About
Queen Mama Donna
Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, award-winning author, popular speaker, and workshop leader
whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to
millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. She has published four books, a CD, an acclaimed quarterly journal
and writes a column for UPI (United Press International) Religion and Spirituality Forum. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy in Exotic Brooklyn, NY where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion.
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CALLING ALL QUEENS!
I would appreciate it if you would please forward The Queen's Chronicles to people who might value it.
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Consult the
Midlife Midwife
The transition from Maiden and Mother to Queen can be a difficult one, fraught with hard lessons and lots of loss. It takes great determination and courage to confront and embrace the changes brought about by the midlife passage.
It can be really helpful during this confusing time to have the inspiration, advice and encouragement of a counselor, coach, or mentor - someone who has been there and done that and is ready to help you do the same.
Queen Mama Donna offers upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity.
TURN YOUR MIDLIFE CRISIS INTO YOUR CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT!
Further information: www.thequeenofmyself.com
Click on Individual Consultations.
To make an appointment, call 718-857-1343 or email the Queen at thequeenofmyself@aol.com
The Queen chooses always to choose, to involve Herself fully in the process of Her life and living, and to actively direct the drama of Her myth.
-QMD
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Good News!
The Queen of My Self is now in its second printing! To celebrate this milestone and as a measure of my appreciation, I am offering a complimentary Great Women Rulers of the World ruler for every book ordered through the website www. The queenofmyself.com.
ORDER YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY NOW
(Enter the code QC on the paypal form to get your complimentary ruler.)
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A Queen Event
Near You
GLOBAL
March 19
Wednesday 9PM EST 6PM PST
Voices of the Sacred Feminine Internet Radio
Interview with Karen Tate
www.karentate.com/Tate/radio_show.html
June 3
Tuesday 11AM EST, 2PM PST
Third Age Radio
www.thirdagefoundation.com
NEW YORK
February 29
Friday 7:30PM
LEAP OF FAITH RITUAL:
JUMP INTO YOUR FULL POTENTIAL
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven
Exotic Brooklyn, NY
For Info & Registration:
718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
www.donnahenes.net
$25.
March 8
International Women's Day
Saturday 11AM-5PM
A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO POWER:
CLAIM IT! EMBRACE IT! USE IT!
Mama Donna's Tea Garden
$100. (advance registration required)
Call 718 857-1343
www.thequeenofmyself.com
March 22
Saturday 5PM
VERNAL RENEWAL RITUAL
The Community Center
208 West 13th Street (between 7 & 8 Avenue)
Manhattan
$6.
Information and registration:
(212) 222-2467
April 5
Saturday 1-5PM
SPIRIT SUPPORT SKILLS SEMINAR:
SPRING CLEANING
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven
Park Slope, Exotic Brooklyn
718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
www.thequeenofmyself.com
$50.
April 16
Wednesday 6:30PM
CELESTIALLY AUSPICIOUS OCCASIONS:
SEASON, CYCLES & CELEBRATIONS
NYC City Goddesses at
East West Bookstore Cafe
78 Fifth Ave at 14th Street
Manhattan
http://wellness.meetup.com/104/
www.eastwestnyc.com
$13. (includes $5. minimum café purchase)
April 17
Thursday 4-5:30PM
HIGH TEA WITH THE QUEEN
The Sleeping Goddess
9 Collegeview Ave
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845-473-2206
rhianna@dreaminggoddess.com
www.DreamingGoddess.com
FREE
April 17
Thursday 6:30PM
A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO POWER
CLAIM IT! EMBRACE IT! USE IT!
The Sleeping Goddess
9 Collegeview Ave
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845-473-2206
rhianna@dreaminggoddess.com
www.DreamingGoddess.com
$30. includes amulet bag
April 26
Saturday 11AM-5PM
THE QUEEN OF MY SELF WORKSHOP
At the home of Queen Matilde Cathy Agar
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547
For information and reservations: 914-526-2740
Matil326@aol.com
PENNSYLVANIA
March 27
Thursday 6:30 PM
Power: Claim it! Embrace it! Share it!
Keynote Speech
Women of Intention (outside guests welcome)
Harrisburg, PA
Information and registration:
(717) 774-1275
VickiFoxPro@aol.com
www.vickifoxproductions.com
$25.00 Includes dinner and talk
March 28
Friday 10AM - 8PM
Individual Tarot Readings with Mama Donna
Harrisburg, PA
Information and registration:
(717) 774-1275
VickiFoxPro@aol.com
www.vickifoxproductions.com
$100. (Special $50. discount!)
March 29
Saturday 10:00AM - 4:00PM
The Queen Of My Self Workshop
Radiance
9 W. Grant Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
Reservations required
Information and registration:
717 290-1517
labyrinthherbs@aol.com
$90
March 30
Individual Tarot Readings with Mama Donna
Radiance
9 W. Grant Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
Reservations required
Information and registration:
717 290-1517
labyrinthherbs@aol.com
$100. (Special $50. discount!)
CONNECTICUT
May 31-June 1
Saturday 10AM-9PM & Sunday 10AM-3PM
Wise Woman's Guide to Power Weekend Retreat
Someday Farm
272 Roast Meat Hill Road
Killingworth, CT 06419
Information and registration:
860-663-2768
someday.farm@snet.net
$275. if paid by May 10, 2008
$295. thereafter
Includes workshop tuition, four meals, one night's lodging,
labyrinth walk, fire ceremony, and amulet bag.
PENNSYLVANIA
June 12-15
Thursday-Sunday
Womongathering
Mama Donna will be giving several workshops at this annual
gathering.
Information and registration:
856-694-2037
www.womongathering.com
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Have Crown, Will Travel!
To discuss booking Queen Mama Donna for a reading, presentation or workshop in your area, call her at 718-857-1343 or e-mail her at TheQueenOfMySelf@aol.com
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Kudos to the Queens!
Riva Weinstein, NY, on her new black belt in karate.
Rachel Trugman, Israel, on the birth of her first grandchild,Chaya Leiba.
dava money, VA, on the exhibition of her artwork.
Disband: Ilona Granet, NY; Donna Henes, NY; Diane Torr, Scotland; and Martha Wilson, NY, on their 30th Anniversary Reunion Performance.
Barbara Carrellas, NY, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-first Century; Vijali Hamiltion, CA, World Wheel, One Woman's Quest for Peace; Monique Lang, NY, Healing From Post Traumatic Stress: A Workbook for Recovery; Terese Svoboda, NY, Black Glasses Like Clark Kent: A GI's Secret From Postwar Japan; on the publication of their new books.
Hilary Mandel, BC, Canada, on her new home.
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Circle of Concern
Please Offer Your Purest Thoughts, Your Heart-Felt Prayers, Your Great Good Feelings, And Your Very Best Blessings For Healing and Peace of Mind to:
Healing and Peace of Mind
Amy, TX, Daile, NY, Deni, NY, Dominique, NM, Donna, NY, Gail, OH, Geraldine, CA, Irma, FL, Jo, AZ, Kimi, NJ, Letitia, VA, Linda, NJ
Rest in Peace
Grace Paley
Grace Soloman
Please send your requests for physical and spiritual healing and positive energy so that the powerful women of The Queen's Court might send their prayers and blessings to you in your time of need.
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The Queen's Emporium
Make sure to visit The Queen's Emporium, which specializes in all manner of elegant, practical, and frivolous goods to fulfill all the royal needs and fantasies of The Queen of Your Self. Therein you will find a choice collection of goods to augment and accessorize your royal prerogative.
Anoint, Adorn, Enjoy!
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QC Archives
Past issues of The Queen's Chronicles are now archived at www.thequeenofmyself.com
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Where the Queens Are
We have started a Queen's Circle, here in Carmarthen, Wales and we are
going to explore and develop our Queen Selves through ritual, debate,
laughter, magick, visualizations, craftwork, music, dance, etc. We meet
on the Waning Moon and will be working as much as possible on the
landscape (as the weather allows). We will be having our Coronation at
Autumn Equinox. It's so exciting!! You have been a wonderful inspiration for us. Thank you,
Diolch yn Fawr Iawn
Brenhines Morgan, Carmarthen, Wales
Please send your Queen news!
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Turn Your Midlife Crisis
into Your
Crowning Achievement!
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Hail Queens!
I love the winter. Hibernating is just fine with me. I like being home and being domestic - making soup, transplanting plants, puttering, ironing, reading and resting more, catching up on overdue projects. This year, especially, I craved a winter retreat from running around. I am finally home from three years on the road, and that is something to celebrate.
The travel was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of it, but I didn't realize just how worn out I was. My exhaustion probably precipitated my fall. Though I had wanted to be home, I didn't necessarily want to be completely indisposed!
My accident and injury turned out to be very fortuitous in the end. They forced me to slow down and be more still than I normally would have been. They reemphasized my life lesson (you know: the one that keeps coming up again and again no matter how many times you thought that you had finally mastered it). For me it is about better self-care.
And the timing was great to be off my feet. I didn't need to cancel any trips, because I had already decided to spend the winter and spring close to home. In order to honor my need to travel a bit less than I have been, my big work project this winter has been to develop other, less taxing - virtual - ways to keep the Queens connected and to expand our terrific network.
So many women who have read the book and attended Queen presentations and workshops over the years have expressed the desire for continued connection. "How can we keep this inspiration alive in our lives?" "Who can we talk to about the process of becoming the Queens we want to be?" "What if we backslide? How can we stay focused on our empowerment?"
The Queen's Chronicles is an obvious answer to that need, and my long-held dream. So, now that I have finally been in one place for an extended period of time this winter, I set my mind to actualizing it. Now, after only two issues, it is clear that QC is already functioning as a point of connection and a clearinghouse for the many interests and concerns of Queens everywhere.
I thank you for that. Your response and eagerness to interact has been most gratifying. We are well on our way to creating a community of Self-identified, empowered women who can serve each other as role models, advisors, and partners as we each strive to reach our highest potential and the live the lives of our own invention.
There will soon be even more opportunities for our Queen's Court to develop and grow. In these last few weeks of winter I will be putting the finishing touches on plans for a series of teleseminars as well as an ongoing Queen's Telephone Support Circle.
In the meantime, I extend the warmest regal regards to my sister Queens everywhere,
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The Nobel Queen of Letters
Doris Lessing was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature-only the 11th woman to have been so honored since the inception of the awards in 1901. She had been on the short list for the past 40 years. Referring to the number of times she has been mentioned as a likely honoree, she reasoned "Either they were going to give it to me sometime before I popped off or not at all."
The Swedish Academy described her as the "epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny."
Queen Doris' most famous novel and, perhaps her strongest legacy, The Golden Notebook, published in 1962 when she was 43 years old, inspired a generation of feminists. She was adamant that women should be free to lead independent lives as the sovereign rulers of their own destinies.
Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases
think for yourself.
She was a marvelous chronicler of the inner lives of women and wrote candidly of our deepest emotions, including anger and aggression. She was attacked as "unfeminine" in doing so. "Apparently what many women were thinking, feeling, experiencing came as a great surprise" was her response to her critics.
Her wonderful book, Summer Before the Dark, is as insightful, articulate and compassionate an account of the process of a midlife woman's transformation into the Queen of Her Self that I have ever read. She was 64 when it was published in 1983, and clearly, she knew what she knew about the process. This book had a profound effect on me and was a tremendous inspirational influence on The Queen of My Self.
As the summer begins, Kate Brown - attractive, intelligent, forty-five, happily enough married, with a house in the London suburbs and three grown children - has no reason to expect anything will change. But when the summer ends, the woman she was - living behind a protective camouflage of feminine charm and caring - no longer exists. This novel, Doris Lessing's brilliant excursion into the terrifying stretch of time between youth and old age, is her journey: from London to Turkey to Spain, from husband to lover to madness: on the road to a frightening new independence and a confrontation with self that lets her, finally, come truly of age.
-From Summer Before the Dark book jacket notes
Lessing was born in 1919 in what is now Iran. She grew up in what is now Zimbabwe, where she had what she has called a painful childhood. She left home when she was 15 and moved to Southern Rhodesia, where she worked as a telephone operator and nursemaid. She never finished high school, but educated herself through voracious reading.
What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love
when you do; or you like your work when you
know quite well you're capable of better.
Queen Doris drew upon her childhood experiences in colonial Rhodesia to write about the collision of white and black cultures and racial injustice. Her debut novel, published in Britain in 1949, was The Grass Is Singing, which follows the relationship between a white farmer's wife and her black servant. Because of her outspoken views, the governments of Southern Rhodesia and South Africa declared her a "prohibited alien" in 1956.
Today HRM Lessing lives in London. She is 88 years old and still feisty, a brave and impeccably honest shero of the first order.
I have found it to be true that the older I've become
the better my life has become.
May it continue to be so. Long live the Queen!
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Persimmon Tree Magazine
What would happen if one women told the truth about her life? The world would split open.
-Muriel Rukeyser
Just as we members of the 60s Generation are beginning to turn sixty, a new publication has emerged as our creative voice. Persimmon Tree, an online literary magazine, is a showcase for the creativity and talent of women over sixty. Too often older women's artistic work is ignored or disregarded, and only those few who are already established receive the attention they deserve. Persimmon Tree is committed to bringing this wealth of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art to a broader audience, for the benefit of all.
Persimmon Tree showcases an impressive variety of literature and art by women over 60. Many of the writers and artists are well-known: Marilyn French, Ruth Stone, Grace Paley, E.M. Broner, Paula Gunn Allen, Jane Lazarre, Faith Ringgold, and Nicole Hollander. Others are lesser known, while some have only recently developed their craft in their middle years. All of them are at the height of their creative powers, and all of them express the shared, though diverse experiences of women of a certain age.
"Persimmon Tree is intended to fill a niche that has been neglected by contemporary publishing, whether in print or online," says Nan Gefen, the magazine's founding editor and publisher. "There is a growing body of work by male writers and artists who are aging. But the comparable body of work by women is much smaller and mostly limited to a few already well-known writers and artists," Gefen explains. "Women are creating, but they are not getting the exposure they deserve."
Persimmon Tree is published in association with Mills College in Oakland, CA.
To subscribe or to submit your work, contact: editor@persimmontree.org
www.persimmontree.org
Our truest responsibility to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find the truth. -Madeleine L'Engle
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The Queen's Court
The Queen's Court is a gathering of sovereign women of a certain age - our dear peers - who graciously offer guidance, inspiration and encouragement to each other.
We Queens know what we know. And we know a great deal. Our experience has made us wise. So, feel free to consult with our cyber counsel when you are need of sage advice or wish to explore a particular topic of interest.
Who knows what can come out of these sister alliances we are building?
-QMD
If you recall, in the last issue of QC, Queen Morgan in Ohio asked for advice concerning her Self-destructive daughter. Here is the wisdom so generously offered in response by several members of The Queen's Court:
Self Destructive Daughters
Dear Morgan,
Please know that you're not alone, although I know the feeling of helplessness and confusion. My daughter was also cutting at the same age. She has just turned sixteen. I don't know for sure that she has completely stopped cutting. But lately she wears a spiked collar around her neck. I don't understand the violence and darkness. I cannot explain it to you. I believe there is intense emotional pain, which is somehow met in the physical pain. In my daughter's case, the cuts are superficial, although they leave scars, which she hides. But I do not think she will ultimately destroy herself. I am trusting that she is on her path with her own Divine Guidance. I can't protect her from pain. She went to therapy for a year and I don't know how much it helped. I certainly felt better that we were getting some help, but she doesn't think it had any effect on her. She's very strong and determined. I have chosen to believe in her, whatever it looks like. My main goal is to communicate, to stay open for whenever she will talk to me. I want her to know she is not alone. I try to reflect her worth to her, to listen, and to let her know I love her. If I have advice it's to trust that she will come through this and to be very compassionate to yourself. All your feelings around this are allowed, and you cannot control her path. You can model self-respect, self-love, self-honor, faith in your Divine Guidance, valuing life, honoring your own body, expressing feelings openly. Thank you for reaching out! Sending comfort and understanding,
-Andrea, ME
Regarding the self-destruction of the reader's daughter, I believe flower essence therapy would be very helpful and is of course, totally natural, without side effects. I would be happy to discuss the options with the mother or she can find a local practitioner at www.bachcentre.com.
-Cheri, NY
Re: Self-destructive daughters, I recommend a book by Brad Sachs, When No One Understands: Letters to a Teenager on Life, Loss, and the Hard Road to Adulthood.
-Karen, NJ
A dear British friend, Dr. Judith Reece, a feminist, a mental health nurse and nursing professor, a magistrate, and an authority on females self-harming wrote her doctoral thesis on self-harm. Judy also co-ordinated the first and second international conferences (in England) on self-harm.
-Marjorie, Ontario
Here is this month's query. It would seem that many of you would have something cogent to say on this topic.
Empty Nest
I put my beloved daughter Robin on a plane to Bangkok yesterday. She skipped through the gates, passport and ticket in hand, with a shine in her eyes and pure joy all over her face. Now, for the first time in my 50 years, I am alone. While part of me feels empty, for the most part I feel a freedom I have never experienced before. I can work in the middle of the night if I want to. I turned one spare room into a sewing room, and I have pretty fabric and beads and all sorts of bright and creative stuff all over, just waiting for me to dive in later today. And of course, I have my animals. Why am I writing this to you all? I haven't any idea, except I needed to talk about it a bit, and this seems to be the place for support and understanding, doesn't it? Thanks for listening. Reading.
-Smoky, IL
Please send your responses to: thequeenofmyself@aol.com
Your letters will be printed in the next Queen's Chronicles.
Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
-Helen Keller
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The Queen's Correspondence
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to The Queen's Chronicles. Please keep your comments coming. And do feel free to make suggestions about content you would like to see. Or anything else, for that matter.
Letters In Response To the January 2008 Issue
That was a fabulous article on Bhutto!
I can appreciate your fall. I caught pneumonia and had to stay in bed for two weeks. I am facing this book tour and teaching every week in NC - I see some parallels in your international events listing! "Take it easy" isn't easy.
-Terese, NY
I like your cautionary take on falling, that we should all be more mindful and grounded so that we can continue to make positive contributions in our own personal small worlds and for the planet itself.
-Lou Anne, TX
Thanks for the message about slow life
Hmmmmmmmm
I just fell last week
Toooooooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhhh everything
Sending rest & love to usssssssssssssss.
-Linda, NY
You claim to be Queen of Yourself, so why treat yourself as you do? Being so busy your body must throw you down, harming you to get your attention so you'll listen, makes me question: When you won't or don't treat yourself well, how can you counsel another woman to care enough to consider herself Queen? Please remember even though a syndrome, a sickness, patriarchal society loves frenzy-driven women, which helps no woman at all.
-Marjorie, Ontario
Dear Queen Marjorie,
A fair question!
I am not really a frenzied sort of woman, but pretty well-rooted, even-keeled, and steady. However, I do allow myself to get overcommitted. And I do need waaaay more help. It is very seductive, you know, all the invitations and opportunities - There's a great group of gals in North Carolina who want a Queen of My Self Workshop. There is a big WomenSpirit Conference in Chicago that wants a special Queen Keynote address. There is a Hawaiian women's radio program interview about female empowerment at 3AM my time. Who can say no?
I have gotten carried away by my desire to meet all of the extraordinary Queens out there and I did my best to meet each one in person, which, of course, is impossible. For three years I have been on the road a lot more than I have been home. My exhaustion was not just from too much work, but from spending too much time away from my home, my center, my refuge, my altars, my plants, my bathtub, my bird, my Tea Garden & Healing Haven sanctuary where I replenish myself. Which is why I decided to take off this winter and spring and stay close to home. I had a great need to immerse myself in the many healing ritual ways that I have long used to treat myself well.
So even though I have fallen down, I have learned a lesson and taken steps to improve my situation - my health and well-being, my way of living each day. That IS being a Queen. A Queen is a woman who works to continually grow and empower herself. She is not an enlightened being, an angel, a goddess, a nun. A Queen confronts and embraces her shortcomings and works to transform her thinking and actions. Queens fall down and they get right back up!
I think that when I am very honest about my inner struggles, it encourages other women to engage more introspectively with their own life lessons. At least I hope so. I offer my experience of the profound process of transformation as a humble gift of spiritual striving. May it prove helpful.
xxQMD
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