Sacred Shredding of Shame

Will our current clothes melt off during the big burn?

Or, will they be ripped apart by thundering hooves?

How and when does the sacred shredding of shame

And obligation happen?

Our clotted up canals are not only our stuck places

But our protectors, too, keeping us safe from harm

While opening up our bodies, hearts and minds 

Expanding fully

What a risky proposition!

Not just naked but vulnerable, fragile, and gooey

We break open our shells of whatever sort

Asking, begging to enter the new world

Once and for all, proudly shedding our skins

Wait a minute! It could be cold out there

Or, suffocatingly hot

I didn’t bring my windbreaker or my hat

I need them when I travel to the New Earth

Got to find transportation as well

A glossy golden ribbon floated down from the sky

Seductive and magnetic, offering so many gifts 

If we touch or grab the thread, we may change

Forevermore, and we take our time deciding

Then, when the lions roar and the saxophones sing

We latch on to the glowing strand of gold and

Dive deep down into the ocean with glee

No longer wanting to live as we have been living 

We die to past structures in order to create 

This new world

This new space of Grace

It is time

It is now

Coming with me

Or not?

Abandon

To have been abandoned

To abandon

To be left

To leave

Giving up or surrendering

With abandon

Can be good, or not

Depends

To be alone

To be rejected

To be left all alone

To long to be alone

To leave others alone

To be offered love

To be or act loving

To receive love

To truly receive being loved

What is wrong with me

What is wrong with them

Why do I hurt

Why do I hurt them?

We suffer, we moan

Even if only on the inside

We can also feel joyful and peaceful

We can feel calm

We can feel pain

We don’t create all of 

Our experiences in life

We do sometimes participate 

In them, however

We may not be to blame for

Cancer

Car wrecks

Divorce

Disease

Deaths

Chaos

Trauma reactions

We blame ourselves 

For such ‘bad’ things

Because if it is our fault then

Maybe we can take control

And change it, maybe, still

Unable to take responsibility

For positive outcomes

Who abandoned whom first?

All babies and children

Had child brains

They perceived any badness

Pain, agony, distress

Around them 

As about them

That’s all their not completely

Formed brains knew to do

Unfortunately, we have carried

Those beliefs into our adult lives

Not feeling good enough

Denunciating ourselves for something

Not in our control

Guilty for what we did or didn’t do

Inadequate, defective

Shameful and embarrassed

Even when whatever happened

Had nothing to do with us

At all

Hearing, seeing, understanding these words

Does not change much of anything

What can help us change 

Early wounding that has so 

Affected us throughout our lives?

Deep work

Spiritual work

Excellent therapy

Meditation practice

Psychedelic practice

Bodywork

Breathwork

Engagement with a 

Caring mentor, teacher

Parent, friend, clergy member

And so many other ways

And, all the above

To plunge into these core beliefs

To even explore what’s there

So deep within us

(We are not even conscious

Of many of these beliefs)

If the beliefs are not challenged, understood

And transformed, we can

Keep suffering

Physically, emotionally

And, in so many other ways

We want to heal from this wounding 

To care for our abandoned parts

And stop abandoning

Ourselves and each other

We learned to abandon

And to be abandoned

Let’s learn something new 

Sacred Soul Sister

Sacred Soul Sister

In the background

Deep inside, listening

Speaking rarely but

When she does

Take notice!

She fits into a psalm

About leading us beside the still waters

She restoreth our souls

Just like a god or goddess within

She knows us more clearly

Than we know ourselves

Sacred Soul Sister

“Come out and play

Share your messages with me

In Bright Bold Print!”

She demures 

Preferring to speak 

Through creative symbols

“See the bell ringing in the tower

Hear the colors of the parrot

Smell the lusciousness of love

No one is fully alone

I, as your Soul Sister, and

All your spirit guardians live to

Protect, urge, and promise you

That when you connect with us

You will feel more peace than ever before"

“Sign me up!” my ego responds

I would love to get to know you!”

“Then, breathe slowly,” she suggests

And I do

Your Turn

Momentous Presence enters

Asking to be absorbed

Demanding to be known

Must be some sort of 

Divine Feminine Spirit

She's so ballsy

I allow

I take her in

She wriggles through my every vein

Clearing away calcifications

Throughout the warm blood of

My arteries and capillaries

A twinge when she blasts open

My heart, asking, no, requiring

More openness

More space

As if clearing out a house

Rubbing my nose in the clutter

All the blocks and barricades

Against intimacy

Sweep them out now!

She jets through, a tornado,

Whisking me wide open

Pushy Broad, isn't she?

What other surprises

Does she have in store for me?

Unplug that drain

Let all your long held beliefs and

Patterns flow out every portal

Eyes leaking tears

Uterus bleeding once again

Mucus flowing out of every orifice

The sour smell of sweat on my skin 

Energy clutched inside too long 

Are we done yet?

Not yet, she squeals, and tears into

My guts, jousting and bouncing

Between organs, creating new openings

Virgin valves, oiling all my parts

We are almost done

She speaks, a little breathlessly

Gleaming at me, her almost

Finished product

Here, take this rag, this sanctified cloth

This thread of Love

You do the rest

Stitching together the gashes

The incisions and crevices  

You do the healing

Your turn

Fire in the Belly

Warming up

Heating up

To a bubbling boil

Fire in the Belly

Passion and purpose

Direction guided by the stars

Peace may come at last, especially

When there is fire in the belly

Lustrous flames shooting

Up and outward from within

Yellows, golds, oranges, reds

Blues and greens, all

Sweat seeping out of our pores

Projections re-routed back inside us

Vibrant energy swirling

Churning, dancing in the darkness

Only to spiral up as hot lava, spewing

Flowing down, deep dark syrup

Volcanic ash

Flying toward the foaming sea

Fire in the belly

Full of hope and love

Shining full of frequency 

And light

Stunning us all