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inherpower · 26 days

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What they don't tell you about manifesting

A lot of folks talk about manifesting what you want in your life and I think that’s great. But the thing is that rarely are people talking about the truth of what doing that work entails which leads me to believe that they may be missing some key components. Manifestation is great work and it can be a lot of fun, but if you are not doing “the work” then your manifesting will not be successful. In the episode I talk about my journey and what I’ve learned.

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athena-swords · 9 months

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🤎💚🤎💚Pick A Card🤎💚🤎💚

Disclaimer:This reading is not set in stone please take what resonates with you and leave what doesn't.

The connection You always waited for coming to you+orcale message you REALLY need to hear

Pile 1. Pile 2.

Pile 3.

Pile 1

The connection coming to you:

Hii pile one hope so this reading makes you feel uplifted for the upcoming future let's start then okay so from quite sometime you guys might have been stuck with the same old group of folks and felt quite stagnant socially.But there is a new beginning in your career or like joining new school where you will find your the 'girl's girl' and you will have 2 to3 prominent people with whom you will connect on a soul level

This friendship can start from a group project like dance music debate anything just know their will be lots of emotional fulfillment coming into your life

Orcale messages for you:

1.Older women: dealings or relationship with an older woman

2.Arrow:you are on the right path regarding some aspect of your life

3.knot: unsuccessful plans

4.handshake:A meeting with a stranger is important

5.lobster: Financial pinch

6.Forest:muddled,unclear thinking

Extra: carriage:a journey either physically or mentally

Pile 2

Ok pile 2 first to bring all the abundance in your life love you have to work on your self esteem the negative talks impact your self more than you think so darling.When you will enter in your lucky girl syndrome era you are gonna attract your a romantic partner for yourself and the universe is telling you that if you are wishing now for it know that you have to know your worth otherwise people are gonna step on you babe anyways this connection will soon come after you will have a self awakening moment and will start enjoying the little things in life.

So cheer up babe we have got this I see a great life for you ahead .So I came back after reading your orcale deck guys if you have been thinking of joining a school course or learning anything that you wanted to do for a long time so pleaseee go for to ok and do tell me in comments

Orcale messages:

1.knot: unsuccessful plans

2.Lily: spiritual love

3.Lion:time to act

4.Desk: pay attention to your work

5.Four leaf clover:good luck

6.:staff:you would be taken care of in the difficult time

Pile 3

Heyy pile 3 you might think that why people hurt you so much and you just feel very .... lonely most of the time so I see the connection you are bringing in for yourself is with finding YOU and cherishing every bit of it you could have been a bit of people pleaser and a black sheep but I am seeing you putting lots of efforts in developing and building confidence in your being please nurture your inner child and heal I see butterfly could be significant for some of you

Go gurls you all gonna have a massive glow up due to the inner work you all will be going to do adios btw the next chapter is exciting and full of roller coaster ride .

Please go and check out pile 1 if you wanted to

Orcale messages:

1. Archway:new opportunities, possibilities and paths opening up

2. Lightening: control your anger or you will be sorry

3.Hat:you will be playing a different role

4.older women: dealings or relationship with an older woman

5.August

6.lobster: financial pinch

Please like and reblog I believe this pac is gonna be for specific group as the messages were too specific please take care and enjoy

Har Har Mahadev

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middlenamesage · 10 months

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Thinking about how women, on the whole, have been more open to astrology in these modern times since it’s been shunned by science and religion. That unfortunately also works to the advantage of people who would like to keep astrology known as just a silly, dumb girl hobby.

But astrology has been around in all cultures since before all major religions. People have always sensed that we can look to the sky, containing the macrocosm outside this microcosm, for understanding.

I wonder what that says about women that they have been more open to believing in this connection we have with the cosmos (and nature) than men have been?

I think that merely on a physical level, womens’ bodies have a deeper connection with the cosmos. We have cycles that can sync with the Moon, and we are the sex that brings life from the spiritual to the physical realms, which is a very intimate encounter with sacred forces. Because our bodies are made for an even more intimate connection with nature and the cosmos, I think our minds evolved that way too. I think that on average, we have more developed intuition, and we are more concerned with nurturing life, so we can have a more developed interest and/or ability to see connections between life and natural phenomena.

Black Moon Lilith is still in nearly an exact conjunction with Venus retrograde in Leo, so female empowerment is the name of the game right now. 🖤 I know I’ve been having many thoughts the last few days relating to the natural powers that women have, so I wanted to share some as they relate to womens’ relationship with astrology.

Bask in your primal power today, lovelies!

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islandnaturals · 1 year

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Oshun is an African Goddess that became popular over the past few years since black women have been diving deeper into self and as a result discovering African spirituality and how it can benefit us but there are so many other African Goddess who we can learn from and who ancestors like Nanny and Nzinga embodied. We can use them as a guide to tapping into feminine energies in a balanced way….a divine way. Goddess + Attributes: Yemaya ~ Nurtures, mother, defender Sekhmet ~ Warrior, healer, change Aja ~ Bush woman, heals, mystic Oya ~ Mystic, Oracle, protector Kai Ma ~ transforms, protects, revelation Inanna ~ love, creativity, transformation Oshun ~ sensuality, creativity, love Check out my new video femininity vs divine feminine energy. Link to youtube channel in bio. #divinefemininerising #divinefeminine #divinefeminineenergy #femininity #femininearchetypes #goddessenergy #feminineenergy #goddess #sekhmet #yemaya #aja #oya #kalima #inanna #oshun #bastet #hetheru #auset #maat #nut #gaia https://www.instagram.com/p/CnLUi_xuAzj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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roselamoure · 1 year

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Elvis Presley Zodiac Chart Analysis ♐︎ ♑︎ ♓︎

I here all the time from fans that Elvis Presley is a complicated man but I don’t really think so. He had many sides and facets about him that many people can‘t understand or find complicated. He is a very unique, outstanding and beautiful individual and as someone who is highly spiritual herself and a Capricorn herself, had many Capricorn men in her life, I want to explain and tell you everything you need to know about Elvis Presley and you will understand and see how much his Zodiac chart explains him and what a big role it plays in his persona and being. This is gonna be a very detailed and long analysis about Elvis so please be prepared and bare with me, it is for sure worth it, though. I want to bring Elvis Presley fans closer to him and bring all of you a better understanding to Elvis and who he was deep in his heart and soul. So let‘s start,shall we?

As you all may know, Elvis Presley was born on the 8th of January 1935 which makes him a sun Capricorn. Capricorn people are known to be the most feminine of all the sign. They love the color pink but also love black. They love art, poetry, music, fashion and history. They are old souls deep down. I have met many Capricorn men in my life and they all were dresses as if they were going to fashion week. Elvis loved fashion and he was probably the best dressed and had immaculate taste in everything, cars, clothing, interior. Elvis is known to have a flashy, yet extravagant style. He loved luxury and expensive things. Gold, pink, black, Smaragd green, ruby red. It‘s comparable with the elegant „old money“ aesthetic that we know now. Italian fashion is a big part of that. He could easily have been a fashion designer and his passion for fashion really shows from his early days on. Capricorn men also tend to be big mama boys. They LOVE their mothers. Of course everyone loves their mothers, but for Elvis, his mother was his number 1 and he would have done everything for her. All the other Capricorn men I met where exactly like that. Capricorn men will always love their mother’s more than their girlfriend or wife. And from my observation I will give you the ranking of their priority list now.

Their Mother

Their job

Family/friends

Romantic relationship

We all know that Priscilla was not on Elvis‘s priority. His job always came first. He was married to his job and he would have done everything for his job. It was his identity. Priscilla therefore always came last. He never wanted to change for anyone and would never give up his career for anyone. Capricorn‘s are also very stubborn which is represented by the goat. They are extremely stubborn and hate when people tell them what to do. They are also perfectionists and can slip that in in relationships as well, therefore they have very high standards and a distorted image of romance almost. They expect a lot from their partners especially when it comes to looks. Capricorn tend to be superficial and they care a lot about physical appearance. They want their partners to find in their standards and always look perfect. Which we all know resulted in Elvis „controlling“ Priscilla‘s looks and the way she acts, thinks and behaves. They don’t have bad intentions with it. They just like the idea of „showing off“ their „perfect“ partners and how pretty or good they look. This is especially common for Capricorn men compared to the women. Capricorn men are extremely hard working and their careers are their everything. They get charged and nurtured through their job and it makes them happy to work. Without work, they would feel very empty inside and would feel like they have no purpose or meaning in life and would feel lost. It would be very draining. Therefore, Capricorn men find most happiness in their work and they love to work a lot and hard. It‘s in their nature. They always give their best and find life and happiness by working hard and giving back to others. Capricorns are also pretty controlling and they can get stressed out or feel uneasy if they have no control over anything. Capricorns are also very loyal but they often times can be in denial about bad traits they have. For a Capricorn it‘s always „my way or the highway“. Capricorn people love to be right, love compliments and love to have a successful career. They love looking good as well. They want to look „perfect“, which is due to their perfectionism. They are not well with criticism and they have a hard time accepting it. A result of that would be to get mad, aggressive and cut the person of eventually when want to boss a Capricorn around or tell them what they are doing is wrong and that they should change it. Capricorns biggest pet peeve is when people boss them around or tell them what to do. They despise it. Which is what we learned about Elvis as well, he would cut people off his life when they told him to stop taking pills or to do something. He absolutely hated it and would throw things at people and get super mad. Capricorns think they know it all, they have a complex and want to achieve perfection in everything they do and are. Capricorns also tend to be more on the traditional side. They have traditional values and likes in life and don‘t prefer modernity, yet are open individuals for everything. Since Capricorns are very hardworking, they even spend their free time trying to better themselves by reading plenty of books, broadening their perspective, better themselves and gain more knowledge in the world. They are very curious individuals and always want to learn new things and study. Capricorns are hungry for knowledge and they could easily spend hours locked in their room studying and researching about many different subjects in life. They want to know everything their is about the world and never feel like they have researched enough, which is totally what Elvis would do in his free time. He would read medical books as well to learn more about medicine. Capricorns are loyal, dependable and devoted being. They may appear cold at first, but are very warm hearted and generous and kind on the inside. Capricorns don’t open up easily and build high walls around them, they have a hard time trusting people. Capricorn‘s also are incredibly close with their families and value traditions.

Capricorns keep themselves closed off from most of the world, so if they let you inside, they value you immensely. They spend a lot of time bettering themselves and strive for success constantly. Capricorns can be very unforgiving when you betray them or do them wrong. They will immediately cut you off from their lives. Capricorns hold not only high standards to their partners or friends, but also themselves. They are never satisfied with themselves and are their biggest critics. They can as a result of hard work neglect their needs and health and be their own worst enemy. Capricorns men would rather give more gifts to their partners rather than talk about their feelings. They can be somewhat materialistic. They are also very supportive and always willing to help others. They mostly show their love and gratitude through gifts or acts of service. In love, a Capricorn man would rather take it slowly to make sure they made the right decision and feel secure in their connection with the person. Capricorn men can also have a macho side to them and want to be seen as „cool“ and have a hard time talking about their feelings. Being vulnerable can be hard for them as they don’t want to let their guard as the „cool macho“ guy down. They are introverted beings. Image is very important to them.

Like for part 2 for the moon and rising sign analysis🤍

#elvis #elvis 2022 #elvis fans #elvis photos #elvis presley #elvisaaronpresley #baz luhrmann elvis #elvis film #elvis the pelvis #elvis biopic #elvis the king #elvis movie #elvis smut #50s vintage #vintage

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nerdygaymormon · 1 year

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Last week Elder Hamilton spoke at BYU. He said that when there's parts of the church we disagree with, to switch the word 'church' for 'Savior' and see how that sounds. That sits badly with me. I was wondering your thoughts

Elder Kevin Hamilton, who is a Seventy, spoke at a BYU devotional.

He began by mentioning he has some friends who say they find spirituality outside of church and don't need organized religion. He asks, "Why a church?" and proceeds to give a list of things church provides beyond what you get when you nurture your spirituality on your own.

He went on to say that some people claim the prophet and apostles can make mistakes and are simply human. While admitting this can be true, Elder Hamilton says that when the prophets & apostles speak in unity, they do so on behalf of Jesus.

"Could I suggest an alternative approach? Substitute the word ‘Savior’ or ‘Lord’ or ‘Jesus Christ’ in place of ‘the Church.’ … For me, personally, that seems to put a very different perspective on things."

Thus to Elder Hamilton's way of thinking, people who claim to feel loyal to Christ but not to some of the Church's teachings are actually rejecting Christ.

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Elder Hamilton says prophets and apostles can make mistakes and are human, but then teaches we are to treat them as infallible. I think that's a problem.

I think this type of approach is more like a cult where there's a charismatic leader who is authoritative and to question him and his decisions is not allowed.

The scriptures have examples of prophets who got things wrong, and examples of people coming to the prophet to point out problems and allowing him to make adjustments. Using Elder Hamilton's logic, church members can't hold the leaders accountable for their decisions because to do so is essentially saying that Jesus was wrong.

How can we say there’s areas the church needs to change & improve if we believe everything it does now is what Christ wants and intends?

There's a number of things where the church did one thing, and then later changed. Rather than say the leaders made a mistake or their understanding changed or that was reflective of the time they lived in, using Elder Hamilton's point of view we essentially have to say Jesus changed His mind.

The Savior kept Black people from having the temple blessings & the priesthood until 1978 when He changed His mind. The Savior wouldn't let the children of gay parents get baptized for 4 1/2 years but then changed His mind. The Savior used to forbid women from wearing pants to church, but changed His mind. The Savior sure seems fickle.

This kind of approach of assuming everything the church does is perfectly in line with Jesus removes any sort of responsibility or blame from the leaders. It's not their fault that Jesus won't let children be sealed to their gay parents.

We are individuals who can use our sense of morality and our understanding to evaluate what the church and its leaders do. Jesus taught all the laws and prophets hang from the 2 great commandments, to love God and to love your neighbor. I don't think withholding priesthood and temple blessings to whole groups of people for something they can't change about themselves is loving and thus I don't think that is from the Savior despite what the current leaders say.

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Embedded in our scriptures is the idea of sacred disobedience. Nephi broke the law to not murder. Eve ate the fruit. Sometimes disobedience is the only thing that saves us.

Neither full obedience nor disobedience is great, it's all about context. Obedience to certain things and people can be catastrophic. We need to evaluate what is the dangerous, harmful, or unhealthy option and avoid that. Put another way, judge things by their fruits and avoid those which produce bad fruit.

I think Elder Hamilton's conflating of 'church' and 'Jesus' makes that more difficult to do, because then we are saying Jesus is causing this bad fruit in peoples' lives, rather than church teachings and practices are causing problems and we can change them.

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If you're familiar with Fowler's stages of faith, I think what happens is The Brethren talk about faith from a Stage III perspective (emphasis on trusting institution, authority, & conformity). Their talks are hard for people not in Stage III and their words fall flat.

People who are marginalized by church, such as Black people and LGBTQ individuals, they experience dissonance between who they are and their religion. This pushes them into a faith transition early and out of Stage III. They learn to differentiate between what the church teaches (or previously taught) and their own experience and understanding of themselves. A strategy they employ is to focus on the gospel and Christ while reminding themselves that the Church & its leaders are flawed.

Elder Hamilton speaks from a Stage III perspective and hasn't had his existence come into question in the same way as queer members.

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I've met Elder Hamilton. He is very deferential to the apostles and the First Presidency, which makes sense because I don't think someone becomes a Seventy by challenging the leaders and questioning the practices & teachings of the church.

One part of our conversation I appreciated was when he shared about being at a family reunion. His favorite uncle was gay and has passed away, and this uncle's partner was at the reunion and asked if Elder Hamilton thought his uncle & his husband will be together after death. Elder Hamilton replied, "I don't know."

A niece who is trans asked "Do you think when I die that I'll be a man?" to which Elder Hamilton responded, "I don't know. None of us really know what heaven will be like."

He could've answered with the Church's position, that gay couples can't be sealed and therefore won't be together. He could've said that gender is eternal and you were born a man and will be a man after death. Instead he showed a lot of humility. My guess is knowing these queer individuals has impacted his thinking in this area.

Although, if he were sent by The Brethren in his official capacity as a Seventy, I suspect he’d answer these same questions in line with what the church leaders have said rather than the humble uncertainty he displayed in a private conversation.

#Elder Kevin Hamilton

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truths89 · 4 months

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As I tend to my Cuticles:

Climatist are liberal eugenicist.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a systematic economic slave-breeding mechanism.

The prohibition of abortion renders rape a weapon to facilitate spiritual, physical, political, economic, and bodily wombicide.

Multiple sectors of society are engaged in a sociopolitical celebration and, with intoxication, enable voluntary bodily amputation at a time when biological material is the site of concerted harvesting for scientific transhuman masturbation.

Our current incentivized invasion of migrants is the pawn for both internal and external destabilization.

The child-rearing of white children, en masse by black and melanated women, is a codification of the mammy.

Environmental racism is a eugenic project orchestrated to neutralize the nature vs. nurture argument by reifying racist capitalist dehumanization.

Literacy without comprehension is comparable to an appetite with chronic malabsorption.

Even oppression is susceptible to appropriation when politics and culture become a petri dish that manipulates consent by marketization.

How creative! Synchronically, exploitation is commodification.

#liberalism #wokeism #perfomativity #delulu #lullaby

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theantarwitch · 2 years

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Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham – Honest Review Request

Even with my harsh salty honesty, and the fact I’m not Wiccan, I will not be a crap and rant about the things I find wrong or not in the Wicca aspect because this is a book review and because there are already posts about it in general. So my review will be, as usual, so “impartial” as I can be and mostly pragmatic.

Requested by il-re-kaneki

Pros:

Book easy to read, no complex language or huge dense chunks of text, great to new witches.

The Basics are well explained, simple.

Warning us that there are no Pure Wicca, which, knowing the roots of the wiccan, is true. Is not trying to sell the This Is The Book as many others do.

Based in the idea that rituals and spells mentioned in the book are not The Only Form but more like a guide, users can change them accordingly their path and need.

Mention that the majority of the Wiccan books are based to the same basics so they tend to be repetitive and coven-oriented (one plus star from my Solitary Eclectic salty ass).

Don’t claim be the True Way To Deity or to be The Way To Save The Planet.

MENTIONS OF THE CLOSED PRACTICE’S ASPECT OF WICCA. Good, yes, finally.

No “Magick” mention (I mean the magic with K).

The magical aspect, spells and all is pretty good.

There is no Tool/ Ingredient/ Prayer that’s 10000000% needed so or so. Good!

No mentions of Black Magic, Black Arts or anything “Black”, no obvious racism.

Good exercises ad techniques, nothing too complex.

A lot of mentions about the ecological aspect, social justice and help others.

Tons of examples of rites.

Very lax and non-orthodox, allow to relax and don’t take rites and stuffs too seriously, pointing that nothing will affect that badly if you mess it up.

Keep the idea that “deities” are not entities that will destroy you for any mistake but compassionate beings that will probably forgive anything (except extreme things).

Recipes for food, incense, oils; with no mega complicated expensive af ingredient.

Herbs. Extra point for not use white sage or smudging.

Runes. Simple and well explained. Rune spells.

Simple cool spells.

Glossary. Good for new witches.

A lot of extra books listed in the end.

Cons:

“Ineffective spells kill spirituality” I’m sorry what? Spells can stop to work for a hundred reasons, spells can SEEMS that are not working when they are, in fact, working… And when a spell doesn’t work, the step is learn why, research, grow… how that kill spirituality?

“Practitioners of both sexes” “God and Goddess” “Women and Men” “she or he” * sigh in definitely not cis * Is 2022 folks…

The book has a globalized tint. “Wicca the religion of the Witches” Not ALL the witches are wiccans. Later he says that Magic and Wicca are not the same thing and that if you don’t want the religious aspect, then Wicca is not maybe for you, so… he kinda retract himself, so let’s give a half con lol.

“Every deity that has received worship upon this planet exists with the archetypal God and Goddess. The complex pantheons of deities that arose in many parts of the world are simply the aspect of the two”. Simplify ALL the deities (mostly of which are from 5.000 to 20.000 years older or OLDER) like that is pretty much a middle finger to deities that you don’t even know… And later you say “not all”??? Make your mind. I know you give a fuck about LGTBQ+ but at least DO BASIC RESEARCH. I will provide basic google info in a previous post HERE.

A delicate misogynic touch, by saying that wiccans who adore only the Goddess leaving the masculine side apart, is “unbalanced and unnatural”. Sir??

The feminine and masculine aspects of the god and goddess are an exact copy of the gender roles in society and keep the basic stereotypes of them. Nurturing males doesn’t exist, dominant women neither, and much less anything in the middle, apparently…

Sex and nudity mentions. Why...?

“Don’t blow candles”. A little later he says “do it your way, not my way simply because is on paper” Sir are you ok?

“We don’t bow down the deities” WHY NOT? I bowed mine three times each day because I RESPECT THEM. You don’t tell me what to do * bow 39 times just because he told me to NOT do it and I’m a rebel *

Dates and seasons accordingly the north hemisphere. If you live on the south hemisphere, do the convert because he don’t do it.

Cultural Appropriation list:

- The idea that Wicca’s spirituality descends of primitive religions. Something created in the early twentieth century can’t be rooted to primitive shamanistic closed religions without fall in the cultural appropriation.

- “Wicca as a Shamanic Religion”. I will drop Saint Wiki: In the 20th century, non-Indigenous Westerners involved in counter-cultural movements, such as hippies and the New Age created modern magico-religious practices influenced by their ideas of various Indigenous religions, creating what has been termed neoshamanism or the neoshamanic movement. It has affected the development of many neopagan practices, as well as faced a backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation, exploitation and misrepresentation when outside observers have tried to practice the ceremonies of, or represent, centuries-old cultures to which they do not belong.

- Any deity is open for him, no matter if the culture was destroyed by white people and forced to hide their beliefs… He never heard about Closed practices…

- Karma. And the wrong idea of karma… I will say it simple: If you are not part of a religion/culture that believe in karma (Hinduism and Buddhism, for example) you have no karma (or chakras). Period. There is something called Cosmic Justice, is open…

General view: 3.5 stars, 6.5/10. Is good for new witches, can seems a little dense because seems to have a lot of steps, and the cons are heavy, but at least not fall in a lot of common mistakes. In general is okay, specially having in mind the cons. Not a book I would read again tho XD

At least was a good experience and I never refuse to read about things. Feel free to ask more.

#books #book #book review #A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner #witchcraft #witch #wicca #wiccan #pagan #paganism #witchy #baby witch #New Witch #witch beginner

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optikes · 11 months

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mother

1 'artist' unknown Venus of Willendorf (c28000-25000BCE) limestone http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/nude-woman-venus-of-willendorf.html

2 artist unknown snake goddess, Minoan Civilization, Crete (c1600 BCE)

3 artists unknown Empress Theodora, mosaic in church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (6th Century) http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/byzantine-justinian.html

4 Ana Mendieta (1948-85) Cuba/ USA Silueta search at http://www.moca.org

5 Piero della Francesca (1415-92) Madonna of Mercy, detail (c1460) oil and tempera on panel

6 poster from Mehboob Khan's 1957 film Mother India http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNFPjvT5PJM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzJHnADcpa8

7 Cindy Sherman Untitled (1989)

8 Maïmouna Patrizia Guerresi () As a photographer, sculptor, and installation artist, ‘Maïmouna’ Patrizia Guerresi reveals unique and authentic sensibilities in her narration of the beauty and subtleties of racial diversity and multiculturalism. Over an established career, she has developed her own symbolism, which combines cosmological and ancestral traditions belonging to various European, African, and Asian cultures. Her personal commitment to Baifall Sufism has led her to produce an aesthetic that is able to bridge time, space and civilisations, as well as figuration and abstraction.

The human body is seen as the nucleus and temple of the soul, a place that houses a delicate, higher awareness; the very conduit for encompassing natural and cosmic forces. More about mysticism than any singular religion, her work is visionary in that it restores those elusive qualities of sacredness and unity in our frequently dehumanising and fragmented contemporary visual world. Her classic iconographic style explores the universality of human experience and reclaims the often hidden nurturing powers of feminine energy. Presented as a kind of free flowing epic, the viewer is left to read the significance of her imagery and quietly meditate on its potential to personally engage with its audience. As if her figures were speaking directly to each one of us.

From her earliest experiments with the physicality and archetypal imprinting of the psyche, through to her latest, evermore metaphoric ‘inner constellations’, Maïmouna insists on a cross-cultural discourse and an expansion of the boundaries that normally dictate our individual attitudes. She invites us to see further and to look deeper – past skin colour, preconceptions, and ethnic landscapes – into the wider paradigm of inclusion. She leads us through apparently simple notions of dimensionality into the exquisite, mystical and fragile complexities of life from within. Rosa Maria Falvo,writer and curator, www.chobimela.org

Perspective on the relationship between women and society, with particular reference to those countries in which the role of women is most marginalized. For over twenty years Guerresi’s work has been about empowering women and bringing together individuals and cultures in an appreciation for a context of shared humanity, beyond borders – psychological, cultural, and political. She uses recurrent metaphors such as milk, light, the hijab, trees, and contrasting white on black to create awareness of the vital unifying qualities of the feminine archetype and its special healing potential. Guerresi’s art is uniquely authentic. Her work is inspired by personal experience and cultural contexts that reference universal myths, the sacred realm, and the female condition, all of which are seen as vital expressions of the human form: an essentially spiritual and mystic body. Through photographs and videos of silent, austere, veiled women in domestic scenes and individual poses, her work functions as both metaphor and provocation. Guerresi’s images are delicate narratives with fluid sequencing, as well as rational analyses: women dressed in white, enveloped in chadors, fixed within their own tradition and isolated from and by it in the contemporary world. Her Fatimah image suggests the woman as Mother- Earth supporting us in the original energy cycle of Space-Universe-Infinity. www.maimounaguerresi.com

9 The Cholmondeley Ladies (c1600-10) oil paint on wood 886 x 1723 mm British School 17th century (1600‑1699)

search @ www.tate.org.uk

#mother #earth #venus #figure #figurative #symbolism #representation #mendieta #minoan #mary #della francesca #willendorf #sherman #Guerresi #spiritual #mother india #cholmondeley #snake goddess

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jbfly46 · 8 months

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Autistic people are literally raised by animals. and inanimate things. as children we imprint sort of onto both human and non human things. we imitate adults of the same gender, like most people do, but we also imitate people of different gender, we imitated dogs, cats, birds, cars, robots, chairs, computers, trees, bugs, cartoons. for lots of kids this is called ‘playing pretend’ but i think something different goes on with autistic kids – it’s more than ‘acting’, there is a sense that the thing you observe come into you and you become them, like kirby or whatever, or like you are just a mirror.

In our instincts we can be like pure mirrors, can develop parrot like abilities to recreate sounds around us, some like temple grandin can empathize with and understand the perspective of other animals in a way most people can’t.

Using animalkin senses has historically been very helpful in humans who hunted or had to manipulate and cajole or outsmart other animals in our environment. it is not uncommon in premodern prechristianized cultures to ritualistically act out being animals or having animal identities associated with people.

It is sad to see that people who do this in today’s world are often smeared with being associated to animal abusers. that is something different, like psychopathy.

Obviously a person who believes they are a non human is kind of insane. humans should know they are humans. males should know they are males and females should know they are females. adults should know they are adults and not children. it shouldn’t be considered antisocial to expect some level of it being okay to point out physical realities.

But that’s different from thinking it’s crazy for people to spiritually essentially associate themselves to those of a different category than they are, to feel kindredness. i do not think this is crazy. if something sparks joy in you and you like it and you want for yourself to be more like it, i would be very limited about what kind of things i would call disorders.

If you literally believe you have wings and can fly, then that is a problem. if you are male and you talk with a womanly kind of ‘accent’, if you are american and you spell things the british way, if you sometimes run around on all fours because you enjoy how that feels, i don’t think this is a disease. it merely means either unawareness of or lack of caring about the ways other humans engage in judgement about things by how they fit into categories.

For many people, they perceive patterns and relationships in nature and come up with categories. sometimes this goes to the point of black and white or moralizing thinking. i could say 'women tend to be nurturing and emotional' and it would be actually an accurate pattern. but if i said ‘women need to be nurturing and emotional to be good women’ that would be projecting my own pattern seeking and discomfort with things that violate the exaggerated version of pattern onto those who i pattern matched from.

People will see that humans walk on two legs and cats walk on four and conclude that the way one walks constitutes a core part of their identity. and then if a person ever walks using their hands like feet or a cat walks around on hind legs they call it unnatural and wrong. in fact they are the ones making the mistake. but because most humans make this mistake it is considered right to make this mistake.

It is sad that we limit the ranges of what we are capable of in our behavior for reasons that are only about the discomfort of those who have incorrectly developed rigidity about their perception of ‘laws of nature’ that are not really laws at all. it is fine for an adult to play video games, and smoking cigarettes won’t make you more adult if you are a child, it will just be worse for you to start smoking as a child than as an adult. it was stupid for people to say that humans should not attempt to develop the abilities to transport ourselves in boats or planes because we are not fish or birds. obviously we are not fish or birds and never will be, but we can still swim and fly if it suits us well enough to do so.

It’s an illogical bigotry that i reluctantly have learned long ago to try to adhere to. but ultimately, deep down, i still am a mirror to the whole universe. i am the bugs, snakes, trees, rocks, cats, dogs, computers, the moon; i am men, women, children, retirees, saints, criminals, refugees, soldiers, perverted, pure, insane. i am a human being and part of my great talent as a human is that i am so much less just genetics and hedonic reinforcement than most animals are, and i am mainly memes and empathy and imitation. i learn by repeating the behaviors i see done by others, and i remix memes and behaviors together to create entirely new things. i mix this with the capacity to construct theories and reasoning to behave in novel ways and solve problems and create things.

Of course it is best to imitate those who are most similar to you and who have found the most success in life. the most successful person will probably do that. but this is just an optimal strategy — it should not be an iron law imposed on us, a rule that it is some kind of crime to do the things done by those outside our narrowly defined categories.

#autism #empathy #mirroring

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inherpower · 5 days

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Mirror, mirror on the wall

How you looking when you're in relationships with folks? A great teacher once told me that relationships are mirrors and through this healing/liberation work I can say without a doubt that those words are so true. When you see you reflected back in someone it creates an opportunity for growth. That is, if you want to do that work.

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eileenleahy · 10 months

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Donna Allegra, "Dance Africa" in the Fall 1985 issue of the Salsa Soul Gayzette

[Text under cut]

I started out to review Dance Africa, but here's what is really on my mind.

I'm a dancer and drum woman who consciously identifies with and chooses to frame myself on an African base, a spiritual woman who is nurtured and sustained by African music and dance; a channel for that divine energy from the holy on high to divine on earth when I dance and drum, and so, the 8th annual Brooklyn Academy of Music festival of African American dance and music companies was immensely satisfying to me. For years now, Dance Africa has been one of the high water marks in cultural events during the year for me, just as Kwanzaa and the women's music festivals are.

I'm also a dread locks woman, not modeled on the Rastafarian woman, but taking after the dyke sisterhood who also choose to be about Africa, sown in the soil of African- American woman strength. Its true that the Rastafarian style has been an influence, but I'm a dread woman raised to hold her own ground, not black-mailed to wälk second place behind a man with my life force sustaining his program but keeping silent with the seeds of my concerns underground.

After years of taking my lesbian self to the all too- often homophobic stomping grounds of African dance and drum classes, I am only now starting to feel less alone and isolated as a dyke. As much as there are men who loudly proclaim that women should not drum at all and certainly shouldn't play the djimbe drum between their legs, and men who sneer at faggots, there are more and more women who are taking to the drum and gay men are apparent in most of the companies.

Judging from the flambuoyant priests choreographed in the performance of Arthur Hall's Dance assemble from Philadelphia for Dance Africa, I got the revelation that it is probably traditional for gay men, and quite likely, lesbians too, to take to the ranks of the priesthood. Gay people may very well have been the spiritual channels, unacknowledged and often reviled of African communities.

Dyke women weren't so apparent and visible to me though a sister who drums is always a likely candidate in my book. It is a fact that lesbian women lead the ranks of women drummers. Have we always been undercover, yet everywhere?

On the Dance Africa stage at BAM, the Muntu company did some steps from what was once a women's martial dance called saa. My West African dance teacher once told me saa originated as a women's secret society dance. The women made up the rhythm, played the drum and marched it from Guinea to Mali and back again to demonstrate that they were just as strong as men, if not stronger. It was done to protest what we today deride as "macho." The African brothers were getting too arrogant and the women did saa to show their martial aspect and strength. Saa steps are strenuous and demanding to do even across the dance class floor and to take it from Guinea to Mali and back again is no mean feat.

Like so many inventions, the men peeped saa and took it to use for themselves, and now both sexes do saa. Tradition grows and changes like that. I don't say men shouldn't dance saa. I take a lesson from their bad behavior when they try to deny me the drum, claiming exclusive rights by citing tradition Mine is not a tit for tat stance. I just say to women to know how saa began, for our own strength and salvation, as our sisters did before us.

In traditional African dance folklore, there are generally steps that men are said to do and steps that women are said to do, though in the circle of solos, each sex can partake of the other's movement. Much African American choreography working with traditional folklore will generally show the ensemble of women doing one thing and the men doing another set of movement while in another company, the women will be given the very step the men had been given. While I frankly like to see the sexes separate, such choreography is generally in the service of reverberating old limiting and binding divisions.

It's not surprising that we reject some of the European American oppressive and poisonous ways of life, but retain and develop others. It is equally true that patriarchal attitudes were part of many African cultures, and these I reject just as wholeheartedly. Just cause its traditional doesn't make it right. Life, to me, is about evolving, growing and changing for the better as times change and we develop as African people The lindy hop, the jerk, the twist and electronic boogie are all part of the continuing spectrum of African dance tradition, just as are the Haitian, Brazilian, Caribbean and countless other dance folklores.

Despite my serious criticism of the sexism currently fashionable in the folkloric dance and drum community, the overwhelming testimony I would give of BAM's Dance Africa was one of extreme joy, happiness, peace, rejuvenation and self- affirmation. I am a part of the community of African dancers and drummers and I'm queer.

I'm not as open about my gayness because I fear the criticism and rejection of a loud few, but I think most of the folk wouldn't care, do accept me, would even shrug their shoulders, and probably know I'm gay anyway. We're in class together to dance and commune spiritually.

It has been my experience that people who judge and criticize others do so out of bad feelings for themselves. They have the all too human need to feel superior, and pointing the finger at others is a destructive expression of that human weakness. The more I hear men band together by laughing about "faggots," the more I am convinced of this. These men have nothing sure inside themselves to base their identity on, so they define themselves by what they are not. They're not (they hope) gay, they're not women. They are threatened and scared: if women can drum, how do they stand as men? If women wear pants, how can they distinguish the maleness? That, it seems to me, is their fear: not knowing who they are apart from what they can do that women cannot.

American men base their manhood on dick size, how much money they make, the cars they drive and the women they are seen with. That makes for a pretty shaky ground for holding up an identity. In the African dance and drum community, manhood often takes the form of traditional male clothing, drum playing, and oppressing women. Rather than focusing on and confining self-esteem to one's skill or just one's joy at being a part of the music, the defining point is that boys do this and girls don't.

Well, not anymore, fellas. I dream of a women's djimbe orchestra (that's a West African drum formation with djimbe and songbe drums). Sisters are now playing congas, bells, and chekeres in the Haitian, Brazilian, Latin and Cuban traditions; but I long for sisters to play more of the West African musics - the Senegambia, Guinea and Nigerian folklore; to play the djimbe drum, songbe, junjun and African bells. Soon come, this I know, just as when soonoo, lamban, koukou, mandgiani, wolofsodon, sabar, jola, lenjen, sepa and saa will be dances and rhythms as familiar to the general public as samba, guanguanco, yanvalou and the hustle.

#thought some of you might appreciate thisss. i love the way she communicates #donna allegra

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king-shango-the-great · 1 year

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Shango's Thoughts:

Shango's Dating Choices

I have always loved Black Women. I've been raised around mostly women that served as my example of womanhood. My mother (RIP) was greatest source of a Goddess/Empress that I've ever seen, & no one since has come close. And I'm not being biased when I say this either.

Jamaican immigrant who brought her sisters (my aunts) here... Mama was a hard working nurse who took care of her communities; both in St Mary, JA, as well as in the Bronx, NYC when we moved here.

So when she returned to the Ancestors when I was young, she left me with the only blueprint I've known of the kind of woman I would desire as an adult.

The problem was, most Amerikkkan women have not been that for me. I came to Amerikkka during an era where everything was shifting; alot of toxic ideas were creeping into our communities, & it had a very adverse effect on Black relationships & love.

It got worse when I was separated from the Caribbean & African communities in NYC that I spent much of my time around.

This may be hard for some to hear, but dating in Black American circles has been extremely difficult... Alot of the customs, traditions & attitudes surrounding relationships that come natural for Island & African people simply aren't there for Black Americans. What seems natural & common sense for me, has become difficult & counterintuitive.

I tried my best to adapt, especially during my college days, which led to my bouts with depression, withdrawal, loneliness, etc that many people on social media complain about.

The Mean Girl was the prevalent experience that I encountered when trying to date. The didn't do me well, at all. Again, the women in my community(s), in my family, & especially my mother, were not that way. So I had no defense mechanism in place to handle it. Most of the time, I was feeling dissed, attacked, & humiliated.

I watched my American Brothas navigate the personalities of Sistas pretty well; but again, they were born into the cultural paradigm, so it made sense that they could.he successful with it. And I was envious of them becauae of it.

However, I learned to look past my personal feelings about it, & began to realize that these social interactions are due to alot of the pain that our people have experienced here in Amerikkka. While I was intellectually aware of this truth, that it's not our peoples fault, I was nonetheless emotionally wounded by it via my personal experiences.

As a result, I've spent most of my adult life single, because I don't wanna dishonor my mother's legacy by being with a woman that she wouldn't approve of.

Don't get me wrong; I have had relationships, & a few of them lasted awhile, as I'm a serial monogamist. And while a couple of them were intense, all.of them lingered on far longer than they should have. And the others, I've realized in hindsight that I the Ancestors (my mother included) helped me dodge a bullet for.

So now, I've spent thebpaat decade making alot of cultural, social, & financial changes in my life. This includes:

Having the kind of job that will afford the kind of relationship that I desire

(Re)Tapping into the cultural/spiritual values that are conducive to the kind of relationship that I desire

Soon relocating to an environment that is more conducive to the kind of relationship I desire.

Surrounding myself with the kind of women that I desire.

To be clear: not only do I love Black women, but I want a complete relationship that leads to love, marriage, & a family.

The woman I require needs to be spiritual, sexual, & cultural. She needs to be creative, ambitious, mentally/emotionally/physically healthy, & a nurtured.

This will allow me to be the protector & provider that I desire to be.

Until then.....

#Shango's Thoughts #Black Love ❤️ 🖤💚

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reasoningdaily · 1 year

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Barack Mandela, in the United States Army holding an Israeli flag, at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. (Personal Collection)

I am an African American who converted to Judaism in 1995, then I became a citizen of Israel in 1996. I served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Army. I am a member of the American Legion veterans’ organization.

While living in Israel, I studied at Aish HaTorah Yeshiva in Jerusalem for 5 months and Machon Meir Yeshiva in Jerusalem for 8 months. I studied with Rabbi Noach Weinberg at Aish and Rabbi Dov Begon at Machon.

Inspired by the Jewish faith and the land of Israel, I have written this prayer called “Dear God” for African American and black communities:

Dear God,

May the peace of black families always stay

And may the racist voice in our heads go away

Dear God,

Please bless the father who is thinking of leaving

As the mother and kids remain poor and grieving

Dear God,

Empower the jobless and the houseless

Bring hope to those black women who are spouseless

Dear God,

Please protect all the black children down on our Southern border

Who are the victims of crushing law and order

Dear God,

Please help the parents of black sons

Who live in a society surrounded by guns

Dear God,

Touch the soul of the black child who is hidin’

Let our communities be helped by President Joe Biden

Dear God,

Please protect our kids in school being bullied

Restore the black family completely and fully

Dear God,

Bless our hearts that are hurt and annoyed

Let no one die like our martyr George Floyd

Dear God,

You are our father and mother

Bless every black sister and brother

Dear God,

You are the holy one of Israel

Make our hurt hearts instantly heal

Dear God,

Bring peace to our friends who are angry

Nurture all those abandoned by their family

Dear God,

Let black communities raise their hands in victory

Our community may live in serenity

Dear God,

We pray to be healed by your divine plan

Together, as a people, we will stand

Dear God,

Our black community is faithful and brave

We pray that our souls you will save

Dear God,

Bring together the pieces that were scattered

Teach everyone that black lives matter

The End

The purpose of this prayer is to uplift, empower, and heal African American and black communities worldwide. Please read this prayer in your houses of worship including synagogues, mosques, churches, and temples.

#Spiritual Prayer for African American Communities #jews #Hebrews #Black Hebrews #Real Hebrews

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thewitchery · 1 year

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Black Madonna Ritual Relic Rosary // Those that know me, know I love old religious iconography. I use saints & religious artifacts in my spellwork, & have no issues or qualms doing so. This beautiful rosary was deconstructed & reconstructed with a Mal’va Star centerpiece & then a beautiful Black Madonna of Czestochowa Relic Medal at the base. This medal is very special as it contains a scrap of cloth behind it that was carried & has been touched to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa & thusly blessed. Obtain at #TheWitchery.Ca via https://www.thewitchery.ca/product/black-madonna-relic-rosary/ In Slavic folklore the Mal’va symbolizes love for one’s land, for one’s parents and for one’s home. This star flower reminds us of our spiritual roots, & of one’s ancestors. The Mallow or eight-pointed star is formed by superimposing a straight cross (symbol of masculinity & the Sun) & an oblique cross (symbol of femininity & the Moon). The joining of these two entities naturally gives life. The full mallow is also known as the Mother’s Star. This is the symbol that is often seen in icons of the Virgin Mary. Her image (Our Lady of Częstochowa) juxtaposes several ideals of womanhood: a powerful, heavenly queen, a suffering mother, a perfect nurturer…(the) scars a sign of suffering she shares with her worshippers. ~ Trochimczyk Black Madonna of Częstochowa will hear the calls of those with depression, one who is searching to fill the void, women with fertility & menstruation issues, & people that need her guidance. She is a healer & the light at the end of a dark tunnel although she appears blackened & burned by fire she is filled with answers. Can be used to connect to Black Madonna through ritual & mediation work. . . . #blackmadonna #madonna #czestochowa #ourladyofczestochowa #ourladyofczęstochowa #witch #healing #witchcraft #relic #slavic #witchery #spells #witchesofig #witchylife #altar #witchythings #amulets #talismans #devotional #icons #icon #saints #moontime #rosary #rosaries #witchesrosary https://www.instagram.com/p/Coh5GCFpMEO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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returning-to-her · 1 year

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What do you believe men exist for? After all, if they were unnecessary they wouldn't have evolved to exist. I ask this from a spiritual and physical perspective.

Physically, men are needed for procreation. They are useful for physical labour that requires a lot of strength and power.

I think this is the biological extent to their contribution to society. Women can and do everything else along with physical labour.

Spiritually, I don’t know. I’m not a man so I cannot dive into this expression. You would have to ask them. I do have theories:

Women from a creation point of view (biological and spiritual) are receivers, nurturers, teachers, communicators, healers, and leaders. We receive the sperm and grow it in our womb. We receive the baby and latch it to our breast to feed. We nurture our children, teach them about life, heal them when sick, and lead them into full human adults. So we can take that into society as large as spiritually. We can receive, teach, heal, etc as social leaders and in the divine sense, through life, death, and rebirth. Hope, faith, communion with something larger than ourselves is done through our connection to our divine creator: Mother Nature.

Men from a creation point of view share many of the same traits. They can nurture, teach, communicate, heal, and lead. They are not receivers in the physical sense but putters (for lack of a better word). They put the penis in the vagina and put the sperm into place to find the egg. Their reproductive anatomy is partly external. Women’s is highly internal. Put/ receive. (I really need to find a better word).

But that does not mean women can’t put and men can’t receive in other areas of life. It does mean, in my opinion, that there is a biological component to our emotional, mental, and spiritual lives. Men and women are different. How the specifics play out, I don’t know. I may be making this too specific as it is.

It’s messy, not black and white at all, but I do think it is part of the discussion - how our biology affects our existence as a spiritual, physical, human being.

I hope that answers your question.

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