serving the goddess

"Inside the temple are lovely priestesses, chosen for their elegance and grace, who spend their lives serving the goddess, singing and dancing to her glory..." - Mary Olsen Kelly

hijo de pachamama

through wisdom of ancients

with eagle’s majestic flight

PACHAMAMA

bore messenger of winds

SHAMAN

peaceful spirit of nature

warrior of light

an ideal time

She gathered her rose petals and decided Spring was an ideal time to take a vacation from the world. She would go to the sea and stroll pink sands at sunrise and sunset...

excerpt from my dream journals

vital moment

"Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.

Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries."
- Corita Kent (1918 – 1986)

love the moment...
RIGHT NOW...THIS MOMENT...
breathe this moment in and just love it, be grateful for it... 

celebrating dreams

"Choose to be in close proximity to people who are empowering, who appeal to your sense of connection to intention, who see the greatness in you, who feel connected to God, and who live a life that gives evidence that Spirit has found celebration through them."
- Dr. Wayne Dyer

who supports you and celebrates your dreams?

surrender to intuition

I am often asked to describe and explain how I create - process, techniques, materials, equipment.  Pieces are birthed from meditations and dreams.  I surrender to intuition...

eagle dreams

- in dreams
Eagle came to me,


- under moonlight,
Eagle sang to me


- with wisdom and grace
Eagle blessed me.

excerpt from a dream 

spring

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

moving with rhythms of nature

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.

from my journals

patience & compassion

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am learning to be more patient and more compassionate with myself and others...

let guilt go

"Why should we grieve that we've been sleeping?
It doesn't matter how long we've been unconscious.

We're groggy, but let the guilt go.
Feel the motions of tenderness
around you, the buoyancy." ~ RUMI

Queen of Sheba

"Wisdom is sweeter than honey, brings more joy than wine, illumines more than the sun, is more precious than jewels. She causes the ears to hear and the heart to comprehend. I love her like a mother, and she embraces me as her own child. I will follow her footprints and she will not cast me away."
- Makeda, Queen of Sheba (ca. 960/1000 B.C.)

dream

She looked up at me with her turquoise eyes and smiled,

CREATE what is in your HEART...

WRITING will set you APART...

FLY...FLY...

and the goddess disappeared.

excerpt from a dream 

secret knowledge

"In the ancient way of being, the earth not only creates, feels, and protects life, but like a mother, whispers through natural signs and images the secret knowledge of how body, mind, emotions and spirit work upon each other in an intricate, invisible weaving."

- Johanna Lambert from "Wise Women of the Dreamtime"

Who are the wise women in your life? When do you seek their counsel? The wise women speak to me through dreams and symbols. There are no coincidences...I am being guided, moment by moment. 

for all of the phenomenal women

"Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

the swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered

what they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,

They say they still can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

the need for my care.

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me."

"Phenomenal Woman" ©1978 Maya Angelou

soul silence

"See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls. "

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta

beauty & poetry

"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry."

- Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

She was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree, and worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology.

A child’s education and development is not all math or logic...I too believe in balancing science with poetry...

pronto

"What secret are you looking for?  Life will soon reveal it to you."
- Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

unique expression

"There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost."
- Martha Graham (1894-1991)

magnanimity

"It may be difficult when someone you are especially fond of, someone beautiful and charming, has been guilty of an indiscretion, but magnanimity produces wonders."
- Lady Murasaki Shikibu (approximately 973 – 1025)

risk

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
- Anaïs Nin (1907-1977)

think for yourself

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
- Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971)

life is overflowing with color

"She who knows how to appreciate colour relationships, the influence of one colour on another, their contrasts and dissonances, is promised an infinitely diverse imagery."

- Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979)

How do you bring COLOR into your daily life?

With fruits and vegetables?
With clothes and accessories?
With fresh flowers from a garden?
With kisses that make you see rainbows?

Each morning, through meditation and yoga I align and balance my chakras, visualizing the spinning color wheels of energy...

I love to paint and dye my silks...and simply adore my gemstones...

My life is overflowing with color...

forgiveness and memory

el perdón y la memoria,

amantes que se traiciónan...

forgiveness and memory,
lovers who betray each other...

excerpt from a series of writings

dulzura y calor

Dame la dulzura de tus labios
El calor de tu cuerpo
El placer de tus manos
El milagro de tu amor
Llename de ti y así los dos revalsaremos de pasión.

------------------------------------------

Tu eres mi cielo siempre rodeandome de amor.
Tu eres mi sol siempre dandome calor.
Tu eres mi luna siempre mi luz en la oscuridad
Yo te prometo ser lo mismo y crear para los dos un paraíso hasta la eternidad.

- Edda M. Sevilla Somoza (b. 1949)

Happy Birthday Beloved Godmother Tilly...truly a God Mother to me, to my son and to so many...

blessing

"Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
pour into the rivers, and join together in the oceans,
so may the power of every moment of your goodness
flow forth to awaken and heal all beings--
those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may your heart's wishes be soon fulfilled
as completely shining as the bright full moon,
as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
May no obstacle come across your way.
May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

For all in whose heart dwells respect,
who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
may your life prosper in the four blessings
of old age, beauty, happiness and strength."

- Traditional Buddhist Blessing & Healing Chant

dance

self-portrait

"we are going to dance,

so come now

you delectable graces

you muses with the glorious tresses"

- SAPPHO


so, get up and dance

dance for life

dance for light

dance for your SELF

waves

my body moves in waves,
when I dance...even when I walk,
waves of laughter...waves of surrender...waves of waves

"I love waves; I wish I had some in my hair. My daddy did, but I guess I didn't dive into that end of the gene pool. Virginia Woolf wrote my favorite book, The Waves, and I have a son who surfs them. I danced a thousand dances to Patti Smith's song "Wave" and I've waved a thousand good-byes. I've seen waves come and take my house, flood the same bedroom where they accompanied countless nights of lovemaking. I have ridden the waves of labor, of sorrow, and of bliss."
- GABRIELLE ROTH

the truth in all beings

"I am the mother-of-pearl.
The world is a vein of silver,
An illusion!

This is the truth.

Nothing to grasp,
Nothing to spurn,
Nothing to dissolve.

I am in all beings.
All beings are in me.

This is the whole truth.

Nothing to embrace,
Nothing to relinquish,
Nothing to dissolve."

- Ashtavakra Gita

something to meditate on

Qiū Jǐn

A writer. A poet. A feminist. A revolutionary. A hero.

She believed and fought for FREEDOM, for women's rights to marry, to be educated, to be free of bound feet...

"Don't tell me women
are not the stuff of heroes,
I alone rode over the East Sea's
winds for ten thousand leagues.
My poetic thoughts ever expand,
like a sail between ocean and heaven.
I dreamed of your three islands,
all gems, all dazzling with moonlight.
I grieve to think of the bronze camels,
guardians of China, lost in thorns.
Ashamed, I have done nothing;
not one victory to my name.
I simply make my war horse sweat.
Grieving over my native land
hurts my heart. So tell me;
how can I spend these days here?
A guest enjoying your spring winds?"

- Qiū Jǐn (1875-1907) translated by Zachary Jean Chartkoff

returning to present time

forgiveness keeps us young, forgiveness keeps us light, forgiveness keeps us in love with life...

who do we need to forgive?
who needs to forgive us?

"The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that's why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time. Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events."
- Carolyn Myss

change

"If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves."
- Carl Jung (1875-1961)

who is your muse of muses?

“It’s Gala who discovers and brings me all the essences, which I then turn into honey in the busy hive of my mind. Without Gala, the world would have no genie: Dali would not exist.” – Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

fragile silken threads

silk threads & amethysts waiting to become part of a CASIMIRAif a human being is as fragile as a single thread...

...is humanity the cloth made of countless woven threads?

who are the threads in your life?

what texture is your cloth?

mystery and miracle

"The entire being of a woman is a secret which should be kept."
- Isak Dinesen (1885-1962)

We all have secrets.

Secret recipes...
Secret fantasies...
Secret talents...
Secret places...
Secret dreams and longings...

I constantly discover secret aspects of myself...it is part of the mystery and miracle of life...

patience

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

lovers...in each other all along

“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They are in each other all along.” – RUMI

Poeta Carpintero: El Cielo Puede Esperar

Poeta Carpintero,

construyendo sueños con palabras,

transportándonos a otros mundos internos

- de la memoria

- de la historia

- de la vida y del mas allá...

Poeta Carpintero, Amigo del Alma

- Felicidades -

she who heals

what needs to be healed in your life?
who do you need to forgive?
who needs to forgive you?

"She Who Heals:

Mother, sing me a song

That will ease my pain,

Mend broken bones,

Bring wholeness again.



Catch my babies

When they are born,

Sing my death song,

Teach me how to mourn.



Show me the Medicine

Of the healing herbs,

The value of spirit,

The way I can serve.



Mother, heal my heart

So that I can see

The gifts of yours

That can live through me."

- Jamie Sams

blossom like a flower

"If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace." - Thich Nhat Hanh

believe

do you believe in prayer? do you believe in miracles? do you believe in love? not just romantic love, not just physical chemistry, but unconditional love?

do you believe in forgiveness?

do you believe?

I'll believe for you today...

connection

as I was stretching in morning ritual, I heard an inner voice whisper:

CONNECTION is the KEY

"Like the MOON,
Come out from behind the clouds. SHINE."
- BUDDHA

CONNECTION is the KEY...

soul of the soul

"Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul." - RUMI

luna llena

vestida de estrellas, bailo bajo luna llena, bañandome de luz

dressed in stars, I dance under the full moon, bathing in her light


from my journals

a reminder to be true

an exquisite turquoise transitioning into a CASIMIRA sculpture








one of my favorite poems by Oriah Mountain Dreamer:

"It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments."

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer from the book "The Invitation"

a reminder to be true to myself, to my dreams, to my art

originally posted in 2007

what do you really want?

"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
- Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)

What do you REALLY WANT...?

Do not give up...

LOVE and INSPIRATION are with you...

DO NOT GIVE UP...

mother and child

The bond between Mother and Child is sacred.  It is life itself...it has existed before time and continues beyond our fragile human bodies.

thinking of my beautiful Tia Margarita and her beloved son

my mother - a winner

"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory."

- Diane Arbus (1923-1971)

My mother shares this philosophy. No matter how she is feeling, she always manages to put herself together.

freedom

forgiveness is freedom,

it is lifting one's heart and giving it wings...

"The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that's why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time. Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events."

- Carolyn Myss

a mother's love

"Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child."
- Buddha (563-483 B.C.)