11/17/2024
Only Then
I seek to stand beside you
without hiding my truth or
asking you to hide yours
I will offer you strong tea of truth
Only then
can we be ourselves
I will not come with a fortress
around my heart, yet I will
honor my own needs
to eat when I am hungry
Only then
can this love be nourished
I will share water from my well,
herbs from my wild garden and
poetry from my people and offer you
pen and paper, I carry it with me
Only then
can we quench our thirsts
I ask you to tell deep valley stories,
not the ones where you won or lost
I want to hear where you felt alive
when whisper trees called your name
Only then
can I hear your voice clearly
I can walk in the dew of your grasses
Holding hands, gathering moisture
We pause to admire a grasshopper
Let's ask what grasshopper knows
Only then
can we become, slowly alive
I promise not to rush healing
I won’t pathologize mossy slopes
If you do not judge darkened caves
Only then
can we be as we wish to be: Free
Candles in the windows of the muses
flicker with curiosity at the wonder
of our tender powerful flames
Do you see the light, just there...
I have been waiting for you
~ Shiloh Sophia
____________
Dear Ones,
Here’s what feels alive: That we are witnessing a paradigm shift that many of us have been seeking at some level. So the middle ground has arrived on this one thing: the change is upon us. We don’t know what it means, but it’s here. It’s happening in real-time.
Here’s what hurts: The women I know who were afraid before, for their lives, for their bodies, for their skin color, are more afraid than ever… it’s happening in real-time.
Here’s what’s bizarre: Whatever is happening, the rich are still gonna get richer and the poor are gonna get more poor… it’s happening in real-time.
Here’s what I’m paying attention to: The very real lives of the people in my very long-term community and what they are experiencing during this time and how I can best serve them with the gifts that I am carrying, that ignite the gifts that they are carrying. It’s happening in real-time through our weekly circles.
Here is what I find terrifying: That misogyny is rising, racism is rising and antisemitism is rising. And deportation plans are being made, that the Mexican members of my community haven’t even heard about. Regardless of the hopes we have for our values, the voting majority of people in the United States still chose someone whose words and actions towards women are actually horrifying. There is a dissonance here that is striking, and usually only happens when there is cult-like energy. Where people will compromise on one core value in order to achieve another one. That we will overlook past behavior for idealism and that we would trust someone who has been caught lying thousands of times.
Here’s what I find exciting personally: I feel like I’ve been preparing my entire life for days like these, and Mama told me it was coming. “Be ready” she said. I actually am.
May love, continue to be at the center of all of our choices, the alternative is unthinkable. Discernment is upon us in a way that most of us have never had to metabolize.
Sending a warm embrace to anyone who needs it right now, as I watch the sun light up the morning and offer my prayers. On this full moon I am calm and creative.
Lots of invitations for support are coming from the greater communities of caring souls. We at MUSEA are continuing to focus in our existing circles. More to come about ways to work with consciousness and embodiment during these times, like the next full moon Embrace retreat my Muse is taking me for a ride on and is still a .
I wish I could give you a hug right now. I wish I could give my mother a hug right now.
Love,
~ Shiloh
"You Bring Water for My Creatures" Painting from 2023 for Jonathan.
p.s. As many in our community are seeking solace and connection, I created a weekend full moon virtual retreat called EMBRACE. Spend two days painting the sacred feminine and feel Her healing embrace, December 14th and 15th or watch on-demand: https://musea.org/embrace/
