One of my favorite books. If I get stuck, it becomes the voice of my muse- a quick way to connect myself back to that inner place where things are not always as they seem.
p.231 – He’s been talking of women, in their traditional/ancient roles of courtesan (proficient in arts, literature and talk) housewife and the lovely, astonishing “Amazon” as he calls her:
‘There is a story about the daughter of the King of France, who’s been kidnapped by the Muslims. After she and a Muslim fall infinitely in love, she is rescued by her family and brought back from Islam. Her Muslim lover follows, recaptures her, and now, as they are running to escape from this military group of brothers who are trying to take her back, she says to him, ‘How good are you with your sword?’ He says, ‘No good. I’m just good in bed.’ ‘Well, she replies, ‘you go on then, and I will take care of this bunch.’ It’s a wonderful story, one of the best in the world, and it’s worth looking for in the Arabian Nights’
Crazy goodness. We are so smart, so bright, so capable. I’m thankful to live in a time where we are able to be educated, heard and treated as human beings rather than property…women have a vast, collective, repressed shit ton of wisdom to discover consciously. We have a lot to get out, and put into the collective. Joseph Campbell certainly recognized this. His sister was a sculptor and he hung out with a lot of artists over his life time. Teaching at Sarah Lawrence College allowed him to explain to hundreds of women how to have their own adventure, come to terms with their own wisdom:
Women will have their families, marriage, daily chores, work, and then, when they are fifty, and their families have been launched, there they’ll be. And it was my intention to give them this spiritual message of how to read the world in the second half of life’s journey.’
This book does just that. Not for the faint-hearted or close-minded. Only for the adventurous, who aren’t afraid of picking up that sword now and again.
Taken from my Tumblr post this morning: janetbalboa.tumblr.com
janet balboa 
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