#5 Joyful Presence
Joy in the World
The Month of Joyful Presence
June 10 – July 19
The Goddess who presides over this month is
The Shekinah
Presence
Her Self
She has been present in the realm and reality of Mother since creation, within the process of Creation, partaking in crafting and imprinting the essence of all life with Her care.
She is the light who guides from outside and inside.
She led the Hebrews through their long journey in the desert, sustaining them with manna and hope through two long generations.
We are ourselves many generations removed from the original need for liberation. We have largely forgotten those struggles of our mothers and fathers. We fail to realize the vast distance we have come since. We look back on it as so much aimless wandering in a forsaken desert.
She was there for them.
She is here for us. A potent, breathing Presence.
Her action?
Divinely to love us – as individuals, with a personal, all-knowing tenderness.
Divinely to love us – as a species, through all our efforts to become fully alive and fully human.
Divinely to love us – as the Earth creatures that we are, just as She cherishes every part and being of this living planet, this living universe.
Her request?
Learn to feel Her Joyful Presence both outside and inside. She walks with you every moment, knowing you, guiding you, carrying your burden, if you ask Her.
And She is inside you in the deep places of knowing and unknowing.
Our part
To practice that sense of abiding Joyful Presence in our bodies, from the tiny toe to the strands of our hair.
Joyful Presence in our minds, with a sense of spaciousness, of never-failing timelessness.
Joyful Presence in our souls as we allow ourselves the sense of Her profound embrace, seasoned with quiet chuckles, sweet songs, uproarious laughter and sometimes tears at our antics: always the whisper, “Welcome Home, dearly beloved one.”
She will not leave us. And we can find Her every moment in these holy days of high summer.
In this moment, heavy, pollen-laden bumblebees seek one more delicious sip from the honeysuckle. She is here, inside and out. In the bee and in the honey, in the equally-laden honeysuckle blossom. And in my inner sense of the honey-loving bee that is my heart.
Somewhere a squirrel laughs. She is here, laughing. Outside of me. Inside of me.
A blue jay descends to dance in the birdbath my neighbor has built. She is here. Dancing in the jay, the water, and dancing in me.
Everywhere the trees turn a deeper and deeper, rain-drenched green. I feel the joyful greening.
She is here. Now.
She is here. Now.
She is here. Now.
Joy in the World.
The next month is Joyful Dedication, and you’ll meet the Goddess of that month soon.
Buy the calendar:
The Lady’s Year of Joy: The Calendar
Explore a Ninefold Path that brings, finds, celebrates, enhances and strengthens Joy. The year consists of nine months, each named for a step on the Ninefold Path, and each with 40 days. It is perennial, that is, not tied to any particular year. Each month is divided into four weeks of ten days each, and each week is devoted to one of the elements, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. $15.00 plus shipping
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