Body, Earth and the Mother Goddess

I want to talk about the Body and Earth Mother Love.

Close your eyes for a moment and tune into your heart, breathing in and out. Tune into your belly too, drop your attention there. Put a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly and just breathe. Recall now the feeling of a soothing primal bonding, deeply relaxed in your body, you are enjoying the nourishing embrace of physical love, a warm heart connection, the feeling of your heart being opened and at peace. This nourishing soothing feeling of being physically connected and loved has its origin in mother unconditional love, a warm bonding through the body. This sense of wellbeing, we try to recreate later in our lives, in all of our relations, with lovers, children, family, friends, and also in our activities, sport, hobbies, creative work. When we are in tune with our bodies and connected to the energy of the earth, we are able to recreate this sense of connectedness and deep physical well-being.

The other night I had a dream: after falling asleep in a state of anxiety, with my thoughts racing through lists of things to do and lots of not-good enoughs, I dreamed about a jungle. She was misty, green, luscious, mysterious, wet, enchanted, giving me an irresistible feeling of wonder and belonging. The whole day the jungle stayed with me, I was relaxed and clear-minded, in my body a warm feeling of being held and loved. In our western society we live in our head, constantly immersed in our thoughts, with little contact with the body. Shamans know that all power flows through our bodies and by connecting to nature. If we are disconnected from our animal nature and from the earth we become powerless. We lose the power of the feminine, of the Earth Mother Goddess.

One way used by shamans to connect with earth energy is by merging with power animals. In Inka shamanism, for example, the hara centre, in your belly, is associated with Jaguar. The 2nd chakra, water element, is the centre of our feelings, instinct, creativity and sexual life force.

Try this: merge with jaguar, close your eyes and meet her in the jungle. Establish a connection and gently invite her to become one with your energy body. It is easy, you just imagine it, you allow the energy to enter your body. Then observe, pay attention. How does your body feel now, allow any tension out, let jaguar be in you and move you. Imagine moving through the body of this big cat, using all your senses to perceive the world around, feel her power, her confidence, her inner strength. Your instincts are sharp and you are totally in the present moment, alert and calm.

Stay in your belly, drop your attention there and connect to the core of the earth. Feel the energy flowing up your legs into your hara, rising up along the spine, out of your crown and into the earth again. Feel your life force in the hara, the warmth, the relaxation, breathe deeply and move your body from this centre, feeling with all your senses.

I merge with jaguar when I enter a room full of people, when I make love, when I want to ask about an issue. I ask my body how does this all feel, what is my instinct telling me, does this decision feel right, is the energy in my body expanding or contracting, I allow my body to answer.

Another image of our sexual, sensual life force, of our raw instinct comes from Tantra and it is the snake kundalini energy, coiling up the spine. The snake is traditionally a symbol for the Goddess and her divine earth energy, later denigrated as evil both by Greek mythology (Medusa) and by Christianity.

One common phenomena in our civilized world is to live in the mental body. We keep all our energy locked in the upper body, in the head and shoulders. We are not grounded in our lower body and we are disconnected from our emotional guidance, lacking in vitality and in physical well being. When the body is calm also the mind is calm, like after a good night sleep, a walk in nature or a sensual experience with a lover, with sport or food. The mind is calm, you move and breathe slowly, the body is relaxed and everything is in harmony.

Our bodies are like rods, they channel and ground energy. The body is the real instrument, through which we perceive all creation. In shamanism Spirit talks directly to the body bypassing the conscious mind. It’s difficult in our culture to accept this, as we always want to direct and control with the mind. Christianity has judged the world as a fallen place, and patriarchy has fostered the body/spirit split to safeguard profit and property. The ancient mother goddess cultures of connection to the body and to nature, of cooperation and community, have been overthrown by a production oriented culture and power over, domineering relations, with no respect for the earth and for feminine values of interconnection. Sexuality has been ashamed as it was a threat to the patriarchal property line of succession and it was against an ethos of hard work and profit creation. Women became witches or whores or powerless angels and men were led to express their sexuality in a shameful corrupted way. How sad!

Nowadays all of this plays in a more subtle way in our constant drive to perform, achieve, accumulate, be perfect. It is interesting the alarming increase in cases of bulimia, anorexia, anxiety disorders and panic attacks in our adolescents, continually pushed to perform according to these external parameters of success. Success implies failure, whilst the goal is experiencing, living according to your own feelings and nature. We all suffer from this, the mind is driven and the body suffers, with anxiety or depression or numbness. And what for? What is the purpose of life anyway?

Recently I have been healing a condition in my womb. Before doing the scan I thought what if I have cancer? My life suddenly uncertain, would I prefer to be joyful, light-hearted and connected to the people I love, or would I prefer to run around performing goals and tasks. I am learning a lot from my body now. If I do not cultivate my sense of pleasure and playfulness and instead I push, stress and get tired, my womb cramps and I have to stop. My body is telling me to stay in the flow, to follow its messages and do things that make me feel joyful, relaxed and in harmony with the world around.

Spirit is deeply anchored in the body, the OM vibration in every cell.

Gaia, the Earth Mother Goddess, our divine mother is longing to connect with us, to shower us in unconditional love, to end the pain of separation. We only need to open and surrender in her embrace, listening to her loving whispers in the wind, in the sea and in all signs in nature and in the pleasure and guidance of our body. Open and feel Mother Goddess Love in all creation.