Dear friends,

[from Dawn]

I’ve started writing emails to you a few times in the last couple of weeks and every time I get stuck because there’s something that needs to be said at the outset, but it feels like a hard thing to say because I could easily be misunderstood.

I ask you to hear this with an open mind because I am saying it with an open heart. I’ve listened to a lot of people that I respect on this topic and I’ve tuned in to my inner sense of truth.

I’m talking about our conscious choice in using the word "woman" and in making this a deck for people who are born as female and identify as "woman."

I know we could say "people with a uterus" but frankly, that language feels pretty lifeless. It is a "pieces and parts" descriptor that assumes that removing the uterus has no consequence to the rest of the body. I am a person who also has breasts that turned blood to milk to feed my babies; estrogen and progesterone that influence my mood, thoughts and energy level; a brain that relies on these hormones to help me intuit the needs of my family; bones that move muscles that depend on specific nutrients because of their chemical constitution. Those things are all deeply intrinsic to my experience of being a woman. Saying "person with a uterus" erases all of that. It erases "woman."

And with deep respect to the feminists who came before me who proclaimed that biology is not destiny, biology does direct/dictate/determine my life as a woman. When lived and bled consciously, biology informs not just our daily lives, but our evolution into elders. Our biology is the key to our wisdom.

One of the intentions in creating the Feminine Mysteries Oracle is to illuminate the power and wisdom that is possible to experience through our female biology as women.

...

PROGRESS UPDATE:

I've been making slow but steady progress this summer painting cards for the Feminine Mysteries Oracle deck! As of August, I have completed the painting of 9 cards. There are 4 cards in progress, 4 cards that I have photographed for and 2 women waiting to be photographed. I feel like the project has momentum of its own and I'm excited to meet more and more of you who are supporting us!

WANT TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT?

Be a model! We are especially looking for BIPOC women, but we need women of all ages, sizes, shapes and colors! Use this form to express your interest in modeling for the deck.

Thank you for your support and being part of our project!

Dawn & Veronica