Pregnant With Possibility

 

 

le Enchanteur is pregnant with possibility. She is almost full term, ready to birth a new journey and a new challenge. Soon she will set out with pilgrims in search of the Grail – the elixir of creativity.

This journey will culminate in the 2006 Advent Calendar.

Pilgrims who wish to participate need to send an expression of interest to le Enchanteur at heatherblakey at dailywriting dot net. A private group will be formed. This journey will not be available to the public until the Calendar is published.

Registering With Baba

 

At Baba’s Heroine’s are busily registering and letting their passions be known. This is the opportunity to work as you have always wanted to work. In another life I could play music and so I am serenading Baba with a lilting tune before making my way to Cyberia to play before the court. Well! Given my musical ability I may opt to do something else when I actually arrive there. Indeed, I may take up many roles in this ancient city and find time to be a writer of history.

Myth One

It is a myth that Baba’s House is some terrible dungeon where people live imprisoned, in dread and fear. Baba clearly needs a new PR person who makes sure that happy snaps like this are circulated amongst those who would believe the tales circulated by rejected men who fear death.

Upon your arrival Baba asks you to fill out a registry book outlining your preferences. What kind of work will you offer to do for her? Create a category for yourself – for example gardener – and then post some ‘work’ under this category.

Women at Work at Baba’s

 

At Baba’s you are judged, not by name or status, rank or reputation but by how you work and fit in with the others who have gathered here.

It was when corporate man looked at woman working that he coined the term ‘multi skilling’. All women have found that they have to be agile, innovative, nimble, quick witted, resilient, creative and have turned their hands to a myriad of tasks, which, if not completed would leave a gaping void.

At Baba’s each Heroine must find her niche. These are just three of the duties that women who have stayed with Baba have opted to undertake.

Don’t be limited by stereotypes. This is simply the first of yet another series of Women at Work in Lemuria.

Collecting and Wearing Badges – For Baba

 

A young medical student writes, saying that “It goes without saying that we should be smartly dressed (in a white coat where appropriate) and have a prominent identification badge, but the real way that we distinguish ourselves as students is by taking the time to correctly identify and introduce ourselves to the patient concerned. Having given a reason why we are requesting their participation (as part of our ongoing learning), we then ask their permission to take a history and examine them, as medical students.

In my experience many doctors still choose to wear their white coat (the “classic trademark” of a medical student). In hospital we wear our stethoscopes around our necks because the pockets of our white coats are crammed full with textbooks and note pads, not because we want to be indistinguishable from doctors. Lets get real, the stethoscope is a medical instrument and not a badge of honour for doctors. Let your communication skills do the talking and not an obscure and arcane system related to the display (or not) of the symbols of our profession.

What badges of honour will you wear in order to help introduce yourself to Baba?

 

House of Baba Yaga

An important part of the Heroine’s Journey requires that you go to Baba Yaga and acquire the eternal flame. If you have never read Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes you will have missed her Chapter 3 ‘ ‘Nosing Out the Facts. The Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation’

The Heroine’s work at the House of Baba Yaga is based on the Vasalisa story which you will find on the net.

le Enchanteur comes and gives you a doll who will act as your guide. (Find a doll or make one. Look at her carefully. You will know her well)

Enchanteur says that if you should lose their way, or be in need of help, all you have to do is ask the doll what to do. She says that the doll will assist, that everyone must keep the doll with them at all times, that no-one can tell anyone about her. She say that you must feed the doll when she is hungry and give her drinks if she is thirsty.

After Enchanteur has gone, as quickly as she came, you greet your doll and introduce yourself. Post any initial conversations with your doll guide under ‘Doll Guides’.

The doll says that you have to go through the woods and ask the old lady who lives by the lake how to find Baba Yaga. It doesn’t take long to reach the house by the lake. You do not show the old lady your doll or let her know she is with you.

The old lady who lives by the lake tells you to follow your nose and you will find Baba Yaga’s. Fat lot of use that was!

Having read all your fairy stories you realise that going to Baba Yaga anything could prove interesting. Baba Yaga is the fearsome creature, the crooked woman whose nose is hooked like a bird of prey. Her name means ‘to know, to see, to forsee’ and she is the seer associated with the moon crescent. The Baba Yaga has the power to transform herself into a myriad of shapes, often a toad, sometimes a hedgehog, frequently a bird. The Baba Yaga is often depicted as an evil old hag who eats humans, especially children, but she is known by many to be a wise, prophetic old woman. In appearance she is tall, bony legged, pointy headed and has dishevelled hair.

Worse the doll informs you that the hut she lives in has a fence around it made of human bones and topped with human skulls and eyes intact. The gate is fastened with human legs and arms instead of bolts and a mouth with sharp teeth serves as the lock.

According to the doll, who seems to be a font of information, one person who lived to tell the story said that “she commands the sun and it obeys her, she changes the stars in their course, she causes clouds to form in the air and makes it possible to walk on them and travel the country. She can turn herself into a young woman and then, in a twinkling of an eye turn herself back into an old woman. She has to the power to turn a man into an animal and she likes to move freely along roads and valleys and over mountains. Her business is to cast spells, gather herbs and stones, make pacts and agreements.”

You head down the mountain, over the bridge… towards Baba Yaga’s.

Document your journey and record it under ‘Road to Baba’s.’

The Farrier – Esmeralda Noble

At the Duwmamish stables horses are waiting, snorting, offering to take travellers for ‘night rides’.

If you want to join in the fun go to the stables and find the stable woman who cares for your horse. You will know her and the horse. The horse will take you anywhere you command.

 

Enjoy the exhilarating freedom of a Night Ride

Stop to ride the Carousel

Stop to visit the Marina and ride the carousel of life.

Round and round and round we go.

Take a Ferry to the Isle of Ancestors

A Ferry Woman Waits by Heather Blakey

The Central Mystery: The Journey to the Island of Ancestors

In this meditation, you will journey to meet an ancestor. Remember that an ancestor is a person from your past, who is no longer living, who has helped shape the person you are today; an ancestor may be a predecessor from your bloodline, a previous incarnation, a person who has given you a meaningful tradition or philosophical basis, such as an adopted relative, a teacher, a mentor. You will not choose who will appear to you and it may be someone you know or do not know. Now prepare for a journey. (Pause)

You stand on Duwamish quay. The night is clear; the waxing moon rises over your shoulder, and you hear the gentle rolling of water past the barges that are lined up in the Duwamish. Board the barge and you will be carried over the sea to the Island of Ancestors by a Ferry Woman. (Pause)

You see an island emerging before you. The ferry woman stops at the shore and you see a grove of apple trees. There is a moonlit path between the trees and you follow it. Ahead is a mound. In the centre of the side is a doorway made of two immense upright stones topped by a massive lintel. There are two torches burning at the door providing light for the entrance into a passageway. At the far end of the passage is a faint red glow. Proceed through a corridor inclining downward. (Pause)

You emerge into a shadowy great hall. In the centre is a hearth with the glowing embers of a fire. Seated before the fire facing away from you is a hooded figure. Across the hearth from this figure is a bench. You circle halfway around the hearth clockwise and sit facing the figure. This is one of your ancestors. Greet that person. (Pause)

You may now ask your ancestor one question. It may be about his/her contributions to your life or your family, it may be to clarify something about yourself, or about your future. (Pause) When you have finished, your ancestor gives you a token of help and guidance. (Pause)

In a fair exchange, your ancestor now asks you a question. Answer as best you can. (Pause) You find that you have a gift for your ancestor. Look at it and present it to your ancestor with thanks. (Pause)

Finish your circuit around the hearth, go behind the ancestor, and pass out of the mound and back along the path. (Pause)

Boarding the barge, you return to Duwamish as the first light of dawn breaks over the eastern horizon. At your own pace, return to the Duwamish Inn bringing your experiences and token with you.

The Enchantress

Ferry Women Gather at Duwamish Inn

The Ferry Women are gathering in Duwamish ready to take those on the Heroine’s Journey across to the Isle of Ancestors. We just need travellers to reach Duwamish and take up a room at the Duwamish Inn.

Just sign in using the comment tool to let us know that you have reached Duwamish and have found your room at the Duwamish Inn.