FLOW: Spiritual inspiration for creatives #13
Time to shed your skin?
Greetings friends,
I hope this message finds you well. What’s your self-care practice looking like these days? I’ve long coached people that self-care and spiritual practices are dynamic and shift with life changes. But I’ve never personally experienced that shift as vividly as I do now. The ritual aspects of my spirituality — moon rituals, daily meditation, Ancestral veneration, card reading — have brought huge clarity, growth and positivity into my life in recent years. So it’s been difficult for me to reconcile these same practices dropping out of my regular routine as I navigate parenthood, work and personal projects. “Motherhood is a spiritual practice.” These words from my spiritual teacher were ones I really needed to hear. Our conversation reminded me of the cyclical nature of everything in life, including our self-care and spiritual practices. Historically, I have leaned much more into my masculine energy in these areas; intellectual, dynamic, pursuing. Now, I’m being forced to be still and deeply align with my feminine energy; embodied, nurturing, attracting.
I’ve shed my skin and am in a rebirth process where everything looks different — so why wouldn’t my spiritual practice? We’re all in a constant state of death, rebirth, growth, retreat and all over again. Where do you feel you’re at in this cycle right now? Can you accept your current stage in the knowledge that all nature is beholden to these cycles, instead of fighting against it?
For this month’s prompt, we look to the masculine and feminine energies represented by Damballa Wedo and Ayido Wedo, the serpent deities found in African and Diasporan vodun traditions.
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May’s Prompt: Damballa Wedo and Ayido Wedo
Your monthly dose of inspiration is here! You can use this as a creative prompt to guide you in bringing a new piece of work into the world. But you can also use this as a prompt for your own personal growth and spirituality. Journal, reflect or meditate on the theme and see what it brings up for you. However you choose to engage with this month’s prompt, my wish for you is that it brings you insight and inspiration.
A lot of us are conditioned to think of snakes as evil, for obvious reasons. But in many indigenous traditions, serpents represent divinity and creation. In African and Diasporan vodun traditions, Damballa Wedo is the masculine spirit of creation while his consort Ayido Wedo, the rainbow serpent, is the feminine spirit of fertility.
These energies have so much to teach us, but what I want to focus on today is what they teach us about cycles. Just as serpents shed their skin, we are constantly shedding old beliefs, practices and ways of being. This isn’t just reflected in the huge moments of growth we experience but also in the seemingly small, day-to-day actions. As creatives, our work is constantly shifting. Sometimes we’re aware of the shift as it’s happened and other times, we only see it retrospectively. When we experience creative block, or start to feel unimpressed with our work, it usually means we’re resisting; suppressing what wants to come through with what we think we should be creating. How would our work flourish if we surrendered to our natural cycles instead of trying to control them?
In our spiritual lives, moving through these cycles can feel even more unpleasant. It can challenge everything we thought we knew about ourselves, our relationships, our faith and the world around us. Think back over times in your life where you had to go through discomfort, letting go of what no longer served you. How did it feel? And what was it like on the other side? By reflecting on the changes we’ve already moved through, we can better approach the transitions ahead of us. Some shifts may require us to tap into the masculine energy of Damballa; we need to think deeply and then take significant action. Others invite us to be inspired by the feminine energy of Ayida; we need to care for ourselves radically and be guided by our intuition to allow good to manifest.
This month, let’s see how life feels when we embrace where we are in our natural cycles and tap into the energy — masculine or feminine — that is most in alignment with our current state.
Have you read my book yet? Return to Source is a reexamining of history, an archive of African traditional wisdom, a celebration of Ancestral knowledge, and an invitation to practice wellness in a new way. If you have read it, please leave me a review on Amazon!
I just got sent this awesome playlist that celebrates African and Diasporan creators of dance music - enjoy 🎶
Thank you for reading and see you next time.
Blessings,
Araba xx
In case you’re not familiar with my work, I’m Araba Ofori-Acquah, a Ghanaian-British healer, DJ, cultural curator and award-winning writer. I’m particularly interested in the preservation and reimagining of African tradition as a path to wellbeing and Black liberation. You can follow me on Instagram, meditate with me on Insight Timer, listen to my mixes on Mixcloud or listen to my show on Oroko Radio. If you’re interested in working together, email me ✌🏾