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COURAGE
The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman
Reclaiming
the Forgotten Virtue
Concluding
Thoughts
Courage Is the Rainbow
No
doubt if The Wizard of Oz represented real life,
Dorothy would be grown up by now, living in a small city,
happily married, and content baking chocolate-chip cookies
for her children and husband. Her memory of being awestruck
by the splendor of the rainbow in the Land of Oz would be
long forgotten. She would be transformed into the lifestyle
meant for a woman of her time.
I
am blessed to live in an area that frequently displays double
rainbows. Recently, I saw a magnificent one. People were standing
outside gazing in astonishment at the vibrant hues that arched
the sky. Fall was in the air and the last of the late blooming
flowers were overflowing the flowerbeds. Many thoughts filled
my mind as I gazed at nature's magnificent creation.
The
day I saw this rainbow, I was finishing the long journey of
writing my first book. It had taken many yearsmuch longer
than I anticipated. Exposing my heart on the journey created
a cathartic healing. I connected my quest with the sacred
feminine within mewithin all women. The transformative
power of my feminine energy reawakened my mother-goddess,
the divine mother that beckons every woman to save the world
from destruction.
I had lost my inner grounding many times during my life. As
I reflected on the majestic rainbow, I thought of the beautiful
mythic figure Iris. This beautiful woman, a messenger of the
gods, traveled the rainbow linking the earth with other worlds.
Diana Wells writes about the Iris with its trinity of petals
dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 100 Flowers and How They
Got Their Names, "She (Iris) escorted souls along
her iridescent bridge to another life, and she often joined
the thoughts of gods and men. She was the longed-for connection
to those whom we love intensely, but who are suffering without
our awareness."
Forget-Courage-Not
Women are like flowers that echo the spectrum of colors
in the rainbowthe many different varieties, each
impressive and unique in her own way. When I pondered about
my love for flowers and rainbows, I remembered one of my favorite
bloomsforget-me-nots. Associated with bravery, they
come from the borage family in the Middle East. The ancient
Celtic warriors drank borage-flavored wine to give them courage.
In medieval paintings, the Virgin Mary's robe is almost always
the celestial blue of the forget-me-not. Blue forget-me-nots
are often used to decorate Valentine cards as an expression
of love and caring.
These
small, but significant flowers symbolize the main message
of this book: every woman needs to forget-courage-not as she
travels her yellow brick road. On her journey to reclaim heart
and spirit, every woman's courage can lie coiled in bud and
then miraculously uncoil as courage expands within her, bringing
her into gorgeous blossom.
Collectively,
women are the fierce force that can awaken world consciousness.
Our salvation lies in living the truth of our hearts and spirits
by harnessing our courage.
In
this new millennium, women are birthing a divine feminine
energy to reclaim the forgotten heart and spirit of every
woman.
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