Mango kisses
in a big red chair
as you nuzzle my neck...
catch the scent of your hair.

Fingers trace faces
and underneath shirts.
Skin hunger's abated
but now there's a thirst.

Lips over my ear
and the sound of your sighs
sends a thrill through me...
we walk the night skies.

Warmth beckons, "I love you".
Blue eyes look at brown.
Then with smiles and laughter
we return to the ground

(That's a picture of one of Rogers' beautiful paintings...ummm...upside down!)

I should probably preface this by saying I don't know what I'm talking about. Just quite interested. Obviously.
These are snippets, quotes and musings, thoughts and feelings.

I don't claim a religion and I don't worship any deities altho' I consider myself a spiritually curious and interested person.
The notion of the goddess appeals to me, perhaps because of the mistreatment of the feminine by modern religion. Perhaps because of an ancient wisdom that is passed thru the DNA.
Knowledge is never lost: just forgotten...and then recalled. Something or someone reminds us, and then we realize we knew that (whatever it is that rings true for us), altho it's the first time we've heard it.
Have you had that experience?

The goddess. What does it mean?

I have a glass goddess. She is the typical full figured, faceless feminine. Large and powerful. Large breasts, large belly, large thighs. She came with a card upon which was printed:

"The Goddess
She is the giver of life through love.
She is the nurturer, the mother who cares for us all,
And her love expands to all living things.

Her life force comes from the Sun
Her mystique from the Moon
And her fertility from the Earth.

One and all beings breathe the air,
And the air we share has been there since the beginning.
The interconnection stirs an ancient awakening within our hearts."

Hmmm. Its very nice.
But like human beings, she has a dark side.

The Nag Hammadi scriptures from 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, say:

"For I am the first and the last.
I am the honoured one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother......(whatever that means)
I am the barren one and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
And I have not taken a husband.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
And it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father and
the sister of my husband, and he is my offspring.
Give heed to me.
I am the one who is disgraced and
the great one."

I think the above is saying that the goddess embodies all things; light and dark, yin and yang. That's my take on it. What's yours?

I'm looking to a book in my collection called - "The Goddess" by Shahrukh Husein. It says..."goddess worshippers tend to be pagans. Theirs is a holistic message - emphasizing the oneness of humankind with Nature - and its accent on freedom of belief and religious practice."
I like that.

And this: "In accordance with a tenet of Goddess worship - the interdependence of all elements of the cosmic organism - pagan groups recognize no barriers of race, education, profession, or class."
This might seem idealistic to some in our 'multicultural' societies, with all the friction borne of the many cultures combining, but its necessary and worth striving for. We all need to get along to have a happy life, don't we.

I like this next bit too. It's about the tantric goddess Shakti; personified by Kali:
"Although in many images Kali is portrayed as bloodthirsty in character and appearance, her activities were never wantonly destructive. On the contrary, at her most fearsome, her aim was to wipe out demonic forces before they could endanger the cosmic order. As a symbol of empowerment for women she is, therefore, the perfect model of female balance, active and assertive, rather than pointlessly aggressive. She returns to women the three virtues that have historically been denied to them in most cultures - strength (moral and physical); intellect and knowledge; and sexual sovereignty."

I think overall the Earth is regarded as the Great Goddess - the Mother of us all, since all life ultimately springs from her and then relies on her for its sustenance. No life can emerge and flourish on a dead planet.
So in more balanced times of the past, women were revered as images of the Goddess, I guess because they also bear and nurture life and this was seen as something sacred and wonderful - magical even!

Perhaps we will witness a return of a common sense where, we cease taking the Earth's resources for granted, and we show our appreciation for them by taking care of the planet so that she can continue to provide everything we need for a satisfying and healthy life - a mutually beneficial relationship...wouldn't you say?

...not the hocus pocus kind, but the kind that for me is real. It contains mystery and gives one a sense of awe. Like the workings of the human body for example. Can you explain how it works, how it heals, how it grows from conception? Anatomy books and scientists try. But they're describing what they see under a microscope, with their eyes, and that's okay, but they have to admit there's a heck of a lot they can't explain and don't understand. Its often the unseen that provides the magic for me. When a bone is broken or the skin is cut, how does it know to repair that, and when to stop? I know all its processes can ultimately be explained, but so much of it can't be right now. So much is a mystery.
And how come my thoughts and feelings affect my health. How come some people can smoke every day and live to 100, while others develop lung cancer at 55 or 60? How does that work? Where does my mind reside? Is it in my brain, or every cell of my body?

There is so much happening in our world and our individual worlds on levels we cant explain or comprehend or sometimes even see. But its still happening. How does the earth grow trees and vegetables and flowers? How does a tree know it's being shaded by a building or another tree, to kill off that part of itself and grow a new bit of itself in the sun.

(due to a technical misshap, the rest of this post has been lost. Unfortunate, but true....sorry... working on rewriting it. What a drag...)