I woke up super early and am filled with buzzing energy of joy at what I get to do each day. That is the truth. Now don’t get me wrong I work 8-10 hours a day and I am the phone and computer too much like the rest of you…but interspersed with all of that there are many other blessings I get to be a part of…here are a few of them. Each of them is an invitation to do your own creative spiritual work.

Come paint with me and Elizabeth Gibbons in San Francisco this weekend – The Beaded Lady dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Ready to launch your GREAT WORK in the world? www.shilohsophiastudios.com/the-great-woman

JOIN me for 12 Months with The Red Madonna

Join me, my mama Caron McCloud and Sue Hoya Sellars for the TREE OF LIFE RETREAT

As I ponder and plan my year of Great Work and The Year of the Red Madonna something fascinating happened for me. I began to think about what I could DO THIS YEAR to make 2013 the year I really want it to be. A sabbatical to paint and write and pray. So the moves I make this year…are part of making that year possible. What is your 2012 about? And what about your 2013? Would you like to end your 2011 with a decision to honor yourself —  I sure do.

Below is a writing about FORM. I am obsessed with FORM. How ideas manifest into reality. Part of my life assignment is to support others in creating form – what is YOUR FORM?

Sending you blessings today….and a giant heart felt invitation to come paint, plan, pray and ponder with me…. The ravens are calling me to tea on the back deck beneath a blanket of light mist colored love.

Signed in mist,

Shiloh

Come paint with me and Elizabeth Gibbons in San Francisco this weekend – The Beaded Lady dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Ready to launch your GREAT WORK in the world? www.shilohsophiastudios.com/the-great-woman

JOIN me for 12 Months with The Red Madonna – membership is FREE

Join me, my mama Caron McCloud and Sue Hoya Sellars for the TREE OF LIFE RETREAT

According to Ben Shahn in The Shape of Content

Form is formulation—the turning of content into a material entity, rendering a content accessible to others,
giving it permanence, willing it to the race.
Form is the very shape of content.
Form is the visible shape of content.
Form is the right and only possible shape of a certain content.
Form  in nature emerges from the impact of order upon order…
Forms in art arise from the impact of idea upon material…
Form is not just the intention of content; it is the embodiment of content.
Form must be a penetration of inner relationships, a constant elimination of non pertinent matter
both of content and of shape.

Form is based upon a supposition, a theme.
Form is a marshaling of materials, the inert matter in which the theme is to be cast.
Form is a setting of boundaries or limits, the whole extent of idea, but no more, an outer  shape of idea.
Form is the relating of inner shapes to the outer limits, the initial establishing of harmonies.
Form is the abolishing of excessive materials, whatever material is extraneous to inner harmony,
to the order of shapes now established.
Form is thus a discipline, an ordering, according to the needs of content.

My love, fascination, devotion to Our Lady started over 14 years ago. She is one of those special ICONS that once you connect with, it is almost impossible not to connect with Her everywhere. We can find so many references to her in North and South America….whether it is on a motorcycyle tank, tattoo, dollar-store candle or on the wall of a cathedral. She is one of the presences that invite you right where you are.

This year She invited me to spend it with Her….and I shall invite you as well to become a member of The Red Madonna Sisterhood….

Learn more about my 13 month offering to spend the YEAR with the Red Madonna!

Here is something I wrote her in 2004 — I wanted to share it with you today. Light your candles. Pour your tea and sit a while with Our Lady…see what sparks She lights in your heart…

Shiloh Sophia

our lady of everything

precious mother

hail, ma abundant

so full of grace

blessed art thou

among all mothers  and daughters

we who know you

beyond titles and concepts

blessed is the life-giving fruit

of your tree of life womb

wholly mary-ma

mother of god

praise you

for praying for us

now and in every hour of our need

you love us with everything you are

holding us in your

eternal embrace

beloved cosmic matrix

from which i came

wrap me as a babe

in your blue robe of stars

rock me on your seat of wisdom

sing me your songs

of rose petals and justice

dance christ’s love into my bones

keep me, precious mother

cradled in your milky way

our lady of faith

may i walk the path of truth

that sets me free

teach me

how to share your love

with my earthly family

blessed be our

mother of everyone

our lady of everything

shiloh sophia mccloud 2004

Strands of colored light

were strung between my heart and yours

and I followed the pattern of sprinkled light

right to your door.

You let me in because you saw

the light under the door of your heart.

I can see those colors twinkling between

the poetry and reality of us.

The quality of a sun dappled morning.

Little songs with no words we sang

and soft clucking sounds only doves can hear

things which cannot be seen in the flesh

ring my soul like bell

that vibrate the universe

with tears of longing – and yes despair.

There is a rip in the veil

that let your stars come through

but now they are gone

and the black hole where

you were has swallowed my breath

leaving my body to move

breathless.

The bumble bees that

made you honey are no longer

buzzing and have gone

to some other hive

and the honey on my tongue

lingers and has the color of

sunlight on wet skin

and as much as I wish it would go

its bitter sweetness

catches me unawares

and the lights of you land on my

hands like jewels of love

I will never wear again.

Sitting in the unkissed

dusk of us I understand

those of us who travel

between the worlds

carry the burden of light

across broken thresholds

and sometimes we don’t

get to know why.

We just must go on

moving in light

even when darkness

presses the edges of our hearts

into shapes that

have no human name.

You’re invited to a powerful conversation I am having with two of my girlfriends, who also happen to be my coaches, Amy Ahlers and Christine Arylo.

This call is created especially for people ready to have 2012 be THE YEAR you live your vision – not just talk about it or try to squeeze it in on the weekends or struggle daily to make it all work!  But actually live it everyday – giving your GREAT WORK and living your GREAT LIFE!

Imagine 2012 being that kind of GREAT YEAR for you!

Activate YOUR VISION! Be here… December 7th @ Noon PT.YES! I am there

Today, along with the other two spiritually and creatively powerful women leaders co-leading this call with me – Amy Ahlers and Christine Arylo – I am living my visions and delivering my message and Great Work into the world.

And we are inviting YOU into a tribe of GREAT WOMEN ready to do the same!

Because as we go into 2012, living anything but your vision, doing anything less than your Great Work just isn’t something you can afford any longer…

It’s time to take a STAND for your highest calling!

If you’re unable to make the live call, we’ll also be sending out a recording, so you can listen in at any time! Go here now to receive your unique call in number))

If you are ready to make your life’s vision a reality, then join us for this dynamic call, a ritual of activating your Life Vision into form…

You’ll leave this call with an invitation to take immediate action on behalf of LIVING YOUR VISION

Discover:

• Why it’s so hard to manifest into physical form the vision and passion you feel in your heart and see in your soul… you are not alone.
• What support you really need to live a life where you are giving your gifts and receiving abundance… the

Experience:

• A guided visualization through the golden door of your ‘Great Work’ to discover the missing pieces you need for 2012 to bring in your life vision.

Create:

• A working description of your VISION, instead of continuing to tell yourself Big Fat Lies like “I don’t know what my work is” or “I don’t know how to get my work and message into the world.”

Act:

• Leave the call with your 4 most essential co-creative go forwards, bringing you closer to taking a STAND and declaring the Truth:

“I am living my vision.”

“I am giving my Great Work.”

“I am receiving the life I’ve always dreamt of.”

This is too juicy to be missed!I’m ready to live my Great Work

If you are ready, are here! See you on the 7^th.

With love,

Shiloh, Christine and Amy

On a mission to serve Great Women ready for Great Lives

This call on the 7^th is more than a call, it is an activation ritual – can you hear us knocking on your door? Open up and say YES! I will be there!

Our beloved course, the Black Madonna starts tomorrow, but we let you into the campus today…if you feel a longing to know Her, to paint Her image, and to join over 40 women on a sacred journey for the next 30 days; come see…and you can also still get the FREE recording on this page from the Black Madonna and The Red Book Call with Kayleen Asbo. Oh yes, and this page also shows a sample video and incredible student work: LEARN MORE

Radiant Grace By Shiloh Sophia McCloud

Our Lady

Black Madonna of light and unending love

Attend to us now.

We know the red thread extends

from your own medicine basket.

Incline your ear to our words

See the violet light from our wounds shining.

Place your hand upon our sacred hearts

lit with fire for your love.

Let our unsaid words and whispered prayers

reach the hem of your starry gown.

We want to know you reveal yourself to us.

Lady at the center of the dark red rose

Lady at the beginning of all poetry

Lady at the end of all legends of victory or woe

Lady who stands at the crossroads

of this world and the next.

We gather here to listen

you who gave birth to God

will speak to us in our

own hearts.

You are every color including Black Night.

Blue Heaven

White light

and the red red rubyness of blood.

Teach us to understand.

Through the crying out in

our spirits.

Through the deep suffering

of  travails

Show us how to know

to be with with and to know you.

And to know you are really here.

you are really here

you are really here

you are here.

Let us enter your golden door.

La Puerta de Oro

Shiloh Sophia

Join the Black Madonna online across these star-studded miles

Yet still, at the center of a grief-stricken heart, there is ever a golden field – alive, flourishing with enough soul to feed all who come there. This inextinguishable heart of Love protects life-force essence there, even while all else stands in ruins.” Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Last night was a powerful conversation – The Black Madonna and the Red Book with Kayleen Asbo. Today in the aftermath of that conversation…my mother wrote and I painted although we did not discuss this. We both saw the light Madonna when asked to look where we were on our journey. Sometimes she is red, black and sometimes white and gold like this one. She is called: She Listens to the World and will be unveiled for the first time tomorrow at my art show in San Francisco at The Woman’s Eye Gallery – come by for wine, women and chocolate and new work. Or drop by Healdsburg for Art Walk, the gallery will be open late on Saturday with new work also!

When my mom sent this to me I just cried. Now I want to send it to you. On the full moon, on the eve of 11/11/11, I send you my bright blessings. If you didn’t get to hear the call and you want to - here you go.

Love, Light and Hope,

Shiloh Sophia

Caron McCloud’s poem:

DOOR OF MY DESTINY

The daughters invite us to seek our own
Divine Mother, dangerously advising us to receive
in prayer and meditation, whoever it is that shows up .

There at the door of my destiny waits Mary,
of whom I am instructed to require a word.

The word WORD itself is what shows up for me.
Of course. I am a poet. I ask for a specific word.

I hear my daughter ask of me:
What is the word written over your door?

I raise my eyes to the archway Mary indicates,
whereupon are written the letters YHSVH.

For me, what else could it be
but the name of her son, with his claim to my path
and his being the way and the truth and the life?

PATH OF MY DESTINY

The Divine Mother reaches out her hand
like Noah putting forth his hand to the dove,
taking her, and drawing her in unto himself in the ark.

Walk with my Son, and you walk with me, she says,
delivering me to the side of her man child.

I fall on my knees and cling to his waist.
All I wanted, I cry, was a mate to walk with me.

Someone to notice and to touch with tenderness
my renegade curls escaping the restraints of your law.

Was that so much to ask? How can you be
the promised groom who comforts the forsaken bride?

Walk this path with my broken hearted Mother,
he answers, raising me up and holding me close,
until I return, and you will be comforted.

HEART OF MY DESTINY

I walk the path of the man child with his Mother
where my daughter, giving me Jung’s options, asks:
Mama, Mama, where are you on our path?

Nigrado? Albedo? Citrinitas? Rubedo?
Oh Albedo! Albedo! Albedo! I cry.

For I have come from the deepest descent of Nigrado
I come from Rachel weeping for her children,

I come from the heart of the raped concubine dying,
her hands upon the threshold of her sleeping master.

I come from the pierced and broken heart of the Mother
seeing her naked man child nailed to a dead tree.

I come from that broken heart of her Son
looking upon the suffering of the children of Eve.
Only here are the polarities in Rubedo transcended.

My Mama, Caron McCloud, recently participated in one of our online classes, Leading A legendary Life. During the course there is a fair amount of writing that needs to happen — and she wrote this incredible story. The next five mondays you will get one chapter of Cloud and Her Mama delivered to your inbox. Are you ready for the insight into my creative beginnings – well here is more than you ever wanted to know! My mom, is my best friend, and I am humbled and tickled by these sharings…thanks Mom. I am super blessed and I know it.

The Legend of Cloud and Her Mama
By Caron McCloud

Chapter Five

Cloud always made the best of things. After all, she was an artist and artists were innovative. She made a game out of being the “New Kid in School.” When people asked her where she was from, she would answer “Highway One O One.”

When a little girl Cloud’s mother always dressed her in plaid dresses as all of her school pictures will testify. In only one is this classic standard substituted with a black turtle neck. When her cousin Bridget saw that one she exclaimed, “How did Cloud get out of the house without being plaid?!” Some say Cloud’s mother dressed her that way so she could “pass” and make people think they weren’t as wild as they were.

They always shopped for school clothes at Macy’s and for quality rather than quantity, during which Cloud would be thoroughly indoctrinated with the reasons for doing so. She would have preferred the quantity, but over time she came to understand and agree with her mother’s wisdom in these matters.

One year, following one of their moves, as September loomed on the horizon and she was to start a new school, she asked her mother when they would be going on the shopping trip.

Her mother sat down with her and explained that she needed every cent she had to re-invent her design business and their budget could not accommodate the classy Macy’s wardrobe she had come to expect.

This came as quite a shock to Cloud and she said she wasn’t going to school. It was apparent that this was a right time to address the subject of finances and career and her mother told her that if she wasn’t going to go to school she would have to get a job.

Further consideration revealed that there was not going to be any employment available to Cloud that she considered up to her standards. Cloud said that in a few more years she would join the service. Her mother told her that would be fine but further consideration revealed the rigorous hours and the wardrobe would not suit her standards either.

Cloud said she was going to marry a rich man and her mother told her that would be fine and that they needed to get to work on her immediately so that she could become all the things that a rich man would be looking for in a wife. Well the idea of having to become something specifically to please “some man” was definitely not in accordance with Cloud’s standards.

“Okay Mom,” Cloud said with no sign of further frustration or disappointment, “just give me what you can. I’m going shopping.”

When Cloud returned she had totally re-invented herself. She was delighted and delightful modeling the treasures she had gleaned from second-hand stores, and so was her mother. Among her outfits were red paisley pajamas bottoms with a black T-shirt and a blue and grey striped silk neck tie. A fuzzy pink fifties angora sweater with raggedy jeans and beat up cowboy boots and an impressive assortment of bracelets and chains. Cloud had gone “Punk Rocker”.

She enrolled in the new really “straight” school in upscale Walnut Creek, got the low down on all of her teachers and before classes started, went around and formally introduced herself to each of them.

She walked into the history class with her blonde hair streaked with various shades of red and black and in permanent BOING. She walked right up to the teacher and introduced herself. “So nice to meet you. I’m Cloud, and I hear you don’t give out A’s in your class.”

He had no choice except to shake the hand she stuck out with the four-inch band of little pieces of string from under her bed all braided and woven around the wrist, as he said in a stern voice, “Very rarely young lady.”

She said, “Well, I just want you to know you are shaking hands with the ‘young lady’ you are going to be giving A’s to this year.” And he did. He had to, because Cloud worked hard for those A’s and he was quite happy to have someone to give them to for a change.

When she told her mother about this her mom said, “Honey, why did you want to set yourself up like that?”

Cloud said, “Mama, the next time he sees a kid come in that doesn’t fit his pictures, he’s going to remember me, and he’s going to think twice before he passes judgment.”

When her mama had told her that she thought Cloud was working too hard to try and pull this off, Cloud said she was working for those other kids. According to folks, who claim to know, Cloud is still working too hard for those other kids whether they come from Walnut Creek or the wrong side of the tracks.

~ ~ ~

Caron McCloud writes and performs poetry, and is a member of the Washington Poet’s Association where she has been a semi-finalist in the “Bart Baxter Performance Poetry” competition three out of three tmes entered, and in 2000, besides winning a “Carlin Aden Award” for her Alexandrian sonnet, Last Trump Tango, she was 1st place winner of the “Charlie Proctor Award” for her poem Holmes Ranch Hags, which she also read as the introduction for the Alice Walker/Sue Sellars event “Neighbors and Artists.” She was a participant in the “PoetSpeak Reading Series” at Frye Art Museum in Seattle, with poems published in “PoetsWest Literary Journal.” Her poem Common Ancestry was 1 of 14 of the 400 contest entries selected to be included in the poetry contest periodical, “Saltwater.” She has been a guest on several radio shows, and was a reader for the poetry collection by J. Glenn Evans CD, “Windows in the Sky,” which is periodically played in Washington on PoetsWest at KSER 90.7FM, Besides publications in various other venues she has over a dozen chap books to her credit, and has recently published RACHEL’S BAG In Search of the Qabalah of Our Mothers, a book about the radical actions of Old Testament women, for which her youngest daughter Shiloh did the introduction, the cover, and the illustrations. McCloud is currently working on a book on Qabalah, Living the Tree of Life, to be used in a workshop format.

Dear Ones,

The sun is shining and I have made myself a cup of tea. I will now go out on my deck for my morning ritual and reading of Dr. Estes new book, Untie The Strong Woman. I don’t know about you but I know when I need to MOVE ON I need to do something physical, a rights of passage to MARK the change in my life. Here are a few things me and my homegirls do as needed.

The Healing Fire of the Heart

Write everything down that hurts you. Write it from the perspective of your heart, as if your heart had the pen. Do it by hand not on the computer. Each separate hurt goes on a different scrap of paper. When done put in box or basket overnight. Add some flower petals. The next day light a candle, read them out loud then burn them one by one outside. When you burn it, acknowledge that you are now moving these hurts to their next destination – hopefully out of the pain position and into a releasing pain position. You may or may not experience immediate relief. But practice feeling it anyway. Give thanks. And then…as time goes on, remember that you did this when you are tempted to conjure up these old hurts.

An Altar to Transform the Past

Build an altar for transformation for your past stories. Pick objects or write words that represent the sufferings and stories. Let them stay on the altar for 3 days. Each day revisit the items and their meanings – pick each one up and retell yourself the stories as if this time will be the last one. You can do this as many days as you want to but I suggest 3 since there is a beginning, middle and an end. Then clean the altar of the stories one by one, making a declaration of healing and moving on for each object – and clearing the energy of the object.

This can also be done with stones or branches or other items you can return to the earth. Then reset with what the story or legend of you that you are creating now – but sparsely. Then each day for a week add a new item until if feels like you have reached a place of healing and are ready to take steps on creating your new story.

Water of Self Forgiveness

Go for a long walk. Along the way find objects like stones and twigs and flowers that represent something you need to be forgiven for or that you feel you need to forgive yourself for. For your first time pick about 5 things as you can always do this again. When you return home, get a large bowl of water. Light candles and turn on some music, chanting or opera are good. Pray over the water that is holding the space of your forgiveness and purification. With each object call to mind that story – that place you are in need of forgiving yourself.

If you are open to it, believe that this work you are doing is assisted and made possible – by Creator. Allow yourself the time to share into the space, out loud if possible or in your heart if not each and every thought or emotion you have associated with that particular event. Then put it into the water – touching the water with your hand – and releasing that story and asking for forgiveness for that. Then empty that water into the earth with prayer and thanksgiving.

Blessings to each of you!

Click here to learn more about my work, paintings and vision.

Hello Chickadees —

Just wanted to let you know there is still a seat for you next weekend.

Just had a POWERFUL meeting with these two women I am so proud to call my ‘girlfriends’

Christine Arylo and Amy Ahlers.

Come be with us.

Shiloh Sophia

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