"The Feminine Heart", collage in The Masculine Series by Licia Berry, 2010
“Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.”
Norman Vincent Peale
It’s no big secret that the heart is important…if we want to love, want to connect, want truer answers, we have all heard they lie in the heart. We’ve cried when we have a “broken heart”, we’ve sung to the songs about “mi corazon”, we clutch our chests when we are touched or aghast. The physical heart is the organ that decides if we are dead or not. A whole lot rides on the heart.
What WAS a big surprise for me was being told that the heart is the center of the Sacred Feminine in the human body.
In the “Feminine/Masculine Sessions” this summer (in which I was plunked down and asked strongly to create over 80 collages through which the story of the feminine/masculine dynamics was told-you know us artists, we’re kooky like that) I was given lots of new information at least, new to me. Day after day, my preconcieved notions were challenged…day after day I limped home from the studio with my eyes crossed and smoke coming out of my ears. But I learned a lot! This is where I got the information that the heart is the center of the Sacred Feminine in the human body.
The heart’s wisdom is unique; while all aspects of ourselves serve some purpose towards our functioning, the heart is the one that carries the stream of information from Source, holding the multi-faceted parts of the Whole in a connected vision of Oneness. Interestingly, this is also one of the primary principles of the Sacred Feminine. Feminine dynamics are built around connectivity with All Creation.
But All Creation can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. We can encounter abandonment, unkindess, abuse, things that scare us, pain. If we aren’t paying attention, our heart centers can close down, cutting us off from our knowingness of our connectivity with All Creation. This has an opposite effect than we hope…we want to feel safe, but closing our hearts down makes our worst fear a reality….we are ALONE. And the most vibrant, alive, joyful person can become dull, lifeless, paralyzed, and unable to see the beauty around them.
The heart is the key to remaining in touch with our connection with the Whole, and our wholeness. It’s the key to having the connected perspective. And just as we have a heart, so does the collective. The heart in our bodies reflects the heart of the collective, otherwise known as Source. Source is the Collective Heart, the source of all being, the Oneness from which we come.
to be continued
