Help From Mary Shelley- November 2023
Team of Nine, Mary Shelley, Upcoming Courses, Meditation, Writing Update, & so much more!
Good afternoon!
Writing is both a lonely and a collaborative endeavor for me. I spend hours laboring over points I want to make, choosing what I hope are just the right words to evoke emotions, thoughts, and actions from you, the reader. Conversely, I engage deeply with my characters, trusting them to aid me in the writing process. They sometimes say and do things that surprise me, and they are as real to me as the team of beta readers whose opinions and expertise I value and trust.
Last year my friend Samantha Fey wrote a great book entitled The Awake Dreamer. In it, she suggests that we enlist the aid of nine people – living or dead, famous or not – to assist us in reaching a particular goal in our lives. She said I might seek aid from writers and others in the publishing world.
I spent considerable time gathering my team of nine. Surely William Shakespeare would help my writing stand the test of time. I know Stephen King’s expertise in productivity and marketing would be beneficial. Pat Conroy could make my sentences about my Southern environment shine. Toni Morrison could keep my writing honest. Sue Monk Kidd’s amazing research ability would assist me in exploring topics unfamiliar to me, and help me offer that information in a beautifully written way …. You get the idea.
Earlier this autumn, just as I felt that I’d gathered my perfect team, I had a dream.
I sat in a wood-paneled library before an ornate eighteenth-century desk. On the other side of the desk sat a sharp-nosed woman, dark hair pulled severely away from her face, wearing a rich gown, her shoulders bare. I asked her name. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of the Gothic novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. She said, “The time is now.”
I awoke shaken, disturbed by the dream. I don’t read horror stories and have only a nodding cultural acquaintance with Shelley’s 1818 novel. So I did some research, learning that Mary Shelley was challenged by Lord Byron to write a ghost story while she and Percy Bysshe Shelley lived with Byron in Geneva. She won the dare by writing Frankenstein. She was 18 years old.
Today, we see Shelley’s book as the foundation of the science fiction genre. When she wrote it, she intended the novel as a warning about the ills of the looming industrial revolution. She also was a strong advocate of what today is termed vegetarianism.
I think my subconscious mind sent Mary Shelley to be a member of my team. She reminds me that it is imperative that I write what my heart tells me to write. While she used the Greek myth of Prometheus as a vehicle to promote vegetarianism (he stole fire from the gods so that meat could be cooked), we can glean additional meaning from the myth. Like Prometheus, I must roll my rock uphill repeatedly in dedication to ecological consciousness every day.
I was recently honored to have my work, “Tidal Wave Terror,” included in a collection of flash nonfiction focusing on coastal climate change. Gathered by author Janisse Ray and edited by Ray and Chuck Reece, the collection is published in Salvation South. Click here to read it:
https://www.salvationsouth.com/ground-truth-from-the-climate-reckoning-janisse-ray/
Meditation Thoughts
I offer you this month my meditation entitled “Cherishing Darkness, Cherishing Connection.” I hope you enjoy it!
I’m so happy to connect with you and I’m grateful that you have taken a course with me and subscribe to this newsletter!
If you missed my last newsletter, you can read it here.
Spinning Like Crow-October-2023
UPCOMING!
Registration for all courses below:
https://debbowen.com/product-category/new-category/
Deeper Mysteries of Tarot
Three-Session Course
Tuesdays, November 28, December 5, 12, 2023
Join either afternoon or evening section
Prerequisite: Completion of “Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot”
The fee for this course is less than for my introductory course in gratitude to you!
This course is not only a continuation of Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot but offers more depth to your working knowledge of Tarot. Please note that you must have completed my Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot introductory course in order to enroll in this course.
In this course you’ll learn how to:
1. strengthen your intuitive skills in working with and reading the keys
2. incorporate other psychic tools into your work (crystals, pendulums…)
3. use the keys for prompts in writing, story-telling, and more
4. examine legends and myths associated with Tarot that are still relevant today
5. work with the keys in meditation and more!
Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot
Three-Session Course Taught on Zoom
Tuesdays, January 9, 16, 23, 2024
Afternoon or Evening Sections Available
If you long to truly begin your journey into the depth and symbolism of Tarot, this introductory course is for you! I’ve been reading and teaching Tarot for nearly 40 years, and have taught hundreds to read Tarot.
You CAN interpret the symbolism of Tarot, and my intensive Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot course teaches you how to begin your lifetime relationship with this oracle! True Tarot brings together symbolism from many world beliefs, mythologies, and cultures, and these serve as the foundation for your work.
You’ll be introduced in this intensive three-session course to:
The history of Tarot and why it matters in your readings now
The ethics of reading Tarot
How to work with the Major Arcana cards (called keys)
How to work with the Minor Arcana keys
How to interpret reversed keys
Symbolism from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Celtic, Roman, Greek, and Egyptian beliefs and cultures throughout the keys
How to work with the Four Directions and Four Elements in Tarot symbolism
How key colors impact your interpretation
How numerology relates to Tarot meanings
How to create and interpret a three-key spread
How to create and interpret a Celtic Cross spread
AND MUCH MORE!!!
Writing Update
Click on the links below to read my most recent works in Salvation South:
“Tidal Wave Terror”
https://www.salvationsouth.com/ground-truth-from-the-climate-reckoning-janisse-ray/
“Where I’m From: Seven Decades in Seven Scenes”
https://www.salvationsouth.com/where-im-from-seven-decades-in-seven-scenes-deb-bowen-poem/
“Mending Nets”
https://www.salvationsouth.com/mending-nets-north-carolina-barrier-island/?mc_cid=c4bb217ffc&mc_eid=fae2a9a622
“A Talisman for Poseidon”
https://www.salvationsouth.com/a-talisman-from-poseidon-hurricane-donna-1960/
Podcast
Deb’s Facebook Pages
Another way you and I can connect is through my Facebook pages. I’d be honored if you’d follow my pages. They are a great way to see up-to-the-minute news! I so hope you’ll LIKE and FOLLOW and feel free to comment and share posts!
Deb Bowen, Author
PsychicTeachers
Witches of the Shore
Just One More Thing Before You Go
In the fading light of autumn, in the times when it feels as if the sun will never come again, remember that you are cherished, that your talents and gifts matter. Remember.
Thank you!