The Comfort of a Divine Mother

 

 

 

There is another way to feel protected, along with pleas to Creator.  There has to be a heavenly mother, I believe, and it comforts me to think such.  There are many Goddesses that I turn to when I feel a need for more.  Many believe in Mary as the mother figure.  As any mother, she would nurture and comfort me when all else fails.  During this covid living and dying, I feel a need for such comfort as a mother might give.  There are many mothering Goddesses for me, and others who seek such, to turn to.

Yemaya is a mother Goddess of West Africa, is considered mother of All and has a strong connection with the Virgin Mary.  Demeter is a Greek mother Goddess who is the Goddess of the harvesting we have just done.  She is said to have gone to the depths of the underground in search of her lost child and rescued it.  It is believed she will help us sustain and be rescued from such as is on the Earth today.  The Norse\mother Goddess, Frigga like most mothers, is the peacemaker and the mediator in times of travail.  I need her right now, to strengthen my will to accept the changes one needs to make in order to be safe right now.  Juno, an ancient Roman Mother Goddess watches over our home and families as a protector of all domesticity.  In Egypt, the Mother Goddess was Isis.  She was believed to be mother of a powerful god and believed to be the mother of every Pharaoh that ruled over Egypt.  She, too, seems to have been accepted as the embodiment in Mary, the mother of Jesus.   Gaia, the Greek Mother Goddess, was seen as the Mother from which all life springs.  The is believed to be the Great Earth Mother.  And, of course, there is Marry and her many labels and names who is the Mother Divine. 

No matter the name, finding a connect ion with a Mother Goddess can bring one comfort.  To me, the Mother Goddess represents All-loving, All-compassion, All nurturing.  By any name, we can call on her for deep personal comfort and compassion, for strength a \mother Goddess can bring to us.  Some women create their own Goddess.  I choose to include many aspects of the Goddesses when I most need solace.  Perhaps even my Muse, as I do my art, is a type of connection to a feminine inspiration.  I try to keep thoughts of Her even when I fix meals, and the gratitude for the food we eat.  I keep her in mind when I collect medicines, in a traditional way.  I evoke her in my home when I feel tension or negativity arising in my home.  I have a small altar that The Bee Man built for me and I place crystals that have significance to me, on the altar, along with other small elements of evoking blessings upon my soul.  To me, the Goddess, in any form, exudes infinite love the drawn on when my body, mind, heart and soul feel weak or in need of comfort or nurturing.  It is my way of connecting to the Divine Feminine and appease me as a mother would. 

©Carol Desjarlais 10.30.20

 

May Serenity Surround Us

 

 

 

 

This new way of being is wearing us down, I am sure.  We are trying to find personal ways of being in this pandemic.  Our world has changed.  We have been forced to change to meet those changes.  No matter how long this last, there will be some changes that dissipate, but some changes will stay.  How do we know what to let go and what to keep?

They way we coped before this is not working.  So many can not sustain this isolation and, yes, for some, fear.  We are finding gems within;  gems of needs and new kinds of challenges, but, also, some kind of fragments of hope, of volition, of strategies that are new to us in coping with this thing we know so little of.  We are finding out what we can adapt to, what we drag our feet about, and some may feel anger and move towards conspiracy theories that express how much more vulnerable than we really are.  How we cope and care for ourselves is paramount.  I refuse fear.  I dream of summer and summer flowers and summer freedoms and I look forward and keep my eye on that rather than slump like last summer’s flowers into lost hope and positive growth.  Now is the season for growing within. 

No matter your view on the pandemic, please take care of you and yours.  Go and do what needs doing and then go to the safety of your home.  Do whatever it takes to cope with this new way of being.  Do not deny that you are feeling anxious, stressed, rebellious, distressed.  Such big changes beg for big kinds of coping.  We are not in control, and when human beings feel that they are not in control, it is easy to feel angry and acceptance and surrender is difficult for most of us.  We do not know when this will end, or if it will.  We do not know what the ‘new normal’ is going to be when it does.  All we can do is stay present, take care of ourselves and ours, and try not to let yesterday’s burdens fall into our today and tomorrow.  I try to distract myself with art, then another project, and refuse to let myself get bored.  Boredom is dangerous right now.  I try to stay connected, especially with one lose friend, and we may go out for coffee or stop in on each other and we have had such good long talks like we have not before.  I have my field trips that have now ended and so I am looking towards finding something else to do that keeps me connected outside the home.  I am expecting my daughter and granddaughter for a week and I am already looking forward to having two single brothers coming for Christmas.  Little things mean a lot. 

In the end of all this, what will stay long after Covid dissipates is that we have some kind of hope, some kind of gratitude, some kind of faith that has helped us get through.  We are resilient beings. That has to remain.  I am working on that, as well.

©Carol Desjarlais 29.10.20

I did this painting and left it for days because I was so worried about the hair.  Then, Annette Gutierrez suggested doing something different by adding things like gems, etc.    It sparked my imagination and here she is. 

 

 

 

The Pheasant

 

 

 

I have been working on this painting for months, on and off.  I wanted to send it to a brother for Christmas this year as it will be his first Christmas without his dear wife.  The pheasant does not have much for flight, sand so is grounded as it is, as we all need to be, when you lose someone so dear, you are not grounded for a time, sometimes a long time.  It is not that, in the right time, for the one who has lost someone so dear, we do not sense a few moments of flight, but it tends to be short and unsustainable.  We do find our way to grounded balance, a new balance, eventually.

The pheasant has moments of showing off its colors, and, yet, it is mostly humble and hidden in the grasses if it feels the need to.  When it enter someone’s life, others notice you because of your deep strong spirit.  Pheasant is a gift of humble creativity, and, oh, my brother, this is so you.

Although the pheasant has a wild side, it is gentle on the inside, very heartfelt and very authentic.  My brother never pretends he is other than he is, and his authenticity is beautiful.  He knows when to share his gifts, and it is always for others that he shares, not for himself.  He is a quiet good man, this brother of mine. 

His life has shown him who he is and who he wants to be.  His Present is full of heart and his lover for his wife was deep and full of laughter and humor and deep deep love between them.  I am sure she visits him often as he often visits her since the pheasant has the ability to do both and to help one move between realms for short times.  You know the messages and the meanings, brother, and she wil continue to contact you with secret messages and communication of guidance and support,

I love you and I know that this will remind you to soar when you should and remain grounded when you need to be.

©Carol Desjarlais 28.10.20