Sacred Shapes: The Geometry of Women

"Sacred Shapes: The Geometry of Women" is an event series and art show I am organizing with expressive art therapist, artist and gallery owner Susan Reid Danton, this May 2013. The show features a collection of paintings and photography featuring pregnant and birthing women, as well as grandmothers with their new grandbabies. The show highlights the empowerment of a sacred birth and the initiation of motherhood. It seeks to unify the viewer with her inner strength and open the viewer to seeing the perfection of organic femininity and how we fit into the cycles of life. The show will feature an event series with lectures from birth educators, art therapy classes from Susan Danton, and workshops from holistic practitioners. The event will also feature music from fiddle player Dinah Mellin.

WOMR's International Women's Day

International Women’s Day is an official national holiday in over 30 countries globally, with roots over 100 years-old. WOMR Outermost Community Radio is bringing Women’s Day to Cape Cod and beyond, giving listeners glimpses into the lives of a diverse group of knowledgeable women from around the world. Programming from midnight to midnight on March 8th, will share stories of accomplishment, struggle, and triumph through music, interviews, discussions and comedy. 92.1 WOMR-FM Provincetown and 91.3 WFMR-FM Orleans are proud to bring you a solid day of non-stop frisky, fearless, and fascinating women’s voices. This year's programming weaves a tapestry of powerful perspectives. Interviews feature influential women including: award-winning International Woman of Courage recipient, Afghan Provincial Council member and radio station owner Maryam Durani; British human rights lawyer and member of the House of Lords, Helena Kennedy; novelist Indira Ganesan; Pulitzer-winning composer Jennifer Higdon; poet Hilde Oleson; a documentarian bringing us stories of Moroccan Muslim women; birth educators; a Wampanoag and talented Cape musicians including Rose Clancy, Diana Di Gioia, and Rayssa Ribeiro.

My interviews will run between 10-11pm EST March 8th with Paige Eastman Dickinson who is a lecturer and panel discussion moderator at Brown University for a Birth Story documentary screening at New England Born as well as with doula Ruby Corrigan Anastasio. I will also be speaking Paige Riley, director of Women’s Avenue for Voicing Empowerment, a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with Mama Africa Organization to support the women's empowerment and education programs and cultural organizations in Morocco creating support and voice for Muslim and Lesbian Muslim women.

From 11pm-12midnight
I will be interviewing HuDost who an extraordinary example of feminine strength. She'll share her story of obstacles and letting her soulful grace carry her through.

New England Born

These are my people: Go see this show.

One Night Only: Rhode Island Preview of the Acclaimed Documentary Film, BIRTH STORY: INA MAY GASKIN AND THE FARM MIDWIVES with post-screening special guest panel discussion on maternal health & the Premier Opening of NEW ENGLAND BORN – A Visual Sociological Examination by Lisa Gendron at Brown University.

"BIRTH STORY captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune, rescued modern midwifery from extinction, and changed the way a generation thought about childbirth. Today, as nearly 1/3 of all U.S. babies are born via C-section, they labor on, fighting to preserve their knowledge and pushing, once again, for the rebirth of birth. With incredible access to the midwives’ archival video collection, the film not only captures the unique sisterhood at The Farm Clinic, but shows childbirth the way most people have never seen it--unadorned, unabashed, and awe-inspiring. BIRTH STORY premiered at the 2012 LA Film Festival and won the prestigious Audience Award."

The moderator Paige Eastman Dickinson, CMP, will be joining me to discuss hard birth issues for International Women's Day at http://womr.org

Photographer Lisa Gendron is a huge talent!

One Billion Rising!!

One Billion Rising Valentine’s Day Dance Celebration
The Women’s Avenue for Voicing Empowerment
Joins the Global Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls
February 14th 2013 at 6-9pm - Three Fish and a Ram Art Center


Mashpee February 1, 2013: One Billion Rising is the awareness movement being celebrated globally Valentine’s Day 2013, to end violence against women. Join us to show your support for the quality of women’s lives here on Cape Cod and across the planet! The Women’s Avenue for Voicing Empowerment is a Cape Cod nonprofit that is creating a leadership center and exhibit space in support and celebration of women. WAVE, has been working with local Cape Cod organizations as well as globally in Uganda and Morocco, helping improve the quality of life for women and their communities. The Women’s Avenue is working to provide a permanent space for educational exhibits, lectures, workshops and classes here on Cape Cod. WAVE will continue to bring you exhibits of women’s stories in partnerships with local, regional and global organizations with your support. Our Valentine’s Day Dance Celebration is a benefit dance party with inspiring music and dance performances to get to you Strike, Rise and Dance! Join us in solidarity with the men and women who are saying enough and putting an end to violence against women! We are Rising!

www.thewomensavenue.com

Mulligan Stew

Come along with me for a blues cruise this Sunday 4-6pm EST at http://womr.org

It will be an eclectic mix of Mississippi Delta, 50s/60s Rhythm & Blues, Bourbon Street blues, Screaming Jay Hawkins, crackling vocals ala Nina Simone, operatic blues orphans from Missy Shevaughn and Yuma Wray, lascivious lounging love from Ms. Lavay Smith and rascalish rogues like Tom Waits to catch your cats on fire in a gypsy heat. It should be a good show. Don't miss it.

8 Tips to Kick This Year's Flu

1) TAKE ANTI-VIRAL TEA OR TINCTURE -
Olive leaf extract or olive leaf tea is the most effective anti-viral herb I am familiar with, unlike many herbs it doesn't seem to lose its efficacy quickly, and does not need to be alternated to remain effective. If you can't procure olive leaves, make a tea from lemon verbena leaves, yerba santa leaves, ginger root, peppermint leaves, mullein leaves, elecampane root, or turmeric and honey.



2) CHEW RAW GARLIC -
Mix it with olive oil and dip it bread if need be.

3) SOAK YOUR FEET -
Soak your feet in a combination of clay and salt in warm water. Rinse your feet. If you have lavender oil or tea tree oil, rub your feet afterwards with these oils in a carrier oil such as jojoba oil or almond oil. This will draw out the virus.

4) SWISH 'MOUTHWASH' -
Pulling is an ancient tradition. Swish organic sesame seed oil or olive oil around in your mouth to draw out the virus. Spit the oil out, as you would with a mouthwash.

5) MASSAGE YOUR SINUSES-
Massage around the bridge of your nose and the third eye area between your eyebrows, as well as your jaw by your ears with tea tree oil mixed with a carrier oil to drain sinuses and lymph nodes.

6) WEAR GARLIC SOCKS -
An old folkloric remedy that truly works every time. Chop up a half a garlic bulb, or at least several cloves of garlic in a small bowl. Put them in olive oil. Rub your feet for ten minutes with the anti-viral oil. Place first some dispensable socks on top of your oily feet, throw some garlic pieces in there. Put a pair of red socks on top of the first pair. Wear them several hours. Repeat once. You may wear them to bed. This remedy works the same way Chinese acupressure and reflexology work, each pair of the foot in connected to various organs of the body. The antiviral medicine goes into the bloodstream, carrying the healing properties to each part of the body.

7) POP JADE SCREEN TABLETS -
Get some of these magical herbal tablets online or from a Chinese Apothecary. They protect against wind cold/wind evil. Very effective!

8) SWEAT IT OUT! -
Drink diaphoretic tea to help induce sweating and draw-out the virus! Drink any combination of ginger, cayenne pepper, chrysanthemum, chamomile, elder flowers, peppermint, coriander seeds, and meadowsweet flowers. Sweeten with maple syrup or honey. Pull the covers over your head and sleep, allowing your immune system to do the work for you while you rest easy.

Quick Breakfast Tip

If you've ever been too busy to wash your dishes, and your kitchen is nearly past the point of no return, I suggest booking your mother/maternal figure a ticket to come stay with you. No, not to clean the mess for you, but to scare you straight with her impending arrival. Your mother is a dear woman, a sensitive sentient being whose heart would be crushed to know that her child is eating meat and potatoes with a serrated knife and melting plastic forkware in her attempts to reheat take-out without a proper utensil. But before you get up the courage to attack the rank pile of dishware with zeal and fervor - armed with a box of stainless steal pads, a stack of old beloved CDs and a squirt bottle of organic solvents - you'll have to eat something for fortitude.

If you do eat, if you are still someone who consumes foods orally in non-tablet-or-liquid-form, especially if you love the lost art of mastication, particularly if you are someone who buys bags of things from the health food store you never use, I suggest the following recipe:

Pandora's Seedy Cereal

1 1/2 c. unsweetened organic cow or goat yogurt
1 tbsp. raw chia seeds
2 tbsp. raw organic shelled hemp seeds
1 tbsp. raw organic flaxseed or flaxmeal
1 tbsp. organic maple syrup
1 organic banana sliced



optional:
1 tbsp. raw organic sesame seeds
1 tbsp. wild-crafted spirulina from Maine or the southern Hemisphere
1 tbsp. raw pumpkin seeds

And there you have it. Voila! Delicious, makes-you-feel-good breakfast for a hard day's night of cleaning.


The domestic goddess artwork above is by Edith Vonnegut, who asked to paint me when she gets back from Mexico. My reply? "Yes! Take me!" Of course, I meant take my essence and do with it what you will.

Don't Make Me Come Over There and Ovulate!

The International Women's Day hosted by 92.1 WOMR Provincetown and 91.3 WFMR Orleans, is back! This year's programming weaves an array of female voices together, with eclectic live music and interviews. Some featured interviews will include those with journalist Maryam Durani from Kandahar Afghanistan, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Aquella Yousef (originally from Kabul), Pulitzer Prize winners, author Indira Ganesan and so much more. I will be interviewing a documentary producer who is bringing the stories of Moroccan Muslim women to Cape Cod as well as a local doula and midwife team who will talk discuss the joy of women reclaiming their bodies and birth choices.

This is Rayssa Ribeiro and she will perform live on March 8th at WOMR!

Six Questions for a Cape Cod Doula

INTERVIEW WITH DOULA RUBY CORRIGAN ANASTASIO:

PP What are some common misconceptions about breast-feeding?

RA Common misconceptions are that if you choose to breastfeed you can’t go back to work and be a breastfeeding mother at the same time, breastfeeding makes your breasts saggy, and that it makes children clingy. On the contrary, it builds trust with them so when they are ready to face challenges in life more independently and with confidence. It builds a basis of trust.

PP What are some secrets to a happy pregnancy?


RA Trusting that your body knows how to grow a baby. Taking charge of your care. Becoming informed on your choices to make decisions that are right for you. Surrounding yourself with people who are supportive of your way of doing things. Being your own advocate. Understanding that every pregnancy is different. Building a supportive “birth team”. It takes a team, it really does.


PP What can partners do to best support women’s pregnancies?


RA Believe in their strength and ability. Believe in them. Believe in the process and believe in the woman. Rub their feet every night. Do more around the house is a big one. Make dinner, care for the other children, understand that she does need to take a nap. My cousin recently asked her husband if he’d mind watching the kids while she took a nap, he said, “Are you kidding me, you’re growing a person.” If every partner said that to us, how great it would be. Express appreciation for the job she is doing.


PP What can partners, friends and families do to support lactation?


RA Educate themselves on the benefits of breastfeeding and put their biases aside. Bring her a glass of water every time she sits down to nurse. Compliment her on how the baby is growing bigger and how well she is doing. Acknowledge the way she is nurturing the baby is the reason the baby is so healthy and growing so well. Don’t tell her negative stories. That goes for pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Avoid being discouraging, saying things like: You’re not making enough milk, that’s why he’s crying, or That’s a big baby, there’s no way you will give him enough milk. Once she has that mind frame of ‘I can’t’ it’s really a downward spiral. The first step is that the latch is corrected immediately, not supplementation with formula. The baby should go through 8-10 diapers a day, this might mean being on the breast more often. I advise my clients not to give up in the first couple of weeks. Know that it is going to get better and better.


PP How can doulas assist women in ways that family members sometimes can’t?

RA Doulas are trained in comfort measures, information and support techniques. They don’t have the same emotional attachment to the women. It can be hard to for the husband or wife to watch [the process a birthing mother goes through.] Doulas know that what she is going through is just a part of her process, it is normal, it was built to work that it is doing. We are skilled in areas that a family member would not have the same insight, experience or training. Doulas have knowledge of the birth process, skill in providing comfort measures, and an understanding of what she is feeling. A lot of women have children, but they haven’t experienced giving birth.”

PP What herbs should women be using post-partum and why?

RA I have made and used pads that are kept in the freezer, with a tea made from comfrey and calendula” so that post partum you put it on your sore perineum. So it’s not dripping, squeeze out the extra. A long time ago they would dip a leaf of comfrey in bowling water and put that directly. Minuca honey is used by midwives, for tears not long enough to stitch. That seams to work really well.

You can find out more about Ruby Anastasio and read more about the importance of nursing at the bottom of the homepage http://pandorapeoples.com

The Fiddle and the Harp

These days we need more positive earth-healing frequencies to be magnified. The only earth-shaking we need is from ecstatic euphoric bolts of bodily bliss and mercaba-activating, cosmic-mind-melding, and consciousness-merging astral projections. That's why two beloved Celtic stringed classics enjoy fusion on WOMR-FM and WFMR on The Fiddle and the Harp. I will be guest-hosting again in a couple of weeks.

Read my article on breastfeeding at http://pandorapeoples.com ... scroll to the bottom of the home page!

Be well, freedom lovers, custodians of the earth, insomniacs, baby makers, Appalachian Aphrodites, Bostonians with Babylonian eyes and bella luna where ever you are tonight...