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On this page, I will copy some of the writing I create in the course of my life and work for the Goddess. It occurred to me that much of my writing gets "lost" because it is a letter to a friend sent by email, or it is a response to a question asked by a student etc..... all that wisdom sent out into the ether and never recorded anywhere. This often happens to women's work. We are not conditioned to value our work the way men are. Consequently, much of our wisdom and ways of being are not recorded, so it is assumed that we are neither wise nor worthy. Of course, we know differently. At least, I do! So, for your enjoyment - or maybe just my own - writings by Anique Radiant Heart.
A letter I sent to a friend in August 2004
You have been on my mind for some time now……since I had the vision about Uluru.
For some years, I have been traveling to the US to visit my sister, who lives in California and my son who lives in New York. You may remember that in 1994, I sold my house in Townsville, and took a long trip to the States where I promoted my CD LOVER MINE. I visited 37 cities and towns on that tour….it was amazing. I made connections with women that are still strong and very dear to me today.
During that journey, I was approached by a wonderful Native woman, who attended one of my concerts in San Diego. She introduced herself as a Spirit Teacher and invited me to spend three days with her at her home in the foothills. She explained that from hearing me sing and listening to what I said in between songs, she knew she had to share some of her ancient knowings with me to use as the Creator saw fit. What transpired during those 3 days changed my life and I came home and began teaching and singing about the Goddess. I have to clarify, she did not introduce me to the Goddess, I had been walking the Goddess path as you know, for some time. Rather she introduced me to a new part of myself that needed to begin expressing herself - namely the priestess/teacher in me. My "apprenticeship" with my teacher continues to this day. Each year when I travel to the US, I spend time with her and she moves me along my path just a little bit further and opens possibilities and opportunities for me to do the work of Spirit.
Last year, when I was visiting her, we followed our usual practice of cleansing on the first day of our time together by working hard in her gourd patch. And I mean hard….from sun up till sun down, with only short breaks for water and small meals of boiled corn. By the end of the day I have sweated oceans and feel light and almost euphoric - but very very grounded. All that contact with the earth and the gourds blows away the cobwebs in my mind, body and Spirit. In the evening, we sit down, have our small meal of corn and then drink sage tea, and talk. I tell her all the meaningful things that have happened over the past year, using my journal as a guide. She then fills me in on what has been happening for her. It is a profound and wonderful time of deep sharing. Then, we say our "prayers" which always include chanting which fills my soul with serenity and go to bed. The next day, the teaching begins.
During our second session, after "morning tea" break, we did a process which takes me forward in time to "see" what I may be doing over the next year. This is when I had the vision. I saw women flying (yes literally flying not in planes) in over Australia, making slow languid circles high above the land, the whole land mass of Australia. There were about 30 and all colours and shapes. They circled the land, for what seemed like hours, slowly flying lower and lower until they were circling over Uluru. I started to notice more detail in their clothing…..they seemed to be "queens" or elders with obvious power which emanated from them in different colours. I felt their position and the respect they held within their own tribes…I felt it in my body. Their clothing was regalia, not the clothing of everyday life. And they all carried a power object in their left hand, an amazing array of staffs, rattles, talking sticks, wands, pipes. I was transfixed. I then noticed that I, in my full priestess gowns was flying with them. I saw myself clearly, somewhat thinner, and looking radiant. We all circled, slowly coming together and forming a circle by holding hands. We landed in a circle at the base of Uluru, somewhere in front of the Rock where there is a deep cleft in the side - like a yoni. I have never been to ULURU, so I don't know if this kind of rock face exists, it would be great to know. As soon as all of us had landed, we found that a circle of "thrones" had been arranged in a circle for us, each with cloths laid over them that matched our clothing. Mine was purple and gold. The woman who sat next to me on my right, was a Native elder, dressed in white buckskin with turquoise and black decorations all over it. She had a headband of porcupine quills in black and white, with two plaits with a feather and beads holding the hair at the ends. Her "throne" was covered with a magnificent buffalo skin. The woman who sat on my left was South American, with brightly coloured tunic of reds and greens with an over skirt tied to one side with black and gold and a head scarf of the same fabric. Her "throne" was covered with red and black. She had one huge, tall feather which rose above her head like an antenna. The fact that they were both from America was significant to me,
When we had all settled, we heard the sound of deep breathing. The sound went on for a long time and began to intensify. I raised my eyes and looked at ULURU which was in front of me. The rock was breathing, actually breathing. I could see the outline expand and contract. I felt a chill run up my spine. It was an awesome feeling. One by one the women turned to look at ULURU, and one by one we began to breathe as one. I can tell you Sue, I have never felt so alive in my life. I felt a kind of power course through my blood and I was filled with a love for the Earth that filled every cell in my body and was released through my voice as a long and beautiful tone of joy and connection. The other women picked up the tone and it became a chant which we all sang for what seemed like hours. As the sun began to set and the full moon rose above the rock, we stopped one by one to chant, my voice being the last. The stillness of the desert slowly began to sing its own symphony as we opened our ears to the music of the desert. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw an Aboriginal woman move/dance slowly towards our circle. She appeared from "around the corner" of the rock and moved slowly and deliberately towards us. I saw her as a Goanna, although she was not dressed in anything at all, just a skirt of some kind and body paint. Her movement were clearly (to me) that of a large lizard. Then I saw more women, slowly dancing towards us, until I saw Emu, Kangaroo, Snake, Crocodile, Spider, Eagle, and many other creatures - some I did not recognise, until there were about 30 Aboriginal women in the centre of our circle. They began an elaborate and wondrous ritual. We all knew that we were there to witness and not speak or move. We watched as the Creation Story for that part of the land was enacted out for us. Sue, it was so sacred and profound, I am weeping as I write. For what seemed an eternity, our Aboriginal sisters shared their women's stories and we listened and said nothing. When they were finished, one by one, they moved off as they had appeared, until the very first one was left as the last. She danced towards me and crouched in front of me. I looked into her eye, as she had her face turned so that I could only see one eye, and I looked into that reptilian eye and seemed to look deep, deep, deep, into the Earth and into time….it was a feeling more than anything. I heard in my heart an invitation, an invitation to come and witness….and the word witness was repeated many times until I understood. When the understanding came, she moved off and disappeared as she had come. The understanding was amazing and I will expand further later on. But to continue the vision. When she left, I saw myself stand and call the other women to stand and I said words like this:
"Our Aboriginal sisters welcome us. They have dreamed us to this place to share their stories, their stories about Womens business and Womens magic. They do not want us to participate. They want us to watch and learn. They want us to witness and remember. They want us to honour and respect. They ask us to bring our sisters to also watch, witness and learn. They tell us that it is the women who will birth the new way based on the old ways. They tell us that the ancestors are ready to share and teach. That they will appear at all the Sacred Sites we wish to visit and share their teachings for us to witness only. They give us permission to do our own rituals in this place, as long as we do not invoke any energies, animal, human, mineral, plant or Spirit which was not born of this land in the beginning or at any time. They tell us not to take anything from the land, not even a grain of soil, nor to bring anything to this land, not ash from cigarettes, not crumbs from our bread or the ashes from our fires. And if we are to light fires, to bring our own wood and not gather from the land. If we burn sage or incense we carry away what is left. They tell us that many animal spirits are also inviting us, wishing to share their stories and magic. The animal Spirits ask us to walk carefully when we come and take note of all signs and messages they will leave for us. They tell us that the Ancient Sisterhood of Mother Earth are all in alignment now, and that the teachings will take place all over the world. They tell us that their teaching is about the connection between The Land and The Heart. The teaching is called Ancient Dreaming. That ULURU is the Heart Centre of Australia and that the deepest teachings will take place here. That these teachings must go out to others in other places and in other ways, so that ancient secrets are not defiled, and that we, the women gathered here will do the teaching. They welcome us into their Circle and call us sisters. They thank us for coming and tell us that they will be here when we return."
After the vision, my teacher tells me I sat in trance till sundown. She got up and left me and kept an eye on me from her kitchen window as I sat in the shade of our lean-to and meditated. I sat there for 3 hours, and what went through me I do not know. When I "came back" I got up, fell back down (my legs had fallen asleep) and crawled to the porch steps. Only then did she come out and help me up so that I could sit on the step. You know Sue, I did not speak that whole night. I was filled with contentment and fullness…so much so I did not need to speak. My teacher began to paint some gourd drums and I watched her and made tea a couple of times. Then I simply rose, kissed her on the cheek and went to bed. The next morning I woke up ravenous! I had not eaten since breakfast the day before. My teacher was already up, had made sage tea and was cooking up a heavenly concoction of eggs, tomatoes and onions which smelled divine. I ate like a horse. When we had both finished, she leaned back in her chair and asked me what had transpired during my vision. I told her everything. She then asked me what the "understanding" of "witness" meant to me. And this is what my letter to you is all about.
I feel that I and others like me from all over the world are being led to bring women of power (women who are empowered) to Australia to learn about ancient women's ways from our Aboriginal sisters. I feel that they want to show us - that is demonstrate for us - some ancient teachings so that we can learn from them, but they do not want us to "adopt" them or even teach them. They want us to witness and learn and then enriched by the learning, go out into the world and do what we feel is appropriate, honouring their wish that we not teach the teachings. And I know the teachings are about opening our hearts to the land, and understanding our connection to all beings. I feel I am being directed to bring women who will do just what I did in the vision. Sit in circle, and wait. The Aboriginal women will come and do ritual for us as we witness. Then they will leave, or in some cases stay and share time with us to clarify. When they are finished and take leave of us, I feel I have permission to lead women in ritual to ground the teachings into our own way of thinking, seeing, experiencing etc…..The strong instructions about taking nothing and leaving nothing are clear. I feel I am trusted to honour the land, and the sisterhood, and that they feel I am strong enough to hold the energy so that women will do what is good for them in this holy place and what is good for all.
During my trip this year…I only returned 3 weeks ago from the US, I spoke with women that I respect, in a number of US cities, about the vision and asked if they would like to make such a journey to Australia. The response was overwhelming - YES!!! This is amazing Sue, because I had been thinking about how I might organise my life over the next few years and how my work might manifest. I now know that I will lead tours of women to The Centre of Australia, beginning in Darwin and finishing in Alice Springs. The tours will be structured to take in a number of sacred sites, where Aboriginal women will enact the vision. My teacher added as we were talking, that this would also be a good way to bring abundance to the women, as US women able to make such a journey have money and will buy art and other offerings from our Aboriginal sisters. I also would like to resurrect a practice we adopted in Sydney back in the 80's where we "Paid the Rent" and shared a percentage of the profit from women's dances etc…..as donations to Aboriginal women's projects. As I see these tours as a way of earning a living as I do my work of service to the Goddess, there would be profit and I would share appropriately.
I do not want to begin planning anything at all until I talk with some aboriginal sisters. And this is where you come in. As soon as I thought Alice Springs, I thought of you. I remembered the close connections you had with Aboriginal women, and wondered if you are still connected in the same way. I want to talk to my Aboriginal sisters about their ideas and interpretations of the vision. How can we all work together to bring this vision to ground and how can we all benefit from it? Can you help my sister? I feel the time we spent together in Townsville is now falling into perspective. I feel we had to get to know each other a little better that just being friends….in a way living together is quite revealing. I cannot remember anything about you I did not like, and I hope the same is with you. If it is so, can we work together on this? I hasten to add, I understand that you are a mother of a young child and that you will not have time to do a lot. But all I need is your wise counsel and some leads to women who might like to be involved. If you are interested, lets begin!
I thank you for reading this long message Sue, and pray that you are well and that all you care for is good and whole.
In sacred sisterhood,
Anique
Anique Radiant Heart
Priestess of the Goddess
Singer of the Sacred Songs
of the Temple
Anique@herwill.net
A letter I sent to a friend in August 2004
You have been on my mind for some time now……since I had the vision about Uluru.
For some years, I have been traveling to the US to visit my sister, who lives in California and my son who lives in New York. You may remember that in 1994, I sold my house in Townsville, and took a long trip to the States where I promoted my CD LOVER MINE. I visited 37 cities and towns on that tour….it was amazing. I made connections with women that are still strong and very dear to me today.
During that journey, I was approached by a wonderful Native woman, who attended one of my concerts in San Diego. She introduced herself as a Spirit Teacher and invited me to spend three days with her at her home in the foothills. She explained that from hearing me sing and listening to what I said in between songs, she knew she had to share some of her ancient knowings with me to use as the Creator saw fit. What transpired during those 3 days changed my life and I came home and began teaching and singing about the Goddess. I have to clarify, she did not introduce me to the Goddess, I had been walking the Goddess path as you know, for some time. Rather she introduced me to a new part of myself that needed to begin expressing herself - namely the priestess/teacher in me. My "apprenticeship" with my teacher continues to this day. Each year when I travel to the US, I spend time with her and she moves me along my path just a little bit further and opens possibilities and opportunities for me to do the work of Spirit.
Last year, when I was visiting her, we followed our usual practice of cleansing on the first day of our time together by working hard in her gourd patch. And I mean hard….from sun up till sun down, with only short breaks for water and small meals of boiled corn. By the end of the day I have sweated oceans and feel light and almost euphoric - but very very grounded. All that contact with the earth and the gourds blows away the cobwebs in my mind, body and Spirit. In the evening, we sit down, have our small meal of corn and then drink sage tea, and talk. I tell her all the meaningful things that have happened over the past year, using my journal as a guide. She then fills me in on what has been happening for her. It is a profound and wonderful time of deep sharing. Then, we say our "prayers" which always include chanting which fills my soul with serenity and go to bed. The next day, the teaching begins.
During our second session, after "morning tea" break, we did a process which takes me forward in time to "see" what I may be doing over the next year. This is when I had the vision. I saw women flying (yes literally flying not in planes) in over Australia, making slow languid circles high above the land, the whole land mass of Australia. There were about 30 and all colours and shapes. They circled the land, for what seemed like hours, slowly flying lower and lower until they were circling over Uluru. I started to notice more detail in their clothing…..they seemed to be "queens" or elders with obvious power which emanated from them in different colours. I felt their position and the respect they held within their own tribes…I felt it in my body. Their clothing was regalia, not the clothing of everyday life. And they all carried a power object in their left hand, an amazing array of staffs, rattles, talking sticks, wands, pipes. I was transfixed. I then noticed that I, in my full priestess gowns was flying with them. I saw myself clearly, somewhat thinner, and looking radiant. We all circled, slowly coming together and forming a circle by holding hands. We landed in a circle at the base of Uluru, somewhere in front of the Rock where there is a deep cleft in the side - like a yoni. I have never been to ULURU, so I don't know if this kind of rock face exists, it would be great to know. As soon as all of us had landed, we found that a circle of "thrones" had been arranged in a circle for us, each with cloths laid over them that matched our clothing. Mine was purple and gold. The woman who sat next to me on my right, was a Native elder, dressed in white buckskin with turquoise and black decorations all over it. She had a headband of porcupine quills in black and white, with two plaits with a feather and beads holding the hair at the ends. Her "throne" was covered with a magnificent buffalo skin. The woman who sat on my left was South American, with brightly coloured tunic of reds and greens with an over skirt tied to one side with black and gold and a head scarf of the same fabric. Her "throne" was covered with red and black. She had one huge, tall feather which rose above her head like an antenna. The fact that they were both from America was significant to me,
When we had all settled, we heard the sound of deep breathing. The sound went on for a long time and began to intensify. I raised my eyes and looked at ULURU which was in front of me. The rock was breathing, actually breathing. I could see the outline expand and contract. I felt a chill run up my spine. It was an awesome feeling. One by one the women turned to look at ULURU, and one by one we began to breathe as one. I can tell you Sue, I have never felt so alive in my life. I felt a kind of power course through my blood and I was filled with a love for the Earth that filled every cell in my body and was released through my voice as a long and beautiful tone of joy and connection. The other women picked up the tone and it became a chant which we all sang for what seemed like hours. As the sun began to set and the full moon rose above the rock, we stopped one by one to chant, my voice being the last. The stillness of the desert slowly began to sing its own symphony as we opened our ears to the music of the desert. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw an Aboriginal woman move/dance slowly towards our circle. She appeared from "around the corner" of the rock and moved slowly and deliberately towards us. I saw her as a Goanna, although she was not dressed in anything at all, just a skirt of some kind and body paint. Her movement were clearly (to me) that of a large lizard. Then I saw more women, slowly dancing towards us, until I saw Emu, Kangaroo, Snake, Crocodile, Spider, Eagle, and many other creatures - some I did not recognise, until there were about 30 Aboriginal women in the centre of our circle. They began an elaborate and wondrous ritual. We all knew that we were there to witness and not speak or move. We watched as the Creation Story for that part of the land was enacted out for us. Sue, it was so sacred and profound, I am weeping as I write. For what seemed an eternity, our Aboriginal sisters shared their women's stories and we listened and said nothing. When they were finished, one by one, they moved off as they had appeared, until the very first one was left as the last. She danced towards me and crouched in front of me. I looked into her eye, as she had her face turned so that I could only see one eye, and I looked into that reptilian eye and seemed to look deep, deep, deep, into the Earth and into time….it was a feeling more than anything. I heard in my heart an invitation, an invitation to come and witness….and the word witness was repeated many times until I understood. When the understanding came, she moved off and disappeared as she had come. The understanding was amazing and I will expand further later on. But to continue the vision. When she left, I saw myself stand and call the other women to stand and I said words like this:
"Our Aboriginal sisters welcome us. They have dreamed us to this place to share their stories, their stories about Womens business and Womens magic. They do not want us to participate. They want us to watch and learn. They want us to witness and remember. They want us to honour and respect. They ask us to bring our sisters to also watch, witness and learn. They tell us that it is the women who will birth the new way based on the old ways. They tell us that the ancestors are ready to share and teach. That they will appear at all the Sacred Sites we wish to visit and share their teachings for us to witness only. They give us permission to do our own rituals in this place, as long as we do not invoke any energies, animal, human, mineral, plant or Spirit which was not born of this land in the beginning or at any time. They tell us not to take anything from the land, not even a grain of soil, nor to bring anything to this land, not ash from cigarettes, not crumbs from our bread or the ashes from our fires. And if we are to light fires, to bring our own wood and not gather from the land. If we burn sage or incense we carry away what is left. They tell us that many animal spirits are also inviting us, wishing to share their stories and magic. The animal Spirits ask us to walk carefully when we come and take note of all signs and messages they will leave for us. They tell us that the Ancient Sisterhood of Mother Earth are all in alignment now, and that the teachings will take place all over the world. They tell us that their teaching is about the connection between The Land and The Heart. The teaching is called Ancient Dreaming. That ULURU is the Heart Centre of Australia and that the deepest teachings will take place here. That these teachings must go out to others in other places and in other ways, so that ancient secrets are not defiled, and that we, the women gathered here will do the teaching. They welcome us into their Circle and call us sisters. They thank us for coming and tell us that they will be here when we return."
After the vision, my teacher tells me I sat in trance till sundown. She got up and left me and kept an eye on me from her kitchen window as I sat in the shade of our lean-to and meditated. I sat there for 3 hours, and what went through me I do not know. When I "came back" I got up, fell back down (my legs had fallen asleep) and crawled to the porch steps. Only then did she come out and help me up so that I could sit on the step. You know Sue, I did not speak that whole night. I was filled with contentment and fullness…so much so I did not need to speak. My teacher began to paint some gourd drums and I watched her and made tea a couple of times. Then I simply rose, kissed her on the cheek and went to bed. The next morning I woke up ravenous! I had not eaten since breakfast the day before. My teacher was already up, had made sage tea and was cooking up a heavenly concoction of eggs, tomatoes and onions which smelled divine. I ate like a horse. When we had both finished, she leaned back in her chair and asked me what had transpired during my vision. I told her everything. She then asked me what the "understanding" of "witness" meant to me. And this is what my letter to you is all about.
I feel that I and others like me from all over the world are being led to bring women of power (women who are empowered) to Australia to learn about ancient women's ways from our Aboriginal sisters. I feel that they want to show us - that is demonstrate for us - some ancient teachings so that we can learn from them, but they do not want us to "adopt" them or even teach them. They want us to witness and learn and then enriched by the learning, go out into the world and do what we feel is appropriate, honouring their wish that we not teach the teachings. And I know the teachings are about opening our hearts to the land, and understanding our connection to all beings. I feel I am being directed to bring women who will do just what I did in the vision. Sit in circle, and wait. The Aboriginal women will come and do ritual for us as we witness. Then they will leave, or in some cases stay and share time with us to clarify. When they are finished and take leave of us, I feel I have permission to lead women in ritual to ground the teachings into our own way of thinking, seeing, experiencing etc…..The strong instructions about taking nothing and leaving nothing are clear. I feel I am trusted to honour the land, and the sisterhood, and that they feel I am strong enough to hold the energy so that women will do what is good for them in this holy place and what is good for all.
During my trip this year…I only returned 3 weeks ago from the US, I spoke with women that I respect, in a number of US cities, about the vision and asked if they would like to make such a journey to Australia. The response was overwhelming - YES!!! This is amazing Sue, because I had been thinking about how I might organise my life over the next few years and how my work might manifest. I now know that I will lead tours of women to The Centre of Australia, beginning in Darwin and finishing in Alice Springs. The tours will be structured to take in a number of sacred sites, where Aboriginal women will enact the vision. My teacher added as we were talking, that this would also be a good way to bring abundance to the women, as US women able to make such a journey have money and will buy art and other offerings from our Aboriginal sisters. I also would like to resurrect a practice we adopted in Sydney back in the 80's where we "Paid the Rent" and shared a percentage of the profit from women's dances etc…..as donations to Aboriginal women's projects. As I see these tours as a way of earning a living as I do my work of service to the Goddess, there would be profit and I would share appropriately.
I do not want to begin planning anything at all until I talk with some aboriginal sisters. And this is where you come in. As soon as I thought Alice Springs, I thought of you. I remembered the close connections you had with Aboriginal women, and wondered if you are still connected in the same way. I want to talk to my Aboriginal sisters about their ideas and interpretations of the vision. How can we all work together to bring this vision to ground and how can we all benefit from it? Can you help my sister? I feel the time we spent together in Townsville is now falling into perspective. I feel we had to get to know each other a little better that just being friends….in a way living together is quite revealing. I cannot remember anything about you I did not like, and I hope the same is with you. If it is so, can we work together on this? I hasten to add, I understand that you are a mother of a young child and that you will not have time to do a lot. But all I need is your wise counsel and some leads to women who might like to be involved. If you are interested, lets begin!
I thank you for reading this long message Sue, and pray that you are well and that all you care for is good and whole.
In sacred sisterhood,
Anique
Anique Radiant Heart
Priestess of the Goddess
Singer of the Sacred Songs
of the Temple
Anique@herwill.net