Thursday, May 21, 2009

Crazy Thoughts From the Middle of Nothern CO

So this post might be a little far reaching for some. I hesitated on posting it but these thoughts have been sticking with me through dinner and a thorough kitchen cleaning. It is time for me to purge...bear with me.

I walked a labyrinth today. I have never walked a labyrinth but I have to say, it's quite a meditative, thoughtful event. My friend Quinn took our writer's group through the process.

We waited at the entrance of the maze. Quinn gave us a meditation, something to ponder as we made our way through.

"Imagine you are entering the Universe of the Great Mother. You can envision her as the Great Goddess, Mother Earth, the Virgin Mary, the Buddha Tara, the Chinese Kwan Yin or any other feminine manifestation of Divine Energy."

Got it. I rung the bell at the entrance and started my walk. As I walked, I thought of the Virgin Mary. This surprised me. I am usually a Mother Earth or Buddha type of girl but today, I thought of Mary.

Why Mary?
I thought. I looked around. The prairie landscape reminded me of my trip through the Ilhara Valley in Turkey. Historians say that Mary settled Ilhara after Jesus was crucified. Perhaps that's why I'm relating to her, it's the landscape. I continued to walk and thought about my trip to Turkey many, many years ago. Years before I was a mom, years before my life changed so profoundly.

Maybe it's because her life changed profoundly too, maybe because she was told what her life was going to be, maybe because before she was Saint Mary, the Virgin Mary, one of the most significant female figures in civilization, she was a mother. I thought.

Oh.

Well.

That could be it. Today Mary might be easier to relate to than Kali, the Hindu goddess who is known to lie in a bed of snakes.

I don't like snakes.

So I walked the rest of the labyrinth thinking of Mary. Thinking of her strength, compassion and her role as a mother. She became more relate able to me than in any church service, any Sunday school or Western religion class and I was really happy to have her join me.

Funny thing is that I'm not really the religious sort but I was filled with peace and acceptance during my walk. Amazing what (and who) you can find in the middle of Northern CO.

4 comments:

Princess Abigail said...

I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !! I WANT MORE PICCIES OF THE LITTLE PRINCESS !!

Messy Jessy said...

Ahhhhh... I haven't thought about that part of the trip in forever. Thank you for bringing it back. It was so beautiful, wasn't it? I remember thinking a lot about the Mary thing and wondered if it felt like living in exile... it must have felt like. Still, if the story were true then isn't life a series of chapters that often feel unrelated to each other... And the dark ones usually, yes, are often more complicate, interesting, the laughs that much better for being so well earned. Remember the dried apricots I forced myself to eat in Istanbul? Love love love this post. J

Messy Jessy said...

Typos... my keyboard is all jacked up. Grrr. Anyway, you get the picture:)

Deana said...

Heather,

I was thinking today I would like to find a labyrinth to walk, and I remembered you had posted on this a while back. Would you mind sharing where this one was? I could use some time with my thoughts and thinking on something bigger than myself.

Trauma should be the hall pass to life's other issues. Someone should tell the hall monitor

I posted something cryptic on Facebook Saturday. It caught a lot of attention from my tribe but it really wasn’t a big deal…. nothing ...