Catholic Women's Network 877 Spinosa Drive Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Sunnyvale C A 94087 PAID 408.245.8663 FAX408.738.2767 Permit No. 553 etworfc Sunnyvale CA for Women's Spirituality

Issue No. 88 %sA non-profit educational publication since 1988 September/October/November 2004

Jeri Becker and intuition Wisdom Women to speak at CWN 15th anniversary

A Celebration of Wisdom and Freedom will be the theme ofa day-long program, Saturday, August 28 in Cupertino, CA as CWN celebrates 15 years of educational minis­ try- Columnist Jeri Becker, newly-freed from prison after 23 years will be a featured speaker. Jeri, now living in Santa Rosa, CA has been an artist and columnist for CWN since 1995, a leader of 12- step groups and peer coun­ selor in prison. Penny Mann, an InterPlay Jeri Becker leader and ordained minister who uses storytelling, move­ ment, and song, will facilitate the celebrations of the day. Penny has been a featured ritual leader of several CWN June gatherings in the past. The morning pro­ gram will offer dra­ matizations of the Voices offiv e women from history. Speak­ a sense of ing wisdom of the past for the present will be: *Author Patricia Lynn Reilly as Eve, knowing the Big Momma * Spiritual Director Intuition—our mysterious "sense of knowing" gives us guidance and answers Suzanne Young as Mary, Woman of~ perplexing questions in our lives, if we know how to ask the questions. It might take the Many Faces form of a voice we hear as St. Joan of Arc did . . .it might be a sense that we feel some­ * Marilyn Wilson, Penny Mann where in our bodies ... or it might be a vision that we see in our minds as did Teresa of BVM, women's office Avila. director, as Magdalene, the First Apostle Often known as the skill or gift to have answers to situations without any facts or * Julianne Simone, liturgist, as Teresa of Avila, the Simple data to back up those answers, intuition is believed to be centered in the Third Eye, that Life center of energy in the forehead. Wherever it is ... whatever it is .. .it is a delicious part * Eloise Rosenblatt, RSM,biblical scholar, as Elizabeth of our makeup. We invite you to contemplate and restore your own intuitive skills with our Cady Stanton, Feminist Bible Translator. stories in this issue.

One more issue ... CWN to start monthly Breakfast Meetings Patricia Reilly Suzanne Young Marilyn Wilson Third Monday of each month Catholic Women's Network will be at Sunny View Retirement Community closing down this publicaiton with the 22445 Cupertino Rd., at Foothill, Cupertino next issue to be printed in late Novem­ ber for December 2004. Mon. Sent 20: 8:30-10:00 am Editor Arlene Goetze will be retiring Handwriting analyst Loretta DuBois will give clues to the person­ Julianne Simone Eloise Rosenblatt Lady Wisdom as editor of hte publication but will alities ofthe Famous or Infamous (Bush, Kerry, Hillary, Rice, continue to be a member ofthe Board Arnold) through their handwriting styles. The day will offer laughter and song, drumming and ofDirectors of Catholic Woman's Net­ Mon. Oct. 18:8:30 -10:00 am rhythms, and a special visit of Lady Wisdom, the real work. {Don't let someone else choose the music for your final farewell ... Woman on the Way. The board will continue to sponsor liturgist Mary Elaine McEnery will help you plan music, symbols, See page 16 for registration information. programs in the San Jose area and the rituals for your own upbeat and joyful funeral celebration Please register by Sept. 21. (We have to order your CWN office will continue to operate at lunch!) Space is limited and if full, registration will not be 877 Spinosa Dr., Sunnyvale. See page 16 for registration details. taken at the door. Late reservations can call 408.245.8663 to see if there is room. ffqgg 2 fretwork for Women's Spirituality, Septent6er/Ort°fer/Q(ovem6er 2004

Daydreaming is a time my intu­ inside ^tworlc ition gives me a running mental commentary of things to write, verses to express, and inventions to create. In the winter of 1990.. .oh, can it be that favorite class all through school.. .in every many years ago already.. .CWN sponsored class at every age. programs on the Myers-Briggs personality It is still my favorite pastime during most out there who also would like the idea. It is tions, and I write little verses or mantras to indicator as a key to self-knowledge. Sunday homilies or erudite lectures. It is the an exhilarating pastime! match the rhythms. Through a series of questions, a person can time when my intuition gives me a running And, oh my, have I moved in alternative I adore writing little verses! When we determine if she is an introvert or extrovert, mental commentary of things to write, verses directions fromwher e my spiritual practices drum a shamanic rhythm to connect with the senser or intuitive, thinker or feeler, judger to express, and inventions to create. (Last and beliefs were 15 years ago when I fol­ guardian ofthe east, the little hummingbird orperceiver. month I fashioned a foam hollowed-out pil­ lowed a rather blind instinct to start publish­ who brings the gifts of joy and light, we Personality traits are not good or bad, right low for babies who now develop flat heads ing this little paper. There was no rational drum, "Hum/ming/bird bringsjoy!" or wrong but a key to understanding one­ from sleeping on their backs so much.) plan that brewed in my conscious . . . just The various rhythms found on IChing self. Dr. Charles Keating writes about the spiri­ some pesky little intuitive plan seething in cards, the six-thousand-year-old system of On three different occasions I answered tuality and prayer life of various personali­ my unconscious. advice from China, are wonderful to drum. the Myers-Briggs questions. In two of ties in his book, Who We Are Is How We Keating also writes that Intuitives benefit The Power card lends itself to drumming, these categories, my scores were as clear as Pray. His views, much like the spiritual more from a spirituality that looks to pos­ "Love isthe great p' wer; may it fill my soul," black and white. With my strong need to styles of various personality numbers on sibilities. Often, they live by a reflective and the Harmony card suggests, "The world meet deadlines and be on time, I was defi­ the Enneagram, another enlightenment sys­ insight into the meanings found in daily sings out this song; we can live in tune." nitely a judger. Oh, why must I pick up tem, have given me reassurance about my activity. Weeding is my penance! We also use the eight basic triads ofthe things on the floor all the time and be on time, own prayer life. Perhaps a decade ago, I decided to weed IChing to drum the chakras, the energy usually early, and always meet deadlines!! Keating writes that intuitives often need the long, foot-wide stretch of rocks under centers of our body. We drum on our bodies And my answers also affirmed I was a to share their reflections and spiritual in­ my clothesline on one side ofmy house. It with our finger tips or soft mallets... reflect­ strong intuitive. I knew I wasn't a senser, sights with others, thereby discovering new was a proj ect that I pursued each week for six ing on each chakra's rhythm. the opposite of intuitive... .1 am barely able insights and directions. weeks, on my hands and knees. For the intuitive chakra or third Eye in the to remember the color of all my children's Well, halleluiah! Now I know what has I slowly dug jip the dirt and weeds which middle ofthe forehead, we drum, "I know.. .1 eyes and never the picture scenes or rug propelled me for the past 15 years to put my had filled in the rock bed. I set aside all the am... wise!" color in friends' homes. If I were to be robbed spiritual views in this little publication. Even small pebbles and rocks while I placed a Some of our meditative drumming centers in daylight by someone without a mask, I when I thought I was getting weary of writ­ sheet of black plastic in the 50-foot-long on water sounds, rain sticks, and ocean would not be able to identify such a person ing each issue, I was always renewed after stretch. drums. As we close our eyes and float in the out ofa police lineup. pushing myself to pick up books on the Then I replaced all the hosed-down rocks, waters of reflection, we also awake from our Since I was not a senser.. .then it must be upcoming theme to read and excerpt. assuring myself that weeds could no longer journey feeling the surge ofthe water inside correct that I am intuitive. I readily agree that I thought if I found an idea that grabbed grow where there was no dirt. The nearness our bodies, moving with the vibration of our I live in die future... daydreaming was my my attention, then surely there were others and clean look ofthe six-week long project drumming. There is always a tingling in my filled my soul with exuberance. toes! Thereafter, I was very careful never to We close our drum­ (traders'

Words from Wisdom Carrie McClish

<_^gt*VVOrfc for Women's SplrltuaCtt'g Published in March, June, September, and December by the Catholic Women's Network of Santa Clara County, 877 Spinosa Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94087, 408.245.8663, FAX 408.738.2767. e-mail [email protected] www.catholiowomensnet.org CWN is a non-profit educational organization and tax-exempt charity. Net­ work is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission from the publisher. Views expressed or reported by writers or lecturers are not necessarily the views ofthe publisher. Editor/Photographer: Arlene Goetze Artists: Charlotte Attebery, Jeri Becker, Carrie McClish Proofreader: Rosalee Clarke Board of Directors: Gerry Roy, President; Kate Brophy, Veronica Dostal, Arlene Goetze, Mary Elaine McEnery, Mary Anne Ravizza, Julianne Simone, Suzanne Young. Just as I thought, your intuition is blocked! September/October/November 2004, Q^etwork for 'Women's Spiritua^ity

Two schools in the Livermore, CA area are closing, while funding for nuclear weapons at Outside C]^etworlc the nearby Livermore Lab is increasing.

Books Not Bombs Rally E-mails of note: Priests on the run Oath of orthodoxy Every gun that is made, every warship Want to tell government officials what you A yearlong investigation by the Dallas In Baker, Oregon parish ministers are re­ launched, every rocket fired, signifies in think? Morning News into 200 cases of sexual quired to sign an "Affirmation of Personal the final sense a theft from those who hun­ [email protected], 202.456.1111 abuse of minors by Catholic clergy by the Faith" to provide full assent to a list of a ger and are not fed, those who are cold and (George Bush) found that nearly half involved clergy who dozen doctrinal statements as well as to all are not clothed. Pres. D. D. Eisenhower, 4/[email protected] v tried to elude law enforcement by crossing teachings of the church. If unwilling or [email protected] (Cheney) international borders, often with assistance unable to assent, they are asked to withdraw Books Not Bombs was the theme of rallies [email protected] (Colin Powell) from their superiors, and many remain in fromministry. The affirmationincludes teach­ held August 8 sponsored by Grandmoth­ 703.697.5737(DonaldRumsfeld) active ministry. About 3 0 remain free in one ings on homosexuality, contraception, chas­ ers for Peace, an organization working for 202.224.3121 (Senate and House) country while facing ongoing criminal in­ tity, marriage, abortion, euthanasia, pres­ the abolition ofnuclea r weapons, the demili­ quiries, arrest warrants or convictions in ence of Christ in the Eucharist, Mary, hell, tarization of education, and an end to a war Voters guides another. Most runaway priests remain in the purgatory, and authority ofthe church. economy which funds bombs over school "A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters" church, so Jhey are easier to locate than Response to Bishops Robert Vasa's books for children. and "Voters Guide for Serious Catholics" other fugitives. affirmations has been 50-50 . . .some are Two schools in the Livermore, C A area are are two current guides which tell voters how Catholic leaders have used international grateful and some are very "put out." closing, while funding for nuclear weapons to vote for American politicians.. .each lists transfer to thwart justice, reported the ar­ NCR 7/2/04 at the nearby Livermore Lab is increasing. In positions that are non-negotiable such as ticle. NCR 7/2/04 the San Francisco Bay Area, U. of California abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem cell research, Italy mimics scientists are developing new and modified human cloning, and homosexual marriage. Cardinal Law gets parish in Rome On Republic Day, June 2, a national holi­ nuclear weapons at Livermore Lab, one of If a politician does not oppose all issues Cardinal Bernard Law has been appointed day in Italy, Italian opponents ofthe war in the nation's two primary nuclear weapons then " he/she should be eliminated from archpriest ofthe Basilica of St. Mary Major Iraq covered heads of statues with black labs which have designed every nuclear consideration, no matter how right he/she and will work and live full time in Rome. plastic hoods, in the same way as U.S. sol- weapon in the U.S. arsenal. Current work may be on other issues." Former cardinal of Boston, Law left his diersdidtoprisonersinAbuGhraib. Thewar includes design work on a "bunker busting" If all candidates are unfit by these stan­ position in the furor over his reassignment opponents mimicked the U.S. prison scan­ bomb for $28 million which burrows into the dards, then one should not vote, or vote for of priests accused of sexual abuse. Sexual dal and shouted anti-Bush slogans. ground and creates huge clouds of radioac­ the one with the fewest least desirable po­ abuse, victims see this as an inappropriate NCR 6/18/04 tive dust. sitions. reward for a man who is seen as a symbol of Grandmothers for Peace groups exist Network, the Catholic social justice lobby the scandal that rocked the church. Law will Unless otherwise noted, these notes have been around the world. For more information in Washington, DC, also puts out a guide... it receive $5,000 a month for a chauffeur and condensed and reprinted with permission from abouttheir peace activities, 916.685.1130or focuses on affordable housing, health care, cook in Rome. National Catholic Reporter, POBox499281,Kan­ e-mail lon*[email protected]. immigration and international trade. NCR 6/18/04 sas City.MO 64141. 1.800.333.7373 From GrandmothersforPeaceIntl. Newslet­ NCR 6/18/04 ter, June 2004

Meditation for Authors and Readers PWrite By Marina Wiederkehr, OSB, Readers These excerpts from her book, Gold in Your Memories,/?. 107 In the beginninjgvas God's word and the word/was beautiful. The word was good and the word exploded into billions and billions of words. To the Editor: Then God created authors to mold and shape and give new meanings to the words. Thank you, Arlene, for all you have done Your paper is precious to my heart. I read The authors, who were themselves God's word, gathered up the words and flung for Jeri. Also, a huge thanks for your editing it from cover to cover—it inspires my talks at them out into the space ofthe universe and into the space and galaxies of their the Catholic Women's Network paper. It is the Women's Federal Prison. I currently am souls.. . truly a substantive paper that you can re­ a student of Matthew Fox and my service is read for inspiration and knowledge, so I am a prison ministry and Women's And the word became poetry. very sad that it will not continue. Empowerment group which I have facili­ The word became essays and stories, journals and memoirs and newspapers. It is a model of what needs to be available tated for ten years. The word became history. And the word became joy and sorrow, pain and peace... for women to thrive spiritually, since it gives MaryReidel so much input for how to deepen our spiri­ Helendale, CA And then God sent readers with curious, creative, seeking minds and open, hungry, tuality that is not available elsewhere. I probing, questioning hearts. would love to know you personally but my Your writing, editing, organizing, caring As they eagerly devoured the words; they became receivers ofthe Word. gratitude and best wishes will have to suf­ and creating has touched, healed, strength­ Some ofthe words fell so freely into those open hearts that the great Word of fice. ened and transformed thousands of us. Silence was needed to fathom the depths ofthe Original Word. Mildred Brady Blessings. Indianapolis, IN Martha Ann Kirk, ThD San Antonio, TX Thank you for the years you have de­ Explorations of Spirituality voted to enhancing, empowering, educat­ So many, many thanks for all ofthe won­ ing the female spirit. This breath of spirit will derful inspiring words of Network. There be missed. In my sadness to see this valu­ have been so many times over the years that Spiritual Directors Institute I —Begins Saturday, Septem­ able paper go, I also understand your editor's articles have just jumped off the page to ber 11, 2004. A three-year program. need to retire from this life focus and go encourage and guide me. Phase I is for those who are exploring the ministry of Christian spiri­ forward on the next spirit-filled life adven­ During the past year, you published two tual direction. It requires written application and interview for entry. ture. You are held in much love by many. pieces which I wrote. This is awesome. I Contact Sliaron Almeida 650.340.7495 or [email protected] for Patricia McDonald love to write but never believed it was all that a brochure and for further details. • Rio Vista, CA good. Now, I feel very motivated to con­ tinue. A Mini-Zen-Sesshin —September 17-19, 2004 Friday, 6:00 Thank you for your years of devotion in Judith McWalter-Sante p.m. to Sunday 1:00 p.m. Gregory Mayers, C.S.S.R. publishing CWN. You have helped many to Richmond, CA This weekend is recommended as a serious means to truly advance grow in the spirit, me included. toward non-dual (Christ) consciousness. It will be an opportunity to Jean Blasser Thank you for the spiritual gift you have experience a Zen style retreat - a sesshin. $190 / $160 Commuter. Cupertino, CA been. I am sorry to hear the the CWN is • discontinuing. May God bless your life I'm going to miss you so much! Blessings. with peace and good health. My love, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius—Begins September 19, Donna Acquaviva prayers, and gratitude for your sharing your 2004, 1:00-4:30 p.m. Mondays, 7:00-9:30 p.m. or Tuesdays, Gerrardstown, WV'. •talents so generously. 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lorita Moffatt, RSM Noreen O'Connor, CSJ A 30-week retreat for those seeking a deeper experience of God in the Thank you for all of your hard work in Concord, CA midst of daily life. The retreat includes weekly meetings for prayer, Women's Spirituality Network—yourtime, instruction, and group direction, nine individual spiritual direction ses­ energy, and love. I know that the lasting Thank you, thank you for your years of sions, and three retreat days. $675 effects of your mimstry are far-reaching. inspiring writing. I consider it a privilege to 650.340.7474 May God bless you as you continue to know you personally... 2300 Adeline Drive create yourself in new waysl Kathleen Hanley COercy Cetttier Burlingame, CA 94010 Elaine Coutu Billings, MT www.mercy-center.org Oceanside CA Conference, Retreat at Spirituality Center 2__ e 4 Qjgtwork for Women's SpiritwHty September/October/November 2004 (-Womeu oTocfay "I see Vonda as a Mother Teresa in prison. She works Vonda White, a life of repentance, service with the mentally ill, the sick, By Arlene Goetze and the AIDS patients. later, Vonda never told her story to police. Attorney Michael Marrinan 'To work in the psych ward is challenging Vonda has never felt there was any excuse for what she did. As she puts it, "My heart just about to the point of discouragement; them in prison. When she sawpeoplc.all still aches for the taking ofDean's life; it will nonetheless, I would rather be working here she saw was souls. -She never, to my for as long as I live." than anywhere else," says CWN columnist knowledge, failed to notice the solitary one Vonda White about her work in the Califor­ among, the lonely or the misfit among the Vonda has tried to express her remorse and nia State Prison for Women in Corona. misfits. She saw the unhappiness behind atone for her crime as much as possible Although staff may tell Vonda that many the anger, the grief behind the sadness..and through good works. She has dedicated ofthe women are not going to get any better, she never failed to take these broken ones herself to an unusual life of service . . . she believes that the women with even the under her wing as if they were her own," mothering and ministering to the most de­ most serious mental problems are not to be adds Jeri. pressed, disabled, mentally incompetent thrown away. " I believe this was Vonda's special intui­ women in prison in Corona, CA, where she "I see her as a Mother Teresa in prison," tive gift, .that she truly saw all God's children has lived for 25 years, breathing the polluted said San Diego Attorney Michael Marrinan as her very own...precious and dear. I miss air ofa nearby fertilizer plant and sweating who has represented Vonda without pay in her and I want her to be free"! her 16 appearances before the parole board. through southern California's summer heat "She works with the mentally ill, the sick, and without air conditioning. the AIDS patients. She teaches art classes In addition to her assigned work (often Quotes about Vonda . .. and even when prison authorities take away more than 40 hours a week) in the mental all her art supplies, she somehow makes do! ward, she has led the Catholic choir for 16 "What Vonda does for others has tensive verbal abuse for five years, enough I know she will be paroled some day... it years, made audio tapes of books for blind nothing to do with getting credit or to cause her to flee the marriage. She re­ should have happened years ago." Vonda children, and regularly teaches three arts- making an impression on the staff but is turned to a Mormon community and married has served 26 years in a 7-years-to-life and-crafts classes. ^-p. -. a genuine caring for each individual as a man ofher faith and had two more children. prison sentence and has been elgible for Over time she has taught 12 different a person. She uses music to get these Her husband was sent to Vietnam and parole since 1988. courses for women needing to improve self- same women to sing and enjoy it when returned a drug addict with mental prob­ awareness and modify destructive behav­ it seems they have nothing to sing about. Vonda, now 65, has been Jeri Becker's lems. In his journey of darkness, he left roommate and soul mate for 24 years yet iors. She has cared for terminally ill inmates She has a deep spiritual foundation Vonda, now with four young children, little under the most difficult of conditions. wasn't able to say goodbye when Jeri was self-respect, and destitute. which gives her the strength to help paroled last March. "Jeri and I spent our last Vonda was among the founders of the others in adversity because she has This community, cut off and alienated days together before she was taken so Long Termers' Organization, a self-help been there too. Many women give me from the official Mormon Church, was under abruptly." (Jeri was moved from Corona to group which created gardens, a children's frequent, spontaneous testimonials as the control of Ervil LeBaron who reached Chowchilla before her Corona friends could center, softball games, reading for the blind, to how much Vonda's support and kind­ out to embrace Vonda and added her to his have a farewell party for her.) "She didn't • quilts for the homeless, and financial power ness means to them as they serve their group of multiple wives in his own self- even have time to clean up the homey things through selling "In and Out Burgers," a terms." styled cult. Vonda was soon isolated from she had in her office as chaplain's clerk, and model for other groups for fundraising. Frances Riggs, Prison volun­ her birth family and friends and completely so others were setting up the chapel chaoti­ "Wherever there is confusion, Vonda teer and retired missionary under the control of a paranoid and psy­ cally. It was as if she died." tries to make sense and wherever there is chotic man who-claimed he had visions from ignorance, Vonda works to educate," writes "Surely 28 years of incarceration is After the tears, Vonda writes, "I am re­ God to kill anyone who was leaving his cult. P .H. Miller, a former inmate with Vonda and enough for a crime committed as a victim lieved to have Jeri free at last. My own life The consequence of leaving the cult was now president ofthe Paladin Corp. of brainwashing by a truly evil man. is as full as ever with classes, choir, and death.. .to the person who left or a family "My own faith in everything had been Surely this woman does not pose any gardening but it lacks the'Jeri'element My member. ItwasinthissituationthatLeBaron shattered by years of domestic abuse and kind of threat to society now. Surely way to deal with trauma is to be as busy as told Vonda that Dean Vest, the munitions prison life, but Vonda provided a haven Vonda's family/support system is suffi­ possible," adds Vonda who has written a expert in the cult who wanted to leave, must where I regained it. Vonda was there for me cient to provide a successful parole for column for Catholic Women's NetworkTor be killed and Vonda must do it. LeBaron when the ugliness was overwhelming. It her." seven years. convinced Vonda that if she did not kill Vest, was not the madness of prison which in­ Judith Barry, Attorney at Law, One ofthe first ways Vonda used to deal she and her unborn child would die. spired me to maintain myself to the posi­ Santa Cruz i 7:i with the many traumas in her life was to write "I was scared out ofmy wits," Vonda told a her own life story in a fairy tale, The Magic tive—it was Vonda White. She gave me the cult member who testified against her. "I "Vonda has never wavered from ac­ Princess and the Woodcutters. It is a story gift of seeing life as ultimately beautiful," didn't know what else to do. I had to do it cepting full responsibility for her crime. ofa dreamy young girl who did not like hard concludes P.H. or suffer the consequences." Vonda was She knows what it means to make mis­ work but preferred to read enchanted books. Jeri Becker adds that" after knowing this given a gun, and she killed Dean Vest in the takes, to suffer and to make amends by It is also the story of an abusive father and remarkable woman, my dearest friend, over kitchen ofthe house where they lived. serving others." kindly, gentle mother who had many chil­ Vonda was so terrified of LeBaron that she 24 years, I cannot in fact recall a single Stephen Bradford, Attorney dren whom the older daughter princess had refused to talk about her crime to the police instance when she was not loving, kind, and to care for. In such a household, Vonda (the for three years after she was arrested, believ­ compassionate to every unfortunate soul oldest daughter) had to assume an adult ing LeBaron could still harm her children we might encounter . . . whether it was Two decades ago, Vonda mothering rolean d learned early the habit of who now numbered six and were still in the choosing to sit and eat publicly with the White's husband, a megaloma­ making bad judgments. hands of cult members. She even refused a most despised woman in the prison..or just niac of the Jim Jones variety, In the real life story of this princess, Vonda plea for a lighter sentence at her trial out of noticing the one that evervone else seemed to ignore or pass by. threatened to kill her if she did married, bore two children and suffered ex­ fear. Until LeBaron died in prison a few years "Vonda did not see things as others saw not follow his command to com­ mit the very act that landed her A way to help Vonda Possible legal recourse: in jail. Von4a is also investigating the writing of Ronald Heynemman, author Support letters by November 1 If you wish to write a letter, please use a writ which would take her case through the Vonda White will have another parole letterhead or make sure to include your name courts, seeking her parole. Some battered "While I was in prison, Vonda enabled hearing sometime in late fall or winter—the and address. women are being freed in this manner. me to deal with my own personal issues date is uncertain as CWN goes to press. Because we don't know the date ofthe next This process would involve a cost of from that contributed to my dysfunction. It Personal letters to the Parole Board make hearing (a year after her last one in Nov. 03), $3500to write the writplus about $ 1200 each was of monumental significance to me up one-third ofthe decision ofthe board. As we are asking you to send letters by Novem­ time it goes from one court to because she succeeded in helping me a reader of Vonda's column, you are invited ber 1. another...possibly costing $8000 or so. develop the tools and strength to over­ to write (one page original letter) toth e Parole A sincere, personal letter, no more than one There is no guarantee of success although come my personal issues, where count­ Board testifying to the effect of Vonda's typed/handwritten page, is sufficient. All more inmates are trying to get parole in this less professionals in the psychiatric writing on you and how you believe she has letters are read aloud to the Parole Board way since the present and past governors community had failed previously." served her sentence, is fully and overwhelm­ during the hearing.. have denied most paroles granted by the Elizabeth Huffformer inmate and ing qualified for parole, and has children/ Send the original letter to: parole board. now graduate student family ready to embrace and support her Board of Prison Terms, 1515 K St, Sacra- Vonda's sister is starting a fund to finance when paroled. mentoCA95814 this type of action. Send signed copies of the original to: Attorney Marrinan says positive letters If any reader would be interested in con­ on her behalfwould be very helpful in plead­ 1. Atty. Michael Marrinan, 2445 Fifth Ave, tributing to such a fund, please email or For current updates about Jeri, Vonda ing her parole. Year after year Vonda receives Suite 200, San Diego, C A 92101 phone CWN and let us know who you and other CWN info, please get on CWN's very positive reviews from prison psycholo­ 2. Vonda White, W14162,EmmonsA,#414U, are... so we can contact you to let you know e-mail list... and notify your carrier that gists who find she is not a threat to society. 16765ChirK)-a)ronaRoad,CoronaCA92880- how and when to make a donation for CWN is NOT spam mail. 9508 She has ajob waiting and a place toliv e in San Vonda's cause if need be. If you've changed e-mail addresses, let Diego. An outpouring of letters to the board 3. BPT-Records Desk, CIW, PO Box 6000, Hopefully an outpouring of letters will us know...we've lost touch with some of from CWN readers all over this country would CoronaCA 92880 result in approval at her next hearing. For you. [email protected] be a tremendous boost. PLEASE pray for Vonda's freedom as well. updates, .please get on CWN's email list. ri September/October/(fyvember 2004, Q{etwork for 'Women's Spi tua(ity $>a8e5

Just Concerns Reel Views _ Columns Drop by Drop Films go political by Betty Neville Michelozzi By Carol Reber Murphy

Summer time and the water is calling from This election year, American movies seem beaches, pools and sprinklers. awash in "poli-tainment," or films from a "This water fell 15,000 years ago-around particular political viewpoint. One of sev­ the end ofthe last ice age," our water-board eral examples of this type is a revival of a 40- president says. Popular bottled water (m ostly year-old epic, which taps into psycho-po­ Shocked I examine some drops trying to tap water quality) comes in litico fears that still prevail. imagine that time! Rain is not replenishing Another, a docu-drama, rises like cream to .. the enemy is not the Cold our aquifer fast enough. We've been "min­ petroleum-based plastic made the top of the genre, so refreshing in the War's Red Terror from out­ ing" ancient water these past twenty years. in a polluting process—the hope it offers that persons of different We pave over land with roads and build­ bottles in turn becoming "camps" can help each other and the planet side U.S. borders, but the ter­ ings, rain running off instead of soaking into survive. rorism within our national the earth. mountains of water-polluting While Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 In coastal neighborhoods excess lawn loxic waste! andNounjaim's The ControlRoom counter and psychological bound­ water runs into the gutter—then to the ocean. the government's view of Iraq, film docu­ aries. Almost every material thing we use requires drinkable water. A sign in an inn's restroom mentary The Corporation criticizes the U.S. and often pollutes water to form. World in San Luis Obispo, California tells patrons government's 150-year relationship with big Watch says one pound of beef requires that water used to flush was first used to business. Raymond Shaw, along with his senator 2,464 gallons of water to produce, the same wash its laundry, then purified, saving two- Lobbyists from such multi-nationals as mother (Meryl Streep). as a seven-minute daily shower for six million gallons a year! A motto borrowed TJeneral Motors, Nike, and IBM exercise Denzel Washington as Capt. Ben Marco months! from Areata, California's natural sewage treat­ anvil-like force on legislators. The post- becomes plagued, not just by flashbacks of The ubiquitous US soft-drink industry ment system applies: "Flush with Pride!" Civil War constitutional Amendment in­ horrors he experienced during the GulfWar, overuses and pollutes water in plants world­ tended to protect property rights of freed but also by nagging suspicions that his As I walk a little-traveled road, massive wide. Popular bottled water (mostly tap memory has been tampered with. So much redwood clusters embrace me. The creek slaves, has been used to insure that the water quality) comes in petroleum-based money being made while so many lives are speaks in gentle, contented gurgles. The corporation-as-person amasses property, plastic made in a polluting process-the lost! early summer green is aglow, intensified by often at the expense of workers' rights and bottles in turn becoming mountains of wa­ the moist shade. environmental health. Offering a refreshingly different political ter-polluting toxic waste! The newest blockbuster among current point of view, National Geographic's global At what I call "the grotto," a spring's water Water, that most precious of resources, is film, Weeping Camel, seems as fragile as a flows over rocks to the creek below. I listen poli-tainment, TheManchurian Candidate predicted to cause desperate wars in the to its sound—the site ironically marked with ismorethanaremakeofthe 1952 classic with blue prayer scarf in a Gobi sandstorm. Luigi next decades, dwarfing today's oil wars. a telephone pole—that ubiquitous symbol of Frank Sinatra. Following on the heels of Faloni, one of the photographer pair, pin­ Water companies here and abroad are bought daily data that shut out sounds ofthe earth. Moore's expose, the Candidate redux seems points the overall message ofthe THINKFilm: by foreign investors who then raise rates. I imagine Native Americans coming to this even more bone-chilling than the original, that nomads' culture has much to teach our One municipality near here (Aptos, C A) is site to drink, to bathe, to worship. I recall that which was based on Richard Condon's world politics in the way they help each struggling to buy back its water company. this sacred place taught me the meaning of novel. other, giving back to the earth. To bucket or not to bucket? To flush or not watershed—precious springs protected by Who is telling consumers of goods and It'Mongolian spring in Weeping Camel, to flush as much? trees. The running water refreshes my soul! political consumers, as well, what to buy, and a problem arises among an extended Our water bill notes that our use has gone Daily cares wash away. how to medicate, and how to vote! family of nomads and their animals. A first- up this year. Which luxury to cut? We are time mother camel rej ects her newborn, a rare These startling facts about water capture Guided by the vision of Tina Sinatra, star embedded in a very lavish culture, deaf to my attention. For a couple of hours today ofthe original TheManchurian Candidate, white calf. warnings! our water was turned off with little warning. Paramount Co. and producer Scott Rudin An ancient ritual of prayer and musi© Water-friendly systems exist. At Genesis I still kept trying to turn it on. created the revamp. This time, the enemy is alone can melt the mother's heart and soften Farm's earth-education proj ect in New Jer­ Having just finished The Rising, a grip­ not the Cold War's Red Terror from outside her eyes with tears, when she yields to sey, we are shown its pristine, indoor bath­ ping novel about the chaos global warming U.S. borders, but the terrorism within our nurture. Finally, a message to touch the room with its "composting, waterless toi­ could cause, the absence of water weighed national and psychological boundaries. soul—one documentary that gives renewed let." After a year the tiny amount of residue heavily. With Enron announcing a name-change political urgency to the adage, "Think glo­ is pure enough to be used as garden com­ and Halliburton under subpoena, the times bally, act locally. post. No pipes necessary. We go deeper in debt to the earth, over­ using and abusing the water pool given us are ripe for a story about a covert multina­ On a rainy day at The Village in Davis, Carol Reber Murphy teaches first grade at creation. tional. So called Manchurian Global fits California, we're told that there is no flood­ and is a social justice advocate in San Walking little-traveled roads, listening to the bill in its controlling power over Sgt. ing as in other parts of the city. Rain is Jose. the grotto, reflecting deeply—drop by drop absorbed in carefully-structured. earth insights wash across my consciousness, swales, nourishing gardens and not requir­ choices clarify. I must treasure every drop! ing sewers. Redondo Retreat Center John and Nancy Todd's Ocean Arks In­ ANCIENT LANDS RETREAT Betty Neville Michelozzi is a social jus­ Jemez Springs, NM Walk and pray in the sacred ruins of Chaco Canyon ternational systems run sewage water tice activist in Aptos, CA. and Bandelier, homes of the Ancient Ones, the Anasazi, and through greenhouse plants, producing lodge in the beautiful Jemez Mts. of NM. Four Days,$550, includes ground transportation, meals, lodging, and trips, plus options such as Native American led sweats, PARTIAL LIST OF UPCOMING RETREATS: drumming, natural hot pools, and introduction to Celtic Spirituality. Extra days are also an option at cost. Sept. 10-12 ACDF RECOVERY RETREAT Call Sharon for dates. ^ocperienctng Healthy Relationships the Beloved Carol Mitchell, PhD & liter Coster, MDiv, MA, MFT 1.505.829.3185 email: [email protected] Sept. 17-19 MARRIED COUPLES • My Beloved Carol Kaplan, MFT & Barry Brunsman, OFM San Damiano Retreat Sept. 24-26 WOMEN'S RETREAT • Embracing The Beloved Denise Roy (Author of. My Monastery LA Minivan) New ministry for the new world PO Box 767 Danville, CA 94526 Oct. 1-3 FRANCIS & CLARE OF ASSISI Rebuilding The Church Tel: (925) 837-9141 Bill Short, OFM Pursue Fax: (925) 837-0522 Oct. 2 BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS • (2:00 PM) the studies and take the actions that are Barry Brunsman, OFM crucial to an evolving Church. Our nchty Located 35 miles east Oct. 23 ECO SPIRITUALITY* ($55) diverse community prepares you to lead on of San Francisco Embracing Our Beloved Earth •Joanna Bramble, CSJ the cusp of change, where faith and justice meet. Oct. 29-31 LIVING AS GOD'S BELOVED • Conference Space With Henri Nouwen As Guide • Master of Divinity • 78 Guest Rooms w/ Bath Sue Mosteller, CSJ • Master of Arts (GTU Common MA) Private/Directed Retreats • Spirituality Retreats Oct. 30 ADVANCED ENNEAGRAM • ($75) • Master of Theological Studies (MTS) " Meditation Gardens Growing Spiritually • Maurice Monette, MDiv, EdD • Hiking Paths • Book Store / Gift Shop Nov. 6 TRADITIONAL PRAYER PRACTICES • ($40) • www.sandamiano.org Quality Time With God • Darleen Pryds, PhD JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY Nov. 26-28 AA RECOVERY RETREAT at Berkeley a member of the Graduate Theological Union 1735 LeRoy Avenue Berkeley, CA 94709 (800) 824-0122 (510)549-5000 iliMittfll Fax (510) 841-853b E-mail: [email protected] ../:*•--? www.jstb.edu Joge 6 Outwork for cWomen's Spifittutftty* SeP^em^er^Ocl:o^er^(H9}fem^er 2004 feature ... with intuition, our ini­ tial input is self-generated or self-perceived: it is not de­ Intuition—what it is and is not rived from outside sources.

Intuition, our mysterious, often misunder­ soning. She believes they all figure in the mix through exercises in these seven steps. to construct one's awareness ofthe world. stood sixth sense, has two ways of identify­ Developing intmtion begins with estab­ * audiotape (or write down) information that In her second book, Practical Intuition ing it—what it is and what it is not lishing what is truly important to you. Intu­ comes fromwithi n immediately, for Success, Day writes that there is nothing This articles starts with what it is not: ition can lead us to answers so she give a * analyze what you have taped in response magical about intuition. Through gut in­ Intuition series of questions reader should ask them­ to those questions (usually images, sym­ stinct, we all sense the rhythm of our envi­ * is not creativity although it can assist this selves in order to get in touch with them­ bols, fleeting thoughts, sensations, etc.,) ronment in a rather profound way. process selves. Readers are first asked to answers * pay attention to impressions, pretend in­ The difference between intuition and the * is not "rapid thought" or "just guessing*' questions with immediate responses in the tuitive information whichmay notmake sense empirical, process is that with intuition, our * cannot be explained because it does not present moment and then again to answer actually does make sense, initial input is self-generated or self-per­ depend on logic or evidence (but not every­ the same questions upon reflection * learn to trust what doesn't seem logical, ceived : it is hot derived fromoutsid e sources. thing you can't explain is intuition either) This is the first step in realizing what you * accept that you can know something with­ We "know" and then we look outside our­ * isdifferentfromthe"intuitiveexpertise" want, what you need, what is your greatest out knowing why you know it. selves to focus, interpret and verify. Intu­ which experts in a profession have which fear and dearest wish, what is missing in Intuition is a nonlinear process: one gains ition extends the range of what we think of thus allows them shortcuts to finding an­ your life and what is your greatest talent, etc. information through nonempirical means. as our senses. swers and solutions (e.g. a salesclerk who Day points out the importance of learn­ Intuition both interprets information and can tell if a customer who walks in will buy ing to ask life questions that are specific and responds to questions we ask it. or just look!) In her first book, Practical Intuition for not ambiguous, ones that do not suggest a * is not telepathy nor dreams. Success, Day gives readers a step-by-step yes or no answer. If one asks oneself will it How Intuition expresses itself: program to help them harness their instincts rain tomorrow... the answer is always yes Intuition, like your emotions, is more likely and to make them work in their lives. since it will likely rain somewhere. Asking to express itself through metaphors and sym­ Developing intuition be­ The author, a practicing intuitive, uses her "Will I be happy or have enough money" are bols than is the reasoning mind. gins with establishing what intuition to find lost people in locations likewise ambiguous. It is detached from its perceptions (it has no she's never seen, to analyze stock offerings is truly important to you... She gives three requirements for good shoulds, no anger or fear attached) and forecast the price of gold, to diagnose questions for your intuition to answer: It perceives the world in wholes (fragmen­ illness that has puzzled doctors, and predict 1. Each question must be specific and tary wholes) rather than parts to be analyzed. Dictionaries define intuition as "quick and the effectiveness of new drugs, to develop unambiguous so that a precise answer is Ifyou find yourself thinking that if A hap­ penetrating insight" or as "gaining direct courtroom strategies and anticipate ques­ possible. (Will itraintomorrowinChicago?) knowledge about something without rely­ tions of opposing attorneys, to bet on horses pens then B is likely to follow, that is reason­ 2. Each question should be simple rather ing rather than intuiting. ing on reasoning." and have fun and make profits. than compound. Will I get pregnant and Author and intuitive Laura Day defines She points out that she knows next to have a baby? She may already be pregnant Condensed from Practical Intuition, intuition as "a process of gathering infor­ nothing about any of these fields but her or she may miscarry. One part ofthe ques­ Laura Day, Random House, NY 1996. mation without relying on your mental fac­ intuitive abilities have been verified in stud­ tion can be true while the other is not. This is an easy-to-follow workbookfor read­ ulties and physical senses while at the same ies by university professors on two conti­ 3. Each question should be directly rel­ ers interested in improving their intuitive time being an extension of each." nents. She "consciously" uses her intuition evant to the issue you want to know about. abilities. She further adds that intuition gathers whereas most people use it unconsciously. Don't ask "Is CyberTech a good company" Author Day has been teaching this semU otherwise inaccessible information and Day lists seven steps to intuitive devel­ when you want to know if its stock is a good nar all over the world for over 10 years and makes it available through your physical opment: ^;| investment in a certain time frame. has been a consultant to business people, senses (touch, taste, smell, sight and hear­ Opening, Noticing, Pretending, Trusting, scientists, and private individuals. She ing) and mental or perceiving modes of Reporting, Interpreting, Integrating The process Day suggests is lives in New York. imagination, feelings, memories, and rea­ This book is a workbook to lead readers * to learn to ask appropriate questions,

Words from Wisdom Carrie McClish Intuition invents and alerts "As a small child, I felt some­ thing in my solar plexus.... Elias Howe, an American inventor and three children and moved us to a safe place. It was as if I had a radar machinist, used bis technical knowledge A few minutes later, there would be an and skill to invent the sewing machine in earthquake." screen which would go on 1845. He was stymied, however, by his Julianne, who studied theology, scrip­ automatically when I needed inability to make the needle and bobbin ture, dreams and body work during the time to have information. threads connect she was a Franciscan in Berkeley, recalls His technical knowledge led him nowhere, that her own intuition is clairsentient —she Julianne Graf but the answer came to him in a frightening picks up signals through her body rather nightmare. As he was thrust into a pot of than visions in her mind. Three types of intuitive knowledge: boiling water with his assailants thrusting "As a small child, I could feel something in Clairvoyant: one sees images in the mind You can exercise your intuition without spears up and down at him, it came to him in my solar plexus. I always felt as iff had a radar Clairaudio: Joan of Arc heard voices. John pulling a hamstring! a flash that the needle hole had to be at the screen which would go on automatically ofthe Cross called it locution—words of opposite end from the hole in the hand-held when I needed to have information. It is a scripture directed him in certain directions. needle. feeling.. .a vibration,".she said. Clairsentient: one senses feelings in the What the rational mind could not figure Julianne shared other insights about intu­ body. out the intuitive mind thrust forth! ition: Reprinted from articles in CWN Nov./Dec. HEALING TOUCH Obstacles to developing intuition: 1990 and JanJFeb. 1991 * Thought patterns such as shoulds, parent DONNA BELL, RN tapes, and outmoded beliefs * Inability to let go of problems one can't Certified Holistic Nurse solve (maybe they aren't your problem) Certified Healing Touch Practioner * Lack of time, quiet and space SHAIPM (408) 267-5580 * Too much activity—ifyou are too active, 'MER 351 S. Baywood, San Jose you live on a superficial level

How to know if you make the right decision * PUCE OF "FACE * Reduce Stress * *Increase Energy* It will feel right. Ifyou are more joyful, * Prevent Disease * * Reduce Pain * In a CWN program in January 1992, spiri­ light-hearted, and comfortable with the de­ A rrmnth-long retreat in beautiful Oregon ^Enhance Inner Peace* PRAYER OF THE HEART every July tual director and retreat leader Julianne Graf cision, it is probably correct Balance your energy fields discussed intuition Four levels of intuitive awareness: or design your own SABBA TLCAL beairHful place — flexible time Enhance your personal health "Intuition is the inner receptor of the Physical: the body responds. Notice how for bath men A women _f spiritual development soul," she said. "If the rational mind is and where. Does your heart flutter or your deve loped and the intuitive mind is not, then gut sink? we will be lopsided. It takes time, space, Emotional: be able to reflect and speak Call (503)845-6773 quiet discipline and hard work to develop about your feelings or e-mail [email protected] or visit our intuition. The key is to believe you have Mental: learn to recognize images, mental www.open.org/shalom it and to trust it. We have totur n things over patterns, and inner vision for a complete calendar of activities to God and let God lead us. Spiritual: The level experienced by Teresa and up-coming events. Ifyou wish extra copies of this issue, Julianne recalled how intuitive her mother of Avila and Julian of Norwich is not very send postage to CWN. $2 for 10 or was. common. It gives direct knowledge of God. Sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel less, $3 for 20-29 or $4 for 30-40. 840 S. Main Street, Mt. Angel, OR 97362-9527 "My mother would say that an earthquake We can have little mystical glimpses, how­ for media mail delivery. was coming," she said. "She gathered us ever. < September/'October/ h(pvem6er 2004, Q(etwork for (Women's gpirituafitv ___ e 7 c5_____*?

A way to seeing the invisible Intuitions occur, we do not The traditional way that humans per­ ing feeling, a method used by the Catholic make them. They come as a ceive the invisible is intuition. James Hillman Church to test intuitive claims of sanctity in his book, The Soul's Code, further writes and miracles. sudden idea, a definite judg­ that it is the way that humans access the ment, a grasped meaning. acorn or daimonin their lives.. ..that unique­ Intuitive children The Soul's Code ness in each person which asks to be lived Cradles of Eminence is a report on the out and which is already present before it childhoods of 400 famous modern persons can be lived. which reveals that three-fifths of them had library. Not every child will profit from Hillman, psychologist/scholar/author, serious problems in school. The type of missing school but for many who might believes as in the acorn theory that each teaching did not matter nor the family sup­ have learning disorders, the doors should person enters the world "called" and it is the port, educational, or economic level. Nobel be open. soul (daimon) which guides one on the life winner Thomas Mann found school "stag­ The gap between what is seen by the journey. To psychology's definition of in­ nating and unsatisfactory"; Indian scholar/ school and what is felt by the child can work tuition as "direct and unmediated knowl­ Char Attebery poet Rabindranath Tagore quit school at 13 two ways. Mostly the child following his or edge" or immediate and inate comprehen­ "before insensibility set in." Gandhi found herinvisible track is perceived as "out of it" sion of a complex group of data, Hillman like a revelation. school the most miserable years of his life, un-teachable, obstinately difficult, even stu­ adds that intuition is both thoughtless and Intuitions can be wholly wrong, missing and novelist Sigrid Undset said "I hated pid. It is often in activities outside of school not a feeling state. "It is a clear, quick and the mark just as quickly and completely as school so intensely, I just became absent- that a child's calling appears. full apprehension... ofthe immediacy of the they can get it right. (Carl Jung includes minded inclass." English poetRobert Brown­ process." intuition with thinking, feeling and sensing ing, sent to boarding school at age eight, Intuitions "occur to a person without any as the four functions of consciousness but spent time imagining a lead cistern on the From The Soul's Code, INnSearch of Char­ known process of cogitation or reflective more idealistic philosophers like Baruch, property as his burial place. acter and Calling, James Hillman, Ran­ dom House, NY, 1996 thinking." He further writes: Spinoza, Friedrich Schelling, Henri Bergson, It may be singing class or math or English Jam es Hillman is author of more than 20 Intuitions occur; we do not make them. and Edmund Husserl saw it as a quasi-divine that causes a child to revolt or the teaching books, a Jungian analyst and originator of They come as a sudden idea, a definite gift that is a philosophical method of know­ style of the teacher/school. "archetypalpsychology". He taught at judgment, a grasped meaning. They come ing truth.) And so the inborn destiny (daimon) of Yale, Syracuse U, U of Chicago, and Uof with an event.. ..and one just "gets it!" Intuition may propose a way but does not the child draws a line across which the child Dallas where he co-founded the Dallas Intuition does not expand slowly nor does assure right action or even accurate percep­ cannot cross into a territory of its incompe­ InstituteforHumanities and Culture. After it advance by thought step-by-step; nor tion, e.g. falling in love or making false tence. Writer William Saroyan says "I living 30 years in Europe, he now lives in does it come to its insight by carefully exam­ accusations. Its authenticity can be as­ resented school but I never resented learn­ Connecticut ining sensate details ofthe whole object. It sured only by checking the facts, looking ing." While he rejected school, he read is clear, quick, and full, and comes all at once back at tradition, minking carefully and valu­ nearly every book in the Fresno, CA public

Subjective knowledgc.a way of knowing I just listen to the inside of me In the seven stages of Women's Ways of Their distrust of men carries over to men and I know what to do." Knowing, the four authors write about teachers which affects the learning process. others and to live through themselves! They Inez, 33, Colombian-American woman intuition as subjective knowledge, the In­ They support and believe in maternal fig­ often have negative self image and find it ner Voice and the Quest for Self. ures in their lives. difficult to _efkct on themselves. This book is based on a study conducted They discover firsthand experience is a They view themselves as open to change Matt inthe early 1980s with 135 women of various valuable source of knowledge. and positive but are still immune to others' Tarule, Basic Books, USA 1986. ethnic and economic backgrounds. The They shift from dualism (right or wrong) to ideas. They begin to have a voice by talking The seven stages of Women's Knowing following excerpts come from stages three subjectivism (inner knowing). to themselves, to their pets and their diaries. include 1. Silence, 2. Received Knowledge- and four, the middle part ofthe seven stages They learn to form their own opinions. They learn to move on by taking risks. Listening to others; 3/4. Subjective Knowl­ of "knowing," They feel free to control their own destiny edge: The Inner Voice and Tthe Quest for but are not in control enough to take risks. From Women's Ways of Knowing, The Self; 5/6. Procedural Knowledge: the Voice "There's apart of me that I didn *t even They see themselves as conduits of the Development of Self, Voice and Mind, by of Reason and Separate and Connected know I had until recently—instinct, intu­ truth, not constructors of it. Mary Field Belenky, Blithe McVicker Knowning; and 7. Constucted Knowledge, ition, whatever. It helps me and protects Truth is now subjective and personal. ClinchyNancy Rule Goldberger, and Jill Integrating theVoices. me. It's perceptive and astute. I just listen My life was a mess. I wrote a priest and to the inside of me and I know what to do." asked, "What do I do to make things right" Inez, 33, Colombian-American woman He had no answers. It dawned on me that I was not going to get the answers from You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other anybody. I would have to find them myself. people than you know about yourself. Catholic woman, 48 in the study Beryl Markham

The fourth stage, The Quest for Self Here is where advantaged women move when they start college, leaving behind ado­ On-Going Programs at Mercy Center lescent friendships with family and friends. Shared Scripture Studies-1- Begins September 2,2004. Weekly Thurs­ Some women marry young to escape a bad day Meetings, 9:15 am-ll:15 am. Catherine Wilkinson, Coordinator. Charlotte Attebery family life.. It is a level where women dis­ A 12-week program of study groups with a series of speakers. Books of First cover personal authority and trust and are and Second Samuel - about Israels struggle to understand herself as Gods able to blend their own experiences and After a painful childhood of being a people told through the emergence of Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon. attributes which leads them to a new Donation. "dummy," Inez was years behind more worldview and changed relationships. advantaged women in her "knowing" de­ Here they learn to stop living through velopment. Her worth, life options, and the Prayer ofthe Heart —Tuesdays Sep. 28, Oct. 5, 19; Nov. 2, 16, 2004 nature of knowledge, learning, and truth 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. (continues in January 2005) Olga Louchakova, Ph.D. came to her in her 30s and changed her Participants will investigate and learn the Prayer ofthe Heart. This prayer, in radically. Words of Wisdom Carrie McClish different formulations, is common to the mystical traditions ofthe Christian She moved through the first stages of East, Sufism and Indian Kundalini Yoga. $200 for the series or $30 per session silence and passivity in action, and from xj& self-as-static to self-as-becoming. She had arrived at subjectivism or subjective know­ m Conscious Evolution — Begins September 21,2004. Meets monthly ing, the third stage r?-\ every 3rd Tuesday, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Catherine Regan, Ph.D. <3« Ifyou want to connect with the millions who are beginning to organize their \ \__ziy/_» Third stage characteristics efforts to change the world by changing their consciousness, we invite you to Characteristics of women who are sub­ Mercy Center s ongoing Conscious Evolution group. We combine reading, jective knowers include women of every j 1^*"—*V«7 videos, discussion, and personal application. Series for $60 or $10 per session. age, race, creed, and educational back­ ground. They distrust males because of abuse (38 F^jk i22J£"jl 650.340.7474 percentof university women and 65 percent 3s-"" •"" •Rfe-^^-'py «•• __J"Vgtf;**** ~ 2300 Adeline Drive of social service program women in the COerxxj Gentfcer Burlingame, CA 94010 book's study had been sexually abused). It's often wise to follow ' your sixth sense! Conference, Retreat 8. Spiriu_i!ity Center www.mercy-center.org 9«Qe 8 Qjetwork for ^Women's Spirituality, September/October/November 2004 C5____l_r uition Intuition is the treasure ofa woman ys psyche. It is like a divining instrument and like a crystal through which one can see with uncanny interior vision. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Intuition is the treasure ofa woman's psyche. It is like a divining instrument and like a crystal through which one can see with uncanny interior vision. It is like a wise old woman who is with you always, who tells you exactly what the matter is, tells you exactly Reclaiming whether you need to go left or right. It is a form of The One Who Knows, old La Que Sabe, the Wild Woman. In her book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes tells the story of Vasalisa, a young child whose mother gives her a small doll as she lies on her its power deathbed. Through her Cinderella-like life with an evil step­ mother and stepsisters, Vasalisa uses her small doll to guide her in her harsh life, asking it for help in many confusing situations and trusting it to lead her to safety and peace. The story symbolizes the intuition that mothers hand down to daughters from one generation to the next. This great power of intuition 7. Asking the Mysteries is composed of lightning-fast inner seeing, inner hearing, inner sens­ After completing her tasks, Vasalisa asks the ing, and inner knowing. Estes finds that these intuitive powers have Yaga some questions about the nature of life and become buried streams within women, buried by disuse and un­ death and how it functions. She is told that "to founded charges of disrepute. As Carl Jung claims, such things are know too much can make one old too soon." never lost in the psyche and remain there, and Estes believes that this There is a certain amount we should all know at well of women's instinctual intuition, thought lost, can be brought each stage of our lives. As women age, they back again. understand more about the cycles of their lives— about the rhythms of creation, birthing, and Tasks of Reclaiming Intuition babies as well as solitude, play, rest, sexuality, In order to reclaim woman's intuition, lost or buried in the psyche, there are tasks and the hunt. One need not push for under­ of initiation (according to the old wild female goddess, Baba Yaga): standing ... it will just come. Just as the doll from 1. Allowing the Too-Good Mother to Die our mothers teaches us on one side, so does the Baba Yaga.. .the fierce grandmother on the other. One must accept the fact that the ever-watchful, protective psyche mother is not adequate as a central guide for one's future instinctual life. One must take on the task of being on one's own, developing one's consciousness about danger, intrigue, politics, and become 8. Standing on all Fours alert by oneself, for oneself. One must let die what must die so a new woman can be reborn. Vasalisa blesses the Baba Yaga for her gifts which angers her, and she gives 2. Exposing the Crude Shadow Vasalisa a skull with fire and pushes her out. Perhaps the old hag is repelled by the blessing as a way of keeping her distance from the too-sweet side ofthe feminine nature. The tasks After her loving mother died, Vasalisa had to learn to let go of th&overly-positive here are to take on immense power to see and affect others (receiving the skull) and looking mother and her own overly-sweet, obedient nature. Although she accepted the role of slave at one's life situation in a new light (finding her way back to the stepfamily). Having now bestowed by the evil stepmother and stepsisters, it did not help her. The stepmother served the Yaga, Vasalisa creates a new capacity within herself and receives a portion ofthe represents the underdeveloped but cruel elements of the psyche—shadow elements wild Hag's power. Some women are afraid this deep knowing via instinct and intuition will meaning aspects of oneself which are considered by the ego to be undesirable and relegated cause them to be reckless or thoughtless, but this is an unfounded fear. to the dark. She was able to make the best of what was inflicted on her, letting her old self die so a new intuitive self could be born. 9. Recasting the Shadow 3. Navigating in the Dark Vasalia journeys home with the fiery skull on the stick. She almost throws it away In the tale of Vasalisa, the dead mother's legacy, the doll, guides Vasalisa when but the skull reassures her. The doll guides her, and now Vasalisa walks with her power in she goes through the dark toth e house of Baba Yaga, a fierce old woman in the woods where front ofher. Back home, the skull (representative of intuition) watches the stepsisters and the stepmother sends her to get fire. Vasalisa enters the forest, a symbol of entering a deep stepmother and bums them to ashes (watching can initiation and beginning to feel the power of one's own intuitive power. She learns to develop destroy the negative aspect of psyche). Vasalisa sensitivity as regards direction to the mysterious unconscious and to rely solely on her inner lives well and long. The psychic tasks here are to use sense. She follows her doll's instructions to find her way home to the Wild Mother and one's acute vision (fiery eyes) to recognize and react learns to feed her own intuition, thus letting her own frail know-nothing maiden status die to the negative shadow of one's own psyche and/or even more. The doll serves as a talisman.. .a reminder of what is felt but not seen, what is the negative aspect of persons and events in the outer so but not immediately obvious. The talismanic numen ofthe image ofthe doll reminds us, world. Vasalisa now carries the blaze of knowing! tells us, sees ahead for us. 4. Facing the Wild Hag The author points out here that this is the When the family fire has gone out, Vasalisa is sent by the stepmother into the forest story of initiation into the feniinine psyche wherein a to get new fire from the Wild Hag, a fierce mother, the Baba Yaga. She lives in a house young woman learns to follow her knowing. She squatting on chicken legs which whirls and spins when it has a mind to. It can symbolize endures the hard tasks of initiation for which she has the need of an ordinary person to dance like a crazy chicken once in a while. Here Vasalisa learned to let live what must live and to let die what must learns to face the fierce mother, becoming familiar with the arcane, the odd, the "otherness" die. Baba Yaga is the mother ofthe world, another life/ ofthe wild. She eats her food and becomes a little odd in a good way and learns to face great death/life Goddess. She makes, fashions, breathes life power in others and subsequently her own power. The frail sweet child dies even more. into and is there to receive the soul when the breath has run out. Following in her footsteps 5. Serving the Non-Rational . we learn to let things die. In return for fire, Baba Yaga requires Vasalisa do Excerpted from Women Who Run With the Wolves, Myths and Stories ofthe Wild some chores: she must stay with the hag washing / Woman Archetype, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., Ballantine Books, NY, 1995. clothes, cooking, cleaning, and sorting for her. These / f Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD., internationally recognized scholar, poet, and cantadora, are psychic tasks to acclimate her to the great keeper ofthe old stories in the Latina tradition, is a senior Jungian psychoanalyst who wildish powers ofthe feminine psyche so as to has practiced for 25 years. She is former executive director ofthe C. G. Jung Center for recognize her own power and the power ofinne r Education and Research. purifications o f unso i 1 ing, sorting, nourishing, building energy and ideas. The Baba Yaga is the mother instructing the ordering ofthe house ofthe soul. She teaches both death and renewal. There is no greater blessing a mother can give her daughter 6. Separating This from That than a reliable sense ofthe veracity ofher own intuition. Intuition Vasalisa is asked to do two very demanding is handed from parent to child in the simplest ways: "You have good tasks: to separate mildewed corn from whole com and poppy seeds from a huge pile of dirt The intuitive doll tells her to go to sleep and she will judgment What do you think lies hidden behind all things?" do the sorting... much like when we confront a difficult problem, leave it alone for a while and Rather than defining intuition as some unreasoned faulty come back to it with a solution that was not there before. In this task, Visalisa learns fine quirk, it is defined as truly the soul-voice speaking. discrimination of separating one thing from another. She learns about the power of the Women Who Run With the Wolves unconscious and how it works even when the ego is not aware. The com and poppy seeds represent learning about life as well as being ancient forms of healing medicines. September/October/Qi(ovember 2004, Qfetworlc for cWomen's Spirituality foge 9 f_f___M£_r

Intuition is not a gift as much as it is a skill—a skill Using it based in Self-eSteem. Caroline Myss Intuition teaches us how to heal to heal We are the keepers of an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can tell us how to heal. So believes Dr. Judith Orloff who leads readers ofher book, Intuitive Healing, to the heart ofa radical revolution in health care: the union of medicine and mtuition—ofbody, mind and soul. Orloff became consciously aware ofthe great human need to heal when she visited Danbury prison years ago to talk to the women inmates. No matter their crime, the women were a human microcosm of the human hunger to heal, and love is the underpinning of intuitive healing, the essence of all things spiritual. Orloff writes that intuitive healing means listening to your body's signals—your Jeri Beckdr inner voice and heart, your spiritual connection—to find out how to become more physically, emotionally, and sexually whole. Intuition gives you a head start on preventing illness. By sensing warning signs you can act sooner to restore the integrity ofyour internal defense system, sometimes before symptoms appear. When symptoms do appear, you can know how f 9 to intuitively balance your body's energy to accelerate regeneration and repair. It is critical Intuition located in third eye energy center to listen to the messages you receive.

Intuition is not a gift as much as it is a skill—a skill based in self-esteem, believes There are five steps on the road map for the journey of health and life: Caroline Myss, Ph.D. Developing this 'skill' is much easier for those who can think in the words, concepts, and principles of energy medicine. Medical intuitive, healer, theologian Notice Your Beliefs and author, Myss writes in her book, Anatomy ofthe Spirit, that the electromagnetic energy These set the tone for healing. Positive attitudes accentuate growth; negative field that surrounds each body pulsates with energy which contains information. attitudes impair it. Honesty is required to flush out counterproductive perceptions so We are constantly 'in communication' with everything around us through this ingrained you may not realize how pernicious they are. Our beliefs trigger biochemical system which is a kind of electricity that transmits and receives messages to and from other response. No organ system stands apart from your thoughts. What you believe programs people's bodies. These messages from and within the energy field are what intuitives your neurochemicals. You must be absolutely true to yourself; it will liberate you from the perceive. unconscious impulses that impede your healing. Most ofthe experiences in our life carry an energy which can be encoded in our Be in Your Body biological systems and contribute to the formation of cell tissue which then generates a Your body is your intuitive receiver.. .you must be completely in it to heal. We are quality of energy that reflects those emotions. These energy impressions form a language trained to function from the neck up, denying the rest of our bodies. We need to reorient both literal and symbolic that medical intuitives can read relative to the health ofthe body. our bodies arid include our physicality. We need to become aware of our sensuousness, An example of this is the case of a person who was humiliated by a teacher in noting the first signs of pain so we can act on them. We cannot afford to mistrust our gut childhood when she didn't know the answer to a math problem. This can carry an emotional about relationships or sexuality. charge that would cause cell damage. Simply not knowing the answer would not cause a Sense Your Body's Subtle Energy charge. If one is praised for her answer, she would get a positive energy—a surge of personal Tapping into our body's subtle energy can heal. We should become aware of our power in her body. Positive and negative experiences register a memory in cell tissue as well energy fields(the vibrantly colored auras that extend fromou r bodies). First we need to learn as in the energy field. to sense our Energy and then direct it to parts ofthe body that need it. Feeling energy is very Medical intuitives, besides being able to read specific dramatic childhood expe­ sensual. riences, can sometimes pick up on superstitions, personal habits, behavior patterns, moral Ask for Inner Guidance beliefs, and preferences in music and literature. Sometimes they are symbolic. Meditation and remote viewing are two techniques to find the answers within us. One patient suffered greatly from shortness of breath. Myss kept receiving the Meditation is a state of quiet that amplifies the intuition. It can lower blood pressure, relieve impression of him being shot in the heart before a firing squad. The patient recognized that stress, help reverse heart disease, and even retard aging. this represented his wife who frequently betrayed him with other men, and he felt like he had Orloff illustrates a method of quiet to contact a soundless inner pulse. This is the been shot in the heart each time. By admitting these emotions, he was able to address the intuitive core. The breath will take us there. Once quiet, we can use remote viewing to move problem both in his marriage and his health. through both time and space. It enables us to tune into the past, present, and future or to visualize a person, place, or situation, even at a great distance. With this knowledge, we can Ofthe seven basic energy centers (chakras) in the body, intuition is located in the help diagnose illness by picturing the body's organs, predict proper treatment, appraise sixth chakra which is in the center ofthe forehead. In Eastern spiritual literature, this is the current therapies—all mandatory when conventional medicine seems unable to find a cure. third eye, the spiritual center in which the interaction of mind and psyche can lead to intuitive Listen to Your Dreams sight and wisdom. It is the center of wisdom. Intuition is the language of dreams. We speak it every night. The mystic The challenges we have in our sixth chakra are opening the mind, developing an symbology—images, messages, scenarios—has rules different from those in our waking life. impersonal mind, retrieving our power from artificial and 'false truths', learning to act on A dream's tone can be restorative—conveying revelations about illness and relationships. internal direction, and discriminating between thoughts motivated by strength and those Dreams can heal but first you must retrieve them. Intuitive memory is needed to capture the by fear and illusion. dream and know how to interpret and remember them. This can be added to your toolbox Our bfain and neurological system, pituitary and pineal glands, as well as the eyes, of healing methods. Orloff applies these five principles to healing ill health, dealing with. ears and nose connect us to our physical body. This chakra also links us to our mental body, relationships, and achieving sexual wellness. This is a thoughtful, helpful, and insightful intelligence and psychological characteristics of what we know to be true—a combination ofthe facts, fears, experiences, and memories that are continually active in our mental energy book worth meditation and reflection. body. This is where the energy is that activates the lessons that lead us to wisdom. We Excerptedfrom Intuitive Healing, Judith Orloff, MD. Random House, NY. 2000. need to leam the ability of detachment—a state of mind beyond the influences of'the personal Orloff is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at UCLA and on staff at Cedars Sinai mind or beginner's mind that can lead to the power and insight ofthe open mind. Medical Center. She is author of Second Sight, a memoir about coming to terms with her Myss compares each chakra to the seven Catholic sacraments (as well as Jewish intuitive abilities, www.drjudithorloff.com symbols), and this chakra relates to the sacrament of Ordination, the task of being in service to others. Ordination recognizes that you have unique insight and wisdom that leads you to help others, as mother, healer, teacher, athlete, or loyal friend. While usually connected Amazing Grace Charlotte Attebery with priesthood, symbolically ordination is any experience or honor in which your commu­ nity acknowledges that it benefits from your inner-directed path of service as much as you S~^*i do. It honors the truth that each person is capable of making deeply significant contributions to the lives of others, not just through one's profession, but through the quality ofthe person one has become. The challenge or sacred truth of this chakra is Seek Only the Truth. It compels us to search continually for the difference between truth and illusion, the two forces present at every moment.

Excerptedfrom Anatomy ofthe Spirit, The Seven Stages of Power and Healing, Caroline Myss, PhD, Harmony Books, NY, 1996. Caroline Myss is a medical intuitive and internationally sought-after speaker on spirituality and personal power. Her video tape Energy, Anatomy and Self-Diagnosis is frequently shown on public television.

Since s^he doesn i get my [hints during the day, I'll bless her Feature material on these two pages has been compiled by Arlene Goetze. with some clues at night!

cin £A(y The more I trusted my intuition, the stronger it was getting. Maryellen De Vine

Blessings and Light that needed heal­ ing. I saw myself A Prayer Circle by Maryellen De Vine "clearing out" Los Gatos, CA the area and then By Ruth Lambert sending healing New Haven, CT As God has created angels to sup­ energy into it. I port, comfort, guide and love us, I saw an angel ap­ When my friend Susan told me she nee have come to find these helpers one pear in this vi­ to have gamma knife surgery (again!) c ofmy great sources of intuition. My sion, who also bone tumor which had spread to her work background (prior to becoming a stay- sent healing into the body. I asked this angel socket, I was deeply saddened. This ti at-home mom) had been in accounting so if there was anything this person needed to she explained, the surgery would ain most of my life revolved around logical know and she gave a very loving, healing certainly blind her in her left eye. thinking. message. I tried to deal with the news calmly A few years ago I asked my father to fix our As I did more of these, I found that more dispassionately, and to discuss her altei shower door. He was working in one of our important than any physical relief the per­ fives ("will you wear a fancy patcl bathrooms around the comer from a spare son got, was the emotional and spiritual openly, but I felt a deep anxiety about her bedroom. I was walking down the hall to healing they were getting from it. Many situation and my role as one ofher closest check on my napping children when the times the message pointed out that the emo­ friends. Intuitive Bond thought popped into my head, "Maybe I tional component was a big factor in the After some hesitation, during my morning should see if Dad needs my help." physical problem. ritual of soaking and meditating in our home by Meenu Kaushal My logical brain kicked in and replied, There have been times when Mother Mary spa, I asked my inner spirit what I could do Fremont, CA "Why would he need my help? I don't know has appeared and times when Jesus has to help. And my intuition sent me a clear She held the book tightly in her quivering anything about fixing shower doors." So, I appeared. I feel that I also am blessed by answer: create a prayer circle. proceeded to check on my little ones. hands, finding a little support in its grip. witnessing their blessings and feeling the I had read the Duke University study that A short while later my dad came out saying There were few people sitting around, in the incredible energy emanating from Jesus and showed that people's health could be mark­ that he had been working from the inside of library. She quietly sat on the chair in the Mother Mary. edly impacted by prayer ~ not just their own, the shower and the shower door had gotten study room. It was a fine day. Yes, I now rely heavily on my intuition, as but the prayers of others on their behalf. stuck closed. That incident bothered me as The glass panes ofthe window, were in­ I feel and trust that it is truly Divine guid­ I had'to suspend my skepticism, my shy­ I thought how he could have started to panic candescent with the bright light of the hot ance. ness about spiritual matters, my natural hesi­ or could have had a heart attack. summer afternoon. Through them she could tation about asking for any kind of help. I see the cars parked, and some unknown had to reach out to others who would under­ faces. She searched for that face, whom she I saw an angel appear in this stand and help me. This undertaking was to had seen, only in picture. The Heart at Home be a first in so many ways. vision, who also sent healing Her heart pounded, and her throat was dry. First, I asked Susan how she would feel The tap on the glass door brought her out of into the body by Nancy Basttilega about the idea. She was able to accept my her reverie. He was there, in frontofher . His Littleton, CO offer, despite her notorious strong will and I started to realize that there were times gentle face greeted her with a warm smile. He determined self-sufficiency. I was moved by stepped into the room and she spontane­ when my intuition was kicking in, but with The third eye resides in the sixth chakra, her generosity and grace. ously got up to draw a chair for him. my logical mind, I was discounting the infor­ the energy level associated with extra-sen­ Still, even with Susan's go ahead, I felt His voice seemed friendly, she felt she mation I was getting. I decided that I would sory ways ofknowing often called "women's awkward, and vulnerable and audacious knew him, without ever knowinghimbefore. start listening to and going with my intuitive intuition". However, this is also our source and pushy, all at the same time. His green shirt had small checks on it and the input. of visualization, of conceptual understand­ I finally was able to ask for help fromthos e light blue jeans that he wore with Reebok I noticed that it was my intuition when I'd ing, creative ideas, and seeing dreams come friends and relatives I felt were the most shoes, reflected a very casual and unassum­ be trying to figure something out and an idea true. spiritually oriented. (No coincidence that all ing personality. would just pop into my head, rattier than Two years ago I began dreaming ofa place of them happen to live in California!!) thinking it through. I also found that the As he introduced himself, the soft bright where I could combine my psychotherapy I sent a letter, explaining that I wanted to more I trusted my intuition, the stronger it gleam in his eyes mirrored the inner simplic­ and healing touch practices. The symbol for create a prayer circle for Susan. I hoped we was getting. ity. She felt he loved her, and her heart my aborning business, a red heart centered could pick a time that would be suitable for reciprocated. He exuded humility. His genu­ I have been very drawn to angels and have within the six-pointed Jewish star enclosed all involved so that our work (inHebrew, the ine presence impressed her. studied much on the subject. Each day in in a circle, and the name, the Heart's Connec­ word forprayer is avodah—work!) would be She did not know much about him, but the my prayers, I ask God and the angels to tion, both appeared to me in dreams, as did enhanced by our energy focused at the familiar stranger seemed so accessible. She guide me in my actions and thoughts. I find the place-my home. Unfortunately, the place same time. squirmed and softly crumpled the paper in this guidance comes in different ways. needed extensive remodeling and much co­ Due to the time difference in California, her wrist. Now she no longer needed the For instance, I may get a strong feeling (or operation from a husband who isn't comfort­ this proved to be easy. I am a late riser; most questions, she had thought she would ask what I cal 1 "the nudge") to attend a particular able with change. ofmy group are early birds. They pray and him. workshop or to read a certain book. I may ask However, I've learned that, when you meditate between 5 and 6 am most mornings, She abandoned her decision to analyse a question and listen for the answer to come trust your intuition, spirit helps things along. Pacific Time. I do the same between 8 and 9 their compatibility. Time*was short and to me (which I consider the angels whisper­ My husband agreed to give it a try, the am Eastern Time. And every single person there was so much to talk. Knowing his j ob ing in my ears). remodeling ran a month beyond estimate, that I approached said yes. details, or his hobbies, was not that impor­ Another way my intuition has developed but was completed yesterday, fortunately Each morning now I light three special tant now. They kept on talking, discussing is in getting visions. In the past, when some­ for the four clients scheduled for today. candles in honor of Susan. I think of each of their heartfelt thoughts. one needed prayers for healing, I would Sometimes our third eye helps us connect my friends in the Prayer Circle, and send out He gave a passing glance to his watch, so include visualizing the healing being done with God, sometimes with others, and some­ spiritual energy for their health, well-being, she knew they had to cut the conversation by God or the angels. One day I found myself times with our own hopes and dreams. and peace. short.. getting a vision instead of visualizing. Whenever and however it happens, it is I thank them in my heart for sharing their Her heart knew he was the one. Her intu­ In this vision I saw myself standing next indeed a blessed event. spirits to help Susan bear her burdens. I ition suggested that her life was changing, to the person and using my hands in the area send prayers of thanksgiving for their un­ as she reached out a regal hand to shake it selfish support of my request. with her would be husband. And I thank my inner voice ~ my intuition It's been two years since then. How -- for opening my eyes and my heart to what quickly time has passed by. Today we are needed to be done. Praying with Both Hands happily married. Wish us luck! Martina Nicholson,M.D., Obstetrician, Santa Crux, CA

The baby's heartbeat was slowing to a dull thud. The meconium was thick as mud— c t Thick and sticky as the mud the Israelites A^ Wofflatt s ^Da*y of flfenewat Used to build bricks for making the pyramids, Sat. October 9 When they were slaves in Egypt. led by four women in the healing arts The parents' faces were tired and scared. And so I prayed with both hands, Join us at a beautiful, oceanside setting in Tiburon, CA Slipped the forceps in, to lift the baby ... for a day of quiet, meaningful reflection. Lift the head, hugging the cheekbones, * Connect with your wisdom-selfthroug h guided meditation With a mighty effort... like bringing the children out of Egypt, * Practice gentle, focused movements that help build inner strength Like Miriam... lifting Moses from the muddy wadi. * Increase your awareness of stressors that deplete your energy Praise to yon, Lord God of Hosts. Take time to clarify your strongest intention at this time in your life The pink baby ... With the glorious cry 9:30 am — 4 pm * $65 person Of clean lungs ... Blessed be Yon, Lord God of AH Creation! Call Judith McWalters 510.2353852 September/October/Qfyvember 2004, Qfetwork for (Women's Spirituality ___ e 11 Spirituality and theArts Tall in Spirit Columns Insights Tubby and Me by Mary Hubbard By Joni Woelfel St. Francis's message was taught in simple images of life that all could under­ I knew—I just knew—something was stand, and Giotto succeeded in translating wrong with my soul mate cat, Tubby, but I these into pictorial form. By refraining One wonders what flash of kept pushing the foreboding feeling into the from placing his accent on symbolism, back ofmy mind because I didn't want it to Giotto moved from medieval mysticism to intuition compelled Giotto to be true. understandable human situations. round and broaden the hu­ Now, following his death as I look back, I William Fleming man figures in his frescoes.. find myself believing in what is called the sixth sense more than ever before. The handsome young man with the New Tubby was no ordinary cat, and he came It was almost as if Tubby York accent seemed better suited to Wall St. into my life under extraordinary circum­ andAimam,thanahilltopinUmbria. Dressed styles ofthe time. stances following the temporary fallout of came tome when I spiritually in the rough brown robe and sandals of his Fresco is the art of painting on freshly- my marriage. needed him—and when I humble predecessor, he carefully explained, spread moist lime plaster with pigments I was relocating to a town far away from on this tour ofthe Basilica of Saint Francis suspended in a water vehicle. His rounded my old home to an apartment; the day before found my way in life again, in Assisi, that he would discuss the history human figures appear to be based on living I was to move in, my sister Julie said I should he departed. ofthe saint and the tomb before we arrived models. His colors are quiet and emphasize have a cat to keep me company. She and her at its site. the real rather than the divine. little boy took me to the local humane soci­ We assumed he was insuring quiet. Noth­ The tiny chirping birds which Francis ad­ ety where we were ushered into a room filled ing prepared us for the impact, the pulling dressed replaced the symbolic Dove ofthe with cats of many shapes, sizes, and colors. energy that overcame us at the tomb. We Holy Spirit. Instinctively embracing reality, A gigantic, blue-point Siamese cat came truly were speechless and overwhelmed. Giotto moved art from untouchable mysti­ right up to me as if on cue, confidently We were in Assisi a week and kept return­ cism to understandable humanity. looking up at me as if to say, "It's about time ing to this amazing phenomenon. I would Appropriately, the Friars of St. Francis you got here, where have you been?" Every­ awake early to find Cal already in the lower modeled a voluntary, intuitive relationship one in the room exclaimed, "Look, he chose church and listening to the full choir of between God and man. A horizontal rela­ you!" '-'

• Archbishop Romero — March 23-April 2, 2005 (Registrations needed by Sept. 30, 2004) Coming in our FINAL issue in December • Ita, Maura, Jean and Dorothy — Nov. 26-Dec. 6, 2005 Memories, Farewells, and ?? Tell us your stories of times of farewell in your life OTHER CULTURAL IMMERSION TRIPS Czech Republic/ Poland • Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2004 (with day trip to Vienna) * your humorous/tender stories of your memory, how it serves you «fc/ Guatemala • Nov. 12-22, 2004 • March 16-26, 2005 and even how it fails you #^^^^ftl?ntrai Mexico «April 13-23, 2005; Oaxaca, Mexico • Feb. 10-18, 2005 *share with us how you say goodbye and move on A s >*—\y s i- f- ?4 l> -£'*;&? - 'S&-Vi torsomething new! ^P-T-ET Global Awareness Through -Experience ATE 912 Market St., La Crosse, WI 54601-8800 i Ph: 608.791.5283 Send your story by October 25 to CWN, 877 Spinosa Dr., Sunnyvale, C A 94087 [email protected] • www.GATE-Travel.org or E-mail [email protected]. ffage 12 Qjetworfc for (Women's Spirituality, September/October/Q[ovember 2004 Columns Window into Prison From the Outside Rise and fall of Divine Wisdom intuition by Jeri Becker by Vonda White Many, many years ago when I was an I have come to appreciate the value and My plans at present are to power of intuition most profoundly through intense and jumpy young thing, never sat­ ... somehow I always knew hindsight, considering the consequences continue with my education isfied, always looking for the interesting and the exciting, somehow I always knew when when relatives were about to of those times when I heard that still small so that I might upgrade my voice, but overrode it with my own analyti­ relatives were about to drive up unan­ drive up unannounced to our cal, rational thinking. skills to enter the field of Hu­ nounced to our house. Nobody noticed that house For intuition is not of the rational mind, not man Services, I always knew, and to me it was nothing at of intellect. It is not, in fact, a mental process all extraordinary. at all, which is why I, who was taught to Unfortunately the gift didn't stay; fear rected in seeking solutions to their immedi­ area, I have gone on many detours and honor intellect and rational thinking above and darkness drove it out as I grew up, and ate problems. adventures when I ignored that intuitive all else, have had to recultivate this God- my father' s fierce temper put a damper on my It is as though the natural abilities to sense of "right direction,'' to instead follow given guiding sense. childish enthusiasm and I withdrew into shy connect with the insight process seem to what my rational mind tells me must surely backwardness. Still, I never forgot being For I believe that intuition, like intellect have been obscured by the pain and trauma be the right way to turn. able to know. and creativity, is in fact a God-given sense of their lives. I, myself, was still so dense This can be a real metaphor for my life. equally distributed to all of us, if wejus t learn I grew up hearing the old cliches about when my mother was dying that I went Thankfully I rely more on prayer and intui­ ho w to listen.. in my case, I need to remember women's intuition, but filled with all this about the business ofmy daily concerns as tive guidance in my course of direction in to listen!! self-doubt, I didn't see myself or my sister- though nothing was wrong (after the first life, than I do when driving the car on the women as being much of anything but fluff- One thing that is critical tothi s process for shock oflearning how seriously ill she was.)" road. «£^|_ brained. me, is having a calm, uncluttered mind. This So great was my ability to disassociate Then I learned about right and left brain does not come easily, for having a compul- Right now I am at one of those crossroads. from my great emotional pain, that nature, function; and on the heels of that, about the s i ve-obessi ve perfectionist mother also cul­ Having finally gotten back "on the road" herself, had to step in to show me that I discovery that women had more neural con­ tivated in me a tremendous proclivity to after a quarter ofa century in prison, I must needed to be aware of one ofmy life's most nections between the two sides ofthe brain— worry which quickly evolves into anxiety decide what direction to go to reach my important events. Inexplicably (to me), I whichmeant that we received more informa­ and sometimes a full blown case of dread. goals, still keeping in sight that final desti­ began to have terrible bouts with painful nation which does not change and making tion all at once from both the feeling and If I try and swat this tendency down with facial neuralgia. Finally, that last agonizing sure they are compatible. reasoning sides ofthe brain than men did. my ever-dominant rational thinking I only week before my mother died, the gift of Just as I am likely to make a wrong turn on "Aha!" I thought. "So that's what our exacerbate the situation, until I exhaust intuition returned to assist me in facing the the highway when left solely to my own legendary feminine intuition is!" It was like myself into a state of mental powerless­ important truth. devices, this is a time when I must make an the time one ofmy daughters and her hus­ ness. Aha!! This is when I have learned to One night close to my mother's death, I especial daily effort to still and quiet the band came to visit and she described how, let go... at last. could not sleep for the pain in my face. A mind, and to heartfully listen for Divine in an argument, she was sure she was right— This is why I have spent many years and thought crossed my mind: "Could it be that Guidance. but it took her three days to sort out why she countless hours (and perhaps lifetimes) mother is suffering?" In the calm darkness, My plans at present are to continue with was right! immersed in the practice of meditation. This I knew that she was. When my sister Muriel my education so that I might upgrade my Over the years, I have concluded that the is how I have learned to surrender the came unexpectedly to the Visiting Room to skills and qualifications to enter the field of gift of intuition is certainly not limited to the outcome to God and get back to the present tell me that our mother had died, the neural­ Human Services. feminine side ofthe human race any more moment gia suddenly lifted, never to return. My grief As I already have five years of college than knowing is limited to either the feeling I often find myself repeating this prayer was still present, but the physical reminder background, extensive experience in the or reasoning portions ofthe brain, and that of Self Realization, "I will reason, I will will, had vanished. counseling field, and a strong desire to help intuition goes much, much deeper than a I will act... Guide thou my reason, my will, Now I am dealing alone with the uncertain­ others who struggle with addiction issues, surface, feminine trait. my activity." In the 12-Steps we are chal­ ties of prison life, without the comfort and I have chosen to specialize in the field of The great sage, Paramahansa Yogananda lenged in Step 11 to "Improve our conscious insight ofmy dearest friend Jeri, who after Drug and Alcohol counseling, and will be­ pointed out that "pure reason and calm contact with God, through prayer and daily sharing my life in a small cell for 20 years, gin my course of study at Santa Rosa Jr. feeling lead to intuition" and that "skeptical meditation, asking only to know God's will finally has gone ahead to freedom. For me, College in mid-August. reason and emotional feeling cloud it." This and have the strength to carry it out.1' it is like walking a tightrope without a safety As I venture forth on this new and exciting is why, when I lost my natural gift as a child, And through what instrument, what sense net. I am ever more challenged to seek the leg of myjourney I will continue to sincerely I became in a sense, dense to many of my are we to know God's will tohea r this guid­ gift ofintuition , not as I knew it as a child, but seek guidance daily, asking only to know inner perceptions. ance if not through the voice of intuition? as I knew it in the dark, uncertain time ofmy Divine will and for the strength to carry it out It also explains why I have seen such a Just as I believe that God's presence exists mother's death. and see it through. great density among a large portion ofthe in all things everywhere, I believe that the I hope you will all continue to be there with inmate population ofthe prison where I have intuitive voice of Divine Wisdom guides us Vonda White has served 28 years ofa me; we have come a long way together to get lived for the past 27 years. Very few incar­ in all things, at all times—in our health, cre­ seven-year-to-life sentence in Corona, CA. here to this place today. God bless all ofyou ! cerated women I have come in contact with, ativity, and decisions, both life-changing She will go before the parole board for the have an easy-flowing insight into their deep­ and mundane. 17* time this fall. Seepage 4 for Vonda's Jeri Becker writes, draws, and treasures est concerns, and a very few are self-di- This is evident to me even when driving story and a way to help her. her new freedom in her home in the woods the car. One sense I do not have is a near Santa Rosa. CA. She is employed part geographical sense of direction. And as I time and attends required parole sessions continue to familiarize myselfwit h the local three days a week. Pen pals needed

Since December 2001, the Pen Pal Project has connected 108 older women in California prisons with pen pals. The ''outside" pen pals range in age from 21 to their 80s Jeri available for talks and they live all across the U.S. Two are from England and one from Croatia! Here is what some of the pen pals say about the experience: Jeri Becker is available to accept speaking engagements in California (she lives near San Francisco., travel arrangements made with advance notice). Jeri is a "Writing to a woman in prison is a very meaningful act. I believe that both she and member of Toastmasters and an experienced speaker. After 24 years in prison, she I are blessed by our communication, gradually creating a bond which is very precious to both has a message for groups interested in justice, spirituality, substance abuse of us. In the midst ofher limited life and in the middle ofmy often frenetic one, our exchange recovery, and human rights. Fee negotiable. of letters is a small island of caring exploration. Little by little we offer each other pieces of If your group or organization needs a speaker, contact Jeri at 707.573.1227 ourselves and our daily lives like tiny windows oh another world." or 707.569.9535 or e-mail:[email protected] "I am enjoying my pen pal experience. She is very interesting and tells me about her life, her family, and how she spends her days in prison." "We continue to have a lovely relationship. It is almost like Christmas to find her letters in my mail box. She just sent me the paperwork to fill out so that I may go and visit ywmen of passion and her in person." "My pen pal's simply written letters never cease to inspire me. She has given new imagination empowering the poor. meaning to the words: courage, tenacity, and remarkably, faith." oin us in serving God s people through "I am truly enjoying the experience with my pen pal.... It's amazing that there are education, social and pastoral ministries. such positive things taking place in an environment with so much negativity. A tribute to the power ofthe human mind and spirit."

oSlsters ofthe Presentationc For information, please contact S r. M ic h ele Anne Murphy, PBVM, Vocation Director Ifyou would like to become a pen pal to an older woman in prison, please 281 Masonic Ave, San Francisco, CA 94118 contact [email protected] or Pen Pal Project, PO Box 781116, Los E-mail: [email protected] Angeles, CA 90016. Pen pals are in Corona and Chowchilla prisons. c September/October/^vember 2004, Qfetwork for Women 's Spirituality, age 13

Parable Insights Scripture Spirituality in Scripture Be Still and Know The sixth sense by John Francis by Carole Marie Kelly, osf "What is Truth?" That is the surprising question that Pontius Pilate asked Jesus We are born intuitive and skeptical, in­ before he passed judgment upon him. stinctual and rational. It is very seldom that Christ's answer was equally profound - It is possible to become in­ the adults in our lives encourage our intui­ . . . the Holy Spirit wisely silence! tive, instinctual gifts, so we grow up ratio­ A related question is: how do we know tuitively aware of the pres­ nal skeptics! Only as we mature can we gives me access to intuitive Truth? There are basically three ways. One ence of this "seed." juggle all of those gifts, knowing that each wisdom only when the time may accept a statement as true simply has its place. because it comes from an authority who we In Awakening Intuition, Mona Lisa is right. believe always speaks the truth. has within it the potential for life and growth. Schultz, M.D. calls intuition "the common­ A second way is to use our own mental It contains the blueprint for that which is est sense;" Our other five senses are all with that source, we can easily bypass that faculty of reasoning and come to a logical possible. tuned to pick up our external world, but our unique way of knowing which we have conclusion about truth based upon the A mystical' interpretation would view the sixth sense, intuition, is in touch with our been given. available data. Finally, one may have a seed in this parable as the "image and inner world. There it broadcasts from our A friend of mine, a chiropractor, used to direct knowing or receiving of the Truth likeness" of God which is inherent in each own deepest wisdom, communicating with tell me that he would sometimes awake in independent of authoritative proclamations of us. This seed contains the Truth which us through our other senses, our thoughts, the morning with an unusual soreness or or external, sensory experience. This last sets us free to be who we truly are. or even our dreams. pain. Later that day, a client would call method is called intuition. Like any seed it requires the proper con­ The problem is we are so ruled by our describing the same kind of pain. Intuition In John's Gospel when Jesus says "ye ditions to grow into the Light. The "ground" rational mind that we distrust any message is not limited by time or space. shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set can be viewed as a metaphor for the physi­ not based on reason. Intuition, however, I have had several explicit pre-cognitive you free" he is speaking in spiritual terms. cal, emotional and mental dimensions of is a deep knowing that is not the fruito f any dreams of something that actually hap­ Christ is speaking of the Holy Spirit, the our being through which the spiritual seed rational process, so we can only gradually pened within a day or two. These dreams "Spirit of Truth," which will teach us after must grow. learn to recognize, trust, and reverence it. were not symbolic messages, so, ironically he no longer walks the earth. It is possible to become intuitively aware Notice in the gospels that people were I missed their warning. At one point Jesus prayed to his Heav­ ofthe presence of this "seed." However, amazed at Jesus' teaching, astonished at I am so used to interpreting dreams by enly Father asking God to sanctify his it is uncommon to find someone who is his healing, but not everyone believed him. considering the content in symbolic lan­ disciples with the Truth which Jesus said actually cultivating this seed with con­ They sensed that he was a good man, guage that I forgot to consider them objec­ is God's Word. scious intention. worthy of their respect, yet he didn't fit into tively. Perhaps my conscious mind did not This is the same Word which the pro­ One reason is that our attention is dis­ their logic, so they were uneasy. want to know! I am sure, nevertheless, that logue of John's Gospel tells us "was inthe tracted away from the center of our soul During Jesus' last supper with his dis­ those dreams prepared me to deal calmly beginning" and is synonymous with God. where this seed resides. This is represented ciples, he spoke with urgency, revealing with the events that followed. One told me Jesus made it clear on many occasions that in the parable by the seed which has fallen truths that were far beyond human reason, ofmy mother's unexpected death, others of the Word of God is not to be confused with on the wayside and not on the soil itself. but which his followers simply had to know a serious fall I would have. the written words of God which appear in Then there is the seed in rocky soil. This at a deeper level! Then, as if to reassure The Latin root of the word intuition is the Holy Bible or the spoken words of is perhaps a metaphor for the hardness of them, he promised that "...the Holy Spirit, intuire which means "to look toward, to religious authorities. Echoing Christ, Saint heart which opposes the seed's growth. whom the Father will send in my name, will contemplate." When we intuit something, Paul exhorted that "the letter kills but the Finally, there are "thorns," the obsessive teach you everything..."(Jn 14:26). we see know directly, just as when we Spirit gives life." worries and concerns, which choke any That word "everything" has always in­ contemplate. Neither intuition nor contem­ In a well-known parable Jesus reveals shoots that might sprout from the inner, trigued me. I must be a slow learner, be­ plation requires reflective thinking, but a how that liberating Truth, which is the pre- divine seed. cause I certainly don't know everything! clear mind, free of thoughts which can be existent, life-generating Word of God, can Rare is the pure, loving heart full of faith On the other hand, maybe I do, but the Holy obstacles to certain ways of knowing. grow within us. It is commonly known as and hope which is the "good ground" from Spirit wisely gives me access to intuitive Listening to scripture intuitively leads us the parable of the sower and describes with which the "image-and-likeness" of God wisdom only when the time is right. It is up to unexpected knowings that rest in our metaphors the four types of relationships can manifest in full glory. to me to live in such a way that I am open heart. We need only to absorb the inspired one can have with the Word. to it. words and quietly wait for the Spirit to fill It is one ofthe few parables for which the John Francis is the author of The Living in the present moment, keenly us with all we are meant to hear at that , , meaning of its metaphors is explicitly given Mystic WayofRadiantLovea/i

Ritual Intuition is your sixth chakra which represents the sacrament of ordination in the Christian tradition. Into Intutition X

Setting: All you need for this ritual is yourself and some scented oil. The message of this chakra is: "Seek only the Truth." Ifyou are alone, sit in a comfortable position with your arms propped on Repeat this to yourself as you breathe, r^; a pillow or a table, so that your hands can be placed on your forehead without breathing in on "seek" and out on "truth." Do this for several minutes. tiring. Ifyou wish, play some relaxing, instrumental music. Ifyou are a Reiki or a Healing Touch Practioner, prepare your hands as When you are ready, remove your hands and announce to the others, you would for giving a treatment. If part ofa group, the practioners can place their or yourself and the Universe, your sacred calling. "I, (name), am ordained to hands over the eyes and forehead of one person at a time. If there are no practitio­ (calling). ners present, simply rub your palms together for a few minutes to warm and To symbolize your ordination, rub or have another rub the scented oil prepare them, and place your palms over another's eyes and forehead, or ifyou onto your forehead, throat and palms, saying "(Name), you are ordained to are alone, over your own. (calling). I anoint your mind, throat and hands that you might know, speak and carry out your commission." The center ofyour forehead is yourthird eye, the center ofyour intu­ Answer by saying, "Amen." Ifyou wish you may sing a chant that ition. Focus on your breathing, breathing in calm and breathing out all distrac­ affirms your calling. tions. (Suggested: Where I Sit is Holy, Traditional Native American; Shaina This is your sixth chakra. It represents Hokmah on the Jewish Tree of Noll, Bread for the Journey CD, Singing Heart Productions; Use Us for the Life, the contact point between the divine mind and the human mind, the capacity Purpose, Dances of Universal Peace; Seven Times Blessed, vol. UK Fv7 Archan­ to grasp consciously eternal sight; and Binah, the energy ofthe Divine Mother, gel Invocation, Dances of Universal Peace, vol. Europe III) the capacity to see everything as giving life, to look through the lens of life. In the Christian tradition, this chakra represents the sacrament of Ordination. It means **For further reading on the chakras as connected to the Tree of Life and the that you are under orders to share what you have received as sacred, with others. Sacraments, read Anatomy ofthe Spirit or listen to Energy Anatomy, both by What is it that you have been ordained to share? Ask to see it clearly. Caroline Myss. page 14 Qfetwork for 'Women's Spirituality, September/Oetober/Qfovember 2004 Columns . ..the sun's light appears Inner Gardening in alternations of sunlight and shadow—wisdom comes Sunlight and shadows from seeing these contrasts by Diane Dreher as part ofa larger pattern.

The garden year brings alternating cycles of sunlight and shadow. As Summer turns to Fall, the days grow shorter, the nights begin by walking around your yard, notic­ ers for full sun include sunflowers, petu­ desolation, as part of a larger pattern. longer, until the winter solstice in late De­ ing areas with direct sun, those with filtered nias, zinnias, marigolds, chrysanthemums, The poet Dante wrote, "Midway through cember, the longest night ofthe year. sun, and those that are mainly shade. irises, and agapanthus. Roses and garde­ the journey ofmy life, I found myself lost The daylight hours' gradually increase Notice how the sunlight shifts through nias need lots of sun-but not too intense- in a dark wood." The way back, the Divine until the longest day, the summer solstice the day from milder morning sun to stron­ artd also lots of water. Comedy, led him through the darkness of on June 22; then the days grow shorter ger afternoon sun, with the greatest inten­ Filtered Sun hell and purgatory to the light of divine again. Each day brings its own cycle as the sity in mid day. The pattern also shifts Camellias, cineraria, primroses, azaleas, love in the Paradiso. sun rises in the east, moves gradually over­ through the year. rhododendrons, fuchsias, and tuberous Many poets, mystics, and visionary lead­ head, then descends dropping beneath the Think back on last summer: which areas begonias thrive in partial shade, sun fil­ ers have emerged from their "darkrtights of western horizon in the glory of sunset. were hottest and which offered cool shade? tered through branches of trees or shrubs. the soul" with greater faith and under­ Or so it seems. For it is the earth that This winter, as you look through the seed Many tropical plants like filtered morning standing. Philosopher William James called moves, as Copernicus proposed and catalogs, you'll find the right plants for sun and afternoon shade. On the north side such people "twice born," made wiser and Galileo confirmed inthe Renaissance. The your garden. Here are some guidelines: ofmy house, ferns, palms, camellias, and deeper by their passage through the shad­ seasons are caused by earth's annual ellip­ Sun-loving Plants azaleas grow in the gentle shadows of ows. • %§| tical orbit around the sun, day and night by Most fruits, vegetables, and herbs need maple, magnolia, and avocado trees. We, too, can see our seasons of dark­ earth's eastward rotation on its axis. six or more hours of direct sun a day. Shade ness, our shadows and imperfections, in It took decades, even centuries for West­ Tomatoes love the sun. I plant mine next to In complete darkness, almost nothing the light of divine love, developing greater ern Europe to accept a new world view that the south side ofmy house with direct sun will grow but mushrooms. But in shady compassion and understanding for our­ threatened the powerful orthodoxy ofthe and heat reflected from a stucco wall and areas you can grow plants such as ivy, rex selves and our world. time. Yet the sun is a heavenly constant. sidewalk. It gets so hot there I often water begonia, aucuba japonica, and hostas From our earthly perspective, its light them daily, since tomatoes need lots of which have large, flat leaves to catch as DianeDreher, Ph.D. isthe authoro/Inner appears in alternations of sunlight and water when they're blossoming and bear­ much available light as possible. Gardening: A Seasonal Path to Inner shadow. Wisdom comes fromseein g these ing fruit. As in our gardens, so in our lives, we can Peace, available at your bookstore, contrasts as part of a larger pattern. In contrast, Mediterranean herbs such as deal with the shadows by developing Amazon.com, or HarperCollins, In our gardens, this means recognizing lavender and rosemary thrive in full sun greater understanding, seeing alternations 1.800.331-3761. Diane is an Associate areas of sunlight and shadow, then choos­ with little water. Their small needle-like of sunlight and shadow, consolation and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Santa Clara ing plants best suited to each. You can leaves help them conserve moisture. Flow- University. 'Heating Excess protein, particularly of ani­ Digestion begins with chewing mal origin, is the major dietary source of indigestion and sickness in the West. By Arlene Goetze complex carbohydrates into satisfying sugars, and also makes oils, proteins, and Nothing is more basic to humans than begins to feel wonderfully light. 4. Fruit and sweetened foods should be minerals availble for maximum absorption. eating.. .but eating seems to be the cause One way to develop better chewing hab­ eaten alone or in small amounts at the end Whole grains must be mixed with saliva of acid reflux, indigestion, constipation, its is to count each bite from3 0 to 50 times. of a meal. When eaten with a meal, fruits and chewed until liquid to release their full diarrhea, and stomach pain. Today, even It helps to put down your fork between and sweet foods digest first and tend to nutritional value. month-old babies are prescribed Zantax for bites. monopolize all the digestive functions; the Without adequate chewing, you will feel acid reflux! Rules for Food combining other foods wait and ferment. They mix heavy and dull, develop gas, and be under­ Some of our digestive problems may Proper food combining follows a physi­ poorly with starches and proteins. A better nourished. Chewing meats, fats, sweets, start with the very act of chewing. ological principle: food assimilation is a way to end a meal is to eat the salad and eat and processed foods may satisfy the de­ Chewing result ofthe action of digestive enzymes. fruits and sweets between meals. sire for taste, but soon they dull the taste How to combine food The purpose of "chewing food well" is to buds—the more they are chewed, the Different types of food require their own Drink milk alone. It tends to curdle around break down the food in your system in worse they taste. unique enzymes. When many different foods are eaten at other food, insulating it from digestion. order to make smooth digestion possible. The more whole carbohydrate foods are the same time, the body becomes confused Fruit exceptions: melons are eaten alone; If you are under pressure, chewing can chewed, the sweeter they become. Dry and isn't able to manufacture all of the lemons, limes and tomatoes are acid fruits even relax you to better enjoy the taste of bread (rice cakes) and whole bread without necessary enzymes simultaneously. So that combine with green and low starch your food. sauce encourage one to chew. Because vegetables. Celery and lettuce can be Carbohydrate digestion begins in the digestion becomes so efficient, the body digestion takes place but only partially mouth. Chewing turns grains -and other through bacterial action which always eaten with fruit. Drinking fruit juice be­ causes fermentation and other problems. tween meals can upset digestion unless The consequence of poor combining in­ taken two hours before a meal. cludes decreased assimilation, intestinal One pot meals: Healing foods can be gas, abdominal pain, and swelling. combined by cooking all in one pot with Photo Reflection #2 Rule 1. Place highest protein foods at the ample water such as stews and soups which beginning ofthe meal. They require copi­ are good for chronically ill people. ous stomach acids whereas starches and So perhaps instead of reaching for an other foods use very little. When protein antacid....you might try rearranging the foods are eaten after starches and other order of the food you eat and chewing it foods, stomach acids are not sufficient for well! digestion. Excerptedfrom Healing with Whole 2. Salty foods should be eaten before foods Foods, Oriental Traditions and Modern of other flavors. Salty soups with soy or Nutrition, PaulPitchford, North Atlantic miso can be eaten first because they acti­ Books, Berkeley, CA. 1993. vate and encourage digestion. Otherwise, soup dilutes initial digestive juices needed Why bread/pasta and meat don't mix... for protein breakdown and should be eaten at the end ofa meal. Salt gravitates to the Do not mix protein and starch in the same meal, (meat sandwiches) This combination bottom ofthe stomach stimulating gastric • contributes to higher levels of cholesterol. Eat­ juices for digestion of the meal. ing proteins with carbohydrates is a major 3. Proteins, fats and starches combine cause of cholesterol problems. best with green and non-starchy vegetables. Perhaps one reason why cow's milk causes so Green vegetables aid in the digestion of many allergies is that it is a protein and carbo­ proteins and meats. Excess protein, par­ hydrate (sugar) combination. ticularly of animal origin, is the major di­ When carbohydrates (starches) are eaten, the etary source of indigestion and sickness in digestive system sends forth alkaline gastric the West. Other animal products almost juices, However, when proteins are eaten, the Photo by Arlene Goetze digestive system sends out acid gastric juices. If always contain substantial saturated fats these food groups are eaten simultaneously, the Here's a second photo to contemplate. Send your verse, 60 words or less to which slow the protein digestion. Added gastric juices (ifboth are provided) cancel each CWN by Oct 25. deep frying makes the problem even worse. other out and poor digestion results. www. tuberose, com September/October/(fyvember 2004, Qfetworfc for ^Women's Spirituality (Page 15 rpftoto (Reflection A Valiant Woman Who has found a Valiant Woman? You were the passenger In '73, the Babe on your back, of thirty-one years ago, my course. daughter, And now in 2004, And now you trust me who has found a Valiant Woman? to carry your precious the Babe on your back, of course. cargo, As well as the many, many babes Most blessed of all burdens. Marybeth Varcados whose lives you have touched these Capitola, CA past 31 years. Each gray hair is a testimony to your The same look, life of love and service to all. timeless, Thank you, Valiant Woman. gazed through May your future bless you abundantly! the same lens Sr. Cabrini Rael, OSB, from a soul's center Rock Island, IL The pose of dependence, she on the baby to feed IVe changed. on her freely given self. The hair has grayed. Tis' a stop in motion, The skin is worn on two wheels, The body a bit more weary. a stillness in time, but I can still ride a bicycle the younger one beaming And I can still carry a baby. the older one reflecting 1973 I've changed the wisdom of time I have arrived! I am a fertile, delicious Though photos say that I have aged in And I'm the same. Mark Moore young woman. Taste me! body, Praise be to God. Sunnyvale, CA My dream is a dream dreamt aeons ago My spirit opens yet to joy and life. Donna Acquaviva by the original first mother. I still bring little ones to treasured Gerrardstown, WV I am a modern woman. wonders: The journey of life, "May beauty feed your soul, I joyfully take my place within the Yesterday's Mother Things change stream of life. O Precious One." some remain the same - Lucille Castro yesterday's mother All's right with the world Tinton Falls, NJ takes days like like lollipops, 2004 dragging the tongue ofher soul Some things change I have arrived! red backpacks live on across their bright shiny faces to some remain the same My face has weathered, my hair has a new invention in '73 taste all the sweetness, Joy lies in alL the paths silvered... baby rides on back she eats them one by one and found in between. I am a ripened, aged, fine wine. so momma's hands can steer feeds her spirit. Diane Bader Taste me! strong, sturdy we go for a spin Wilton, CA Taste the fullness ofmy wisdom born of such freedom rates a grin that spirit droops after experience, taste ofmy love, joy and the last day of mothering, "Here We Go Again" sorrow. 5v 2004 days stack atop one another Young mom My heart has ripened.. like chocolate— filled with pride same Snugli carrier as if to wall off the past. bittersweet but more sweet than bitter. enjoys a ride perhaps the same old bike On my back I still carry the future of baby nestled by her side. daughter's baby not so happy but walls crumble when humanity.. the journey never ends! Grandma, wobbly granny not so snappy time folds back onto itself and I amUniversal motherhood. still the athlete, funny pictures grampa took yesterday's mother becomes replicates the feat. Catherine Preus another photo for baby's book. today's grandmother. Now the cycle is complete. Mt. Shasta, CA Arlene Goetze Cecilia Swatton Nancy Battilega Sunnyvale, CA Red Bank, NJ Littleton, CO

'Cafettdar Words from Wisdom Carrie McClish Nov. 5-7 Sat. Sent. 25 Nov. 13/14 Call to Action annual conference: Sex, Justice Symposium: Faithful Citizenship Using the Healing Power of Your Mind, with Science and the Sacred: Embracing Divine offers keynote, workshops on Parish social Joan Borysenko, PhD at the Hayes Mansion, Mystery at the Midwest Express Center, Mil­ ministry, Catholic call to charity and justice, San Jose, CA. Joan, medical scientist, psy­ waukee, WI. Speakers include theologian Ber­ Empowering the poor in San Jose Diocese, chologist, and author of Minding the Body, nard J. Cooke, spiritual ecologistBrian Swimme, Peace-building, etc. Mending the Mind, will use multi-sensory ethicist Margaret Farley, author Clarissa Pinkola Sponsored by Diocese of San Jose and Bannan techniques to teach participants to heal and Estes, Charles Curran, Fran Ferder and Martha Center for Jesuit Education to be held at Santa renew the body/mind/soul, clear fears, create Ann Kirk among dozens more. Clara University. Register in advance, no walk- inner peace, and discover inner joy. Print out a registration form at www.cta- ins. Call Sylvia at 408.983.0128 or e-mail Registration lower before Sept. 24. Call usa.org or call 815.399.2150. [email protected]. 1.866.259.7386 You can find answers if you just look inside yourself! r For individuals, pastoral caregivers, nursing home staffs Positive Approaches Fri. Oct. 29 I to Memory Loss ft Quiet and (Beautiful (Place to (Meet l 8:45 am-3 pm at Sunny View Retirement Community, If your group, parish or business needs a quiet place to meet, B 22445 Cupertino Rd., Cupertino, CA consider Mercy Center. Our meeting rooms comfortably Led by four experienced gerontologists serve groups of varying sizes and space needs, from four to Bonnie Bollwinkel * Susan Diamond 250 people. Available overnight accommodations include 90 Vivian Silva * Marita Grudzen bedrooms in a quiet and informal commumty setting. Hearty, Learn about normal aging and memory as well as the ways to maximize memory; well-balanced meals are prepared three times daily and served * the spiritual connection between memory and body, mind and spirit; in our main dining room. * the relationship of healing and creativity to memory For more information, please contact Sue Thomson 650. 340.7405 [email protected] **"*$? Call for a registration form: 408.253.4300, Ex 67 or e-mail [email protected] by Oct. 22 650.340.7474 Sponsored by Center for Gerontology, Spirituality, and Faith 2300 Adeline Drive VL Burlingame, CA 94010 www. spirituality4aging.org CTDei-xxj Center an ecumenical program of the Sunny View Lutheran Home Conference, Retreat a Spiritualty Center wwwanercy-center.org \_ J pate 16 (tyetwortc for cWomen's Spirituality, Qeptember/October/tfyvember 2004 c C W^^rograms Coming in Fall: CWN Breakfast Series with great speakers Starting in September... .the third Monday morning of each month at Sunny View Retirement Community, 22445 Cupertino Rd., Cupertino

Celebration of /Wisdom Mon. Sept. 20: 8:30 to 10 am The Write Side of the Famous or Infamous: Bush/Kerrv/Hillarv/ Arnold/Condi. Learn clues to the personalities of popular politicians through • I • and cFreedom their handwriting analysis Presenter: Loretta DuBois is a handwriting analyst who studied in Sr. June Canoles' Insyte Challenge School of Graphology and is a current associate of Sat. August 28 9 am to 2:30 pm hers. .Loretta writes a column for San Jose Mercury News, has published articles in USA Today, and started her own company, Write Dimensions St. J ude Episcopal Church hall Graphology. She formerly taught school for 30 years. 20920 McClellan Rd, Cupertino CA {diagonalfrom DeAnza College) Mon. Oct. 18: 8:30 -10 am Come, celebrate our 15th anniversary with the wisdom of women Your Departure Party: Plan vour own Funeral Celebration in drama, song, and laughter! Welcome Jeri Becker to the free Don't let someone else choose the music for your grand finale! Learn to world! select favorite songs, readings, symbols to be used at your final festive gathering! Give thought to the way you want to be remembered by close Morning: friends and family. 8:45 am Check-in and hospitality Presenter: Mary Elaine McEnery. MA, liturgist/organist/former CWN Board 9:15 am Celebration of Wisdom President, who brings joyful music to many funerals. Mary Elaine has a MA in Penny Mann of InterPlay (one of our most popular presenters) will lead the litury from Santa ClaraUniversity and has been a liturgical consultant in the morning presentation which includes the appearance of: Diocese of San Jose for 30 years in many parishes. Her current ministry centers Eve, the Big Momma Patricia Lynn Reilly, Ph.D. on funeral planning, helping families create meaningful and uplifting rituals. Magdalene, the first Apostle Sr. Marilyn Wilson, BVM, MA Mary, Woman of Many Faces Suzanne Young, MA. Mon. Nov. 15: 8:30-10 am Teresa of Avila, the Simple Life Julianne Simone Breezing through the Holidays: Resist the Urge to Splurge Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Bible Translator Learn spiritual and emotional tools to handle the rush and pressure ofthe Sr. Eloise Rosenblatt, RSM, PhD coming holiday season...a meditation to get you through the holidays, tech­ CWN Woman on the Way Arlene Goetze niques to use to avoid overshopping and overeating, some creative ways to start new holiday customs with family and friends. CWN facilitator with input 11:45-1 Tea party style lunch from audience and panel. 1:00-2:30 Celebration of Freedom, includes ritual of Freedom to welcome Fee: $10 for breakfast and program Late registrations: 408.245.8663 Sneaker: Jeri Becker. (Bring a shaker/small drum ifyou have one) H Extra: Patricia Lynn Reilly will autograph copies ofher latest book, Please register me (5 days before each event) for I VVordsMade Flesh. Sept 20 Handwriting $10 I Oct. 18 Funeral Planning $10 I Fee: $35 (low income $25) includes lunch Nov. 15 Holiday Alternatives $10 Reservation deadline: ASAP No later than August 21. I Accommodations in this hall are limited. Registration at the door only if Name Phone I space allows. Address I Save this map...y ou r check is your confirmation....letters will not be sent. City I State & Zip I E-mail ' I Directions to St. Jude Church for Aug. 28 Send to CWN, 877 Spinosa Dr., Sunnyvale CA 94087 I Corner of Stelling and McClellan in Cupertino From #280 (going north toward SanFran) Exit at DeAnza and proceed south, 8-10 blocks to McClellan and go right about 4-5 blocks. Church on left before Stelling.. From #101 (either direction) and #280 from San Fran) exit at #85 and go south. Exit at Stevens Creek and proceed left (east) to Stelling. Right a few blocks to McClellan. ^t*ast issues Turn left on McClellan and then right into church park lot From #85 (going north from Los Gatos) Exit at Stevens Creek (Stelling is not an exit). Right a few blocks past DeAnza College Our past issues are mighty good reading. to Stelling. Right a few blocks to McClellan and dim left, then right into park lot. Please send me the following super reading! Back issues of CWN are $1.25 each

#87 Signs and Wonders ofthe Divine 86 Icons, Windows Beyond 85 Food: Ritual, Remedy and Religion 84 Unlocking the Past 83 Examining Evil: Dark and Light of it 82 Got Water 81 When Silence Speaks 80 Wisdom, an Inner Light 79 The Evolution of Mothering 78 Fear Not 77 Sacred Art of Dying St Jude 76 Ways Women Lead 75 God Beyond 74 This Body is Holy 73 Sacred Space 72(65) Ask the Animals Send to CWN. 877 Soinosa Dr.. Sunnyvale CA 94087 * 408.245.8663 71 The Chains of Greed 70 Feminine Principle, Holding up the World Aug 28 Registration Form 69 Peace is flowing like a river 68 Styles of Thinking Please register me for August 28: Celebration of Wisdom & Freedom 67 Create, Create (Imagination) (Includes lunch) $35 Low income $25 66 Hope, A Sense of the Possible 64 Music, the Power of Sound 52 Earth, a Living Being I have special diet needs: vegan wheat/gluten free vegetarian 51 Mary, Who is She? Other

I can volunteer: Registration table 8:45-9:30 am Total number of copies x $1.25 each = $ . Assist in kitchen 8:30 - 9:30 am 11:30-12:15 noon Special prices: 3 or more of same issue — $.75 each Total enclosed $ Name Phone Name Hphone Address, Street City City Zip State Zip E-mail (please print. Mail to CWN, 877 Spinosa Dr., Sunnyvale 94087 or FAX 408.738.2767 L