Self Mastery

A Queen knows herself well; she is in a state of observation about her life, curious and introspective. Willing to embrace her shadow, she has met it many times. Often in the face of danger, she continues to walk into the trenches of the Underworld, meets herself in the Middle world and aspires to be connected with the Upper world. She is not attached to her past, yet she remembers it well and validates her journey by looking at the pictures of the memories with fondness and acceptance. It is simply a way to benchmark her path. She looks, yet does not indulge. She continues to excavate herself in relation to what passed, yet never lingers for long; it is an exercise, a tool she uses to propel her intentions for unconditional compassion and consciousness in herself and for others.

Women in the Queen years know the deepest essence of who they are. They do not avoid travel into the unknown because they desire the highest levels of consciousness, love, and ultimately enlightenment. A Queen comes to know all of this from perpetual self discovery; attention to the nuances with unconditional compassion for herself.


Myth

In the "Tarot Handbook," Angeles Arrien defines the Queen of Wands as the knower of self and a symbol of self mastery. She tells the story of a woman who marks her progress along the path of self-reclamation by her changing hair color and the transformation of her wild cat companion. She begins the journey as a black-haired young woman with a Panther at her side. A few hair color transitions later, she becomes the Queen when her hair turns red. At the same time, her Panther is transformed to Leopard and then Lion, matching her own self-knowledge. As a reminder of the dark places that founded her growth, she pinched the Leopard's spots before they disappeared. It would seem that now she walks through life as a redhead with a spotted Lion!


Alchemy

We are the Queens of Fire, bridling, saddling and riding the massive waves of inner heat and core energy produced by our systems in this time. We have physically embodied the ability to alchemize and transmute energy. We are a reflection of Mother Earth’s molten core where dross is turned to gold and from which we emerge alive and evolved. Although we aren’t crones yet, we are sages capable of drawing from the deepest wells of female creativity and inspiration. More than ever before, we transmit consciousness and enlightenment to all who are near us, even to those living on the other side of the world...or the Galaxy! In an energetic sense, we carry the evolutionary seeds of our world, giving birth to awakened children along the way.

There is a quiet internal power at this phase. Queens know chaos well and utilize its entropy as fuel to charge their life force. The fuel is used to fertilize and nurture new ideas, to transmute energies. It alchemizes and transforms the Queen in ways that differences between physical body cells and subtle body energies are not very distinguishable. This is not the end of the journey, yet the end point is visible from here and there is no rush to get where we are going.


Community

My intention is to create community here, to share every woman’s wisdom with all of you and for you to reciprocate, sharing your own walk with the rest. Here you will find the list of interview questions I’ve asked each woman for a future book. If you are so inclined, please reflect on them and decide if this is one of the ways you’d like to serve women, participating in a global gathering of feminine wisdom in the great link. If it suits you, please send in your answers. At some point I may call or email you to set up an interview for further discussion and information.

There will always be something for you here as each individual story of menopause is different. Some women primarily experience the energy of this change as physical, others identify mental or emotional shifts; all of it is tied to spiritual growth, awareness and understanding. These stories will offer practical information, tools and resources for self study, and at times, those who show the way may be available to you personally through email. The purpose is not to change in any way, nor to smooth out your ride, yet to offer a link to community and a shared vision... you are not alone.


The Quickening

Breathe in your internal fire, ride the flames on your own journey into the depths that many women have explored before you. Let their journeys entrain your cells, your mind, your body. In these pages, you will be mentored by women's stories, their natural approach to menopause and the aged wisdom of the connection between body and spirit.