“Each of us has hundreds of circuits of energy connecting to us, energy that different cultures have named in different ways as the Divine breath of life that animates each of us. What the Indians call prana and the Chinese call ch’i, Christians refer to as grace or the Holy S;pirit, and secularists might call vitality or simply life-force. ” (p. 16)
“Althought the life-force is equally available to all of us and flows into us whether or not we are aware of it … it’s possible to maximize our intake and use of it. In fact, consciousness means awareness of the flow of life-force inot us and the ability to direct it into certain areas of the body, without unknowingly releasing it from other areas of the body.”
“Imagine this flow of energy as a financial allowance … positive investments will earn you positive returns… Negative investments, on the other hand, will create debt.” (p. 16)
“The other source of additional energetic cash is the energetic resources held in your own cell tissue. … Keeping your physical body energized consequently feeds your creativity, your relationships, and your vital need for optimism. But when too much energetic cash is drawn out of your cell bank account, you become debt-ridden. The greater the debt becomes, the weaker your cell tissue grows. If you do not reverse this pattern by paying off our debt with your daily allowance, then you will become vulnerable to the development of disease.” (p. 17, earlier)
“Holding on to the negative events of our histories is expensive – prohibitively so. It is like trying to keep the dead alive, and it takes an enormous amount of energy. When we experience a trauma, Nature supplies us with extra financing, so to speak, to protect us during the draining period of crisis, but that loan’ has a time limit on it. … the signal that thet loan is coming due is that we begin to sense that time has come to a standstill and our lives are not moving forward.” (p. 17)
“The only way to release the pattern into which we have locked ourselves is to release the weight of the past – to get out of the enegy debt we can no longer afford to carry. Forgiveness is one sure way out of deb. Forgiving does not mean saying that what happened to you doesn’t matter, or that it is all right for someone to have violated you. It simply means releasing the negative feeligns you have about that event and the person or persons involved.” (p. 18)
“The process of retrieving this energy from the past begins by making a shift in awareness and vocabulary; simply put, you have to outrun your past. Learn to become conscious, as often as possible, of what you are thinking about and where your energy is.” (p. 26)
“Refusing to let go of past event, whether postibe or negative, means throwing away some part of your daily energy budget. If you start losing energy and don’t do anything aout it, you will invetiably develop a weakness in your physical body. … If you continue to lose energy without taking action, those minor upsets can develop into major illnesses. … An ‘accident-prone’ person is actually energetically in debt.” (p. 19)
P.S. Learning the sexiest walk in the world involves lengthening our lower back, strengthening and using our abdominal core, and generating your movement from within.
As a side benefit from doing this, you will automatically begin to strengthen your pelvic floor.
There are additional health benefits from doing this. Dr. Christiane Northrup, New York Times best-selling author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause, tells us that developing a strong pelvic floor is necessary for our overall health – including mitigating urinary incontinence.
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Dr. Christiane Northrup on Unveiling: The Inner Journey
What Does Dr. Christiane Northrup, New York Times best-selling author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause, have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?
Dr. Northrup notes:
“Alay’nya brings divine sensuality to women in the ancient forum of dance. This book is delightful.” Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.
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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya. All rights reserved.
Related Posts: Creating a Youthful Presence Through Belly Dance
Albert Einstein reportedly quipped, ‘Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.’
In last week’s post, I asked you (my readers) the question: Are you autistic?
I’d assumed (erroneously) that most of you would say something like: Me? Of course not!
I was wrong.
I got an email back from one of my readers, Yes, I am autistic, and dance helps my symptoms.
What Is It Like to Use Belly Dance for Personal Healing?
I know the woman who wrote back to me; she’s actually very well integrated – she has a strong role in society, is a valuable member of several groups, and is overall an absolute dear and delight.
I was surprised that she labeled herself autistic, although that I knew she used belly dance strongly as a healing modality.
I also knew, though, that she attended strongly to the beat of a “different drum” – she listened more to her inner self than to the external world.
Belly dance has been important for her as a means of tapping into her body’s secret storehouse of knowledge. For her, as for many of us, belly dance (Oriental dance), truly is an integration pathway.
As I reflected on what she wrote, I thought: I’ve used belly dance for healing myself, just as she has. And many, many of my students have said the same.
In fact, probably most of the women who come to me (and yes, like attracts like), have come less because they want to put on the glitzy costume and perform on stage. They come because they want to tap into who they are in a deeper way.
That, and do some serious healing and integration.
And for some of us, of course, performances and other stage opportunities do ensue. (This in fact may be part of the healing process.)
We Heal Ourselves from Being Emotionally and Energetically Fractured
In that sense, maybe we’re all dealing – to at least some extent – with the challenge of having various aspects of who-we-are fractured, and our conscious awareness sometimes not fully tied into either our surroundings or our bodies.
From the stories that I hear; I suspect that I’m just one among many.
We may not all use the term autistic to describe ourselves, but many of us – due to a range of factors – may feel that it is difficult to be present in this world. Co-opting the title of one of Robert Heinlein’s most famous science fiction novels, many of us feel that we are a Stranger in a Strange Land.
Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land”
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Meaning from Movement Applies to Our Dance
One of the things that I love most about Oriental dance is that it allows us to both access and express the full range of who we are.
This is important, because most of us – in our day-to-day lives – find that we access only a limited part of our emotional range.
Through movement, we express ourselves through a much more complex emotional vocabulary.
In that sense, the phrase coined by autism researcher Dr. Geoffrey Waldon, Meaning [comes] from movement, is useful for all of us.
What’s the Next Step after Basic Emotional Healing?
Our emotional healing progresses throughout our entire lives. Most of us – unless we are a very advanced soul – will not finish in this lifetime.
However, we do move on to progressively deeper – and more refined – aspects of inner healing.
Specifically, we start to work more with our full energetic being.
Carolyn Myss, in her book Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, writes (in Section One on “Your ‘Cellular Bank Account'”):
Each of us has hundreds of circuits of energy connecting to us, energy that different cultures have named in different ways as the Divine breath of life that animates each of us. What the Indians call prana and the Chinese call ch’i, Christians refer to as grace or the Holy Spirit, and secularists might call vitality or simply life-force. [p. 16]
Although the life-force is equally available to all of us and flows into us whether or not we are aware of it … it’s possible to maximize our intake and use of it. In fact, consciousness means awareness of the flow of life-force into us and the ability to direct it into certain areas of the body, without unknowingly releasing it from other areas of the body.
Imagine this flow of energy as a financial allowance … positive investments will earn you positive returns… Negative investments, on the other hand, will create debt. [p. 16]
The only way to release the pattern into which we have locked ourselves is to release the weight of the past – to get out of the energy debt we can no longer afford to carry. Forgiveness is one sure way out of debt. Forgiving does not mean saying that what happened to you doesn’t matter, or that it is all right for someone to have violated you. It simply means releasing the negative feelings you have about that event and the person or persons involved.[p. 18]
Dr. Carolyn Myss, “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can”
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What Caroline Myss teaches gives us an important and valuable connection:
To use belly dance as a sacred pathway for body/mind/psyche/energy healing and integration, we also have to do some spiritual work. Most especially, we have to learn forgiveness.
First, we start forgiving ourselves. Then, we also forgive others.
The Course in Miracles also teaches forgiveness as a basic principle.
We’re going to be working with this – and with other spiritual principles (gratitude, giving love, and taking responsibility for our thoughts) over the next months.
For today, it may be sufficient to simply start being gentle with yourself.
First step: Ease up on the judging.
We are much harsher with ourselves than we are with anyone else.
Cultivate – to the best extent that you can, just for today – the art of gentleness. (You do this, and I’ll try to do this also.)
How Being Gentle with Ourselves Is the Key to Our Next Stage of Personal Growth
Belly dance gives us the means to be with our bodies, and our feelings. It helps us access our inner feminine core, and express the feminine aspects of ourselves.
There is one more step that we can take, though.
If you’ve been following me on the Unveiling blog, you’ll know that we’ve been working towards the goal of core archetype integration. This is often typified by the seventh card in the Tarot’s Major Arcana; the Chariot. (For those of you familiar with the Tarot, this sounds like a masculine archetype, right? Read Unveiling’s Chapter 7: “A Real Woman’s Path (Really Does Exist!),” to learn the original meaning for this card. It started off as a feminine archetype: the Winged Goddess.)
Beyond the Chariot or Winged Goddess stage, where we literally force our archetypal polar opposites to work together, we open up a brand new stage of learning.
We introduce this with the notion of Strength, Major Arcana Card VIII.
The Tarot card Strength (Major Arcana Card VIII) shows us that after we have strong and firm control over our inner selves, we can begin gentling and taming our inner beast.
Have a look at the figure to the left.
It shows us the Tarot card Strength (Major Arcana Card VIII). This is the first card in the second series of major life journeys.
Notice how the woman is easing her “inner beast” to the ground; she’s subduing it not with force, but with gentleness.
In most of my Unveiling blog, and in my book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey, I focus on the first major life journey: getting to access, understand, and integrate our eight core power archetypes.
I briefly mention the second and third journeys adult life journeys. The second journey deals with accessing our inner Fountain of Youth – our intrinsic personal energy.
Martial arts masters – especially of the internal martial arts (T’ai Ch’i Chuan being a premier example) use their internal energy, or ch’i, as part of their practice.
In our second adult life journey, we learn to do the same. (Read Unveiling’s Chapter 29, Pragmatic Esoterics, for a start on this.)
Forgiveness Leads to Gentleness; Gentleness Leads to Tension Release, Tension Release Leads to Better Dance
For a practical start, as you do your belly dance exercises this week, focus on softening your body. Use the force of gravity to help you align, not muscular tension. See how much you can release tension throughout your body.
Saint Francis de Sales, practical and wise (1567-1622)
We’re beginning to learn effectiveness while staying soft, relaxed, and gentle.
As Saint Frances de Sales is credited with saying:
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
Let’s try putting this into action together, shall we?
And we’ll check in with each other next week.
Very best wishes as you use Oriental dance (belly dance) for personal growth and healing!
Oriental Dancer Nimeera on Unveiling: The Inner Journey
What does Oriental dancer Nimeera have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?
NImeera Nazmine performing with a shamadan (candle headdress); photo courtesy Washington Post.
This is a wonderful book! Unlike so much of the fluff out there, this one is by no means an “casual read” to read in the little stolen moments of the day. Rather, it is something with many layers of depth to be explored in meditation and contemplation, with a cup of tea, away from the demands of children and husbands. And then not to read all at once, but section by section with time for reflection between readings… It has resonated with me and given me validation for the things I feel and do that don’t always fit with society’s expectations for me, and given me ideas for how to further mold my life path to my greatest satisfaction.
Nimeera Nazmine performs in North Virginia (Fairfax and Woodbridge), as well as in Washington D.C. She also teaches classes in both belly dance and Bollywood-style Indian dance.
Alay’nya, Unveiling: The Inner Journey
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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya. All rights reserved.
Related Posts: Using Belly Dance for Emotional Healing and Personal Healing
Some researchers speculate that Albert Einstein was autistic.
Are you autistic?
Very likely, you’re not.
You are – most likely – professionally successful, emotionally mature, socially well-integrated, and a fully responsive and responsible member of society.
Also – very likely – you are performance-driven; a high-achiever in every respect.
This may be the problem.
We May As Well Have Been Giving Powerpoint(TM) Presentations
In a recent dance show, one of several put on by leading teachers here in Northern Virginia, I thought sadly to myself, “We may as well have been giving Powerpoint(TM) presentations.”
What was going on?
Well, each dancer was delivering her choreography step-perfect. She did the right moves, right sequence, right timing and tempo.
There were even some efforts towards the higher aspects of choreography; tempo variations, level changes, technique combinations and different kinds of movement across the stage, and good use of props.
Yet I was bored. I felt stilted and stultified. And, I suspect, many of the dancers themselves felt stilted and stultified.
Probably way too many of them felt as though they were stuck in a box – and had no idea of how to get out.
But “getting out of the box” is – most likely – precisely why they first started their passionate study of Oriental dance, or – as we often call it – belly dance.
They wanted to be in touch with that luscious, passionate, emotionally-expressive creature that they knew lurked inside their corporate suit.
Yet here they each were – counting out the steps, and trying desperately to remember what step came next.
What Do We Really Want When We Study Oriental Dance?
Years ago, my dear friend Stella Grey described Oriental dance:
I believe that the dance is at its best when it is a spontaneous three-way conversation … among the musicians, the dancer and audience. The dancer makes the music visible to the audience, the audience’s appreciation is heightened and feeds back to the musicians. [from a blog series originally published by Stella Grey, and now removed from the internet; this quote was captured and reproduced in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, p. 178.]
The key words are “spontaneous” and “conversation.”
A rehearsed set-piece is neither spontaneous nor conversational. No matter how brilliant in concept and execution, it is a monologue. And don’t we tend to avoid those who have much to say, but never an ear to hear?
What we really desire – when we do Oriental dance – goes even deeper as a conversation.
Ultimately, we desire to have this “conversation” with ourselves.
In particular, we’re seeking to give voice to that aspect of who-we-are whom we so often stifle, because our day-to-day survival considerations often require that we wrap our heads around Powerpoint(TM) presentations.
I’m joking.
No, I’m not.
We are collectively – especially those of us in Northern Virginia and the Metro DC area – way too involved with our cognitive, task-oriented, high-performance selves. We find it difficult to let go.
More than that, we find it difficult to find a pathway or mechanism by which we can let go.
Obviously, most of us are not doing it through dance – or at least not in the way in which we’re being taught to dance.
We envision any kind of performance as something that must be carefully scripted. Spontaneity – improvisation – seems terrifying. We apply the same control to our dance as we do to our professional presentations, and wonder why we’re not getting the emotional release that we truly desire.
That’s why the introductory sentence given by the author of a book about helping autistic children caught my attention so strongly.
Meaning from Movement
Dr. Geoffrey Waldon, famous for the Waldon Approach to helping autistic children develop fully functional and normal lives, has developed a protocol based around a core concept:
Meaning [comes] from movement.
In the Waldon Approach, an autistic child is guided by his or her therapist in an asocial manner. The therapist is behind the child, and moves the child’s limbs to help that child perform the kinds of movement patterns that lead to certain levels of cognitive development.
It works.
In “Autism and Understanding,” author Walter Solomon (along with co-authors Chris Holland and Mary Jo Middleton) vividly portrays the challenges – and the potential way forward – for helping an autistic child. This book was inspired when Mr. Solomon’s own autistic son, Robert, was significantly helped through the protocols developed by Dr. Geoffrey Waldon.
I was initially intrigued by the book’s intellectual premise, and then had an opportunity to hear both Walter and Robert speak at a book signing for Walter Solomon’s Autism and Understanding. Their story was moving and eloquent. Robert, in particular, was inspiring – he holds down a professional job and is happily married. His ability to lead a successful life in mainstream society bears tribute to the Waldon Approach’s effectiveness.
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The phrase, “meaning comes from movement,” is foundational to the Waldon Approach – and is now being found relevant to other forms of learning and creative expression. This premise also underlies the importance of early mother-child play; particularly play that involves moving with the child.
Waldon’s unique insight that motor facilitation should be “asocial” is pivotal to this entire approach; this is something that is a bit novel to those of us who think that talking something through or giving verbal and visual feedback are essential to learning. Instead, this offers a radically different – yet extremely effective – approach.
On a more personal note, I am excited about applying some insights gained from this book – very indirectly – to working with adult dance students. Although I have a long-term interest in the brain and in neurophysiology (my first book, the Handbook of Neural Computing Applications, Academic, 1981, built on that interest), it is not the research represented here that intrigues me as much as the potential for using these insights in a practical way with people who are already very functional – and typically highly-qualified professionals with full and active social lives. It is these people who may benefit from a more holistic approach to dance that helps them reconnect with early childhood experiences. This may potentially lead to a less intellectual, and more spontaneous and playful self-expression through dance.
If this proves to be useful at all, then Dr. Waldon’s work will have influenced far more than the community helping those afflicted with autism. Further, Mr. Solomon’s work, together with his co-authors, will have brought a great deal of insight and understanding – a possible avenue for greater personal integration and healing – to a wider audience.
Those of you who study with me throughout the coming year may find us doing unusual movements to help break through our usual cognitive mindsets, and access a more primitive (and possibly more playful and self-aware) aspect of ourselves.
If you’re a dance teacher and you’ve signed up to receive emails from me, I’ll share with you in these emails how these “experiments” are coming along – and pass on to you what works, and what doesn’t.
For all of us – one of the best things that we can do is to temporarily forego choreography, and seek to access the more feeling and expressive side of who we are – to take time to play with dance.
Which is why I’ll close with you for now, and go head off for some dance play!
A dear friend of mine – let’s call her Jess – had a wonderful affair with an exciting man some years ago. He brought out her sensual, playful, pleasure-loving aspect – her inner Hathor (one of the core power archetypes that each of us has).
She felt free to be laughing and playful with his masculine strength encircling her.
When the man left her, she was devastated. She also went through some financially scary times, as her company downsized and she found herself without a job. Although she had a bequest tiding her over, she was in a very uncomfortable, scary situation.
What she did was to call – almost exclusively – on her inner Emperor (the strongest of her masculine archetypes) in moving forward.
All this makes enormously good sense. In essence, she became her own man.
Many of us adopt this strategy.
Hiding in Our “Emperor-Clothing” – Our Psychic Survival Strategy
When we are stressed, when we are fearful about our survival, we become our own man. We put on masculine “armor” and masculine ways-of-thinking.
Mother Henna writes about her experience of seeing her “pain body” as separate from her “light body.”
We may even, as my friend Jess did, take a job that has us dominantly in a masculine role. In Jess’s case, the kind of job that she sought – and the one that she finally took – was an Emperor-style job. It was all about facts and figures, projects and timelines, deliverables and task completions.
For Jess, as for many of us, being an Emperor is being in our “safe” mode.
Many of us remember the childhood fairy tale about the Emperor who was deceived (by his own ego, along with some willing tricksters) into believing that he was fully clothed, when in fact he was naked.
We do something similar, but different.
Instead of going about wearing nothing at all, we clothe ourselves in our Emperor-role. We don this to such an extent that we almost believe that this is who and what we are.
We banish the feminine aspects of ourselves to a deep, dark closet, from whence they are not allowed to emerge.
We think that we are protecting ourselves.
Instead, we create an internal “psychic split” that can be profoundly self-destructive.
The Psychic Split Is the Most Devastating Thing That Women Do to Themselves
I did this psychic split myself, beginning when I was about twelve years old.
{More story will follow.}
Healing Our Split Psyches
Chris, who writes the the Gardening Blog from which the first picture used in this post was taken, describes how to repair the split within a tree. Essentially, he forced the two split parts to join together.
… [after] severe pruning to reduce the weight load of the branch… I temporarily tied the branch up with twine. [Then,] I got out my power drill and bored a hole through the tree at the site of the split. Then I … found some large brass bolts, these were perfect. I put a large bolt through the hole and secured it.
I then drilled another hole a few inches above the split and put a longer bolt through there, … and I used a wrench to tighten nuts on both.
So what do we do to heal the psychic split in ourselves?
Obviously, we can’t just bore a hole in our psyches and use a couple of brass bolts and nuts to force our “feminine selves” and “masculine selves” back together.
But let’s look at Chris’s three steps.
Lighten the load. Way too often, we make huge demands on ourselves; on our time, our energy, our resources. Our first step in healing is to lighten the load as much as possible; at home, at work, at outside commitments, and even in our expectations of ourselves. Healing is hard work. It will require our own time and energy.
Make a temporary fix.
Force the two “selves” to come together.
Kabbalistic Wisdom for Healing Our Inner Psychic Wounds
It might be no surprise to realize that for millenia, both men and women have been dealing with this issue.
In fact, the Kabbalah teaches us that on our personal evolution, we go through three major journeys. In the first of these, we encounter and develop each of our six core power archetypes. Each of these is very strong; each wants to have the “deciding voice” in governing our lives.
Belly Dance – A Physical Pathway to Promote Inner Healing
Oriental dance (aka belly dance) is a valuable means by which we women can encourage our own inner healing.
{more on dance as a healing and integration pathway to follow}
There are just three physical practices devoted to mind/body healing and integration: yoga (literally meaning “union”), T’ai Ch’i Chuan, and Oriental dance. And while T’ai Ch’i is a wonderful art, it is fundamentally a martial art – appealing to those who are oriented towards Mars, the god of war.
For a more feminine orientation, we need a more feminine art. This is the role of Oriental dance, or belly dance, for many women today.
P.S. What can you read that will help you understand yourself more?
Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic
Check out Julie Marie Rahm!
Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper and also Military Kids Speak (great for parents, teachers, and coaches of military kids) uses a great technique that can help you clear energy blockages, ranging from those from this life through the influence of your ancestral karma. Connect with Julie at info (at) americasmindsetmechanic (dot) com to learn more about how she can help you.
Alay’nya takes readers on an adventure of the body, mind, and spirit from the inside out, strengthening each independently from the other and aligning all three in support of each other. And then, the adventure continues as readers learn how to create the physical environment that supports and reflects the body, mind and spirit, from personal style to the home and office. Each chapter finishes with Personal Pathworking exercises. When readers choose to stop and do the exercises, opportunities for instant positive changes result.
The Healing Power of Belly Dance in Water – The Evolution of Belly Dance
Belly Dance Breakthrough via Dancing in the Water
Belly dance in water is a natural hydrotherapy for tension release and a great way to reduce stress and promote natural healing. Energy healing comes as we release stress and let go of back tension. We learn belly dance effortlessly as water shows us natural belly dance techniques.
Tension release has been a big goal for most of my life. I sought stress relief in many ways; many of these involved natural healing and emotional healing. I sought out various energy healing methods, and I saw my chiropractor regularly, got massage, stretched, did dance, and all the “right stuff” to ease the tension. And yes, I had lots of “release breakthroughs” – but this has been one of my core problem areas throughout my life.
Belly dancing in water helps release tension and makes movements more graceful and supple.
Not surprisingly, I’m always on a quest to learn how to release muscle tension.
One breakthrough happened when a business trip took me to Hawai’i. I took a few extra days to enjoy the exotic locale.
Natural hydrotherapy, or water therapy, was not something that I expected to find – but I learned how to reduce stress when the soft beach waves gave me a natural water therapy treatment!
I had already been giving belly dance lessons for years, and had taught many women how to belly dance. We all found that belly dance was one of the best stress relievers in our life! But on this trip, I learned how to reduce stress – and release muscle tension – in a very new way!
I was surprised to find that even the world-famous Waikiki beach was nearly deserted after the sun went down. I went out into the water – and found that the beach-shelf extended far out beneath the shore; it was a very gradual and gentle slope. That meant that I could walk out quite a ways before the water really came up to chest-level.
The waves were very gentle; really just a rhythmic swelling. I began to feel calmer; more tranquil and and peace with the world.
I tried “playing” with my belly dance moves in the water, resting my hands and arms very lightly on the water’s surface. It’s then that something new started happening.
Belly Dance in Water – How Surprisingly Right It Feels!
The natural buoyancy of the warm sea-salt water, coupled with the gently swelling waves, helped me relax from the long flight and the meetings. I began to let go of some body tension.
Woman in water. Photo by Ton Haex. Used with permission.
I flexed my knees just a little bit. This helped me keep my balance. Then, I found that my back was naturally undulating in response to the gentle swells.
Since I was much more buoyant, my hips and pelvis freed up. I started doing all the pelvic techniques – hip circles, Figure 8’s, and others – in a much more natural way.
Resting my hands and arms gently on the water, I found that snake arms simply “happened.” I didn’t have to force them. The “right technique” simply emerged.
This was one of the “transformation moments” in my dance. Now, every time I’m at the beach or in a pool, I try belly dancing in water again. It feels so good to recapture the body-memory of how natural belly dance really is!
The Healing Moment
The healing moment came when I tried undulations. Or rather, I relaxed and let the gentle water swells cause the undulations to happen.
Undulations – upper, lower, and combined – are how our bodies respond to the gentle rhythm of the waves. Releasing ourselves to this healing movement in water helps us integrate, heal, and nourish body, mind, psyche, and soul.
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!
Do you want this kind of healing in your life? Do you want the kind of total body/mind/energy healing that comes as you release and let the water carry you?
Join me – be the first to learn about workshops where I’ll coach you through what has worked for me!
The Real Origins of Belly Dance – From Our Pliocene Ancestresses!
So it’s not hard to wonder why belly dance feels so right in the water – almost as though it is the most natural thing in the world. And perhaps, it feels that way because it is natural for belly dance to happen in the water; this is very possibly how our dance began!
I remembered reading Elaine Morgan’s The Descent of Woman many years ago. (Fascinating read; and I so recommend finding a copy and taking it to the beach with you!)
Elephants evolved long trunks that helped them breathe when standing in water, and to cool themselves. Photo by Kendra Crowell.
Morgan’s thesis is that humankind went through a major evolutionary growth spurt during the heat wave of the Pliocene era, when temperatures in some parts of the world were higher. She suggests that humans (along with several other highly evolved and intelligent species, including dolphins and elephants) took to the waters during this time. Dolphins became completely water-adapted. Elephants evolved their long trunks, so they could breathe while cooling themselves.
And we humans? Basically, we “became human.” We stood upright (in the water of the beaches and lagoons). We evolved language. A number of our social – and sexual – behaviors come from this time.
My guess?
We also evolved belly dance.
Summertime Good Beach & Pool Reads
What will you read at the beach this summer? Try Elaine Morgan’s Descent of Woman, which kicked off a firestorm in the 1970’s. Her insights and logical reasoning hugely upset the apple cart of “how we humans came to be,” devised by male anthropologists promoting the “great male hunter” myth.
Morgan received widespread interest, a good deal of acclaim, and a lot of criticism, as Descent of Woman was written for general readership, and was not tied to references in the same way as would be an academic book or paper.
Her next book, the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, added rich references – but is still enormously readable!
Read either, or both, while at the beach or pool – and then use some of her fascinating anectodes and insights to launch your evening conversations. With the right crowd, you’ll get a lively discussion going!
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Belly Dance Comes Out of the Water
Naturally, we progressed beyond our early hominid stages. But we still had a fondness for going to the beach!
Belly dance was born in water – and came to fullness as we danced around fires at night! Photo from Deva Coaching.
Let’s move forward to the time of our ancestresses; a time in which we had recognizable humans – but not yet societies with written language. We had fire, though.
So after a day at the beach, spending our time in the gentle waters, what would we do in the evenings?
Build a driftwood fire, and dance.
Our movements? Those that we had been doing all day long – in the water. Now, though – dancing on the beach sand around a fire – we could leap and turn much more easily.
We lost the buoyancy of water, but gained the ability to turn, leap, and spin.
Early ancestors developed percussion instruments, which spurred the percussive movements of belly dance.
We gained the ability to put “sharpness” into our techniques – to do more “percussive” work with our hips and ribs. (These were more emphatic on land, without water slowing the movement’s impact.)
Of course, we were also making our first musical instruments around that time. And these first instruments were percussive; things that we could drum or strike – even clapping our hands. So we had the impetus of percussive accompaniment to spur on our evolution of “percussive” techniques (hip drops, hip and rib accents, etc.).
And thus, belly dance evolved – a combination of movements that were born in water, and completed on land.
To bring the natural buoyancy of water into your technique, check out the video in my previous post. Let let me know via comments if this works for you!
What Does a Leading Belly Dance Teacher Have to Say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?
From a much-respected Oriental Dancer writing under the Amazon nom de plume of SapphoandRumi, read her Amazon review of “Unveiling: The Inner Journey”: “Even though I’m familiar with much of what she says because I’m a long time belly dance instructor with similar slant; belly dance is more than a dance on a stage; but there is a great deal of new insights I find provocative. She has my ear. Her voice is intelligent and the contents [are] well written and excellently laid out. Bravo!”
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P.P.S. – Do you want the healing power of belly dance in water?
Try doing your belly dance when in a pool this summer – or (better yet) – get into a saltwater pool. This can be a hydrotherapy pool, or water in a sheltered lagoon or beach.
Want more? Delilah usually offers a winter belly dance workshop in Hawai’i – what better place?
Some of this is pretty strange; pretty weird. But definitely points the way to a form of spiritual growth.
Even the most cursory read will probably have you saying, “Really great; really cool – but so far beyond me!”
That’s ok. It’s far beyond me also.
But let’s not over-task ourselves with the whole “ascension” thing just yet. Let’s do baby steps.
In a recent blog, Static on the Brain, I pointed to – essentially – “corrosion of our spiritual/energetic selves” as causing us to function poorly; in dance and in life. I promised some resources.
Here they are. These are the ones that I’ve used to “pull myself together” after my Daddy died late this last autumn. I realized that I needed to do some pretty deep spiritual healing work. These “baby steps” worked for me (and they’re still working, and I’m still working them). They might work for you as well.
Here’s the four-point overview, freely adapted from Joshua David Stone’s book (pages 2-4).
Gratitude: Give regular love and gratitude to all levels of the spiritual realm – and invoke their transforming, ascending light for the earth,
Forgiveness: Clear out our karma, through persistently invoking the Law of Forgiveness, requesting karmic dispensation, ethical living, etc.
Meditation/Contemplation: Meditate on pure awareness or pure adoration of the Divine, and
Integration: Integrate the increasing light of God and the Soul into the body, through practices such as hatha yoga, working with energy centers, and cleansing our diet; work also with our mind through study of spiritual laws, and into our cultural/social institutions through service.
Alice (“Alicja”) Jones, in her forthcoming book, Own Your Power, similarly identifies these points. In her Jan. 12th section on “Forgiving All,” she writes:
Forgiveness is one of the three major reasons for incarnating on this planet. The other two are learning unconditional love, and learning to be of service to others.
In her January 14th section, she devotes attention to the “Law of Attraction” – which really becomes a lesson in responsibility.
So let’s do a wrap-up. And let’s keep in mind that, for each of us, the more important the lesson, the simpler we need to make the content. Let’s treat ourselves as Winnie-the-Pooh did, when he said of himself, “I am a Bear of a Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.”
Thus, here are our lessons. They are a combination of Joshua Stone’s and Alice Jones’ writings, and will undoubtedly resonate with works of every spiritual teacher/path on this planet:
Lesson 1: Forgiveness – We’re just going to have to suck it up and do this. (You know, it’s ok to pray for help if you feel that you get stuck here; I do also, and prayer helps.)
Lesson 2: Gratitude – A really good practice,
Lesson 3: Take Responsibility for Ourselves – This is very close to the “Law of Attraction,” and
Lesson 4: Give love – Practice “giving love” as much as possible; this also includes refraining from judging others.
There are a set of books that are useful for this. Those will be the subject of a near-term posting.
Using Belly Dance to Heal Our Deepest “Emotional Core” Wounds – Part 1
This post is not for everyone.
Really.
This is for “mature audiences only” – reader discretion advised.
(The following post shares personal experiences, and is not medical advice. If you are at all in doubt before you begin – should you choose to do something similar to what I’ve done – consider asking for guidance from a licensed medical or therapeutic professional. And perhaps have a trained counselor with you as you do this particular form of “inner journey.”)
What Is a “Core Wound”?
A core wound is the psychological impact from an experience (or set of experiences) that we have when we are young, or are otherwise exceptionally vulnerable. This (these) experience(s) occur when we are still shaping our basic worldview; our concept of whether or not the world is a “friendly place.”
Core wounds most commonly come from experiences with our immediate family. In particular, they come about with those whom we identify as essential to our survival.
To the best of my knowledge, all of us carry with us some sorts of core wound. We often have them no matter how much we do psychotherapy, seek “spiritual enlightenment,” or just plain “work on our stuff.”
How Can We Determine What – In Ourselves – Is Our Own Core Wound?
Mother Henna writes about her experience of seeing her “pain body” as separate from her “light body.”
Core wounds feel like psychological “hurt.” In fact, they “hurt” a lot. So as a result, we try to bundle them up and isolate them away from our conscious awareness.
Core wounds never really go away on their own. They stay inside us, with tremendous power – mostly because we try to contain and control them.
How Do We Detect Our Core Wounds, and Know What They Are?
Often, our core wound show up as “blurts.” These can be phrases that we say to ourselves. Sometimes, they even slip into our conversations! Or, we show ourselves (and others around us) a core wound by voicing strong opinions about how a person (or certain group of persons) always does something that is “bad.”
Core wounds feel intensely private. We rarely – if ever – discuss them with others. Often, if we do psychotherapy or have a life coach or a spiritual counselor, we may work for months before we tentatively allow our core wound area to be broached. This is because, of all the parts of our inner world, our core wound feels most sensitive, most vulnerable, most “ouchie”!
And yet, if we do allow a core wound area to “come into the open,” we may be surprised to learn that our coach, counselor, or therapist really knew about it all along. (And so, for that matter, did our relationship partners, and possibly our boss, co-workers, family, and friends.) This is because our core wounds affect us so much that we “give them away” all the time!
Who Else Talks About Core Wounds?
Eckhart Tolle writes about core wounds in The Power of Now. He calls them our pain-body.
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Core wounds never really go away on their own. They stay inside us, with tremendous power – mostly because we try to contain and control them.
Often, our core wound show up as “blurts.” These can be phrases that we say to ourselves. Sometimes, they even slip into our conversations! Or, we show ourselves (and others around us) our core wound by voicing strong opinions about how a person (or certain group of persons) always does something that is “bad.”
Using Oriental Dance (Belly Dance) to Heal
We can have breakthroughs, and often do. But still, these are the “core.” They go right down to how we believe that the world works – in our favor, or not. Dangerous, or safe and friendly.
When we dance, we sidestep the cognitive side of who we are. When we let our bodies simply move, and express how we feel, we can access – and begin to heal – our core wounds.
I’m not talking here about technique practice, or learning a tight little choreography. There is nothing wrong with either technique or choreography. But at some point, we need to go beyond – to what dance really is, and what it can do for us – if we start releasing ourselves to the flow of energy and feeling that we can experience as we dance.
Z Helene Christopher – in her excellent paper on Middle Eastern Dance: The Emergence of the New Sacred Temple Priestess – provides four key points that will help all of us (including myself) use Oriental dance (belly dance) to heal our core wounds. According to Z Helene:
There are four main points in which we, as new temple priestesses, reclaim and reconnect with the ancient Goddess.
We must understand our dance as embodying nature, especially its fertility aspects… Our dance exudes fertility. We move our pelvises and roll our bellies, honoring the sexual act and the resulting procreation…
We reclaim and reconnect with the ancients by understanding our dance as manifesting ecstasy… Our movement invokes the ecstatic kundalini…
We reclaim and reconnect with the ancients by understanding our dance as an experience of Divine Union…
We reclaim and reconnect with the Goddess by understanding ourselves as dispensers of karuna; early motherly love … transformed … to embrace all forms of love: touching, tenderness, compassion, mercy, sensual enjoyment and eroticism.
From Z Helene’sAmazon review of “Unveiling: The Inner Journey”: “Unveiling is about becoming more intimate with ourselves. It is about peeling away the outer layers that keep us from knowing, naming, and attaining our deep wants and desires. By embarking upon a transforming inner spiritual journey, we are encouraged to get connected to ourselves in a way that allows us to genuinely feel our bodies and emotions– all of them, even the undesirable ones. By integrating and loving our “shadow” sides, and by doing daily practices such as stillness, softening, releasing, shifting state, and breathing, we increase our vital energy (prana, ch’i) which makes us more attractive and, yes, more erotic as well. For true attractiveness, according to Alay’nya, is the ability of women to lessen their adopted masculine roles of control and being in charge (Amazon archetype), and instead to surrender to pure energy, motion, and love. This is what makes us beautiful!”
Z Helene Christopher – Dancer and Herstorian, High Priestess and Teacher. Photo courtesy Rick Fink.
P.S. – Have you read Z Helene’s article on Middle Eastern Dance: The Emergence of the New Sacred Temple Priestess? I recommend it to all my dancers!
Z Helene also has a 4-volume basic Middle Eastern dance (belly dance) instructional DVD set, and another DVD on zills, available through her website. Check them out!
Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya. All rights reserved.
Related Posts: Energy Healing and Emotional Healing through Dance
It’s that the insight didn’t come from a member of the Oriental dance community. It came from someone who was skilled in the mind/body healing arts. (Diane now does something called HeartMath.) My students who already knew about this movement were practitioners of Reiki, yoga, deep tissue massage, and related areas.
So what is this one thing?
It’s the movement that we dancers call the “Figure 8,” done with our hips.
Our “Figure 8” (“Figure Eight”) movement in Oriental dance (belly dance) mirrors the infinity sign, and also traces a subtle internal movement at the base of our spine. The person who “clued me in” on this movement was Diane Richardson, whom I mentioned several times in Chapters 14 – 16.
I’ve looked at a number of YouTube vids purporting to teach the (vertical) Figure 8, and have only found one so far that is trustworthy – click here to see a Figure 8 tutorial. Just watching this dancer, you’ll see how the Figure 8 activates – actually massages – the sacral area. Beautiful!
(Be careful if you’re looking at various online clips; some focus on a horizontal Figure 8; that’s nice, but not what we’re discussing here. Others show a Figure 8 that starts “top to bottom”; this is sometimes called a Maya. And surprisingly, just changing the direction of how the movement is initiated makes a huge difference. For best energetic benefits, do the “classic Figure 8” – start going down-and-out, then up. And no matter what anyone tells you, try to keep your feet on the floor!)
Enough of the technical hints. The real question is: Why is this movement so important? Why is it more than just one of the many basic “belly dance techniques”?
She [Diane] pointed out that Oriental dance is built on a natural undulating and flowing movement that connects our entire spine, from our cranial vertebrae down to our sacrum. In addition, she helped me to sense a very subtle and naturally-embedded “figure eight” motion at the base of my spine. … All that we are doing, as we dance, is to tap into these innate, natural rhythms, and magnify them into a dance. (pp. 410-411)
So, the Figure 8 movement in Oriental dance:
Taps into a subtle, naturally-occuring rhythm in our sacral area,
Activates the physical and energetic components, and
Induces a sort of “energy wave” that travels up our spines towards our heads; essentially initiating a form of cranio-sacral massage.
To the best of my knowledge, doing a physically-correct Figure 8 movement is entirely safe, given that a person has no physical or neurological conditions that would make this movement difficult. (If the reader has any doubt or questions, he or she is advised to consult a medical professional first.) Also, to the best of my knowledge, while well-done Figure 8’s gently encourage both cranio-sacral release and (somehow) produce a “feel-good” effect, I don’t believe that this movement alone will cause release of kundalini energy. As a reference, in yogic teachings, the kundalini energy is stored as a “coiled serpent” at the base of our spine. When we do the Figure 8, we are gently activating life-force energy, but I don’t believe we’ll have any danger of arousing kundalini.
The Figure 8 does, at least in my experience, seem to relate to an overall group of intrinsic motions from the cranium down to the sacral area. Healing professionals are learning to sense and work with these rhythms in a healing modality called cranio-sacral therapy. I have personally experienced cranio-sacral therapy treatments, and found them safe, gentle, peaceful, and healing.
I like to do Figure 8’s in bed, because then gravity is not working on my sacral area. It is freer to move. And because this movement is gentle and relaxing, it will sometimes help me sleep easier and more restfully. And the relation to sex? Well, if we release our sacro-iliac area, and in fact mobilize our entire pelvic region (and Oriental dance movements help us with just that), then we are much more likely to have pleasure, right?
Filling Our “Energy Well” Using Circular, Rolling, and Snake Movements with the Chifti Telli Rhythm in Esoteric Belly Dance
Julia Cameron, in her book The Vein of Gold, talks about “filling the well.” She writes, “As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing.” (p. 21)
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Water: The Energy of the Season of Cups
As we move into Autumn, the Season of Cups, we shift both our dance and our life-focus. Summer was the Season of Rods, and dealt with fire energy. If we had progressed in our energy cultivation path well over the previous year, we had plenty of “energy to burn” by summer time – and that’s exactly what we did!
Now, though, with the heat of the summer waning, we are ready for something different. Our bodies – and our psyches – seek replenishment.
Energetic Anatomy
Because we are doing esoteric belly dance, or Oriental dance (belly dance) with an energy component, the idea of replenishment has very specific and practical meaning for us. We focus on drawing energy into our “energy reserve centers,” and to building and strengthening this energy.
As a first step, we look at one aspect of our energy anatomy – the various energy channels that come up our spine.
In many of our energy exercises, we draw energy up our spine. Very often, we bring energy straight up our spinal column.
However, in this lesson, we pay attention to the fact that the energy currents up our spine are more complex.
Energy channels going up the spine: nada, ida, pingala, & sushmna
There are really three channels, or nadis (a Sanskrit term), as recognized in the yogic tradition. These are:
Pingala: The nadi carrying the “active” aspect or prana (this is our vital life-force, or ch’i)
Ida: The nadi carrying the “passive” aspect or apana
Sushumna: The nadi carrying the Kundalini energy
These energy channels have been recognized in our own Western medical tradition – in a very subliminal manner – for thousands of years. Specifically, the cadeceus – our emblem for the healing arts – is a stylized depiction of these energy channels.
The tantric tradition of kundalini yoga has been to awaken the energy flow through these nadis, culminating in a fully awakened and energy-vitalized state.
Relating Energetic Anatomy to Western Esoteric Tradition
In our studies, we use this time of year to “fill our well” energetically. In fact, we opened this quarter by giving attention to energy dancing with a water feeling.
Now that we’ve introduced our theme, we move from the overall feeling of water energy (the Ace of Cups) to the lesson in the Two of Cups. Margaret Wells, who has developed interpretations for the various Tarot cards, describes the Two of Cups as bringing forth “a moment of shared feeling.”
“Two of Cups,” by Melvis
Look closely at the imagery in this card, designed especially by Melvis, in a project organized by Margaret. See how the two cups are blending together? And they’re both receiving droplets of water.
This is what we’re doing. We’re bringing “droplets of energy” to both our prana (Pingala) and apana (Ida) origination and storage points at the base of our spine. This is the starting point for our exercise.
Practicum: Second Week of Autumn
Pingala/Ida Nadi Tracing
We will return in this week’s class to the Cabbalistic Cross exercise that we began last week, using the music Anahat (by Kairo by Night, on the Zaman CD).
We are going to use the opening phrases of this music (about a minute or so, before the “melodic line” kicks in) to trace the Pingala and Ida circulation lines up our spines. This acts as a reminder to ourselves that these two nadis play a role. Even though many of our other energy exercises will bring the energy straight up our spines, we acknowledge the different “currents” or nadis as we begin our practice.
Please note: The Cabbalistic Cross is not an “energy-building” or “energy circulation” exercise. Rather, it is the first step in aligning ourselves with certain “realms of consciousness” (Sephiroth in the Kabbalistic tradition), and is a preliminary to an “energy boundary” exercise, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. We are inserting the Pingala/Ida here – because it works – and we’ll insert it into other exercises/etudes as well. Keep in mind the distinction; energy-building or cultivation vs. energy circulation vs. protection/boundary-creation.
Other exercises for the Second Week of Autumn
Diaphragm stretches: We’ll begin paying more attention to each of our three diaphragms, allowing them to release, so we can bring in more air. This is an important precursor to learning undulations, both upper and lower body.
Circular Movements: Hip circles and rib cage circles help us to “feel out” the fullness of the energy basin that rests in our pelvic girdle.
Snake Arms: We’ll introduce some exercises that will help you move your arms and hands gracefully. These are necessary precursors to candle dancing, which is an optional study for Winter Solstice.
As always, we’ll do veil work – both in place, and moving across the floor.
Music/Rhythms
We will listen to and move with various chifti telli pieces, which are the focal rhythms for this quarter.
Principles
Lotus Flower: This is a Static Principle, and is the second one that we learn in our sequence. It is the natural corollary to the Anchoring Principle that we studied last week.
Expansion/Contraction: This is a Dynamic Principle that we’ll study in greater depth over time. We use the Expansion/Contraction method, combined with breathing (even a little pranayama) to fill our energy cauldron (the “basin” in our hip girdle, where we build and store intrinsic energy, or ch’i). This is a natural accompaniment to – and adds to the energetic value of – movements such as hip circles.
Using Unveiling: The Inner Journey as a Study Guide for Autumn Dance Classes
Textbook References
The following chapters in Unveiling are relevant to this week’s study:
Chapter 25, “Sex Secrets of Belly Dancers”: All you need to know (and more) about our various diaphragms. Also a write-up on why we do those horrible abdominal exercises during our warm-ups. (Strengthens our internal and external obliques.)
Chapter 22, “Looking Like a Dancer (Even If You’re Not)”: Includes a very brief description of the Anchoring Principle, which I learned from martial arts master Peter Ralston, along with a brief mention of the Lotus Flower Principle (which I simply call “reaching up” in the text).
Related Personal Pathworking Steps:
At the beginning of this post, I referenced author Julia Cameron, who talks about using images to feed our artistic souls. I build on her ideas in my recent book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey. (Look at the Personal Pathworking at the end of Chapter 3, “Bedtime Stories for Grown-Up Girls.”)
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Studying with Alay’nya
It is still possible to join us in the Alay’nya Studio in McLean, VA. Beginners meet on Sundays from 11:30 to 1PM. Learn about the Beginner’s Dance Package, and email me for an invitation to join us for a complimentary introductory class: alaynya (at) alaynya (dot) com.
Simply Irresistible: Unleash Your Inner Siren by Ellen T. White
“Simply Irresistible” by Ellen T. White is a delightful and lively little book; a perfect read for a summer vacation, a weekend at home during a snowstorm, or for a book club (with just the “right” other readers!).
Of various other books that are similar, and which I know and love (e.g., “Seductress,” by Betsy Prioleau, and “Mama Gena’s School of the Womanly Arts” by Regena Thomaschauer), this one offers the special advantage of psychological insights, deftly drawn character studies (we always learn the most by studying examples), and a light, breezy style that makes this a perfect stress-antidote.
Ms. White organizes the book into two different Parts. Part One describes the various “types” of seductresses who snag their men. Part Two teaches the useful “skills and methods.” Both of these approaches are useful, and I’m delighted that she included both – each well-supported with juicy little examples and historical vignettes.
What I found particularly surprising and delightful is that Ms. White’s organization of “Inner Siren types” corresponds so closely with the known “feminine archetypes.” Ms. White came up with the her different “Siren types” on her own; she was not following anyone’s particular organization or structure. However, through her own observation, intuition, and insight, she came up with “types” that actually map onto well-known feminine archetypes. These were first put forth by Antonia Wolff (a student and client, and later the lover of the renowned Swiss psychologist Carl Jung), and later interpreted by Dr. Toni Grant in her popular 1980’s book, “Being a Woman.”
Ms. White independently intuited these different “Inner Siren” distinctions. She didn’t come by these through formal study, but rather through careful observation, reflection, and logical thinking. I am thrilled that the distinctions that she’s made match so beautifully to the “core archetypes” first posited by Wolff and popularized by Grant, and (as of summer, 2011) introduced more completely as aspects of the “six core power archetypes” in my own book, “Unveiling: The Inner Journey.”
The “Siren Types” introduced by White are:
The “Sex Kitten” – most easily understood as an archetypal role. Marilyn Monroe is the penultimate “Sex Kitten.” This is the Hathor archetype in one version; specialized as a sexual playmate. By the time that the “Sex Kitten” has fully evolved her persona, she is less who she really is, and more a projection of what she believes that a man wants her to be. As a result, she is often confused and unhappy – but she has exceptional allure with men!
The “Companion” – a much more evolved version of the “Sex Kitten.” She’s intelligent and witty, and builds great relationships. (These often help the men in her life.) Ms. White cites the famous Lady Randolph Churchill as a “Companion Siren.” Another good instance would be Veronica Franco, a sixteenth-century Italian courtesan who was also a woman of letters. Together, these two “Siren Types” (“Sex Kitten” and “Companion”) combine to create our Hathor archetype; Hathor is the Egyptian goddess of beauty, love, sensual pleasure in all its forms (including wine, perfume, song, and dance), and – of course – sexual pleasure!
The “Competitor” – a true Amazon. The “Competitor Siren” is exciting because she inhabits a man’s world as an equal, and often dares him to “master” her in terms of achieving challenging feats. Ms. White cites Beryl Markham as a “Competitor Siren.” Other famous Competitors – this time from our movie genre – include the redoubtable Mrs. Emma Peel from “The Avengers,” and the Lara Croft character in the “Tomb Raider” movie and video game.
The “Mother” – a caretaking role. The “Mother” corresponds to the classic Empress (or Isis, Egyptian mother-goddess) archetype. She is most concerned with providing nurturance. Ms. White offers Wallis, Duchess of Windsor as an example. Another famous “Mother” siren is Pamela Harriman.
The “Goddess” – a much more remote and unreachable archetype. Ms. White offers Evita Peron as an example. While true “Goddess” instances are rare, many of us find ourselves drawn to the High Priestess archetype – which is centered on her own inner wisdom and knowing. Being centered in herself, and not in a man, makes this type alluring; there is always the “thrill of the chase” when seeking attention from a Goddess/High Priestess!
Great minds think alike. I love Ms. White’s examples, and Part Two of her book offers many more, along with useful tips and hints. Her book is one that I will cheerfully recommend to students and friends alike, and reread myself, just to brush up on pointers!
