Neuroscience explains that at birth, a child's brain has approximately 100 billion neurons. With maturation, the number of neurons remains constant but the synaptic connections between them develop with each new experience, forming a unique configuration of connections that personalize each one's brain, allowing us to interpret our reality through the framework of an individualized synaptic map.
As we see the flowering of women's circles on a local level, and technology encourages us to connect in cyberspace with others of like minds, no longer are we limited by geographical considerations. Is it possible that what we are witnessing is the transformation and evolution of humanity's synaptic map?
As patriarchal institutions are imploding- religiously, politically, financially and socially, a grassroots international connection between peoples is forming. These groups, local and global, are sharing personal stories and experiences, touching the hearts of those who listen. This teaching and learning experience is a natural and intuitive pathway to wisdom for women.
For American women who enjoy the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, now is a great time and place in which to speak our truth, so long denied us. It takes courage to step forward now that we have the opportunity- and we are empowering one another to take advantage of the moment.
In the place of patriarchal hierarchy, disempowerment and separation (of one from another, of ourselves from the natural world, and perhaps from God) a phoenix is rising- lifting us to the next rung in the ladder of evolutionary consciousness. For the first time, technology is making possible a rapidly growing network through which the human family relates and connects, creating a new reality - an empowering connection and celebration of diversity.
The past several hundred years have been tumultuous in the human story. The developing human intellect, beneficial in many ways, works best as a server rather than a master, one tool in our repertoire of ways of learning about our world. We have witnessed the worship of science and its heirs of mechanization, industrialization, consumerism and the ongoing tragedy of the colonization of less developed nations- through religion, culture and consumerism.
With the reawakening of the Sacred Feminine, we are remembering the joy of intuitive knowing, of mutuality, respect and relationship. We each have a part to play in this cosmic shift as we realize the importance of taking time- even a few minutes each day, to be present in our own lives, perhaps most easily done, by connecting, even for just moments a day, with the natural world. Everything we need to know can be learned from the trees in the garden or park. Rain, drought, sunshine or wind, day and night, they grow. They are. From them we learn presence and resilience. Their summer leaves sparkle in the sunshine, dancing in the afternoon winds. They fall effortless to the ground when it is time to release and make way for the new. Oh, at the end of each day, to be able to drop regrets, frustrations and upsets as lightly as they drops their leaves.
Just as each leaf dances to an individual melody of life in the community of the whole tree, in expressing who we are, we fulfill our individual destinies and expand the possibilities of the synaptic map not only of ourselves but of the whole human family.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Lessons from The Garden
Jewish mysticism teaches us that each living being is a unique vessel bearing the same divine light. The vessel is our physicality, each one molded, chipped or fractured in a totally unique way by our individual experiences gathered in the passage of years in the physical world. The choices we make, the ability to forgive others and ourselves, the level of our own awakened consciousness helps or hinders the light we let shine. The light within is the source of all spiritual and religious traditions, such as those presented this afternoon, shining through different vessels revealing how much we all have in common. Where do we find the teachings that help us shine?
Many have read the book, "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Perhaps a variation on the theme could be "everything I need to know I learned from the tree in my garden." I want take her lessons to heart. This wonderful teacher, tall and strong, stretches her huge branches giving shade not only to us but to the many finches and hummingbirds who gather in her shelter. From her protective being-ness, I learn presence. In be-ing, I remove myself from worries of the past and anxieties about an unknown future. Presence. Oneness. I breathe - therefore I am.
She reminds me that there is a natural order to living peaceably. When I look closely, I note that her strong branches emerge from her powerful trunk not in some haphazard way as it may first appear, rather her branches spiral out from the center in an ordered fashion, each one emerging distant enough from the one that came before to make sure the older branches have room to grow too and can access to sunlight for their leaves. From her symmetry, I learn about sharing resources which I need to practice more mindfully this year.
True - her roots do lift and crack the paving stones of our deck, but she was there first, and will be there long after we have gone. From her, I learn resilience and forbearance that I know serve us well as the increasing winds of rapid change blow through our lives.
I relish her silence. She is. At day's end, ever so easily, she loosens her grip on those leaves whose time has come. She releases them to make way for the new growth. Oh, at the end of each day, to be able to drop regrets, frustrations and upsets that cloud our inner light, as lightly as she releases her leaves. These are some of Nature's silent, yet obvious lessons we can learn when we still the busyness of or lives.
Many have read the book, "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Perhaps a variation on the theme could be "everything I need to know I learned from the tree in my garden." I want take her lessons to heart. This wonderful teacher, tall and strong, stretches her huge branches giving shade not only to us but to the many finches and hummingbirds who gather in her shelter. From her protective being-ness, I learn presence. In be-ing, I remove myself from worries of the past and anxieties about an unknown future. Presence. Oneness. I breathe - therefore I am.
She reminds me that there is a natural order to living peaceably. When I look closely, I note that her strong branches emerge from her powerful trunk not in some haphazard way as it may first appear, rather her branches spiral out from the center in an ordered fashion, each one emerging distant enough from the one that came before to make sure the older branches have room to grow too and can access to sunlight for their leaves. From her symmetry, I learn about sharing resources which I need to practice more mindfully this year.
True - her roots do lift and crack the paving stones of our deck, but she was there first, and will be there long after we have gone. From her, I learn resilience and forbearance that I know serve us well as the increasing winds of rapid change blow through our lives.
I relish her silence. She is. At day's end, ever so easily, she loosens her grip on those leaves whose time has come. She releases them to make way for the new growth. Oh, at the end of each day, to be able to drop regrets, frustrations and upsets that cloud our inner light, as lightly as she releases her leaves. These are some of Nature's silent, yet obvious lessons we can learn when we still the busyness of or lives.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Conscious Compassion and The Natural World
The olympian orcas arc smoothly in and out of the water, thrilling all in the nearby zodiac, bobbing up and down on the gentle swell, close enough to glimpse the graceful black and white bodies revealing, then concealing themselves beneath the water surface. Out of human sight, they feed on some of the ocean's smaller creatures. The squawking gulls above noisily vie for their share of the spoils.
One cannot help but stand in awe of the natural order that when unimpeded by human interference and greed, seamlessly cycles and evolves. From the tiniest organism to the most majestic animals that populate ocean, air and land, life needs to be taken so that life can be maintained in the 'eat or be eaten' order of the natural world.
What does the human witness feel as an observer? Where is the compassion for the sacrificed individual member of the hunted species who make continuance of the life of the hunter possible? Who does not feel a sense of dread for the hapless seal sunning itself on a floating log as the orcas approach, for the buck being separated from the herd by the hungry pride of lionesses, or the tiny rabbit as the eagle swoops? Without the hunt, predators die. With the hunt, the prey dies. Life and death- those two most mysterious of portals to the world unseen, inextricably connected, one to the other.
As consciousness evolves within the human species, we intuit that perhaps compassion is largely a human trait and one with which we are specifically endowed to bring this loving energy into the Earth's field. It is a right and a responsibility. As we learn to love unconditionally, do we enlivened the arena in which we find ourselves, fulfilling our piece of the puzzle?
One cannot help but stand in awe of the natural order that when unimpeded by human interference and greed, seamlessly cycles and evolves. From the tiniest organism to the most majestic animals that populate ocean, air and land, life needs to be taken so that life can be maintained in the 'eat or be eaten' order of the natural world.
What does the human witness feel as an observer? Where is the compassion for the sacrificed individual member of the hunted species who make continuance of the life of the hunter possible? Who does not feel a sense of dread for the hapless seal sunning itself on a floating log as the orcas approach, for the buck being separated from the herd by the hungry pride of lionesses, or the tiny rabbit as the eagle swoops? Without the hunt, predators die. With the hunt, the prey dies. Life and death- those two most mysterious of portals to the world unseen, inextricably connected, one to the other.
As consciousness evolves within the human species, we intuit that perhaps compassion is largely a human trait and one with which we are specifically endowed to bring this loving energy into the Earth's field. It is a right and a responsibility. As we learn to love unconditionally, do we enlivened the arena in which we find ourselves, fulfilling our piece of the puzzle?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Power of Sacred Stories
Sacred stories have the power to change us from within. Although teller and listener may dwell in different times and places, through the magic and artistry of the tale itself, different worlds are momentarily and magically drawn together as the listener is moved from the world of Chronos with its emphasis on the clock and calendar time of past and future. In the moment of the story, is an invitation to step through the portal of Kairos, and into the mythic realm of intuition and imagination, where signs and symbols are the keys to further mysteries. Here, time as we know it ceases to be of importance, as this is the realm of the Eternal Now.
The inner child loves a story; the adult within searches for meaning. Feminine nature responds to the intuitive and masculine temperament to the logical. As individuals, we are composites of the children we were and the adults we become and it is in the tales we share and love, that we grow. As children, all our favorite stories began with 'once upon a time' and ended with 'and they all lived happily ever after.' In Western culture, the foundational story of how humanity found itself on this beautiful blue planet floating in space, begins in the Garden of Eden, a metaphor for Natures' verdant setting. We certainly begin with 'once upon a time' but as we look at our present clash of world cultures in a natural world that has been gravely abused, can we honestly envision a 'happily ever after' for the human family?
With a traditional reading of the biblical Creation story, it is difficult to imagine. Kabbalah and mystical Judaism has always suggested that there are many ways to understand the mystery of our ancient stories if we are willing to delve below the superficial level. Awaiting discovery below the literal interpretation of the Garden of Eden, magical myth and metaphor are the keys that have the transformative power to alter the course of human history for our children and grandchildren. There is the potential for a 'happily ever after' - for replacing the fear of our diversity with respect and celebration. Cooperation is possible once we add the missing letter 'o' back into the word 'corporation.' There is a path to individual empowerment and healing and the possibility of creating a global family living in harmony with the Earth. Are you ready?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel
The inner child loves a story; the adult within searches for meaning. Feminine nature responds to the intuitive and masculine temperament to the logical. As individuals, we are composites of the children we were and the adults we become and it is in the tales we share and love, that we grow. As children, all our favorite stories began with 'once upon a time' and ended with 'and they all lived happily ever after.' In Western culture, the foundational story of how humanity found itself on this beautiful blue planet floating in space, begins in the Garden of Eden, a metaphor for Natures' verdant setting. We certainly begin with 'once upon a time' but as we look at our present clash of world cultures in a natural world that has been gravely abused, can we honestly envision a 'happily ever after' for the human family?
With a traditional reading of the biblical Creation story, it is difficult to imagine. Kabbalah and mystical Judaism has always suggested that there are many ways to understand the mystery of our ancient stories if we are willing to delve below the superficial level. Awaiting discovery below the literal interpretation of the Garden of Eden, magical myth and metaphor are the keys that have the transformative power to alter the course of human history for our children and grandchildren. There is the potential for a 'happily ever after' - for replacing the fear of our diversity with respect and celebration. Cooperation is possible once we add the missing letter 'o' back into the word 'corporation.' There is a path to individual empowerment and healing and the possibility of creating a global family living in harmony with the Earth. Are you ready?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Eve, God and Evolving Consciousness
How would western culture have evolved differently if the foundational feminine archetype, Eve, had been described as the heroic, curious and courageous woman who started the human journey of spiritual beings? Kabbalah offers exactly this interpretation of the Garden of Eden story for those willing to delve below the surface. By so doing, not only are we able to empower women to release themselves from the emotional shackles of guilt, remorse and shame that have crippled too many for too long, but additionally, we are able to re-envisage an image of God that is relevant in a quantum age.
The traditional reading of the Garden of Eden not only sets the stage for the diminishment of women, but also for a misunderstanding of the nature of God. This mystical and mythic telling of the tale intuits Divinity as the Creative Source of All Life, the wellspring of compassion. This God metaphorically plants two trees in the 'Garden'- the forerunner to the world of Nature that is home to the human family on Earth. The Tree of Knowledge is the symbol for the physical world of duality that allows us to constantly make choices as we learn to use the gift of free-will. This Tree is the gift of our 'human-ness.' The Tree of Life awaits. It is the gift of our 'being-ness' with which we reconnect as we spiritually evolve and grow in consciousness.
In the deeper reading of the familiar story, we can hear the missing phrase that is written, not in the story as we know it, but rather in the spaces between the letters of the literal text. Humanity is told: "Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge... until you are ready for all that life will bring- the joys and the heartaches, the successes and dashed hopes that are part and parcel of life in the physical. In such a sharing, the curious, intuitive and courageous 'Eve'- archetypal feminine energy, is willing to take the opportunity offered, to bring human consciousness to the physical realm just as God intended, but only when 'she' was ready for the illusionary separation from God and spiritual realm. God does not punish humanity by casting them out; here God, compassionate and unconditionally loving, holds the space for human beings to correct their errors and enjoy their successes as they make the choices necessary to experience this earthly journey.
As we reclaim the revealed Eve from the negative strictures of the traditional image that concealed her beauty and her strength, women are invited to welcome the 'Eve' within, and honor her intuitive wisdom, courage and curiosity- part and parcel of our inherent birthright. We have the opportunity of again moving the human story forward at this transformational moment in the new millennium, so full of promise and potential. The implied image of God, 'I shall be that I shall be' or 'I become that I become' is the evolving, mysterious, multilayered and unifying field and force in whose image we, consciously evolving humanity, are created. Are we ready?
Article Source http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel
The traditional reading of the Garden of Eden not only sets the stage for the diminishment of women, but also for a misunderstanding of the nature of God. This mystical and mythic telling of the tale intuits Divinity as the Creative Source of All Life, the wellspring of compassion. This God metaphorically plants two trees in the 'Garden'- the forerunner to the world of Nature that is home to the human family on Earth. The Tree of Knowledge is the symbol for the physical world of duality that allows us to constantly make choices as we learn to use the gift of free-will. This Tree is the gift of our 'human-ness.' The Tree of Life awaits. It is the gift of our 'being-ness' with which we reconnect as we spiritually evolve and grow in consciousness.
In the deeper reading of the familiar story, we can hear the missing phrase that is written, not in the story as we know it, but rather in the spaces between the letters of the literal text. Humanity is told: "Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge... until you are ready for all that life will bring- the joys and the heartaches, the successes and dashed hopes that are part and parcel of life in the physical. In such a sharing, the curious, intuitive and courageous 'Eve'- archetypal feminine energy, is willing to take the opportunity offered, to bring human consciousness to the physical realm just as God intended, but only when 'she' was ready for the illusionary separation from God and spiritual realm. God does not punish humanity by casting them out; here God, compassionate and unconditionally loving, holds the space for human beings to correct their errors and enjoy their successes as they make the choices necessary to experience this earthly journey.
As we reclaim the revealed Eve from the negative strictures of the traditional image that concealed her beauty and her strength, women are invited to welcome the 'Eve' within, and honor her intuitive wisdom, courage and curiosity- part and parcel of our inherent birthright. We have the opportunity of again moving the human story forward at this transformational moment in the new millennium, so full of promise and potential. The implied image of God, 'I shall be that I shall be' or 'I become that I become' is the evolving, mysterious, multilayered and unifying field and force in whose image we, consciously evolving humanity, are created. Are we ready?
Article Source http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sacred Sites, Mystical Portent
There are sacred place on the Earth, entrances to the mystical Kairos — place of wonder and mystery that we feel rather than see. They are portals to an unseen realm, that on passing through, we are transported from the mundane world, and its fixation with the clocks and calendars of Chronos time, as described in my book, "Dancing In The Footsteps of Eve."
I have personally never visited Petra, but have seen photos and read descriptions such as in Dorothy Atalla’s new book, "Conversations with the Goddess." Having been to Antelope Canyon and the Anasazi villages of the South West, I do know the powerful energy of such places, transformative energy that may remain dormant, perhaps for years, before we understand the impact of our having being there.
Our digital world is amazing and can transport us in time and space, connecting us as a global family in ways never before imagined. However, digital travel does not allow us to touch and be touched by the magical energy of sacred places. The shared spiritual journeys of those who are fortunate enough to have been there, lifts our imaginative yearning and allows us to soar. Atalla’s journey begins in Petra, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann, describe mystical Greece in their book, "Traveling with Pomegranates." We fly with them as we enjoy both books that provide joyful reading experiences for women longing to connect with their spiritual source.
I have personally never visited Petra, but have seen photos and read descriptions such as in Dorothy Atalla’s new book, "Conversations with the Goddess." Having been to Antelope Canyon and the Anasazi villages of the South West, I do know the powerful energy of such places, transformative energy that may remain dormant, perhaps for years, before we understand the impact of our having being there.
Our digital world is amazing and can transport us in time and space, connecting us as a global family in ways never before imagined. However, digital travel does not allow us to touch and be touched by the magical energy of sacred places. The shared spiritual journeys of those who are fortunate enough to have been there, lifts our imaginative yearning and allows us to soar. Atalla’s journey begins in Petra, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann, describe mystical Greece in their book, "Traveling with Pomegranates." We fly with them as we enjoy both books that provide joyful reading experiences for women longing to connect with their spiritual source.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Feminism in Jewish Fables, Folkore, and Legend
I am delighted to invite you to open this link:
http://inscribe.typepad.com/inscribe_journal/2010/07/feminism-in-jewish-fables-folkore-and-legend.html
Bridges Volume 15.1 is a special issue on "Fables, Folklore and Legend" and is packed with new feminist spins on some of the oldest and most timeless stories in Jewish literature. The issue opens with Agi Legutko’s essay on dybbuk possession legends and the creativity let loose in their transformation by contemporary Jewish women writers in the novels of E. M. Broner, Francine Prose, Judith Katz, Pearl Abraham, and Ruth Knafo Setton. These stories of transmigrating souls are followed by stories of the soulless golem and Simone Yehuda’s modern fairy tale of a pregnant golem named Rasa who seeks a “soul voice.” As Yehuda does a riff on the connections between women’s ability/inability to give birth and the Talmudic statement, “A woman [before marriage or childbirth] is a golem,” Heather Mendel’s “Transforming Divinity, Transforming Ourselves” looks deeply into the Garden of Eden story to reveal Eve as representing the innate and necessary curiosity humans need to experience the miracle of life. From Mendel’s teaching on the mythical Garden, readers move to Darlene Miller-Lanning’s essay on the artist Berenice D’Vorzon’s vibrantly painted divine “gardens” in nature and then to Henrietta Bensussen’s tour of very real gardens in Europe. Berenice Fisher’s family legend of her mother’s visit to a rose garden in Iraq, in 1930, is at the heart of her one women play about women’s agency in war and peace activism. Finally, the ability of folklore and legend to speak to each of us individually is powerfully represented in Zelda Kahan Newman’s short story about a raven visiting a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
http://inscribe.typepad.com/inscribe_journal/2010/07/feminism-in-jewish-fables-folkore-and-legend.html
Bridges Volume 15.1 is a special issue on "Fables, Folklore and Legend" and is packed with new feminist spins on some of the oldest and most timeless stories in Jewish literature. The issue opens with Agi Legutko’s essay on dybbuk possession legends and the creativity let loose in their transformation by contemporary Jewish women writers in the novels of E. M. Broner, Francine Prose, Judith Katz, Pearl Abraham, and Ruth Knafo Setton. These stories of transmigrating souls are followed by stories of the soulless golem and Simone Yehuda’s modern fairy tale of a pregnant golem named Rasa who seeks a “soul voice.” As Yehuda does a riff on the connections between women’s ability/inability to give birth and the Talmudic statement, “A woman [before marriage or childbirth] is a golem,” Heather Mendel’s “Transforming Divinity, Transforming Ourselves” looks deeply into the Garden of Eden story to reveal Eve as representing the innate and necessary curiosity humans need to experience the miracle of life. From Mendel’s teaching on the mythical Garden, readers move to Darlene Miller-Lanning’s essay on the artist Berenice D’Vorzon’s vibrantly painted divine “gardens” in nature and then to Henrietta Bensussen’s tour of very real gardens in Europe. Berenice Fisher’s family legend of her mother’s visit to a rose garden in Iraq, in 1930, is at the heart of her one women play about women’s agency in war and peace activism. Finally, the ability of folklore and legend to speak to each of us individually is powerfully represented in Zelda Kahan Newman’s short story about a raven visiting a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
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