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Continuing my diabetes health, weight loss, and perfumery journey, summarized as Gila Lizard Powers (GLP-1) or my Monster Powers. (For those who have not seen my other Monster Powers posts, the Monster Powers series starts last fall. The early posts contain a more complete explanation of how that relates to Gila Monsters.)

The ocean is a rebel. It is a tempestuous woman. No man can tame her nor resist her siren song. She has claimed so many, so many. They have been dragged to that benthic hell. What are the deepest depths of the sea if not the chthonic realm?

Leviathan seeks not to conquer her. He knows his place. He knows she is Tiamat, the greatest monster of them all. What are the serpents, the dragons, the marked beasts if not the children of the sea? Who then is the hero? Or is it the antihero?

Lucifer is the light-bringer, as the brutal sea speaks only the truth from the shining abyss. She bears the knowledge of good and evil. She contains multitudes thereof. She is legion.

The oceans are never told, “Be smaller. You are too much. Behave.” The sea is never told, “You are not enough.”

“Respect the sea,” they say. Respect her. Respect the woman, the womb, the deep, dark matrix. She is the matron, the All-Mother. The ocean is not evil, but chaos. She is a rebel. She tells men, “go to hell”. Or perhaps, “come to hell”.

Composing poetry in the style of ancient heathen literature follows a few basic rules which are unlike the rules of composing modern rhymed poetry or free verse. One does not have to compose in the ancient style to use poetry in a heathen context, of course. One could write galdr (spells) and poems for sumbel (toasts) and other uses of poetry in any style one wishes and have them be just as good and just as effective. But if you want to write in modern English in the manner of the ancient heathens, here are the basic rules.

A friend had to remind me that yesterday was Hecate's Eve. As a crone I love Hecate,her dogs and crossroads, her ways and means, her lantern light. I wrote several poems back in 2016 when I was participating in Joana Colbert Powell's 30 Days of Hecate e-course. It was a wonderful way to stay sane in what was a momentous year for me - getting married, turning 60, my croning ceremony.

And just prior to that croning ceremony I wasin Knaresborough, Yorkshire at Mother Shipton's Cave. It was there I realised that, along with Biddy Early, that she was one of my croning confirmation sponsors. She lived in a cave in the King's Woods and prophesied. She is an Anglophone Hecate made flesh. Here cave is really very, very, woo-woo!

Whenever I am blocked in my writing, I watch squirrels. I see them bouncing from tree to tree or chasing each other. At other times, one squirrel will dig up a nut that another had just buried. Once I witnessed a lone squirrel sneaking up on a curbside vendor to steal a nut-bar from her truck. Before the hapless vendor could react, this crafty squirrel leapt off the countertop and scampered off with its prize.

Squirrels inspire me with their activity. Rarely staying still in one place, they leap from one tree branch, grab another limb, and then jump to the ground. This reminds me of my free writing, when I jump from topic to topic. Working with my squirrel muses, I seldom know where they will take me in my writing or where I will finally end up.

Even wise women need wise women. Life likes to mix things up. Including messages. People are complex critters. If only they could be as straightforward as taming feral cats! To navigate life I have my council of crones.

I am that most fortunate of women who has collected and maintained connections with smart, savvy, talentd, empathic and compassionate women who are scattered across many continents. They come from varied life and professional experience.  Not all have grey hair yet. But what they share is the wisdom of the cailleach. Each has been to the brink, eyeballed the abyss, didn't blink, and come back to tell the tale.

My call from the springtime fastness of Corrogue this International Women's Day. Giving voice and presence to this day of action.