Image and Likeness by Dale Allen

I attended a beautiful women’s circle to celebrate my dear friend Gloria’s birthday recently.  Each woman was invited to bring a sharing for Gloria – a poem, reflection, oracle card, song or dance – whatever felt right.  Each sharing that day was not only a gift to Gloria, but to each of us.

I had met Gloria during the period of my life when I had written a play titled, “Dancers of the Dawn,” with a cast of seven women of different ages, shapes, sizes and colors. The play featured original music, drummers, myth, history, dance, even comedy for a sumptuous experience of the sacred feminine emerging in modern women.  Gloria was a part of the women’s sacred circles that we co-created during that time – circles that continued for a decade and still retain heart-connections today. 

For Gloria, I wanted to go to the start of our life-journey together– back to the that time when we met.  This was even more apropos as the hostess of Gloria’s birthday gathering was Supriya, who had performed with me in “Dancers of the Dawn!”  I had not seen either woman in several years.

Coming together again, being able to hug these women, feeling that unfathomable sense of connection, of rootedness, was something that bypassed words.  Our bond transcended time – flowing ever-connected as if no time had elapsed since our last meeting.  But it also deeply honored time.  We looked at each other with the eyes of Wisewomen, and with the sparkle of the eternal Maiden’s wonder and delight.  We beheld each other like magnificent wise trees all full of summer leaves. Wise trees that have seen so much. Wise trees with our roots so deep into Mother Earth. Wise trees with our high branches and perspective that time and growth bring.  Humbled that we are still here on this Earth to learn, to love.

When women come together in sacred circle, where sharing is straight from the heart, from the core, where listening is a welcoming ocean of love and acceptance – the lives of those women change.  We are meant to connect that profoundly.  And once that true connection is established, it remains.  The sacred circles that I was a blessed with at that time were instrumental in my creative offerings of that time, and to this day it is nature and my soul sisters that bring the music of sweet alignment to my spirit.

This is the sharing I brought to Gloria for her birthday, and here share with you.  It was part of “Dancers of the Dawn” when each of the cast members took lines in succession. I can still hear their unique voices resounding throughout the theater. 

If you don’t have a women’s sacred circle, consider starting one.  You might consider opening a circle with these words, each woman taking a line in circle.  Or, close your eyes and listen to a recorded version here:

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Image and Likeness

Let us see in our faces the image and likeness of the Divine.

And see in each other’s faces the image and likeness of the Divine.

Let us determine to live free of a culture that would keep us suspicious of our own strength, wisdom, beauty and divinity.

To live free of a culture that would keep us suspicious of each other.

For we shall not burn the witch within ourselves or any woman.

We shall not dim ourselves or any woman.

Let us determine to live our lives according to an inner truth – to heed the calling of our souls.

And to follow our natural cycles as the earth follows hers.

Let us bring forth that part of ourselves that history taught us to fear – that the world teaches us to fear.

Let us bring forth that vibrant part of us, so needed in the world.  That powerful part which has for so long been dimmed, starving both women and men.

Let us bring forth the dancing, the singing part of ourselves.

The fierce, the formidable part of ourselves!

The unveiled!

The juicy, the succulent, the sensual, the sacred!

The living!

The loving!

The wild, cackling, laughing part of ourselves!

The She-Wolf! The howling part of ourselves!

The Lioness!  The Protector!

The Leader!

The Creatress!

We are She, and She is us! 

We are the Image and Likeness of the Divine!

We stand side-by-side with each other and all persons who offer their Love in the co-creation of a world where everyone thrives!

It is my loving thought for you that you recognize the Divine in You and in so doing, reflect the Divinity of Others.  As George Harrison wrote, “I look at you all, see the love there that’s sleeping.” It’s there, in all of Us.  Our time is now.  The heart of woman, the sacred feminine that is ever flowing through us all, will guide the world we co-create. This energy flows through any religion or spiritual practice we may follow, opening and expanding the heart of that religion.  Even as we see hierarchical structures in society asserting more authority, we can all feel a turning point – a great global turning point – and it originates truly from within each of us and within each heart-centered connection.  Beneath the discord of world’s news and noise: listen, listen to your heart – it beats along with all of our hearts.  We are connected.  The compassionate feminine energy of humanity is coursing through us. Make room. Allow. Express. You came here for this.  We all did. 

BIO: Dale Allen is a veteran of corporate, commercial, and creative communications with hundreds of credits. She toured her one-woman show, In Our Right Minds to scores of audiences at universities, conferences, theaters and expos across the U.S., Canada, from Kauai to Dubai, to the UN-CSW and the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Her short film of the piece has been awarded in 19 international film festivals. Described as having the energy of “a Cape Canaveral lift-off,” she thoroughly engages and inspires her audiences, from highly educated corporate leaders to teenage girls.  Visit Dale in Chicago at the Parliament of the World’s Religions and be interviewed for a special video project for the Women’s Village.

https://www.thecore.space

https://daleallenproductions.com/index.html

https://www.inourrightminds.net