Life experience – and I’m differentiating here between experience and education or innate intelligence – can be a funny and wonderful thing and truly magnify even the smallest things in your life.
I was reminded of this because here on Discord and on Patreon, I see Ms. V. addressed in many different ways, the most common being Ms. Viola. I call her Goddess or Viola Devi if I’m trying to be more personal and intimate, but more on that in a bit.
It’s important to note here I am not suggesting whatever you call her is wrong! The only determiner of that is you and Ms. V. herself. I am just musing here and offering food for thought. There is no ‘you’re better then me/I’m better than you’ here. That kind of competition is very male. Stop reading things that way!
In my many travels I have almost exclusively been referred to as Mr. Brett by wait staff, concierges, hotel and cruise workers. Yes, I’m one of those curious and kind people who introduce themselves to staff and ask their names, but Brett is my first name, not my surname. I am actually Mr. MacElveen. Over time, it began to feel kind of a marker to me that I was in a third-world country and honestly, it felt almost affectionate. But call me a grammar nazi, persnickety or whatever you want but, Mr. or Ms. are honorifics typically followed by a surname. That’s the formal/respectful thing to do. If and when I refer to her as Ms., it is Ms. Voltairine. It just feels more respectful to me… less familiar than addressing her by her first name. Similarly, she has and will always be Ms. Lane to me, not Ms. Renee.
You can give me an explanation like “slaves on the plantation called their female masters by Ms. Sally and such, so to me it feels more submissive and slave-like.” And you know what? You’re right! Well, you’re right for you… that’s what works for you, she’s okay with it, rock on bro!
In my specific case I choose, and importantly she permits me to, call her Goddess.
So going back to life experiences, I have had a life full of deep spiritual experiences and I am deeply empathetic so I sense and feel… oh, let’s call them ‘High Powers’ to avoid gendering things… all around me. They are very important to me and they determine much of how I choose to live my life.
Aside from being attuned to these powers around me, I have had the experience of being a ‘split person’ and with compartmentalization of my emotions and thoughts thanks in part to my background as a professional musician and interestingly thanks to my being a recovering alcoholic. So when I first talked with Ms. Voltairine, I felt a divine power performing it’s will through her. And the more I read from her, I readily understood and fully believed that a human being could be both human and flawed and in the time and same body, be a divine being and a channel for her holy power. (Is it any wonder I flubbed my pledge when I finally found myself at her feet looking into hers eyes at Domcon!???)
You may be a skeptic. That’s perfectly okay. I’m still not sure I believe in UFOs and have my own opinions on ghosts. I only have the benefit of my life experiences to draw my conclusions from and since your life has been different than mine, of course you may see things differently.
She let’s me call her Goddess because I see her and she knows I see her. I worship the feminine divine in her.
Here is another small example of how my life experience changes the ways I see and interpret things. When I was in the middle east a long time ago, I learned that Phoenicia, translated as the ‘land of purple’ because they supplied the dye that was used by ancient royalty to denote… well, royalty. They had the Tyrian snail whose ink produced the dye. 12,000 snails where needed to dye a band denoting royal status onto a single Roman’s tunic. Interesting cocktail information, huh?
Going backwards many years when I learned primary colors, I learned purple was also made by combining blue and red. Again a symbol of royalty in ancient cultures because red (like blood) represented man and blue (like the sky) represented God. Royalty was the coming together of the human and the divine. Red/Blue = Purple.
Fast forward even more to when I first saw pictures of Goddess’ Chicago dungeon appointed in her favorite color… blue. Of course it would be blue. And the clients’ blood would provide the red. See how a simple fact like “she likes blue in her dungeon” can take on a whole different meaning thanks to things picked up over time?
Do I have a point to make here? Nope. I’m just ruminating on a snowy day and marveling at the fact that given we all have different experiences and knowledge it’s a wonder we can communicate at all. That’s why I’ve got such respect for people Like Ms. Voltairine and Ms. Lane who can speak to such a huge audience and actually get their point across! 🙂 Major props to these women!