JOURNEY TO THE GODDESS
Finding Home, a Journey Back to Myself đ»
One year ago today, my Godmother left her body and went home. When I got the call from her caregivers, it occurred to me that I wanted to honor her transition from life to life-after-death with a ritual. Immediately, I had the idea to decorate her body with flowers.
But, which flowers would she want me to use for this ritual? Believing that she could hear me across the veil, I asked her, âWhat color flower would you like me to use?â âYellow!â I heard her exclaim with glee. Her answer caught me by surprise; I thought for certain my Godmother would have preferred purple flowersâafter all, historically, purple is the color of royaltyâ and she was nothing less than royalty!
As it turns out, Iâm glad I followed this instinct. Several days after my Godmotherâs passing, I shared with my mother the story of how I came to choose yellow flowers for the ritual. She gasped and looked at me, surprised, before saying, âYellow was Micheleâs favorite color.â
Shortly after gathering every yellow flower I could find in the storeâs paltry flower section, I arrived at my Godmotherâs adult family home. For nearly an hour I decorated her head and torso with luminous, scented yellow flowers. Sweet daisies, regal roses, and gargantuan sunflowers embraced the contours of her head and shoulders, emanating a golden glow. When I placed the last rose over her heart, I stepped back and realized I had encapsulated her head in a golden flower crowned halo.
In the stillness of this moment, I was taken aback by the serene glow that was spread across her face. I knew in my heart that she had finally found peace in her final moments. I also knew that she had made it home.
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Throughout much of my adult life, I have been preoccupied with finding my home, primarily driven by geographical location. While finding oneâs âhomeâ in a physical space IS important, for many wanderers and seekers such as myself, Iâve discovered that the search for âhomeâ is actually much more complex. âHomeâ has deep psychological, symbolic, and spiritual meanings equally worthy of exploration. After all, âhome is where the heart is.â
Several years ago, seeking advice, I shared a story with my godmother about a man in my life. With rapt attention, she waited until I was finished, pointed to my womb, and told me that the interaction occurred in that way because deep down âhe recognized home.â That was the first time I truly understood that home was not just a building with four walls and a roof.
Home is relational.
Home is embodied.
Home is within me because I have a womb. Now, as I recount this story, I realize what a great honorâbut also what a great responsibilityâit is to have a womb, to embody âhomeâ in such a literal and symbolic way.
Of course, the womb is not the only meaning of home.
In fact, you may have other interpretations. For example, home might be another person. It could even be a beloved pet, or perhaps a favorite tree, lake, or mountain.
For others, home is the location from which their ancestors originated.
Still, Iâve discovered that home can demarcate different life stages. For example, Seattle is my original home, the place where I was born and raised, whereas I consider New York City to be my artistic home. Pacifica Graduate Institute, the place where I received my Masters and PhD, is the home that helped me deepen into my womanhood.
These days I am completely enthralled with exploring what it means to be a woman, especially outside of enculturation. How do we, as women, find our inner home and sense of self as embodied females when society has given us inadequate definitions of âwomanâ?
Thus, with all of its potential meanings, the quest to find âhomeâ may just be the most meaningful journey of a personâs life. The spiritual teacher Ram Dass was right when he said, âWeâre all just walking each other home.â That is, the quest for home is the journey, the only journey each any of us is actually on.
Now itâs your turn. Search within yourself, search your heart, and let me know what home means to you.
đ» Annalisa, PhD
In Loving Memory of Michele Chelenza
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Current Journey to the Goddess TV Episodes
Goddess News
What Iâm Reading
Feature: In Memoriam
Upcoming Interviews
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Latest Episodes:
âEach of us longs for home. More than a physical space, we each desire the sense of feeling at home. But where do we find that? Why do some places feel more like home than others? How do we create home when we live far away from what feels familiar?â â Jan Peppler, PhD
Check out my conversation with Jan Peppler, PhD to learn about the psychological and archetypal underpinnings of âhomeâ and how to feel at home wherever your are.
Itâs easy for creative people to get stuck and bogged down in perfectionism and never quite get their creative visions off the ground. So how exactly can you materialize your creativity? Join me in conversation with Maia Wilde as she offers radically honest advice to those wanting to get out of their own way and take action on their creative visions!
How do myth and eco-consciousness intersect? Find out in this conversation with Fates and Graces cofounders, Dr. Stephanie Zajchowski and Dr. Joanna Gardner.
Goddess News
Featured Speaker at the Mary Magdalene Studies Association annual event. Free of charge!
When: Mary Magdaleneâs Feast Day, July 22nd. 8:30am - 5:30 pm Eastern Time Zone.
Where: Live On Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87530708993
Title of Presentation: âFinding Mary Magdalene: Pilgrimage as Homecoming for the Soulâ (Scheduled for 1:15pm Eastern)
Featured Speaker at Fates and Graces Mythologium
When: July 29-31st 2022.
Title: âEcological Empathy: Grief in the Age of the Anthropoceneâ
Registration is open through July 25th!
In May, I was invited to speak on Maia Wildeâs podcast, âDirt Road Less Travelled,â to discuss abortion and the recent decision by SCOTUS (draft opinion at the time) to overturn Roe v. Wade. Drawing on my doctoral research, we did a deep dive into the historicity of male-centered societies and their control of womenâs reproductive bodies and how this has continued into present-day America. LISTEN to our conversation.
What Iâm Reading:
âGoddess DurgÄ and Sacred Female Powerâ
This book is a great beginners guide to the history and beliefs of Shakta Tantra. Laura Amazzone combines personal narrative of her first hand account of goddess pilgrimage in Nepal with a deeply researched history of goddess worship in the Hindu and Buddhist Shakta Tantra traditions.
I was excited to learn that this tradition focuses on achieving enlightenment or liberation through the body. More specifically, in this tradition, the female body is the vehicle toward enlightenment! Needless to say, sacralizing the female body is key.
I canât recommend this book enough to those (especially women) who want to feel empowered in their body.
Feature: In Memoriam
Pearl Means & Rosemary Ruether
Pearl Means
was a film maker, Indigenous Diné activist, and author. (Photo Credit: Mark Gerke. Posted on Native News Online).
Rosemary Ruether
was a feminist theologian, scholar, and eco-feminist. She was a prolific writer, authoring several influential books including, âGaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing.â
This book was pivotal to my understanding of how the Christian religion has justified the domination of women and nature (both codified âfeminineâ) through mythologies that exalt male divine power while suppressing feminine divine power.
(Photo from: Feminismandreligion.com)
Upcoming Interviews:
Dr. Joanna Kujawa
Scholar. Spiritual Detective. Author of:
âThe Other Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the Goddess of Eros and Secret Knowledgeâ
Dr. Megan Rose
Transformational Psychologist. Pagan Scholar. Ecospiritual Priestess. Holistic Healer. Author of:
âNormalizing the Paranormal: Helping Highly Sensitive People to validate, ground & cultivate their extraordinary gifts & experiencesâ
Krishna Rose
Oracle of the Grail. Prophetess. Priestess of the Magdalene. Author of:
âWoman in Red: Magdalene Speaksâ
âThe Other Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the Goddess of Eros and Secret Knowledgeâ