The Way to Mexico

Dante in Mexico, by Andy Hoffmann, 2001, an Elik Press Single with Special thanks to the Utah Arts Council.

`In Hoffmann's chapter titled, "Frida, My Love," he writes: 

It's easy to enter Mexico by way of Frida Kahlo-her image is everywhere.  A symbol of revolution and the deep seated split of the female body...

But there are other ways to get to Mexico.  Some, as Hoffmann, decided to follow the path of the Dharma Bums and beat poets.  Some for the revolution and the beautiful language.  Some came to Mexico through Our Lady of Guadelupe, whose statues are present everywhere in North America.

Images of Frida Khalo are everywhere in Mexico.

Frida Khalo seems to be peeking at tourists as they wander around the cobblestone streets of the old cities in Mexico.

Guadelupe is present in secluded and untended gardens.

Guadelupe can be hiding behind foliage on private patios.

In Mexico, both Guadelupe with her sacred heart, and Frida Kahlo, with her exposed heart, can be found side by side.

I came to Mexico on a self-guided crone pilgrimage and I find that I continue to run into these two images wherever I go.  Neither Frida nor Guadelupe brought me here.  But I found my way to Mexico in my quest to find counsel with the divine feminine.

How did you get to Mexico?  What unusual route brought you here?  Did you find anything interesting?

Pilgrimage Recalibration

A small collage I created to help me get back on track and release my distractions.

On Saturday, I noticed that I was gaining an increased anxiety.  My Crone Pilgrimage quest was losing focus and becoming diluted with all of the things that one could or should be doing while in San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico.  

Did you ever notice that while trying to explore or establish a new path, that it is easy to be distracted?  How could one come to Mexico in the winter without seeing the monarch butterfly migration resting place?  How could one come to Mexico without following the various portals to the world of Frieda Kahlo or an immersion into Our Lady of Guadalupe?  

How could one come to Mexico without following the path of the beat poets?

I am currently looking for the pulse in my body and in my soul that sends a signal that I am not on my path.  When I am feeling some anxiety, I know that I have gone off my course and may even be repeating old patterns that are not part of my current intended growth.  Certainly, one must go off course for explorations into new landscapes and new territories, that will enhance the intended path.  In those moments, one can feel the exhilaration of stepping into something new.  

Do you have a body compass that gives you a signal that you have gone off of your intended course?

Crone Pilgrimage

Snow Covered in January

Even though I'm in Mexico, avoiding the harsh winter in the U.S., I find myself feeling slightly homesick for my garden in New Mexico.  Last year, there were leeks, chard and kales buried under a layer of mulch and covered with snow in my garden.  Throughout the winter, there was always an expectation of something growing, something incubating.

It is the same for me here in San Miguel de Allende.  Even though I'm far from home, buried deep inland below the boarder of the U.S., I feel as if I'm incubating.  Through the use of images, symbols, journaling, art workshops and dream landscapes, I feel as if I'm immersed in my

Crone Pilgrimage.  

The photo above is from my garden in New Mexico.  It was taken on a day after a January snowfall.  Just about one month after the Winter Solstice, the sunlight was beginning to have a noticeable warmth.  There was promise that what was buried and covered would again come to life.  I feel something inside of me beginning to awaken to an unexpected richness of a Crone's Life.