“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. - Toni Morrison
“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
Today on Mother of the Sword podcast, we have a chat with my friend Greg who I met on a Southern Italian ritual drum and dance retreat where we studied in worship to the Black Madonna in Hawaii last April.
Our lineage is rooted in Earth based worship and eros. Eros not just as sexual energy (which is it that too thank Goddess + we’re here to support the relationship between you and Her,) but also as…
life affirming, giving and sustaining force of the universe. Orgasmic aliveness, what we live in service to that always includes our relationships to the whole-all of this world and beyond, is our kin. As the trans mytho-poetic embodiment teacher Zhenevere Sophia Dao calls it, “the desire of belonging.”
All the way back to the witch burnings in Europe (pls watch this doc Burning Times,) and even beyond before most magic and community care became colonized, the gays and the girls, the non gender conforming, gender expansive and trans* folks were always up to “no good,” in the eyes of the oppressors. We have been creating spells and magic, Earth, birth and death tending, community care and real life changing love together beyond the control and domination of this world for a long time.
“Those that would impose their will upon others will always forbid dancing, demonize sex, forbid personal expression. They want the fist raised in the air and the combined shouts of their allegiance to their leader because they no longer dare to feel what it is they really want.Let's cook food. Good food. Let's dance.” -Perdita Finn
We can call on our ancestors and one another to remember true belonging and liberation. To gather the love and protection we need as human beings. We have been meeting every Friday at 10a PST online in Body Temple Dance for the past four years, and it is revolutionary to feel what’s underneath through your body I can assure you.
One of my favorite Scorpios, RuPaul, often says on his show when someone is "in it," and how that’s all you need. I don’t believe it’s something you can be taught—to be "in it"—but rather a frequency you can receive from others, and learn to trust within yourself. The “witch wound” is a result of generational trauma that creates mistrust between us and what our bodies already know. The love that flows is not a fantasy; it is real.
On the retreat where I met Greg, I got to taste that life-changing, true eros flowing through me in dance. Having practiced the ancient movements of my ancestors enough times, I was able to fully surrender to the more subtle energy of the practice. After the spinning grief trance dance, I let go and sank down onto the Earth, remembering Greg casting seriously potent prayers in Latin over the group—this moment moved me to tears.
In this episode Greg shares all kinds of much needed underworld wisdom and storytelling with us, including the myth of Inanna and practical magic. In hs Substack article ‘Gays and Gal Pals,’ Greg shares:
These types, back in the day, pre-Judeo-Christian-Islamic colonialism, were priestesses of various goddesses. They were the galli of Cybele, the semnotatoi of Hekate, the assinu of Inanna, the kelabim of Astarte, the kimbanda of the Kwanyama-Ambo people of southern Angola, the wintke of the Lakota people, the jogappa of southern Indian goddess Yellamma. These gender-variant, same-sex loving people often worked alongside women priestesses and spiritual healers, many times acting as hierodules, spiritual functionaries who used sex as a way to effect powerful transformation.
Enjoy our chat and may it be a refuge on sanity and connection, and some laughs too. Let us know what you learn and love! Greg is an award-winning journalist, poet, and author, Greg draws from ancient spiritual traditions studied for over 20 years to inspire and awaken readers. He is a Vedic astrologer, yoga teacher, drummer, spell caster, Italian witch delicious cook/home tender and priestess (my labels not is,) of the highest love. Follow him IG and Substack and share your love.
She is here to help in times of need. Why “work” really means…
Around here at Body Temple, getting to work looks like grieving and taking the time to connect with the Source of our inner knowing. This is where our true power comes from, and where everything we create and get to share together in our relationships and community is born from.
Even in the business programs where we support the birth of folks authentic offerings and heal our relationship to money we offer each year for healers, we focus on grief doula training and pleasure womb healer training. It’s about letting go and receiving support in a small coven to create change. We’re here to provide a somatic experience through all the work we do. Our trainings are intentionally paced, allowing time to digest and integrate. They’re about authentic healing and generational transformation and energy to serve, not just filling you with more information and overwhelm.
We ignite one another when we come together. Last week to join our Dark Goddess Doula Training-reach out if interested. If you want to stop being jus tin the fight od what’s dying and say yes to what is wanting to be birthed through you, we are here. It’s more like getting support that makes your business, relationships and life flow with more ease than taking on a stress inducing program, although the ego will naturally be challenged (and loved,) as it is always the work,
when it works anyway.
We have a free Body Temple womb healing, sex magic and embodied reclamation ritual next Wednesday sign up here
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