Why Subscribe?
The Soul Food Cafe has been providing free creative stimuli since 1999. It has provided forums and blogs, a safe, managed environment for writers and artists to publish their work.
Over the years community members have been published in special features on the site and have had the opportunity to self publish on multi user blogs. Currently members of the Soul Food Cafe are welcome to publish on the Pythian Games. When they do publish members notify the Soul Food Group and this assures them of some readership. There are no charges to be involved in this forum.
In order to remain sustainable and retain an ongoing online presence Soul Food now has subscription based groups.
There are significant benefits for members who subscribe. Hestia's Hearth is rapidly becoming the Omphalos, the center of Soul Food. Hestia, one of the Olympian Goddesses, is the inner spark we need to survive all odds, and to keep our spirits intact on the darkest day. She is also the light that guides us and allows us to take joy in our lives, and in our accomplishments. She is our inner light and the life inside ourselves. To come to Hestia's Hearth is to commit to keeping the inner spark alive.
Members of Hestia's Hearth have access to special password protected blogs that provide fresh creative stimuli. Members work directly with Heather Blakey and alongside like minded writers and artists. Apart from developing digital portfolios that can be used when seeking admission to courses, subscribers to the Hearth and the associated programs that shoot off from it, are given the opportunity to be published in future Soul Food Advent Calendars.
Over the years community members have been published in special features on the site and have had the opportunity to self publish on multi user blogs. Currently members of the Soul Food Cafe are welcome to publish on the Pythian Games. When they do publish members notify the Soul Food Group and this assures them of some readership. There are no charges to be involved in this forum.
In order to remain sustainable and retain an ongoing online presence Soul Food now has subscription based groups.
There are significant benefits for members who subscribe. Hestia's Hearth is rapidly becoming the Omphalos, the center of Soul Food. Hestia, one of the Olympian Goddesses, is the inner spark we need to survive all odds, and to keep our spirits intact on the darkest day. She is also the light that guides us and allows us to take joy in our lives, and in our accomplishments. She is our inner light and the life inside ourselves. To come to Hestia's Hearth is to commit to keeping the inner spark alive.
Members of Hestia's Hearth have access to special password protected blogs that provide fresh creative stimuli. Members work directly with Heather Blakey and alongside like minded writers and artists. Apart from developing digital portfolios that can be used when seeking admission to courses, subscribers to the Hearth and the associated programs that shoot off from it, are given the opportunity to be published in future Soul Food Advent Calendars.
Fitting in to Soul Food
be guided by webmaster Heather Blakey
Soul Food is a complex site and many people find the Dali principle of chaos, upon which it was built, more than a little overwhelming. Apart from there being vaults filled with writing prompts there are collaborative blogs and groups housed within the site. Then, just to complicate things, there is the whole allegorical world of Lemuria, a writing sanctuary over which le Enchanteur presides.You can potter away at your own pace and find your way or you can choose to spend a month working with Heather Blakey and gain some direction. The subscription for this orienteering group is a one off $20
Hestia's Hearth
Join Hestia's Hearth
Come to Hestia Hearth and warm the artist within
It's quite possible that you may have never even heard of the virgin Greek goddess, Hestia? That's because, in spite of being one of the twelve Olympian deities, Hestia has no stories or myths depicting her deeds among mortals - and there were almost no ancient images of Hestia. Further, there were no Greek temples devoted specifically to Hestia.
The presence of Hestia was known to be in the center of a fire - and thus Hestia's soothing warmth served to make sacred whatever place it dwelled. Hestia's deep abiding presence was felt and seen only in the center of her warming fire. Thus... she could be found in every temple and in every home. As such, symbolically, it could be said that her energies centered around her sense of spirituality and with her home.
Although Hestia's life was focused on the home (and the many practical tasks regarding running the home) - as with the other virgin goddesses of ancient Greece (Artemis and Athena) - her life did not revolve around the pleasing of a male (whether god or mortal).
Hestia's Hearth is a special sanctuary where people are encouraged to nurture themselves and warm the artist within by practicing holistic hearth building that enhances the well being of themselves and others. Membership is by subscription. There is a one off charge of $50. Subscription members will have access to a protected blog and will be encouraged to respond to activities. they will be also be given the opportunity to have their work published as a part of the 2009 Soul Food Cafe Advent Calender.
Benefits of being a subscriber
The presence of Hestia was known to be in the center of a fire - and thus Hestia's soothing warmth served to make sacred whatever place it dwelled. Hestia's deep abiding presence was felt and seen only in the center of her warming fire. Thus... she could be found in every temple and in every home. As such, symbolically, it could be said that her energies centered around her sense of spirituality and with her home.
Although Hestia's life was focused on the home (and the many practical tasks regarding running the home) - as with the other virgin goddesses of ancient Greece (Artemis and Athena) - her life did not revolve around the pleasing of a male (whether god or mortal).
Hestia's Hearth is a special sanctuary where people are encouraged to nurture themselves and warm the artist within by practicing holistic hearth building that enhances the well being of themselves and others. Membership is by subscription. There is a one off charge of $50. Subscription members will have access to a protected blog and will be encouraged to respond to activities. they will be also be given the opportunity to have their work published as a part of the 2009 Soul Food Cafe Advent Calender.
Benefits of being a subscriber
- One off fee of $50. This fee entitles the participant to work with Heather Blakey, the gifted artistic midwife who has successfully worked with hundreds of inter-generation, international members of the Soul Food Cafe.It also ensures that participants meet and mix with like minded artists and writers and become eligible to be published in ongoing Soul Food publications.
- Opportunity to come home to oneself, to dream, incubate and act upon creative ideas.
- Have access to a password protected blog that provides participants with fresh activities designed to nurture self and enhance personal well being.
- Have the opportunity to be published in the annual Soul Food Advent Calendar and reach a substantial audience.
- Members are provided with a supportive readership. Given that artists and writers want to be read or seen this becomes a very important platform for growth and further advancement.
Travel the Serpentine Road and Hang out Serpent Prayer Flags
The Serpentine Road
Travel with Enchanteur and your companion donkey
Some very famous people have travelled with donkeys. It was the small one who, led by Joseph, carried Mary on his back and all Australians know the classic tale of Simpson and his Donkey.
From the beginning, Robert Louis Stevenson was an explorer who probed both the past and present and discovered the far reaches of the human spirit. Filled with tales of Scottish and Protestant history, Robert Louis Stevenson set his compass for voyages in the long ago. And fueled by the winds of imagination those passages became famous novels, Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Exploring his present Stevenson chose a pace that would give him extraordinary vision. After walking the southern mountains of France he wrote Travels with A Donkey. In Travels with a Donkey, Stevenson documents his journey with Modestine.
Perhaps one of the highlights of coming to Lemuria is the opportunity to travel with a donkey. When you travel the Serpentine Road you travel with a companion animal. You travel with a donkey!
Upon arrival in Lemuria, through a portal that looks very much like Ourobos, le Enchanteur gives travellers a bag filled with special talismans, and tells them of the donkey compound where travellers meet the Secretary of the Donkey Union, and the donkey who is destined to share their journey. Travellers always recognise the donkey who is to guide them. Guides such as Geraldine, Maya, Crispin, Regina, and Belenus, have trod the roads and faithfully advised their human companions as they tread unchartered regions.
One of the first things pilgrims are asked to do is meditate upon the famed snake and consider how they have been devouring their own creativity. The journey helps participants to reclaim the creative light and find their authentic voice.
Costs and benefits of this group
From the beginning, Robert Louis Stevenson was an explorer who probed both the past and present and discovered the far reaches of the human spirit. Filled with tales of Scottish and Protestant history, Robert Louis Stevenson set his compass for voyages in the long ago. And fueled by the winds of imagination those passages became famous novels, Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Exploring his present Stevenson chose a pace that would give him extraordinary vision. After walking the southern mountains of France he wrote Travels with A Donkey. In Travels with a Donkey, Stevenson documents his journey with Modestine.
Perhaps one of the highlights of coming to Lemuria is the opportunity to travel with a donkey. When you travel the Serpentine Road you travel with a companion animal. You travel with a donkey!
Upon arrival in Lemuria, through a portal that looks very much like Ourobos, le Enchanteur gives travellers a bag filled with special talismans, and tells them of the donkey compound where travellers meet the Secretary of the Donkey Union, and the donkey who is destined to share their journey. Travellers always recognise the donkey who is to guide them. Guides such as Geraldine, Maya, Crispin, Regina, and Belenus, have trod the roads and faithfully advised their human companions as they tread unchartered regions.
One of the first things pilgrims are asked to do is meditate upon the famed snake and consider how they have been devouring their own creativity. The journey helps participants to reclaim the creative light and find their authentic voice.
Costs and benefits of this group
- Participants learn about the craft of writing, story telling and the art of imagination through play. Each member has access to a password protected blog that provides a series of innovative activities. These activities teach the participant about dialogue, character development, storyscapes, movement, a sense of direction and, perhaps most importantly, lead individuals along a pathway to discover their authentic voice and preferred style. Within this safe environment participants have the time to dream and incubate creative ideas.
- Members belong to a Serpentine Road group and work directly with Heather Blakey, the gifted artistic midwife who has successfully worked with hundreds of inter-generation, international members of the Soul Food Cafe. Heather Blakey's alter ego, le Enchanteur, leads participants through a timeless archetypal journey of self discovery and self actualization.
- Participants establish Lemurian identities for themselves and create blogs which provide a virtual folio of their work. These blogs can provide evidence for those seeking admission to professional writing and art courses.
- Serpentine Road participants are provided with goals and activities which will be featured in Soul Food publications such as the Advent Calendar, an annual Soul Food publication.
- Participants who sign up for three months are automatically signed into Hestia's Hearth, a group whose work will culminate in the production of the 2009 Advent Calendar.
- The financial support provided by the subscription groups enables Soul Food to remain free and to ensure that people in remote and disadvantaged areas can have access to its resources.
To Subscribe
Subscription OptionsOption 1. $20.00 one off payment to become integrated into Soul Food.
Option 2. $50.00 one off payment for Hestia's Hearth
Option 3. $60.00 Enter the allegorical world of Lemuria and travel the Serpentine Road.
To subscribe simply contact Heather Blakey at heatherblakey at fastmail dot fm
by heatherblakey
Heather Blakey, is the creative mixologist, the artistic midwife and purveyor of creative stimuli who built The Soul Food Cafe from scratch. Heather i... (more)
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