The Divine Feminine Rises

Women!
Do not center your lives around men
Pleasing
Appeasing
We are not the prey for their predator
Though some argue nature made it so

We are Medusa's progeny
Serving oleander sweet tea
And Aqua Tofana cocktails
We carry the legacies of Lilith
Hecate and the Morrigan
Skywoman and Diana of the Hunt
In our bones

We are born with cunning woven into our shadows
Placed there by the midwives and wise-women
Kitchen witches and herbalists
Shaman and priestesses
Who came before us

We have our own form of politics
Whispered around washing wells and sewing circles
Book clubs and coffee tables
We don our poison rings and hat pins
Let them think our docility safe
While we keenly observe and note and remember

It is time to end the war waged upon our bodies
The raping of our spirit
The subjugation of our gender
We are the gateway of life
We break ourselves open through blood and pain
To do the Goddess's work of creation

Too long have we allowed the world to think us
Weak
Helpless
Foolish
Simple
Incapable
We must remind the world of our strength

Boudicca was beaten and her daughters raped
And in her rage she waged war against Rome
Joan d'Arc stood against the English and the Church
A God-touched, heretic, peasant child whose heart would not burn
Harriet Tubman survived the travesties of slavery
Another God-touched woman who delivered 70 other souls to freedom
And we know there are so many more like them

Though we may not find our names etched in history
We are no less powerful than those who are
Our lives are OUR CHOICE
We are not chattel nor trophies
We are creation gifted autonomy
It is our divine right to wield our lives as we see fit

Let them vilify us as
Succubi
Mad women
Uppity bitches
And cunts

We know we are
Goddesses
Priestesses
Witches
And warriors

We are exhausted
We are fed up
We are wrathful
The Divine Feminine rises
The world is set ablaze around us
But we are not tied to the pyre
We choose to look the world dead in the eye
And dance while it burns

-gws

We Are the Bear

Birthing a new world is painful
Shifting a paradigm is tectonic

Daughters,
We do not just choose The Bear
We are The Bear
We are the Wild Mother
We are gifted with the power of creation
We are skilled in navigating grief
We are aligned with the cycles of life

Daughters,
We are the builders of community
We are the storytellers
We are the lore keepers
We are the heart and the hearth
We are the fire keepers
We are the fire

It's time to build and burn
In equal measure

-gws


If Not Me

I may appear whole
What you cannot see
Are the burns on my feet
From walking miles through fire
The stars in my eyes
From taking too many hits
The lacerations on my skin
From navigating uncountable shards of glass
The weariness deep in my bones
From rising everyday to overcome
Some challenge or trial
Again
And again
I have dodged and weaved
Punched and parried my way
Through days I never could have predicted
I have shown up when all I desired
Was to lay down and give up
Because if not me, then who
Mothers have to dig deep
We have to find that reservoir of power labeled
Do it for the children
So I push
So I push
So I push
Through the deepest, coldest waters
The fiercest, raging fires
The longest, darkest nights because
If not me, then who
For them

-gws

Menopause

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com
What is this nightmare?
Acne
Joint pain
Mood swings
Hot flashes
Night sweats
Insomnia
It's a good thing that men do not experience
The joys of menopause
I'm pretty sure that we would have
Destroyed ourselves long ago if they did
Because this experience is madness
It's like the upgrade to puberty no one wanted
I HAVE SO MUCH RAGE
This has to be the reason women stop
Putting up with intolerable things during midlife
Because I'm ready to take a machete to all of the bullshit
I have zero patience for anything
When my hormones tumble out of wack
All stupidity enrages me
And so many things are branded with
A blinking neon sign that reads
STUPIDEST THING EVER
DO NOT TOLERATE
Now don't get it twisted, gentle listeners
There are no excuses planted here
Do not dismiss my disgruntled reactions
As merely hormonal storm surges
These hormones are the reason I can see
The bullshit so clearly
They are the reason I will not abide the bullshit
One second longer

As I once let go of the Maiden's mantel to take up the Mother's mantel
I now start letting go of my Mother's mantel
To assume the mantel of the Crone
Her knowing look
Her sharp witted smirk
She has seen it and rejected it all
She understands that societal norms
The expectations that sit like weights
Upon her back are not hers to carry
She understands that she is a force
She stops caring what others think of her
And starts caring about what she thinks of herself
I feel these changes calling to my core
Calling the taproot of my soul to descend
Into the tides ruled by my will and Grace's wisdom
Tides that my ancestors waded in
And tapped into before me
The wise women
The grandmothers
The healers and midwives
The matriarchs
I am about to inherit their legacy

But first
I must walk this gauntlet called menopause
This thrill ride is only just beginning
And I already want off
If you meet me and see a feral glint in my eye
Or sweat on my brow
Know it's best to just walk on by
My grasp on my self-control
Is not a secure one
I run on resentments and judgment
Not tightly moored to my higher self
This base self more worldly
Guiding me through this transition
Steeped in ragged ugly truth
So that when I emerge
My crown of silver
Is earned

-gws

I am a Phoenix

Photo by u0415u0432u0433u0435u043du0438u0439 shvedov_xubun on Pexels.com
I am a phoenix
White fire and quiet, contained power
Yet you mistake me for something common
I am elemental and fierce
I am intuitive and intelligent
I am calm and steadfast
Until ignited or inflamed
That is when all of my truth
All of my fearsomeness and fire
Blaze like a beacon in the night
Warning all who see me that 
I am transformed into my divine self
Wings spread wide
Eyes blazing
Consuming all that stands in my way
I will always get back up
I will always rise again
Smarter
More experienced
Clearer-eyed
You may not see that I am a precious rarity
But I promise you that when I ascend
I will shine with divine light
And leave you cowering in total darkness

-gws