Dear Wise Women,
It is early in the morning, and I am sitting at a campground near Tofino gazing at the forest. I am awe struck by the beauty and the wisdom that is seeping from this ancient land and the trees growing upon it. My husband and 13-year-old are asleep in the tent, and I am sipping my morning coffee while being warmed by the fire.
I notice the array of contrasting emotions flowing through me. I feel immense gratitude to be able to be here and sadness that so many do not have the freedoms that I do. I feel steadfast and on purpose as well as wobbly and uncertain about my next steps.
I look up from my screen and I am reminded of something I was taught a while ago - the simple yet profound practice of softening the gaze and receiving through the eyes.
Let’s practice this together:
Look around you.
Look at what you see (a plant, a piece of furniture, a window).
Just look at it the way you normally do.
Perhaps you notice the mind is labelling it as “that’s a table”, “that’s a pen”.
Notice the active and outward direction of energy that flows from your mind to what you are seeing.
Now, soften your gaze and reverse the direction of the energy flow.
Allow the images in front of you to come to you through your eyes and allow the mind to receive.
Do you notice the difference?
One way of looking is not right or better - they are just different. One is active and one is passive. One is yang and one is yin. When we look outward, we are like the sun; when we receive inward, we are like the moon. One is the masculine way and one is the feminine way.
We need both ways and we need these energies to be balanced.
It is not the masculine energy that is the problem in our world, it is the imbalance of masculine and feminine.
With this awareness, I invite you to deepen into the sanctuary and respite of our feminine gatherings. Let yourself receive and be filled. There is nothing you need to do, just relax and feel into the sacred chalice we are creating and, through this vessel, allow yourself to see with new eyes as we reveal the truth about light and dark.
I am not sure about you, but I sometimes get confused about the way we speak about light and dark. In Chinese Medicine, light and dark (yang and yin) are revered as essential aspects of a continuous continuum. However, in everyday language and in many spiritual teachings, we often refer to the light as benevolent and dark as malevolent.
I believe there is a deeper truth about light and dark that I wish to explore within our Wise Women circles. It is my feeling that what we call “Divine Light” isn’t so much about light (as in the absence of dark) but is more about the energy of Divine Truth and the energy of Divine Unification…which is felt as radiant light.
I also believe that our insistence on turning away from the dark causes us to repress the powerful challice of creation that lies within each of us. And while it is true that evil forces exist, is our aversion to the creative essence of darkness somehow preventing us from clearing what needs to be cleared?
I think of a flower and how much focus we put on the beauty of the petals and overlook the power of the seed that sprouted in total and complete darkness.
For it is in the dark, that the seeds of all of creation are sprouted.
To honour this is to reclaim the feminine way.
I look forward to exploring this with you together in our circles.
Magical beings appear to me in the ancient forests at the Pacific Rim National Park
“Through observation and reflection, the Chinese witnessed the polarities inherent in the Universe and formulated the yin/yang concept. Everything is part of the whole, and although aspects may appear to be opposite, they are not polarized (as in our Western thinking) - rather they represent a continuum. Night cannot exist without day, light without dark, nor soft without hard. Yin represents inward, cold, dark, hidden, feminine and contracting qualities. Yang is outward, hot, light, expansive, and masculine. Their relationship is symbolized in the Taoist tai chi symbol of yin/yang: yin and yang continually transform into one another without end, where the possibility of yin (as seen in the dark seed within the white) is poised within yang, and yang within yin.”
“We each have within us both masculine and feminine energies. While your sex indicates what energies you chose to focus on in this life, we still embody both.
As we are coming out of 5,000 years of patriarchy, where the unbalanced masculine has been the focus, it is important to note that the unbalanced feminine can be just as destructive.
Just as the sacred feminine’s anger has been silenced through patriarchy, the sacred masculine’s ability to express emotion and recognize his divinity has too. As we recover from patriarchy, it is important not to aspire to its polar opposite - patriarchy to matriarchy. Rather, let’s bring the sacred masculine and sacred feminine energies back into balance. As the sacred feminine rises, may the sacred masculine rise along with Her.”
“A woman’s highest calling is to lead a man to his soul as to unite him with Source.
A man’s highest calling is to protect woman so she is free to walk the Earth unharmed”
— CHEROKEE PROVERB
“Joy is hiding when the divine feminine is in hiding. This is true for everyone. Waking up to the divine feminine begins by waking up to the social reality all around us. The dominance of masculine power is everywhere. Feminine power has been so suppressed that it seems to be in hiding. At the psychological level, when masculine values are considered. not only superior to the feminine, but the only route to power and success this imbalance is what makes life joyless. At the deeper spiritual level when the access to the divine feminine has been closed off and forgotten the path to healing is lost at the same time. Having seen reality in all these levels, social, psychological and spiritual, we’ve done enough on the side of diagnosis. Our greatest need is to locate in ourselves the level of healing within. Healing cries out to be our main focus and healing is always personal.”
- Deepak Chopra
From the 21 Day Meditation “Activating the Divine Feminine: The Path to Wholeness”
Available for FREE for a limited time at https://chopracentermeditation.com
The Seed
Beneath the surface of the earth
hidden in the dark
lies a secret.
A seed has been planted
yet no one walking up on the earth is aware it is there.
Silently
the feminine way transmits the code of life
and the seed gets all it needs
to open
to germinate
and to sprout.
A stem shoots up through the soil
and grows towards the sun.
The petals open
and gives thanks to the seed
never forgetting where it came from.
- Patti Wardlaw