Lady Pope Giggles the Trillionth

We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled program to bring you breaking news: the new Lady Pope had her debut in San Francisco on March 16, 2013, to coincide with the San Francisco celebration, Beware the Brides of March.

Lady Pope Giggles the Trillionth

Pope Lady Giggles was on hand to bless the brides, have Interfaith dialogue with her fellow spiritual leaders, and gift blessings of revolutionary creativity and magic on anyone who would listen. Great fun was had by all.

Back in my early 20's, I developed a character called the Rev. Miss Myrtle Motivation. She would show up at rock shows and local events around San Francisco and would preach the world of love and creativity. Embracing her as a part of myself, lead me to embrace my true path as an Interfaith Minister and it lead me to going to seminary and being ordained at the Chaplaincy Institute for Art & Interfaith Ministry. After that, I became a "real minister" and I started to lose track of the wild, creative, passionate street preacher I once was.

Interfaith Brides of Marchin'

When I decided to become Lady Pope for a day and walk the streets of San Francisco with my fellow revelers, I had my own revelation - I need to return to my creative, wild street preaching roots. I loved being out on the streets and giving blessings to those who asked for it and taking photos with Japanese tourists. It was so fun to connect with so many strangers and remind them that their spirituality can look however they want it to look.

I think it is RIDICULOUS that we have not yet had a female Pope (except for Pope Joan!). I have been a spiritual leader for over a decade and have worked with amazing women from so many different faith traditions - for anyone to say that a woman cannot lead because of the sex she was born with is completely ridiculous.

My 6'9" husband in his hand-made wedding dress.

With my own Lady Pope costume, I wanted to bring in the Goddess and all her ancient influences on the Catholic church (of which there are many!). It would have been great to have some snakes around me, since it was also St. Patrick's Day and the "banishing of snakes" is absolutely about the "banishing" of the female spiritual power. The oldest Goddess religions of Europe figured snakes prominently and so many important spiritually-empowered stories about women and their power were lost forever:

The myth surrounding St. Patrick's fame runs along the lines of his banishing of snakes from the island nation. However, snakes have never called the emerald isle home. It is an often-misunderstood metaphor for the Irish patron saint driving out the pagans. Serpent symbols were often worshiped by pagans, such as the Druids at Tara, who St. Patrick is said to have baptized.

So what does this all mean for me? Only time will tell. I'm going to keep listening and honoring my deep, playful, spiritual, creative spirit. It is a journey!

Excavation Part One: The Reverend Miss Myrtle

One of the delights of the filing/sorting/purging process I am in the midst of, is discovering a lot of old writing and art that have made. I'm going to start posting some of the cool stuff I find and posting it here (and labeling it "excavation" so you can find them all).
So today, I present to you, something I wrote in 2000 for the Cubby Missalette, called The Reverend Miss Myrtle Motivation's Manifesto for the Millennium:
*Who is the Reverend Miss Myrtle Motivation? She is a preacher character that my friend Jol Devitro recognized in me, and embodying her for so many years as an art project, eventually lead me to realize that I actually AM a minister and preacher, which lead to my being trained and ordained as an Interfaith Minister.*

the above video is myself as the Reverend Miss Myrtle Motivation as seen on Cubby Vision on San Francisco Cable Access in the late 90's!

There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back. ~ Elizabeth David
As I write this, it is cold and dark outside. The New Year has come and the universal blank stare is felt by all of us, as nothing is much different. The earth didn't move, the sky didn't fall and there is s till a long line at the terminal for the arrival of the second coming. At the same time, there is a quiet murmur that can be felt in your bones if you get really quiet. There is a seed that has been planted by the universal consciousness and it will begin to sprout when it gets a little warmer and we can wear less clothes. We are moving from the February Full Moon of Death to the March Full Moon of Awakening. Hibernation has kept us strong even though the depression seemed unbearable. So listen my children, for this is the dawning of a new age.

Please let me be clear that I'm not here to tell you the answers. You have the answers inside of you already. Only you know what makes you hum, what turns you on and what makes you sing. But I am here to be a reminder of what you have forgotten. I am here to give you a solid sock in the jaw that will make you snap out of your hysterical slump. I am here to tell you that YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE. Your will is free. Your heart is free. Your mind is free. Your ass is free, so shake it children. You can create your life the way you want it to be!

I find that we as a generation, have lost touch with the spirit. We have lost our ability to have and to hold the God inside us. We have forgotten that our own inner solar systems are guiding the evolution of our consciousness. This American Machine has taught us that listening to our hearts is wrong and bad, unless it makes us a millionaire with stocks to share. The Capitalist Bully has pushed us into a corner and demanded we live a life that makes us sick all the time, that makes us DIS-eased, so that we can scrape enough money together to live in a closet and eat a few burritos. My children, we are blocked. We have lost track of the universal flow. We can't pick up the good vibrations that give us excitations.

But there is salvation, my friends! I have found in all my wanderings and questioning and love making that a unifying force in our universe is THE POWER TO CREATE. The inalienable right to make stuff, to craft, to express what our dreamworld lets us touch every night.

If we all stopped worrying so much about what "people" think and just get funky with ourselves and make stuff, the universe would hum, we would get our wings back, and it really would be a new age.

Why not start with music? Making music, listening to music, singing, dancing to music is a way to tune in to the complex rhythms of the universe, because that is teh rhythm inside each and every one of us. Music will transform. Even if it is "just" making a mix tape. The power of the craft, of crafting, of creating, of expressing the darkness and lightness inside us, saves us.

Not only that, but creating will help each and every one of us create a life that we want to live. Not a life of survival and mere existence, but a life full of juicy sweetness and hot passion. It should be a priority. Create as much as you have sex. Or have sex as much as you create. Life is a force. Life is an emotion. Expand your consciousness and don't be afraid to express deep emotion. This in turn means we must respect those that are brave enough to show us the dark, sometimes ugly place inside. This means loving unconditionally and trusting that you are loved back, because you are, guaranteed or your money back.

And so my children, Miss Myrtle says feel your own power, let go of control, trust and MAKE STUFF!