New book alert and other words for these times ...

Latest @girlgodbooks anthology is OUT NOW!

Wounded Feminine : Grieving with Goddess
 
superbly coedited by @cladorartandwords Trista and Pat

"Wounded Feminine is a magnificent chorus, which wades in the mind/heart/soul of the reader churning the long-lasting waves inwardly. Animating the legacy of the collective grief and strife for love and connection with the whole, many voices of the anthology reshape the consciousness of what was lost and transform the subconsciousness into the power of the Cosmic Mother. This anthology is the seeds of deep thoughts, the indispensable steps for matriversal soteriology."

-Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, the author of Reader: Toward Magoist Cetaceanism (Mago Books, 2023)

Available from @girlgodbooks website or online stores
 
 

1. Me and the Inquisitor. An Abridged Version. As my Body Remembers it.
   
   One of two featured submissions I have in the powerful latest @girlgodbooks anthology Wounded Feminine : Grieving with Goddess superbly coedited by @cladorartandwords Trista and Pat
   
   Available from @girlgodbooks website or online stores
   
   In this piece of writing I outline the inherent misogynistic nature & 'witch-hunt' energies of my (failed!) experience of the Anglican Priesthood Ordination Discernment Process.

 

1. Breaking the Spell and Lifting the Curse - What was I looking for from the Christian Religion and Anglican Church?
   
   
   
   "I was searching for a devotional and authentic community committed to spiritual growth and healthy relating. As a Priest I hoped to facilitate this.
   
   The construction - the breaking down ...
   
   THEY DON'T WANT THAT. THEY DON'T VALUE THAT.
   
   ... I see it clearly.
   
   I was both repeating and trying to resolve, trying to repair, through the Church, my family of origin trauma patterning"
   
   
   
   Second of two featured submissions I have in the powerful latest @girlgodbooks anthology Wounded Feminine : Grieving with Goddess superbly coedited by @cladorartandwords Trista and Pat 
   
   Available from @girlgodbooks website or online stores

Words for these times

​Deconstruct : 'to break something down into its separate parts in order to understand its meaning, especially when this is different from how it was previously understood' (Cambridge Dictionary)

It's not usual August energy. 2024 hasn't been a year of the 'same old'. We are a choice point #evolve or

This is the POINT of wellness & spiritual practices, of education - to support us to deconstruct (individually, collectively, institutionally) - to go #inandthrough - and rebuild a humane, humanitarian, humanity.

I was raised in a working class northern mining village (near Sunderland where the recent race riots & far right violence have taken place). My grandfathers were miners. I was surrounded by poverty, hostile, racist language and attitudes, domestic violence, abuse and misogyny.

And I was fortunate to escape that cycle through education, reconnecting to my body and soul and through the ongoing deconstruction of (and divesting from) the internalised constructs of racism, ableism, classism, misogyny, colonialism etc etc.

I'm not an expert. This work is not done. And it's messy & painful.

And, I continue to do it because I value humanity, feel a moral obligation to repair/heal on behalf of past generations and evolve for the sake of future generations. And I recognise interconnectedness - and therefore the futility of doing anything other than this.

Divest : to get rid of (Cambridge Dictionary)

This is what we are being called to do during these times. Deconstruct & divest from external & internalised, conscious & unconscious constructs, attitudes, thought forms, language, behaviour and repetitions of racism.

Spiritual and wellbeing practice of the week : BE ACTIVELY ANTI-RACIST.

​This week has highlighted (again) the urgent need for all of us to move from non-racist to anti-racist.

This is a process and one which is much needed in family, educational, academic, healthcare, therapy, wellbeing, religious & spiritual spaces.

I speak only to what I have direct experience of - it is of course needed everywhere.

Brilliant model by Andrew M. Ibrahim MD, MSc which I'm reflecting on today as I assess where I am (& the circles I mix in are) on the journey & where to go next to learn, grow & evolve.

Resensitise : to make someone sensitive to (= aware of or affected by) something again (Cambridge Dictionary)

The systems, structures & institutions in patriarchal & colonial societies are designed to desensitise us - make us insensitive, unaware of our common humanity, unaffected by the suffering of others.

For me the purpose of 'healing' and of spiritual & wellbeing practices are to provide tools to develop the capacity to FEEL more & communities where we become aware of our interconnectedness, our common humanity, & are affected & moved by the suffering of others.

The purpose is for us to be fully resourced & feel so deeply, with such compassion & empathy, that we are mobilised to take action for collective change & justice.

Rehumanise : to make human again, to make it suitable for humans again (no dictionary definition needed)

We finish our time in education dehumanised, dissociated & disembodied, after hours sat at desks, separated from nature & creativity, being fed a colonial curriculum.

We enter into a dehumanising society, working in dehumanising institutions, operating in dehumanising structures.

Being fed dehumanising & colonial narratives this time by the media.

May those of us who are providing pathways away from this - creatives, artists, writers, poets, activists, advocates, holistic & nature based therapists, wellbeing practitioners, social justice communities - focus on REHUMANISING.

REHUMANISING not only individuals, collectives, communities but essentially organisational, institutional and structural policy, procedure, & practice.

Let's make society & its institutions humane, humanitarian & hospitable for humans - at a mind, body & soul level.

Words from Neurodiverse Connection

Truth and Repair

​BYSTANDERS

"In recent years, I have begun to contemplate the idea of a fourth and final stage of recovery, and that is justice. If trauma is truly a social problem, and indeed it is, then recovery cannot be simply a private, individual matter. The wounds of trauma are not merely those caused by the perpetrators of violence and exploitation; the actions of the bystanders - all those who are complicit in or who prefer not to know about the abuse or who blame the victims - often cause ever deeper wounds"

Truth and Repair ~ Judith Herman

Sometimes a book puts into words your #fleshyknowing & resonates deeply with your lived experience & validates you so profoundly that your life is forever changed by it.

Reading this book, this weekend, has had that impact.

Thank you for writing this book Judith Herman #trailblazer #truthteller #justiceseeker

COMPLICITY

"Acknowledgement on a massive scale means recognition not only of the crimes committed by individual perpetrators but also of the complicity of all the people who enabled them.

... they wanted the church to stipulate 'that the abuse was not the fault of the victims, and that the shame belongs only to those who did the abuse and those who covered it up.'"

Truth and Repair ~ Judith Herman

A transferable & relevant extract which validates my #fleshyknowing that the institutions in society we go to for our moral compass, justification & solace are in fact a-moral in their complicity in abuse (of all kinds), victim blaming & dehumanisation.

Whilst survivors may creatively find comfort in the spiritual realm - directly in relation with the Divine - ultimately trauma can't be resolved & healed without a HUMAN community which is not complicit, does not deny or stay silent to abuse & actively seeks justice.

A humane, humanitarian, human community forging a humane, humanitarian humanity.

I've found that some of the most victim blaming, retraumatising & dehumanising spaces are 'moral' 'theological' 'religious' 'spiritual' 'wellbeing' & 'therapeutic' spaces.

VISIONING JUSTICE

The radical (or root cause addressing) survivors vision of justice needs "truth and repair -acknowledgement, vindication, apology, and amends - from their moral communities"

"Because many people in their communities enabled the abuse they endured, they seek community amends in the form of institutional & cultural change"

Truth and Repair ~ Judith Herman

I've had a #fleshyknowing of this for a while. I now have research & evidence based text to say I'm not alone in this vision.

No more victim blaming. No more bystander apathy & silence. No more collusion.

In our homes, families & friendship groups, schools, churches, wellbeing retreats, spiritual communities, universities, mental health services, court rooms (& all the other spaces we inhabit)

Actively educate - deconstruct, divest, resensitise & rehumanise - evolve & embody JUSTICE.

Words for these times.
 
I’ll leave it there for now.
 
Kay x