Gods, Goddesses, & Starbeams of Love

Oct 20, 2015 | Musings From A Conscious Parenting

Recently Arayla (10.5) and I went through her entire bedroom for the first time in years, clearing out clothes and de-cluttering toys and books that were no longer relevant for her rapidly transforming being. It was quite a task, and took over a week to complete. The final product was a truly different room~ clean, simple, mature, and current.

So it didn’t totally take me by surprise when Ezra (almost 7) announced to me several days ago: “Mom? You know my bedroom? It’s just not really feeling like ME these days.” Respectfully humored, I asked him: “Really? What do you think needs to change so it can feel more like YOU?”

Fully expecting him to come back with some pressing desire for new bedding, or a Star Wars poster, or something pertaining to skateboarding or martial arts, I was completely taken aback when he responded with utter certainty and serious clarity: “I think what I really need Mom? Is an ALTAR with some GODDESSES on it.”

Yes. You heard me. That is exactly what my fabulously masculine, intensely athletic, lego-starship-building, taekwondo practicing, 2-weeks-shy-of-7 year old son said: he needs “an altar with some goddesses on it.”

Without missing a beat, I said: “Really~ goddesses? What goddesses are you thinking of?” He shrugged, then said: “Oh, you know. Maybe Artemis? She’s pretty cool with her bow and arrows. Or Athena with her owl? Or maybe Aphrodite? Mmm, yes…” he smiled, with a far-away look in his eye, “I do like Aphrodite.”

I grinned at him, somehow miraculously containing my laughter.

I pressed further: “What about Gods? Would you like any Gods on this altar?” He thought for a moment, and then said: “Sure. Yes. Poseidon is really great~ you know, for protecting the oceans. Or maybe Ra? Or Apollo? The Sun Gods?” I asked him: “How did you learn about all these gods and goddesses?” He looked at me with a puzzled look, as though baffled I could be so dense, then responded: “Everybody knows about gods and goddesses, Mom.” Duh.

I hadn’t forgotten about this conversation, and as his 7th birthday is rapidly approaching, I’ve been flirting with the idea of actually creating such a God/Goddess altar for him as a gift. So this morning as we showered together, I said, nonchalantly: “So, um, Ezra? Of all the goddesses, who do you think is your favorite goddess?”

He was playing on the floor of the shower with some little playmobil knights. He said: “What do you mean? Like who is my FAVORITE goddess in the Whole World?” I nodded, relieved to sense we were going to narrow this down to a single goddess for the altar: “Yes~ who’s your favorite one?”

He was quiet for a moment, then looked up at me, beaming love, and said: “YOU ARE, Mom!” Then he looked down at his toys again, and, shaking his head, added jauntily: “Obviously!”

Rendered speechless by the immediacy of his devoted love, my tender Mama heart cracked open even wider, once again. Obviously.

Facebook Comments

More Blog Posts

Dream Prayer: Loving The Thief

Heading into prayer space this weekend. So deeply grateful to have the chance to gather with kindreds around the flame and sit with what is churning in our hearts, and in the great heart of our world in these tender, troubling times.I had a potent dream a couple of nights ago that I am still working with deeply. The dream was about my car (a common symbol for me) getting stolen by an irreverent, narcissistic, nonchalant and arrogant drug-lord thief! I tried everything to get the thief to give m […]

Birthing A Star

This morning as I lay in my bed in the dark, gently transitioning into the new day, I saw the light pouring out through the crack of Ezra’s bedroom door, which shares a wall with my own bedroom.

I stretched my ears to listen to the most marvelous sound~ a sound that is deeply familiar to me by now~ of him […]

My Grandmother, The Queen

My beloved Grandmother, my mother’s mother, Dorothy Dannenbaum Rudolph, fondly known by us all as “Dede,” passed on from this world late last night at the seasoned age of 94.

She died in the comfort of her own home, in her own bed, with her two loving daughters by her side. She had been […]

“Come In”

Tonight I go to tuck Ezra (7.5) into bed, and there’s a little handwritten note taped to his door that says: “Come in.”
I walk into his room and find him already in his bed, lying there quietly in the dark, waiting for me.
He asks, somberly: “Did you see the note?”
I say: “Yes, I did!”
He says, still serious in tone: “So that’s why you came in?”
I chuckle a little and say: “Yes, that’s why I came in.”
He asks: “Did you see the *first* note I put on my door?”
I say: “No I didn’t. What did it say?”
He responds: “It said: ‘Do not come in.’”
I say with surprise: […]

Mother

For Mother’s Day today I wrote to my mother:

“My dear, beautiful, amazing Mom!!

Happy Mother’s day!! I love you so much. What a lucky life I live with you as my mother!! 

If you knew all the moments my heart beats with sheer gratitude for who you are, and how you show up in this world, and in my life specifically, along with the […]

Retrograde Mama Morning

This morning was one of those mornings where it was quite clear that all the retrograde planets were colliding and exploding in my very home! Ezra’s alarm didn’t go off at 6 am as he was expecting it to, disrupting his cherished self-made morning rhythm of showering and playing early, before Arayla and I rise, so he can claim his 7-year-old space and his center.
​
And so I woke […]

The Thankless Job~ & How It Invites Us To BE The Thanks

I remember one time, when my kids were much smaller, maybe 5 and 2 years old, we had just gotten over a horrendous family stomach flu. You know the kind~ where just like dominos, everyone goes down? One by one, everyone is violently, grossly sick, all over the house. And then, after scrubbing the bathrooms and doing 15 loads of laundry and taking care of everyone for days, finally the Mom gets it too?

I distinctly remember speaking to my dear mother at the time over […]

​Sandcastle Lessons for Tenacity, Generosity and Surrender!

Enjoying a glorious beach day yesterday in Point Reyes with the children and our beautiful puppy, I had the luxury of just sitting there, quietly, soaking in the abundance of beauty~ while witnessing them all playing in the sand together, my gorgeous beach-loving little ones.

Towards the end of our time I noticed the kids were intently focused on building a sandcastle together, but […]

A Birthing Day

Last night I curled up with my beloved girl at bedtime, on her 11th birthday eve, stroking her long, auburn hair, massaging her sweet golden shoulders. I snuggled in to tell her, lingeringly, in annual ritual fashion, the glorious and epic story of her body’s birth...

Unconditional

Several weeks ago, one night at bedtime, my son Ezra (7) got overly exhausted and intensely triggered, and in his fury he yelled at me, viciously: “You aren’t even my MOM!!” And then, fuming, spitting, he said: “You are such a fucking!!”

I felt astonishingly calm in the face of his foul-mouthed rage. In fact, I found myself […]