🌺Last weekend I enjoyed a magical Journey to the Goddess at the Marian grotto shrine and grounds in Portland, OR. I had begun my journey feeling particularly disheartened by the state of the Amazon. Although I already had plans to visit her, it suddenly felt vital to reconnect with the goddess. After all, Regeneration is the primary principle of the Great Goddess and each goddess form she takes on represents an aspect of the regenerative cycle. 🌺Regeneration is the principle of life that cycles thru birth-growth-degeneration-death-rebirth. According to ecofeminist Vandana Shiva, “regeneration lies at the heart of life” and the ecological perspective honors all life as intrinsically valuable. Ecology sees living systems as inherently co-collaborative, self-organizing, naturally diverse, self-sustaining, and self-healing, hence fundamentally regenerative. If given the opportunity to regenerate, nature will do so. This will also take courage, and perhaps humility, for us humans to remember our place within the regenerative cycle as one system co-existing within the whole Gaian-Earth ecosystem. 🌺I see this Marian image to exude the life-giving and life-sustaining symbolism of the cycle of regeneration. Her shrine, deeply embedded within a cave—another feminine symbol connected to the womb—is a remembrance of the vital connection between ecology / environmentalist and the manifestation of the feminine principle in the world. Perhaps if we genuinely remember and nurture the feminine principle of Regeneration, we too can be a part of the healing of the Amazon. 🌺”Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge” by Vandana Shiva. 🌺Photo cred. to the lovely Amber Revoir. #thegrottoportland #regeneration #divinefeminine #journeytothegoddess #ecology #mary #healtheamazon #vandanashiva #earth @ The Grotto Portland