"The mother within each of us...whispers...I feel, therefore I can be free.”
From Poetry is not a Luxury by Audre Lorde
It is often hard to hear the whispers of the mother within. We are told to leave our emotions aside, whether we are men or women. We are told to survive we must dominate, we must conquer, we must take and most of all, we must ignore the very nature we are born with and born from. Beneath the deafening demands of our patriarchal society, are the ever present whispers of mother nature, which exists all around and within each one of us.
Within our bodies and connected to our souls lives an intuition that is maternal; it yields the power to create and sustain, to nurture and to grow. And while there is so much intelligence and advancement around us today, we are completely disconnected from ourselves, killing mother nature slowly through our actions. Only once balance and harmony is re-established within ourselves, will we be able to heal the world around us.
"For people of every gender identity, there is a dance between the masculine and feminine energies within. The goal is to find balance among these energies."
Excerpt from Alicia Key's opening to her and
Deepak Chopra's Divine Feminine Meditation Journey
So often, we only think of the divine feminine in relation to the divine masculine: from Adam and Eve to reason and emotion. This comparison only limits the possibility and potential of the expansive and freeing energy of femininity. It is not just emotion, it's interconnectedness, it's sustainability--and the secret ingredient of life. Its existence does not exclude masculine energy, but offers each person the balance of both. So how can we become more in tune with, embody, celebrate, and feel feminine energy?
By exploring the connections we have with one another, especially our mothers, we can begin our individual journey towards discovering the nature of divine femininity. In her recent book, Hannah Bailey showcases her own exploration of the divine feminine through poetry about her body, her maternal lineage and her identity in relation to both.
WOMAN If I trace with my fingertip every inch of me my hand, a replica of my mother's would eventually find my feet then ground the root. If I trace with blood every inch of my womanhood my root, an extension of my mother's, would weave it's way to a land I cannot navigate and bury there a seed.
From Drawing Blood (or On My Mother's Toes) by Hannah Bailey
By taking time to understand and love our mothers, we reconnect with our roots, our nature, our divine selves. By taking the time to understand the power of creation, we begin to access freedom found within the feminine energy. We begin to see, love and understand the mothering nature present within ourselves and everything around us. It is time that we stop taking the mother out of our nature and consider being more open to the expansive energy that sustains us, creates us, is us.
"One of the reasons we give the Earth the title of ‘Mother Earth’ is because of the Divine Feminine. Everything grows on Earth. She feeds you, holds you, cares for you and supports you, makes sure you’re good. The caretakers among us know it requires a lot of strength and energy to do that. The Divine Feminine is all about the associations we have with a nurturing mother. And that force is within each of us, waiting to be uncoiled."
Excerpt from Alicia Key's opening to her and Deepak Chopra's Divine Feminine Meditation Journey
For a long time, the nuances of (wo)man-hood were put in a cage. To access this force is not just to embrace an essential strength available in your body, but to counteract the limitations of societal norms and comparisons that cause such deep imbalances within our sacred inner connectedness. If we all take time to connect to our intuition, our core, our mother, our nature, we can immerse ourselves in the divine feminine and allow ourselves to freely express the care, nurture, love and growth that seeks to blossom from within.
Drawing Blood (or On My Mother's Toes) offers a powerful and vulnerable example of this journey. This book of poetry is all about the power of women who have accessed the divine feminine and use this connection to spread emotion, beauty, and care. It also highlights the pain, processing, and love that guides maternal energy. By embarking on this journey we can begin to understand what it means to access the powerful sources of energy within us that are capable of healing, first, ourselves and, then, the world.
Let's stay empathic, warm, and compassionate. The future of the world depends on it. Happy International Women's Day!
18 signed and numbered books and prints are available for Pre-Order from 2.22.2022 - 3.22.2022
This is an Æra Hope x Antonia Stefanescu x Naomie Gutenkist x N writing collaboration.
References:
Images pulled from Unsplash
Quotes pulled from
Poetry is not a Luxury by Audre Lorde
Drawing Blood (or On My Mother's Toes) by Hannah Bailey
...and a playlist by Antonia, if you wanna listen while you read!
Motherhood is universa!🌟
I love this! To be able to access our source of creation at all times is truly a gift!