Sistah Nu World Music ...

I had an ear for some world music from Sistahs on the continent. Here are three videos for your enjoyment...(if you get my email you will have to view on my blog. You can mute the music at the bottom of the page.)
Peace,
Sistah C

Simphiwe Dana from South Afrika



Zamajobe



One of my favorites...Zap Mama "Sweet Melodies"

Ancestors...

Last summer I as speaking to my aunt about finding some documentaries on Afrikan traditions and honoring of Ancestors. I had given her a list of films but she could not find any at her university. She did give me a film which starred a friend of hers called Maangamizi. It is an East Afrikan film written by Queenae Taylor Mulvihill.

The story is filmed in Tanzania (one of my favorite places) and tells of two women - one who was born in Tanzania and the other who was born in the rural south in America. Both are brought together by a common Ancestor called Maangamizi - the Ancient One.

The movie stars Barbara O (Yellow Mary in Daughters of the Dust) and Amandina Lihamba (a well known East African Actor/Artist). This film is soooo beautiful and powerful. It gave me a different understanding of our relationship with our Ancestors. It also speaks to the notion that we have a reciprocal relationship with the Ancestor world - the work we do here (prayers, offerings, care of shrines...) helps their world, and their work helps us in our world. I believe it is in the best interest of every Afrikan to learn how to honor and work with your Ancestors. From what I understand not everyone who dies in your family becomes an Ancestor - instead it is a position of honor in the bloodline. Certain traditions even have a process for making sure deceased relatives become Ancestors.

I recommend this film highly. I am not sure how available it is but you can order it from Gris Gris Films www.grisgrisfilms.com


My Birthday Gift To YOU!

For the month of July - my birthday month I plan to do a series of interviews with some powerful SistahGoddesses that I know...It will be my gift to my blog readers (and myself!)...I will interview traditional Priestesses, Mothers, Elders, Midwives, Artists, Writers, Musicians... I am just going to go for it! Also, I will be giving away a Medicine Doll every week in July to one of my blog readers. It is my way of celebrating my life on this planet earth...So, look out for the month of July!!

Peace,
Sistah C

Moon Salutation

Ok, the moon is finally full today...maybe it will begin to ease up on us a little. Personally, I had a huge day or two of feeling really restless. Over the weekend a classmate (in the middle of a finance lecture) said, "I feel like running around the block. I have so much energy - I need to do something..." And I keep hearing this from various folks who are effected by this moon.

I remembered last night yoga's Moon Salutation. It is real powerful to do these poses while the moon is out...Below is a video I found of the practice (she is doing it a bit faster than I would but you can get the general idea). A favorite yoga teacher of mine taught me this practice at a retreat in California.

Did you know there is an International Association of Black Yoga Teachers?? Click here for their website.

My Relationship With "God"...

*Pic: My son and I back in the day...isn't he sooo cute! Don't tell him I put this on the blog!

Did I ever mention that I was raised Baptist with a little Holiness on one side of the family? I don't think when you grow up with religion in your household it ever really leaves...I remember when I was at an all Afrikan Buddhist Meditation Retreat I saw people so free from the walls of illusion that they were getting the "holy ghost" right on the cushion! I have seen this same "upliftment" happen in traditional ceremonies as well as storefront churches...A river runs underneath us and its tides -when it hits us right, sends waves of revelation all over us - we tap into that Ancient web that connects us to Spirit -some people call it God - I think of it as the Creative Force.

I use to sing in a choir at a Religious Science Church back in the day... and when we sung a song called "Something Inside So Strong" a wave of energy would hit us and the choir director was no longer in control - we were not in control- our voices would lift up and out! The force carried on the waves of our vocal cords hit the audience like water to a thirsty crowd and the whole place was in tears.

Last night we had a SURPRISE party for my Wise Friend. Do you know his whole family came down from New York including his 94 year old father - who had not left his home for some time because he was confined to his bed! When my wise friend walked into the room and saw one brother , then another sister, another brother, another sister, his mother and then his father - I started to cry...It was so beautiful to see family connecting around such a happy occasion. I thought this is the nectar of life - THIS IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD...Sure, going to church is nice, going to ceremonies are uplifting even necessary AND I felt the same JOY and LOVE in my friend's home as we honored this great man...My mother said to me this morning, "You should go to church." Little did she know I went last night.

Are the Gods, the Deities, the Spirits, the Orishas, the Angels outside of us? Are they behind closed doors of Church, Mosque or Shrine? Or Do they walk with us like the skin on our bodies, the thoughts in our heads, the feelings in our hearts?
Much Peace, Light and Love,
Sistah C

*here is Labi Siffre, sing Something Inside So Strong. My Wise Friend and his daughter sang the same song last night - very beautiful!

An Article Sistahs Must Read...Metaformia

My Sistahs, I have been getting the constant message lately that WE have the power to make powerful shifts in the "reality" of this planet. I will paraphrase a quote from Cree Summer that said, "...the only way to get on this planet is between a woman's legs.." Now, we know that there has been great efforts to birth babies by c-sections and outside of the "medical" reasons we must ask ourselves why??

Sistahs, what if the very tool of our liberation is produced from our wombs every month? Why would we not use it to our benefit? Why is it never spoken of in a positive light? Why is its very presence frowned upon, referred to as dirty, unclean, taboo...?

My brotha Malcolm X would say, "you been hood winked!"

A Sistah friend who is a doctor sent me an article that shows that recent research indicates that menstrual blood contains stem cells! This means those "unused" eggs from our bodies still have life giving power even if they do not become a baby! I read this morning that some African communities believe that if menstrual blood in kept in a clay pot for 9 months it will become a baby...(I will have to research it more to give you the details...)

It is time my Sistahs to look at our bodies differently...to learn more about this life giving power we have...to not just give our power away to old worn out patriarchal philosophies that are a strange mixture of our most ancient beliefs with the beliefs of conquerors and destroyers...

I found this article and really a website that is seeking to open up the conversation around the importance, the sacredness of a woman's cycle called Metaformia...
Read it and give me your thoughts...

Menstruating Women/Menstruating Goddesses: Sites of Sacred Power in Kerala, South India, Sangam Era (100-500 CE) to the Present
by Dianne E. Jenett, Ph. D.

Peace,
Sistah C

Full Moon In Scorpio...May 19th

Wow, this coming full moon is intense and I found out why. Here are some tidbits I found around the web on different astrology sites...

Lisa Dale Miller

This year we are graced with a second Full Moon in Scorpio, which is part of a grand square with Sun/Venus in Taurus, Saturn in Virgo and Neptune in Aquarius. Accompanying this grand square is an equally demanding Yod with South Node in Leo as the focal planet inconjunct Jupiter in Capricorn and Uranus in Pisces. And you thought the last Scorpio Full Moon was intense? Get ready for the truth to come reigning down on us like a firestorm.

Neptune in Aquarius rules a deep longing for change. It also rules the delusion of change. Open your eyes, your ears and mind. See clearly all the way through to the truth. Reject false claims, plans, and wanna-be leaders who offer the same old wine in a brand new bottle.

Saturn in Virgo rules a strict adherence to tireless, selfless work for the healing of others. And Sun/Venus in Taurus is all about the individual effort each of us puts into making change happen. Jupiter in Capricorn is telling us that conservation of resources can be enlivening and life-affirming, especially if we are willing to give up the old ideas South Node in Leo ideas of instant gratification of desires, and step firmly into the Uranus in Pisces stream of pure conscious awareness. The ordinary is extraordinary if you are willing to be present fully for it.

How much longer can you say it is someone else’s responsibility or feel powerless to change the world? How much more can you blame others for your own condition? How many more times can you call yourself a victim without looking at your own ability to just let go and heal? Yes, Scorpio is tough love incarnate: see it as it is, not as you wish it to be, and then deal with it in as life-supporting a way as possible. We can each in every moment make the choice to be real and responsible for what we output to our loved ones and coworkers and community.

You are being given one more ritual chance this year to release attachment to old pain and arise like a phoenix from the ashes of burned off karma; freed from narcissistic self-obsession and ready to help others heal their own pain. You have the power to change! Visualize yourself as a snake, shedding its dead skin to reveal gleaming new colors. for more click here

From Molly Hall
The full moon in Scorpio instigates fearless soul searching. It brings into focus buried truths about reality, sometimes unsavory, that have been clogging up the psychic system. On a personal level, this might mean unraveling a mystery within yourself that upturns the old way of seeing and doing things. At the collective level, it shines a broad beam on dark fascinations, public obsessions, extremes of behavior, and the like, that have taken hold of society at large.

The gifts of this full Moon in Scorpio may only be fully revealed in solitude, since it takes time to get to those deeper interior levels. However, it also lends itself to intense encounters that resolve underlying patterns at play in relationships. It's not always comfortable or easy to see what's really going on. But when you have the courage to bring a situation out from the shadows, you're in a position to do something about it.

by Dena L. Moore

This Full Moon in Scorpio is an excellent time to make an important choice...will you allow yourself to fall into the trap of external reality and find the mundane world and the wishes of others dominating your life, or will you step forward and decide that you are driving your own chariot? Will you accept responsibility for creating your own life and step firmly onto the path of personal evolution? Taking control of our own thoughts, deeds, and actions will infuse us with inner strength and creative power that can become the driving force behind living a joyful and enriching life. Now is the perfect time to choose your path and create your destiny.

Playing and Loving Summer...

click photo for more info...Trent Chambers/Corbis

I LOVE SUMMER AND SUNSHINE!! It is a time that reminds me to lift my head up out of my work - emerge from my cave and PLAY.

I was one of those kids that was really obedient until I was a teenager and then I went wild. I tried to not let it be a burden on my mother but you know- you slip up when your a teen...I remember my friends and I had IT ALL PLANNED! We loved to go to the club, dance and smoke clove cigarettes - mind you we were only 14 but hey, we thought we were somethang. The "plan" only worked if we could spend the night over a friend's house that had a parent who didn't care what time we got home. I told my mom I was staying at my friend's place overnight and from there we went to the club. See, back in the day, you could go to the club if you were a teen but you just couldn't drink or you were out. I think the laws changed when they started finding teens in situations that were clearly for consenting adults (I won't go into it...). Anyway, we got a ride to the club with an older driving friend and at the end she left us at the club. Guess who was the only one who would answer the phone and come pick us up?? Yes, it was my mother...I must have been on punishment for a while...don't remember clubbing anymore until I was in college...either way I came out ok (I think???)

Playing is not just for kids. Adults need joy, they need to from time to time blurt out something for the heck of it, they need to laugh out loud, kiss someone by surprise (of course someone who wants a kiss from you!) and maybe even tell a joke. Today, make a stranger laugh, smile while your walking down the street, say hello to your neighbor and tell them to have a BEAUTIFUL DAY! Be in your joy with the sun shining in your eyes. Your light could lift someone's mood.
Make sure you play (even if you just skip to the bathroom).
Peace,
Sistah C
PS. I am thinking of getting a hola hoop...(see video on my blog. If you want to mute my music just go to the bottom and press the stop button)I would love to do this with some Afrikan drum beats...

Giving Myself a Mother's Day Gift

A piece of my work for sale at my new etsy shop!

I decided to take the plunge...Everyday, I have been pushing myself to get my talents "out there". I find that the more I do the art and then I show it and get responses I began to embody this artist inside me. I have been hiding my talents for years because I believed that I was not all that good or other people were better artist. The truth is that I will always like other artist's work BUT they don't do what I do. I don't need to compare - just be in my flow.
Last week, I made a portfolio site for my graphic design work, www.sistahgoddess.com. Just from doing that I already have a client who saw my work randomly on a search site! My friend Mbali told me last year after her trip to South Afrika that she got a message that I should be working with my art. It was like a spark and suddenly I was making all kinds of things.
A few days ago, a Sistah asked me about my medicine dolls and I realized I have to put myself out there. So, I DID IT. I just finished the first phase of my Etsy shop! Please take a visit, www.StarMedicineWoman.etsy.com I was called StarMedicineWoman some time ago on my first Vision Quest and since then it has defined a lot of my spiritual work around healing. So, this is my mother's day gift to myself - to announce to the world my service of making ART that HEALS.

Much LoVe to the Mother Spirit in Each of Us!
Happi Mamas Day!
Peace,
Sistah C

In Honor of Motherhood...

click on images for info...



Here are just a few words, thoughts that I wish to honor all of the Mamas in the world with...Every woman is or has been someone's mama. May we make offerings to all those walking Mama Shrines around us...may we lay flowers and pure water at their feet, fill their bowls with fresh fruit covered with honey and serve them sweet nectars while we dance in the moonlight in honor of their life giving power and eternal sacrifice...
Sistah C



In the house with the tortoise chair
She will give birth to the pearl
To the beautiful feather...
There she sits on the tortoise
Swelling to give us birth
On your way, on your way
Child be on your way to me here
You whom I made new...
--Aztec poem



Imagine a Woman

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past's influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life.
A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge.
Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace.

Imagine a woman who participates in her own life.
A woman who meets each challenge with creativity.
Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength.

Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully-formed solitude.
A woman who is available to herself.
Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the full range of human emotion.
A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly.
Who allows them to pass through her as naturally as the breath.

Imagine a woman who tells the truth.
A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it.
Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others.

Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses.
A woman who produces original creations.
Who refuses to color inside someone else’s lines.

Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval.
A woman who makes a powerful statement with every action she takes.
Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world.

Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself.
A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life.
Who remains loyal to herself. Regardless.

Imagine yourself as this woman.

“Imagine a Woman” © Patricia Lynn Reilly, 1995
Excerpt: Imagine a Woman in Love with Herself (Conari, 1999)




"...To find the origin,
trace back the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the mother,
you will be free of sorrow."
-The Tao Teh Ching



"How might your life have been different if there had been a place for you, a place of women? A place where other women, somewhat older, had reached out to help you as you rooted yourself in the earth of the ancient feminine... A place where there was a deep understanding of the ways of woman to nurture you in every season of your life. A place of women to help you measure your own stature...to help you prepare and know when you were ready."

"A place where, after the fires were lighted, and the drumming, and the silence, you would claim, finally, in your Naming, as you spoke slowly into that silence, that the time had come, full circle, for you, also, to reach out...reach out as younger women entered into that place...reach out to help them prepare as they struck root in that same timeless earth."
- Judith Duerk in Circle of Stones: A Woman's Journey to Herself

Need Help With My Homework!

I got this flag from this online store and it's cute. Click on image to go to

Hey, I would not normally ask but I NEED YOUR HELP! As part of my new life project I have decided I wanted to further pursue my artist endeavors and start a graphic design business. Remember I said I was resourceful - I found a 14 week program with the Women's Initiative of the Small Business Association. This program is great! It leads you the business development process and even puts you in contact with micro-lenders when you graduate. I have really had to step out on my skills lately and do what I have had to do. Starting a business is going to be a big step for me.
Now, I need to do a marketing research survey. It is really short but I need 100 people to fill out my survey!!! Can you all do it?? Please, pretty please!! I hate to beg (well begging isn't too bad...)I won't sell you anything, unless you want me to...
I just need your opinion. It does not matter who you are or where you live. The broader the survey the better. Just click here to take it. Its short and sweet but will only be up until May 8th.
My survey:
http://survey.
constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2agqre0ffsp73dy/start
Thanks for helping a Sistah out!

My SistahGoddess T-shirts Are Out!
I was just having some fun this weekend and decided to design some t-shirts. Check them out by clicking here. I will come up with more designs soon.

My son's blog...
My son has decided to do his own blog - like mother, like son... He is soooo cute (don't tell him I told you...)The name is Cyber-Kidz He is a computer wiz and has even started to study for the A+ certification. His blog is on computer info, deals, etc... Drop him some comments.

Peace,
Sistah C

Some Resources for Gardens...

My future garden will look like this...

After some real toil my son and I finally got the garden planted this week! It was like our house was built on a rock quarry! We had to wait for the rains, then shovel, remove rocks and shovel again. My wise friend came over and helped even it all out. Thanks WISE FRIEND!!! A few weeks ago I put an ad on craigslist looking for free top soil and the nicest woman answered from a horse farm with compost. She just gives it away - well, the horses make it all day! We slapped some of that on top the dirt and got a couple of bags of soil from Home D and we were ready.

Now, I remember last year there many varieties of seeds and seedlings. This year is sparse. I did find enough for my little space but I am resourcful. Ever heard the expression, "I make a dollar out of fifteen cents!"...I know somewhere in maybe Santa Cruz, CA there is sweet hippie couple that gives away organic seeds...I know there are people out there who want to see the earth heal and gardens of delight everywhere - so I looked online and I found several addresses for FREE SEEDS:
Winter Sowing
American the Beautiful

TomatoBob
Ed Hume Seed Gardens

Also, I found an interesting article that was titled, "How to get "Free" Seeds From Your Grocery Store. The basic premise is that you can sprout some of your dry beans and seeded veggies. You can also take a sprouted potato and bury it for a potato plant. I would check your growing zone to see what would work. I assuming some of our food is not GMO - that might be a big assumption...Here is the article.

It is critical to start growing some food. Get into the practice. Again, if you only live in an apartment try growing in pots or on the rooftop. I remember there was a small space next to my apartment building in Oakland and one day my elderly neighbor turned over the soil and planted us all a garden. He show us a few things and even left us fresh veggies hanging on our doorknobs.

Tip: I remember back in the day would we give my friend's mother our dying plants and the next time we would visit her the plant was growing like it was part of wild rain forest. I finally asked her what she did and she said that she would add egg shells to water and let them soak then use the water on the plants. She also would add the blood from raw meat to water for the plants. It works...Contraindicated for vegans:)

Hope this helps...
Peace,
Sistah C