Color of Woman

My journey into Intentional Creativity© began almost two years ago. It seems impossible that I will now become a Color of Woman certified teacher along with my certification as a Red Thread Guide.

Someone who never picked up a pencil to draw or a paintbrush to paint, I found a passion that combined with my new found self.

I liken my new self to sitting on a lovely, perfectly balanced little three legged stool. One leg grounding me in Passage Meditation. The second leg grounding me in shamanic practice. And now, the third leg opening portals on the canvas to move through intention, to weave a red thread to create, and connect.

Below are a few photos of my initiate book. Some friends expressed the wish to purchase it. So it is now set up to explore and purchase, if you are interested, from Blurb.

In the coming months you will see more of my poetry and painting. I will have the originals for sale as well as prints and a card line. I will be offering workshops to spread the beauty within through discernment and discovery using my three legged stool!

Many blessings and much gratitude,

Lexanne

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Seducing the Muse

I do not share events very often, but this is one I would love for you to check out.

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Make your inner critic your ally and let your Muse out to play
Find out how to rewire your brain patterns and quickly lower stress levels
Journey into the portal of your imagination with a world-class artist
Discover how to enter the “flow state” and free your creative, playful self

I know Shiloh Sophia through my own experience with Intentional Creativity and healing/transformation this past year. And I would like to introduce you to her joy with her complimentary event at the Shift Network.

Visit my “Events” page if you are interested in more information.

Below are just a few muses I painted this year while I was immersed in the process of Intentional Creativity.

Creator’s Waltz

Creator's Waltz

Creator’s Waltz by Lex – watercolor pen and PicMonkey

 

Rest and reflect                then

Step         Step         Rest

See and acknowledge
Take all time needed

Step   Step                  Rest

Deeper understanding

Step                    Step      Rest

Stillness in her crescent

Step             Step            Rest

Compassion for my being

StepStepRest

Perfection in Creation

Step

Step

Rest

 

Author’s Note:

After a deep conversation with a dear friend and coach, we talked about how it seems we are always taking two steps forward and one step back.

A light bulb went on!

In my work with Intentional Creativity I am also learning how to reframe my story. And here was the nugget.

It is not two forward and one back. But a waltz with which we are blessed.

Within that three step, there is wisdom and Light, if I take time to pause.

It is not a move backward, but a stillness calling for reflection.

Not a stoppage to beat myself up for not being perfect. But a resting time to see more clearly that I am perfect just as I was created. I need no work on that piece. Just acknowledgement.

Ah, there’s the rub.

Blessed be.

Sister Starwalker

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Sister Starwalker

Do not worry if you seem not to dream.
                                                  It is an ominous place in time.

I am with you
         and your dreams will unfold
              and you will be safe
                   and you will know.

Under Moon or dark sky               Star Nations cradle you.
                       They sing your story,
and you hear.

Together we walk
                   and Ancestors come.
They show you the way and you go.

And
if you still do not seem to dream,
rest in me anyway          sweet one rest.

I am your Sister Starwalker
                   and
I will always be.

 

Author’s Note:

I have begun my journey as a Color of Woman In Training 2019 under the guide of Shiloh Sophia and other graduates and wise women from the Intentional Creativity Foundation. A group of Cosmic Cowgirls who ride their paths honoring the feminine in all walks of life.  I am so very full of gratitude to be a part of this group, this circle woven together by the Red Thread.

One of our first assignments in our training is to create our personal Legend-Archetype.

Her name is Sister Starwalker.

Her incarnation is not only to paint her, but to write her Chronicles. The first steps are to write MY incarnation story and begin painting employing the 13 steps of Intentional Creativity.

She is at a resting place right now. Time to listen. Time to write.

She Who Is began her naming process. She speaks who she is and what she does.

She Who Is

She Who is Wildwoman in the Wilderness of Being

She Who Carries the Night

She Who Stands Guard

She Who Honors Ancestral Wisdom

She Who Listens

She Who Illuminates

She Who is Sister Starwalker

And now that she is named and resting in her image and colors, I begin her Chronicles.

Chronicles of Sister Starwalker

One – Incarnation

She stood on her tippy toes, barefoot at the upper point of the crescent Moon. After a deep breath in, she released it, and slid down. If it was a good full release, she would end at the tip of the other side of Moon. It was just for a moment of ecstasy until she slid back to rest in the middle of Moon’s crescent smile.

Moon wasn’t really a crescent, although that is how most people described it in each orbit, thinking the rest of the Moon was gone. Paying little attention to what was really there.

Oh, they missed the most important part. Moon is always there, full and luscious, knowing when to shine brightest and when to dim. Moon is wise in all her years knowing that it takes dark to see stars.

As there she sat in the middle of the crescent, her voice opened into gratitude.

She was young.

It’s not what one on Earth would think of as young. She was sixty-two, and that made her barely a baby among the Star Nations. She had just begun her journey with them.

She felt blessed by the Ancestors to be honored to share her gift, the one who could look at dreams without fear, find their owners, and stand guard as dreams unfolded. But that wasn’t always true when she was on Earth.

But here they named her Sister Starwalker, an honoring of tremendous responsibility she accepted with humility and joy.

Sister Starwalker had other gifts, too. When walking on Earth, the place she chose to be, she was known as the Wildwoman who tramped through the city and found the open spaces and talked to Mother Tree and left gifts of sparkly stones in cracks and crevices for others to find, if they stood in silence long enough to see.

She would sing her own songs as she walked her familiar. Out loud! Yes! And people crossed the street  away from her or paused at the pavilion seeking shade as an excuse not to make eye contact. They were not escaping from the heat of the sun, but from Sister Starwalker’s brilliance.

Silence was her place of being. She learned to settle anywhere to call it to her. And she listened and taught others to do the same. A few understood, but most others were frightened of what they thought was a void.  

Oh, Sister Starwalker wanted to share what she heard in the silence. The whisper of Spirit’s love songs to her. The crows who really did watch and wanted to converse. All the chatterings that can only be deciphered and nuanced when all was still. You see, it wasn’t really silent at all.

Her heartbeat. Yes. In the silence she could hear it beat and as the reverberation spread from her center Light out, she could feel it, hear it entwine with other heartbeats, and together it became one gigantic beat.

Oh, she wanted to tell others what a gift of silence is to calming fears and weaving that red thread to others to finally discover. But most preferred the noise. She understood since it took her a very long time to find her silent place within, to drown out the noise that demanded her attention.

“Silly, little Ego,” she would tell it when it called to her demanding she give her all. “Go take a nap, I have silence to listen to.”

Sister Starwalker had much to learn and, now, had eternity to do it. It was her consecration, something she had searched for and didn’t find until she came to silence.

She had other gifts, too, that helped her in her new quest.

She carried the night with her.

She so loved the dark. When she learned to paint, she discovered it had colors that you couldn’t see until you were quiet and listened for them. There were all shades of blue and grey and green and magenta and oranges and yellows, too. Really! It surprised her the first time she saw them, heard them. And then she could not ever not see them again.

Now that she was at here in silence, she could sit and wait for illumination and then she could hear Ancestors tell their stories to their beloveds. She could shine Moon’s light just where it was needed, like a prism coming through her to others.

On Earth, she was afraid to dream. When she did, her sleep was fitful and she awoke exhausted and sad and angry and scared and, worst of all, unworthy. So she decided to stop dreaming. And she did.

But here, now, she could be brave and stand guard when others were afraid to dream. Sister Starwalker knew the dangers of dreaming. Some, like her Earthly self, were not willing to set aside their fear to hear their stories. But now she learned what she could do.

She grew as a warrior to that which no longer served. She knew how to do that. Now. And even a little bit when she was on Earth.

When she was summoned home, she stepped through the veil and was named. They didn’t even have to tell her. She heard it from deep within and she knew what she was to do.

And she began her night, just like every night…being with Moon, hearing the colors tell their stories, Ancestor whispers, crows sleeping, and listening in the silence to the music of the Universe to discover where she would be needed this night…

Colorful Scars

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Mother Tree – Colorful Scars by Lexanne Leonard

 

Mother Tree

There is wisdom in her amaranthine years,
Mother Tree with knotted limbs upturned
to warmth of sun and blessed rain,
all that is needed, a reach to stars in grace.
Her first lesson.

She stands her ground atop a hill,
no other place to be, guardian to any, mother to all.
She provides without clause for we are all connected –
animal, tree, and me.
Lesson number two.

She is champion, her arms for climbers who will dare,
even when they crack her and tumble.
Scars of strength and boundless compassion.
A third lesson from Mother Tree.

Oh, she is far from smooth and frail.
Rough with weather, firm in her being.
In wind and snow she never falters. She bends.
Wisdom worn proudly around her belly,
striations of her years built one upon another.
No need to hide this cicatrix,
her detailed tale of wealth.
In gratitude I see.

She has an altar ascribed by me,
a shallow where an arm once connected.
An open wound where water now runs
like tears during summer warmth
and dried by winter’s chill.
Just enough room for spider’s blessed weave
and my oblation stone, my simple gift to palm unknown.
I’ve learned to relinquish in her joy.

Mother Tree’s scars do not defeat,
they color the universe with compassion.
May her wisdom fill my every day.
May her generous spirit walk with me.
May her chivalrous path inspire.
May her tenacity lead me in my time.
And may I stay the course of gratitude
all along my journey.

 

Author’s Note:

In today’s climate, through the pain of telling our stories and being dismissed, my mentor Shiloh Sophia created a workshop called Claiming Our Colorful Scars. As with all the work we do in Intentional Creativity, we become the cause in the matter moving us forward and healing ourselves along the way. We take our stories and re-imagine them into a new way. This is so with this class. There is no charge and you can access at the above link. It is a powerful way to reclaim your voice and move forward.

This piece will eventually become affirmation cards. The back will have the poem handwritten on it, then cut into cards. Then I will write a word that I want to remember as a reframing of my story through this process. I can also use it as a puzzle to piece back together to heal even more scars!

 

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In Simplicity…

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Under deep night sky
where Moon persists in her rhythm
shadowed by Earth’s indulgent round
I stand barefoot
a simple act of reclamation

In this candor I reclaim myself

To honor Earth and all her beings,
above, below, and upon

To restore my body
And allow what I need
Releasing that which does not serve

To restate my possessions
In care and release and
Bring in only what is cardinal

To retrieve my beauty
And give my hands to Creation

To rescue my joy
And dance and sing, drum and make love
And sit with others to know all stories

To restore stillness
For rest and truth
For bridsong and voice of the Divine
And cries of those who call for harmony

In simplicity
I reclaim my being
All that I was
All that I am
All that I will be
Collapsing into matter that is me

Summer Solstice

SummerSolsticeMe

And there are lights…

That burn from wax of bees
scenting air with honey dreams

Skipping flames flashing summons
calling ancestors to assemblage

Far away glow in dark of night
assuring steps on safety’s rungs

Specks and dots, twinkling winks
unwavering star ones await our restore

But Solstice Light, the most generous
revelers ringed with sainted halos,
delight in dance and loosened laugh,
create and sing in joy inflamed

 

Author’s Note:

Today in PRISM we were given a drawing prompt called Shaping Consciousness. To begin we were to close our eyes and, keeping good humor, draw ourselves and what we feel inside. After several more steps, here I am.

I haven’t stopped smiling since I drew me.

You see, I am not a visual artist in the ways of drawing and painting. But I am required to do so in this course. It employs Intentional Creativity and I am constantly being called out of my comfort zone and in joy.

I couldn’t be in a state of more delight.

 

Alignment

Bee and Ladybug

I am cause in the matter
Not victim, not to be blamed,
not good or bad
No judgement
But to stand within the problem

Make space
Nudge the walls a little wider
Push the ceiling up a little higher
Stomp the floor down a little lower
make room, just a bit more room

To be true cause in the matter
is to transform
No worry of past or future
Just see what is within and
Without, the web,
fold into a way of being
a new way of being

I am cause in the matter
It is easy to find beauty in the soft,
In round shapes, lovely colors,
sweet smells, exciting tastes,
birdsong and soulful beats
It is hard in thorny angled places
places of judgement,
of worry and ugly and unknown and
helplessness and injustice
and hatred and mockery
and in the inability of the hard
to see or show or acknowledge
their own beauty

I am cause in the matter
To make space, even more for the hard
Even more for me when I ignore
my Beauty within
Make a bit more space,
breathe a touch more deeply
Expand, even
if just a teeny more
to be able to look anew

Go ahead
Be the cause in the matter
Turn just a little bit
Know it is there
42 degrees

 

Author’s Note:

42º is where light bends through a prism into a rainbow. Not 41º.  Not 43º. Beauty.

 

Triangulation

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There was a time of triangulation
Master of keeping lines from meeting
no melding of ideas
Just pulling lines into one point
Never through three

What I didn’t know about Prosperity –
once tunnel vision of wealth
money and status –
Now
freedom
eternity expanding and folding
renewing
being

The question of Legacy
Not a concern of an only child
always solitary
quantum-ly unaware
But being
Ripples moving into new creation
every moment
passing through

The Mystery
To sit inside
Be still
Be present
Listen and ask to see
Release outcome
Put away guilt
Be grateful
Simple in dance
Beautiful
Seeing beauty in the hard spaces
Love myself
Folding into all

Triangulation
Prosperity. Legacy, Mystery
Within and without
I move in simplicity,
wonder, and awe

 

Author’s Note:

Today’s lesson in quantum physics and intentional creativity and a little Cosmic Cowgirl thrown in to fold into a triangulation.

Maybe “folding” is getting a bit old, too used. Even this early in time of prismic study. Maybe I don’t understand.

Maybe it doesn’t matter as creation always is and continues as long as I ask to see.

Another triangulation happened yesterday and today. Three separate events and actions. I ask to see where these connect to me. I need that time of silence and stillness, listening and not reacting – being.

Much love and gratitude to this community of the Red Thread who move through Intentional Creativity, PRISM, Red Thread Guide, Cosmic Cowgirls. Here is the community I longed to know – especially in the quantum field.

 

New Moon Baby

NewMoonBaby

It is no surprise to find
I am a new moon birth

When others cocoon
to plan and rest
I hide
lest I step out of line
my wild self emerging
That woman who bites and
bares a darkened soul
without fear of consequence
Opposed to apology
Madness near at hand

New Moon
Reminds me
not be to quiet
But silent
Lest I step over
too many lines

A dark time indeed
A time to withdraw and breathe
A time to watch
No reverberation
A time to know my other side
cradled without abrasion

. . .

My teacher, Shiloh Sophia, suggested in my PRISM exploration that we find what moon we were born under. I’ve never had my chart done, but it is easy to find the moon.

This was no surprise.

About two years ago, I began simply paying attention to how I was feeling during the full, quarters, and half moon cycle. It didn’t take me very long to realize something very important. I am a mad woman when there is a new moon and when stress is thrown into the pot. My life at school was pretty much constant stress, so I didn’t have to look hard.

I began simply marking one day before, the day of, and one day after the new moon on my work calendar. It was just a reminder to me to chill. I realized I shouldn’t make any big decisions if it could be avoided. If not, I needed time to think in quiet and not jump to conclusions. Also, people really bug me for some reason during this time, so sheltering in place alone whenever possible was also not a bad  idea.

Once I had this on my calendar, I could first watch what was happening and I did. I really was off the charts at times. Once I was aware, it was then I could either plan an alternate route or simply breathe and breathe and breathe.

My new moon times are much better now.

We are tied with that red thread to nature, too, maybe even more so. And all at that cellular level.

I am excited to open more deeply to those cells and see how I fold into something new.

. . .

I created the image in PicMonkey from a blank canvas. I used their overlays, frames, textures, etc, to create the image. There was no beginning photo on this one.