Saturday, June 10, 2017

Transformation and the Return to Divine Feminine Retreat

Return to the Divine Feminine Retreat
Himalayan Institute - Honesdale, PA.
June 1 - 4, 2017

Return to the Divine Feminine Retreat was about transformation.  Before leaving for the retreat, I had felt so strongly the energy of change for this wonderful group of 23 (including me).  I couldn’t articulate it but change was undoubtedly in the air.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s a process.  There were a lot of messages of change throughout the weekend.  We had the beautiful messages of transformation with symbols starting with a rainbow followed by butterflies, deer, snakes and ending with the luna moth on the very last night.

For our Retreat Goddesses, transformation happened in four stages.  Return to the Divine Feminine Retreat was centered on exploring and working with Lunar Medicine.  Each day we moved through each of the moon’s phase to bring us into balance with our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional being.

On Thursday, we set our intention for the weekend.  We worked with the Greek Goddess Artemis – the huntress…the protector.  We stated what we wanted to receive for ourselves…why we decided to attend the retreat.  Cosmically, we were under the Waxing Moon.  However, this is my interpretation as to how the weekend unfolded.  For me, this first day is our New Moon phase.    The new moon cycle is a time to set your intentions for what you desire…for what you want to create and bring into your life at that moment.  We vocalized our intention individually.  My intention for the weekend was to tap into deeper in my soul’s purpose.  For validation that I’m listening to the guidance provided to me by my guides and the Universe and where do I need to focus at this moment to serve for the highest good of all.   We then created a group intention meant to be carried on after our time together.  We created Our Goddess Creed.  This group exercise was not only a great ice breaker but a chance to talk to each other and listen to each other to recognize we all have the same wishes and dreams…we are ONE collectively!  This empowering exercise set the motion for our time together in love and compassion for each other.  We were greeted by a rainbow at the end of the exercise.  Magical beginning to our sisterhood!

On Friday, we participated in activities which helped us dig deeper and closer to our truth.  The activities were designed to peel another layer of our false belief system.  We worked with the energy of the Egyptian Goddess Isis…the goddess of magic, healing and motherhood.  The tools we used were to assist in the healing and growth process.  This is our Waxing Moon phase.  The waxing moon cycle is about action and growth.  It’s a time where the result will come about by action.  The waxing moon cycle is a great time to create momentum.  The day’s activities definitely created that momentum in a safe and loving way for the path of healing.  Sound healing through mantras and the crystal singing bowls played a key role for this opening of change.  We started the day by moving disharmonious energies through chanting mantras to Ganesh, the Goddesses and the Sun.  Following mantra there was a yin yoga practice with the crystal singing bowls.  The crystal singing bowls too help clear unwanted energies on a cellular level and bring us into balance and harmony.  Our Yin Yoga class consisted of a series of long-held, receptive floor poses for the lower part of the body—the hips, pelvis, inner thighs, lower spine. Yin Yoga helps strengthen our connective tissues.  The lower part of our body is rich in connective tissues. The poses were held for up to five minutes.  Yin Yoga paired with the crystal singing bowls calms and balances the mind and body; reduces stress and anxiety; increases circulation; improves flexibility; balances the internal organs; and improves the flow of chi or prana (life force energy).
An afternoon hike in the woods was planned to help ground and move the energy through our physical bodies and hand it over to Mother Earth for transmutation.  Being in nature always brings us peace and joy.  We had a visitation from a deer on the hike.

After the hike, we got together for an Earth savasana – final rest on Mother Earth.  This was a time where we brought all the morning activities together for release and clearing.  We went around the group for circle time to share anything we felt called to share.  I didn’t have words for what I was experiencing as our time together unfolded by minute, by hour.  The only way I knew how to express my feelings was to tell them that I wish I can open my heart for them to see the love I saw and was witnessing within this group.  A fellow Goddess Sister shared with me afterwards that when I had expressed that she had a vision of Hanuman – the Vedic monkey deity representing devotion, loyalty, leap of faith and selfless service.  The vision of him as depicted in the scripture, The Ramayana, of his chest open with his love and devotion to the Divine.  I didn’t even connect the dots there…I embodied Hanuman energy at that moment.  I have been chanting the Hanuman Chalisa ( a 40-verse devotion) for EXACTLY a year at that very moment in time.  Another magical message supporting my intention!

On Saturday, we were experiencing our Full Moon phase.  The full moon cycle is the high tide of power – where the energy is amplified, juicy and creative.  It is a time to release which no longer serves you.   We again, started our day with mantras to Ganesh, the Goddesses and the Sun to support our day of embracing our fullness and transformation.  Our morning yoga practice was centered on the snake as a symbol for transformation.  We embraced the energies of the Dark Goddess, Medusa and the powerful Divine Masculine, Lord Shiva.  Embracing our shadow or dark self is crucial to complete acceptance of us.  As humans, we possess both the dark and light bodies.  But often we suppress the dark side because it’s not an acceptable expression of us in our society.  However, if we ‘make friends’ with our shadow self then we can harness the energy with our light self and be in communion instead of resistance with our whole being.  Lord Shiva is the Master of Yoga and the Transformer or Destroyer.  He too is depicted with a snake coiled around his neck three times representing the past, present and future.  In the picture below, Victoria and I are holding an actual snake skin.  Hello, Change!  We’re ready!  Bring it on! 

We honored the Divine Feminine energies of Mother Mary, Lakshmi, Durga, Kali, Saraswati and Quan Yin along with the Divine Masculine energies of Jesus and Lord Shiva in the afternoon by creating what I call the Luna Rose.  The Luna Rose is a 54 bead mala (similar to the 54 bead rosary) with the moonstone gemstone to symbolize moon medicine.  I love all religions and traditions of the world.  I love to honor God and Goddess energies through prayer or mantra – I’m a chanter.  So to bring all prayers in one place is not only deeply powerful but it also represents unity to me of all people regardless of their religious background.  WE are ONE!  The Luna Rose consists of Vedic mantras to honor the Moon Goddesses and Lord Shiva along with the Hail Mary to honor Mother Mary and Glory Be and Our Father to honor Jesus.
              
The Luna Rose is a beautiful practice to honor both the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine uniting two very important religions to me personally - Christianity and Hinduism.  I have a DEEP divine connection to both religions.  It’s my way to honor both together without separation.

Transformation mantras and practices require movement!  We concluded our evening with a fire ceremony to release what we wish to let go of…which we are ready to say goodbye to…we did this with dance!  What better way to release unwanted energies stuck in our body? Dance by sacred fire.  Fire is the element of change, release and transmutation.  We were unleashing our inner goddess by singing, dancing, drumming, laughing and making s’mores.

After the sacred fire ritual, my New York Soul Sister, Julie and I went to pack up my crystal singing bowls.  As I went to pick up my last bag, a green flying thing got my attention…I had NO idea what it was.  I took a picture of it as it stayed on the glass window until I was able to capture the picture.  Upon returning from the retreat, we found out – thanks to Google – it is a LUNA moth!  Really?  Any more magical symbols from the Universe needed to capture how WONDERFUL and how DEEPLY nourishing the weekend retreat was. The final message by the Universe supporting my intention this weekend.

Luna Moths represent change. Most common is an anticipation of change - either change your life or your life will be changed – active or passive. Whichever way you prefer but change will occur.
According to https://exploredeeply.com/live-your-purpose/luna-moth-full-moon-spiritual-significance-of-signs-that-appear-in-our-livesthe Luna Moth may be considered one of the most spiritual and mystical of animal totems.
To meet one is a special gift, for when she is in her adult moth stage she only lives for approximately one week. While living through their adult moth life they do not eat, for they have no mouth. One might say that their purpose is to reproduce, but I say it is to Love.
They are born, they transform, they love, they die, and then are again reborn. Their cycles are short, as are our years while we are here. We are reminded to make the most of our moments and to live and love to the fullest.

She is most often seen in the evenings, attracted to the moon and to light.  She speaks of our connection to the Feminine, our inner spirit, and our trust in us.

We learn of the importance to find the balance between light and dark, the seen and the unseen. She is a reminder that when all is said and done, our healing and sense of love are the ultimate journey. The releasing of our past patterning and attachments can very much feel like we are being torn apart from the inside, a painful death of our very comfortable caterpillar body, we were used to crawling on the ground and eating our way through our emotions.  Then on the other side of this confusing and gut wrenching loss of self, we emerge with wet wings, no longer do we crawl, our legs have been transformed, no longer do we munch our way through life, we fly almost effortlessly, and sip nectar from the blossoms of flowers.

This is the ascension process of our Highest Self. You must surrender completely and trust that some intelligence higher than self is guiding you through this process into complete rebirth and freedom.

Luna Moth Oracle: Protection and success. Face your inhibitions as this is a time of abundance and success, and you are greatly protected in all activities. 

Luna moths also signify rebirth and new beginnings as they represent a continuing quest for truth and knowledge, gift of intuition, psychic perception and heightened awareness. I suppose these things are associated with “seeing the light”.

On our final day together – our Waning Moon phase – we called in the nurturing and loving energy of Goddess Lakshmi – the Goddess of Abundance, Love, Health, Peace and Fertility.  The waning moon cycle is a time of introspection, reflection, slowing down, sitting with your emotions, being vulnerable, and doing less.  We had our final gentle yoga practice together.  We then had a deeply profound group exercise dividing the women in three groups they felt called to join – the Maiden, the Mother or the Crone.  We asked each group to go along the property and gather what symbolized their group and to share their wisdom with the rest of us in our circle time.  The wisdom bestowed on us was beyond what my heart and soul could contain.  Each group showed deep reflection…showed transformation and growth…showed unity in sisterhood within each other…showed enlightenment.  I was in complete awe of what was unfolding in front of my eyes. 


We closed out with circle time filled with tremendous love and soul connection.  We laughed and we cried.  We established sisterhood – a bond that will last forever.  

Thank you, Universe, for bringing us all together in unity.  Thank you for reminding us of your support for us in the form of the rainbow, butterfly, deer, snake and luna moth.  Transformation happens in stages and we were reminded of this throughout the weekend.  Thank you to the wonderful Himalayan Institute for being our safe haven for the four days we were together! 
Our united love and gratitude for Luna, the Moon Goddesses, the Divine Masculine, yoga and sisterhood connected us and allowed us to be in our authentic self safely for clearing, healing and growth. 

With gratitude
Peace, Love and Light to All
Namaste



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