The Great Teacher: Lessons from Water

 

Moore

Image: Ilse Moore

“Always be like a water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.”

Santosh Kalwar

Some days I just want to scream, “I am not as strong as you think I am!”

Or, perhaps I want to scream, “I am stronger than I think I am!”

Regardless of perspective, some days my heaviness, my darkness weighs me down, too.

There are days where my depth is too much for even myself to swim, and I just want to retreat to the shallows where I can lick my wounds, and catch my breath.

The problem with that is, I don’t know how to exist in the shallows of life, love, Magick, any of it; I only know depth.

And, the lessons from water don’t follow my rules, or what I find comfortable.

Water holds no prejudice, it does not ask permission, water just does; water pushes its way through whatever obstacle it encounters with gentle or great force because water always gets what it wants.

It’s on these difficult days when the waves keep coming that people around me seem to need me the most, leaving me alone to struggle, claw and fight my way out of the Abyss after taking on their baggage—because it’s what I do.

It’s what people like myself do.

We seek to understand.

Clawing my way back from the Abyss is not anything new for me, in fact I do it for fun sometimes; yes, you read that right. I think a lot can be learned by plummeting into our psyche, and the collective unconscious—it is only through feeling the suffering first hand can we understand the suffering.

I swear, as the days go by Buddhism makes more and more sense.

Understanding doesn’t mean we no longer experience it; simply means we experience it in diverse ways.

Pain and emotion, like everything else, have levels and evolves with us.

Today is one of those days where the weight of my world is crushing me.

I tried to channel this insanely chaotic energy into housework, cleaning my Sacred Space, yoga and grounding; not even my long shower helped calm the storm, and that always works.

I can’t make new things for the Shop because I don’t want this negativity to go into my work.

I can’t transmute the energy and absorb it yet because I am still trying to understand and heal (a point maybe only other Vamps and/or energy workers will relate to).

Now in a last-ditch effort, I am letting music take me away and turning to words for assistance.

There was a family emergency this morning, on top of it being my late Grandfather’s birthday today; he always comes through the strongest on this day, and the sadness I feel is gut-wrenching. There is still so much regret that surrounds his and my grandmother’s passing. Lessons of their own, I suppose.

Transformation is never easy, evolution is never easy but this, this is next level craziness.

The Cancer New Moon on my Solar Return this year has caused the flood gates to open, and gratitude overflows with those raging waters for the blessings coming my way but it doesn’t make the current any easier to navigate; let alone keep my head above it.

Because with every blessing comes its curse.

There is a Full Moon coming up on July 8th in my rising sign of Capricorn.

You guys know me, you know how much the Moon affects me—I am a triple Cancer for God’s sake.

To make the point of abysmal, watery depths clearer, Neptune is in Retrograde, and a primary ruler of mine.

Saying that I am drowning would be the understatement of all understatements.

But, just like every other time the Abyss has attempted to swallow me whole I become a hurricane, destroy myself and RISE.

To read more about the upcoming ‘Icebreaker’ Full Moon in Capricorn:

http://darkstarastrology.com/full-moon-july-2017/

Sacred Blood

Larissa Morais

Image: Larissa Morais

“When she bleeds the smells I know change color. There is iron in her soul on those days. She smells like a gun.”

Jeanette Winterson

I promised myself that I would leave this subject alone, and that I would not add my two cents in, but as usual, I have broken that promise to myself. If you have been on social media the last few days then I am sure you have heard of Rupi Kaur, if you do not know her name, then you surely know her picture. She is the woman who posted a picture of herself in bed with a menstrual leak in her pants, and on her sheets. If you are a woman who has had her period, or a woman who is still active in her cycle, then I am sure this is not a new sight to your eyes. If you are unfamiliar with the story, Rupi is working on a photo project, a series of what it is to be a woman in this patriarchal society, she posted this candid image of herself in a vulnerable moment, and posted it to Instagram, and it was removed. This picture has caused a revolution of sorts, and an uproar on all social media platforms. It appears that we are very much split down the middle, and the two groups are those in support of, and those who think it is disgusting. You know what I think is disgusting? That women are the main culprit of this lack of understanding, and I have read thousands of comments over the last two days of Women saying that Miss Kaur should, “show some class”, “keep things private”, “we don’t have to share everything”, and my favorite, “is nothing sacred anymore?” As I rip my hair from my head, I want to scream, “MENSTRUAL BLOOD IS SACRED!!! YOU FUCKING FOOLS!”

I know at this point you are probably wondering why I am writing about this. My answer to that is that I write about injustices that I see, and I stick to no specific topic. I am going to give some Occult history, and actual historical information regarding menstrual blood and the Sacred spot it has held in every civilization. It seems that just like everything else that empowers the Woman, this too, has been swept under the rug. I find it funny that society objectifies the Woman every single day but the very thing that makes us Woman is to be hidden, frowned upon. This used to be a time that the Woman was celebrated.  I think it is time that the Divine Feminine states her claim; They must hear us roar. This was at no time supposed to be a patriarchal society, and I think it is time for a refresher course.

I was 27 when I had my hysterectomy, as I sit here at the young age of 30, I struggle with my “womanliness” almost every day. I see so many Women who have chosen not to have children and jokingly (some seriously) say that they want sterilization, or a hysterectomy; While I understand the thought process behind this, I mean who wants their period if they do not want children, I think this is a rash decision; But, I judge none, and to each their own. I think if a woman chooses that she wants to have these elective surgeries that is her right, but do you know how hard it is to find a doctor who will perform the procedure, if there is no health issue? I mean, do doctors give single men, with no children the same hassle that they give to single women with no children, when the male goes in for a vasectomy? If it were not for my underlying health issues, and I really only had heavy, heavy periods, would I have been denied the hysterectomy? My periods were so bad that I would have to stay in bed for days, I couldn’t work during it, and the flow was so heavy that I ruined more underwear, sheets, and pants than I could ever think to count.

Why am I being so honest you wonder? Because I think that having a period is a beautiful experience, and one that the Goddess herself has blessed humanity with. If it weren’t for our monthly bleeding, humans wouldn’t be able to create. Or does everyone forget about that? We can only love the Woman when she is submissive, and objectified? We cannot love the Woman if her belly is swollen from her period, and there is sacred blood seeping from her vagina? She isn’t sexy then? We can’t talk about those moments? Why? I say fuck it, and embrace who you are. Embrace those cramps, and that blood that stained your favorite pair of underwear, embrace your ability to create IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO. Embrace your inner Woman and everything that comes with Her. Embrace the chocolate cravings, mood swings, the late night trips to get tampons, and pads that are the size of your arm, the salt cravings to counteract the sweets, a good cry with a movie, and you guessed it, your Divine Blood.

Do not be ashamed of who you are, especially not on the account of someone else, and their level of comfort on the subject. I am going to give some history on menstrual blood, I will also give a link to an article talking about Rupi and her photo. I hope, if nothing else, this post brings you out of your comfort zone, only then can we see things for how they truly are.

“Women have been associated with the moon for longer than the human being has been human. Unlike early man, Woman could bleed in harmony with the cycles of the Moon, and not be harmed. When Women live together in close proximity, their cycles become coordinated; in natural light they tend to ovulate on or around the full Moon, and bleed on or around the waning or dark Moon. Furthermore, menstrual blood has very Magickal qualities: it attracts some animals and repels others; and it is an excellent fertilizer. Imagine the effect this had upon early man, who bled only with great danger or harm; and who survived on hunting and agriculture.”

“Menstruation is the most regular thing to happen to human beings. Herein lies the genuine power of menstruation, and what it has meant to human history. Menstruation and its connection to the regular movements of the moon, gave us time in large exact measurements and proportion. Without menstruation and the sciences of measurement Women developed from watching first the moon and then the stars, there would be no clocks or watches, no astronomers, no mathematicians or physicists, no astronauts, none of the architecture and engineering which have been born from exact measurement and proportion. We could build a nest, like a bird; but not a pyramid or rectangle or any other regular, geometric shape. Geometry was a gift of menstruation.”

“The oldest word for menstruation means “woman’s friend”. In some cultures, menstruation was originally called “tupua”, a Polynesian word meaning valuable, sacred, wonderful, Magickal; the word/concept “taboo” developed from it.”

“The days of menstruation were set apart from other days. In Babylonia, they were called “sabbatu” from which we get “Sabbat / Sabbath”. Repeated practices that Women developed in order to teach, confirm, and make social the powers of menstruation were called by words derived from “ritu” — at base, rituals and rites mean public menstrual practices.”

“The female genital, source of blood for the Magick of hunting and agriculture, source of keeping track of time, source of counting and measuring, source of geometry and babies and umbilical cords and the knowledge of tying, of connections; of flowering and fruiting and desiring — the female genital was worth-shipped, the female body was held valuable as a source and as a force; held valuable because of the sciences its mind produced and the wealth of culture that followed after.”

“So HOW did we get from “worshiping” and “the Woman’s friend” to “icky curse”? The answer is a long story of power, authority, their abuse, and public relations. One of the most important and astonishing stories on earth concerns the jealousy many men feel toward women — their Magickal menstrual and birthing powers, and the solutions they have developed to deal with this.”

“In cultures throughout the world, there are male practices that involve some kind of genital cuts to imitate a bleeding vagina. For example, even when a male Jew is born circumcised, he must endure a cut because it is necessary that blood actually flow from the genitals. In many aboriginal tribes this involves more severe practices — even the cutting of the underside of the penis — called “subcision”. In some tribes, the older women tell the young girls, “Don’t laugh at the menstruating men.” They know what is going on — and now so do we. In Greek myth, the Greek hero (originally one who was dedicated to the service of the Goddess, “Hera”) Herakles (later Hercules) goes on a journey to steal the Shamaness belt of the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta.”

We are Woman, our blood is Divine.

Read more about Rupi, here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/27/rupi-kaur-period-instagram_n_6954898.html

Read more about menstrual Magick, here:

http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id51.html