{ Volume XXIV, Number 6 } November & December 2009

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Long DanceMotherhood Five Steps forMaking ChangesIt’s Never Too Lateto Follow Your Bliss

Voices Around the Table:

Being ThankfulFour Children ShowThanksgiving’s Meaning

347 91011 12

{

Volume XXIV, Number 6

}

November & December 2009

A Publication of the Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo County

P a i n t i n g b y C a t h e r i n e K o s s a c k

Women’s Press

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December 2009 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

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Evelyn AdamsBarbara AtkinsonCassandra CarlsonMaryAine Cherry Kathleen DeragonBailey Drechsler Anne DunbarCynthia Fatzinger Ani Garrick Angela HendersonMargaret Hennessy Jane HillSusan HoweRoberta Youtan Kay Shirley Kirkes MarElizabeth McGregorMary Norby Sonia Paz Baron-VineBarbara Perry Anne QuinnRobin RinzlerLynda RoellerRenee SanteDawn WilliamsKaren Wood

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About This Issue’s Cover Artist

Courtney’s Quill

Courtney

Tis is my favorite time of the year. I lovehow the days get cooler, the hills turngreen, and holiday decorations begin toadorn homes across the country. I adorehow people seem cheerier and neighborscome over bearing homemade breads andcookies. And while it’s easy to get caughtup in the bustle of buying gifts, prepar-ing lavish meals, and feeling anxiety overour quickly diminishing bank accounts,I would encourage you to take a momentto slow down, look out the window, andappreciate the holiday season. Life seemsgood during these last few months of theyear.Tis is also the time when we beginto review our year. Some may feel accom-plished and pleased (I am so glad I nally put all those photos in albums!) while oth-ers wonder where the time went (how did Inot write even one sentence in my novel?). Whichever way your mind will wander, the writers in this issue have some advice foryou: Bobbe aylor (page 9) writes a won-derful article, letting us know that it’s nevertoo late to accomplish your dreams (thatnovel

will

be written one day!); JudytheGuarnera reminds us that children are resil-ient and the giving nature of humans isimmeasurable and commendable (page );and MaryAine Curtis gives us an easy way to change our lives, surely getting us ready for the New Year (page 7). All of our won-derful writers have such deep wisdom toshare. I am thankful for the persistence tomake

Women’s Press

one of the best newspa-pers in the county. We hope this holiday season brings youmuch joy, some time o to relax, and anabundant amount of love and cheer fromthose that surround you. But before I leaveyou, let me share some good news! Te nextissue of

Women’s Press

will look much dif-ferent. We are changing our format! Come January, we will have a 2 page, all color, ½ x  inch magnicent paper! We will bemore noticeable around town! Our voices will be a bit louder! We will continue tomake a change—just in a more colorful andexciting medium! I look forward to thesechanges, and I can’t wait to hear what youhave to say!Love and appreciation to all of you thisholiday season!B F B Welcome back to the circle. In this install-ment, I wish to address the healing proper-ties of sound within a particular container.By this I mean a reverberation which is“contained” either physically or metaphysi-cally within certain boundaries that reectenergies back to the source. As I have cov-ered in previous articles, we are directly aected by vibrations received. Particularfrequencies have the power to realign ourpersonal energies to promote healing andraise consciousness. Tis energetic shift ismore eciently accomplished when donein a space designed to accurately amplify and enhance rhythm. An example wouldbe one of the ancient temples where thearchitecture and décor were carefully calcu-lated to enhance the eect of ceremonies.Drumming priestesses of Greece, who cre-ated healing rhythms within such spaces, were called Melissas, meaning bees. After women’s drumming was banned, cathedrals were fashioned, usurping archaic sacredsites, taking great care with vocal acoustics. A modern version of this would be the con-cert hall, a predominantly secular setting,built on acoustic principles.But let us go back much further, to themost ancient temple sites known today, onthe masculine island of Malta (Honey),and the feminine sister island, Gozo (Joy).Tese temple ruins are so old that thestones, many lying in disarray, have wornto look like sponges. We can only guess asto the roofs which covered them. However,below the ground exists a honeycomb of chambers, hewn from the very rock, called

Drum Circle Magic

Part Nine:

Sacred Space/Time

the Hypogeum. Tese caverns have magicalreverberant properties, as witnessed by my good friend Christine, who recently experi-enced them.Due to the spiritual nature of theirretreat and the knowledge of their tourguide, her group gained access to chambersnot usually open to the public. Tere they meditated, chanted, and toned. She reportsintense, transformational spiritual feelingsfrom this practice. Later, when visiting the“Singing Stone” on the clis of Gozo, theisland where even modern churches reectthe feminine, Christine did us all proud. A local frame drummer was playing, the sun was shining, and each person was strik-ing the stone once. Christine went last andher turn became a duet with the drummeruntil her hand blistered. She then beganto dance, and being trained in hula andbelly dance, this must have been spectacu-lar. Te reverberation of stone with drumcreated the mood and metaphysical “con-tainer” for her performance, which becamesacred art, re-manifesting the energy of theGreat Goddess for whom all the temples were formed. Christine is normally a rathermodest soul. Such a spontaneous ceremony was indeed a transformation and a power-ful, spectacular gift to her audience. We all create sacred space when wefocus our drumming and /or chanting on aspiritual purpose with intent, thus reclaim-ing a potent healing tool. So, rememberthat you are Goddesses, resonate Love, andkeep the beat!

Photo by Kathleen Deragon

This Time Around

B K V onight in bedI stretched, then slid my toes alongside my calf and felt a new bump.Tey’ll keep sprouting up like little warts,the doctor said. Age bumps and age spotshow pretty and here I am, only fty.Tese small changes are signs of my fallinto declinepast the half-way mark already;but wait, I’m still that young girl inside who wished on starsand pretended tree stumps and roots werehouses with happy twig people in them.I need plenty of more timeas I barely know whom I am becoming yet.Even though time slowly seems to be run-ning outI’ll act as if it isn’tand still admire puddles like I always have,talk to my plants,toss cookies to “Puppa Dawg” in the yard,pray for the world,and be grateful for all the good thingsthat make this time around so wonderful.Te Women’s Fall Gathering is November 9th from -pm at Chumash Auditorium at CalPoly. Te gathering is intended for women at Cal Poly and women in the community tohave a chance to meet and discuss some of the hot topics aecting them presently. Issuessuch as furloughs. childcare, nances, etc. We will be meeting next week to discuss discus-sion topics. Te gathering will consist of lunch, table discussions and meeting new womenin the community. Contact

Women’s Press

for more information.Catherine Kossack is a third year Art majorat Cal Poly. Her work includes paintings,sculpture and photography. See more of her work and an extended bio on our website: www.womenspress-slo.org

November

December 2009 | www.womenspress-slo.org |

Women’s Press

Local Perspectives

Are You Locked in the Trunk of Your Professional Car?

Long Dance:

Highlight of the Spiritual Calendar

B A S Whenever I’m advising my clients or proté-gés, I often nd myself using a car analogy to describe what can transpire during thespan of our careers.Particularly if we start o as employ-ees in a large company, it’s not unusual todevelop an employee mindset in which wedo not ever learn to “drive” the company car.In fact, we may not even be able to seethrough the front window of the car—much less steer it—if the company does notsomehow involve us routinely in makingbusiness decisions. As employees, that’s theonly way we would be able to gain experi-ence in navigating the road.Based on my own experience and whatI’ve observed in many others, I feel the caranalogy helps compare dierent workingmodes in our lives. Tese modes may repeatand even overlap extensively. Tey areessentially neutral, as each avenue we pur-sue can serve us well at the right time. Tepoint is that during each shift, our mindsetsmust evolve to keep pace with the demandsof each new scenario, as explained below.• Employee mode can feel in some casesas if we’re “locked in the trunk of thecar,” unable to perceive where theorganization is headed. As employees, we can become conditioned to a feel-ing of passive security, where all majordecisions are made by others. In jobinterviews, we’re expected to passively respond to questions based on a rela-tively passive marketing tool, a résumé.• Contract mode is the next stage in theprogression where we take on work that has been outsourced by others.Since we are independent, we must atleast be able to able to see out of the“front window” of our metaphori-B  C PDTe nineteenth annual Long Dance took place the third week of September. A spir-itual and community event sponsored by the Church Of Empowerment, the cere-mony itself, as well as the days leading upto it, are full of excitement, sharing, joyfulcelebration and tears, wonder and aboveall, transformation. Tis is my fourth yearattending, and now I know that I willalways go, no matter if I continue to livein this county or not. It’s just an amazingoccasion, full of unexpected poetry, authen-tic connection, and a sweet spiritual inti-macy which I deeply value as a cornerstoneof our human journey. Approximately 00-0 women gatherfor a Medicine Way ceremony in whichthey dance, drum, sing, pray, and shareteachings all night from sunset to sun-rise near Lopez Lake. Men do participateas well, playing a key role in creating andholding the sacred space in safety, but theceremony itself is strictly women. And it’sbeautiful! Some things are just beyond words and the Long Dance experience isone of them. Nonetheless, I wanted to ask other women why they want to go if it istheir rst time, and why they keep comingback for more.

Tobey Crockett:

What are you mostlooking forward to about your rst LongDance this year? What are your hopes for what you will experience?

Shantel Beckers (frst timer):

For me Long Dance is about bringingforth the Divine Feminine in a support-ive community. I have spent most of my life fully engaged in the masculine (I’m atough tom-boy raised on a farm) and it’sonly been in the last six years or so that I’vecome to appreciate the beauty and powerof the feminine. Although this is my rstdance, I have met several of the womeninvolved and it is very apparent this is agroup who wants to support you on your journey. Everyone has made me feel com-pletely at ease and welcomed any questionsI may have. I am looking forward to hon-oring Mother Earth and learning from the wonderful women in this community.

Indi McCarthy (frst timer):

I have experienced only a little time with the Church in the Full Moon Circle,so my expectations are pretty broad in some ways. What makes it so exciting, though, isthat it might very well be a real opportunity to let go of my Ego for a time, surroundedby very capable and loving people. Rumi writes, “May the dissolver of sugar dissolveme just in time.” I am curious to see what will arise from that dissolved state.

Karin Leonard (ten plus years):

I was talking with an old friend whosaid that to her, Long Dance was aboutcal car, even if it only occurs from the“back seat.” o pursue new business, we might use brochures and similarproactive marketing materials, includ-ing proposals.• Consulting mode puts us even closerto being in full control of our vehiclebecause we are taking a trusted advi-sory role with our clients. Tis roleplaces us guratively in the “passen-ger’s seat,” where we can see the client’schallenges clearly and may even beholding the navigation map. o solicitnew business, in addition to othermarketing tools, we might rely moreheavily on proposals.• Entrepreneurial mode places ussquarely in the “driver’s seat” of the car,particularly if our goal entails buildinga self-propelled, turnkey operation thathires employees and can eventually run without our day-to-day involvement.In this mode, we and our team mustmake all risk-reward decisions, basedon a business plan or similar strategicplanning process.In conclusion, some of the most dra-matic shifts in life occur when we decide it’stime to strike out on our own, usually aftera period of employment. Gaining indepen-dence entails handling new expectations as we progressively maneuver ourselves intothe driver’s seat.

Adele Sommers, Ph.D.

is a business performance consultant who helps entrepreneurs align their life passions with their business purpose. She also guides organizations through“tactical tune-ups” and “strategic makeovers” in individual or group sessions. Contact her today for a free initial consultation at Adele@ LearnShareProsper.com, or 805-462-2199.

“Bring wood, bring water, bring yourlife’s questions. ake home what you needfor the year.” I’ve gone for over a decade,because it reminds me of the dreams I stilllong to live out in my life. Each personmakes an impact in the circle of womenspeaking in clear intention. Women grow into themselves in the ow of Long Dance week. Men step into a protective and spirit-lled existence as they stand sentry for us. Ind the event is the turning point from thepast year to the coming one.

Stephanie Olivia (two years):

Because I heard the call of the Diva of the Dance: At rst she softly whispered inmy ear, and as the time grew nearer and Itook no action to to participate, she becameinsistent, her voice was stronger it until Ihad no choice but to respond to her call.

Hua Anwa (nineteen years):

I go because I said I would. Tat’s it.Showing up to a ceremony that is dedicatedto the Earth Mother and the western gate,my home. Because I said I would.

Christine Troples (eleven years):

My personal experience of Long Danceis that it is Magical. Your life is gradually transformed as the day and the eveningmoves forward. When the Sun comes upand your heart and soul have been movedto a new level of ‘feeling’ and your emo-tions are softer and more easily expressed,there is still the morning of Long Dancein which there is more magic to experi-ence. Tis will be my eleventh year and Imust say, I am blessed to be within such a wonderful community of women, growingthemselves, as am I.

Lori Steed (two years):

I remember going on a nature hike atnature camp in 6th grade and stopping inthe shade of the oak trees, nding specialrocks and grinding them into powder andmaking a paint that we then used to paintour faces like the Chumash had done. Overthe years since then I have noticed the ritu-als and traditions of many cultures and amalways grateful when a particular cultureopens its arms and allows me to partici-pate in one of their events. Te experienceallows for a taste of what is tradition andsacred for them. It broadens my awarenessand increases my capacity to understandtheir perspective in some small way. Moreimportantly, I have the opportunity to grow as an individual. Tis is why I value theLong Dance.

For more information on the Long Dance and registration forms, please see http://www.churchofempowerment.org. For more infomore on Hua Anwa, the woman who leads the event and about whom I wrote in Wom-en’s Press a few months ago, please see www.huaanwa.com

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