IN THE WATERS

The Photo

The SITE

A favorite conceptual idea involves the dream of water, being in and of water. Creatures of the waters have something beautiful and unattainable to anyone. It is outside of the reach and deep within us all: water. Water teaches us and holds us from conception to birth, and if you are not European, has always been part of the daily ritual of life.  Water is the sacred element that tells the story of everyone's religion, and debunks theories of supremacy, and dominance. Water gauges all attempts to waste. The stillness and the ferocity of water are the women we come from, and seek in life as mates, friends and companions if we have wisdom and are balanced with truths, and clarity and are willing to submit to the stability and ability and uncertainty and the calmness of water.

Water talks to the elements of stone, metal, air, Earth, our Mother, Fire, and anger, love, fear in such a way that one either drowns or comes alive renewed. Water is the burial for the dead, and the resurrection of the seed. Water is a She and is the powerful force of nature women carry within them. It is within the Wombs of Mothers, and Virgins, and within the sacred places of our Wise Women. Water balances and dominates when necessary the judgements and the healing qualities of Fire the way a woman's touch eases the brow of a man's rage. Water is the tutor of the Soul, and the bearer of  children.

How I've come to revere Water as I revere the other sacred elements in relationship to Her came through the waters I lived in. The words of my Mommy's soul echoed. The words of Mommy were Life. They were as powerful as the Creator's. The powers of Life and Death resided there with authority as capable as the Love she cultivated within herself.

 I live with memories of my Mother's soul caring for me while I lived within Mommy for 9 months, and nursed as a baby until I was weaned into the deeper aspects of self, play, and discovery that marked the concentric circles of being loved and protected by my father, and his relationship to the waters, and his understanding relationship with love, and the way he loved his wife. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 2013

African mermaid