Yoga of the Heart
Posted by Joan Norton at 3/9/2009 6:29 AM 
Categories: Goddess and the Sacred Masculine
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene
Categories: Goddess and the Sacred Masculine
Tags: Mary Magdalene 14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene
I've been perplexed about why "goddess things" don't do well at The Bodhi Tree Bookstore, which is our oldest and largest alternative bookstore in Los Angeles. When I talked to the people there about having a booksigning event for 14 Steps To Awaken The Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene, I was told that "goddess events don't do well" . They arranged a booksigning event for me anyway, I'm sure because Margaret Starbird is co-author, but I've been bothered by this ever since. Books that are best sellers there are about Eastern religions, New Thought, wellness, and channeled material. I think it's the flight into eastern religions that has captured my attention because I know so many women who love yoga and then go towards the philosophies of Buddishm and also the lore of the Hindu goddesses. I think it's more evidence of what happned to our christianity when we left out Mary Magdalene, which means we left out the body and alot of good stories. In 1989 the Vatican declared that practices such as meditation and yoga can "degenerate into a cult of the body". But that was folly of course, and women found that yoga was a way to stay healthy and calm. It seems like there's another split now between the yoga world and the philosophies of earth based religions, including christianity in it's Sacred Union form. It turns out that the Sanskrit word "yoga" means "union with the divine"....it's actually the same word and same concept as our "Sacred Union" of masculine-feminine, Magdalene-Christ. If I were describing what we're doing in christianity by reincluding Mary Magdalene in the story, I might say we're reclaiming the "Yoga of the Heart" of christianity. Our practice is of the sacredness of the body and the soul's life of cyclic renewal, which we tell through the stories of Mary Magdalene and Sacred Union. Our shortened version is Margaret Starbrid's The Magdalene Rosary prayers. These are our Yoga of the Heart story, our story of union with the divine in our bodylife. You will be interested in reading Margaret's personal story of inspiration and revelation which prompted her to create the Magdalene Rosary. It's part of the prayer section of
14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene .
I think what's happened is that the philosophies that accompany yoga have often gone the patriarchial way of rejecting feeling. I don't think it's meant to be that way, not according to the Sanskrit idea of "union with divinity " in the body. The body is where the heart and the feelings are and I know they're suppose to come along to "union" also. All we have to do is tell our culture's spiritual story the way it's suppose to be told and we've healed the problem of the split decision between body and mind. Let the body and the heart know it's story of love with the cosmos, the Christ, the enlightenment of new thought, with Jesus....and we have a good marriage and a good yoga.
I'm remembering The Chariot tarot card and how it shows the body in cooperation with spirit as the Goddess using her reins to direct the chariot(a life vessel) pulled by horses (an ancient symbol for Spirit). Here it is again, but this time let's call the card "Yoga".
Click Here To See Magadalene Rosaries and Chaplets
14 Steps To Awaken the Sacred Feminine: Women in the Circle of Mary Magdalene .
I think what's happened is that the philosophies that accompany yoga have often gone the patriarchial way of rejecting feeling. I don't think it's meant to be that way, not according to the Sanskrit idea of "union with divinity " in the body. The body is where the heart and the feelings are and I know they're suppose to come along to "union" also. All we have to do is tell our culture's spiritual story the way it's suppose to be told and we've healed the problem of the split decision between body and mind. Let the body and the heart know it's story of love with the cosmos, the Christ, the enlightenment of new thought, with Jesus....and we have a good marriage and a good yoga.
I'm remembering The Chariot tarot card and how it shows the body in cooperation with spirit as the Goddess using her reins to direct the chariot(a life vessel) pulled by horses (an ancient symbol for Spirit). Here it is again, but this time let's call the card "Yoga".
Click Here To See Magadalene Rosaries and Chaplets
Hi Joan,
Good comments and blog as usual. I always enjoy reading but particularly today felt I must comment on a theory why Bodhi Tree says Goddess Events Don't Do Well. It may be a symptom of why I offered the class that started yesterday - Empowering Oneself with Goddess - Deity, Archetype and Ideal - Beyond Your Home Altar. Specifically, those that don't look closely, examine and extrapolate what Goddess means don't understand this goes beyond Wicca 101 and candle magick. They don't know what Goddess offers us to save the world, to achieve women's equality or they're still buying into "feminism" is a dirty word rather than creating an equal and caring society. Goddess Spirituality has so much to offer men and women. Someone sometimes just has to point out the parameters of the beliefs so these ideals become a new world view and benchmarks for society to live by. The class yesterday far exceeded my expectations. The response from the women was awesome - and it was obvious they were starved for the information confirming my suspicions there is not enough "how to and why" being taught in our Goddess circles. It was obvious to me this topic needs more attention so the values are relearned, understood and embraced. And dare I say, the Bodhi Tree may be suffering from the dis-ease of Patriarchy because the religions of the East are not that kind to women either. Even the Hindu Goddesses wings have been clipped and they've been domesticated to some extent - with exceptions of course. They are not the best role models for women. As for the women turning to Buddhism (a very patriarchal faith that sees women as inferior to men) I'd suggest to give Goddess another look. The substance is there and perhaps women will cease from being like birds in a cage - thinking they're living and grow up free when they are actually growing up behind the bars of a cage.
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Hi Karen,
Thanks very much for your insightful comments....I know you've lived them. I'm excited about the convergence of philosophies that we're talking about, the understanding that the values of the feminine are the ones that will evolve our world and heal the planet, and that those values are in the shadow of all the religions now. I'm also excited about your class and what you are experiencing about this in the world of goddess circles. I hope you'll be able to write about this more as your class goes on. And is it closed or is there more room? I hope people know they can get in touch with you at www.KarenTate.com . I've heard Margaret say to audiences that she felt sad when women went away from christianity because they couldn't get their feminine selves satisfied there, but I think (from my perspective) that's changing. Afterall, the central ritual of christianity as told in the gospels is the anointing/sacred marriage story and that's the same pagan ritual and pattern of cyclic renewal and marriage of all things as told in Goddess stories. We can safely embrace each other and then go on about the business of healing our world. xoJoan
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Hi Joan,
Ouch! to the "Goddess events don't do well" response from the Bodhi tree.
They used to sell some of my earlier books, but I haven't seen them there in a while. Money wise, Wicca and Goddess events were at their height 7-15 years ago (more or less). Back then, my books generated significantly larger royaltys, compared to the much smaller royalty checks now. I think that the Bodhi tree was speaking from a business and not a personal perspective. So many of the small privately owned bookstores have closed, because of either the chains or online sales, its amazing that the Bodhi Tree has survived. They are probably just trying to make the best choices they can, trying to stay alive, but they sure could have added some kindness to what they said!
Of course many people are still interested in the Goddess and in countries like India, interest remains high from ancient times (so totally cool).
I see Yoga as a non-gender path to Sacred Union with the Divine; the two partners being Self and the Omnipresent Source.
Any path that blends the physical with the spiritual is to me a very healthy path. It seems to me that current spiritual trends, are a manefestation of different people's needs at different times.
I remind myself that we offer up the subjects that we love and are inspired by, and if a publisher, or bookstore, or reviewer doesn't resonate with what we have to offer, we know that we have followed our inner guidance, have been true to ourselves, and that what we present will have its place with others.
Love You!
Jennifer
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Hi Jennifer,
They weren't "prickly" at all, just saying what they observed. It's interesting though, that your Goddess book's royalties have waned during the last 7-8 years. Do you think it's a matter of terminology? What we knew in Goddess mythology context as the feminine value of knowing life as entirely interconnected in Love is now expressed through the cosmic concepts of "the shift" which is necessary to evolve our world? It's as though the story characters have changed but the message is the same. Personally I think we had to "raise Her up" before we could safely "give Her a sacred marriage". She's strong now so we're evolving her story to include the cosmic principles of "the shift" in consciousness of the planet.
Thanks for always being insightful and bringing the heart's point of view forth when you write comments here. xoJoan
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Hi again. I wanted to mention to readers that Jennifer's beautiful ceremonies and rituals will be used as a part of the new Sunday Sermon that Katia Romanoff is doing for her esoteric mystery school audience. It's an online Sunday sermon honoring and celebrating the ideals of the Goddess and the Sacred Union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. www.NorthernWay.org is where you can see more. I imagine it will also be podcasted.
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Hi Joan,
Actually there isn't anything wrong with a decline in sales of my earlier books, one of them came out 10 years ago. I think if you ask any publisher they'll say that the Goddess genre just isn't selling as many books as once it did when it was considered a "hot" topic. Lots of people still have an interest of course, and books on this subject are still selling, particularly with Mary Magdalene as the Goddess of Today. But I think that a new generation has come in, with some additional interests and that this is reflected in the marketplace.
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Hi Joan,
There is a Sacred Marriage in my book "Mysteries of Demeter." Its been of great interest to Greco-Pagans, as it is the union of Plouton and Persephone. That mythos has a double theme: one is the theme of the Holy Mother and Holy Daughter, the other is the theme of The Union of Life (Kore-Persephone) with Death (Plouton). There is a rather vivid description of their Union in the reconstructed myth in my book.
Its always been so interesting to me that Eleusinian Persephone was in some ways the Savior of that mythic cycle (not the Homeric Hymn-Persephone). She caused the bridge between Life and Death to be 'built,' by creating a situation in which Demeter sought to reconcile with Her and Her Beloved. She was the cause of Life not only pausing for a moment, but then also being resurrected again. And this was through her Union of Love, with the God of Death (who ironically has the name, Plouton, which translates to "riches").
All a part of the themes of the Eleusinian agricultural-mystic cycle.
Ah sigh, how I love Her many forms!
My Lady!
Love, Jennifer
"Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth of the Pagan Way"
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Hi, I think it's really helpful for christian educated women to read the older rituals and myths in order to feel the samenesses. Here's Jennifer's book about Demeter's Mysteries . Thanks for your comments, xoJ
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Hello Joan,
To sum up my comments to yours -- AMEN & ASHE!
The class I started yesterday was planned in two part and to come into the second half without the benefit of the first would not be as beneficial. I am repeating the class in a one-day session on June 14 and am available to teach it to groups with a minimum of about 6-8 women.
Comments from some of the women were things like, "It was so fantastic to understand how to connect the dots,"
"this gives me validation for my beliefs", "i feel so good hearing all this - it gives me so much clarity and hope" - "it was awesome," "I feel stronger after today." There was laughter, tears, sharing. It was incredible. I have goose bumps just retelling how these women joyously reacted and the feedback validated I'm on the right path with this message.
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Hi Karen, It sounds like what you are doing with this class is RIGHT ON. Please let us know when you're taking people for the June class...I'll post it here and I know we'll want to see it on the GoddessChristians list and the others too. Thanks, Joan
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Hi,
Do you think that this is a symptom of the general energies of hatred/fear of the Goddess/Mother that abounds? There is something about confronting the goddess (within) that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. People do not want to acknowledge that she is their 'shakti', their driving force, and thus womankind has been suppressed for thousands of years.
I hope your book does well there, and turns the trend around!
Love
Rebecca
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Thanks for the good wishes, Rebecca. I hope so too because I think Margaret and I have created a kind of bridge between the worlds. I always think it's fear and control that causes people to think She's not important, covered up with denial that looks on the surface like "disinterest". Margaret's probably gentler than I am about it, I think she'd say it's just that they don't know yet that we have to have love and cooperation and that will involve hearing Mary Magdalene's part of the story. I feel very optimistic myself, I'm quite sure we're evolving towards more and more Goodness . xoJ
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Hi Joan,
To answer your question about the class on June 14, we are already filling it up. We have 7 women and are limited to about 12-14.
Anyone interested can contact me at karentate108@ca.rr.com. They can read a description of the class on my website under the Appearances for March 8 $ 22. They would have to secure their place by sending $40 (half the proceeds go toward a donation to the Goddess Temple in OC) and I'm using my book, Walking An Ancient Path as a "workbook" so students of the class can purchase the book for the deeply discounted price of $10.00.
It's first come, first served.
Blessings,
Karen
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Thanks, Karen, I hope it goes really well. I know women will benefit.
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Hi Karen,
I ask this with a grin, "I don't suppose there's any hope of you doing such a class in the Midwest?"
I figure it can't hurt to ask!
Much love and thanks-Jen
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That's a good idea....it'd be neat if it could be teleconferenced or something.
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Nothing I can say would add more to your wonderfully insightful connections as well as those noted by the amazing women who comment. I'm only bummed I don't live in Cali to take Karen's class in June.
I've felt a push-pull with yoga. I love it, but cannot get myself to do it. I have no doubt there's a spiritual undertow at work here, I just don't know why/how. So, I try to take life a day at a time and open myself to yoga when the desire arises. Often it's just a posture or two, but it's something.
Again, thank you Joan and to Karen, Jennifer, and all the other amazing followers...all my love.
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Hi, I think Karen put her email address on another posted comment, but just in case, here it is KarenTate108@ca.rr.com and you can see much more at www.KarenTate.com. She has a really educational and interesting internet radio show on every Wednesday night, and you can listen to it's podcasts anytime. I like to catch up on them and listen to many, one after another. She's had some very important "thinkers and feelers" of the goddess movement and the sacred union movement on her show. By the way, our friend Sandra Pope who wrote Growing Up Without the Goddess will be on in May. Check Karen's website or Sandra's at www.GrowingUpWithoutTheGoddess.com for the exact date. As you probably know, Sandra's spiritual memoir is about recovering from sexual abuse and thriving in the experienced presence of Mary Magdalene's sacred feminine healing. I think her book is "the next wave" of understanding about abuse being a predictable outcome of an unbalanced masculine-oriented religion, and she's very specific about how to thrive in recovery.
Thank you, Jen, for being a part of the wider and wider Magdalene Circle.
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Hi Jen and Joan,
Thank you so very much for your support and interest. That is truly a plank of the Goddess Platform: Women Supporting Women!
Jen, to answer your question, I'd love to come to the Midwest if you know of a group, conference, retreat that might be able to sponsor my travel.
As for Voices of the Sacred Feminine, please do tune in. I have been blessed with incredible guests from all nooks and crannies of "Sacred Feminine" thought - women and men - Christian and NON. Joan has been a favorite on the show and you can catch her in the archives. And thanks to the loyal listeners the show has moved up from #4 to #3 at the station and it's now being listened to/downloaded from 130 countries. It's hard to believe sometimes, but it's a testament to the craving for the Divine Mother out there and people wanting to know how to LIVE THIS.
Blessings,
Karen
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