Movie Monday: Suffragettes

After filling orders and tending to customers at the perfumery today Eve and I went over to a tiny theater up the way that was showing the film Suffragettes for limited release in the US to gain Oscar qualification. (Sure is nice having Eve around.)

Based on true events from the late 19th and early 20th century, the movie tells the tale of the early feminist movement in London where women were forced to become foot soldiers in a battle to gain equal rights.

The tale is compelling and although we've seen it before there is a rawness to it that is fresh, likely due to director Sarah Gavron, screenwriter: Abi Morgan and a couple female producers. The all star, epic cast including Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter was phenomenal along with gorgeous sets, lighting and the costumes.

Back row (L-R): Sarah Gavron (director), Helen Pankhurst (great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst), 

Laura Pankhurst (great-great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst), Alison Owen (producer); 

front row (L-R): Abi Morgan (screenwriter), Anne-Marie Duff (actor), Meryl Streep (actor), Carey Mulligan (actor), 

Helena Bonham Carter (actor), Faye Ward (producer).

The costumes!! Let's drool over those a bit shall we....

"Patriarchal power is a problem, even in the hands of women who have lost their connection to matriarchal principals of love, beauty and nature. Sure, there was a female prime minister in England and now have a female running for president in the US, however what we fail to realize is that what we need is balance. "The Aquarian Age is meant to reconcile ancient dichotomies, to integrate male and female energies, and to coordinate heart and mind and right and left hemispheres of the brain. Wherever polarities exist, we have an opportunity to raise consciousness and find a higher perspective from which to view life-a more balanced position, if you will."1 

"Sure, a female president in the US would potentially give some hope to young girls but not when the lady is from a patriarchal tribe and has aligned her self with those outdated systems.  Based on recent events, we still seem to have a way to go don't we? The great thing about films of this sort that are told from a holistic point of view is they get us thinking out of the box and into the circle. We all live together in a very complex system with many points of view, ultimately things change when we are able to shift consciousness. Regrettably the shift does not come easy. In the last Movie Monday post the character Lucy says "Ignorance brings chaos, not knowledge." Indeed. Read more quotes from Lucy here.

Read about the history of the Suffragettes and the women behind the movement by following this link to Bio.

1. Crystalinks blog
Photos: UK film poster, group (via The Guardian), Emmeline Pankhurst Ribbon (via Wikipedia), Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst (via Wikipedia) and assorted stills from varied sources on the internet.

Musing the Goddess

This weekend marks the Summer Solstice, honoring the height of power of the Sun and one of the longest days of the year in our Northern Hemisphere. Wise and ancient civilizations that revered nature and inhabited the Earth during the Golden Age tracked the sun and heavens. These ancestors created huge monolithic sites all over the world, some quite famous and others more recently understood like Adams Calendar, a 75,000 year-old stone calendar considered the cradle of humankind in South Africa.

Besides observing the stars and living in harmony, the main unifying thread of these civilizations is that they followed matriarchal principals. Todays modern culture is locked into a patriarchal system which is focused on gross matter. The matriarchal based societies mentioned above flourished. Both PhD Carmen Boulter and Dr. Leonard Shlain have examined these Goddess based civilizations revealing that they lived in balance and harmony with each other and nature.

Keep in mind that a society based on Goddess principals doesn't shun men, its the energy between the two dualistic principals that these scholars are referring to. Matriarch/patriarch, feminine/masculine are contrasting dynamics also known as yin and yang, light and dark, etc. According to the Indian cycles of time termed as Yugas, also known as Ages of Man, they fall and rise. In the current stage of this great cycle we are toward the end of the period known as Kali, the Iron Age. In 2025 we officially enter the new Golden Age, which is known in our culture as The Age of Aquarius. In this phase the Goddess rises and brings with her the enlightened balance of mind and heart where nature is honored and the human once again becomes empowered with full use of their brain.

In keeping with this theme, my husband, Greg Spalenka is having a solo show of new and old work at the Cornell Winery this Saturday evening. The name of the show is "Musing the Goddess" featuring
new mixed media creations and some classics that celebrate the Goddess in all her mysterious and divine glory. Some of these are large pieces (up to 6 feet tall) with gold and silver leaf.

Saturday, June 20, 2015 – 7-10 pm

7:30 Lecture – 8:30 Book Signing – 9:30 Drum Circle

The festivities will include a multi-media lecture on Spalenka’s art career in publishing and film, a book signing of the newly published, “The Art of Greg Spalenka, Visions from the Mind’s Eye” (Titan Books/London), a Drum Circle (bring your drums!), and other special treats.

All images ©Greg Spalenka

Movie Monday: The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate was originally made into a film in 1962 starring Frank Sinatra, the 1959 political thriller is based on a novel by Richard Condon. Last night we watched the 2004 version starring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep with direction from Jonathan Demme.

I found the story to be brilliant and now want to see the original. If this were remade in 2015 we could title it The Monsanto Candidate and have a reference to Hilary Clinton. Another film in this genre is the brilliant Michael Clayton.

The thing I'm wondering is when are Americans going to wake up? How many films need to be made on this topic before, as a collective, we see the truth? I'm feeling really hopeful with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders coming on the seen. What is most interesting is that he represents matriarchal principals: nature, art, consciousness, right brain, humanity so much more than the GMO aligned democratic rival Hilary Clinton.