sachertorte
The woman was a terrific smoker. Sultry in a clinging dress. It looked like a slip, but she wore it as a robe, trailing down her shoulders. Thick hips and lips gave the impression of a broad persona. People assessed her and thought, she must be brave! She must be loud! She must be lascivious! Hmmm, this woman just enjoyed bread.
Consumption of Christ: we toast to total consciousness with wine and square slices of rye. Why couldn’t it be a sourdough? The woman mustered up the strength to speak with the priest. The man looked down, assumedly at his palms, pressed in a prayer to his heart. The woman knew better; he was staring at her breasts. She was no fool to the facade; even the best humans had a shadow.
The woman trotted home in her platforms from church, filled with a sparkling desire to bake a cake. A beautiful torte she would take to the ecclesiastics. Vital current of the cosmos, didn’t they know Jesus loved his sweets? Mohammed and Siddartha, too. Men who abject the need to feed in an effort to fill their souls with a more subtle kindness.
Aha! The Shakti woman is willing to bake to break the fast and lure the shadow from its cellar. Drag it out! The woman laughed and laughed as she tossed the ingredients into the bowl. She licked her thumb, dusting cocoa from an angular cheek. The body is a repository of memories. These silly people forget existence is a series of small deaths and rebirths.
To merge with the divine is also to dine with
grace on a Sachertorte filled with cream and jelly.
— Seraphina Dawn
What is the entry point into a poem?
This is my ponder of the week.
The verse above took me thirty minutes to start and ten to compose. I then spent another twenty reading it aloud to finesse the sequence of words.
Entering a new piece of work is challenging; the composition is easy once I get a rhythm.
I finished my poetry manuscript last week: a collection of works I’ve been reviewing, revising, and reorganizing for a decade.
It is satisfying to bring something to completion.
It is also a little execution. The ending of what was, and my birthing process has begun!
Aha!
Sending you a blessing,
Sera.
Sushumna = the most graceful current = the spine
The spinal column is the channel of life.
In yoga philosophy, the spine contains the two main nadis (Ida and Pingala) representing Shiva and Shakti (Prakriti/matter and Purusha/consciousness).
Nadis are energy lines in the body - we have over 72,000 - that carry the Prana (energy/vital current).
Sushumna is also the home of the seven main energy centers known as the chakras.
Julius Evola describes the chakras in a way that captures their essence and immanent worth:
“These centers emanate currents of vital and luminous force that relate to organic and psychophysical functions: hence the correspondence between physical organs or systems and "heavenly" powers.”
The postures I outline below express the spine by lengthening and strengthening the muscles attached to it, allowing it to be strong and supple.
Level 1: Salamba Bhujangasana - sphynx pose
Level 2: Shalabasana - locust pose
If you are comfortable in Salamba Bhujangasana, try Shalabasana or Ardha Shalabasana (with the feet on the floor) to encourage muscle strengthening and a deeper breath.
Benefits of these postures (to varying degrees):
Stretches the muscles along the front of the chest.
Expresses the heart chakra (heart opening)
Strengthens the spinal muscles (erectors)
Creates more space for the lungs to expand during respiration
Releases compression in the spinal nerves (sciatica)
Quote of the Week:
“This dance of attraction and repulsion between charged particles is called the electromagnetic force. It enables atoms to join, to gather to form molecules and it keeps negatively charged electrons in orbit around positively charged nuclei.”
The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav
2 questions to brew on:
How do you tap into your creative rhythm? What are your practices to enter the flow state?
Where do you dance with the dualistic forces of attraction and repulsion - where do you perceive polarities and what do you do with them?