Divine Love

I have been in several conversations lately about Love - Sistahs and Love...who we love, how we love, the kind of love we deserve and who deserves our love...If you read popular magazines the speak of Sistahs being doomed to being alone in live or that there are just not enough men out there...I think this was one of the main reason I stop reading certain magazines targeted towards Sistahs because they sent out this false story of shortage and lack.

I read in my prosperity book that it is not enough to simply affirm abundance into your life you must RADIATE that which you desire. The outer part is a reflection of the inner part...I feel like after a long time of inner reflection I am preparing myself for divine love AND it is not an easy job. Coming out of an abusive relationship the main thing I have had to learn again was how to trust myself - how to trust the me through my God given consciousness and intuition to choose and allow the right mate into my life. This process has required me to get real still - real silent so I can hear Spirit's voice clearly. Everyday Spirit advises me to look within - heal within and the perfect mate will recognize you and you him.

If you talk to a variety of Sistahs you will get a vast amount of philosophies on how to find the perfect mate. I say lift up your heart to Spirit and ask first what you need to do to clear the way -then surrender to peace and know it is love - divine love.

The Creator...

Oh so many things have happened since I last posted...life changing things. The prayer circle that wrote about in my last post has been this powerful force to crack open dormant things that have blocked my expansion. In addition to that 12 days ago I decided to fast then cleanse on just fresh fruit and vegetables until I was calm within. I realize that food for me was a way to quiet my emotions and feelings. I did not really gain weight but I was heavy with indigestion - my stomach was always upset so I fasted. Lately, I actually feel all those "hidden" emotions - the pain, the fear, the resentment, the rage - yes, I have those feelings yet somehow I had been treating them with desserts, sweetness and caffeine. With my meditation practice I know see these feelings come and slowly leave. I have never really had a fast like this...

Yesterday, I was just so frustrated -at what I don't even know and it occurred to me that I was cleansing something out. Today, I just took a day of silence with myself and I contemplated my art again. I asked myself what is it that I truly desire for my future? This question really came about when Michael Jackson died because he was an icon of my generation. I grew up with him like a brother. I saw him grow up literally in the public eye. I saw plainly that he suffered and it was almost as if his genius was a blessing and a curse AND he lived his life fulfilling his destiny. So, for me his death spark a deep question of purpose and destiny within me.

A friend was mentioning to me an oracle called the Osho Zen and I found a site that allows you to pick a card of the day and today's card was THE CREATOR. The card said:

There are two types of creators in the world. One type of creator works with objects - a poet, a painter, they work with objects, they create things. The other type of creator, the mystic, creates himself. He doesn't work with objects, he works with the subject; he works on himself, his own being. And he is the real creator, the real poet, because he makes himself into a masterpiece.

You are carrying a masterpiece hidden within you, but you are standing in the way. Just move aside, then the masterpiece will be revealed. Everyone is a masterpiece, because God never gives birth to anything less than that. Everyone carries that masterpiece hidden for many lives, not knowing who they are and just trying on the surface to become someone.

Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it. God himself has created you; you cannot be improved.

Yes, it is time for me to face my process and realize I can either create my life from within manifesting outward OR outward manifesting inward. I realize my thoughts have always been on what it takes to be this or that instead of allowing myself to be that which I am...

I say all this to realize that true change is like what Octavia Butler says, "...it's God" I can't pray for something or a circumstance without God changing me first. It is the beauty of life.

Where Two or More Are Gathered...

Sistahs,
I started to write a post this morning and Spirit stopped me told me to "have faith in God rather than man". I saw through out the day how much faith I put in others and how often I am picking over this or that when all that ever really matters is the TRUTH of what I am seeking...People (you, I and others) are forever growing and expanding we can not be the same in any one moment - the physiology of our being is always shedding one thing and growing another...our minds are learning, changing...how can we be the same...Spirit gives us free will to grow in the way we need to grow, to honor our divine process and live in alignment with our highest good.

In the last few weeks different Sistah friends have expressed a need to expand on our vision of prosperity with a prayer circle. I was open to it and tonite a few of us got together. It was so POWERFUL - so RIGHT! I sat in front of my altar as we spoke, declared and wo-manifested our desires. I feel so new and at peace that I had to share it with you Sistahs! We are so much more than we understand - and when we are concentrated on a fixed purpose -we are tapping into the realm of God, Goddess, Creator Spirit.

It was said tonite that when we partake in union with Spirit we are delighting ourselves in the realm of God. This delight - this state of being is where we receive the direct revelation of truth. So Sistahs, take the time - 5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour - even if it is just in the bathroom while in the shower to give thanks, gratitude and acknowledge of the indwelling Spirit as the Source of All Your Good! See how this time of delighting in Creator - shapes your day.

My Prayer
Spirit I appreciate your presence in my life.
I know I was born divinely blessed and always favored.
I allow myself to recognize the greatness of who I am
by simply inviting Spirit to be my one and only Source.
No person, no place and no condition has power over me -
no man/woman is greater than me - for I am the first born
of the Mother/Father God and I receive the divine inheritance
promised to me before I was placed in my mother's womb!
I TAKE DOMINION IN MY LIFE!
I know this moment marks a new day, a new way!
Cleanse my mind from the thought that any human is more powerful
than the Spirit that has created me!
I drink from the cup of God, I bathe in the water of Spirit
This is the TRUTH of MY LIFE!
I give my gratitude, my service and my thanks.
Ashe, A-wombyn, Amen!

A Powerful Energy!

Sistahs! Right NOW is such an important time! I believe that a "cosmic portal" is now open for us to CHANGE OUR LIVES if it is what we want. I began to realize this when I found out about a couple of business opportunities. Both opportunities have the potential to create cash flow - however there is some risk involved. The risk is a HIGH INVESTMENT but surprisingly the investment is not monetary instead it is has to do with creating a CONSCIOUSNESS that would allow SUCCESS TO ENTER INTO MY LIFE. I am attracted to any process that challenges me to grow my prosperity consciousness so I INVESTED in both ventures. It has been a short period of time and I have been doing really well. I can actually see that in very little time I will be very successful.

Creating true financial freedom is like taking a journey on the underground railroad. I can imagine that a Sistah has to be like SistahGoddess Harriet Tubman - striking out on your own at first because no one was prepared to go on the journey that seemed "crazy or unattainable" - however once SistahGoddess Harriet Tubman made it she went back to get others to freedom. Some of the folks she helped she had to pull a gun on because they wanted to give up in the middle of the journey and return to slavery. She would remind them that there was no turning back - giving up would endanger them all.

Life is funny - many of us would swear up and down and we want financial freedom but we won't take the risk that is involved to achieve such an endeavor. We won't start the business or complete the project... A friend reminded me that "freedom is never given..." The world is changing from an industrial work model to an idea/information model. It is no longer a reality that a Sistah will work just one job in her life and expect to retire from that job. It is even more of a reality that the way banks and other financial institutions use to operate is no longer the case - every institution is restructuring -reconfiguring and Sistah - so is society. More millionaires were made during the depression than in any other time. Why? Because two people can look at the same situation and see two different things - one Sistah can see a recession and the other Sistah can see an opportunity to CHANGE HER LIFE!

If you have done the 40 Day Prosperity plan with me you know that aligning your consciousness with abundance is a 24/7 job. The reason why is that your mind is like fertile ground - if you plant weeds that is what will grow - if you plant flowers of prosperity that is what will wo-manifest. Watching the news or reading the news will cancel out your hard work because it confirms a negative reality. I went downstairs for a moment and my mother was flipping through channels on the daytime tv and every other channel had people engaged in an argument, fist fighting, women brawling on a talk show and I thought to myself, "why would you expose your mind to these images?"

True change many times requires a radical shift in mindset. I watched an old Les Brown clip where he said "Many people are dissatisfied with their life because they engage in low-risk living." Success requires you to take some risk. When I was in a marriage with my finances being controlled - my life being controlled basically - I had to believe in myself enough to take a risk and leave behind a life that was materially ok but emotionally and physically abusive. I had to re-remember that I had accomplished many things before I got married and that I could do THAT AND MORE - so MUCH MORE when I was free. I have always loved the title to Alice Walker's book 'You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down.' It is true.

Sistahs over the last few weeks I have been keeping the company of some powerful women. I have been invited to Sistah Circles where life changing processes are the call of the day! Things are happening AND now is the time to open your mind to receive the information, resources and messages that will help you realize your visions.

Lets Walk Together in a New Light!
Peace,
Sistah C
PS. Have you ever listen to Ricki Byars Beckwith's cd? I really like this one! I think she has another cd out now but this one is beautiful. I always like this picture of her. She and her husband Michael Beckwith is in Atlanta this week for their church's conference called Revelations.

The Gift of Motherhood: Creativity and Presence

After some powerful weeks of wo-manifestation in the area of work, career and wealth building last week everything came to a slow crawl. I was still doing what I was doing a few weeks ago but the results this week seemed to be hidden. The same thing happened to me a month ago and this time I didn't freak out - instead I decided to do something different and just watch myself. I was like an anthropologist studying myself in my own environment. I watched carefully as I would stress over a perceived lack of something, I would see myself wanting to close down, judge myself and others or I would watch myself try to "hold on" to the "little" I perceived I had.

I now know through careful observation that working to free my consciousness of blocks of limitation and lack is a full time job. I will admit that I was raised to let lack drive my need to succeed in life - to use fear of "not having enough" as a motivator. This formula on how to live was not passed down out of malicious intent but out of survival however it goes against the natural law of the Creator which is divine abundance. Everything about who we are signals that we are born with the full blessing of prosperity - if this was not the case we would not be living right here in this moment.

Tonite, it came to me that I had not been feeding one of my internal flowers - the flower of creativity. I had been so engrossed in "making dollars and doing business" that I realized that the things that meant a lot to me were suffering. It took Mother's Day to realize that Spirit was asking me to slow down to be present in my motherhood and my creativity. You see motherhood is the powerful expression of the Creator Goddess/God's power of creativity expressed through us...If you have ever given birth before you know what it is like to look down at your newborn and be in awe of the miracle of giving birth. I am not sure if there is anything like this experience?

For weeks I had been burning rubber - going to meetings here and there. One night after meeting some friends from out of town my car broke down. I knew it was not a serious thing about the car because it happened right at a signal light in front of gas station with tow truck right behind me -what are the chances of all of this happening at once?? So, I spoke with Spirit and said "Ok, you want me to stay home. So, what is there at home I need to do?" Immediately, I thought it was some unfinished business project but no - because suddenly all my clients could not work on their projects because of various personal reasons. I sat back and thought "Ok, what do I need to do?" Then I got on the phone and tried to grow my business by getting more clients but this like wading through thick mud...Finally, I got it was not business. The whole time I had been crazy on my business my son kept coming in my office and saying, "Mom, I want this or Mom, I was thinking about this..." and sadly as I realized that I had been telling my son, "Not now! I am busy." OR "Let me just finish this." OR "Just make yourself something to eat, I have to get this done."
It was clear that Spirit was like "WAKE UP!" It was like I need this clarity to realize that what was missing was being fully present in my son's life and that IS true prosperity - not running after dollars 24 hours a day. Yes, I need to work but there is a thing called balance. As single parent I have this "old story" that I have to sacrifice because I am a one parent household - so I can't do this or that...but tonite I watched this clip from Lisa Nichols (I posted it to the right in Sistah Media on the blog). In the clip she was working with a Sistah who wanted to make some deep changes in her life. At one point Lisa gives her a poster board with the work Success written on it and she places it in the Sistah's hands. Lisa then explains to her that sometimes things, conditions come along that try to distract us from our true success and at the same time Lisa attempts to grab the board from the Sistah. Soon the two are in a tug-of-war and the Sistah has to fight to keep that "Success" in her hands. It was so what I needed to witness that it brought tears to my eyes. I realized that I had allowed an old story about circumstances surrounding my son's father and me being a single parent to strangle my financial success AND the TRUTH IS this person, this condition HAS ABSOLUTELY NO POWER OVER ME OR MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY SON -nor will it ever! The best parent I can be is one that is PRESENT with my child - regardless of appearances. To be a complete, loving presence in my son's life is the true GIFT of prosperity I could give him.


Michael Beckwith says, "Challenges come up because they are opportunities for growth." If our lives didn't throw us a curve ball now and then how would we know when we had to work on something within ourselves? It is a constant practice to work from within...I am reminded of affirmation #10 of the 40 day Prosperity Plan

I keep my mind and thoughts off "this world" and I place my entire focus on God within as the only Cause of my prosperity. I acknowledge the Inner Presence as the only activity in my financial affairs, as the substance of all things visible. I place my faith in the Principle of Abundance in action within me.

So Sistahs, this is my long winded way of saying HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and to remind us to remember the gifts of motherhood. If you have not given birth to a child you still are a Mother of Dreams and Creations. Spend Mother's Day with your creations and give thanks.

Peace,
Sis. C.

Following Up On Pleasure Seeking!

Well Sistah Wombyn,
I got so many good suggestions from the last post on Why A Sistah Needs Chocolate that I decided to follow up and tell you all about my adventures. Well, I continued to eat chocolate for a couple of more days without any guilt and after a bar or two the craving subsided and I felt like it served a deep purpose to balance me out. I then just took a day and dedicated it to art and creativity - I cleaned off my crafts desk and just found so many things I had plans for stashed away in little envelopes - like vintage pictures, decorative papers, stamps. I also decided to color my hair this bright red color called FLAME and I twisted my hair up in these tiny twist let it dry and uncoiled them. I went to the gym and worked out hard then relaxed in the steam room. I also just sat with myself and allowed myself to dream AND dream BIG...I visualized myself reaching some specific goals by the end of this year. I even shared one dream with a few friends and it became a communal dream - at the end of the year having a nice SistahGoddess Retreat in Zanzibar. So, if you can feel this dream maybe you will pour a little sugar on it and join us!

We Sistahs are such bright lights when we are happy and in joy. It is like the world lights up! Each day I see how we can invite Spirit to Re-shape our lives - we can work with our consciousness to expand our opportunities. I was just speaking with a friend who returned from a powerful trip to South Africa with a women's choir - she said everywhere they went to perform they were treated like royalty. She told me of going to a small rural area to a school and when the choir arrived at the gates each child from the school danced each member of the choir through the gates to welcome them. That is how Spirit works when you make an invitation to allow miracles into your life - beautiful, unexpected, heartfelt things happen - you are danced through the gates of prosperity and abundance.

I watched this clip on youtube where Les Brown said, "If you are not happy, then what else is there?" I thought he was right. If your life is not moving in a direction that you want it to go then why are you there? Choose a different path - take a risk - run up ahead and see the light at the end of the tunnel. A beautiful poet named Sekou Sundiata said "Better things come to those who wait AND better things come to those who don't." Are you experiencing a life of low risk, low outcome? Then perhaps Sistah Wombyn it is time to reach out for something outrageous, something so outlandish, so once to be thought of as impossible. I think there is a energetic portal that is now open that is allowing the once unthinkable dream to come true. Give it a try this week and let me know what happens...
Your Unapologetic Pleasure Seeking,
Sistah C
PS. I just joined Twitter - I think I am going to like it...sign up and tell me what you are up to.

Why A Sistah Needs Chocolate

Ok, my Sistahs- I have rarely spoke about the subject of Pleasure Seeking but there is a time and place for everything and now I confess that I have been eating chocolate for the last three days. After years of being a vegan and truly avoiding the whole "food" I recently just gave into my urges and got a nice expensive bar of chocolate. Ummm... it was soooo yummy, soooo delicious. I ate the whole thing and it felt good.

According to Italian researchers, women who eat chocolate regularly have a better sex life than those who deny themselves the treat. Those consuming the sugary snack had the highest levels of desire, arousal and satisfaction from sex.

The urologists from San Raffaele hospital, Milan, questioned 163 women about their consumption of chocolate as well as their experience of sexual fulfilment.

The study, which will be presented at the European Society for Sexual Medicine in London next month, found: “Women who have a daily intake of chocolate showed higher levels of desire than women who did not have this habit. Chocolate can have a positive physiological impact on a woman’s sexuality.”

Dr Andrea Salonia, author of the study — funded from a university research budget, not by the confectionery industry — said women who have a low libido could even become more amorous after eating chocolate. He believes chocolate could be particularly medicinal for women who shun sex because they are suffering from premenstrual tension.

“Chocolate is not like a food, it is like a drug. Women who suffer mood swings as a result of their menstrual cycle may also suffer a dip in their sexual function. I strongly believe eating chocolate may improve their sexual function,” said Salonia.

I understand the work that has to be done in the world - the healing that needs to take place, the fight for justice AND I also am beginning to understand the need to invite JOY into our lives. I am the first to tell you that health is important and I understand (or as my friend Mama Yaa says "overstand") the need for sensations of joy and pleasure in our lives. Many of us don't allow ourselves the simple things that bring us moments of happiness.

I have checked out so many erotic blogs lately and I love the way Sistahs are re-claiming the realm of Joy in their lives. Many of us work hard and as another friend says "we need to play hard". The new moon in Taurus is about making real what is in our minds.

I am a big advocate of abundant thinking - having the belief that every being on this planet deserves for the cup to overflow with prosperity. I notice in all my years of prosperity practice that blocks divert your flow. Many of us long for happiness, financial independence, success, love, peace and those things are already in our lives we just have to see with new eyes.

Lately, I have used the practice of inviting Spirit to create abundance, love and peace in my life. One morning in my meditations I made a specific INVITATION and do you know that immediately before I could get up from my meditation cushion I had a call for a new client! The rest of the week worked that way, too. My life was overflowing with opportunities...I told a couple of friends and they said the same took place for them. You see prosperity needs an INVITATION - you can want something all your life but you need to formalize the request to the universe. In this action you transition to ACTION.

Sistahs, I want you to take this week and INVITE in pleasure for yourself. Everyday, in small ways or BIG ways take a pleasure trip. Be bold and see where it gets you - what doors does it open up for you? Discover what you have been suppressing - release and let Life Flow in You.

I got a deep message last weekend, that now is the time for Sistahs to step into the river of abundance - to change our lives so they Work for Us. If you need help, here are a few suggestions:

1. Buy a bar of Lindt Chocolate and eat is slowly, deliberately while in a bathtub with scented bubbles.

2. Instead of a shower every morning, take a candle lit bath everyday before work - see how this changes your day...

3. Dress up in your most beautiful outfit and take yourself to lunch or dinner.

4. Ask your mate for a sensual massage or go get a nice massage from a professional.

5.Invite a another pleasure seeking friend to a glass of wine/tea after work (yes, pay a babysitter and get out)

*Remember, husbands can watch children, not everything cost money, pleasure can be found in a cup of herbal tea or bubble bath...SMILE and for just this moment find 100 things to feel joyful about...*

I could go on...but write me and give me more ideas...

Peace,
Sistah C