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. |
Quick Links...
The Queen of My Self changed my outlook on aging. I am now excited about all of the opportunities waiting for me as I continue to pursue my path. Donna Henes is the Queen of positive thinking and proactive ideas for empowerment. Her book is on my nightstand, right at hand for when I need a dose of royal support. Long live the Queen, indeed!
- Barbara, ND
|
CALLING ALL QUEENS!
The Queen's Chronicles
Offers
upbeat, practical, and ceremonial inspiration for all women who want to
enjoy the fruits of an influential, passionate, and powerful maturity.
I would appreciate it if you would please forward The Queen's Chronicles to people who might value it.
|
SUBSCRIBE HERE!
If someone sent this to you, don't depend on your friend for this great information. Get your own complimentary subscription.
Sign up for your free
subscription to
The Queen's Chronicles
|
 |
I just felt the need to send you a little note to thank you! I am 41 years old, my children are all out of the house, and I feel like I am starting a new life! I start a new job next week, I am on a path of Self discovery, and I just feel like the world is a brand new place for me. Thank you for being right where I needed to find you! I look forward to working with you and to celebrating this side of womanhood!!! Blessed be!
- Kelly, IN
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/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.
Sessions are available in person and by phone. To make an appointment, call 718-857-1343 or email the Queen at TheQueenOfMySelf@aol.com
The authentic self is the soul made visible.
- Sarah Ban Breathnach
|
A Queen Event
Near You
 NC Womanspirit Queens
GLOBAL
MAY 1-31
MAMA DONNA'S HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAROT CLUB
1/3 off reading for May Birthdays. In person or by phone.
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
NEW YORK
MAY 9
SATURDAY, 4:30 PM
(rain date: May 10, Sunday)
BLESSING OF THE WATERS
Mama Donna will conduct a participatory Hudson river cleansing ceremony as the grand finale of the Hudson River Pageant (1-5PM). Please contact Mama Donna to join her Blessing Band for this event.
Gansevoort Street at the river
Manhattan
FREE
MAY 17
SUNDAY, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
TAROT 102
A Spirit Support Skills Workshop
An in-depth study of the Major Arcana. Tarot 101 required prerequisite.
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven
Park Slope, Exotic Brooklyn, NY
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
$50. If prepaid
$60. At the door
MAY 31
SUNDAY, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
TAROT 103
A Spirit Support Skills Workshop
An in-depth study of the Minor Arcana. Tarot 101 required prerequisite.
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven
Park Slope, Exotic Brooklyn, NY
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
$50. If prepaid
$60. At the door
JUNE
GLOBAL
JUNE 1-30
MAMA DONNA'S HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAROT CLUB
1/3 off reading for June Birthdays. In person or by phone.
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
NEW YORK
JUNE 5
FRIDAY, 6:30 PM
BLESSING OF THE FLEET
Sponsored by the Governor's office for Quadracentennial Celebrations.
Battery Park, Manhattan, NY
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
FREE
JUNE 7
SUNDAY, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
TAROT 104
A Spirit Support Skills Workshop
An in-depth study of the spreads.
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven
Park Slope, Exotic Brooklyn, NY
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
$50. If prepaid
$60. At the door
JUNE 11-14
THURSDAY - SUNDAY
WOMONGATHERING
Mama Donna will be giving several workshops at this annual gathering. She will also have selections from her Spirit Shop on sale.
Information and registration:
856-694-2037
www.womongathering.com
JUNE 21
SATURDAY night/SUNDAY morning,
1:30 AM event starts
1:46 AM Solstice moment
34th ANNUAL SUMMER SOULSTICE CELEBRATION
A sizzling Celebration of Summer. Drumming in the dark!
Pier 16 South Street Seaport
Manhattan
For info: 718-857-1343
cityshaman@aol.com
FREE
JUNE 21
SUNDAY, 8:00 PM
SUNSET SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
A sizzling Celebration of Summer. A family friendly event. Bring kids, dogs, drums and lots of spirit.
Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, Queens
For info: 718-956-1819
www.socratessculpturepark.org
FREE
SEPTEMBER
NEW YORK
SEPTEMBER 22
TUESDAY, 6:30 PM
AUTUMN EQUINOX CRUISE
Join Mama Donna for a sunset equinox cruise aboard the Pioneer sailing from Pier 16 South Street Seaport.
For info: 212-748-8568
$50/members, $60/non members (includes ceremony, wine, refreshments and favors)
|
Have Crown, Will Travel!
To discuss booking Queen Mama Donna for a reading, presentation, workshop, or a keynote address in your area, call her at 718-857-1343 or e-mail her at TheQueenOfMySelf@aol.com
|
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!
|
Imagine Your Ad Here!
Welcome to our new advertiser, Weslea Sidon, owner of the wonderful Spruce Shore Cottage on Mount Dessert Island, Maine. This is a fabulous pet friendly place for a getaway R&R with ocean views and easy shore access, a wood stove, and just minutes away from Acadia National Park. Thank you for your support and your desire to network with our fabulous royal readers around the globe.
May you be successful in your endeavors and blessed with spiritual and material abundance.
Would you like to reach the
5000+ Queens in our royal network across the country and around the world with information about your business?
Advertising listings in the Queen's Chronicles are available for $50/per issue with significant discounts for ongoing listings.
For more information and to place your order contact: thequeenofmyself@aol.com or call 718-857-1343.
|
Royal Resources
for Queenly Women
Our extended circle of Queens includes some mightily talented women. Please support them by availing yourself of their superior services and by buying their excellent products.
Maguire Pubic RelationsExpertise in journalism and marketing qualifies us to position and deliver the news of our clients
Marya Leonard
Professional Tax Preparation. Individuals and Small Businesses. 25+ years experience. Efficient, Accurate & Reasonable. 646-620-7232
Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist.Focusing on women's health and other chronic issues
Psychic reader, medium,
pet communicator
Simple Recipes for Hibachi Herbal Magic & Sacred Space Spruce Shore CottageRestore yourself on the Maine coast. Lovely cabin for rent. Minutes from Acadia National Park. Ocean, sky, full kitchen. Contact Weslea Sidon via email or call 207-244-9897
Your Advertisement Here!
|
Circle of ConcernPlease
Offer Your Purest Thoughts, Your Heart-Felt Prayers, Your Great Good
Feelings, And Your Very Best Blessings For Healing and Peace of Mind to:
Alice, CA; Amy, NY; Berenice, NY; Blanche, NY; Chrissie, NY; Daile, NY; Deni, NY; Donna, NY; Edie, PA; Ellen, NY; Erica, NY; Gail, OH; Geraldine, CA; Janet, NY; Jo, AZ; Josie, MI; Kimi, NJ; Letitia, VA; Linda, NJ; Linda, NY; Lucia, TX; Lynne, NY; Margaret, NY; Mary, TX; Maureen, NY; Marjorie, NY; Naomi, NJ; Randi, NY; Regina, NY; Roberta, NY; Robin, CA; Susan, NY; Susan, MA; Terry, CA; Valerie, CA; and Yvette, NY.
May Their Spirits Rest in Peace:
Tara Emily Allen, FL
Bea Arthur, CA
Joann Downing, MI
Helen V. Gallagher, MI
Kerry Moritz, FL
With Sincere Condolences:
Flash Silvermoon, FL
Hafeezah, NY
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.
If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, extraordinary things begin to happen.
- Loretta Girzartis
|
|
|
|
|
Nature, Our Mother
In the beginning, there was woman. And she was versatile. She breathed, she stretched, she strode, she sat, she foraged, she trapped, she planted, she cooked, she ate, she bled, she danced, she laughed, she slept, she dreamed, she played, she prayed. She made art, she made ceremonies, she made love, she made babies. Our modern minds automatically make a connection between these last two activities. But this is only a relatively recent conception, if you'll pardon my pun.
Woman, like the female of every species, produces young. And she appears to do so without any particular help. Parthenogenic. Of course, we now know that this feat is accomplished with a certain modest participation by the male, but the outcome of copulation was not always apparent. What was perfectly clear and obvious, was that she was somehow able to fashion from herself the stuff of life. To bear from her own blood and body a new generation. And, as if that wasn't wondrous enough, she could also manufacture the substance of sustenance so that she could continue to nurture her consummate creations.
She was prolific, capable of repeating the entire miraculous process again and again. In fact it was - and still is in large parts of the world today - quite common for a woman to wean one child only to immediately conceive the next. Our own grandparents commonly came from families with eight, ten, twelve children. Mme. Vassilet, a nineteenth century Russian peasant is the undefeated record holder in the World Fertility Cup. It is well documented that her twenty-seven full term pregnancies produced sixty-nine children, most of whom grew to adulthood. She gave birth to sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. Mother Vassilet was well known in her time and was honored at the imperial court of Czar Alexander II.
Is this not the way of Nature Herself? Does She not constantly produce and provide? Reproduce and recycle? Engender and embrace? The Earth is alive with the fruit of Her fecundity - inconceivable multitudes of animals, vegetables and minerals. There are more than a million species of animals, 4,000 species of mammals alone. There are more than 350,000 species of plants, 100,000 species of fungi, 100,000 species of protista (algae and the like) and 10,000 species of monera, including bacteria. Each species made up of how many families, how many individuals?
Nature, then, must be female: Mother Nature, Mother Earth. Father Earth was a totally nonexistent concept and has forever remained so. I have never heard, read or dreamed even one reference to him. Have you? Herodotus wrote that all of the known names for the Earth were female. "Nature is our mother," the Latin proverb proclaims. The Gypsies say, "The Earth is our mother. . .the secret of life comes from the ground." Asase Ya is the Earth Mother of the African Ashanti. They tell, "We got everything from Asase Ya, food, water: we rest upon Her when we die."
The land is a mother that never dies.
- Maori Proverb
Humankind, in its infancy, clung to the primal comprehension of a maternal Earth, in the same way that any completely dependent child hangs onto her mother's hip. The reality of our utter reliance incontrovertible, we held on for dear life.
Until only five, six thousand years ago, the archetypal Great Mother, creatrix of all existence, matriarch of the races of god/desses, reigned supreme everywhere. Homer sang her praises, "I shall sing of Gaia, Universal Mother, firmly founded, Oldest of all the Holy Ones." Foremost in all early religions, She was personified and identified in many ways, but always everywhere She was regarded with reverence and deference as a living mother.
But now, we, her naughty children, 
have managed to deface Her every surface and sully her beneficent life-giving gifts. Have we no shame? Like bad seed, humankind seems hell-bent on matricide.
Unless we - the Mothers, the Grandmothers, the Queens - have our say and demand our way. It is up to us. We have the whole world in our hands.
With maternal blessings of nurturance,
|
Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
We are the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. We have united as one. Ours is an alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children and for the next seven generations to come.
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers brings together respected wise women elders from Asia; North, Central and South America; Africa; and the Arctic Circle. The matriarchs range in age from their 50s to their 80s, with many dozens of grandchildren among them.
They are motivated by a shared prophecy, learned in their visions and dreams, that tells of a holy council of grandmothers that would convene at the Earth's eleventh hour. Their goal is to heal the Earth and teach ancient indigenous rites that connect people to the land. Their visions indicated that prayer is an answer to the questions contemporary society is grappling with.
The women draw upon and share their individual experiences as healers, midwives, counselors, dancers, spiritual activists, medicine women, tribal elders, shamans, and advocates for sustaining indigenous ways of life. Together, they gather and combine their force to create an indomitable collective of grand maternal spiritual power.
The grandmothers meet about every six months in each other's homelands. They gather to talk, pray and share their indigenous spiritual practices in order to strengthen the spiritual fabric of the globe. Through the marriage of spirituality and environmentalism, these women hope to infuse a new generation of inhabitants with the respect they feel the Earth requires to move forward into the new millennium.
The Grandmothers Mission Statement
We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come. We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.
Let us follow their glorious example and join our spirit and actions with theirs.
Click here to watch the grandmothers in action.
|
|
|
The Nation's First Mother
 During the election campaign, we
heard scant little about the woman
who gave birth to and raised
President Barack Obama. This is a
shame, as she was an extraordinary
woman, who rose from a simple past
to achieve great things in her short
life.
She was born in 1942 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while her dad was serving in the US army. An only child - a disappointing girl - she was named for her father who had hoped for a son.
After the war, her family moved to California, Texas, and Seattle, Washington, where her father was a furniture salesman and her mother was a vice president of a bank. In 1956, when she was 13, they moved to Mercer Island, Washington, so she could attend Mercer Island High School. There, she was encouraged to challenge societal norms and question authority.
Stanley took to these lessons wholeheartedly. She gravitated toward an intellectual clique, saw foreign films at Seattle's only art-house theater, and trekked to University District coffee shops to talk about jazz, the value of learning from other cultures and the "very dull Eisenhower-ness of our parents."
She questioned pretty much everything and became a budding beatnik. Her school friends remember her as "intellectually way more mature than we were and a little bit ahead of her time, in an off-center way." One high school pal described her: "If you were concerned about something going wrong in the world, Stanley would know about it first. We were liberals before we knew what liberals were." Another called her "the original feminist."
Upon her high school graduation, the family moved to Hawaii and she enrolled in college there, introducing herself for the first time as Ann.
While a student at the University of Hawaii, she met a Kenyon student Barack Obama, Senior. Her liberal values allowed her to break the taboo of the time and date him. Within a year, they were married with the consent of Barack's first wife, which was a tribal custom, though against the wishes of all four parents.
In 1961, at age 18, she gave birth to a son, Barack. She quit  school to take care of him, while Barack, Sr. finished his undergraduate work. When he was offered a scholarship to Harvard, he left Ann and his one-year old son, only to see him one more time in his life nine years later. She filed for divorce, enrolled in school first in Seattle and then in Maui, where she struggled as a single mother and full time student.
While still an undergraduate student, she met and fell in love with an Indonesian student, Lolo Soetoro. They married in 1967 and moved to Jakarta, Indonesia. In Indonesia, Dunham enriched her son's education with correspondence courses in English, recordings of Mahalia Jackson, and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the interest of his educational advancement, she sent the young Obama back to Hawaii rather than keep him in Asia with her, an extremely painful decision.
Soetoro and Dunham had a daughter, Maya Kassandra Soetoro, in August 1970. In the 1970s, as Dunham wished to return to work, Soetoro wanted more children. She once said that he became more American as she became more Javanese. Ann Dunham left Soetoro in 1972. She moved back to Hawaii where she attended graduate school while raising Barack and Maya. When Dunham returned to Indonesia for field work in 1977 with Maya, Barack chose not to go, preferring to finish high school in the United States.
Although Ann loved and married two Muslim men and her parents were Christian, she, herself, was a free thinker. She gave both her children the holy books of the world's religions - the Old and New Testament, the Koran, the Upanishads, Buddhist texts - and encouraged them to find their own spiritual paths. She was a firm believer in rigorous intellectual thinking and action based on humanistic compassion.
Ann earned a BA in mathematics in 1967, a MA in Anthropology in 1983, and finally a PhD in Anthropology in 1992. She then pursued a career in rural development, championing women's work and micro-credit for the world's poor, working with Indonesia's oldest bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, Women's World Banking, and as a consultant in Pakistan. She was active in her support of Indonesian human rights, women's rights, and grassroots development.
Her career was cut short in 1994, when she was diagnosed with both ovarian and uterine cancer. She moved back to Hawaii to live near her widowed mother, and died there in 1995 at the age of 52.
Queen Ann accomplished a great deal in her abbreviated life. She succeeded in breaking through the barricades of a conservative 1950s upbringing to create an interesting, expansive, multiculturally rich life for herself and her children. This single accomplishment has already made a huge impact on our country and the entire world.
O wondrous power! How little understood, -
Entrusted to the mother's mind alone,
To fashion genius, form the soul for good,
Inspire a West, or train a Washington!
- Sarah Josepha Hale
|
|
Presidential Mommies
My
mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my
mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual
and physical education I received from her. - George WashingtonAll that I am, my mother made me. - John Quincy AdamsThere
never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a
lioness. The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the
only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made
my way.- Andrew Jackson, U.S. PresidentThe greatest lessons I have every learned were at my mother's  knees... All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. - Abraham LincolnNo
one in the world can take the place of your mother. Right or wrong,
from her viewpoint you are always right. She may scold you for little
things, but never for the big ones. - Harry TrumanMothers
all want their sons to grow up to be president but they don't want them
to become politicians in the process. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Whenever I held my newborn baby in my arms, I used to think that what I said and did to him could have an influence not only on him but on all whom he met, not only for a day or a month or a year, but for all eternity - a very challenging and exciting thought for a mother.- Rose KennedySometimes when I look at all my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin.' - Lillian Carter I think a lot of our problems are because people don't listen to our children. It's not always easy. They're not always so brilliant that you want to spend hours with them. - Barbara Bush |
|
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. It is a joy to connect
with you.
Letters In Response To
The March 2009 Issue:
As always, a pure delight as well as infinitely informative! Folk wisdom around here has it that the Osprey return when the forsythia blooms and the flounder begin to run right around this time every year. Unfortunately our poor seas are both poisoned and over fished these days, but that doesn't prevent the enthusiasts from trying their luck. Many out here still put food on their table straight from the sea. Blessings of the Greening,
- Susan Merrie, NY
Letters In Response To The April 2009 Issue
Sweet Queen Donna! What beautiful writings about the body of the Mother. You are such an inspiration. I thank you and the Earth thanks you. Much juicy love,
- Jade, CO
I love the imagery portrayed in this writing. In my presentations, I encourage people to open themselves to the beauty of creation and use their creative gifts to give back in photos, sketches, journals, and also to care for the earth. We are stewards of a magnificent gift - our Earth. And it is up to us to protect Her. Yes, indeed, you are right.
- Caludia, NY
I have a strong suggestion for your Eco Sheroes: Maude Barlow is part of the Council of Canadians and has been a strong voice for many years around the issue of water preservation for all people. I had the privilege to hear her speak a couple of years ago and her passion about the plight of our most precious natural resource is contagious. I think she fits the bill both as a Queen and as an Eco Shero!!
- Cecile, Ontario, Canada
Donna, the research is stunning and so important. This is a great newsletter.
- Linda, NY
Letters in Response to
Queen Mama Donna's Writings Elsewhere:
Blessings For A Smooth Mercury In Retrograde
Loved, loved, loved this. Practical, specific but open to interpretation. xxx and thank you.
- Gail, NY
Wow! Perfect timing as I'm in negotiations with a publisher again! By the way your essay is beautifully written. And remember your book tour here when Mercury was in retrograde and everything was out of whack?
- Terry, CA
Thank you for presenting the positive aspects of Mercury Retrograde. I always dread its arrival, but this makes it more of a "do" than a "don't." As a Gemini, I, too, am ruled by these events.
- Cathy, NY
Wow! Thank you so much for this, gorgeous Queen Mama Donna! I have wondered why it has been so hard for me to write anything lately, let alone meet any deadlines. Now, I have the answer! I still have to make those deadlines though....@#%*&**@! Goddess, give me inspiration and energy even as Mercury retrogrades!! (Gotta pay those bills.) Blessed be to all for reflection, reassessment, rebooting, and re-energizing!!
- Sheryll, CA
This was so unbelievably helpful, oh my word. So so helpful. Exactly what I was looking for and needed to hear. I'm gonna print it up and put it over my desk. I, too, am fixed on a very important project to go up on June 10th and the next few weeks are crucial in pulling all of the elements together. And I feel internally geared up for a big letdown somewhere along the way - but I don't want to go looking for that either. Instead, non-attachment seems to be the word du jour. I just can't attach much ego or anything else to any ideas, or notions I have right now. Or even how I expect something to look. But it's the rest time I am finding a hard time to find. And I don't know if I should carve out special time for it now - to rest, recharge, assimilate. I don't trust the present atmosphere so I feel like I have to be doubly on top of my game just to stay ahead and not drown in the current. Which keeps me working not resting.
- Lee, NY
I have a friend who says she was born on another planet and under several retrograde planets. I'm not sure about the first assertion, but the second makes sense. She's always lots happier when planets are retrograde and her life seems to go better for her at those times. I think they do, as you say, clear her mind.
- Barbara, CA
Very well said! Thanks for the beautiful words.
- Nancy, NC
Thanks for your Mercurial blessings!
- Nancy, MA
WOW!!! I so appreciate the blessings you have shared. It all rings true and the challenge will be to go "against the grain" of the typical, urban way of "scheduled, techno-living". I just wanted to share that I treated myself to a four-day quilt retreat last week (smack dab in the middle of the busiest time for my gardening business). I finished a quilt top that I began 3 years ago! Completing old projects is most satisfying! Your article was just what I needed!
- Susannah, NY
Thank you for this. It's wonderful. Very helpful, useful and interesting.
- Rita, MN
Thank you for this great advice. I'll take it! I'm going camping in Canyonlands National Park (southern Utah) next week and shall use the time to meditate, hike, and be at one with Mother Earth.
- Anne, AZ
You've given me the most clear and understandable explanation of Mercury retrograde that I've ever had. Thank you! It sounds almost relaxing to me now.
- Joan, CA
Please send your responses to thequeenofmyself@aol.com.
Your letters will be printed in the next Queen's Chronicles.
|
|
The Queen's Court
 The Queen's Court is a gathering of
sovereign women of a certain age - our
dear peers - who graciously offer
information, 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 council/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
This Mother's Day issue raises the question of what it is to be a mother.
An unprecedented number - nearly one fourth - of Baby Boom women chose not to bear and raise children. But we were archetypal Mothers, nonetheless. We gave birth to something of our passion - a business, a career, an art form, a political involvement, a spiritual practice - and nurtured it to keep it alive.
We created our own ways of being and served as role models, mentors, and teachers to the generations of young women who followed us and who benefited from our endeavors and learned from our examples. Or rejected them.
Those of us who did have children are now experiencing an empty nest or anticipating one. We are no longer 24/7 mothers and have a completely different relationship to our kids. Many of us are grandmothers. (Who would have ever imagined that?)
And now as we reach a certain age and our own mothers are passing from this life, we are called upon to mother ourselves.
I invite you to share your thoughts, stories, and experiences of the many modes and moods of motherhood.
Please send your questions or responses to thequeenofmyself@aol.com. Your letters will be printed in the next Queen's Chronicles.
|
|
Where the Queens Are
Dear Queen Donna,
Thank you for your marvelous Queen's Chronicles. I especially want to thank you for the section on Sampat Pal Devi and her Gulabi Gang that you featured in the March newsletter. You  turned me on to her and I included her in our Jewel of the Lineage of Woman book - a weekly featuring of a woman past or present that we honor for her contribution to humanity. I prepare these Jewels for The Goddess Temple of Orange County (where I know you have presented) and for its sister/daughter temple The Southern Oregon Temple of the Goddess, which my husband Wolfgang Nebmaier and I founded here in spring 2007.
Ava Park, the director of the Goddess Temple of Orange County was so inspired by Sampat that she suggested that we ask our congregations to dress in pink and collect a donation for Sampat and the Gulabi Gang. GTOC raised $800 and our much smaller group raised $125! Another woman, Fox, of The Goddess Studio in Escondido (Amalya's Peck's studio) raised $95. All traceable back to your spreading the word about Sampat Pal! Thank you Queen Donna!
Love and blessings,
- Rev. Vajra Ma
Co-Founder and Spiritual Director
Southern Oregon Temple of the Goddess
www.GreatGoddess.org
The Southern Oregon Temple of the Goddess,
in pink for Sampat Pal and the Gulabi Gang. Ages span 7 to 75!
Wolfgang, far left on floor, Vajra Ma (myself) to his left, on floor.
Dear Queen Mama Donna,
Yes, thank you for getting this all started. It is just wonderful! We had a great day raising money for Sampat Pal, and we honored you, as well. We are so appreciative of all that you have initiated for women. What a blessing you are to all of us. We always speak your name here at our Temple when referencing the Queen. You are Queen to us! Thank you for all you do for women, for Queens. Love and admiration,
- Ava Park, Founder and Centerholder
The Goddess Temple of Orange County
www.goddesstempleoforangecounty.com
The Goddess Temple of Orange County
in pink for Sampat Pal and the Gulabi Gang.
Ava Park, founder, front and center.
Please Submit Your Royal Reports
· Tell us about your Queen Group: who, what, where,
when, why?
· What Queenly topics do you explore?
· What projects do you engage in?
· Describe some golden moments.
· Send pictures!
|
|
Kudos to the Queens!
Cristina Biaggi, NY; Andrea Biggs, NY; Stephanie Brody-Lederman, NY; Suzanne Lacy, CA; Carolee Schneemann, NY; Robin Tewes, NY; Linda Vallejo, CA; and Martha Wilson, NY; on the exhibitions of their artwork.
Suzanne Lacy, Yutaka Kobayashi, Barbara Maloutas, and Susan Leibovitz Steinman, CA, Adventure where Nature Meets Culture; Victoria Moran, NY, Living a Charmed Life: Your Guide to Finding the Magic in Every Moment of Every Day; Joan Norton, CA, 14 Steps to Awaken the Sacred Feminine; Ekere Tallie, NY, Mother Nature: Thoughts on Nourishing Your Body, Mind and Spirit During Pregnancy and Beyond; on their new books.
Marjorie Ocho Kouns, NY, on her performance in the play,
The Man Who Wasn't; Yana Kraeva, NY, on her Butoh performance.
So Yong Kim, NY, on the premiere of her film, Treeless Mountain.
Carolyn Beth Becker M.D., MA and Jane Arbuckle Petro M.D., MA, on their marriage.
Joni Seager, MA, on her move and new job.
 Send
your good news, achievements, accomplishments, successes and
celebrations so that our international circle of sovereign sisters can
send you blessings and accolades.
And we are glad to so. It is
a joy and a privilege to share in the fortune of another woman. I
recently heard Oprah say the saddest thing ever - "The hardest thing
about being successful is having someone to be glad for you."
It
takes a centered and confident Queen to break that pattern. There are
60 million thrones out there. One for each of us. There is plenty of
purpose, passion and power for us all. May we use it well!
It
is important that you recognize your progress and take pride in your
accomplishments. Share your achievements with others. Brag a little.
The recognition and support of those around you is nurturing.
- Rosemarie Rossetti
|
|
It is my hope that as more and
more women rise to reign in the fullest potential of our supremacy, we
will harness our purpose, passion, and power and direct it toward
creating a more balanced and peaceful world. This is the legacy of Her
majesty.
- QMD
Turn Your Midlife Crisis
into Your Crowning Achievement!
|
|
|
