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing her/his name on the wings of a dragon. - Proverb

...writing on wings of dragons...it is what I am called to do...

nos encontramos en mis sueños

recordando a Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa:
mi bello "Popo" de colonias y cuentos


Popo quien me enseño a dibujar
a jugar con palabras
a platicar con seguridad


a ser una verdadera pavo-real-la
de plumas blancas y plateadas como las de las hadas


Popo, siempre impecable y notable
un genio genial y jovial
de medallas y honores
Popo de mis amores


siento su mirada noche y día
escucho sus consejos
segura que nos encontramos en mis sueños..

remembering my beloved grandfather, truly a Grand Father

gitana

soy guerrera de otros siglos,

soy reina desde antes,

soy gitana bailando,

soy esa que grita su verdad en silencio,

soy mujer

taking a deep breath

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
- Saint Augustine (354-430)

root of the root

"Come return to the root of the root of your own Self.” – Rumi

dancing cheek to cheek

“Heaven, I'm in heaven and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak and I seem to find the happiness I seek when we're out together dancing cheek to cheek…”

- Irving Berlin (1888 – 1989)

madre luna

Mother Moon guides, in all her fullness...

Madre Luna, Madre Mia...

full moon lunar eclipse

detail from a portrait by Robert Barberena De La Rocha

Watching the moon
at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.

- Izumi Shikibu (c. 974-1034)


full moon tonight

lunar eclipse

opportunity for enlightenment

blowing kisses to the wind

The ghost descended upon the house deciding it belonged to her and nobody else – ever. She sang in the morning rain and danced under moonlight, blowing kisses to the wind, loving being visible to only a few.

an excerpt from a poem-short story I wrote in 1989

gold & diamonds

...I had become a sunlit bird with claws of solid gold, eyes and beak of diamond...with a magnificent moon pearl between my wings I flew into my memories, into the past, into my imagination...in gold and diamonds I flew over the black-sandy beaches of my childhood...

excerpt from a dream, originally published in 2007

¿Quién causa tanta alegría?

Who causes so much happiness?

This is the cry of millions of Nicaraguans during the December 7th “La Griteria” (The Shouting) celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. An elaborate altar is set up with fresh flowers, lights, candles and more. Celebrants gather to sing prayerful hymns to Mother Mary. After the singing, massive amounts of food are distributed. Everything from oranges with little paper flags, candies made of condensed milk and coconut, tamales wrapped in dark green plantain leaves and a sweet pink drink made of corn. The tradition began somewhere between the 18th–19th century in the majestic colonial city of León, Nicaragua.

I have always seen “La Purisima” (The Purest) as a fascinating pagan-like ritual, one of my favorite parts of growing up Catholic. As a child, I believed we were honoring all the mothers, all the women and not just a statue of a pretty lady dressed in draping gowns. Even more so today, I like to believe the songs, the prayers and food honor and celebrate the goddess in every woman...

originally published in 2007

goddess mother everywhere
more than ever
we need you

healing in her wings

"Truth, that fair goddess who comes always with healing in her wings."


- Anne Shannon Monroe (1877-1942)

medicine women in communion with the spirit world

"The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son. The Chief is considered to be the most learned, and the leader of the tribe. The Medicine Man, however, is thought to have more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits..."

- Sarah Winnemucca (1844-1891)

What traditions have we been handed down and by whom?

When are we Chiefs of our tribes?

How are we Medicine Women in communion with the spirit world?

warrior queen gypsy woman

soy guerrera de otros siglos

soy reina desde antes

soy gitana bailando

soy esa que grita su verdad en silencio

soy mujer

from my journals

"Any time is the time to make a poem."

- Gertrude Stein (1874-1926)

my life is a poem
with him and him

the waves in the ocean dance your name, he says

you are my ocean, she answers

laughter

no, that's cursi

doing what we love

"Life is too short to work so hard."

- Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

If we are doing work we LOVE, then it does not seem very hard...

definitely a woman

"I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it."
- Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962)

With every year that passes, I enjoy who I am and where I am headed...

Being a woman is a great adventure.

Being a woman is a gift...an honor.

his kiss still makes me blush...

he kissed me
17 years ago
today

he married me
9 years ago
today

his kiss still makes me blush...

look within

Why was I born?


Why am I alive today?


Why do I exist?


What is my purpose in this life?


What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

LOOK WITHIN...!

brave enough to forgive

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

- Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)

Are you brave enough to forgive yourself?

Matriarchal Muse

Madre Mía

Santa María

Luz de Cada Día

Santa Mujer

Madre María

Musa Matriarcal
hoy te sueño
hoy te siento
a mi lado, siempre amando...

celebrating the birth of my Matriarchal Muse

wisdom from a mail order catalog

be bold, be thankful, be quiet, be original, be spontaneous, be punctual, be a star, be young, be loving, be crazy, be loud, be random, be adorable, be unique, be daring, be obnoxious, be YOURSELF

- anonymous, found within the pages of a mail order catalog

2011 PHOTOGRAPH: my 3-year-old son

true meaning

Let us sip a cup of tea and contemplate the true meaning of the season...

truthful thanksgiving

"The truth is like surgery, it cuts, but it cures."

- Lana Turner (1920-1995)

a small-minded dinner party

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."

- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

Madre Musa

"My mother is a poem I'll never be able to write, though everything I write is a poem to my mother."
- Sharon Doubiago

Happy Birthday Bella Mama, Musa de mi Vida

from my journals

pajaro de pecho amarillo,

canta su poema,

libre y frio

...beginning of something...

casimira - today

"This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.  First to let go of life.  Finally, to take a step without feet." - RUMI

a day of reading, painting and writing...

soul gems

The soul is made of gems...gems which each one is capable of retrieving daily...in a smile, in a thank you, in a breath...

excerpt from meditation journal, originally publish in 2007

Winnie-the-Pooh Wisdom

“Promise me you’ll always REMEMBER:

you’re BRAVER than you believe,

and STRONGER than you seem,

and SMARTER than you think.”

– A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
 
Christopher Robin to Pooh