M is for the Great Mother

On a recent walk I passed a tall wooden fence with a bougainvillea poofing out over the top, creating a leafy roof a few inches above my head. I could not see the very top where magenta blossoms were reaching for the sun. Most people are taller than me, so I felt this as a rarely occupied place of refuge on a busy neighborhood sidewalk. I passed under it quickly, then something made me return and stand under this bushy vine's canopy.

I pulled the earbuds from my ears and turned off the MP3 player. I swept my troubles away to be recycled into more fruitful energy. That spot smelled earthy and green and the dark stillness pulsed and carressed me. My skull felt like it could breathe better, like during a Reiki treatment or craniosacral therapy. The soles of my feet spread and took root. It was being held by the energy of the Divine Mother, a strong nurturing feminine presence or the plant's calling out those qualities in me.

It could be that the boug's longing to climb up and over the fence of the front yard of the unseen house was what made it so strong a protective presence. Having reached more freedom, it could hold itself up as it spread out thickly and offered shelter. Don't we all know people like that, men and women who have climbed up through addiction or hard times to stand firm and offer a space of comfort and leadership for others? The best healers are like that, alchemizing compassionate service to others out of their own struggles to be free.

I carry the Great Mother essence in me strongly, even though I have no children. As an artist and healer it's part of my journey to know that nurture for myself and to offer it up in the form of beauty, attention, caring. No matter our sex and gender, how do we bring nurture forward in this wounded world? Even when our own personal mothers did not have what they needed to be able to offer us whole and consistent nurturing, we can learn from nature and other mothers how to share Love Medicine. We can celebrate the seeming chaotic wholeness in our ever changing lives. Just by taking a moment to feel our body as part of the greater body of the Mother, the earth, this world, this belonging.

How do you experience the Divine Mother?