Goddess Centered Practice
In the woods behind my house rest a collection of nine large flat rocks. Daily, I walk down to these “priestess rocks” for some sacred time alone to pray, meditate, consider, and be. Often, while in this space, I open my mouth and poetry comes out. I’ve come to see this experience as "theapoetics"—experiencing the Goddess through direct “revelation,” framed in language. As Stanley Hopper originally described in the 1970’s, it is possible to “…replace theology, the rationalistic interpretation of belief, with theopoetics, finding God[dess] through poetry and fiction, which neither wither before modern science nor conflict with the complexity of what we know now to be the self.” Theapoetics might also be described, “as a means of engaging language and perception in such a way that one enters into a radical relation with the divine, the other, and the creation in which all occurs.”
Prayer for Sacred Pauses
Goddess of the sacred pause
please grant me the courage
to lay aside swiftness
and take up slowness,
to embrace limitations as learning,
silence as stabilizing,
waiting as worthy,
and sitting as divine.
Goddess of the sacred pause
help me to know stillness as strength,
patience as powerful,
and healing time
as holy necessity.
I fell down hard this week and injured my ankle pretty badly. It has been hard to go from the magic of mobility, to spending time in bed with my leg elevated and an ice pack on. As is common to note when dealing with an unexpected experience, I am noticing how very much I took for granted my own swift movements through the day, the everydayness of being able to easily get myself where I need to go.
I have been unable to go down to the woods in the mornings, or on my evening walks with my husband, two of the greatest joys of my days. While I am grateful this is temporary and humbled to know that for many other people mobility is an ongoing challenge, I am also honoring and acknowledging for myself that it is difficult to feel reined in, constrained, and "invalid" in this way.
This morning, instead of going to the woods, I sat on the deck in the cool air, watching the morning sunlight dance through the mulberry leaves and feeling the breeze bump against my heart. I remembered that watching and witnessing is one of my most precious and powerful gifts and I wrote this prayer above in honor of sacred pauses.
May I soften into limitation, relax my striving, ease my straining, and relax into resting.
Comments
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Saturday, 15 June 2019
Thank you so much for commenting. I'm honored that you chose to do so. May your tender heart be renewed and soothed.
Many blessings to you. -
Sunday, 16 June 2019Molly,
Very nice prayer and thanks for sharing. I had a hiking accident a couple days ago, which was (thankfully) minor and did not impair my movement. I hope that your ankle feels better soon. -
Monday, 17 June 2019
Thank you! I'm glad you were okay after your accident too. This has highlighted for me how fortunate I am to usually be able to move so freely and with such trust.
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First, Thank you so much for this prayer. I have no idea why it resonated so much with me at this time. I want to say I'm not injured in any way or fashion but when I started reading it, I realized that there are more than just physical injuries. I feel that at this moment that my heart is injured. I am currently having problems with my husband and so my heart is so very much aching right now.
I read your poem and other than bringing tears to my eyes, I realized that in my frantic little world that I need to stop and breathe and maybe just sit outside and watch the sunset.
I have never commented on any post until now. Again, Thank you for your contribution, it has sparked a difference in my day and in my heart.