Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics

When the conquistadores (Spanish colonizers) imposed Christianity, Pachamama absorbed some of the qualities of Mother Mary, fusing the wild and benevolent aspects of the Great Mother into a single, generous Earth goddess. Unlike the concept of tikkun olam, predicated on the assumption

fully inhabiting the present moment, willing to investigate things as they are and myself as I am. I started looking with curiosity and kindness.

sacred seeing?

“My deepest desire is . . .” Let whatever arises in your mind and heart spill onto the page (or screen) as you respond to it. Allow yourself to be surprised—maybe even shocked—by what comes up. Your desires could relate to your sexual appetites or emotional needs. They could be about how you want to embody yourself—or the Divine. Don’t hold back. G

Instead of engaging spiritual practice as a contraption to catapult us up and out of this relative world, the feminine mystic shows up right here, in the center of the incarnational experience. We bless the messy wonder of it all, the experience of being human.

Both unity and diversity are equally sacred realities. Finding our rightful place in this glorious web of mutuality is a cause for celebration.

Stephen Levine, revered for his pioneering work with conscious dying,

get it. I still buy into society’s standards of feminine beauty. I confess to being overly concerned with my body mass index. I can (and do) look at women who are much heavier than I am with appreciation of their beauty. I find their soft curves sexy. But I strive for a jutting clavicle, an angular pelvis, a concave belly in myself.

I do not perceive this love dance as a malady to be cured but rather as an opportunity to celebrate the terrible beauty of the human condition.

It is accepted that each member of the community, formally trained or not, officially sanctioned by a religious organization or stepping up as a rogue sage, has something of value to offer the whole.