Dear Aikidokas,

I received this from a woman who sent this on to me and another list, at least.
It is a wondefully powerful meditation for self-healing, peace and the beautiful
music by Laura Powers is so evocaive and spiritully uplifting that anyone who
hears, "Dance, 'Till the Rain Bgins" could not but fail to be moved. Please go
to the site and have your speakers on, and, if need be, your micrphone headset
on (if you worry it'll disturb others - but I think it is so soothing, it'll
calm people around you even at a reaonable volume. Your decision!). I am
currently 1st kyu and training for Shodan which, since I will be staying with a
friend in Bonn, Germany, from the begining of pril until the end of June, I
would like to obtain so I can attend a famous dojo in Bonn feeling calmer than
if I had not been doing intensive Aikido with my partner after many years of
irregular sesions (due to study and chronic pain from endometriosis-related
pelvic adhesions, plus surgeries and the way they ensure bed rest and fatigue
for months afterwards which is not conducive to training!). I find the website
below very relaxing, especially before I began a session working to my Shodan
and I hope other Aikidokas on this list will fnid it of some benefit - let me
know if you also find it soothing or how you felt listening to it.

Blessings,
Kharla
aka FieryHawk, HP

P.S. The initials HP, btw, stands for High Priestess and the spiritual
path/religion I was initiated into and made an HP in is known as the tradition
of feminist Dianic witchcraft (more about this can be found through studying
ther books by the woman considered to be the grandmother of this path, beringing
it from Hungary to America, Zsuzsanna Budapest, and to other notbles in the
field such as Diane Stein, Vicki Noble, Jade (author of To Know: A Guide to
Women's Magic and Spirituality, and Barbara G. Walker whose book, The Skeptical
Feminist: Discovering the Virgin, Mother, and Crone (which I purchased at the
start of my second year in my BA degree at the University of Sydney in 1992,
having just taken up Gender Studies (then, unfortunately, called 'Womens'
Studies')) greatly upset my zealous Baptist mother! Everyone who studies Aikido
will find the beauty of Aikido is that is is compatible with all religious and
spiritual paths. For me, it is about harmony and balance (and hara, ki and
kokyu) which is what I find in my Goddess religion (known as feminist Dianic
witchcraft) or my Dianic path, as I often call my spiritual beliefs and
practices (I prefer the term Dianic Occultist and Occultism to the term
witch/witchcraft, largely due to the very negative connotations centuries of
misogynistic propaganda, through the Church from thr Inquisition time
epeciially, onwards, has created, and because what I know and practise goes
beyond the traditional teachings of witchcraft or Wicca). Many women who
identify as Dianics, i.e. Goddess-focused (and who do not believe in the concept
of a male deity who is the Goddesses consort - a female/male mythology most
typical of the majority of pagans, wiccans and witches) actually go into Aikido
more than any of the other available martial arts which I find
interesting....but I have also noticed more women in Aikido classes than in
other martial art traditions. I believe women are more open, in general, to
being able to receive ki so a uke's energy is dealt with by a beginning student
of Aikido who is a woman often with more potential than, at first, a beginning
male student may show...and the emphasis on being able to execute techniques
just as, if not more, effectively, without brute physical force, may appeal to
women (societal conditioning? Nature or nurture? That is a tough question & I
could write a book about it but it's not necessary here!).


"Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other peron
than about his or her reactions to you.
When you dare to reveal yourelf fully. When you dare to be vulnerable." - Dr.
Joyce Brothers

----- Original Message -----
[details of lists and ppl sent to besides self erased for privacy reasons]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 2:51 AM
Subject: A Goddess Meditation



A lovely Goddess Meditation and beautiful music.
Take a moment.
featuring music by Laura Powers.
http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/goddess_meditation.html



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