Tag: spiritual wellness

Luna’s Gone

The name change from Donna Lynn to Doña Luna was a sweet transition

for I did not feel connected to Donna , hearing I should not be using the

married name by a messenger of former …

My last Psychiatric Dr has an accent that created the Doner sound , and Beloved

was of her country , much better at speech , but I’m not sure of his comprehension

grasp of the nuances , of our English ….Donna Luna Moon was his name for me

and I expressed the repetitive double moon could be only 1 and I would loose an n

and pronounce it Doña ..( the computer adds the European inflection , which is part

of my ancestry as I know it ; Eastern Europeans Spanish on Dad’s side 🤔)

I’m so comfortable with it, children love the sound of Doña Luna , so I’m legally

going to change it …I deserve it.

Recalling the many years , induced mental illness deterred me from both the Sun

and the Moon …I pledged never again and to share my experience that it may

enlighten the uninformed of the tragic results .

Almost there , within days of beginning the final phase of clearing and pushing it

but knowing , I can, knowing I will be heard , knowing this cycle has ended but for

clarity and clearing … I’m am thus beyond grateful , to fully live life and the love

within and out lighting my way along side of Sun and Moon , who I never take

for granted as my master parents ..

Doña Luna is past ready to leap into life …yes 😎👍🏼😍🥳

©️

Blessings & Peace ,

Doña Luna 😘

Luna’s Gone , Mary Chapin Carpenter

www.youtube.com/watch

Just When You Think You’re Enlightened – Lion’s Roar

“Tower moments ” refer to the authentic issues , challenges and steps back

rising, spiritually can be , and sure did not and will never stop or end

my faith in Divine n Me …we are One and that’s Fact …

Still rocking it 😍🥰😘

©️

Blessings & Peace ,

Doña Luna

Temporary spiritual experiences can be helpful signs of progress, says Andrew Holecek, but they can also be traps.
— Read on www.lionsroar.com/just-when-you-think-youre-enlightened/

Hugs

The average length of a hug between two people is 3 seconds. But the researchers have discovered something fantastic. When a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind. The reason is that a sincere embrace produces a hormone called “oxytocin”, also known as the love hormone. This substance has many benefits in our physical and mental health, helps us, among other things, to relax, to feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety. This wonderful tranquilizer is offered free of charge every time we have a person in our arms, who cradled a child, who cherish a dog or a cat, that we are dancing with our partner, the closer we get to someone or simply hold the Shoulders of a friend.

A famous quote by psychotherapist Virginia Satir goes, “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” Whether those exact numbers have been scientifically proven remains to be seen, but there is a great deal of scientific evidence related to the importance of hugs and physical contact. Here are some reasons why we should hug::

1. STIMULATES OXYTOCIN

Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts on the limbic system, the brain’s emotional centre, promoting feelings of contentment, reducing anxiety and stress, and even making mammals monogamous. It is the hormone responsible for us all being here today. You see this little gem is released during childbirth, making our mothers forget about all of the excruciating pain they endured expelling us from their bodies and making them want to still love and spend time with us. New research from the University of California suggests that it has a similarly civilising effect on human males, making them more affectionate and better at forming relationships and social bonding. And it dramatically increased the libido and sexual performance of test subjects. When we hug someone, oxytocin is released into our bodies by our pituitary gland, lowering both our heart rates and our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for stress, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

2. CULTIVATES PATIENCE

Connections are fostered when people take the time to appreciate and acknowledge one another. A hug is one of the easiest ways to show appreciation and acknowledgement of another person. The world is a busy, hustle-bustle place and we’re constantly rushing to the next task. By slowing down and taking a moment to offer sincere hugs throughout the day, we’re benefiting ourselves, others, and cultivating better patience within ourselves.

3. PREVENTS DISEASE

Affection also has a direct response on the reduction of stress which prevents many diseases. The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine says it has carried out more than 100 studies into touch and found evidence of significant effects, including faster growth in premature babies, reduced pain, decreased autoimmune disease symptoms, lowered glucose levels in children with diabetes, and improved immune systems in people with cancer.

4. STIMULATES THYMUS GLAND

Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.

5. COMMUNICATION WITHOUT SAYING A WORD

Almost 70 percent of communication is nonverbal. The interpretation of body language can be based on a single gesture and hugging is an excellent method of expressing yourself nonverbally to another human being or animal. Not only can they feel the love and care in your embrace, but they can actually be receptive enough to pay it forward to others based on your initiative alone.

6. SELF-ESTEEM

Hugging boosts self-esteem, especially in children. The tactile sense is all-important in infants. A baby recognizes its parents initially by touch. From the time we’re born our family’s touch shows us that we’re loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still imbedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.

7. STIMULATES DOPAMINE

Everything everyone does involves protecting and triggering dopamine flow. Low dopamine levels play a role in the neurodegenerative disease Parkinson’s as well as mood disorders such as depression. Dopamine is responsible for giving us that feel-good feeling, and it’s also responsible for motivation! Hugs stimulate brains to release dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Dopamine sensors are the areas that many stimulating drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine target. The presence of a certain kinds of dopamine receptors are also associated with sensation-seeking.

8. STIMULATES SEROTONIN

Reaching out and hugging releases endorphins and serotonin into the blood vessels and the released endorphins and serotonin cause pleasure and negate pain and sadness and decrease the chances of getting heart problems, helps fight excess weight and prolongs life. Even the cuddling of pets has a soothing effect that reduces the stress levels. Hugging for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.

9. PARASYMPATHETIC BALANCE

Hugs balance out the nervous system. The skin contains a network of tiny, egg-shaped pressure centres called Pacinian corpuscles that can sense touch and which are in contact with the brain through the vagus nerve. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system – parasympathetic.

Embrace, embrace with your heart.~~

art: Dorina Costras

Matriarchies Are Not Just a Reversal of Patriarchies: A Structural Analysis by Heide Goettner-Abendroth

“”Matriarchies are not just a reversal of patriarchies, with women ruling over men – as the usual misinterpretation would have it. Matriarchies are mother-centered societies. They are based on maternal values: care-taking, nurturing, mothering. This holds for everybody: for mothers and those who are not mothers, for women and men alike.

Matriarchal societies are consciously built upon maternal values and motherly work, and this is why they are much more realistic than patriarchies. They are, on principle, need-oriented. They aim to meet everyone’s needs with the greatest benefit. So, in matriarchies, mothering – which originates as a biological fact – is transformed into a cultural model. This model is much more appropriate to the human condition than the patriarchal conception of motherhood which is used to make women, and especially mothers, into slaves.”

Will Bason

Matriarchies are not just a reversal of patriarchies, with women ruling over men – as the usual misinterpretation would have it. Matriarchies are mother-centered societies. They are based on maternal values: care-taking, nurturing, mothering. This holds for everybody: for mothers and those who are not mothers, for women and men alike. Matriarchal societies are consciously…
— Read on feminismandreligion.com/2020/02/16/matriarchies-are-not-just-a-reversal-of-patriarchies-a-structural-analysis-by-heide-goettner-abendroth/

9 Gates Opening

Urania Muse Gate of Inspiration Feb 8-9 ~ A Muse Gate opens every 40 days, every 40 degrees of the zodiac, 9 times each year. Whatever is blocking creative flow comes before the Gate to be let go. This is a time to dissolve body tensions that hold outmoded ways of thinking and feeling. Tension patterns that inhibit free soul expression are now released. As we breathe deeply (inspire) and move freely (yoga, tai chi, dance!) we shed old ways and become present to the power and possibilities of this new time. Most important now is to move the body and breathe. The breath is key; breath is chi, the holy spirit of the goddess Muse. 
Urania is the Muse of astronomy  and astrology, she brings new knowledge of the celestial bodies and the cycles of heaven important to us now. 
The Muse gates are 9 particular discrete degrees of the 360 degree zodiac. Each degree is a specific angle ensouled by an angel with its own signature of inflence. Astrology is digital and degrees are the digits we use. Strictly speaking, a Gate of Inspiration is open when the center or heart of the Sun is crossing the Muse Gate degree. So, according to this, the Urania Gate is open from 8:45 pm gmt Feb 8 until 8:30 pm gmt Feb 9 (3:45 pm 2/8 – 3:30 pm 2/9 eastern U.S. time). 
And yet, the Sun is more than a point of light, it is an orb that covers half a degree in the sky. So it may rather be that the Muse Gate is active from 1:45 pm gmt Feb 8 when the leading edge of the Sun enters the Gate until 2:30 am gmt Feb 10 when the trailing edge of the Sun leaves this Muse Gate degree. I would like to know which of these two possibilities is true, please share your experience if you would. 
Before considering more the unique nature of Urania, it might be good to mention that while this is her special day, her ‘season’ (period of special influence) extends for 40 days until the Spring Equinox when the Muse Thalia brings her note to the chorus. Also, we might make special note about Urania’s 4 year influence as we are in the last 4-year period of this 1981-2016 renaissance period which like the year has 9 phases corresponding to the seasons of the Muses, the planets and the lights on the sacred Tree of Life by which we are ascending now. 
The 9th light (counting upward) on the Tree of Life is the sphere of Chokmah or Urania, they rule the stars. The correponding 9th day of the Greek Mysteries is the day of Chokmah and the related Muse Urania. This 9th day (and 9th 4-year period) brings abundance through “the pourings of plenty.” Two great Aquarian urns are poured out, their waters provide nourishment to the world.” Then revelation comes through “the vision of the shining one.” Urania’s Muse Gate clears the way. 
To more fully understand the nature of the Muse Gates (and their fellow Solar Gates) we need to go back to the Druids and then come forward to consider the Native American Ghost Dance tradition.
“Their [the Druids’] chief deities were reducible to two – a male and a female, the great father and mother – Hu and Cerridwen, distinguished by the same characteristics as belong to Osiris and Isis, Bacchus and Ceres, or any other supreme god and goddess  representing the two principles of all Being.” – Manly P. Hall  
“The Druid God Hu was called ‘The Dragon – Ruler of the World, and his car was drawn by serpents. The Car of the Goddess Ceridwen  also was drawn by serpents.” – Albert Pike  
Serpents signify cycles and the separate cars of Hu and Cerridwen refer to the two primary cycles of the year, one solar and yang, the other lunar and yin. The Druid god Hu is identical with Og or Ock whose name means Eight and Oak. The word Druid comes from Duir, Celtic for oak and door. (Jesus says ‘I am the Duir’ 😉 ) Oak is the wood used by the Druids for their sacred fire at their 8 annual fire festivals. Doors are made from oak, burning oak at the “ock times” opens the psychic doors of the year. 
Then there are the 9 Gates of Inspiration that are sacred to Cerridwen, they make up the lunar sphere of the year. Queen Cerridwen has 9 maidens who alternate breaths to keep burning the sacred fire beneath her Cauldron of Inspiration. These 9 maidens, the 9 Muses, refer to the #9 harmonic of the zodiacal cycle. The Muse Gates are the 9 stations of the Muses or Gates of Inspiration that begin at Spring Equinox and occur every 40 degrees, approximately every 40 days through the cycle of the year. The oracle at Delphi was  consulted at these 9 times of the year. 
At the Gates inspirations flow freely and richly as we free ourselves from inhibiting psychic and physical tensions. This is the purpose of the Native American Ghost Dance among other traditional ways. I’ve found it useful to combine Celtic Druid and Native American teachings, they are of like nature and are complementary, mutually contributing to a greater, more inclusive and effective view.   
 
We might also consider more closely the nature of Cerridwen who is the Celtic incarnation of the great goddess Ceres or Greek Demeter, the mother of Persephone, our High Priestess and Lady of the Lake. Cerridwen stirs her magic Cauldron on the mystic isle in the west named Avalon, ‘the apple isle.’ 
Just as the mother goddess Ceres and daughter Persephone are one, so Cerridwen and our Lady of the Lake are one. And yet more than through Cerridwen, our Lady comes through 9 forms, 9 ladies of the lake that are well profiled in Caitlin and John Matthews book Ladies of the Lake. 
(GAIA astrology side note: Ceres / Cerridwen is 3rd ray, her influence comes through the trines in our charts, lines I believe by right should be green; Eris / Kore / Persephone is 7th ray but her influence is channeled through the Moon which has resonance with 9 – the magic square of the Moon is a 9 by 9 grid. So, the influence of Kore the Maiden(s) is felt most strongly through the 9th harmonic novile series of aspects that might be colored gray or a very pale shade of violet. These aspects are novile / 40 degrees), binovile / 80, trinovile a.k.a. trine / 120 and quadnovile / 160. We will be using these aspects more in our charts.) 
“In Greek Mythology Urania, whose name means ‘Celestial One’, was one of the nine younger Muses, and the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Urania is the goddess of of philosophy and astronomy (which in ancient times was the same as astrology). With her head held high in the infinite universe, she is able to divine the future by the arrangement of the stars. Those who are most concerned with philosophy, expansion of the mind, and the mysteries of the heavens are dearest to her.” ~ Emily Balivet
In the ancient world, Urania was known as the Muse of astronomy (one with astrology). Urania is depicted with a globe in her left hand, an important detail. She forecasts the future by the stars and shares this wisdom with us. Urania receives guidance from the heavens for the world. She is also considered a channel for Universal Love and the Holy Spirit that is by nature a spiritual fire. There is a close connection between Urania whose Muse Gate is in Aquarius and the planet Uranus that rules Aquarius and is often identified with Prometheus, the god who steals fire from the gods to give to mortal man. 
Now, at this Urania Muse Gate, it is time to hook up with Uranus the higher octave of our now beleagered Mercury mind 😉 Uranus and Urania encode our essential genius, the Promethean fire we’ve brought from the gods. This fire is our osob in Jung’s term (see Aion), the essence we are which when activated automatically by synchronicity attracts all that is needed to fulfill its purpose on Earth. The activation time is now. Uranus and Urania rule astronomy, astrology and the global internet. These aspects of our knowing are evolving quickly in tandem now. We are awakening in a world where all things are possible. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door is opened, a s k. 
Urania holds a globe of the world, this reminded me of this wonderful little poem by my friend Will Bason:
We are the white
and blue-green planet
spinning to the East and
circling, circling
Our beloved, golden Star
The beautiful sister
twirling around and holding
Moon for a mirror
dancing the helix and
singing the Universe
  – Will Ashe Bason, Floyd VA
Many images of Urania can be found on the net. I chose this one for its rich symbolism: the owl a creature of Athena, the goddess that co-rules Aquarius with Uranus; the Cauldron and Urania 9-star tiara that aptly represents her and her sister lights of inspiration. 
 
~ Urania, Emily Balivet

Period

A must-read. Yes, everyone.

“The dude on Twitter says: “I was having sex with my girlfriend when she started her period, I dumped that bitch immediately.”

Dear nameless dummy on Twitter:

You’re the reason my daughter cried funeral tears when she started her period. The sudden grief all young girls feel after the matriculation from childhood,

And the induction into a reality that they don’t have to negotiate,

You and your disdain for what a woman’s body can do.

Herein begins an anatomy lesson infused with feminist politics

Because I hate you.

There is a thing called the uterus.

It sheds itself every 28 days or so, or in my case every 23 days,

I’ve always been a rule breaker.

That’s the anatomy part of it, I digress.

The feminist politic part, is that women know how to let things go,

How to let a dying thing leave the body,

How to become new, how to regenerate,

How to wax and wane, not unlike the moon and tides,

Both of which influence how you behave, I digress.

Women have vaginas that can speak to each other,

And by this I mean, when we’re with our friends, our sisters, our mothers,

Our menstrual cycles will actually sync the fuck up.

My own cervix is mad influential,

Everybody I love knows how to bleed with me.

Hold on to that, there’s a metaphor in it.

Hold on to that.

But when your mother carried you,

The ocean in her belly is what made you buoyant, made you possible.

You had it under your tongue when you burst through her skin,

Wet and panting from the heat of her body,

The body whose machinery you now mock on social media,

That body, wrapped you in everything that was miraculous about,

And then sung you lullabies laced in platelets,

Without which you wouldn’t have no Twitter account at all motherfucker.

I digress.

See, it’s possible that we know the world better

Because of the blood that visits some of us.

It interrupts our favorite white skirts,

And shows up at dinner parties unannounced,

Blood will do that, period.

It will come when you are not prepared for it;

Blood does that, period.

Blood is the biggest siren, and we understand that blood misbehaves,

It does not wait for a hand signal, or a welcome sign above the door.

And when you deal in blood over and over again like we do,

When it keeps returning to you, well, that makes you a warrior.

And while all good generals know not to discuss battle plans with the enemy,

Let me say this to you, dummy on Twitter;

If there’s any balance in the universe at all,

You’re going to be blessed with daughters.

Blessed.

Etymologically, bless means to make bleed.

See, now it’s a lesson in linguistics.

In other words, blood speaks, that’s the message, stay with me.

See, your daughters will teach you what all men must one day come to know, That women, made of moonlight magic and macabre,

Will make you know the blood.

We’re going to get it all over the sheets and car seats,

We’re going to do that.

We’re going to introduce you to our insides, period

And if you are as unprepared as we sometimes are,

It will get all over you and leave a forever stain.

So to my daughter:

Should any fool mishandle that wild geography of your body,

How it rides a red running current like any good wolf or witch,

Well then just bleed, boo.

Get that blood a biblical name, something of stone and mortar.

Name it after Eve’s first rebellion in that garden,

Name it after the last little girl to have her genitals mutilated in Kinshasa,

That was this morning.

Give it as many syllables as there are unreported rape cases.

Name the blood something holy,

Something mighty, something unlanguageable,

Something in hieroglyphs,

Something that sounds like the end of the world.

Name it for the war between your legs,

And for the women who will not be nameless here.

Just bleed anyhow,

Spill your impossible scripture all over the good furniture.

Bleed and bleed and bleed on everything he loves,

Period.

~ Dominique Christina, ‘The Period Poem’

http://www.dominiquechristina.com

Art by Helen Claira Burt

IG: @hellies.goddesses

http://www.helenclaira.redbubble.com