Going Within To Know Truth

What truths inspire us? It helps to be naturally curious, I suppose. But when I wander about, I find such inspiration in the present moment. No agenda, no purpose other than wandering about looking at all the flowers and plants growing, coming upon a snake or a lizard sunning itself. And who doesn’t love a good argument with a duck who seems to think the strawberries on my front deck belong to him? Of course the ultimate in present moment inspiration is found when I sit and watch my bees coming in and out of their hives.

But a witch realizes that everything we do, everything we are, comes from within, including inspiration. I’ve always had an inner focus that I’ve relied on. We can have all the crystals, candles, and incense we want, but at the end of the day our awareness and true inspiration emanates from an inner focus.

There’s plenty of discussion these days about reawakening the Goddess presence within each of us. Patriarchy has all but destroyed our spirit, allowing oppression to take a firm hold. We’ve lived under a destructive imbalance resistant to change for thousands of years. The return of Goddess presence allows resistance felt to fall away, replaced by a quiet dignity that respects all. We reawaken our Source presence and then remember who we truly are. But know that it’s a reawakening that we experience, and not a redefinition. Because a redefinition assumes a central truth when each of us is here to express our own. Who we are hasn’t changed, we need only reawaken and remember that truth.

We’ve felt the effects of patriarchy in our lives from the moment we’re born with behavior reinforced along gender lines. I remember being told growing up that I should be a teacher because I would be home with my kids in the afternoon and summers, as if my future husband would have no responsibility whatsoever for our children. And that glass ceiling women experience, it’s movable to any position necessary in order that a woman is kept in her place. I earned a Black Belt in Kenpo, but instead of receiving the respect due a person who trained daily for three years to achieve such an honor, my achievement was viewed by some as a gift from my husband, the instructor. I worked my ass off but truth didn’t matter.

And then there’s the intrusive way some men speak to women. And trust me, it doesn’t matter if you’re married or single, some men still believe they can say anything they want to a woman and she’s supposed to be grateful for the attention. Except that we’re not. And when it happens we experience fear, anger, rage, and powerlessness. As if we have no right to speak up and say no.

The choice that began long ago to force patriarchy on the world has taken us off track, creating an imbalance between us that is unsustainable. But the last thing women need is for anyone else to define their own awakening. We need only go within to know our truth. And that truth isn’t found in the past but in the present moment.

Each of us focuses into form to experience life on our own terms, to live our own truth. We don’t replace patriarchy with someone else’s take on our collective experience. We replace it with our own, in alignment with our inner Source Presence. We find our inspiration in the present moment, without the past to influence any outcome. We know what the problem has been and continues to be. Change happens when we live the solution.

Blessed be.