When Women Were Birds
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“Once upon a time, when women were birds,
there was the simple understanding that
to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk
was to heal the world through joy.
The birds still remember
what we have forgotten,
that the world is meant to be
celebrated.”
~Terry Tempest Williams
There comes a time when we must allow something timeless to touch us in order to truly change and move beyond our fixed attitudes and limited understanding of the mysteries of life. When it seems like all might end in disaster, it becomes a question of finding the deeper imagination of life, the enduring patterns and essential stories that reunite us to the pulse of nature and the heart of culture.” — Michael Meade
“In exile, we must do as the goddess Innana did, surrendering layer after layer of armour and adornment, until we are bare. We must then undergo a symbolic death of the old life in order to be reborn with greater resilience and a holy assignment to carry forward.
Excerpt from Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home by Toko-pa Turner (belongingbook.com)
Mass has been canceled here because of the threat of plague but the sonorous bells have been ringing all morning. It’s a comforting sound in its feeling of community and it’s calling to worship the mystery.
The world is a mystery to be celebrated, not used as a tool to make us rich, or even to just survive. It is to be seen in its beauty, recognized as a mystery and consciously celebrated. The mystic vision that goes into art and poetry is needed now. We need to develop a deeper imagination of life. Our imagination of things now is poor. It’s poverty stricken. We are commanded now by circumstances to look again, more deeply, more lovingly, with closer attention.
Slowing down, stopping our senseless rushing about is just the thing the world has lacked. We have long since wandered away from the “pulse of nature and the heart of culture.” Many among us are disoriented by this turn of events. We relied on our constructed habits and customs to give ourselves a sense that our life has meaning and direction. The realization has started to dawn…
