Minoan Messages

now available in print or epub

Ever lost sight of your identity and/or your purpose? Me, too!

Synopsis: 

Darla has been a spiritual eclectic for over fifteen years. She is rooted in her faith and happy in her lifestyle. But when her husband experiences a mid-life crisis and they suddenly move from Maine to Arizona, her grounding is disrupted on more than just the physical level. Darla realizes that somewhere along the way her sense of self and purpose got left behind. Were identity and soul misplaced or totally lost? She is clinging to the possibility that a pilgrimage to Crete can show her the way home to herself. As Darla explores the remarkable sites of the ancient Minoans, she opens to the whispers of priestesses long gone, and absorbs the vibrations of a matrifocal culture wherein its people knew the harmonic oneness of life. Upon returning home, Darla continues to explore the balancing of dark and light, to weigh the merits of cave dwelling and creative expression. Through experiences, reflections, and visions on a journey that was far more than Darla had imagined, she recovers her unique identity, embraces her true nature, and steps forward to manifest her soul-purpose.

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My book expresses perspectives on eclectic earth-based spirituality as well as how earth divinity supports the universal relatedness of women’s journeys and our subsequent healing through those experiences. My paths as spiritual seeker and practitioner of earth-energy healing modalities have merged; this union enhances my ability to not only explore inner and outer landscapes, but to share my perceptions of them in a variety of unique ways that includes metaphor and tales of the ancient past.

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Parakalo (please), hop over to
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Efharisto!

Tangles of Hair and Roots

Olive Grove, Crete

Can you imagine 

falling into the long tendrils and tangles 

of the scruffy old wise woman’s hair? 

She lives on the mountains tracing trails older than the oldest human, 

routes traversed by the ancestors of the pussycat cleaning its paws across the room 

and created by the single file marching of sedate beasts who live in the moment, 

ignoring the one who hunts for its belly now rumbles replete, 

its yawn smells of digestion, and 

its movements echo the gentle fall of huge snowflakes drifting silent in the night. 

Can you imagine 

the tendrils and tangles of this world we’ve constructed 

that we cannot seem to find our way out of, 

for every tendril we push away becomes another one wrapping itself around an ankle, 

tripping us until we fall into the tangles ahead and become invisible. 

It’s one thing to disappear into the tangles of nature 

because death there is quick and merciful. 

But the tangles of the world of blinding light and rapid thoughts 

across a circuit board that is constantly overloaded 

is terrifying for in there death is slow and painful, 

dragging one along behind for decades dripping bloody entrails and 

severed limbs so that we are unable to climb out or 

push ourselves in a different direction. 

Ancient Olive Tree, Crete

Can you imagine 

being the tendrils untangled that seek out new lands, 

new paths, the way less traveled, or a 

tendril snipped and lifted high in the beak of a broad-winged friend 

who carries one off to a place of solitude that is still unique 

yet blessed by the sacred song of silence in one’s own head ... 

silence so that we can hear the voices of insects, birds, trees, 

sliding rocks, and thunder riding the lightening. 

Can you imagine 

being given the tendrils and tangles of the hawk’s nest 

in which to curl up and rest, 

or those of woodsy floor 

where thousands of lives have been before,

have birthed and died within the tangles of roots 
that welcome us home without demands or judgment.

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Streaming free-write from the ClarityWorks prompt "tendrils and tangles."

Grapevine Arbor

Vibrations still echo through my body, those subtle connective threads across the bounds of time, as I enter the long grapevine arbor that leads from the ancient past into the present. This enchanting surprise brings a smile to my face that I see reflected in the women with whom I journey. Cheerful, childish chatter bubbles up into the vines overhead as our joy becomes a champagne made from the grapes that surround us, a few colorful, heavy bunches - like tiny water balloons - hidden among the dry greens and browns. A companion eagerly pulls a few warm purple globes out from the recesses of shadow and hands some to me. Delicious! We commune with the twining plants as we receive in gratitude their fruits. 

Walking through the tunnel of life, knowing its gifts and some of its secrets, I wonder about the bridge between then and now, between what has been and what will become. Gaia infuses all of us with the same vital force, and it only takes a moment of pause to feel our sameness, to know our unique expression of the One as being present. The same arbor of thick vines that shelters me from the intense rays of the sun also receives the blessing of illumination, transforming the light into sweetness from which I partake of the wisdom of cycles and growth, transition and death. 

I feel my aura expand, intersecting and then being absorbed within the broad spectrum of tangled stems and branching arms that hold my energy safe within this space. I move through with such wonder and delight. Can you, dear vine, feel the inspiration to grow and create, to open and stretch into the light of vigorous transformation as the liquid rushes through our veins as one? Night will come, allowing rest and a soft coolness to mix with the gold of fire in ancient alchemy of nature held within the unseen voice of Sacred blessings that resonate throughout the length of the arbor, connecting all the grapes of green and purple, inspiring seeds and leaves to know the future beyond death of drawing within at close of cycle. We are the grapes, the vines, the seeds. We are the Regeneration.

How long have I been traveling this tunnel of vines? Minutes or years? Nearing the exit -- never the end -- I see tomato vines blending, offering their bright red balls into the pattern. Change is always happening. For a moment, I hesitate, not wanting to leave the magical path. I feel a strong desire to stay in the mystery of transformation, but then it wouldn’t be walking with wisdom to remain for too long in a single moment. I close my eyes for an instant of pure connection without distraction, and smile in recognition at Her reveal of Self. Inner and outer experience reunite under the Cretan sun; cool, dark fingers release their hold as warmer rays of welcoming arms of gold encourage me forward. Friendship and food await. Enticing aromas and voices of community call from just around the corner. Moving on ...

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As I write about the places I visited during my pilgrimage, I notice that it's not only the ancient archeological sites that weave their magic, but also the spaces, the land, the sea ...

Below is the same photo as above but with an arrow pointing to the long grapevine arbor through which we walked from Zakros to the coastal taverna where our group ate lunch. I find it odd that I didn't take a picture of the arbor, but perhaps the absence of a snapshot only enhances my sense of being a bit 'out of sync' ...

Makriyalos

The view from my hotel room ...

I will be back to blogging soon. Meanwhile, I will share a photo or two. 

Home from Crete

view of Kavousi, Crete

Crete, here I come

free image © Martina Misar-tummeltshammer | Dreamstime.com

Yes. It's really happening! I am registered, paid up, and will obtain airline tickets tomorrow. The journey does not begin until autumn, but I will, of course, take lots of pictures and share my experiences upon my return. The photo isn't where I will be staying but I'm sure I will see lots of similar buildings upon the hillsides.

Taking a Pilgrimage to Crete in honor of Goddess/Gaia/The Divine has been a dream of mine since 1996 so I am thrilled beyond words to finally be going. Everything is coming about as it was meant to, of that I am convinced. What had appeared to be road blocks to this journey in the past four years were simply detours until the circumstances were revealed that would be the most enlivening and healing. I am deeply grateful.

I love preparing for a trip, and revel in every moment of the journey. The destination is simply a point used to keep me moving along the path, but it is every footstep and pause that are the true gifts.

Many of my thoughts regarding this pilgrimage and what it means to me will be posted at my other blog - On the Gaia Path - but I just had to share the news here as well because my excitement is bubbling and flowing over the sides of my heart-well!

We celebrated by going to a Greek restaurant for dinner and, upon return home, I watched one of my favorite movies -- Shirley Valentine -- a British comedy about a middle-aged woman's sudden trip to the Greek island of Mykonos.

I discovered this movie about four years ago, and have watched it many times since then. How many of us have, at times, lost ourselves ... lost our sense of who we are?

There is a famous monologue/scene in the film HERE that is quite touching. Many of us are perfectly happy leading what Shirley calls a "little life" but it's clearly not been that way for her. I won't spoil the film for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I do recommend the movie.

Choices

Where to go?!

Crete?

Alaska?

Arizona?

My heart and soul, the adventurous, creative, imaginative and spiritual yearnings of Self, says Crete.

The practical me, the learner, the one who takes joy in education and in learning new ways to use self-healing modalities, says Alaska or Arizona.

Choices.

All happening in the spring.

To choose one.

How?

Ultimately, the choice seems to be whether to explore the unknown which may produce sudden, profound shifts, or to continue upon the safer path at a more sedate pace.

More on Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete...

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CRETE: LOVELY ANCIENT DWELLING

free photo © Marc Dietrich | Dreamstime.com

Glimmering

Toss up.

Whenever I start to feel anxious about creating,

I fall back into learning.

Both good.

One is a tantalizing glimpse into Spirit and Self,

the other grounding.

Journey.

A path of heart, less travelled, more glimmering,

or trail of no risk.

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photo Lonely Tree CRETE © Natalja Sidorenko | Dreamstime.com