Valerie Harms

from my book Your Soul at a Crossroads:

Symbols of Renewal and Rebirth

Here is a personal glossary of universal symbols that appear in dreams or stories about change and renewal. They will naturally appear in your soul work in the right time for you. Even if we aren’t aware of the symbols in the way defined below, they rest in our ancestral memory and animate our souls. Sometimes we even use them in colloquial conversation without thinking about it. You can use this chapter for possible guidance in regard to renewal and rebirth.

Vessel—The vessel is the womb. The female body is such a container. The uterus and the oven are both vessels. Pottery/vessels used for the gathering of food and water from early cultures had breasts. The funereal urn is also a vessel. Projected outward, it symbolizes the world, the cosmos.

Erich Neumann in The Great Mother wrote that in the beginning of civilization the Feminine was seen as the creative principle that encompassed the whole of the world. She was nature in which all life arose and achieved its highest transformation in the form of the spirit. “Later the patriarchate postulates the reverse just as one-sidedly; namely, that the male seed is the creative element while the woman as vessel is only a temporary abode and feeding place.”

In Christianity, the vessel became the baptismal font and the chalice of the Last Supper. Read More 

To the right is an excerpt from my novel -- takes place in Montana. This chapter takes the viewpoint of the father.

The program went well -- about 100 people in a lovely venue. They showed slides of Nin with her voiceover. I managed to speak without looking at my notes very often, which I'm proud of. It was very worth while, provoked many thoughts.
Steven, the organizer, called out Moira Collins extensively for her longterm sustaining of www.anaisnin.com, the best website on Nin. It's amazing that we would gather after all this time to pay tribute.  Read More 

Saturday March 28th in W. Hollywood I'll be on a panel about how Anais Nin influenced my life. Joining me will be Sas Colby, artist, Tristine Rainer who taught with Anais, and Barbara Kraft who wrote about Anais' last year, also Henry Miller. It will be a grand reunion. Check out Steven Reigns on Facebook.

Recommendations for this month:
Alain de Botton Novel: On Love -- gripping drama from a man's point of view.
E.O. Wilson's The Meaning of Human Existence, esp. the last chapter
Meg Wollitzer's The Interestings -- so well written -- about 6 friends who meet as teens and how they grow up and interact

Symbols of Renewal and Rebirth excerpted from my book Your Soul at a Crossroads
may your life be filled with renewals in 2015...

Here is a personal glossary of universal symbols that appear in dreams or stories about change and renewal. They will naturally appear in your soul work at the right time for you.

Vessel—The vessel is the womb. The female body is such a container.

Vulva—The vulva, yoni, or vagina is the place of putting in the semen, which jumpstarts procreation and birth. Through it passes all human birth.

Fire—Used to create vessels and tools, to fry/broil/roast food, it is thus an agent of transformation. Emotions and conflicts, religious and sensual desire, heat our temperature; containing them allows inner fires to work their changes.

Water—Our bodies are mostly composed of water; water covers most of the planet’s surface. The water cycle moves between the heavens and earth. Water is considered the mother/creator of all life. Because it dissolves most things, it’s been a primary image for the swallowing of our egos. The ever-changing waters of the soul’s journey sustain and refresh.

Egg—The incubator and newly born, the container of life.

Seed—In the cycle of life or inner transformation, life begins in the spring with the seed.; the seed puts forth tender shoots (while many die or get trampled on); with luck the seed blooms; it then must wither and die and endure the cold dark winter in order to be regenerated. Inner growth follows the same cycle: first we are lit up by the seed of inspiration; then we struggle to make a project a reality; we all like success or the blossoming stage, but equally important is the passing away of the bloom and facing the empty unknowingness before the new seed can be born.  Read More 

I just learned how to download an audiobook on my iPod from the Library. It is free. Will save me lots of $. I listen to books a lot because they get me through my workouts. The Accursed is an amazing book. It's the first book by JCO that I've taken on and it's stellar in terms of writing and structure. It's got macabre elements for sure but also a lot of figures like Woodrow Wilson, Upton Sinclair, Jack London. The real pestilence is racism.  Read More 

For the month of December I have a special offer on Your Soul at a Crossroads:
Holiday sale: buy one, get second for free. Good til Dec. 31st.

I can't resist hopping in to highly recommend 3 books:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr -- totally gripping literary novel.
The Carry Home by Gary Ferguson -- his moving account of carrying his wife's ashes to 5 beloved wild places.
We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, who won PEN Fiction Award  Read More 

Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie. He combines jokes, myth, poetry, Indian customs, music into this novel inspired by bluesman Robert Johnson.
Demigods on Speedway by my daughter, Aurelie Sheehan, out this month.
Rob Lowe's Love Life. He is a dynamic story teller, compassionate, and devoted family man.