Gestare Art Collective

Barbara's Pose, September29, 2015, 14 minute pose

On the cusp of the super moon--the eclipse that will not happen again in my life time. 9:37pm EST I stand on a street corner on Davenport near Ossington in Toronto with my friend Shannon. We watch the moon and its light disappear behind clouds in the sky, catching glimpses of it through momentary openings to the sky. This morning, after many days of travel and fast paced movements I sit very still on the floor of my living room in the 'dea genetrix' pose. I am acutely aware of my buttocks spread flat on the ground. My still, solid arms are fixed firmly on my torso. Left arm resting under my left breast and right arm in the crease between my belly and my thigh. I breathe deeply. From this still place I notice people are coming to me. They  surround me where I sit. It is not my task to go out to them but their task to come to me. My role is to be here solid and rooted so they can receive my assistance, council, guidance. My personal self likes this not having to travel and reach out to others. And yet I realize I am this figure people come to. The difference is that I rarely experience myself in this still and solid seated position when others come to me. It all feels too rushed and fleeting in my daily experience. Whether it is through students coming to my office or my responding to emails. This ancient pose is a very different take on the work I do today but it is resonant and relevant and not to be forgotten.

The dea genetrix pose seated.  ‘The earth is the throne on which the clan mother sits when she leads the clan and goes into trance in order to heal and to connect with the spirits.’

It’s Saturday night September 26 in Sligo county southern Ireland. The full moon rose above the trees into a clear twilight blue sky and while the rest of this group of fifteen ‘bardic pilgrims’ went off to the pub for a traditional Irish pub night, I chose to sit in the silence of this quiet and empty cabin and to bring the Ma pose practice into this experience I am having of prehistory in this part of Ireland which has 2% of the population and 40% of the megalithic monuments.

Rooting deep into this earth in this place as I have been doing over and over again these last few days felt easy and natural. Sitting on a low bench legs stretched in front of me, arms relaxed hands resting on my thighs assuming the pose of the dea genetrix I moved into trance finding myself as ancient clan mother seated in a stone enclosure as part of a community built around the passage tombs containing the beloved dead of my family and tribal community members. A deep stillness fell upon me, my limbs, my flesh warm softening into the pose as my inner eye roamed over these landscapes upon which I have been walking, landscapes of my bloodline, landscapes that resonate in my bones.

And so I sat for seventeen minutes at home in this place knowing that outside my stone hut the grass grows green in the wide swales of land holding the tombs around me, and on the mountains above the rough tough heather grows over rock and stone, animals graze, and reeds for weaving basket making, mat making grow in the marshy areas. Embodying the ancient clan mother shaman whose role in the community as healer and wise woman settles so naturally into my bones. Here in this hut I am preparing to travel on foot from hut to hut tomb to tomb offering comfort and healing to those in the community who seek the presence of the shaman healer. Reading the landscape around me and knowing by the rising and setting of the sun and the shape of the hills exactly where I am and what day in the cycle of the year it is. As I sit with this ritual the Ma pose of the dea genetrix, my entire being is vibrating and resonating as it recognizes something very familiar in this. The old ones are not far away.

Nane's poses

Sept 29, 2015 Sitting with my hands over my belly, and around my mid-body at times. Today, this pose becomes a very personal journey, rather then the big energies of Sunday’s pose. I am working to hold a sense of gratitude for my body, and to feeling a grounding into the earth, as illness is creeping in again. I want to send blessing to my-self and body, with so many symptoms that come and go. One day I feel well, the next can change swiftly. I become aware of my belly, its round shape, as I release tension there. I am holding my belly gently in my hands. My belly relaxes more, enjoying this rest and sense of holding.

Sept 27, 2015 Harvest equinox full moon and eclipse - At St. Paul’s Labyrinth in Vancouver, BC - Incredible energies as soon as I set foot in the labyrinth – I realized as I walk, that I am holding the pose in standing form, through this walking meditation. This walk is so immediately transpersonal in experience. Many people are walking the labyrinth today, maybe because of this special moon? I feel very expansive energies running through my system, lots of tingling and opening sensations. Its just a pleasure to be here, a lightness of being – I am feeling community with the other walkers. Interesting to note: there is an equinox polarity of male/female walkers of 3/3 and then 4/4. Usually, there are more women here then men. As I walk into centre, a man is playing a small Tibetan bowl. The high ringing sound has an energetically clearing effect, opening more energy sensations . I sit and hold the pose for several minutes. I find myself at rest from the swirling energies of walking with others. I have several images arrive in my mind, for designs of goddess necklaces, using stones. As I leave the centre, I am met by the beaming smile of a women walking by me, and I smile back. I am walking out of the labyrinth with a sense of deep peace, my hands folded over my belly in the MA pose – just empty of thoughts.

Megan Sims Ma Pose, September 12, 2015

I begin my practice outside at 9:40pm engaging with the sky. The super moon is almost fully eclipsed. The view from my house is slightly obstructed by the trees across the street so I walk down the block to get a better view. I take my camera and capture a few photographs of the vibrant red moon. Around 9:50pm I sit on my front porch and get settled in the pose. The moon has risen to a clearing between the trees. Crickets are humming and I can smell the pineapple sage bush next to me. I breathe and begin to connect with my practice. The pavement beneath me is cold, cars drive by, people are walking....and I become distracted.

I decide to move inside to the warmth of my bed. It is 10:00pm and the moon is in full eclipse. I sit in the mother clan pose and begin rooting. As soon as I am grounded my cat, Phloyd, opens the bedroom door and jumps next to me. He places his paws on my legs. I continue to focus on connecting with the energy of the moon, the spirit of the shaman. I inhale a deep breath of air and being to think about the procedure I will be having in the morning, a lung biopsy. A sense of fear takes over for a moment, then with my next inhale I am greeted by a mother shaman spirit. She kisses me on the lips, endearing, grandmother like, and becomes a wisp of the air I breathe in. I see her evaporate and enter through my mouth, and down my throat. I feel her kiss my lungs and a great warmth spreads through my chest.

Phloyd's rhythmic purr becomes present to me in the moment. The sound grows louder and transforms into the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore. I walk into the water; it is cool and fresh. My nostrils become filled with salty air. I walk until my body is half way in water and sink myself willingly to the bottom. My hands reach into the sand as I feel the waves move over the top of my head. I am practicing holding my breath for the lung biopsy.

I am suddenly on a boat, the waves gently rocking me. Phloyd's purr is guiding me, like the movement of the sea. Then I am again under the ocean, holding my breath in practice for my procedure. Shaman spirit whispers to me, "You are strong. There is nothing to fear. You can handle anything." I am back on the boat wrapped in the warmth, the rhythmic purr is present. Then a shift, Phloyd jumps off of the bed and leaves the room. Three elder women spirits surround me. They point to the sky, to the fully eclipsed moon. They kiss my cheeks and my forehead and say, " There is nothing to fear. You are strong." They become part of the air and I breathe them in. They enter my lungs bringing warmth again to my chest, down to my belly, through my pelvis. "Let go of fear. You already know....be strong," they whisper through my soul.

This pose becomes my mainstay through the month as I heal and I carry this pose into October's moon.

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