~Inspirations~
I find my greatest inspiration from and while in Nature—it’s capitalized here to express its Divine qualities. It seems I was captivated at an early age. I’m super grateful that whoever was pushing me stopped, let me have a moment, and had a camera to catch it. Stop and smell the roses, baby!
It is here in Nature that I find the healing power of the Divine Feminine as She expresses All-Encompassing and Un-Conditional Love—ask me about my dissertation if you want to know more.
The wisdom of these guides, way-showers, and teachers below, inspires me in countless and ineffable ways, too many to mention them all. But here’s a go at it:
On Consciousness Studies: I begin with my dear friend and mentor, the late Leslie Combs, Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Integral Studies and founder, with his wife Julie, of 4 Rios in Cuenca, Ecuador, for his work and dedication to this field.
On Liberatory Pedagogy: Paulo Freire and bell hooks’ fore-fronting a pedagogy that is empowering, not marginalized or traumatic.
On the Wisdom of Druidry:Malcolm Brown’s Isle of Wight Order of Druids; Emma Restall-Orr’sThe Druid Network and The British Druid Order.
On Turtle Island and South American Indigenous Wisdom:Eduardo Duran and his book, Healing the Soul Wound; Sherri Mitchell, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ruby Gibson, Yuria Celidwin, James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw.
On Intergenerational Resilience: Resmaa Menakem,
On a Sustainable and Flourishing Future: Joana Macy, Thomas Berry, Edgar Morin, Alfred North Whitehead, and Philip Slater.
On Cosmology:Brian Swimme.
On the Importance of the Sacred, Mindful Awareness, Self-care, Self-love, Vulnerability, and Bravery it takes to do this work: Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Brené Brown.
Ram Dass, Krishna Das,
Carl Jung and his active imagination, shadow work, archetypes, and individuation along with Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems model and un-burdening have been most influential as has the IFS Ancestral work of Tamala Floyd; Steven Porges’ polyvagal theory; John Bowlby and Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth’s work on attachment styles; Manuela Mischke-Reed’s teachings on Hakomi, a somatic and trauma-based healing modality; Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Carol Christ, Brian Swimme, Michelle and Barack Obama, and others on the power and importance of storytelling; Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, and Gabor Maté—among many others—on trauma, addiction, and neuroplasticity have also shaped my understanding of life.
I strive to live a life that is congruent with my own Indigeneity—Druidism. Through my years of life, I have come to experience that we really are all One. Having over 40 years of spiritual practice, graduate-level research on the Divine Feminine and Buddhism, and now being an active student of Druidry has woven the framework of who I am in the world today—as Crone, Hippie, Druid, and expression of the Divine Feminine.
I took Bodhisattva vows in 2023 from Roshi Joan Halifax from the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At their core, these vows express my desire to be, think, and live in such a way that lifts every one up.
Non mihi solum—not for myself alone
