In 1991, my own Descent into Darkness began as, one by one, all the supports I had depended upon and believed in--friends, job, home, child--were ripped away from me. I felt completely alone and abandoned. People avoided me. And I resented it like hell! No, I wasn't a graceful sufferer. But eventually help came to me. I discovered the ancient story of the descent of Inanna and realized I was going through a similar archetypal experience. This made more sense to me than any sky god stories I'd ever heard or read because it addressed the psychic needs of women. And I loved that the story of Inanna was such an old, old story, rooted in the time when God was a woman. I came across these words in a book (sorry, I don't have the source handy right now): "When you begin your psychic journey, something will come on the road to meet you." That was the most encouraging bit of information I had, and I clung to it. One day a voice whispered to me, "Pay attention to the stories" and later, "You have everything you need." One memorable day, while still unable to find a job, I sat down to my computer and began to write. I had simply run out of options for procrastinating. Previously, I had made my living writing about other people's creativity, but that livelihood had dissolved. So there I was, at last, writing out of my own depths of experience. On the Soulfood Alphabet page just now, these words struck me: "In alchemical illustration the subconscious is often represented by flooding rivers or oceans." During that dark time, I had many many such dreams of both rivers and oceans, overflowing with dark waters. I still resented the loss of so much that was precious to me. Now, 15 years later, I can at last see some pattern of meaning and appropriateness to it all. I still mourn my losses but realize we all must undergo this journey in one way or another, in order to grow our souls. It seems like chance that I stumbled onto the SoulFood Cafe site just at the time when new people were being invited into the Lemurian Abbey, but I've learned there's a design behind all the apparent chaos. As we break the ground of Mother Earth to uncover both "hidden treasure as well as dread," I wonder where our journey will lead us. This time, I undertake the Heroine's Journey by choice and in the company of the most amazing and creative women and men. One couldn't ask for more on this Earth Walk.