Creative Flow and Mercury Retrograde

I am enjoying some deep and rich creative time during this artistic Mercury Retrograde. It is both firey and passionate and somehow settling too. I thought I'd share some pics of my current painting's creative process. Painting like this is new to me and I am being both consumed and called by Her, the great Feminine, to listen, learn and play. 

Happy Retrograde. At the end I'll post a link to an article that well describes the aspects many of us are experiencing at this momentous time.

Love and en-joy.

With some notes to myself, the evolution of a current work...

she started here. I called her Goddess of Recovery. 

She came into focus as a younger version of her here - this actually looks alot like I did in my earlier teen years. such an interesting process. Listening to Her from within. 

Later She matured and had lovely red hair coming in and flowing especially on the right.  

Hints of a turban also appear. I want to stay with Her here. so I do for awhile.

ok. big jump. she definintely wanted a turban.. I am learning to listen and open to intuitive painting, so of course I gave it to her. ....  

 and Inanna revealed Herself.

A turbaned woman appeared. Later I realized that the great goddess Inanna was coming through. It was months before I read she wore a turban. and also an eight-pointed star which these first impulses later evolved into. 

and here she sits for today. don't know where we'll go next or if it will be backwards or forwards. I keep listening. Allowing. Reflecting. I have alot to reflect upon. 

​with 13 moons appearing on the left, and the "light of just one candle" on the right.
the turbaned versions, only 2 of several posted here, are further affirmation of the Presence of Inanna.

unfinished. still in her early stages, but her story is emerging and I am following with the flow.

Unfinished.

from a link on the aspects we are feeling right now, very validatining. from the article...

"The current Merc Retrograde is showing artistic discovery." and it surely has been. I was painting untill 11:30pm last nite and up before 6am painting again. so yes, Indeed. ..

more from the article:

"Venus is so strong, we can allow her to take over and let crazy artistic temperament reign supreme."

Mercury stations retrograde on Propus, the star of Castors foot, which is supposed to be highly fortunate and give a life of eminence. William Herschel discovered Uranus close to this star, so this is retrograde of discovery! This is a wild, untameable, free-spirited area of Cancer. We find activists here and the brave and fearless. Sometimes they are barking-mad too…When Mercury turns retrograde of course, things do seem a little barmy. I think since Venus is so strong, we can allow her to take over and let crazy artistic temperament reign supreme. This is a nice benign, retrograde with plenty of scope for artistic inspiration and flirting with ideas (and people!). 

full article: http://darkstarastrology.com/mercury-retrograde/


update: 6.21

with her turban and stars I realized She was indeed reflecting my journey with Inanna, the great Goddess known for her initiative journey through the seven gates of the underworld and her eventual rebirth and physical resurrenction. I only this week read that she wore a turban. and also that the eight pointed stars that appeared in a later version not shown here are also a sign from Her Inanna. what a journey I am taking with this canvas.

Most recently she morphed and appeared into the reflection of a dear friend I lost recently who now shines on the other side. The journey of my healing of the past many years reflected and the current support I am receiving from Spirit, from Her, and perhaps even from my friend. I have been in touch with her soul but to connect with her this way through the canvas is another experience altogether. She is helping me to process and heal from her recent traumatic death.

Here She is as of today, unfinished, but reflecting my redheaded friend and a true Goddess/Angel on the other side. So tender is her new emerging. I am still working on this piece. This is transformative intuitive painting.

unfinished

unfinished "The Light of Just One Candle" 

this one was really my favorite, she is an angel, plays the harp, and this reflects who she is but still said she was not finished.

Below a more completed version. Except for some sweet bluebirds that also wanted to appear.
I love this Angel of Inner peace - it has been a deep communion with a friend's Spirit on the Other Side. with the Light of just one candle.

The inscription in the upper left corner is the Om Amriteswaryai Namah mantra, which means Salutations to the Immortal Goddess. Chanting or wearing this mantra is said to connect you with the power of the Divine Mother Herself. A true tribute to my friend who was a great healer, teacher, and also a great lover and embodiment of the Divine Mother Feminine Soul. She will be greatly missed. namaste ~ 

ASK AWAKENED JOURNEY: HOW TO HEAL OUR HEARTS WHEN SOMEONE WE LOVE HURTS US

Today's topic: broken hearts

Dear Awakened Journey: greetings. can you help me how do to fighting ill feel in our heart because somebody who we love, hurt us? - signed, maria

Dear Maria, we have to remember that people who hurt us are really hurting inside of themselves. they are projecting their pain outwards, and it has nothing to do with us. in other words, we practice compassion for them, and meditate/reflect to not take it personally. This is easier said than done, of course, and takes time. And in the meantime, we must also tend to our tender heart.

Find some moments to sit with self and Source, and cry. Express all and any feelings that arise when you are feeling your pain out loud. It may be necessary to find and share your process with a witness, a trusted friend or counselor as your witness is very important especially in early emotional recovery and healing.

But you may also set time aside to really sit with and feel your feelings yourself. Offer your heartbreak and also any anger to Spirit and at the same time, love and hug yourself. Find someone you also love who can embrace you while you grieve and heal b/c of your hurting.

Later, you may also need to set and maintain boundaries with the person who has hurt you if they continue with that behavior. But as you express the sadness and pain and let it flow, you will heal your heart.

Namaste dear Maria, and biggest hugs ♥

~ ~ ~

Have a question that needs answering to support your journey?

Send it to Alexa via Awakened Journey.

How to do it: Go to Alexa's page and drop a note in her mailbox - Put "Ask Awakened Journey" in the title bar

A reply will be posted with your first name or alias signature to protect your privacy if requested.

En~joy! and be well.

Kundalini Awakening

Kundalini Awakening this weekened. I am feeling like Mamma is Home.

What a deep and deeply reverent process. With the activation and then Earth energy climbing in and mixing so happily with the Energy Divine from the Crown. 

Feeling Kundalini entering my body is like being grounded on a whole new level. The Toltec and other Shaman see Kundalini in one regard as the winged snake Quetzalcoatal winding, the coiled serpent unwinding, and she has been moving up these past years and now from South into North America in deep green blessed ways.

Here and there and everywhere, She is guiding us, loving us, Awakening us to our Wholeness, and letting us know that She is here for Us. Let her enter and re-Awaken you to who You truly Are!

From the Earth, this bright or dark green energy can merge and mix with that from the Heavens. Golden at the top. Merging Earth and Sky.

Our great Divine Parents, Hers is pink and gentle, and Earth Mother's so deep and green and True. Holding and loving us forever, providing for us everything we need to live and dance on Earth.

namaste

Emergence and the Divine Feminine

[ my first painting will go here - here she is in progress]

It is the beginning of early Spring and such a deep and powerful emerging is happening now. The birds build their nests, new life and Birth can be seen all around us. And sometimes, the lessons of nature show loss with new life as well. My husband came upon a sweet hearted baby bunny yesterday. And within the hour my dog had escaped the fence and she was no more. Though saddened and heartfelt of course, I was somehow able to accept her great message as well. This beloved angel of nature showing me as she will that this is nature, and part of a greater design that we sometimes simply cannot understand or bear to witness. Yet we must. With honor too. My dog meant no harm when she took the baby into her playful smile. She carried the little body around like a toy, a prize, that her canine nature was abounded to do. When it fell from her mouth my husband took the sweet fallen body and buried it near our statue of St. Francis. So innocent. So pure.

She, this little one, will be back I am certain. And her short incarnation here, so innocent, so tiny, moved me in a very big way. She moved me to phone my mother, to reconcile, to forgive, to just let it go. And I did. And it feels wonderful. It as we are are oh so fragile! and so blessed and resilient too.

The Divine Mother force is awake and I can feel her moving me today - moving through me and with me, moving my motivations and even my limbs at this momentous time with every breath. I am so grateful to be alive, to be a part of, to be a part with, and to be blossoming today, even through a hard-felt journey. Letting go has been a powerful message for me as of late, and letting go into something newer, bigger, grander. It is personal too. A deeply personal process and sacred, so sacred, too.

It is hard to speak of really and yet I feel compelled to write. And like all spiritual Truths that want be shared, somehow not speaking of it somehow doesn't do either. So here I jot for the day.

I am also embarking (soon to begin) on a new painting class, my first. I fell in love for a short while with intuitive abstract painting many years ago now, I dabbled, and then abandoned it for want of a studio space to slop and mess. But I am giving that up today. And setting grateful acceptance and anticipation in a small and neat little corner of my home. I feel enlivened again at having found a divine feminine circle and women to explore and open with in this way, and an inspirational spiritual coach (painting teacher), extraordinarily called, with this today.

Here is a short share from my journal. Not the most exciting reading, perhaps, but I felt I wanted to update this blogspace even as I know I am moving away from it, letting it go as well, and making room for the Emergence of Her that is happening, not just stirring any longer, but taking form and moving so many many women at this auspicious time.

I feel like we are in a kind of denouement from the recent/current astrological Grand Cross configuration. And I am just making a quick note of this time in great celebration and welcoming to all that is today.

The past is over. Indeed. And a new Birth is occurring. And the unknown has never felt more potent, more poignant, and more, well, gently unpredictable. I don't know where we're going... as my husband once jested on the highway, ... but we're on our way!

Here's to New and Unknown but Divinely Femininely Guided horizons. I love you. ~~ namaste ~~

A Note from my journal today:

Following the Feminine. I feel an alchemy in process, an enlivening, a cracking of the shell, the great old egg, and the emergence of something radically new. A new direction. I feel that I cannot wait to splash!, to paint, to color, to write, to dance!, again, but like never before. The artist in me emerging, in a whole new deep and newly enlivened way. Whatever that may be. Moving with Her moving through me. Trusting Her and allowing Her to breathe me, again. And She is. To find and have Her voice like never before. It is happening. It feels so personal, and yet, she wants to have her say. At long long last, allowing Her to embody me, to guide me, to live through me, as She is coming to life again now through so so many of us women. 

I feel Her, with such reverence, deep gratitude, so much gratitude to be alive, and moving in these auspicious days and moments. with Her moving through me. through you. unique in each of us. and yet as One. The Feminine Soul. Is Alive and emerging. And we may all soon dance, as we are each beginning to now in each of our Feminine and uniquely faceted ways, Her dance. But in a whole new radical way. I am awed by my male friends too who are responding to this call with such recognition and honor. The beauty and grace of opening to a new, and a decidedly Feminine, unknown. namaste ~~

first painting in progress .
may 2014

OK. So here She is with words She spoke:
5/31/14 Fini

with Narrative, 6.4.2014

I am Eagle Feather. A Medicine Woman for the ages.

I bring vision, Oneness and the tender power of having 

walked through the other side.

I am vision. I am healing. I am love.

I hold compassion and Unity for the All.

I hear animal whispers in the wind,

and Sweet Mother Earth is my Guide.

For so many years I searched for her,

The Mother of my heart,

and all living things.

Lotuses blossom in the core of my Being.

I am You. You are Me. We are One.

I hold the space for Emergence, Oneness and Resolution.

And I Am Here. 

Alexa Eagle Feather, 6.14.2014

ASK AWAKENED JOURNEY: HOW TO HANDLE ANGER WHEN OTHERS ATTACK MY VIEWPOINTS

Today's topic: Dealing with Anger 

Dear Awakened Journey: How do you not let anger overcome you when dealing with ppl who have an opposite opinion & try to ridicule you for your opinion? - signed, spirit of capricorn

Reply:

Dear spirit, as you know, working with our anger is a lifelong learning and practice. We have to express our anger in order to release it, and the key (mastery) is to find healthy ways to do it.

Some people are not ready to embrace the fact that we have differing opinions and think that only theirs is "right". These people are great teachers, and great challenges, to us. Sometimes all we can do is to practice speaking our truth or opinion anyways and standing up firmly for that and ourselves. You can tell them with firm feet on the ground "I disagree. I feel that ... " and express your truth with integrity. You might also say, "I feel ... (hurt, angry, how you feel) when you attack me for my opinion, so I'm not going to discuss this further with you" and set a boundary. Setting boundaries out loud, and speaking our truth to the people, develops our inner strength and sense of self; and standing up for ourselves is also good for our health and self-care. When we do it we take our power back energetically. and then we can walk away. and honor the boundary that we set. Not always easy if/when the people are people who are in our everyday lives.

But express your feeling to them honestly and be prepared to walk away from arguing further about it. When we express out-loud that a person's attacks hurt and upset us, we are being response-able for our inner child and the place of our wound, aka, where it hurts. Then we can walk away and find people who accept us for who we are, and who are ready to have more healthy and conscious relationships with us, differing opinions and all.

It really is a trial and error process. But set boundaries as to what you will or will not take/take on. And if you need to get the anger out... find a sacred person or place to then express the rest of the full emotion. After speaking with the "petty tyrant" (teachers who push our buttons), you may have to go to your room and throw some pillows! and/or scream the words "Ughhh!!"or get the sounds out in order to move the rest of the energy through. It's also helpful to write or speak the words "I feel ANGRY that... (fill in the blanks)" and keep doing that until all or most of the anger (energy/emotion) is released (expressed).

So find a friend or person to share with afterwards who is safe to listen, or you can do it yourself through writing or shouting the words beginning with "I feel angry that...." It's kind of a combo of expressing our anger in healthy places and ways, and also setting boundaries with others who are not safe or conscious.

Namaste

~ ~ ~

Have a question that needs answering to support your journey?

Send it to Alexa via Awakened Journey.

How to do it: Go to Alexa's page and drop a note in her mailbox - Put "Ask Awakened Journey" in the title bar

A reply will be posted with your first name or alias signature to protect your privacy if requested.

En~joy! and be well.

Re-Emergence



good morning blessed friends on the path. this morning I am re-emerging, somewhat, after a 21+ day deep emersion sadhanna (spiritual emersion and practice) with the shakti goddess. January and this new year of 2014 are proving to be deep and powerful already. are you feeling it?  (slowly, slowly.)


I am on the surface now tapping into the rich deep soil that feeds me so lovingly this frozen winter morning. As the early morning opens outside sweet deer are foraging through the snow, and I am immensely blessed to witness them. yesterday I rested and cooked all day, a simple day, and it was bliss. There are no words to describe the power and depth of feeling whole and home and arriving as I begin my morning practice on this first day post-sadhanna held and awakened with new depth with the fullness of a shakti belly. I look forward to spending this bold new year with you. for now, I bid you a sacred awakening to the All, and a nestled winter day. love and Lak'ech ~ I am another you !!

Inanna No.3 by Liliana Kleiner - www.femininemoments.dk

Join me on Facebook ~~ let's share a depth-defying new year

Alexa Major - Awakened Journey 

Tools for Today: Are You Sure?



Tools for Today - Are you sure?
Great exercise for cleaning up erroneous perception...

I awoke early this a.m. with the burning desire to hold and meditate with my precious and powerful black obsidian shaman's stone. and then... I couldn't... find it!

Panicked inside, anxiety began to arise as I remembered that my enormous 10-month old lab-mix had "eaten" (or at least torn open and played with) a gemstone pouch that once held a couple of my stones. Had the black obsidian been inside? and was the stone, too large to swallow, now somewhere hidden or lost in the house, buried deep inside a secret corner or cushion as my dear lab often does with her treasures? or worse, had she carried it outside and lost it, as she loves to find rocks and carries them in and outside of the home in her large mouth?

Oh how I needed my special obsidian piece this morning. To help me with my morning meditation on peace.

I called upon my (our) beloved friend "Tony". St. Anthony, finder of lost things. He has never, and I mean NEVER, let me down with this. From run away dogs to parking spaces to just about anything precious that you just can't find but need, like keys or a treasured piece of jewelry, Toney comes 'round with some kind of inner prompting that always, always, leads me to what I am searching for, and more than once brought our previous dog Jersey directly home after a worrisome backyard escape.

This morning, I needed my precious obsidian stone.

I asked Tony to help with the simple words of calling: "Tony, Tony, please come 'round. Something's lost and must be found. Help me find my black obsidian today. And to let trust replace worry along the way."

I said to myself, Alexa, don't worry. You'll have all day to find it. It will turn up. Tony will show you. Trust. My impatient and insatiable need to fix it now stirred inside me. I had images of turning over every seat cushion, looking under each bed, and still, something said, "trust. don't worry. it is not lost."

And then, without needing the whole day to do it at all, I felt myself somehow led into my office. There I found a large carry-bag that I had recently taken on a trip to Florida. Inside of the bag... was the medicine pouch that contained 2 of my favorite and most helpful stones. Which included, of course, my gorgeous black obsidian.

It had only taken minutes. Maybe less. And I breathed a grateful sigh of joy and laughter.

I sat down on my knees and thanked dear Tony, the amazing and quite delightful magical Saint who had helped me. Again.

And then I remembered this teaching. Which I also love. It is the theme I am working with today. It is the Buddhist practice called "Are you sure?" ("Are you sure your stone is lost forever?") And it can be applied not only to everyday experiences in life, but also on the deeper places where we continue to heal and recover.

Here is that practice in a nutshell:

Tools for Today - Are you sure?

Great exercise for cleaning up erroneous perception...

Looking Deeply into Perceptions—Are You Sure?

Then we meditate on our perceptions. The Buddha observed, The person who suffers most in this world is the person with many wrong perceptions…. And most of our perceptions are erroneous. We see a snake in the dark and we panic, but when our friend shines a light on it, we see that it is only a rope. We have to know which wrong perceptions cause us to suffer.

Please calligraph the sentence, “Are you sure?” on a piece of paper and tape it to your wall. Love meditation helps us to learn to look with clarity and serenity in order to improve the way we perceive.

- Thich Nhat Hahn

I knew that black obsidian was my go-to stone for protection. From many energetic aspects. But in finding this picture today, I am not somehow surprised to see.. that it is also a fabulous stone for clearing up erroneous perception. Having been guided, this is the real lesson for me today.

Namaste ~*~

photo: Buddha om amulet obsidian - cross cultural protection, peace, perception ...
www.etsyBuddhists, OlympiaEtsy, WWWG