All About Freedom

Do you have any stories to share about how you got free, followed your soul, went on an amazing adventure, took on the man, did your own thing, fought the system, kept your integrity, took the road less travelled or generally how you became (or intend to become) a 'free spirit'?

I think we need to re-learn all about freedom (before it becomes some kind of abstraction or myth) and the only way I can think to pass it on is through our own individual stories. So we can teach eachother and reclaim and re-experience the freedom that is our birthright - our human right - our spiritual right.

I am not ONLY talking about the big issues, the protest marches and all that. I also mean those freedom attitudes, ways of living, daily observances and psychological stances that make us truly free.

Let's teach eachother to dance naked again under the stars...

 

come and sing a simple song of freedom

I remember dancing naked in the desert,kept bumping into the cactus

 

Well I am a Goddess Woman and a Sky Dancer - but I make sure there are no cactuses nearby.

I dance on a hill in the full moon, under the stars, once every month - not skyclad, clothed, but it's still great.

We dress in all our finery, get smudged with herbs first, one by one, and form a big circle. There are about 50 people, made up of regulars and new people and sometimes observers watching from outside the group. We start by protecting the circle and we call in the energies of the four directions and invoke the presence of God and Goddess.

A second smaller group of people forms in the middle, within the larger circle. They hold hands and do a spiral dance to build up the energies...it is fast and furious and great fun...while someone drums louder and faster and faster, until they all collapse, exhausted and laughing.

Then we lay on our backs on the cool green grass and meditate to the peaceful heartbeat rhythm of the drum in the sweet stillness of the night (its about 10pm) bathed in the beautiful moonlight. We send out love and peace to the earth and to all beings.

When we finish meditating we all get really close to eachother, in a huddle with our arms around the shoulders of the people near us, and we chant slow building Oms for about 7 minutes or so, gradually increasing the pitch and the volume. We end with one huge crescendo of sound as we raise our arms to the sky and then we all howl and holler and set the gorgeous energy free. It is a beautiful thing to do.

We finish off the night with fruit juice and biscuits and we thank the elements and the four directions and God/Goddess for their Presence. We throw a couple of dollars into a bucket as a donation to cover the cost of the fruit juice and biscuits for next time.

Sometimes we stay and chat with eachother before we leave, to meet up again on the next full moon. We leave feeling refreshed and deeply at peace.

So that is one expression of freedom I have in my life at the moment and it fills me with joy and renews my spirit.

 

Hey Skip, thanks for the bump.

I once did a goddess dancing workshop at a Pagan festival. It was beautiful.

The lady had the room filled with shells full of smouldering scented herbs, and bright swathes of transparent veils, and some rhythmic music playing.

So we each grabbed a veil and learned how to shimmy...kind of like belly dancing I guess...and the combination of colours, sounds, movements and scents made it deeply satisying to the soul.

I am working on myself to try to get rid of my fears (that is, ones I know about consciously from this life and ones from past lives). So it is good for my soul to hear about people who have overcome their doubts and fears and have set themselves free...maybe taken off on the road...or have done something way out...or have just taken risks that have led to some great experiences.

I keep trying to stretch myself. I am such a free spirit internally that I feel the external needs a bit of a nudge too. I don't want to look back on my life and say "I wish I had..." And even though I must seem fairly bohemian, or at least 'different' to some people, I know I am capable of more and better.

The Goddesses are alive and kicking in me, and I don't want to waste all that luscious energy! So come on you guys and share some experiences with me!

 

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I am still a work in progress too Mimosa, but the unfinished Symphony has perpetual promise, does it not? I hope so anyway...

I feel like I am on the right track. I feel like fear is my main obstruction, so I keep working with my subconscious to release things like fear of loss, hunger, persecution, sickness, poverty etc etc.

I like to be with other people who are free spirits and learn from them too...

 

Well, I once had a phenominal friend who got me to relax and see all the beauty in the world, I danced naked in the rain, ate grapes from the vine and felt truly alive. We would stay up all night and listen to great music and have the most fascinating conversations about life and death, love and laughter, poetry and art. Everything about him felt like home, he was my muse. It was so freeing knowing that there was someone out there to accept me on my own terms. Sadly we no longer speak and it makes me feel like I am missing a part of myself and I search for that spark inside, that zest for life, and I search for that comfort as it all fades to just a memory.

~POEM~ ....... Dedicated to Willie

I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There's nothing more to say.
The poem ends, soft as it began-
I loved my friend.
~by Langston Hughes~

 

Oh how beautiful! And how sad that it ended...I hope one day to meet someone just like that.

I hereby grant you Full Goddess Powers (the power of luuurve) in order to reunite you with your long lost muse...and my thoughts, hopes and prayers are heading your way...may love prevail!

 

Goddess Om, that sounds wonderful. id like to be part of something like that someday

 

I hope so too Aura. Being a woman is such an incredible, beautiful, magical experience...so never let anyone tone you down or bum you out. Shine on fellow Goddess!

 

my story is a long one i supose, back in the 80's i got involved in protesting many issues, & on a more day to day basis got involved with the issues of homelessness & hunger, starting by working in soup kitchens, & then starting entertainment in them.. then moved on to the bigger issues, taking over large vacant buildings like hotels & firehouses for use as emergency shelters, & being arressted & beatten for it, untll i got the mayers own staff backing me & illegaly helping me find safer buildings to use., then one day me & a freind decided to do a 10 day fast for word peace, we met that evening at the anarchy house on the next block from my house, & it turned out that about 50 people from the great peace march were sleeping there, & we didn't even know they were comming through town, so for an hour or so we discussed wether we should start the fast, or go on the last leg of the march, & we decided to do both starting first thing in the morning, hungry & tired from talking all night, i hopped on my unicycle & rode off towards dc to meet up with the rest of the marchers. after the 9th day of fasting & riding 20-30 miles a day with some of the most beautiful & strange & wonderful people we stopped for the night, i wasnt feeling the hunger so much anymore but my body was worn out, this very soft spoken gentle older man came up & offered me some french fries & i politely refused, & he asked me if i'd like to come help him cook in the krishnas kitchen, so i did, we talked awhile while we cooked, but not really about anything, & i went to bed, the next evening everyone was excited because ram das was going to speak, i took a hit of acid (not a good idea while fasting) & went to see him speak..boy was i surprised when i found out that ram das was the man i was cooking with the night before! when we reached dc, there were about 200 cops leading the way with thousands of marchers behind them, but i was out in front of the cops feeling so high i just bunny hopped my unicycle down the streat till i broke the axel

after that i started doing other smaller marches & actions & growing my dreads the 1st time, then when i was 19 i went to my 1st gathering in north carolina, & that changed my life forever, thats where i learned what true fredom meant, & actualy started to beleive peace was possible..another thing that helped me learn to be free was ader i had cut off my 1st set of dreads & attempted to do the whole career thing i broke my back in a motorcycle accident & whie in the hospitol there was 1 doctor who seemed to take pleasure in telling me all the things i'd never do againm but right away i decided how can i be free & yet accept artificial limmetations, so within 2 weeks after getting out of the hospitol i started learning to fly gliders, gotta tell you guys, nothing feels as free as dancing in th sky with a few hawks circling with you!! i never stopped going to gatherings & just trying to live life on my terms, keeping my heart & mind open & spreading as much love as i can everywhere i go

 

an interesting side affect of finding my own personal freedom, i discovered within mself a gift, maybe even a compulsion for empowering disempowered goddesses who feel trapped in abusive or overly controlling relationships
Goddess om is right, my sisters, never give up your strength, your power, in this world its easy to let the weak minded push you down below theyre level, but if you never give up that power you have within you as goddesses no man can push you down

 

Wow - what a ride you have had, soaringeagle! It inspires me. I love you. Bravo...

I think the younger ones look back and think that we already had some kind of momentum going when we started peace activism, etc. But the truth is, if you just keep your heart open and try to do something to address what you feel passionately about, then you just do it, even on your own. One person who is truly alive can become like a magnet.

I know what it feels like to have the Presence of the Goddess within. I wish all women stood up. Dare to be different. I wear feathers in my hair and I work for a very conservative company. I want people to remember the beauty and grace of the natural world. It is my little statement. It gives people permission to be who they are, or who they would wish to be!

PS. I'd like to reach right across the pacific ocean and get one of those hugs...

 

global hugs for everyone!!!!

 

(((soaringeagle)))

Many hugs for you!!!

 

Thank you Goddess Om....*Huggs everyone*

 

How wonderfully inspiring it is to read this thread. I cannot stop myself from smiling. We live in a soul crushing world where we all expected to conform to impossible and ever changing standards. Society has become a world of the walking wounded, and instead of throwing our spirits unto the wind, dancing not only under the moon but whenever and wherever we feel like, we rob ourselves of our right to be individually who we are. This thread gives hope and inspiration towards a new tomorrow .. it shows us we are not alone in our yearning to fly free. Thank You all *peace, love 'n' huggs* .. s

 

On a more practical note, my husband and I got rid of a locked-in job/mortgage/trap life by buying an old house ($3,000!) on an acre. We didn't know what the heck we were doing trying to fix it up, but we always felt the house and property were a metaphor for ourselves (disorder, dilapidated). Because we didn't know how to do anything much, we had to learn, and at the same time be patient.

Neither the house nor us are by any means complete, but we are definitely better off than we were. There is a tranquil air to our home and we have something very magical going on.

At one point, we had torn out a floor in the middle of the house, and had to "walk the plank" to the bathroom. It's a great feeling to do something you've never done before, and even though it's not fancy, it's ours.

 

Thanks softstarlight - I love it when we can pass on experience and wisdom to eachother. When you think of all the life experiences and 'flights to freedom' of all of us hippies out there - wow, we have some magical stories to share.

Old Willow - how great that you took that huge step and I guess you proved to yourself that you could do it. You coped with a big change, maybe some loss, insecurity, certainly must have been some self-doubt...but you both went ahead and did it anyway. And now you are in a much better and more peaceful place. Brilliant!