The top shelf holds some of my angels and inspirational pieces and messages. Also my Soul Card Deck and Osho Tarot cards. I get a great “one word focus from my Soul Deck that is really very useful. And playing with the Tarot cards occasionally gives me both great artistic images, and usually something to think about.
My Muse Angel rings her bell whether I’m in the mood to hear it or not and lately she’s been keeping me in this room for longer periods than I wish to spend. Right in front of her reads, “This is the day the Lord has made.” And it is.
The branch twig that you can barely see in back with the three ribbons tied on it comes from a Skidmore summer conference of International Women’s Writer’ s Guild, and is actually a prayer stick; the first I ever made and the ribbons signify a prayer for grandchildren to arrive. I had none at the time. In the 1990’s I put 3 ribbons on that stick, and in 2012, I have three grandchildren.
The first Sacred Intention Mandala I made with author Janet Conner, of Writing Down Your Soul, is on the far right. It was a beautiful telecourse based on the scripture of “See the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin.” And it had a lot to do with trusting Divine Provision. We needed that in 2009-2010, newly back from North Carolina, with not much extra in our pockets. I named my mandala for 2010-2011 “My Year(s) of Free-Falling into Spirit and one of my intentions represented in the small circles on the outer perimeter was “to have a home I loved.”
In December 2011, we moved into the home I love.
At the far right of the shelf is a “mock-up” cover of a book, not yet completed – but one that will be. “Being Faithful to the Quiet – Finding the Silence that Soothes your Soul”, by Susan Heffron Hajec. I think the cover photo is quite breath-taking. I took the photo of the Zen Bell tower at Weber Retreat Center in Adrian Michigan when I was there for a retreat on Centering Prayer. The pathway leads past the garden down to the Chartres Labyrinth, quite gorgeous and energetic in the surrounding hills and property.
The last thing I want to tell about my top shelf is the framed picture of the feminine profile. I use that frequently in my workshops. That is “every-age woman”. We are all those ages at the same time. The young woman has wisdom sparks of the elder. The elder has the playful moments of the child. The middle-age woman has both facets of the young and the elder to come, but they are active in her at mid-life. The wise feminine will draw on all of these diamond facets throughout her life.
The second shelf has the published Soul Pages Journal Janet created to go with her first book. I had already filled several spiral-bound notebooks with soulwriting before this came out. What is particularly lovely is the different quotes that show up on pages, that just magically support what you’re writing from your own space or give a message gratefully received.
The other thing is she asked for suggestions to name the owl on the cover (Janet LOVES owls) and then she takes them to St. Michael the Archangel’s grotto and has the angel guide her hand in selecting. Two pieces of paper stuck together and she decided to use them both, for the names were each a symbol of wisdom — I chose Sophia (which comes from Joyce Rupp’s spiritual books) and someone else chose Solomon — the Biblical source of the wisest king of the Hebrew scriptures. The owl became Sophia-Sol. And Janet sent an autographed copy of this precious book to each of us. Mine is now completely filled and I’m back in spiral-bound notebooks.
The brightly colored mandala-circle was a creation started at the Centering Prayer retreat at Weber Center in the 1990. In the bookstore, I picked up a copy of “A Sacred Path”, a small black book written by Rev. Lauren Artress. It spoke of the age-old labyrinth laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. It was considered a healing and meditation tool and was built on the principles of sacred geometry, which I had not hear of.
I never did too well in mathematical geometry in school, but I began drawing a circle and putting squares, circles and triangles within the circle.
I found I couldn’t stop until I had a rough sketch of what wanted to be completed on paper. I didn’t color it yet. Then I brought it home to my engineer-minded husband, and he created the whole idea geometrically correct and colored on the computer. It’s been in my creativity room ever since. I believe it strongly influences my prayer power and requests.
The rest of the books on that shelf are books I am using in my current work and hope to be able to locate when I need them.
And here are a few pictures of the remaining shelves left.
Lots of study time in those binders and oh, of course, the Writer’s Market
Spirituality, Physicality, and Yoga and
there lies “the empty page!”
A closeup of my special section of the top shelf
To everything there is a season verse on the cross
and feminine wisdom
Wondrous life guides
Granddaughter Amy and Baby share time
with me in my creative room.
She is in my prayer chair. The Chartres Labyrinth
purchased from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
is above her head and my current 2012 Intention Mandala
with the blazing fire globe is at work below it.
To the left are my certifications in Reiki I, II & Master
and Cooper Institute Certification in Nutrition & Kinesiology.
Napkinwriter 
