Category: Remarkable Women

Her Loving Kiss

~ Koyote the Blind ~ 1 Comment

But in the solitude of the night I stay and know that all the words and all the stories are lumps of life and meaning; and in the center I find myself trapped in an island, surrounded by life, all rushing at me at the same time.


In this center of life I can’t distinguish anything at all. There is no name. There is no God. There is no hell. There is no movement of time and space; just the glorious silence; just the breath rushing in and going out; just her touch; the soft fingers of life holding, moving around, dancing around me.

In pain and joy, her hands play with the silent center. It moves. Sometimes I play with her by moving, talking. The light pulls my arm. The wind moves. The face looks and smiles when she looks back, and in the center of this magnificent womb, what can there be if not the warm embrace, the kiss of her ecstasy? How can there be anything but the loving kiss of the angel of death?

Sharing my Inner Space/ 32 years of Art (a book review)

~ Koyote the Blind ~ Leave a comment

I have read Martivón Galindo’s Sharing My Inner Space, and I realize now that with every painting and every poem she has been marking a special space in the journey that so many of us undertook back in the 80’s, when the Salvadoran diaspora uprooted us from the place where we wanted to live, love, die, and create. We left because we had to, away from decades of war and oppression, and everywhere we went we kept looking hard inside the most recondite corners of the heart for that something we brought with us, to make a life and create art, and to find ourselves even in places that forever made us feel strangers.

In this book, Martivón gifts us with a tremendous experience through the use of poetry, print, and painting. It is a powerful storm that penetrates your consciousness under the command of an accomplished artist who has dived into the depths of her soul, and confronting the turbulent history of war, exile, emerges in ultimate triumph a master of her perceptions. She takes us through her encounter with exile, an event that shaped an entire generation of Salvadorans, but she does more than make us look at the world, she takes us with her as the seed of her soul emerges from that encounter triumphant, and continues to create and define her artistic world.

Martivón is not content with showing us her skill and creativity. She shares with us that most intimate process of her genius: the process she has gone through as she discovers her true self. We witness this discovery when she manages to put in word and image the creative powers of a soul that is always seeking justice and always burning bright with the wild fire of truth.

Porque lo invisible es el misterio
encerrado en la lágrima de una estrella
Ayer como hace treinta años
busco lo que no está
para encontrar mi luz
mi propia sombra
en el invisible gran universo de lo posible––Martivon (pg. 160)

Every great artist has an inner process through which her silent, intimate center faces the vast expanse of the unknown, and every one of them produce art that touches in us that most intimate abode. Their art awakens somehow our own truth. Martivón’s art does that for us, of course, but she takes a step further. Sharing My Inner Space is a living document showing that invisible inner process through which her genius emerges.

Witnessing this book is a most enjoyable experience. I promise you, the core of your perception will be touched by it, and you will find yourself on a journey through your own inner space. I recommend this book unreservedly.

Her all-consuming touch

~ Koyote the Blind ~ 1 Comment

She comes to me naked, in the purity of her presence, without the garments of light, sounds, life and thought.

I’ve known her longer than myself. I’ve known her before I, before time, before the memory of her.

I have seemed to forget her, and in the dark dungeons of forgetfulness, in that mindless chaos of existence, I looked for her.

She was there, always, hidden in every desire and every which pain.

Behind every corner of thought, peeking or waiting at the periphery of the horizon of time and experience, she shines eternally in relentless and unwavering wait.

She weaves and undoes the endless tapestry of existence phenomenal, waiting for the beloved to come to her as vagabond, worthless suitor, with his only claim in the secret chamber of his heart–an arrow certain and true.

She comes to me naked, silent, and I am blinded and deafened by her all consuming touch.

El dulce flotar de Consuelo

~ Koyote the Blind ~ 1 Comment

Recuerdo el día cuando mi abuelita Consuelo se desmayó y la sostuve en mis brazos.

Me preguntó al despertar si acaso la muerte sería como ese dulce flotar hacia el vacío que acababa de experimentar.

“Porque si así es,” me dijo con su inteligente y alegre sonrisa, “ya no le tengo miedo a la muerte.”

A ese dulce vacío voló hace un año mi abuelita.

Ahí estaremos un día, como siempre lo estamos…

Como está la casa de tejas y rayos de sol con humo de leña.

Como está su cuarto con risas de niños y paredes de santos.

Ahí, en ese vacío detrás de las memorias

donde se resuelven vivencias

donde la historia se vuelve viento

donde lo antiguo reverdece entre pájaro y grillo…

Ahí nos espera el consuelo eterno de su vela perpetua.

La quiero por siempre, Abuelita.

Phyllis Seckler (aka Soror Meral) QED 2004

~ Koyote the Blind ~ 1 Comment

Today is the anniversary of the death of Phyllis Seckler (aka Soror Meral), one of the luminaries of Thelema. A true pioneer.

One of her students, and one who continues to carry the bright torch of Thelema, Marlene Cornelius, shared the following article by Phyllis Seckler. It is as relevant today as it was last century, and it feels like she is observing what is happening in the world today and shinning a light for our hearts.

Also, here is a picture of a sample of Phyllis Seckler’s esoteric art. This was a gift from my dear friends: Marlene, Vicky, and Elton. It is proudly and gratefully in display in the heart of our home.

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PROJECTION AND THE SHADOW (by Phyllis Seckler)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Everyone has contents in the unconscious mind which are usually not allowed to surface. There is a build up of ideas of who one is and how one behaves and what one believes that has been going on for years. The environment and parents and other influences have been strict about not allowing negative or primitive passions to surface. Thus everyone develops a censor which prevents the shadow self of the unconscious from appearing in daily life.

However, certain events may trigger an outburst of the shadow self in all its ugliness and ferocity. Then the usual reaction is to blame someone else or several others for one’s own unconscious self. It would be otherwise too painful to admit that one could be so demonic, cruel and hateful, plus many another reaction which has previously been forbidden. This blaming of others is called projection.

Some of the events which could cause an appearance of the shadow are related to strong emotional reactions to any event in the life. Anger and fear can be explosive, as well as other strong emotions. Also stress of various sorts can bring on an appearance of the unconscious shadow self. A long term hatred bred by centuries of non-acceptance of other life styles or religions has been evident in human history for centuries.

Some individuals have a type of character that they are able to infect others so that they take on the same attitudes, of intolerance, falsification of facts, outright lies, emotional disturbances, hatreds and persecution. Those who also harbor an uneasy and bothersome shadow in their characters are only too happy to follow the leader and to take on a cause which suits their inclinations. They also blame someone else or a whole group of persons for the troubles which they cause for themselves.

As a few examples: we have the persecution of witches in Europe and America. In more recent times we have a great many dictators able to sway the emotions of the masses. There was Hitler in Germany, and Stalin in Russia, and many another right up to the present day. In America we have had the Ku Klux Klan, and Senator McCarthy hunting down Communists and helping to give rise to a fear of Communism. A great many innocent persons have suffered from the cruelties and the persecutions. All this is very reminiscent of a pack of dogs hunting down an innocuous small creature.

There are also some single individuals who seek relief from an eruption of a bothersome shadow by finding a victim which they can then blame for anything and can harass and persecute for as long as they can get away with this behaviour before being caught. But when the perpetrator of these cruelties is caught he takes on a self righteous attitude. He pretends to be a hero or a martyr or he may run away or he might show cowardice of various kinds, he sticks to his lies and other opinions. But rarely or never does he ever admit to the projection of his own shadow self upon someone else. He still goes on blaming his victim for every shadow trait in his own character.

The universe is evenly balanced. We live in a world of cause and effect. What a person gives out to his world is exactly reflected in the behavior of the world around him. Each person needs to ask himself when something important happens to him: “What did I do to cause all this phenomena?” Actually, everyone is responsible for what happens around him and in which he is involved. It is of no use to blame someone else for events and happenings. That is the way of the coward.

In Thelema we say “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” This means that one should be paying attention to one’s own business without poking one’s nose into the business of others. It also means that one should leave other persons strictly alone to find their own way towards the True Will. Of course the relaxation of this rule could happen only if one is asked to help out in certain circumstances.

Sadly, we see that many persons can mouth the above sentence and instruction from the Book of the Law, and then begin to interfere with others in various ways such as telling others what to do, by indulging in gossip which almost never comes close to the truth, by playing various games of power grabs, and by the projection of the shadow self onto anyone that is disliked. There are hundreds of different ways in which various persons interfere with others. Are these Thelemites?

Then we end our greeting with “Love is the law, love under will.” But is it love to indulge in actions that harm someone else? There are many instructions about love in the Book of the Law. One which affects all who have joined some sort of Thelemic community is this from Chapter II, verse 24. “Love one another with burning hearts; on the low men trample in the fierce lust of your pride, in the day of your wrath.”

One can show wrath to those who have interfered with others as this is one low way to behave. Also certain mean actions such as cruelty, vindictiveness, persecutions of any sort. In short, there is quite a list of behaviours which are Reprehensible and far from the behavior of a King. We are asked to become aristocratic: that is, to adhere to the highest code of conduct which we can devise for ourselves. Everyone is guided by our Holy Book and then one also devises an honorable code for him or herself. Each person is different, and this is why honor and love of each person will be expressed in a different way from anyone else.

Let us try harder then to live up to what we have accepted as the Law of our lives!

Love is the law, love under will.”

Gracias, Mujer

~ Koyote the Blind ~ Leave a comment

Ya que es de noche,

Y la diosa se extiende

En su infinito silencio,

Digo “gracias, mujer.”

Por tu lucha eterna.

Por tu resistencia inmutable.

Por tu omnipotente entrega.

———–

Now that it’s night,

And the goddess extends

In her infinite silence,

I say, “thank you, woman.”

For your eternal fight.

For your inmutable resistance.

For your omnipotent yield.

Tania Valentina Parada

~ Koyote the Blind ~ Leave a comment

 

There emerged out of the rain drains of Zacamil and San Antonio the muchachos, the guerrilla fighters fighting against a right wing military dictatorship, in a last thrust attempting to secure a victory for the people. Tania emerged with them, a communications radio on her back and a rifle in her arms.

Unlikely soldier, she lived with love and laughter in her heart, peaceful and gentle. Yet her gentle, loving soul was infused with an indomitable sense of justice, of heroic ferocity that compelled her to “do something” and to “be active” in the cause of historical change. She died shortly after like many other. A bullet in her head and one in her leg, along with scrapes and abrasions on her legs, suggested a capture, the dragging across the asphalt, and the execution on her knees. It is useless to wonder what her last thoughts were, how she died, and what she did in the last hours of her life; but everyone who knew her believes that she died as she lived, valiantly and heroically. The only thing

I know is what happened three months before she died, the last time I saw her.

It was the first time I could come back to El Salvador after my exile. For the first time since 1985 I was able to travel, no longer constrained by my asylum. A big empty gulf in my heart was being filled up with the green, the heat, the songs of birds, and the hugs of my loving friends and family. But when I went looking for Tania she wasn’t there. She was gone, underground. A university activist, her partner had been captured and disappeared. He didn’t show up to his rendezvous with Tania. She knew her days were counted, that she was now marked. One of those synchronicities that the hand of God writes when developing our destinies put Rodney, Tania’s brother and another of my close friends, back from Germany on his first visit back to El Salvador. He brought me to Tania, to the security house where she hid before going for training in the jungle. We talked a talk worth decades in three hours. We both seemed to know this was our last visit, that she would not survive. There was a moment, silent and pregnant with dreaded knowing, when we looked into the truth of that meeting. I proposed that we promised to meet again in a year, grasping for hope that a promise would turn the tide. This is when this picture was taken, just at that moment, and the Angel of Death to her left blessed her impending passage.

Three months later I got the news. Her memory flooded my waking moments. I remember the first time I saw her, we were both 13. We had both just arrived at Ciudad Satelite, a new urban development for middle class families. She was the eldest of her family, always guiding and defending those weaker than her. Competitive, she challenged me to a race and we arrived together. I ran as fast as I could, and so did she. We remained friends since then. We then sat down to talk about everything and nothing, and she told me then of a fantasy where she is in an accident, unable to move her legs, and with this challenge she would apply the force of her will power and attempt to walk; mind over matter, she felt the force of her Will and imagined a way to move, to go, to do against the heavy forces of dead matter. I couldn’t help to think of this daydream of hers, to conquer matter, to overcome the weight of nature, and to awaken her will. Now, she is dead, and one year later—nine months after she was killed—I saw her in my dream. We walked and we talked. She told me she was still trying to come through, to be, to do, to fulfill. I told her what had happened, and guided her into the clear light of the Sun Absolute, her true nature.

Since then, her name has inspired many. Aside from everyone she touched with her compassion, courage and truth, Tania’s life has inspired non-profit organisms, legislative and advocacy efforts for women, and even the minister of education of El Salvador declared her debt of gratitude to her.

Tania, I see your will and force, eternal friend, trying from the center of your will to move and do even through the minor inconvenience of death. I can say that you are lodged not only in my memory, but also in the very foundation of what I love and value, of that which is the essence of my actions. Your valor impregnated my blood as much as your laughter has marked all my joys.

A Dream Altar for the Queen of Heaven

~ Koyote the Blind ~ Leave a comment

The Moon illuminates for us the passage through the dreamlands, unveiling the ascension from the dark realm of subconscious shadows to the silver-light vistas of the supra-conscious mind.

From deep within the dormant caverns hidden within the flesh emerge the light-seeking voyager, the soul-seed whose divine origin is buried and forgotten in our passage through organic existence.

The Queen of Heaven is the High Priestess who guards the sacred chalice of wisdom and shows us, through the passages of the moonlight over the face of the dreamlands, the way to the solar consciousness. As the moon transforms her face from the New to the Full, so does the soul of the voyager transforms from the dark to the light, from the unconscious dreams of the night to the silver light waters of heaven–which is the radiant consciousness resulting from the marriage of the Sun with the Moon.

From before the birth of civilizations, dreaming women have been merging with the vast terrain of the Dreaming, and channeling through that contact the feminine powers of the universe.

Through the advanced techniques of the Dream Circle, we have been guided to build a dream altar to receive and hold the light of the conscious dreaming, the astral voice of the Queen of Heaven as she awakens the seed of consciousness within us.

This dream altar is a private, portable dream circle, a sacred devotional practice of the Other Self as you walk this glorious path of awakening.

This altar invokes and holds the mystical powers of the Queen of Heaven and of the subconscious. It is an open channel evident and palpable to all who are present. This altar can travel with us, and we can use it in our personal ritual work, in our devotional practices, in our divination, and as a portal for astral voyages and past life retrieval.

More than anything, this altar connects us to the hidden treasures and eternal power of the mystic ocean that permeates the universe and extends infinitely beyond the limits of creation. It is a direct access to wisdom and empowerment for everyone who uses it.

Click here to see Koyote talk about the Dream Altar.