Tag: Marie Cartier

Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity (Part Three-Final)— Feminism, Sleep and On with the Revolution by Marie Cartier

This is a follow up to my summer 2013 blogs: “Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity” –  part one and part two.

“The nicest thing for me is sleep. Then at least I can dream.”
–Marilyn Monroe

In the past two months I have written extensively about “sleep as spiritual necessity.” The Dalai Lama believes spiritual practice suffers without sleep. Sleep is important—all things in life work better if you have a good night’s sleep under your belt before undertaking them. But—how many of us slog through the day without that good night’s sleep? In my first blog on this topic I posted information about how women get less sleep than men. And last month (August) I followed up with yoga therapy techniques to combat insomnia—postures, meditation, and helpful techniques such as the use of aromatherapy. Continue reading “Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity (Part Three-Final)— Feminism, Sleep and On with the Revolution by Marie Cartier”

Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity (Part Two) by Marie Cartier

This is a follow up to my July 2013 blog: Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity.

Last month I wrote about “sleep as spiritual necessity,” and posted information about how even the Dalai Lama believes spiritual practice will suffer without sleep—and compassion must be practiced for the self—by giving the self—sleep.

If you didn’t get a chance to read that column—there is some pretty compelling evidence gathered there from an informal search of recent web articles attesting to the importance of sleep.

But, for now, let’s assume that we all agree—sleep is important and without it life is much harder than with it.

“Sleep on it.” “Things will look better in the morning.” And other common place sayings show us how much we believe in this. And yet—sleep is elusive for so many of us. So–this month I am following up with tips– including a brief yoga therapy overview to combat insomnia. Continue reading “Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity (Part Two) by Marie Cartier”

Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity by Marie Cartier

Sleep. Sleep. Sleeep.

Sleep is the best meditation – Dalai Lama

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep  – E. Joseph Cossman

I.
Sleeping is like hitting the reset button. People die without sleep.

It can make us maniacal and cut off our connection to spirit to be without sleep.
Are you afraid of missing something—if you sleep…? Is it something you are afraid you didn’t do or didn’t get to do? And yet…what part of our spiritual practice is suffering as a result of not sleeping…?

There is a billboard that states, you can sleep when you’re dead. Yet, the truth is you might die a lot faster if you don’t sleep.  Continue reading “Stories from the Yoga Mat: Sleep as Spiritual Necessity by Marie Cartier”

Emergence and the Spirituality of the Sacred Feminine by Anne Kathleen McLaughlin

goddesses
Kathleen and Marie (R-L)

Kathleen and Marie are friends who met at the event in Canada that inspired this post. Marie has given her monthly spot on Feminism and Religion to Kathleen so she can share her reflection with you. 

Emergence: the universe flares forth out of darkness, creating, over billions of years, through trial and error and trying again, astounding newness: carbon for life in the middle of a star…. the birth of planets, our earth holding what is required for life to emerge…. the creation of water from hydrogen and oxygen….the emergence of a cell with a nucleus.

Each of these seemingly impossible happenings did happen, offering us humans the hope that the impossible tasks confronting us in our time can be creatively addressed, showing us, as Brian Swimme expressed it, a domain of the possible beyond imagination. Our human endeavour has been powered by non-renewable energy resources. Our task now is to reinvent the major forms of human presence on the planet in agriculture, architecture, education, economics…. We need to align ourselves with the powers of the universe, consciously assisting, amplifying, accelerating the process of creative endeavour. Continue reading “Emergence and the Spirituality of the Sacred Feminine by Anne Kathleen McLaughlin”

Over the Rainbow or…“Over” the Rainbow? by Marie Cartier

What are the dreams that we dare to dream today?

I was sitting with a young queer student from my Gender Women’s Studies class at the gay coffee shop in Long Beach, California. I offer this option to my students—meet in

Long Beach on Friday of finals week if it helps — realize that I teach in Northridge, so on a Friday afternoon this means perhaps a 2 hour drive to do this. But many students do it—this one student included. It happened that he made this trek on the first day of Gay Pride activities in Long Beach—the Dyke March was that night.

of Gay Pride activities in Long Beach—the Dyke March, marie Cartier, feminism and religion, stonewall
Marie with sister of perpetual indulgence—tippy tappy toes

I asked if he was going to any Gay Pride events while he was in Long Beach—perhaps even attending the Dyke March. He said, “I’m over Pride.” It felt like a game changing statement for a young queer activist.  I asked, “Why?” He said, “Why do I want to go somewhere and have someone try to sell me sheets or …a condo ….or buy pillows…it’s just about money, Professor. It’s got nothing to do with… what it was supposed to be about…?

I said, “Stonewall.” Continue reading “Over the Rainbow or…“Over” the Rainbow? by Marie Cartier”

Birth Announcement: Baby, You Are My Religion by Marie Cartier

I want to proudly (not shamelessly) announce the upcoming birth of my book! Baby, You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars and Theology Before Stonewall will be published by Acumen Press, fall 2013 (October). However, it will not have the cover that is on the book as it is advertised now. I had problems with this cover as it depicts gay contemporary women in a country setting, not pre-Stonewall women in an urban setting, or identity. The photo below is the proposed (and accepted) new cover image, designed by my wife Kimberly Esslinger. And while we don’t know if the book cover will look exactly like this, the publishers are excited about this cover choice image.

I realized as I advocated for another cover—that my book is my baby. As I sought out another image and worked to negotiate and obtain the rights for it, I realized how protective I was of my book/my baby. I am giving birth to the projects I’ve stored inside myself—I, who never gave birth to biological children, give birth now to this book. I want to have this baby and I want to protect it and set it free to do its work in the world; nurture it and cheer it on as it sets forth to do great things; hold it close and watch it fly.
New Proposed Book Cover: Carolyn Weathers in front of the ACME bar, gay bar in San Antonio, Texas, 1961.

I realized as I advocated for another cover that my book is my baby. As I sought out another image and worked to negotiate and obtain the rights for it, I realized how protective I was of my book/my baby. I am giving birth to the projects I’ve stored inside myself—I, who never gave birth to biological children, give birth now to this book. I want to have this baby and I want to protect it and set it free to do its work in the world; nurture it and cheer it on as it sets forth to do great things; hold it close and watch it fly.  Continue reading “Birth Announcement: Baby, You Are My Religion by Marie Cartier”

Your Body is the Body of the Goddess by Marie Cartier

My body is the body of the goddess—witches and shamans and other magical beings (including humans) chant this in spring ritual …and other times of the year as well.

But as we prepare for spring equinox, I thought I would use my blog this March to give the Feminism and Religion community a chakra mediation for spring ritual and renewal. Spring is here. Your body is the body of the goddess. If desired, please say the following aloud or silently, participate in the suggested breathing exercise and allow yourself to sink deeply into the body that is yours and is part of the season– the awakening of spring.

Breathe deeply: in and out; in and out; and in and out. Continue reading “Your Body is the Body of the Goddess by Marie Cartier”

A Valentine Towards an Ethics of Loving Women Making Art by Marie Cartier

It is still a radical and generous act to love a woman for who she is apart from, as well as with, others.

My favorite artist is Frida Kahlo because she was a woman who dared to do art about her own self, in fact often about her own physical self. When she did that it was brave; and it still is brave to consider your life as a woman important enough to focus on. Let’s face it– women are not considered a priority in a world which still underpays women for the same jobs that men do. When I entered the work force in 1976 women made 60.2% of what men make. In 1986 they made 64.3%; in 1996 73.8%; in 2006 76.9%; and in 2010 women made 77.4%.

Continue reading “A Valentine Towards an Ethics of Loving Women Making Art by Marie Cartier”

Blessings for the New Year on Feminism and Religion by Marie Cartier

I remember being in Korea for the 2009 International Women’s World Congress with Hye Sook Hwang and Inhui Lee and many (many) others and realizing then in ways I had not before, how crucial feminist scholarly friendships are to not just my work –but my sanity. The way we see things and the way we talk about things makes sense in a way that many times the rest of the world does not make sense. I re-member, to use Mary Daly’s phrasing, Hye Sook’s Magu scholarship that awakened in me and many others the Goddess magic of Korea. I re-member Inhui’s work with the female shamans of Korea and their rituals to honor and memorialize with honor the “comfort” women—Korean women used as sexual slaves by the Japanese during World War II. I went to that conference on the urging of Hye Sook and came home from that conference with new lifelong friends—among them Inhui. At that time none of us were doctors—now we all are. Continue reading “Blessings for the New Year on Feminism and Religion by Marie Cartier”

Out of the Bars and Into the Streets and ….by Marie Cartier

I remember the election season of 1984. At the 1984 Democratic National Convention on July 18 in San Francisco, California, Jesse Jackson delivered the Keynote address, entitled “The Rainbow Coalition.” The speech called for Arab Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, youth, disabled veterans, small farmers, lesbians and gays to join with African Americans and Jewish Americans for a political purpose. My lover at the time woke me up very early in the morning to tell me that Jesse Jackson had said the words “lesbians and gays” as part of his speech at the Democratic Convention. I started to cry and called my mother and she cried, too. We both cried. It was a moment I will never forget…because in that moment I as a lesbian existed on national television and in the imagination and spoken word of the country’s political system where I live and pay taxes—in a way I never had before—I was spoken out loud. Continue reading “Out of the Bars and Into the Streets and ….by Marie Cartier”