In Harmony May I Walk

« Phenomenal Woman »
from AND STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou,
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

« …and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more
painful than the risk it took to blossom. »
Anais Nin

Encore une fois, c’est chez Cerrydwen Asherah que j’ai trouvé ce dont j’ai précisément besoin.
En l’occurrence un livre.
Oui, encore un.
The Body Sacred de Dianne Sylvan.

From Publishers Weekly
Americans are not just engaged in wars on terror and drugs, says Wiccan priestess Sylvan. We are also waging a war against our bodies, trying to prevent our breasts from sagging, our faces from wrinkling and our buns from expanding. Sylvan, a self-proclaimed fattie, has had enough. Marrying cultural critique with user-friendly how-to, she urges readers to reject society’s insistence that they spend countless hours and billions of dollars trying to look thin and youthful. Rather, says Sylvan, women should embrace their bodies for what they are—incarnations of the Goddess. Above all, this book is practical. Sylvan suggests exercises and rituals designed to help readers live more comfortably in their own skins: envision five women who hate their bodies, and then note that these women probably look perfectly fine; meditate on Artemis, the divine huntress, an « intensely physical goddess »; tape a copy of Maya Angelou’s poem « Phenomenal Woman » to the mirror; dance or take up tai chi. What distinguishes this book more than anything is Sylvan’s sense of humor—she’s tackling a serious topic, but she’ll have readers laughing from page one. Pull-out quotes in the margins offer inspiring wisdom from women ranging from Eleanor Roosevelt to Alanis Morissette. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
When you look in the mirror, do you see a Goddess?
For anyone who’s experienced a « fat day » or wished a doctor could make them younger, Wiccan Dianne Sylvan speaks candidly about overcoming body hatred and offers a spiritual path back to Divine femininity.

Sharing her own struggles with poor body image and self-acceptance, Sylvan explores how the impossible standard of female beauty has developed and endured. Emphasizing the Mother, the Healer, the Lover, and other archetypes of one’s relationship with the sacred body, the author provides a uniquely Wiccan approach to achieving a healthy, new self-perception as Goddess.

Pour moi qui ne vois de moi que 15 (oui, 15… S de K, pas la peine d’argumenter :p) kilos en trop, mon ventre tout mou tout flasque après trois grossesses… pour moi qui ai toujours, malgré mes récentes tentatives pour me réconcilier avec lui, vu mon corps comme juste une enveloppe trop souvent encombrante… je ne sais pas si cette lecture me fera le bien que j’espère. A voir.

(D’autres lectures pour moi sur le site de Kali Munro)

Dimanche, j’ai vu l’article de Cerrydwen sur ce tarot, qui est encore un travail en cours… mais quel travail !!

Major Arcana Card from The Tarot of Trees by Dana Driscoll

J’ai immédiatement craqué, parce qu’il n’est pas seulement sublime mais qu’il me parle, me murmure doucement à l’oreille, des choses que je n’arrive pas toujours à entendre… il prend racine quelque part tout au fond de moi et je suis surprise de cette connexion si forte, c’est la première fois que cela m’arrive pour un jeu de tarot. Et comme la veille, j’avais reçu une prime de mon patron, je me suis dit qu’il n’y avait là aucun hasard : une partie de cette prime allait me servir à commander l’édition limitée des arcanaes majeures de ce magnifique travail de Dana Driscoll. Chose faite dès le lendemain et si tout va bien, je devrais l’avoir pour Yule .
J’ai hâte !

Mardi, en rentrant à la maison, j’ai vu une sorcière dans le ciel. Une sorcière sur son balai, échevelée, volant dans l’air du soir et se disant que c’est bon !

Je crois que c’était un signe. Tout comme l’arc-en-ciel de la veille.