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All Things Alchemical is the monthly E-newsletter of personal transformation for those seeking grace and clarity. Enjoy discoveries centered on health, spirit, purpose, archetypes, symbology and artistic expression that will guide you dancing through life.
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Note From Kendra
Dear Friends,
Over the past year I have had the privilege to meet some incredible entrepreneurs. They are artists, surfing instructors, costume fashion designers, computer app engineers, leadership program directors, health consultants and coaches, boutique owners, restaurateurs, winter coat and jewelry designers, and organic skincare product manufacturers. We indeed are blessed to live in a time when owning your own business and making things happen for yourself is so possible.
The one characteristic that all of these super-successful people have in common is tenacity. They had visions that they kept alive regardless of the hardship or length of time it was taking to actualize their visions.
They saw a need, tapped into their creative center, and found a passion within themselves to make their visions come to life. When you have an idea that lives inside of you that needs to be birthed, you will see signs of it everywhere; you will continually get thoughts that pop into your mind of ways you can make your vision happen.
The key to birthing creative ideas and endeavors is to listen to your inner voice and longing, and regardless of the comments from the peanut gallery, stay your course. Having consultants and tossing ideas around are all part of the strategy to fueling your vision.
When I started my company as a life coach nearly twenty years ago, I was frequently asked what I did exactly: “What is a life coach and spiritual director?” My reply in the beginning was an easy answer: “I help guide people to clarity when nothing is seemingly making sense in their lives.” Little by little with comments, eye rolls, and the sheer look of confusion, I started to doubt what I had believed to be my path and life’s work. It took me a long time to climb out of the discomfort of the feedback, but I never gave up on the vision. I kept pursuing my dream, sharpening my skills, and adding tools to my toolbox. Not one year slipped away without my continuing to create and fulfill my passion - one seminar at a time, one client at a time, one group- coaching circle at a time. I have written hundreds of blogs and newsletters and have worked with hundreds of people, and I could not be happier than I am today that I listened to my own inner compass and stayed the course.
The people I mentioned earlier have had similar experiences, and not one of them gave up. They are all extremely successful in their businesses and feel fulfilled doing something they love and believe in. Their passion shows in what they have created as they share with the world the absolute goodness that stems from listening to their inner voice and the spark within.
Please join me as I share notes from an interview that Caitlynn did with another fellow passionate entrepreneur, Christi Apodaca, owner and founder of C and Co. out of Asheville, North Carolina. Her skincare line is natural and safe to use at any age. After spending hundreds of dollars over the years on high-end skincare products, I came across Christi’s storefront when I was shopping with a friend. The products they make in small batches are high quality and extremely reasonable in price. So, I purchased a few things to try and have been using her products for over a year. I will never use anything else. I love how Christi started the company, what sparked her interest, and how, in an extremely competitive market, she stays her course.
We have opportunities every day to live our dream. Whatever it is that you are doing with your life and time, do it with all you have inside. Do it because you love it and you believe in why you are doing it. And stay the course you have beautifully laid out in front of you - one leap at a time!
With love and blessings to you
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Archetype
The Hedonist
(Bon Vivant, Chef, Gourmet, Gourmand, Sybarite- see also Mystic)
This Archetype has an “appetite” for the pleasurable aspects of life, from good food and wine to sexuality and sensuality. As scientific research has shown, pleasure can improve our health and extend our lives and needs to be part of a balanced life. Indulging the self is central to the psyche of this archetype, whether treating oneself to a health spa or learning the nuances of lovemaking. That the Hedonist is generally thought of as someone who pursues extremes of self-indulgence is more a reflection of our Puritan heritage than of the archetype itself. In positive terms, it inspires creative energy in the psyche to embrace the “good” things in life. It also challenges in a positive way the collective archetypal fear of being seduced and losing control in the physical world. The shadow Hedonist may manifest as pursuing pleasure without regard for other people or one’s own good health.
The search for physical ecstasy parallels the search for spiritual transformation, a truth that is apparent in the dual identity of the famous Greek icon of pleasure-seeking, Dionysus. Besides being a god of wine and fertility (later adopted by the Romans as Bacchus), Dionysus also represents the goal of mystery religions, like those practiced at Eleusis: ecstatic delivery from the mundane world through the physical or spiritual intoxication induced by secret rites. The sacrament of Soma (also a god of the Vedic pantheon) played a similar role in ancient Indian spirituality.
Films: Babette’s Feast; Like Water for Chocolate; Big Night.
Fiction: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding; The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera; Les Liaisons Dangereuses by P. Choderlos De Laclose.
Religion/Myth: Oshun (Yoruba goddess of love and pleasure who is generous and benign); Bebhionn (Irish patron goddess of pleasure); Qadesh (Western Semitic fertility goddess and epitome of female sexuality and eroticism); Bes (Egyptian dwarf god originally associated with royalty and childbirth who became popular among the masses as a god of human pleasures of mirth, music, and dance).
Myss, Caroline. Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002, 2003. 391. Print.
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Symbology
Dove
Contributed by Mary Guthrie.
The Dove seemed the right animal to feature this month. The song “When Doves Cry” by Prince seems to be playing everywhere. And now that it is spring and my windows are open again, I hear the doves’ cry each morning and evening, a sound I have always found more comforting than mournful.
-Mary Guthrie
Keynote: Feminine Energies of Peace, Maternity, and Prophecy
Cycle of Power: Dawn and Dusk
The dove has a tremendous wealth of lore and legend surrounding it. Most of it centers around all of the traditional feminine and mother symbols. In the Greek tradition, Aphrodite was born from an egg brooded by a dove. The Oracles of Dodona which Alexander sought were founded by a dove. To the Slavs, the soul would become a dove at death. To the alchemist, it was a symbol of sublimation. To the Christians, it is a symbol of peace, while to early pagans it was a symbol for the yoni or female sexual organs. It has been associated with female sexuality through such goddesses as Astarte and Isis. Because of its association with many goddesses, it was considered the embodiment of the maternal instinct. “The name dove has been given to oracles and to prophets…The prophet sent to Ninevah as God’s messenger was called Jonah or the Dove….”(5)
To the Pueblo Indians it was also honored. Its feathers were often worn and used in prayer sticks. The mournful song of the dove was considered an invocation to water and an indication to men where the water could be found. (Again we have the ancient symbol for the maternal in the connection to water.) Its song would signify waterholes or springs to which the dove must return at dusk to drink.
The song of the dove speaks to all who hear it. Its mournful tones stir the emotions, the internal waters. During the summers, as a child, I loved being up before others had arisen. I remember stepping out the front door, the morning sun soft, and from the woods surrounding the house would come the sweet-sad song of the mourning dove. It always seemed to stir a sense of promise.
The dove is actually a smaller copy of the now-extinct passenger pigeon. A study of the qualities will help you in understanding the significance of the dove in your own life.
The dove is also a ground feeder, reflective of keeping contact with Mother Earth and the creative possibilities of the feminine energies on earth. Its diet is mostly seeds, but it will eat stones that accumulate in the gizzard to help with digestion. Those with a dove as a totem will find it beneficial that they eat bulk to aid their own digestive and creative processes.
The brood of the dove consists of two eggs. Two is a traditional number for the feminine and creative energies. A study of numerology, as applied to doves, will add even more insight for you.
The dove’s song is its most distinctive characteristic. The voice of the dove is the rain song. Out of its mourning, it invokes new waters of life. Its song should remind us that no matter what our life conditions, new waters and new life are still possible. The Earth is a female planet, and this should remind us that creation and new birth is available to all of us upon it. The mourning dove helps us to remember that.
Although its song is heard throughout the day, it seems more distinct at dawn and dusk. These are the “Between Times”-a time in which there is a thinning of the veils between the physical and the spiritual, the past and the future. The dove can help you to use these times to see the creation process active within your own life.
The song of this totem tells you to mourn what has passed, but awaken to the promise of the future. It is a bird of prophecy and can help you to see what you can give birth to in your life.
(5)From The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Hall, Manly P (Los Angeles: The Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1977) LXXIX-XC.
Resources
Andrews, Ted. Animal Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great
and Small. St Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1993, 2004. 133-134. Print.
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