Author: Lauri Ann Lumby

Poet Prophet Priest

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Over twenty-five years of doing the work I do in the world, and I still don’t know how to explain to people what I do!  Recently I landed upon three words that at least approach the idea of how I function and how that leads to the work I do and the gifts I share in the world.

Poet: Patti Smith once said: “To be an artist is to see what others cannot.” This is how it is with me. I see the world and all of life’s experiences through a depth beyond normal sight. I look beyond appearances to the mystery wherein lies the signs and symbols revealing meaning. I see through my eyes, but more directly, through my feelings. I feel what I see and what is beyond what I see. Herein I seek the beauty beyond the tragedy and the death that lies beyond the veil of perceived beauty. All that glitters is not gold. THEN, I am compelled/forced to put what I see and feel into words. Whether poetry or prose, all that I write is poetic.

Poetic: having an imaginative or sensitively emotional style of expression.

(Oxford English Dictionary)

Prophet: Albert Nolan defines a prophet as “one who is able to see the signs of the times.” More specifically, Nolan says:

Prophets are people who speak out when others remain silent. They are watchful of the areas in need of reform in their own society, their own country, or their own religious institutions. True prophets are men and women who stand up and speak (or act) out about the practices of their own people and their own leaders – while others remain silent. True prophets are not part of the authority structure. Prophets are never appointed, ordained or anointed by the religious establishment. They experience a special calling that comes directly from God, and their message comes from their own personal experience of God.

(Jesus Today – a Spirituality of Radical Freedom (Orbis Books, 2008, pp. 63-67)

Guilty!  If you have observed my work, my writing, my sharing, my community and global participation, you will agree. I speak what I see. I call out systems of injustice. I hold the world to the same standards I hold myself. AND I see where things are going and where we will end up if we continue along the current path.

Being a prophet is not like being a fortune teller.  Instead, it is made up of the practices of deep observation, a knowledge and understanding of human behavior, and applying my own skills of reason and logic. Prophecy isn’t miraculous. Seeing prophetically is a skill accessible to anyone with eyes to see and the logic to comprehend what we are seeing. Being a prophet isn’t really any different than understanding that 1+1=2.  The only difference is that being a prophet, we are compelled to speak what we see.

Priest: Calling myself priest is a tricky one, as the word and vocation itself has been corrupted beyond recognition and for centuries used to inflict all kinds of evils upon our world. In the pre-patriarchal traditions, a priest was a woman or man of the clan who were recognized as possessing certain gifts – gifts of healing, counsel, and teaching. The priest’s gifts came through a deep sensitivity to mystery and an ability to see, hear, and feel beyond the tangible world. The priest communed with the beyond and as such, was able to guide people during the transitory times of life – specifically: birth, growth, loss, and death. The priest was recognized as a leader and of great value to the clan, while being just one in the intimate workings of the community. The priest wasn’t above any other member of the tribe, but stood in circle with all the other gifts required to ensure the tribe’s survival and thrival.

If I claim to be priest, it is more in line with this pre-patriarchal imagining of priesthood and not at all like what we have come to know through institutional religion. Bottom line:  I am here to serve humanity through the gifts that I have and the calling I’ve been given. It’s no wonder I’m the person people turn to when the shit hits the fan, the bottom falls out, and all other efforts have been exhausted. I jokingly say that I might be the Pastor of Oshkosh, but this is not far from the truth as many of my local community will attest.

Poet. Prophet Priest. Yeah.  I can live with that and it’s the best I can do in a world where the work I do still defies definition!

Poet

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Bookstore

Prophet

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Priest

Lauri is available for one-on-one spiritual counseling.

Learn more here.

The Second American Revolution

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Indeed. We are here. Everyone can see it.  Even those who benefit from the current patriarchal, hierarchical, capitalistic systems.

Why else would our world be so chaotic and have the appearance of a complete and total shit show?

  • Poverty and homelessness are raging.
  • Inflation is running rampant.
  • Corporations are getting fat off profits while Americans starve.
  • Corporations have destroyed the environment.  
  • Wars are raging around us as Corporate America gets fat off the spoils of war – wars the US is paying for.

As all of this is happening, the puppet masters of our nation are purposefully trying to distract us with thoughts of blame, taking advantage of our human tendency toward projection:

“It can’t be the system that’s wrong!  It must be those other people.”

(whomever those others are to those who want to hate them.)

The truth at the heart of all the chaos, inequity, and injustice is that the lies of patriarchal capitalism are being revealed.

It is not the fault of a singular political party, a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity.

The fault, indeed, is with the system. A hierarchical, patriarchal, capitalistic system created with the sole purpose and intent to increase the wealth of white, male, landowners. The first American Revolution was not fought for the sake of our freedom (as we have been taught). Instead, it was fought for the sake of the wealthy few who sought to have this nation for themselves and to have it unencumbered by the laws of Britain. They didn’t care for the people who were already here. They didn’t care for the rights of women. They didn’t care for anyone other than themselves, but they worked really hard to convince us otherwise.

The mess we are in today began over 200 years ago when white, wealthy men came up with their “great idea.” An idea that was flawed from the beginning and which has continued to create systems that favor the liberty of one single demographic. An idea that has proved itself to be unsustainable. As the powerful few are getting rich, the world itself is being destroyed.

America is a nation divided – not by race, religion, or gender (as the puppet masters would have us believe) – but by power. The powerful few getting fat off the backs of the other 99.9%. As Jesus said, “Every nation divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” (Matthew 12: 25)

This is what we are witnessing.  The collapse of an empire under the weight of its own unjust inception. And in the face of this collapse, we have a choice. Do we follow the distractions of the empire as it works to pit us against each other, or do we come together in our collective suffering and rise up?  In rising up, we rise above the chaos and confusion, distractions and projections, and come together with one common goal – to right that which was made wrong 200 years ago.

The second American revolution will not be fought with guns or bombs but will instead be won through a collective desire to create a new world – one in which the needs of all are met, where compassion and justice reign, and where all are free to enjoy the liberties that are currently enjoyed only by a powerful few. Sing with me:

The Rumbling

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Yesterday (3/7/24) somewhere around the time the (American) State of the Union Address was to be delivered by President Biden, I was hit with an enormously powerful wave of grief. As I sensed this was not my own grief, I posted a quandary on Facebook, “Anyone else just get hit with a wall of grief.” The overwhelming and universal response:  YES! I did what I normally do in the face of disembodied impersonal grief – I prayed.

This morning, the grief was replaced by what I can only call “The Rumbling” (reference Attack on Titan – IYKYK!).  I felt the rumbling like a disturbance – a collective energy of both anxiety, and anger. It felt/feels like the stirring of something very unpleasant, even catastrophic. If you are familiar with the manga or anime series Attack on Titan, you know of what I speak.

This rumbling seems to be made up of years/centuries of anger, frustration, resentment, of needs going unmet, feelings of being silenced and unseen. This does not feel like the same kind of frustration often experienced by women or people of color, instead, this feels like an underbelly kind of energy – human beings who have historically felt rejected, unseen, and unheard, but who have not had the support to find healthy ways of expressing these needs or of getting those needs met. These are the humans who have languished on the fringe of economic demographics, and who, it seems, have never been given the chance to get a leg up in this world. These are the humans that instead of finding a way through the perceived (or real) obstacles, are seeking someone to blame. They believe it is someone outside of them who is at fault for their plight, and they are seeking a way to get back at those they perceive as having it better than them.

These folks have been given a mouthpiece, and his name is Donald Trump. Throughout his presidency and in the years since, he has given voice to all the foul vitriol of the projections assumed by his followers. In their minds, it must be the fault of women, people of color, homosexuals, non-Christians, immigrants, etc. that they are not getting their needs met.  DT is providing an example that they can follow in speaking their vile hatred of anyone that might have it better than they.

At the same time, DT has demonstrated to the world that wealth makes one immune to the law and the consequences of despicable and illegal behavior. The very wealthy of the world, and the wealthy wannabes, see in DT permission to be as horrible as they can possibly be for the sake of their money, and that there is no consequence to their actions.

I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but Donald Trump has taken control of the Republican party, distorted their once noble beliefs, and turned it into a platform for hatred and greed. Another four years of Trump will be the end of the American empire as we have come to know it….but he isn’t the cause of the end.

Before we point all fingers of blame at Donald Trump, the democrats are not innocent. The current administration’s continued participation (by supplying money and arms) in the genocide in Gaza and in continuing to ally with Netanyahu’s Israel, they have proven that the war machine, and the money to be made through it, are more important than the loss of innocent lives. The youth of our nation are rightly disillusioned by the White House rhetoric as it relates to Gaza. These are the youth whose votes will be lost if Biden’s campaign doesn’t do something to right this wrong.

Where this leads us is to the fact that neither of the candidates for president are appealing – for a variety of reasons. What this further illuminates is the very real fact that the form of governance and the vehicles through which our governmental leadership is chosen is flawed – a flaw that was present from the very beginning.

The American government was NEVER formed to support the voice of the majority. Neither was it formed to provide a platform for the minority. Instead, the representative government was created solely to meet the needs of wealthy, white, landowners. Period. Those who benefit from our current form of governance will argue this point. But the face remains, the US government was never set up to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of people made up of every race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and belief.

It might be time for a change.

Beyond the circus clowns, and those making a big noise, is the true source of The Rumbling. It’s not about DT or JB. It’s not about the people for whom they speak, or who they believe they represent. Instead, it is about a system that was flawed from the beginning.  The clown show that we are witnessing is not the cause, but is instead a symptom of a system that is collapsing under its own weight – a system that has proven itself unsustainable. As such, at the end of the day, I’m not sure if the winner of the 2024 presidential race matters. Whether it is Biden, Trump, or some other character, the empire is collapsing, and we are being given the opportunity to witness its collapse.

It is really surreal to be witness to the collapse of an empire.

(PS I wonder if the Roman’s knew what they were witnessing as it was happening or if it was only in hindsight that they understood?)

Holding My Tongue

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Holding My Tongue

If life has taught me anything

it is that you can’t convince anyone

of anything they don’t want to believe.

My younger self thought otherwise,

going so far as to convince myself

it was my job to convince them.

Met with one brick wall after another

I learned to hold my tongue.

Standing back and watching

as one after another after another

digs their own grave.

You can’t teach the unteachable.

You can’t give sight to those who don’t know they’re blind.

What good is speech to those who don’t want to hear?

“Ignorance is bliss”  – or so they say.

Perhaps for many this is true.

Far be it from me to disturb their bliss.

Instead, I’ll hold my tongue.

copyright Lauri Ann Lumby

Lauri Ann Lumby is the author of eleven published books, including three poetry collections. She is currently working on her fourth. All books available on Amazon HERE.

The Long Dark Night

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The Long Dark Night

Deafening silence echoing into the void.

Where is the voice of my God?

The voice I used to hear on the wind,

see in my dreams,

taste in my prayers?

Feeling “His” loving embrace like the comfort of a warm blanket –

a shield of protection.

In “His” arms I felt safe.

A compass offering guidance.

A weathervane pointing out coming storms.

A sextant tracking the movement of the stars.

A barometer alerting changing pressure.

Where there was once surety, this is only confusion.

The only voice now is my own.

The Long Dark Night is made of this.

As we come to embrace this, we realize

that to hear the voice of God, we need only listen to ourselves.

copyright Lauri Ann Lumby

Surviving the Long Dark Night

LIVE (via ZOOM) online course

Wednesdays 6:30 – 8:30 pm central time

April 10, 17, 24, 2024

Created and facilitated by Lauri Ann Lumby

Learn more and enroll here.

Melancholy

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There is a kind of melancholy
that inhabits a woman of a certain age.
Like a cloak of kelp and arame draped across her shoulders –
Clinging and dripping,
Enfolding her in saline dampness.
Salty, cold, and wet from a lifetime of tears –
Some shed. Some withheld.
Sorrow-ridden tears of loss.
Bitter tears of betrayal.
Volcanic tears of rage.
All comingled with fleeting tears of joy.

A woman’s heart is tender –
despite the strength she must show to the world.

Melancholy creeps in like mist through a crack in the door
filling every space with a weightless veil
carrying all the pain of the world.
She barely sees its coming
until realizing it’s here.
Impenetrable.
Eternal.
It’s made a home in her.

Initially unwelcome –
something that must be expunged.
But the more it’s met with resistance
the louder its cries become.
Until the moment she accepts melancholy’s heavy wrap,
there she discovers not pain but comfort.

Melancholy is neither curse, nor depression to be shunned.
Instead, melancholy is the acknowledgment of all a woman has held on her own –
the cloak of comfort she could not give to herself and what she didn’t receive from the world.

Surviving the Long Dark Night

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Surviving the Long Dark Night

LIVE (via ZOOM) online course

Wednesdays 6:30 – 8:30 pm central time

April 10, 17, 24, 2024

Created and facilitated by Lauri Ann Lumby

For centuries, wisdom teachers have spoken about the dark night of the soul, a stage of emptiness and sometimes despair in the spiritual journey – a stage that is pronounced and identifiable, but mostly temporary. We may experience several dark nights of the soul, but as described by these teachers, the dark night is always followed by periods of comfort and resolution.  

What these teachers have not spoken of is the reality of a darker night – one that is not simply a stage but appears to be enduring and potentially everlasting. This is not the dark night of clinical depression (though the two can bear similar traits) but is instead –

a sign of having accomplished the spiritual state of embodiment.

Embodiment is that which surpasses ascension and is the culmination of the human spiritual journey. In becoming embodied (anthropos), we have integrated the union experienced at ascension and are now living more and more fully as Love within our human form and experience. In this state, Source is no longer perceived as outside of us. Neither is Source experienced as an ecstatic inner state.

Instead, Source is experienced only as ourselves.

In the long dark night, we

  • experience what appears to be the absence of “God”
  • miss the ecstasy and intimacy that often accompanies our experiences of union with the Divine
  • feel empty, alone, and often afraid.
  • experience a sense of abandonment
  • become acquainted with the Void – the perceived absence of support, guidance, hope, and direction
  • come face to face with Death
  • become terrified by the possibility of there being nothing – both in life and on the other side of life.

The long dark night can be terrifying as it encompasses in its embrace, the opportunity to heal and transform the final vestiges of our ego attachments, false perceptions, and non-loving conditioning.  

The long dark night supports us in:

  • knowing our own voice as the voice of God
  • understanding our own needs as the needs of Source
  • becoming empowered to trust ourselves as our own Source of guidance and support
  • knowing we are the Love we seek, and living as the embodiment of that Love
  • accepting our own sovereign nature as wonderfully and gloriously made
  • finding peace in the perceived solitude of union/autonomy

In this live, online course, you will:

  • Learn to identify the signs of the long dark night
  • Come to understand the purpose of the long dark night
  • Discover that you are not alone in this mysterious state of becoming
  • Experience resources and tools for navigating the long dark night
  • Be supported in surviving the confusion and desolation that often accompanies the long dark night
Learn more and enroll here.

Casting Stars

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Casting Stars

“Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

The words of my morning prayer.

But to what god am I praying?

To what does one pray in a post-theistic state?

“Speak Self, your servant is listening.”

What is it my Self has to say?

What do I want from and for myself?

Self wants what the Self wants –

To be known.

What do I know of my Self?

Moving past defense mechanisms

And the armor designed to protect from the horrors of the world,

there is kindness

and deep sensitivity.

A heart too tender for the violences of this world

and the cruelty of man –

yet strong in its ability to endure the constant breaking –

held together by a love that sees promise

and the hidden good in it all.

Wise enough to have discarded hope (that fool’s game)

allowing Faith to take its place.

No longer wishing, but knowing,

in a deep, abiding way, that “it is good”

no matter how horrible that “good” might initially appear.

This is the Self I know.

The one who sees and knows.

Who seeks understanding in confusion.

Who looks for the higher way, the higher truth.

Who longs to know the Love in the center of it all

And who has no choice but to point it all out.

The messenger poet casting stars into the sky

helping humanity find its way.

Standing Still in a Chaotic World

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Standing Still

Standing still

at the epicenter of

humanity’s quickening.

The cloak of my power wrapped around me:

Metallic gold for power.

Silver for gentleness.

Red for sovereignty.

Midnight for magic.

Black for protection.

White for wisdom.

Green for sanctity and purity of intention.

Magenta for love.

Purple – the color of transformation.

Still as a deeply rooted oak.

Flexible as a willow.

Interconnected as the birch and aspen.

Afire like maple in the fall.

Standing strength as the world

whips up the storms of its dying.

The ever-present death rattle

heaving complaints and false allegations.

Desperately believing it can hide from its doomed fate.

A fate long cast when

privilege forsook unity

and fear sacrificed love.

Has it been since the beginning that the world was doomed?

Humanity, its own worst enemy –

The only species intent on its own destruction.

But in standing still, I and mine are fine.

copyright Lauri Ann Lumby

Join Me Beside the Hearth

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For over twenty-five years I have been a source of support for individuals through the most vulnerable and tender parts of their human journeys. I have counselled people through the unexpected death of a child. I have supported couples facing the “dark night” of their marriage. I have been a welcome guide and mentor in the human journey of spiritual growth and development. I have provided healing for those experiencing mental, emotional, and spiritual pain. I have been a source of support through midlife crises, divorce, job loss, empty nest, and other deeply transformational times of transition.

Whether working with me over the phone, via ZOOM, or in my home, you will find a warm and welcoming place here where you can step away from the chaos and unrest of the outside world and be supported in returning to your heart – for it is there you will find rest, peace, and the answers to life’s questions. My hearth-fire is always burning. You will find comfort and safety here.

With love,

Lauri

Email lauri@lauriannlumby.com to schedule a one-on-one session with me! We can meet via ZOOM, over the phone, or in my home if you are local. My suggested fee is $165.00 per session and I offer a sliding scale for those for whom $165.00 would be a reach. Don’t hesitate to reach out!