This Issue: Table of Contents

Lots of things in life are hard. There seems to be no shortage of "things that go bump in the night". And few of us are fortunate enough to be spared encounters with them.

Sometimes it is true that "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger". But sometimes we are weakened by things that make us "stressed out". When we are unable to cope effectively our immune systems seem to abandon us, our short-term memory circuits short-out (a phenomenon that neuroscientists refer to as "brain farts"), and we, in short, become "undone".  Not a pretty picture!

There seems to be a common thread that runs through many of the stressors that women face in modern life. . . and that thread is the message, "be conventional" or "this is the way things should be done, or ought to be". 

Joseph Campbell, famous philosopher and mystic, once said:

Your real duty
is to go away from the community
to find your bliss.

On the dragon there are many scales.
Everyone of them says "Thou Shalt."

Kill the dragon.

When one has killed that dragon,
one has become The Child.

Campbell declares that "the lion of self-discovery is meant to kill that dragon" and that, psychologically, childhood is a time of magic that is lost to us when we grow up and learn to wear masks. But he reminds us that we are meant to return to the child. (Note: it's even in the Bible, "Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:3)

Yet most of us spend much of our lives doing things which, no matter how well done or how successful, would never bring us happiness. Whether it's to please someone, to prove that we "fit in" or that we're better than someone else, or just to be "nice", we're walking down a path that wasn't meant for us, a path that brings us little joy.

While there are many techniques that can help, one of my personal favorites is called  "The Magical Child", sometimes referred to as "going weird". Simply put, it is a challenge to "Dare to Be Different", to march to a different drummer, to loosen the grips that convention has on your life.

Admittedly it's not easy to be weird in these days and times when we celebrate tolerance and diversity (thank goodness), when hair comes in shades of magenta,  and adolescents wear things in their earlobes that look like empty beer cans and provide you with an unobstructed view of the distant scenery behind them. 

But being eccentric can be done, gracefully, and with humor.  Joseph Campbell observed:

Getting a comedic view
of your situation
gives you spiritual distance.
Having a sense of humor saves you.

Or as Jo, a playwright friend of mine, says: The difference between tragedy and comedy is that tragedy is about hard things happening and comedy is about getting through them!

If you need a little gentle nudge to search for your magical child, check out both of these links.

The poem by Jenny Joseph that inspired the Red Hats Society:
Warning

And a rowdy prayer to the Goddess for the full expression of our divine nature in all its gorgeous glory! We were introduced to this prayer by Morgana Rae, the Charmed Life Coach, who helps creative professionals achieve success without sacrificing their humanity and offers free tips on creating a charmed life of ease, flow, and abundance.

An excerpt:

We thank the author, Rob Breszny, the Free Will Astrologer, for permission to use the poem he calls "Prayer For You". You can read 'A Prayer For You' in it's entirety at Rob's site, though we insist on calling it:
Wild Woman Prayer

Wild Woman, Magical Child, Diva, Woman Wearing a Purple Dress With A Red Hat That Doesn't "Go". You don't really have to be weird -- just give yourself permission to be yourself and to "follow your bliss". Honor the goddess in YOU.

And on the subject of extraordinary women . . .

You don't have to be different to make a difference. I discovered a little book (what I call a Bathroom Book*) that celebrates the contribution of women to American life.

American goddesses? There certainly are! And they're not all celebrities either. Here are the fascinating stories of their achievements. . . stories you've probably never heard before.

Chaz Allen, the author, a five time Addy Award winner and syndicated columnist, wrote these stories for his radio series called Little Known Facts. We're grateful to Chaz for giving us permission to print one of the many delightful, but little known stories of these ordinary women who, like goddesses, have done extraordinary things.

You can read a sample story here:
Extraordinary Women

We're also grateful to Chaz for offering a 10% discount on the paperback to our newsletter readers. To learn more or order, just click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the link to the book.
Be sure to enter this promotional code at checkout to get your special discount: EWGG1
Extraordinary Women

The Greek goddess Psyche, the mortal who became a goddess when captured the heart of Eros and then proved herself worthy to become a goddess in her own right. Psyche reminds us of the importance of a woman's search for personal growth and that it is the integration of our experiences, however sad or frightening they may be, that delivers an authentic life. You can read her story here:
Psyche

"Woman's World" magazine, featured a "mini-" goddess quiz in their Valentine's Day issue.  It came and went with great success and not a sign of breakdown at our site! 

The March issue of CosmoGirl! just appeared on the newsstand and contains a delightful one page "Goddess Quiz" featuring the website.

And here's a link for those of you who like to read our monthly progress report in full:
Blog

Learn to recognize the dragon whose scales all say "Thou Shalt".  Give life to your Magical Child, remembering . . .

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."   Diane K. Osbon

And let your life be filled with

Magic and Meaning,

Sharon
The Goddess Path