Saturday

AWe - AWAKENED WOMAN'S e-NEWSLETTER - Midwifing Life - October 21, 2004

AWe - AWAKENED WOMAN'S e-NEWSLETTER - Midwifing Life - Oct
AWe - AWAKENED WOMAN'S e-NEWSLETTER - Midwifing Life  - October 21, 2004
news, inspiration and commentary from awakenedwoman.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NEW AT AWAKENEDWOMAN.COM

This week we feature a powerful essay by Danica Anderson -- The Balkan Goddess; Birds Falling From the Sky. It's so beautiful and profound that I can't begin to describe it.  Please read it.

And Starhawk, whose new book The Earth Path is sitting by my bedside, shares her powerful convictions on the upcoming election: Be the Wind. A must read!

We are profoundly grateful for the words of these great women!

* * * * * * * *

From Where I'm Sitting  - the Editor's Note

Undergoing Transition


Dear friends,

In honor of the coming of Samhain -- the Day of the Dead -- known at Safeway as Halloween -- Awakened Woman is going to shift gears.
We're going to take the busy, raucous election news off the front page and enter another space.

You've already made up your mind about the election, haven't you? I'm not into campaigning. I've said my bit, and I'm going to vote for Kerry, because I think he's the better man.  A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush, as the bushies know full well. Why they even campaigned for him! Oh it's all a mad show that makes very little sense but is packaged and sold with a seeming logic that is the devil's talk.  But Kerry is a different kind of man, and I do hope he wins!

In these tremulous times, we do our best to stay sane.

Meanwhile the destruction of the planet proceeds apace. With every bombing far away in Iraq, which is no longer far from our living rooms, more hot poison is added to an already burning planet. The world is on fire, and people and creatures, all living things, suffer the heat.

We can overcome this, but someone will have to listen to us, and that moment has not arrived. Those now in power today have no ears for our wisdom, nor for the great scientific discoveries of our time, which prove conclusively that matter and spirit are the same thing -- and that by changing in spirit, we can slowly bend the material world to our highest intention.

They -- those who are running the show -- are going to follow their delusions to the grave. Oddly enough, some of these people are well-intended. They believe that what they are doing is necessary and to the good. They believe our society represents the highest good -- given that human nature is seen as vile. They are trying to rescue the planet from the clawing hands of the great starving masses, to preserve the order they would impose on all, and which benefits only them.

We know better. We know can we birth a whole new order -- a way of life that flows with the patterns of nature, as we, the women, flow with the rhythms of blood that pour through our veins with the swelling of the moon.  We are used to upheavals, and to the ensuing drainage as the moon wanes and the tide pulls out. And we endure.

Regardless of the terrors abroad in the world, this order is already conceived, and we are hovering in the intense transition of its birthing. It seems a long and torturous labor, but in truth it's a moment -- a moment in the dark canal when the gate seems stuck.

We are the grandmothers of this new being, and we want to be sure the child is safely landed before we leave this earth. For this could be the coming of Morgana la Fey -- and she holds the key to Avalon.

At the Gather the Women Congress last weekend, beautiful women gathered in Dallas to embrace their commonality and weave together our hopes and dreams for a world that works.

The Congress was conceived in Source, as Kathe Schaaf has told us since the beginning, when she "downloaded" eight pages of instructions that charted the course.

Gather the women. Gather the women. And allow for spirit to move through their hearts and their lips. And it has the intention of holding an open space for women to meet.

There was no agenda. And this year I understood more completely the inclusiveness and wonder of being together -- knowing what we know -- and sharing from our hearts without engaging in dialectic. From its commencement on friday morning, Oct 14, just after the solar eclipse, Kathe invited us into that place of heart. Being there, with 200 women, reminded me of something the psychic Anamika told me at the end of the last century. That the energy of the planet is rising, and it is lifting us out of the plane of ego-based desires to the fourth dimension, the place of christos santus: the heart.

Was it enough? It has to be! Still, there are questions. One of my friends there (Joan, are you reading this?) asked me the final day what I thought. Did we need to do something here and now, and what might that be? Or was holding the field sufficient?

Many speakers talked of that field -- of how we were participating in a new awareness that holds a new morphic field -- an awareness of being. Jean Shinoda Bolen embraced this idea with her little book. The Millionth Circle, and that book has spawned a movement of women's circles interconnecting and flowing in and out of one another as we gather our petticoats to take our seats for the Great Conversation.

Patricia Smith Melton told us how her circle, called soon after 9-11, created Peacexpeace with its marvellous network of women's circles around the world. It was her vision that linked our council here in Sonoma County with the Peace Circle in Kabul, Afghanistan. And that has taught us a lot.

Answers come to our questions, not always as we expect. We --  WBW -- brought our projects to the Congress. We did not have a podium from which to speak, but we did have a table in the Marketplace where with Sherry's help we sold some lovely Afghan goods made by widows in Afghanistan, and we talked with women about our work.
We had the opportunity to meet with Peacexpeace both in circle and individually, to share our thoughts and ideas. And we said, yes, the place of heart includes rage. It includes protest against the infamy that is being visited upon the planet. It includes resistance to the inexorable march of tanks across the landscape. They are coming. They are here, in Mesopotamia, and the people are suffering a miserable fate.

We feel duty bound to choose a course of action. So we shared our idea for giving birth to a plan, an Agenda  that announces how we women feel and what we agree must be done to save the world. It is our hope that this germ  of an idea planted at the Women's Congress will engage women through the great web of our connections to weave the design into this new cloth.

We will be reporting on the women's Congress during the next few weeks, with contributions from Joan Cowden, Patricia Smith Melton, myself -- and anyone else who was there. Send us your thoughts!

We -- Sarada, Mervis, and myself -- had a very good time.
Back at home, the rains have fallen. The brown redwood leaves coat the asphalt of our tiny roads. As we slow down for the long dark winter, which has already come with a wallop to these woods, we will bring you words of inspiration -- women's stories and women's wisdom for the deep dark time. As the world turns, we take up our original mission, of celebrating the living goddess as she manifests herSelf through women's stories and women's lives.

This week we are posting Danica Anderson's offering for Halloween. We'll be posting a selection from Leslene della Madre's new book, Midwifing Death: Returning to the Arms of the Mother. We'll also have chapter from a book I picked up at the Petaluma Progressives Festival, by Anna Nevenic, the founder of the United Children's Network, an organization whose focus is the prevention of illiteracy, teen pregnancy, and other social problems. Anna is from the Balkans. Her book is called Out of the Shadows: American Women Who Changed the World. Let me know if you want a copy. And speaking of books, Thais Mazur has just published her exciting book, Warrior Mothers: Tales to Awaken the flames of the Heart. More about that next week!

And so, as the darkness gathers,  we step back from the skirmishing world, with a prayer for those who suffer the calumnies of outrageous fortune. Let there be peace this Ramadan.

blessings, Stephanie

* * * * * * * *

From our Readers

Stephanie,

I'd like to underscore Jutta's Reid's (AWE Newletter Oct 13) observation and those of myriad others who note that focusing on the very thing that we are against is not the answer. At the very least, that habit distracts us from creating what we seek, and at its worst creates more of what we fear.     Many AWE readers are aware of the quantum physics principle which states that like attracts like (also a primary teaching put forth by, among others, abraham hicks). The relevant implication of this principle is that we reap tangible, practical benefits by intending and focusing on what we want to create, not what we fear or dislike. AWE is a great venue for helping us in this process by facilitating an international focus on forgiveness, acceptance, tolerance, thankfulness, and on remaining in the present moment. Our attention to and beliefs in the positive ideas and suggestions articulated by AWE members attract, connect, and strengthen those intentional constructs. So, as we work to improve our lives and those of others, let's continue to visualize the best possible world so that we literally help create it.

Thank you,
Anna Laura Jansma
--
Laura L. Jansma, Ph.D.
Dept. of Communication
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020 USA
805.893-4429

* * * *

Regarding Nevada

Clark County, Nevada on Nov.12 - 14th.  It is interesting that only yesterday I read an article from that county regarding voter registration fraud.  If you go to www.klastv.com you will find an article dated October 12, 2004 regarding hundreds of newly registered voters who have had their registrations, torn up and tossed out by the very organization that sought to acquire them!!!
This organization is funded by the National Republican Committee.  This is such blatant voter fraud via the Republicans that I am finding it very sad to not see any national news reports on this issue.  Yesterday I saw a noon report on our local TV station, TV 9 & 10 News out of Traverse City, Michigan.  After hearing this startling story, I found the CBS station that first presented it from Clark County, Nevada.  Indeed it was there.  Please research this and try to get the word out to the citizens of this country.  We all need to know what the Republicans are doing in their dastardly moves to usurp this election.  They are doing it again, this time around but on a more national level.  We are in trouble if they get away with this.  We are looking at four more years by another vote scam.
  Sincerely,
 Linda Beers Aydlott
5070 Mt. Bliss Road
East Jordan, Michigan 49727

[Clark County is where a great convocation of witches will be held next month by the Gift Paradigm circle. Please see below for details. We will be there! -- Editor]

* * * * * * * *

Biblical Marriage

Congressman Jim McDermott's (D.Wash) remarks as they appear in the congressional Record for 2-25-04 regarding President Bush's attempts to define marriage:

"Mr. Speaker, the President's presidential prayer team is urging us to "pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage.  Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles."  With that in mind, I thought I would remind the body of the biblical principles they are talking about:  Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women.  that is from Genesis 29:17-28.  Secondly, marriage shall not impede man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives.  that is 11 Samuel 5:13 and 11 Cronicles 11:21.  A marriage shall be considered valid only if a wife is a virgin, if the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed.  That is Deurotomy 22:13.  Marriage of a believer and a nonbeliever shall be forbidden.  That is Genesis 24:3.  The bible says that since there is no law that can change things, divorce is not possible, and finally, if a married man dies, his brother has to marry his sister-in-law.  Genesis 38:6-10; Deut. 25:5-10.


Iris J. Stewart
WWW.SacredDancer.com

* * * * * * * *

FASCINATING EVENT with a great cast of speakers

A Radically Different World View is Possible:
The Gift Economy Inside and Outside Patriarchal Capitalism

Who:  Internationally Known Feminist Activists
When: November 12-14,  Opening Friday 12th at 4:00 pm.
Where: Clark County Library, Las Vegas, Nevada
Contact: 512.444.1672
For more information and registration visit www.gifteconomyconference.com
This dynamic and thought provoking conference will be held right after one of the most dramatic elections in this country's recent history, an election in which citizens have been asked to choose between one extremely patriarchal and one somewhat less patriarchal candidate. The conference will discuss an alternative to patriarchy, with perspectives presented by some of the foremost leaders and thinkers in the International Women's Movement.Giving attention and value to the logic of gift giving as embodied in the practice of   mothers, indigenous peoples, immigrants, free soft ware providers, artists, activists, volunteers and social experimenters, reveals a widespread hidden gift economy that coexists with the market. . A gift economy can be seen as an alternative to Patriarchal Capitalism, an alternatve that continues to exist in spite of the misogyny, racism, classism and greed that motivate the present system. Affirming the worldview of the gift economy can provide the values and the link among movements that can help us create a peaceful and abundant world. This alternative vision is necessary at this time of worldwide violence caused by clashes between market-based patriarchies.

* * * * * * * *

ALERT ALERT ALERT

The birth control pill has found itself in the middle of the abortion debate.

Laws are being passed at the state level that protect pharmacists who refuse to dispense the pill for moral reasons. So-called "Conscientious Objection Bills" have passed in Arkansas and South Dakota. Ten other states - Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin - are considering similar legislation.

Unfortunately, it's much easier for a Catholic pharmacist to argue why he's opposed to dispensing the pill than it is for a young woman to explain her reasons for taking the pill.

Rx license on the line in abortion fight - Pharmacist refused pill order due to faith - The Capital Times

If these bills continue to pass, the abortion rate will continue to increase, as it has under President Bush. An independent study by Glen Stassen, an ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary who is also trained in statistical analysis finds that, contrary to popular assumption, abortion has risen in the U.S. during George W. Bush's presidency and that the increase is linked to economic policy. Using data from the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the Guttmacher Institute, and reporting by individual states, Stassen found that U.S. abortion rates declined 17.4% in the 1990s to a 24-year low when Bush took office.  Many expected that downward trend to continue under the conservative president, but Stassen found the opposite: 52,000 more abortions occurred in 2002 than would have been expected under the pre-2000 conditions, and abortion has risen significantly in those states reporting multi-year abortion statistics. Stassen's study found credible linkages between economic hardship and abortion.  Two-thirds of women who abort say they cannot afford a child; half of women who abort say they do not have a reliable mate and co-breadwinner; and women of childbearing age are overrepresented in the 5.2 million additional persons without health coverage since 2000.


*Statistic:

If the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade today, over 70 million women in more than half of the country could lose their right to choose abortion within a year's time, some just in a matter of weeks. According to a new study published by the Center for Reproductive Rights, What If Roe Fell?, only 20 states would likely protect women against the enforcement of abortion bans.

SOURCE: News we can use

* * * * * * * *

Advocacy Groups Urge U.S. to Live Up to Promises Made to Afghan Women

Despite pledges to dramatically improve the lives of Afghan women after the ouster of the Taliban, the United States' failure to tackle security threats and adequately fund women's programs has increasingly put women's rights and progress at risk, asserted leading international development and rights organizations.
"The truth is that Afghan women are in danger of slipping into a sink-hole being created by ongoing violence and lack of funding," said Ritu Sharma, co-founder and executive director of the Women's Edge Coalition. "The lawlessness and lack of security forces on the ground outside of Kabul, the capital, make it life threatening for women to get jobs or go to school."
Sharma made the remarks at a Sept. 22 press conference that included Save the Children, Amnesty International and the Policy Council on Afghan Women. The press conference was held two weeks prior to the Afghan election on Oct. 9.

* * * * * * * *

HORRORS

World Food Day: Iraqi farmers aren't celebrating

15 October 2004

When the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) celebrates biodiversity on World Food Day on October 16, Iraqi farmers will be mourning its loss.

A new report [1] by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South has found that new legislation in Iraq has been carefully put in place by the US that prevents farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations. This is a disastrous turn of events for Iraqi farmers, biodiversity and the country's food security. While political sovereignty remains an illusion, food sovereignty for the Iraqi people has been made near impossible by these new regulations.

"The US has been imposing patents on life around the world through trade deals. In this case, they invaded the country first, then imposed their patents. This is both immoral and unacceptable", said Shalini Bhutani, one of the report's authors.

The new law in question [2] heralds the entry into Iraqi law of patents on life forms - this first one affecting plants and seeds. This law fits in neatly into the US vision of Iraqi agriculture in the future - that of an industrial agricultural system dependent on large corporations providing inputs and seeds.

In 2002, FAO estimated that 97 percent of Iraqi farmers used saved seed from their own stocks from last year's harvest or purchased from local markets. When the new law - on plant variety protection (PVP) - is put into effect, seed saving will be illegal and the market will only offer proprietary "PVP-protected" planting material "invented" by transnational agribusiness corporations. The new law totally ignores all the contributions Iraqi farmers have made to development of important crops like wheat, barley, date and pulses. Its consequences are the loss of farmers' freedoms and a grave threat to food sovereignty in Iraq. In this way, the US has declared a new war against the Iraqi farmer.

"If the FAO is celebrating 'Biodiversity for Food Security' this year, it needs to demonstrate some real commitment", says Henk Hobbelink of GRAIN, pointing out that the FAO has recently been cosying up with industry and offering support for genetic engineering [3]. "Most importantly, the FAO must recognise that biodiversity-rich farming and industry-led agriculture are worlds apart, and that industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of the catastrophic decline in agricultural biodiversity that we have witnessed in recent decades. The FAO cannot hope to embrace biodiversity while holding industry's hand", he added.


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

>From GRAIN Shalini Bhutani in India [Tel: +91 11 243 15 168 (work) or +91 98 104 33 076 (cell)] or Alexis Vaughan in United Kingdom [Tel: +44 79 74 39 34 87 (mobile)]

>From Focus on the Global South Herbert Docena in Philippines [Tel:+63 2 972 382 3804]

NOTES [1] Visit
http://www.grain.org/articles/?id=6.
GRAIN and Focus' report is entitled "Iraq's new patent law: a declaration of war against farmers". Against the grain is a series of short opinion pieces on recent trends and developments in the issues that GRAIN works on. This one has been produced collaboratively with Focus on the Global South.

[2] Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law of 2004, CPA Order No. 81, 26 April 2004,
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040426_CPAORD_81_Patents _Law.pdf

[3] GRAIN, "FAO declares war on farmers, not hunger", New from Grain, 16 June 2004,

* * * * * * * *
AWAKENED WOMAN'S e NEWSLETTER is sent to you only on request. To Subscribe Write the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To sign off, write UNSUBSCRIBE (but we hate to see you go!). Please remember, I don't open any messages with a blank subject line.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AWe is published weekly by Awakened Woman Publications in concert with Women for a Better World, P.O. Box 1113, Occidental, CA 95465     707-874-1744             editor@awakenedwoman.com
--
______________________________________
Stephanie Hiller, publisher/editor
Awakened Woman e-Magazine
The magazine for a foreseeable future!
<http://www.awakenedwoman.com>

______________________________________
--
______________________________________
Stephanie Hiller, publisher/editor
Awakened Woman e-Magazine
The magazine for a forseeable future!

______________________________________
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)