Friday Feature: Writer, Heather Mendel

I am so delighted today to introduce my dear friend Heather Mendel. Heather is an incredibly accomplished woman; she is a writer, an artist, a feminist, a human rights activist, a spiritual seeker, a teacher and an inspiration to many who believe we are currently experiencing a shift in human consciousness.

You can learn more about Heather and her work on her website: http://www.heathermendel.com

Heather Mendel - Bing Images

She joyfully invites you to join her on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Mendel/158559480868817

And on Twitter at: celebratingeve

Heather's book, Dancing in the Footsteps of Eve is a search for the Sacred Feminine in the biblical story of humanity's first mother. Heather utilizes the Four Worlds of Kabbalah to excavate a deeper meaning below the surface of Eve's story -- a meaning that enlightens readers to Eve's position as a positive feminine archetype who can elevate the consciousness of all willing men and women.


Heather, I remember that we first met when you and Cantor Ricki Weintraub presented a retelling of Eve’s story in music and prose to the San Luis Obispo Inter-Faith Ministerial Association. Was Dancing in the Footsteps of Eve inspired by that collaboration or was the presentation one way your idea for the book manifested?
 
'Dancing In The Footsteps of Eve' was gestating for many years before the book was published. I continue to offer presentations based on the central theme that Eve (rather than one woman - and a bad woman at that, once in a garden, once in time) instead is a symbol of the intuitive— a personal aspect of the Sacred Feminine that is alive within every human being. 'She' is the curious, courageous, insightful and hope-filled energy that moves us bravely into the mysterious unknown. She invites us to step out of the familiar when change is necessary.

She is always with us as The Shechina - a term that comes from the Hebrew word meaning the tangible Presence that 'dwell among us.' Curiosity is a gift bestowed on us to be used and appreciated; it is what moves the story of our own evolution forward. Without it, what would ever evolve? Where would science or spirituality be without us asking the questions of what is possible? We are blessed with unlimited potential that we access by pushing the boundaries of what we have been conditioned to believe.

Can you briefly explain the Kabbalah and how studying it has informed you as an activist?
 

Every religious tradition has its inner or hidden teaching that exists below the superficial rituals and dogmas that separate us from one another. Surface distinctions, in a spiritually mature society, motivates us to celebrate our diversity. Delving into the inner core of our faith traditions, boundaries dissolve and differences blend into the unified interconnectedness from which we came and to which we return. Kabbalah is the name given to the Jewish mystical teaching, practice and pathway that invites the practitioner to see deeply, to feel passionately and to decide how, where and when to make a personal commitment and contribution to make the world better because we are here.

We cannot do it all, but neither are we free to desist from being who we are and adding something to the flow of life. The spiritual journey is based on finding answers to the questions who am I and why am I here? Jewish mysticism helps me formulate the answer that I am here as a temporary, individual aspect of the The Eternal, blessed with the gift of life.I am here to be 'Heathering' just as yours, Tammie is 'Tammie-ing.' By bringing to conscious awareness the challenges I face and exercising the gifts with which I am blessed, I experience my physicality while at the same time, adding my perceptions, thoughts, feeling and intuitions into the Akashic Record of all that was, is and shall be.

If Eve could speak to her modern-day daughters what do you think she would tell us?

Be curious, courageous, intuitive and hopeful. In expecting and accepting all that you are, step forward bravely into the ongoing mystery and take your rightful place in the ongoing evolution of consciousness of which you are an essential part.

 

What would you most like readers of your book to understand?

Nothing is as it appears. Emerson says it well: 'Beware of what you are worshipping - for what you are worshipping you are becoming.' In Judaism, Divinity is best understood as a verb rather than a noun— as power of becoming in whose image we are created. The Hebrew words 'eheyeh asher eheyeh' often translated as 'I am that I am'— beyond gender, beyond 'thingness' —can also be translated as I become that I become.

 

 

Tell me about your upcoming project, the mystic oracle cards.

My newest project, The Syzgy Oracle, is almost complete. I have created a card deck of 22 multilayered images, interpreted from the Tarot's Major Arcana, as a practice and pathway to consciousness for women. The cards and the accompanying guidebook draw together the worlds of Tarot, Torah, the Tree of Life and transformation, mystical Judiasm, the hero's journey and sacred geometry. Coming soon to a website near you...

L'shalom,
Heather

---- If you have written a spiritually uplifting book from a non-traditional point of view or know someone who has and would like to be featured on this blog, please leave your information as a comment and I'll contact you as soon as possible.