Move and Be Moved

It is such sweetness to find yourself resonating in the same energetics! This was my first time dancing with Diane, and our paths intertwined so often. Diane follows motion with the ease of a slinky cat, with the sharpness of a thunderclap, with the solidness of a wild mustang breaking free across the plain, with the flight of a humingbird, and with the grace of a perched heron.

It was fun to be with another 5Rhythm tribe for a weekend. We celebrated two birthdays! The beauty's are always this radiant!

Julia shared her Empowerment mandala card with me which features Pele. I hadn't read about Pele in a long time, so I read about her.

I was fascinated that this goddess, this patronness of dance was prone to a great range of emotions including rage and jealousy that affected her relationships with others. For example she destroyed a lover because she assumed that both her sister and her lover had betrayed her. Perhaps these contentious relationships led to insight her.

Kathy spoke about humans trying to be spiritual, when in fact they could practice being of the earth, since we are of the earth. Being of the earth as a way to a truly spiritual being. It was interesting to note how often Pele, like many other gods and goddesess, was purported to change to human form to indulge desires for human and earthly experiences. She frequently sought union with the waves and men.

Her fiery power has destroyed much and in that process she has created much more land. A reminder that often something must be destroyed, or ended in order for something new to arise.

A story about Pele.

The picture is dark, but the dance is pure light. Such communion and unity held by the lapping arms of mother ocean, and the solid bowl of mother earth. Saturday evening at Muir Beach to the sweet sounds of the ocean waves and a flute in the distance.

Additional comment added 6/24/06. The essence of such community and unity was the being here and now. Creation is a here and now act resulting in maybe a revelation or a communion or insight. These moments of shared reverence are as neccessary as our shared joy and shared pain.

Members of the Olympia tribe shared a picnic dinner on Muir Beach on Saturday night after day 2 of Kathy Altman's Cycles.

We were delightfully seduced by a nearby groups' drumming. Led by the fearless Syd, we advanced upon them in the tribal beat, and made the beach alive with dance. Many others from other groups joined us and it was incredible alchemy.

Dancing to the heartbeat of the great mother earth, we celebrated her goodness, her wealth, her support. Feeling the great vibrations of wholeness, and all that is goodness and beauty. Drawing her in filling our human bodies so that we might understand our true nature which like mother earth is all goodness.

Remembering our deep connection, and infusing harmony as a way to acknowledge and own our responsibility to health. The health and well being of the self, humanity and our great mother earth. Dancing the value of caring; and healing our bodies and the great body.

We come together in celebration and devotion, sending prayers from our unified deep source sending out healing and love to all our brothers and sisters, our communities and our great mother earth. Together, a dance prayer at a time we heal and heal and heal our great collective wounds

As Sara often says, "Go out and love." Yes, each act of caring is love in motion. Be love in action. Love yourself into goodness and health, love your family, your community and our great earth. Loving in motion is the human spirit deep at work.

In cycles, we danced our relationship to containment and pushing out of the containment. Yes, out, not away.

Sometimes pushing the container meant that the container grew, softened and enlarged rather than dissapeared, and sometimes it meant that as I pushed I became outside of it. Which meant it was soft enough and the relationship between me and the container was reciprocal in readiness. And sometimes it meant that the container held on tight and would not let me out no matter how hard I pushed. An outside force determined that I was not ready to be out yet. I was ready and it was not.

The trick was to listen, to listen to me and listen to the container. There is a place of synchonicity in which both the container and the containee are ready.

Several of the Olympia tribe traveled down to Mill Valley to participate in the Cycles workshop with Kathy Altman.

It is beautiful to reconnect with dancers with whom I've previously connected with. The workshop has been full and challenging and sweet and revealing and crazy and delightful and on and on. I love, and am learning to love and be comfortable with the feeling of so many feelings at the same time. So much can occupy the same space at the same time. We are spending our entire time this weekend working with our birth/early years, and our relationship with and understanding of mother.

Last night several of us went to Muir Beach, and enjoyed a picnic dinner there. We were blessed with a nearby group who began drumming. We were called by the drums and soon many other people joined us in the dance. As things settled down we danced closer to the edge of the ocean. The water loving and holding us and our fragility. The sand of mother earth grounding us in our stillness, and a serendipitous gift of flute music in the background.

Some men who were part of the drumming circle went skinny-dipping. Kari says it's because of our influence of expressing our spirits in freedom.