WiseWomanhood School

Supporting Women - Body, Mind, & Soul

Terra

Becoming a True Elder

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I’ve been studying shamanic practice with Paul Francis, of the UK. He teaches that the basis of shamanism is animism. Our Hunter-Gatherer forefathers & mothers lived in this kind of culture. They lived harmoniously within their human tribe and with the larger community of non-humans – Animal, Plant, and Stone Peoples. They understood all the Peoples are soulful and worthy of respect. They knew there was a Spirit World, unseen unless in a Shamanic State of Consciousness, during a shamanic journey or in a state straddling both the physical world and the Spirit World.

In this animist world, children were initiated into adulthood, signaling that they’d become a True Adult. They were shocked into giving up their childish self centeredness and into connecting more fully to the whole web of life – human & non-human. Using their talents for the good of the whole. That was the makings of a True Human Adult.

I hope to grow into that – and onward to be a True Elder, not just older but seeing beyond the daily world to bigger needs of the whole community and sharing that wisdom.  Paul Francis says that Shamans were Elders ahead of their time, with a foot in both the Spirit World and the physical Middle World. They tell stories to help keep the tribe on the path to being Truly Human Beings.

Luckily, Ayurveda helps us to live long and well as possible. With these supports I hope to make it to True Elderhood.

If you would like to join me on this path, join our free twice monthly Shamanic Study Groups and look into the excellent books and classes by Paul Francis at Three Ravens College. To have your own personal longevity plan, start with a zoom consultation with Terra or try some Ayurveda on-demand classes.

Deepening through Female Initiations

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You can view a woman’s life cycles as a series of initiations into a new state of being, a higher consciousness. When you look at them this way, they become more than a troublesome change. They become an opportunity for your soul to grow.

The phases that women go through are:  Menarche, Menstrual cycling, Female Orgasm, Pregnancy, Postpartum, Perimenopause, Menopause and Later Menopause.  Intertwined with these is Creativity.

These stages have been correlated by the author Uma Dinsmore-Tuli with the traditional Tantric Mahavidya or Wisdom Goddesses.  Most of these Goddesses are very fierce looking, ready to shock you out of your everyday patterns into a state of newness, making them excellent for Female Initiations.

This beautiful graph is from the amazing book Yoni Shakti,by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli,PhD. It clearly illustrates the relationship of the Mahavidyas to the Female Life Cycles:

We can use the teachings of the Mahavidya to bring more awareness to Female Cycles, making them more than physical experiences which are often uncomfortable.

If you’d like to learn from my research and journeys with the Female Cycles and the Mahavidyas, as well as from other women on the journey, join my upcoming live, zoom class in February. We’ll go beyond the mind and enter into the subtle worlds to contact each Goddess for personalized teachings.

I also highly recommend the amazing book Yoni Shakti by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli  , the major inspiration for my own work to learn more and share about her great paradigm.  She delves deeply into women and yoga and also offers wonderful womb yoga techniques for each cycle of womanhood.

Learn more about the Mahavidyas and Women’s Powers class

Deepening and Finding Your Teacher

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How important is relationship with your teacher? You might be learning spiritual, health, or other kinds of lessons. A good fit with a teacher’s way of presenting information as well as the information itself serves your learning.

This interview with Terra Rafael is offered as a way to get to know her flavor, to understand her history, and to see if she is a teacher you would like to learn from.

Enjoy!

Terra Rafael, interviewed by Christine Eck, Director of Sacred Window Studies

Interact in person with Terra: WiseWomanhood Classes – Live on Zoom

Dive Deeper- Seminar on Ayurveda for Women’s Health, 10 Saturday sessions,beg Feb 18 , More Info

Dive Deep into the Spirit – The Wisdom Goddesses and Women’s Powers – 10 sessions, Feb-Apr, Fridays – Teachings, discussion & shamanic journey, More Info

Personal or Group Mentoring Sessions – scheduled with individual or group participants
Monthly Shamanic Study Group – 4th Sunday 10 am Mountain Time – email wisewomanhood@gmail to register

NEW: Monthly Free Q & A with Terra – 2nd Friday, 10 am Mountain Time – Register here

For more info on any of these, email Terra at wisewomanhood@gmail

Rest and Renew

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Rest and Renew is a great theme for now, the time of Winter (here in the Northern Hemisphere). Mother Nature has gone into this mode in the trees and plants. The perennial plants send their life energy down into their roots, insulated in the earth, protected from harsher coldness. They look a bit dead, but are really resting. It’s a natural way to survive when things get rough.

This time of year we often celebrate together. Yet it can sometimes become a whirlwind of activity, just when Nature tells us, “It’s dark more now – rest more now.” Do you look for the balance between activity and renewal? If the plants didn’t go deep now, they likely wouldn’t survive. When we don’t sleep deeply, rest enough, our health and lifespan suffers too – although it may not show up immediately.

What do you do to rest and renew? I meditate daily; I do breath work daily; I limit activities, leaving space to be a bit slower; I nap if I haven’t slept well; I take nice warm baths; I go out in the sunshine when it’s available; I walk outside in the clean,crisp air; I spend peaceful time with friends and family who are loving and supportive; I daydream, looking at the sky or the Solstice Tree; I laugh, sing, and dance; I read or watch inspiring stories. What do you do to rest and renew?

This balance of activity and rest alternate daily with the sun and yearly with the seasons. Being in touch with it suits being a healthy human.

(If you are interested in a shamanic journey about rest and renewal, Dec. Shamanic Study Group will have this theme. Join us if you are a journeyer. Contact Terra to register for the link.)

Rattles – Tools of the Soul

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I have three rattles that have been with me for decades.  They have many layers of meaning for me, reminding me. Two represent the feminine and masculine duality of creation and in each of us. One connects to the Animal People. I’m still learning new things from them.

I use them in various different ways – to invoke the 6 Directions; to clear or close the energy body; to give rhythm to singing; to be the sound beacon for those on shamanic journey.

My Blood Rattle is a natural gourd with an expanded bottom and smaller top bulb which acts as a handle. I found it at a farmer’s market. The surface is mottled in various tans, browns and muted orange. Its dried seeds are what makes it a natural rattle.  When I was a midwife I asked some clients if I could anoint my rattle with their birth blood, which I did. I also anointed it with my moon blood.  Thus I named it my Blood Rattle. I put a red cord tied loosely around its neck. The sound of this rattle is deep and with various tones in it.

Today I realized that the Blood Rattle represents the Lower World – Mother Earth powers.  It awakens and invokes the Soul helps from the yin or feminine realm which hold the potentials of all creation. That is the feminine power to be the potential for all to happen.

My Moon Rattle is created of natural materials put together in a very Yang/Masculine form. The head of the rattle is very hard and coasted with tiny crystals on a light background. This is why I called it my Moon Rattle- it reminds me of a Full Moon. The handle is a brown branch with two little angels carved into it and on the bottom a larger quartz crystal is attached. Between the head and handle, purple yarn is wrapped with two feathers attached to beads at the ends of the yarn. The sound of this rattle is a bit softer yet sharper.  It was a gift from one of my midwifery clients.

Today I realized that the Moon Rattle represents the Upper World – the Sky powers. It calls the forces of the Upper World, the Spirit helpers from the yang or masculine realm. The masculine carries out the intentions of the feminine through its consciousness.

My Animal Toenail Rattle is from a native market years ago.  I was fascinated by this unique rattle, that is made of some kind of toenails, sewn to cloth in a circle like a bracelet or anklet. I love to use it as a rattle, great when dancing. It has a brittle, high pitched rattle sound. I can’t help but think of the animal who gave it to me.

Seeing the sacred in everything around us is a way to connect deeply with life.

My Three Rattles- a poem

Your voices call me into new adventures,

Into Plant, Animal, or Stone-

Each of you, an Emissary of one of them.

My Blood Rattle, anointed with woman blood

Is a simple dried gourd, rattling inside itself,

My Plant Emissary sings rooted wisdom,

Reaching to the Sun.

My Moon Rattle, glowing like the Moon

With tiny crystals coating the head

And a sizeable quartz at the handle’s end

Shares a softer sound, the quieter voice of ancient Stone.

My Toe Nail Rattle, made of sheep’s toenails they said,

Is my Animal Emissary,

Sewn loosely on a woven cloth circlet that fits my wrist.

Its voice rings like a clatter of animal chatter, calling me.

Thank you Rattles for connecting me to my relations,

And to the worlds of shamanic journeying

And the deep source of Mother Nature.