12 June

Goddesses Everywhere. Loving Kali-Ma.

by Jon Katz
Goddesses Everywhere

Some years ago, I didn’t really grasp what a goddess was. Now, I am surrounded by goddesses and I sincerely believe they may save the world, just like Wonder Woman did in the movie. Goddesses were once believed to rule the world, then men came and founded the great religions and the goddesses were trivialized and discredited and shame as witches and prostitutes and slaves.

Goddesses are making a comeback, at least in my life. I married one, and and another Goddess, Anne Dambrowski, were holed up in the sweltering studio for six or seven hours figuring out the money from Maria’s art show – how much, what commissions, taxes, etc.

The Open  Houses are great fun, but not great money makers. The profits are split many ways. They are complex to sort out.

Anne and Maria and I have a rich history. After my breakdown and financial meltdown a few years ago, Anne, who was working as a gardener at the first Bedlam Farm restoring the old gardens and also starting out as a bookeeper, messaged me and said I looked overwhelmed.

I didn’t know who she was, but she was right and I asked for her help. She was a mystic to know how much trouble I was in.

I was terrified of Anne, who has a severe countenance sometimes and only occasionally smiles.  When she came to the house to look over my records, I drove around or hid until she left. She is a warrior for truth.

When she first looked over my money, she turned to me with her melting gaze and  said “it’s time to panic.” Maria tried to intervene, she saw me going white, but Anne was immoveable. It was the truth. I not only panicked, but went on to break down almost completely.

Anne stuck with us, and slowly, and over time, revealed the sweetness and loyal and love behind that stony gaze. She is so important to us, in so many ways. She is so capable and meticulous. She is helping me to set up a special account for the Refugee Children Scholarship Fund.

Today she spent all day with Maria going over the money from the Open House. That is a huge load off of Maria, we can move on tomorrow to start setting the house in order. We are both so tired after the Open  Houses that we usually wonder if it is a good thing to keep on doing. By Wednesday, we will decide that it is, and go on to planning the next one.

I see that Goddesses are everywhere now, all around me, guiding me and inspiring me and helping me through this stage of life. They are magical helpers. They are important to me, to the world, my life has changed since I have come to recognize them and open myself up to their love and wisdom.

My therapist, Peggy, was a Goddess for sure, terrifying and fiercely devoted to  reality and healing. She believed in me, she said no patient had ever worked  harder to get well.

Goddesses have  helped in ways I could not have imagined. Goddesses have embodied all kinds of traits and characteristics through history, they are most commonly associated with virtues such as love, motherhood, protection, and fertility. They have also been associated with war, creation, and death.

They can be quite powerful, and I believe they are stirring, preparing to displace the greedy and warlike men who are despoiling and threatening our planet. I feel them in the wind. coming to bring caring and compassion back to humanity. I believe they will strike down the greedy men who care only about the few and not the many.

The mystics in the Kabbalah believed that goddesses would ensure that Mother Earth would be loved and protected. I love the resident  Goodness Kali, she is a Hindu Goddess. She is sometimes misperceived by westerners as a murderous destroyer. Maria introduced Kali to me after her trip to India. I love everything about her.

Kali is frightening in some ways, I wouldn’t want to mess with her, but she is seen by her followers as the Great Mother, Kali-Ma. Kali was born from the brow of the Goddess Durga during a battle with the demons, when Durga needed extra strength. She killed countless demons, often hanging their heads around her neck, and she finally defeated the demon king Raktabija by drinking his blood.

Drunk on the king’s blood, she danced madly, threatening to destroy the world. The Gods asked her husband Shiva who she loved dearly to stop her, and he placed himself in her path. Kali did not at first notice she was dancing on her husband’s body, but finally she looked down and saw  him, and this stopped her  dance of death.

Like other Goddesses that I know, she was often fierce, even bloodthirsty. She also saved the world and became a nurturer and protector of dreamers. She is my kind of Goddess, as is Maria, who is also a fierce warrior for love and life and art.  On her anniversary, we will head out for sushi and ice cream and give thanks for what we  have.

I am grateful for the Goddesses now in my life. Women who are strong, with empathy and a ferocious commitment to life.

 

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