We own these powers, and many more. None of this is observable or quantifiable or verifiable by the patriarchal mind, but we don't require their sanction to make it real.

Women have traditionally been close to the Muse, to the heartbeat of our sweet Mother Earth, to the Universe's subtle secrets whispered on the wind. Is this due to biology, to cultural conditioning, or to something more ephemeral than either of these?

We do have different biological wiring from men. The fact that we give birth from our own bodies and then sustain and nurture this new life requires us to be vigilant, to be open, to be aware of every nuance or shade of feeling expressed by this new being. Millennia of maintaining this exquisitely sensitive level of awareness has developed and honed our empathic ability, so much so that we often feel our entire being to be alive with receptive energies!

The culture in which we live has exploited this receptivity, and made it synonymous with passivity. We are expected to accept injury on all levels without complaining, because that is "our nature". We are prohibited from acting in our own interest, and are told that we have no power.

Women, that is wrong, and a lie! We are more than passive vessels. We receive transmissions from worlds not discernible to the naked eye and ear. Our lives are filled with joy and wonder as we dance to the beat of life which pulses just beneath the level of ordinary awareness. We are messengers entrusted with receiving the ineffable and with bringing it into manifestation in the outer world, where we all live.

This manifesting of what we know to be true is the responsibility that accompanies our gift of knowing. We are not here to be egoists, to revel in our power for its own sake. We are also not here to employ our gifts in the oppression of others.

Our sacred charge is to work for healing, on both the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. By paying attention, by learning what is given us to learn, we begin our own healing process. As we find our own health and wholeness, we become empowered to assist "all our relations" to live together in a harmonious manner upon the Earth Mother.