My Body, Her Body by Arlene Bailey

Painting by Arna Baartz

I walked barefoot on the earth

My feet touching the body of my mother

My body, Her body.

I bathed under silvery moonlight

In waters glimmering from her shine

My body touching Her body.

Once a month when the moon released

I too released

Giving my life blood back to the Mother

Nourishing her as she nourished me

Mother and daughter in synchronous alignment

My body, Her body.

Then the sky god came

And his people told me I was evil

That my body was shameful and I should cover it

That to bathe naked under the moonlight was satan’s work

And I should cover my body.

That my lifeblood released with the dark moon

Was the most evil of all

And during this time I was unclean

And I should be hidden away

And my body covered.

No longer was I allowed to connect to my Mother

No longer was I allowed to stand in my nakedness

Or to revel in the shimmering moonlight

Or release my moon blood back upon the earth.

They told me I was evil.

They told me I was shameful.

They told me I was dirty.

Then they tossed me out of the garden

My body, Her body.

Well no more!

The veil has fallen from my face

No longer will I cover my hair, my body

I am ALL the things they told me NOT to be

ALL the things they told me I COULD not be.

I AM Lilith

And

I stand in MY Sovereignty.

Screaming forth...

I. Will. Not. Submit.

AND...

You will not get my anger

You will not label my juicy parts evil

Nor will you culturally codify them as shadow

Something to be feared

Something to be hidden.

I am ALL the things you told me NOT to be

All the things you told me I COULD not be

All the things that make me woman.

AND...

I will dance under the light of the full moon

Illuminating the ALL of woman.

I will revel in my divinity, my dark, moist woman-ness

I will shine like the stars from whence I came

I will walk naked on the wet, moist earth

For My body is Her body.

Standing in my sovereignty

I re-claim all.

My body.

Her body.

The Light

AND

The Dark.

No longer will I live in the Shadows

For now I dance in the Full Moon light.

Embracing all your namings of me...

Dark Moon Lilith.

Black Moon Lilith.

I. AM. LILITH!

Let the Revolution begin.

An excerpt from Original Resistance: Reclaiming Lilith, Reclaiming Ourselves.

Arlene Bailey is a Visionary Artist and Writer inspired by the creative fire of woman in her many expressions. Her art and writing reflect the deepest, juiciest, wildest parts of woman’s soul as she explores and reclaims the raw, the authentic, the sacred and holy wildness in woman that has existed since the beginning of time.

As a Certified Art of Allowing Facilitator™, Ordained Priestess, and Women’s Mysteries Facilitator, Arlene creates ritual experiences for women seeking a deeper soul connection and awareness of self. Using the canvas as a portal, she guides women to open a space for their wildness to once again flow and the voice of their soul to once again speak as they bring forward their own unique expression of the Wild Woman, Sacred Female, Divine Feminine, Goddess.

For more information, visit The Sacred Wild at www.arlenebaileyart.com and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/sacredwildstudio.