Goddess of the Week - The Erinyes

This evening I picked the Goddess of the week - and it has turned out to be The Erinyes. The Erinyes represent Crisis, according to the The Goddess Oracle.   The Erinyes were the feminine personification of Vengeance in the Greek Pantheon.  The Erinyes were three netherworld goddesses who avenged crimes against the natural order.  Virgil mentions three of the Erinyes in his writings.  They were Alecto - who punished for moral crimes, Magaera - She was said to be the cause of jealousy and envy, and caused people to commit crimes, especially marital infidelity, and Tisiphone - who punished for crimes such as murder.  The Erinyes were connected with Nemesis as enforcers of a just balance in human affairs.  The Erinyes were known to drive their victims insane. 

According to The Goddess Oracle - “The Erinyes are howling after you because you and/or your loved ones are in crisis.  The way to nurture wholeness for you now lies in reaching out and asking for help.  Whether it is from the human, animal, or spiritual kingdoms, help is required at this juncture of excess, psyche-breaking stress, and instability.  Identify and name the the kind of crisis you are in.”

I think this is excellent advice.  Often when I am in crisis, I am not aware of how acute it is affecting me until it is almost too late.  Identifying and naming your problems, taking the leap to be honest with yourself when facing your issues is one of the most difficult things to do. 

Goddess of the Week

I have decided to focus on one Goddess each week.  I am going to use the Goddess Oracle cards.  (http://www.goddessoracle.com/GOF-home.html) 

I think this will be interesting psychologically and spiritually.  This week the card I drew is Inanna.  Inanna represents embracing the shadow.  In The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky, she states “It is a time to dance with your shadow, reclaim what you’ve denied, embrace your own Dark Sister/Dark Self.  You need all those aspects of yourself that your parents, caregivers, teachers, society have deemed unacceptable in order to achieve wholeness in your life.  Whether it be your talent, your beauty, your inner vampire, your anger, your madness, you are required to surrender to the journey and embrace your dark side.” 

What does this card mean for me in my life right now?  I think what it is indicating is that I need to embrace my talents.  Growing up my accomplishments were never recognized.  In fact, at times, I think my parents were embarrassed by my creative work, especially my poetry.  I think because they could read between the lines that spoke of my abuse, they hated it.  They never came to any of my plays, and tried to squash any attempts I made at creativity.  This is one of the reasons I have such tremendous self-doubt and self-hatred to this day.  It is time for me to recognize and celebrate the creative spirit inside me!  I need to stop listening to the negative messages programmed into my brain that create paralyzing self doubt.  I need to embrace my shadow self.  I need to nurture her and let her create.

My Goddess Oracle Reading

Okay, on Sunday, I did a Goddess Oracle reading.  It was very interesting.  For my past I got Blodewedd, representing betrayal.  For my present I got Sedna, representing the victim, and for my future I got Kuan Yin, one of my favorite goddesses, representing compassion.  I find these cards to be very helpful, not in an “oh what is my fortune?”  kind of way, but in using goddess as representation of  psychological archetypes.  I hate to admit it, but the cards were right on target.  I was very disappointed this weekend because I did not have my crystal healing session.  I had been looking forward to it for a long time, and I was very upset when it did not happen as planned.  I felt like I needed it.  I felt that it was important to me, and that I was being blown off.  I guess you can say that I felt what I thought was betrayal (hence the Blodewedd card).  I felt like my problems and issues were not important.  This triggered feelings from my childhood, where I was disregarded and viewed as insignificant (hence the Sedna card).  I was falling into the victim mode, where the world is against me, and that I am an insignificant and unimportant person to the people I care the most about. 

After nursing my initial wounds, I came to the realization that my issues are important (Hence the Kuan Yin Card).  I need to look at myself and my friends with compassion.  I need to step out of the Victim mode and and accept that I am lovable.  I have a hard time with people that are close to me.  I do not like to talk about my stuff, because I often feel my problems are stupid, or not important.  I need to stop being so hard on myself and my friends.  I need to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I need to open myself up and trust the people that I care about.  The only person I have ever truly trusted is my younger sister.  She really does have the ability to read my mind.  I expect my friends to have this same skill.  I need to express myself honestly and openly.  I will try harder at this, I promise!  I know my friends love and care about me, it is just very hard for me to accept.  The cards helped me to completely analyze my situation.  The Goddess Oracle Cards, are very useful for true introspection and Jungian self analysis.  If you are interested in the cards, here is the link:

http://www.goddessoracle.com/GOF-home.html

The artwork on the cards is amazing. 

Friday Fill-In #64

Friday Fill-In 

1. Creating Art is so exciting!
2. Strawberry fields are something I have never seen.  I would like to go and pick my own fresh strawberries someday.
3. Warm-Chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream sounds like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does getting enough sleep make me feel so good?!
5. The Alhambra is something I’ve always wanted to see.
6. It’s sad when I miss my sister, when I see something That would make her laugh, When I wish I was more a part of her life, or when I think about how far away she is from me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to working on my art projects, tomorrow my plans include Book Club and Sunday, I want to work on more projects!

Friday Fill-In

1. Ahhhh, it’s so nice to drink a warm cup of tea on a cold day!
2. One of my favorite things on my desk or bureau is my large amethyst cluster.
3. Japanese Cherry Blossom Tea is a wonderful blooming flower tea.  http://www.herbs-teas.com/
4. Curled up in my bed when it is cold, or, outside under a tree by a pond and on a blanket is my favorite place to sit and read.
5. Spiral Diner’s vegetarian barbecue sandwich and 8 layer burrito are delicious!http://www.spiraldiner.com/
6. I love to watch Magic in movies.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to getting some rest, tomorrow my plans include the momentum meeting and Sunday, I want to go to circle and see my friends!

Friday Fill In

Chaucerian Girl Tagged Me…

Chaucerian Girl tagged me.

The rules: Pick up the closest book at hand, turn to page 123, type the first 5 sentences on that page, and tag 5 people.

Like Chaucerian Girl, I am reading several books.  I am going to put them all in front of me, mix them up, close my eyes and pick one.  OK, here goes…..

Most of us, if not all of us, are too sedentary.  Unless we make a point of exercise, we do not exercise.  For many of us, adding in a walk is a significant departure.  Even twenty minutes is enough.  Getting off the bus or subway two stops before our destination, taking a lunchtime stroll — these are life-affirming actions.

From:  The Writing Diet, Write Yourself Right-Size

By:  Julia Cameron.

I am going to tag people that probably have already been tagged.  I tag - Jehara, L-Squared, Izzybella, Chaucerian Girl and Adalea.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer

Who was the last person you hugged? 

The last person I hugged was Jehara.

Soup

Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

A woman should never be without lipstick!  Even if you don’t wear make-up, lip gloss/lipstick can always brighten up a face.  In addition to this, according to Emily Post, Lipstick is the only make-up a woman can use at the table.

Salad

What does the color yellow make you think of?

Yellow is the color of intelligence, and analytical thought.

Main Course

If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

My pictures would revolve around the simple things in everyday life.  I would also try to tell stories with my pictures.

Dessert

What was the longest book you ever read?

Honestly, I don’t remember.  I was going to be all intellectual, and put something down, but I really am not sure about this one.

See more posts here: Friday’s Feast official home.

Time on my Blog

Does anyone know how I can change the time on my blog?  It is the wrong time and is driving me bonkers!!!!! 

Well I had my echo cardiogram and stress tests today.  The tech wouldn’t really tell me what she saw, so now I have to wait for the doctor to tell me what is what!  I hate that.  After all of my testing I went and picked up a few more things for Friday.  I got all the ingredients except the chopped walnuts.  So I am almost ready to make the Magic Crescent Moon Cookies from my cookbook.  I also have all the items for the special spiced wine.  I am looking forward to actually try cooking.  I am not what you would call a cooking queen.

I started a new book today:

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size
by Julia Cameron

I loved her book The Complete Artist’s Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice , so I am very curious about this one.  I will let you guys know what I think.