March 8, 2015 – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY


I have a string of ‘prayer flags’ that I cherish – six flags representing the six stages of woman and known as Sacred Woman, Sacred Earth flags.

They are archetypes . . . The Divine Girl Child, the Blessed Maiden, the Sacred Mother, the Wise One, the Holy Old Woman, and the Beloved Earth”. One image on each flag.

Notice that Beloved Earth is part of the thread, and the last stage of woman. The image on this flag, picture it if you can, is of planet Earth held within the trunk of a tree and a woman in child pose in the ground under the tree, entwined by tree roots.

It is an image that gives pause for thought.

Woman and Earth are as one. The connection becomes clearer. Both give birth. Both hold the seeds of new life within their womb until that seed ripens into a beautiful thing – a gift to the world. Mother Earth and ‘Sacred Mother’ are kin.

It is no secret that the gender that births life is the last to willingly waste it. Unless we have been taught to bury that part of us that knows all life is sacred, our first impulse is to nourish it in any form.

The brutality and devastation that is being waged against planet Earth today, is no different than that being waged against women the world over. And I have no doubt that those two wars are, in reality, one.

When our society learns to not just respect, but to cherish women, it will also respect and cherish Earth and all her systems. But to accomplish this is no small mission. To accomplish this we must turn fear and rage into love and compassion.

That repeating cycle of fear-based living and subjugation is passed down through generations. It desperately needs our love to open those hearts, and our prayers to send angels of peace.   Love trumps fear every time.

Are you up for it? Each time you hear or read of women oppressed, act on it. Yes, sign the petitions, but also send love and strength to these families. Do not send sympathy. That is not what is needed. Strength, understanding and deep wisdom are called for.

As I look at my prayer flags, I notice the irony in them. The girls and women depicted have strong aboriginal characteristics and dress. And it is our country’s native women who are most at risk of violence. How heart breaking. Those closest to the wisdom of Mother Earth are most vulnerable.

In the long list of ‘issues’ that Canadians face in this year’s federal election this one is considered a ‘women’s issue’, somehow relegating it to a subdivided status of lesser importance.

It is not merely a women’s issue. There is no subdivision. Violence in any form, against any thing: women, children, minorities, animals, or Earth itself is a kind of terrorism inflicted secretly, powered by ignorance, fear, rage and lack.

We must shine a light on this darkness and call it what it is. In this country, in this century it is shocking that we can refer to it as a mere women’s issue.

Amnesty International is calling for an all-party, nationally broadcast leaders’ debate on this before the fall election. I signed a petition to support this and I invite readers to do the same.

Visit: http://www.care2.com/news/member/762287222/3854582 and click on ‘visit site’.

Taking action, even in this small way, empowers us and makes us at least a small part of the ‘solutions’ contingent. It is a way for us to stand with our sisters – our Divine Girl Children, Blessed Maidens, Sacred Mothers, Wise Ones, Holy Old Women, and our Beloved Earth, in compassion and collaboration.

Empathy, patience, and collaboration, combined with nurturing and intuition, are qualities of the feminine. It’s what women do best. Is it any wonder that Earth is in an unholy mess after surviving millennia of patriarchy?

Gather the women for the shift in consciousness that has been named “The Great Turning”, along with the men who share these qualities (and there are many) to unite with open hearts and souls in healing our planet.

Untapped source of peace,
Women in circles,
Women connecting
Women together
Bringing the sacred feminine, 

 Maternal instinct, sister archetype
Mother power
Into the world.

                                                                                -- Jean Shinoda Bolen