Her Council of Love has Begun
Week 18--in which we gather around Lady Freedom
Beautiful Ones,
Last Sunday, I hosted the opening ceremony for Her Council of Love global prayer practice. It was precious. So precious. Thank you to everyone who came. It was recorded and is now posted on the prayer page on my site so everyone can experience opening day.
The first thing you’ll see at the top of the page is the image Cathy Stevens Pratt painted of Lady Freedom standing atop the US Capitol building.
Take a moment to look at her.
She’s fierce! Lady Freedom has an eagle headdress with talons in her hair. She carries a sword, sheathed for the moment, a shield, and a laurel wreath. She is a perfect demonstration of how to protect, promote, and expand freedom.
Isn’t that exactly what is needed in this moment, when the country founded to break away from a tyrant is now replicating the tyrant’s abuse. It’s heartbreaking and terrifying and exhausting. Freedom of speech? Freedom of assembly? Freedom of religion? They and other freedoms are enshrined in the founding documents, but somehow, we have forgotten how to live and protect them.
And so, we turn to Lady Freedom, and ask her for the guidance and grace to hear who is begging to be heard, to see what is begging to be seen, and to do what must be done.
I, for one, feel a lot safer and stronger in Lady Freedom’s presence. That is one of the many benefits of this short, simple, powerful prayer.
Around Lady Freedom Cathy painted smudges representing me, you, all of us, praying across the globe.
But in this prayer, we have to revisit the meaning of the word “pray.”
We were all raised to equate prayer with repetitive word and actions. That’s what I thought it meant until prayer artist came along and upended everything I’d ever known about prayer.
In Her Council of Love prayer, we speak an opening invocation, and we also speak the words of Hana I Ka Pono.
But in between, we drop into silence and simply gaze at Lady Freedom with love and gratitude as she pours the grace and power of freedom down the dome, into the Capitol building, and into the ground, where freedom flows along underground rivers and streams and tiny capillaries all the way around the world.
I visualize her work as a global web of mycelial strands in constant connection and communion with one another.
Freedom finding and feeding freedom. Everywhere.
This is not a prayer for the United States. This is a prayer for everyone everywhere.
The masters and teachers of the Akashic Record gave me a prayer like this twelve years ago when my son became a political prisoner. They said we were to speak no words. We weren’t even to hold the intention of my son being released.
Instead, we were to simply gaze with love, unconditional divine love, at this wretched prison building and everyone connected with it. Not just the prisoners. The love in our hearts spread throughout the building and the entire legal system to touch judges, police, guards, prisoners’ families….
I think now that that prayer must have touched ten thousand people. Maybe more. And, eighty days after we began, my son was suddenly released from prison. Isn’t that interesting? Although we never asked that he be released or even held that intention, the judge did release him.
That has me wondering now, as more and more of us participate in Her Council of Love, what might happen?
What might Lady Freedom do with all our love?
You can learn about the prayer, print out PDFs of the prayer content, watch the ten-minute prayer video, watch the opening ceremony, order a print of Cathy's image, and more.
Everyone is asking me how to spread this practice, so I created a public Facebook group. It needs to be public in order to spread the prayer, but to protect us from trolls, people have to ask to join. On that page, people are invited to talk about the prayer, post their own meetings, ask questions, and brain storm about how to spread Her Council of Love.
Her Council of Love Facebook group
A lovely way to spread the prayer is to host or attend a weekly prayer. Cathy and I are going to share hosting a 15-minute prayer on Mondays at 4pm eastern starting Monday, May 5. I posted the zoom in the Facebook group.
How do you want to spread the prayer? Here are a few thoughts from people who came to the opening ceremony:
- pray with family and friends
- set up a weekly gathering on any platform you like
- talk about the prayer within your spiritual communities (I'm happy to zoom in if you want me talk about the prayer and get people started)
- write about Her Council of Love in your blogs, newsletters, substack...
- talk about the prayer on social media
- be sure to share the prayer with friends beyond the United States, it's a global prayer practice
- join the Facebook group and invite others to join and post your own ideas about how to gather around Lady Freedom and pray
- pay attention to what happens because things will change
Those are a few ideas from the friends who came to the opening ceremony.
How will you spread Her Council of Love?
Her Council of Love is a labor of devotion, love, and commitment to the healing power of prayer. Please consider making a donation of any amount to support the work behind Her Council of Love. And a big kiss to everyone who has donated.
to partnering in love with Lady Freedom
Janet
PS: Save the dates! I will be teaching an all-new, radically different, Deep Soul Writing with Friends intensive with Cathy Stevens Pratt on Tuesday, June 3, 10, 17, 24 from 6-8pm Eastern. (Watch Party for our friends in Europe on Thursdays.)
We're finalizing the content. Hope to show it to you next Sunday. But save the dates now. It's been four years since I taught deep soul writing and I won't teach it again this decade!
website: janetconner.com
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