For Mother's Day
I write this to honor all mothers today and throughout time. I also write this in honor of Judith Duerk, whose work, books, women's retreats, caring heart and and wise soul has made a profound difference in my life. It was 25 years ago today that I first met Judith. She had recently finished writing Circle Of Stones and had come to Portland to speak and then lead women in retreat, which was my first to participate in. Since that time Judith and I have maintained a connection over the years through subsequent retreats, cards and letters, and phone calls. It is Judith who has been that slightly older woman I have carried in my heart who has nourished me and helped me heal, awaken, and transform the great losses I have experienced throughout much of my life with my birth mother. And, as Judith writes of below, her work has also empowered me to recognize a larger picture of how it is that I had been orphaned, and to embrace the loss and remembrance of the Great Mother. It is my belief that each of us in some way has experienced losses around our mothers and the Sacred Feminine within ourselves and this beautiful world we share. May we each find the loving, wise, courageous and compassionate support we need to heal, remember, and awaken.
With warmest blessings ~ Molly
Long before the patriarchal period, in many places on earth, the goddess was worshiped. Woman in the train of history has been orphaned by the death of the Great Mother, has suffered loss of connection to her own beingness, lack of sense of legitimacy and belonging in the universe or in her own individual life. Woman can draw comfort from an image of the Great Mother reaching out to her to fulfill and to bring to manifest form in her own individual life that of the archetypal Eternal Feminine. Woman, with the help of the Great Mother, can leave the collective way to find her individual way, for somewhere deep inside she knows that she must leave to become herself.
- Judith Duerk
Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey To Herself
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| With Judith on retreat |
Hi, my name is Linda Smith and I just read this blog post via Judith Duerk books. I only recently learned of Judith's death. I, too, loved Judith although I only "knew" her through her writings, which I have savored over the years. My question is, did Judith author a book called "In Search of Her Mother?" I have not been able to locate a copy thus I am wondering if it is just out of print or if there never was such a book. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. Thank you for your inquiry. Today I have been really thinking of Judith because today, July 14th, was her birthday. And, yes, I too love and miss her. Judith just wrote two books - Circle of Stones and I Sit Listening To the Wind. She was once working on a third book that was not completed. Judith wrote about being "in search of her mother" in Circle of Stones. She was a gift to so many.
ReplyDeleteWarmest blessings,
Molly
Thank you. Yes, I went to Circle of Stones and found what you were noting regarding "in search of her mother."
ReplyDelete