the Love and Blissings Book

Prayers for strength, healing and unconditional love gain momentum when spoken and shared by many, so don't forget to sign the "Love and Blissings Book"... lodge your request for loving support, or pledge that you will send your loving support to those who request it. Read the full post here

Pay It Forward Day 2008

There is tremendous power and positive energy in giving - indeed as there is in receiving.

In the past it was easier for me to receive only once I'd reached a "bank balance" of giving. I wouldn't ask a friend for help with babysitting unless I'd done something to earn "credit points" with that friend, for example. Or I wouldn't say "I need a break" to the boss unless I'd billed more than my target sales, as another example. In the meantime I compromised my health and my relationships simply because I felt too unworthy to ask for what I needed (and often deserved!)

But now, I am able to ask and receive exactly what is in my highest interest to receive. And I give, not to earn credit points, but simply because it is a joyous and gratifying thing to do.

So whether you're like the "Old Me" who is unable to ask for help until you've offered it first, or like the "Now Me" who can ask and offer help with equal measure, consider joining in the fun and altruism of PAY IT FORWARD DAY on 4 April 2008.

Hundreds of people from around the world (including me) have already become Champions of PIFD... on 4 April we'll be doing our darnedest to pass on random acts of kindness in order to help someone else.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to pay a kind act forward. In fact, if you're creative you don't need to spend any money at all! Some simple ideas of what you can do include * Paying the toll for the car behind you * Giving up your seat on a bus or a train for someone else * Giving flowers to a sick person in hospital * Giving your frequent flyer miles to a homesick family

What are you planning to do? Inspire us! Share here...

Introducing my little star

Three weeks early and weighing 6lb 7oz, my little shining star was born on Friday 22/2 in Perth. We didn't have a name picked out for our little "Bebe", but after 24 hours of getting to know her we were guided to name her Phoebe Ostara.

The name Phoebe means "bright, radiant; the shining one". Ostara is the goddess of the dawn (her name translates to East), and represents new beginnings and divine balance. I look forward to seeing how the energy of her name transpires to bring her joy and success as she grows up :-)

I was supported by friends around the world who were lighting candles and saying prayers for the safe delivery of Phoebe and the wellbeing for both of us. Knowing that these intentions were being offered on my behalf was an incredible source of comfort and strength for me. Thank you. Having been surrounded by boys all my life, it's a joy beyond measure to have this precious little girl enter my life.

As for Blaze, our big boofy blonde wonder dog, well, let's just say he doesn't have a clue what's going on -- he's just wondering what this little lump is, and why the heck it's taking ALL the attention of everyone in the household...

Thank you everyone for your emails, text messages, smoke signals & phone calls. How lucky can one girl get?

Goddess Birth Signs - What's Yours?

Pre-dating Astrology are the ancient gods and goddesses of all time. Each culture had its own divine being or pantheon of deities, yet they all transcended earthly borders and time with common attributes: security, creation, power, benevolence, judiciousness, wisdom and divinity.

And, each deity's energy was more evident at certain times of the year, season or moon cycle than at other times. But just like astrology, goddess energy defines who we are and what our life purpose may be.

Read the article at GoddessBirthSigns.com, then return here to share your thoughts -- does your goddess birth sign resonate with you?

Goddess Blog Chain

I'm actively gathering funsters for another Goddess Blog Chain...

A blog chain involves a dozen-or-so active bloggers who want to participate in a fun group activity (and learn something about other spaces / ideas / creative expression while they're at it.) A GODDESS Blog Chain is a bit more targeted in that the chain will only involve blogs that focus on women's wellbeing and spirituality.

Register your interest and your blog at goddessblogchain.com

xx
Anita

New Book: Outing the Goddess Within

Finally, my newest book is birthed!

Outing the Goddess Within,
One Girl's Journey With 52 Guides

"A delightful collection of life lessons as described by Anita in her columns with United Press International. Sometimes poignant, infinitely insightful, but mostly snort-your-milk hilarious, Anita's journey has led her to successfully 'out' her goddess within." More...

i Goddess

When goddess speaks I tend to listen ;-) And wow, did She speak to me this Monday morning!

As I was doing my morning rites, I spontaneously began with "I, goddess..." I didn't know what I was going to say next, or why I even started with those words. But I trusted that if I stepped into the flow, She would speak. And so She did...

This meditation video is the subsequent poem that was gifted to me. I hope you enjoy...

Full Moon Magic

With the magnificent Blood Moon (northern hemisphere) / Seed Moon (southern hemisphere) energising us this week, I was compelled to seek out more full moon images. I found this lovely time-lapse vision at YouTube... enjoy :-)

How To Marry Yourself

When my single girlfriends wail that "there are no good men out there," I suggest that before they think about serious relationships and marriage, they first marry themselves in order to find true love.

Read the "how to" article at SelfLoveAffair.com

500 Years of Women in Art

Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli , Boltraffio, Albrecht Durer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Messina, Perugino, Hans Memling, El Greco, Hans Holbein, Rokotov, Peter Paul Rubens, Gobert, Caspar Netscher, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Marc Nattier, Vigee-Le Brun, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Winterhalter, Tyranov, Borovikovsky, Venetsianov, Gros, Kiprensky, Amalie, Corot, Edouard Manet, Flatour, Ingres, Wontner, Bouguereau, Comerre, Leighton, Blaas, Renoir, Millias, Duveneck, Cassatt, Weir, Zorn, Mucha, Paul Gaugan, Henri Matisse, Picabia, Gustav Klimt, Hawkins, Magritte, Salvador Dali, Malevich, Merrild, Modigliani, Pablo Picasso... it's a dream of mine to join this list of esteemed artists one day ;-)

Calypso Inspiration: How To Talk Like a Pirate Wench

As I wrote in my column this week, I’d just finished watching the third instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean with my son when it became apparent we’d slipped into pirate lingo. Boy Wonderful’s simple request for food, for example, became:

Boy Wonderful: “I need some grub in me bung-hole yer dirty land-lubbin’ son of a bilge rat.”

Me: “Bwaarck! Polly wanna cracker?” (Oh, wait. That’s for Talk Like a parrot Day.) No, what I really said was, “If it’s a bucket of slop yer after, there be some swill through yonder galley porthole,” except said in the accent of Tia Dalma (the character in the aforementioned movie who is actually the goddess Calypso bound into human form) so it came out more like, “a-hdaa-me-darrr-la-deeerrr-me-hiiiiy.”

That's when we decided we needed more lessons on how to speak like a true pirate (or in my case, a true goddess Calypso). Here are the three steps we took to learn pirate language:

1. We got ourselves some fabulous pirate names. At BlogThings I became Dirty Left Eye Lisa and Boy Wonderful was renamed Iron Jimmy Jailbird.

2. We weighed anchor at the International Talk Like a Pirate Day for a bit and picked up a great swag of pirate words (the five staple words being Ahoy! Avast! Aye! Aye aye! And Arrrr!)

3. Then, with shovels-a-shovelin’ and sweat-a-pourin’ offava our necks like we was nothin’ more than the underbelly of a taste of the Cap’n’s daughter, we practised and practised and practised!

I'm happy with that, providing I don't suddenly grow to 60-feet tall and spew crabs across the deck of a black pearl...

My Inner Domestic Goddess

I've heard there is merit in doing housework, but personally I don't see the point of making beds, sweeping the floor and cleaning windows if it only has to be done again in six months' time. So, in my column this week, I started looking into which ancient goddess I could use as a domestic goddess role model. This is what I found.

• Rhiannon didn't clean windows because, as goddess of birds, horses and licorice all sorts, she didn't want any of her birds to run into a clean window and get hurt.


• As goddess of the home, Vesta didn't wax floors because she was terrified a guest would slip and she had no current public liability insurance.


• The goddess behind Easter (Eostre) didn't vacuum because she actually liked dust bunnies. In fact, she liked all sorts of bunnies. They were very good company, made great chocolate eggs, and they agreed with everything she said.


• Spider Woman didn't disturb cobwebs because all the earth's children live in her web. To clear the cobwebs would be creating rampant homelessness and that would be just plain irresponsible.


• Demeter didn't spring-clean because she was too busy welcoming Persephone back from the Underworld. Besides, she was too busy ensuring an abundant harvest so that the world's people wouldn't starve.


• The Roman goddess of flowers didn't pull weeds in the garden because, well, once you get used to them, some weeds' flowers are pretty.


• Athena didn't iron because she wore what nature intended — flirty short skirts in peacetime and warrior's armor during the end-of-season sales (and other times of general warfare).


• Love goddess Venus didn't have time for housework — she was too busy painting her nails and other general duties appropriate to her realm of beauty, sass, sunshine and love.
  

Which ancient goddess best reflects your inner domestic goddess?

Do Blokes Have an Inner Goddess?

In my column this week, I looked at how Sharon Turnbull's book "Goddess Gift: Discover Your Goddess Type" is being used by returning troops in their PTSD sessions. I asked the question, if the book is written for women, how is it finding its way to men who understand terms like “Iron Mike”, “short-arm inspection” and “sucking chest wound”?

To be honest, I can’t think of a reason why the tactics in the book can’t work for the blokes too. To test this, I did a quick whip-around-vox-pop to some male friends to see if they have an inner goddess. Returning troops they are not, but they do understand enough about resolute women to know that incoming fire has right of way. Hence, they were quick to supply me with these gracious answers:

• Ian: Yes, her name is Barry.
• (To read the others, go to the column)

After I had submitted the column, I got some more answers from the rest of the blokes who had missed the deadline. However, their answers are worth shouting from the shoe shops, so I'm inserting them below.

• Adam: Yes, I do. Her name is LaDawn. In a previous life, I was a black female backup vocalist. And I am being totally serious...
• Matt: Yeah I got an inner goddess, she's the earth and the moon and the sun and the spirit passed down to me from my mother.

If your bloke has an inner goddess, he's welcome to "out" her in the "comments" box :-)

Love and Blissings Book

Note -- a new book has opened at http://igoddess.com/love-and-blissings-book/

 Please do join us there for the most recent comments, and to add your own! Love, Anita

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I've had more emails than usual over the past couple of weeks asking for prayers, advice and gifts of consciousness. Not sure what's going in the Universe, or why Kali seems to be on a rampage, but I'm only one person and can only physically do so much...
Prayers for strength, healing and unconditional love gain momentum when spoken and shared by many, so I thought I'd create a "Love and Blissings Book" here where you can lodge your request for loving support, or pledge that you will send your loving support to those who request it.
All the names in this Book will be included in my daily meditation and salutes. If you are able to include those in need in your prayers also, please leave a note in the Book to share your intention.

Love and delight :-) Anita

All Aboard the Sisterhood Bus

"When I grow up, I want a bus just like this one"... ;-)

Seriously, doesn't this clip (in support of a campaign for an international human rights organisation that promotes values of dignity, equality and justice) make you want to take life by the short-n-curlies, climb aboard a bus full of goddess sisters, and DANCE?!

What's your dream for gathering your goddess sisters? Is it a red tent, a goddess circle in your backyard, or a large-scale, fun and fabulous goddess gathering?

Share your dream!

My #1 Rule for a Meaningful Life

My 13-year-old Boy Wonder asked me last night, "Mummy, what's the point of living if we just die in the end anyway?"

Wow, I don't know what surprised me more -- this coming from a 13-year-old, or from the son of a life affirmer! It sounds so macabre coming from a young adolescent raised in a positive, warm, supportive and affirmative home! (We all know it's not though -- the "meaning of life" is something we're all chasing, is it not!?!)

Anyhoo, this is what i told him: my #1 rule for a meaningful life...

What do YOU think is the secret to a meaningful life?

What do you love about yourself?

What do you love most about yourself?


The new post has been moved to http://igoddess.com/what-do-you-love-about-yourself/


Please join us there! 


Blissed be,
Anita

The Goddess Workout

It seems my Goddess Workout (featured in the Body+Soul liftout last year) is striking a chord... I found out this morning it is being translated to Dutch and included in a book! More soon on that one. In the meantime, click on the image above to read the Workout :-)

Love and light refreshments,
Anita

Easter Questions

Last week, in my weekly column for UPI, I wrote about Eostre (the namesake of Easter) and her lover, Lepus the hare (aka the "Easter bunny"). In it, I posed two questions:

1. When Easter eggs hatch, what kind of animal is born?
2. Which came first? The rabbit or the egg?

Let the stream-of-consciousness flow!

Road Trippin' in the USA

Chicago is SUCH an incredible city! Why haven't I been here before? Oh my gosh, the three-storey roads had my head spinning for a bit, as did the St Patricks Day festivities here yesterday. But it's all good! It's better than the head-spin I got after taking a wrong turn in Tennessee and finding myself driving through the Virginian mountain ranges, lol.

Hubby (aka "Luvvy") and I have been finding up songs about every state we are visiting. We have some gaps though, and are hoping you can help us by contributing suggestions... So far we have been to:

- Louisana: The Battle of New Orleans, Johnny Horton
- Mississippi:
- Tennessee: Graceland, Paul Simon
- Virginia: Country Roads, John Denver (I know, not "technically" about Virginia)
- Kentucky: Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin (I'm sure there's a line in there about "from the Kentucky coal-mines to the Californian sun")?
- Indiana: "I come from Indiana with a corn cob in my sack" (OK, we made that one up - after 10 hours of driving we were getting a little stir-crazy)
- Illinois: Any song by the band, Chicago?

Coming up next:

- Michigan:
- Ohio:
- Pennsylvania:
- New York: NY NY, the old dude
- Connecticut:
- California: Welcome to the Hotel California, The Eagles

Get in there girls, get creative!
:-)
Anita