BEING KAREN

One day, after the countless retellings under the turn of the stars and the unfathomable winds of time and space, beneath the venerable oaks, (because the tale is always being told) the Lady will rise from the lake, and wield the sword herself, high above her head, arm stretched and strong, and she will say - no, this I do not give. Never again. Countless times you have come to me and I have gifted you this which is priceless. (oh the making of it, I still feel that in my bon

Reproductive rights, in the US and everywhere else really. A few short things and then a longer one. Firstly. Good men , you are there, we see you, we know you, I raised two. This is not an attack on men. Stop referencing The Handmaids Tale, in that story WOMEN let down other WOMEN. And it’s not a great book anyway. Would-be allies please stop using that song ‘if we go down, we all go down together.’ No one is going down, we are rising. Without body autonomy, any person of an

This photo popped up in my Facebook memories today, it's a lovely moment to be reminded of. It’s not me, but it is my chuba. I was in Mahlo which is up in the grasslands in Amdo, Tibet. The rest of my group had gone off on a small trip but I had stayed behind to take the Lum or bath therapy. You have two very hot baths with prescribed herbs every day for a week. Normally you stay at the facility to keep the warmth in your body. But as I was there alone I didn’t have help to

So while we are all being distracted by the Depp/Heard trial, and Kim K wearing Marilyn Monroes dress to the Met hoohaa, a terrible erosion is expedited with the news of the overturning of Roe V. Wade. But it's in the US you say. Doesn't matter. Do you really believe this issue is gone from our politics here in Australia? Roe v. Wade (1973) was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant

Why, Lady? I have to ask. So many why’s. Why not choose differently? Why not give us a Queen of Ithaca? Choose a young lusty lover, choose three, throw them away, husks of corn, choose again. What could the old father do? The old dog. While your husband lies with the witch queen, while all the time Nausicaa is there. (That is a fear. To fall in love is dangerous.) Why did you not storm the temple of wise Athena, she so solicitous of your man always, and demand better? The loo

Melbourne enters day 200 of lockdown days since march 2020. A sober thought, two thirds of a year spent at home. Like everyone else I miss travel, even the idea of travel, so have been spending time with photographs and journals from past journeys. The Jowo Buddha is the most important statue in Tibet. It is believed to have been personally blessed by the Buddha. It came to be owned by the king of Magadha , who gave it to a Tang emperor of China. One of the emperor's clansma

In Beowulf, Grendels mother presents us with the problem of the aglæc-wif. She is swift in retribution for her sons death. She is named monster, a monstrous hell-bride, monster-woman, monstrous hag; a half human half supernatural warrior. She is a mother, a woman of power and although a water dweller, a thing of fire and fortitude. She is a mother. And through that gains access to powers that define her legacy because they impacted poorly on the men in the story. Defender of