Women’s Wisdom
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- Lisa Michaels Celebrating the Cycle of Life
Midlife Chrysalis
Moving from Crisis to Creation
The natural life cycle brings some powerful physical transformation points that also function as initiations into a new phase of consciousness. Coming of age, stepping into adulthood, child birth, and menopause are all doorways into another aspect of the self. These can seem like purely physical changes but the physiological transformation that accompanies them are just as vital to the next phase of life.
Unlike our ancestors that lived in a closer relationship to the natural world, modern life gives us few clues as to how to navigate these life altering passages. Unless someone around you could explain what happens in a transformational initiation you probably entered and made your way though without much guidance or support.
If you lived in a time or community that consciously engaged these life initiations you would understand that these soul passages melt your former self down for you to emerge into an entirely new way of being. While knowing this might not make the passage any easier, at least you would know you weren’t crazy and the people around you could support your journey in a way that was actually effective.
Instead of just being the rebelling teenager, the hormonal pregnant woman, or the unstable hot flashing menopausal manic there could be support for the depth of inner physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual changes occurring. Knowing that all aspects of your former self will dissolve into a glob before you re-form into the you that will emerge from the chrysalis, helps in some strange way.
Consciously participating in the transformational process moves you from engaging it as a crisis to intentionally crafting the next version of yourself. At midlife an additional and powerful aspect of integration happens along this journey. Each individual thread of learning and knowing you’ve gathered in your life gets evaluated, sorted, and spun into a new creation during your time in the chrysalis. You begin to weave the treads of your life together into a tapestry of inner wisdom.
Threads that seemed like separate streams of life get woven together into a deeper matrix of wholeness at midlife. This weaving gives you a more stable awareness of your inner truth and the unique wisdom that is yours to carry. While the treads are the same as the previous individual strands, when woven together they create an entirely new fabric of expression for the next phase of life.
How empowering it would be for young women to know that they won’t simply be growing older with each passing year but truly wiser. That there will come a time when all of their experiences will merge into an awareness of life that has the capacity to significantly bring wisdom and creative expression into the world.
With this awareness the passage of time and the portal of menopause and midlife takes on a deeper meaning. Grey hair and laugh lines symbolizing a vibrant wise woman, with a zest for life. The wisdom gained during the passage a reason to mentor and assist others by being a supportive guide through their transformational journey.
Collectively we need the wisdom of the midlife woman. And we need the women who’ve woven their tapestries to join together and to sew the individual patches of wisdom into an enormous quilt. Creating one large enough to wrap the world in the warm embrace of the wise woman.
Wrapped in this embrace of wisdom there is…
- support for creative pursuits.
- a place for feminine and masculine values.
- a world wide circle of wise women to go to for guidance.
- honoring for your personal journey.
- a way to support those in need.
- a heart centered awareness for life.
- respect for nature and her guiding wisdom.
- valuing of the natural rhythms of life.
To take part in the global honoring of the wisdom of midlife women…
- find time to listen to those around you who carry this wisdom.
- ask what they have learned that could be of value to you.
- seek out women of various cultural backgrounds from which to learn.
- connect to the wise woman within and help bring her clarity out into the world.
- honor women when they are willing to share their teachings.
- appreciate the natural aging process while continuing to increase vibrancy.
- form circles of women so that women of all ages can learn from one another.
- find a midlife or older mentor to support your next passage.
To assist your own midlife journey and the development of your inner wisdom…
- be in silence some portion of your week to strengthen your inner guidance.
- spend ample time in nature to access the forces of creation.
- pay attention to the rhythms of nature to develop a deeper awareness of right timing.
- spend some time in the company of other women.
- allow space in your life to weave your inner treads into your wisdom tapestry.
And finally take the time to enjoy the wisdom of midlife.
The Goddess Temple of Orange County
By · CommentsTwo weeks ago, I entered the doorway of 
the beautiful Goddess Temple of Orange County, California. I heard about the temple the week before from a lovely woman, Vajra Ma, sitting next to me on the last day at the Woman of Wisdom Conference in Seattle.
She had also presented at the conference and as we discussed our love of dance and where we were traveling to next we discovered we would both be in Southern California. She told me about the Goddess Temple and her presentation about the Natural Spiritual Authority of Woman. I was thrilled when I realized I could be there.
Eve Ensler: Embrace your inner girl
By · CommentsThis talk helps create a deeper understanding of the experience of the feminine aspect of men and women.
Description from TED talks…In this passionate talk, Eve Ensler declares that there is a girl cell in us all — a cell that we have all been taught to suppress. She tells heartfelt stories of girls around the world who have overcome shocking adversity and violence to reveal the astonishing strength of being a girl.
Eve Ensler created the ground-breaking Vagina Monologues, whose success propelled her to found V-Day — a movement to end violence against women and girls everywhere.
Direct Link http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html
Feeding the Soul of the Feminine
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At four o’clock this morning I woke up still wrestling with an inner question I have been working on for months. I had spent the afternoon and evening preparing a new video blog on the dancing priestess process and was just too tired to send it out at 9:30 when it was complete.
There was one line in the blog that as I tossed and turned kept surfacing in my mind…Dance is a primary form of worship of the Goddess. I realized as twilight dawned that a part of me, even after 11 years of being a high priestess and facilitating over 30 priest/ess circles, was still afraid of publicly making such a statement.
At each new level of development as I have made my way through the years of being a priestess I have had to clear old fears and internal patterns. Cellular memory runs deep. I have found the years of persecution as patriarchy took over the Goddess temples and imprint of the burning times were layered in my consciousness. And they have gotten released and healed one layer at a time.
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Practical Dancing Priestess
By · CommentsIf you, or someone you know, has a heart that opens and a spirit that sings when it dances (no matter training level, size, shape, or age) then you need to know about what is happening this year in Atlanta. Please forward this link to anyone else you know that this might speak to…
For the first time ever there will be a process starting that will help you increase your body’s ability to bring spirit into matter and your consciousness to more fully connect to the Divine. In the Practical Dancing Priestess process you will activate the inner priestess (or charge her more fully) and connect to the sacredness of dance to increase your capacity to channel Divine Essence into your life.
This creates powerful authentic movement to unify the desires and dreams of your spirit in order to manifest them into physical form. Find out more by watching the presentation below…
Women of Wisdom Conference
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About six or seven years ago, one of the women participating in one of my processes gifted me with a CD that she purchased on a trip. I quickly fell in love with the music and played a couple of the songs a lot in my workshops. Someone later borrowed the CD and I lost track of it but I remembered what the cover looked like and wanted to get it again. When I arrived at the Women of Wisdom Conference on Thursday that CD was on the table.
It seems it was produced from 10 years of the music from this conference. I remember thinking when I received it how wonderful the conference must be, now I’ve been blessed with experiencing it.
While the conference had two powerful and wonderful national speakers, Donna Eden and Joan Borysenko, currently it mostly draws local presenters and participants. This conference has nourished the local women in a strong way over its 18 year herstory.
What do you need to develop in 2010?
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Today is the peak of the Wheel of the Year point of Imbolc. This energy stirs the seeds of what has been growing and developing inside you over the longer inner focused days of winter. Pay careful attention to what is moving within today. Take note of anything that surfaces in your awareness that will help you develop and expand your capacity.
Sometimes expanding your capacity means doing deeper inner clearing of old energies that are ready to be released. Other times it may mean actively focusing and targeting your energy and actions in order to reach your destination.
As you tune into this, I would love to hear what kinds of things you feel you need to fully activate your capacity to create, in any or every area of your life. Please comment and I will connect to the messages as I craft ways for Natural Rhythms to assist you in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
Many seed stirring blessings for you today, Lisa
Dancing Practical Priestess
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“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars…the stars form a circle, and in the center we dance.” Rumi, 13th century
Your inner priestess forms the part of your consciousness that directly connects you with the Divine. When activated and practically applied to any area of life or creative pursuit, the priestess within helps you bring Spirit into the physical world. The priestess archetype deepens your ability to fully run the energy of the Divine through the temple of your body and dance in step to the sacred rhythms of nature.
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Dancing Your Body Temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for spiritual activities; such as prayer and the worship of a divinity. Often seen as the dwelling place of the Divine, a temple provides sacred containment for reverence, devotion, and connecting one’s soul to Spirit.
The body is often referred to as a holy vessel or a temple. Understanding and aligning with Spirit within your body temple can provide you with a clear and direct inner path to the Divine. Hidden among the layers of skin, muscle, blood, and bone resides the creational glue of the universe.
Comprised of the fundamental forces – Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Spirit – your body provides you with a portal to the core essence of creation. The rich matter that make up your cells flow in harmony with the universe when you honor the forces of the Divine within and dance in time to the rhythmic pulse of cosmos.
Destruction & Creation
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Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, airplanes into buildings, bombs dropping, all bring destruction and often the tragic loss of lives. Some of these are brought by the power of the constantly transforming forces of nature, and others by the destructive aspect of human nature.
Either way, when it is brought by nature or the hand of others, if destruction makes its way to your doorstep its devastating. The chaos, loss, disorder, and helplessness remind you to the core of your soul of the vulnerability of life.
It can be tragic to live through devastation, and tough to live with the knowing that life is fleeting, subject to the forces of nature, and the potentially destructive side of humanity. So what do you do? How do you experience destruction in your life and go on? How do you help those around you when they face the utter transformation of their lives?
