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What to Read Next: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by La Mensa in Art, books, Female Poet, Feminism, gOD, Inspiration, Literature, Love, Magic, Poetry, Review, Woman Owned Business, Women

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ancient births, ancient history, ancient menstruation, ancient women, anita diamant, bible births, bible literature, bible story, birth, blood, book about ancient women, book about periods, Feminism, genesis 34, herstory, jacobs daughter, leas daughter, literature, love, magic, midwifery, moon cycles, novel, periods, rape of dinah, the red tent, women cycles, women literature, women of the bible

dinah-eyes

I must admit I do not devour books. Reading was not something I grew up with as a child, but I have learned to become a better reader over time. Every time I finish a book, I find some sort of peace. I seek out knowledge through books, and I try to read a little every day. Sometimes though, a book captures me in such a way, that I become obsessed with the world inside it. I live it, I dream about it, think about it and it consumes me. The Red Tent was one of these books.

The subject matter? Women of ancient times. Specifically one woman: Dinah, mentioned only once in the Bible in the Book of Genesis. Her story comes to life. Her youth, her traditions, and the red tent. A place where women of ancient civilizations used to gather during the new moon, to observe their menses, and bring ritual and in some cases honor the life bearing blood that fills wombs every month.

Not only did the story of Dinah, daughter of Lea, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah bring knowledge of ancient womanhood practices, including midwifery and births, marriage, sex, and a young girls turning of age through her period. My journey with these women, made me understand the strength of the covens that formed during times where their stories, and names were barely mentioned.

red-tent

This story is rooted on the Bible story of “The Rape of Dinah” in Genesis 34, where the episode of her violation by Shechem is later avenged by her brothers Simeon and Levi on the city of Hamor, father of Shechem.

The Bible is a book where the female is scantly sacred, where lineage is remembered by fathers, and where the births of sons is most honorably, and women’s honor is due for the rise of power for man and tribe. Anita Diamant transforms the stories of Laban, Rachel, Lea, Jacob and Joseph and flips it on its head. She remains true to the old written word, but delves into a world lost by time filling in the gaps of Dinah’s story.  A woman’s world where magic, wisdom, strength and faith are rooted on the spirit of the female.

I give praise to The Red Tent, for it gave me sight into a world where eyes need to go, where women ought to be honored, and most of all remembered.

If you love history, if you want knowledge of ancient womanhood, and if you want to dive deep into a story of love, magic and blood, then I invite you to open the pages of this book.

Thank you to the author, and thank you to Dinah, whatever your real story may have been, today we remember you had a story too, and we honor your story now.

With love,

-Mensa

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My Criminal Mind

18 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by La Mushpa in Art, happiness, Inspiration, Literature, Quote, TV

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1956, Cara Reynolds, Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds Quotes, Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself, Jean Stein, Jefferson, literature, Mississippi, North Carolina, quote, The Paris Review interview, The Sound and the Fury, Wallace, William Faulkner, Writers at Work

First edition cover of The Sound and the Fury

Last night I was watching Criminal Minds. It is great-ish show. I have a somewhat odd interest in serial killers, sociopaths, psychopaths, and the un-rested. At times I have to mute it and look away, which thankfully confirms I am not a sociopath. ;]

I am interested in things that are a conundrum of the norm. Events, circumstances and people that make me question, that propel me to discover more through knowledge and my own truth that comes from wherever it comes from. I also like the nerd factoids and of course the quotes.

On to the point, this was a long intro to basically let people know that I am going to start posting some of the quotes from this show on a regular basis. Yes, I am that nerdy. B] I like quotes because they inspire me not only to be different, but get me interested and/or remind me of people, books, periods that help me evolve, to understand things, and to not feel so alone in this world. They move me. Anything that gets me to pick up a book is a good thing.

The quote from last night I am posting is by William Faulkner.

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”   –  William Faulkner (The Paris Review interview (1956) with Jean Stein; later published in Writers at Work)

Anyway…hope you are into it. I am going to read, “The Sound and the Fury” because of this and because I am living in rural North Carolina, I know nothing about Jefferson, Mississippi and my cat’s name is Jefferson, so let’s do this.

– Mushpa

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The Thing About Pain

16 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by La Mushpa in Literature

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Amsterdam, An Imperial Affliction, Augustus waters, cancer, cancer survivor, Cara Reynolds, clinically depressed, expatriate American, John Green, literature, pain, stage IV, stage IV–cancer survivor, The Fault in Our Stars

 The Fault in Our Stars by John GreenTruth.

-Mushpa

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Reverie

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by La Mushpa in Female Poet, Irish, Poetry

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artist, books, Cara Reynolds, literature, Michelle O’Sullivan, Muse, poem, poet, Reverie, soul sister, The Blue End of Stars, The Gallery Press, The Orchard

Michelle O’Sullivan reads ‘The Orchard’ from her first collection The Blue End of Stars.


Yesterday I decided to clean out my e-mails, including my drafts and in doing so I came across this poem, “Reverie” my friend Michelle O’Sullivan, an amazing poet, wrote. This poem says so much to me as an artist. It inspires me. It’s beauty undefined.

Reverie

The muse doesn’t tempt or ask,
she whispers lightly as she opens
the door, touches your earlobe,
the soft curve of your neck.

She doesn’t beckon or whinge
but takes your hand in hers,
sings low at the side of your face.
Everything, she says, bring everything.

– Michelle O’Sullivan

Michelle was one of the first people I ever let in my life for real, and we may live on other ends of the world now, I in New York City and her on the west coast of Ireland, but I have never lost my connection to her. She is my soul sister, before this life and in this life to the next. I am so proud of her publishing her poems in her new book, The Blue End of Stars, but not surprised.

I love you my friend, through thick and thin, always.

– Mushpa aka Cara

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