I'm very excited about the Cracked Bat Oracle. Using the archetypal energies from the novel, people can use these unique cards to tap into their intuition. The prototype for our deck is finished and the artwork for a commerical version is currently underway. I've been using the original deck with friends, a few fairs, at this past year's Women of Wisdom Conference in Seattle. They are lots of fun.
If you would like a free one card online reading, submit your question by clicking on the comment link at the end of this passage. Ask away...
(and my mother always said I reminded her of Lucy in the Peanuts' gang with her little booth...and I'm not even charging 5 cents here! Maybe Mom can dig out the old Halloween picture of me dressed as a gypsy....)
Janiece Hopper
- Janiece Hopper
- Pitching in this All-Star paradigm is lots of fun! Using these cards is a lot like opening an inspirational book and applying the words on the page you open to to yourself at that moment...only, like so many other cultures, we are using characters and situations from a story to assist in self-inquiry. Remember, by asking a question, YOU are the one creating a path for YOUR inner wisdom to send you an answer. The Cracked Bat Oracle is one way to move from where you are today to where you will be be once you've reconnected with your intuition on the issue you are considering. It's always very interesting if a card seems to speak to your situation. If it doesn't, that is also information for you. After all, what it's not can help you decide what it is. Have fun deciding for yourself. Thank you so much for letting me bring the story of Cracked Bat into your ongoing quest!
Cracked Bat is published by Ten Pentacles. What does Ten Pentacles Mean?
The Ten of Pentacles is a card in the Tarot deck. No one knows exactly where the tarot came from. Like all tools, it can be used or misused. When I use it, I do so to introduce a new dimension into my reflections on my feelings and experiences.
Carl Jung, founder of depth psychology, saw the images in the Tarot deck as representative of the archetypes of transformation. Archetypes represent the myriad of energetic possibilities and approaches to life that exist within the human psyche. Choosing a card and exploring how that archtypal energy is or is not active in the current situation can be very interesting.
The Ten of Pentacles card usually represents the successful culmination of a challenging journey from which good fortune (wealth or wisdom) well worth sharing is gained. The Ten of Pentacles stands for satisfaction, expansion, the building of a home, joy, and pleasure
In the case of Ten Pentacles Press, Ten Pentacles means a publishing company that is expansive in spirit and provides "a home" for satisfying stories...where characters encounter trials, challenges, joy and pleasure.
Carl Jung, founder of depth psychology, saw the images in the Tarot deck as representative of the archetypes of transformation. Archetypes represent the myriad of energetic possibilities and approaches to life that exist within the human psyche. Choosing a card and exploring how that archtypal energy is or is not active in the current situation can be very interesting.
The Ten of Pentacles card usually represents the successful culmination of a challenging journey from which good fortune (wealth or wisdom) well worth sharing is gained. The Ten of Pentacles stands for satisfaction, expansion, the building of a home, joy, and pleasure
In the case of Ten Pentacles Press, Ten Pentacles means a publishing company that is expansive in spirit and provides "a home" for satisfying stories...where characters encounter trials, challenges, joy and pleasure.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Repetitive Strain Injury
I dedicated Cracked Bat to women who don't forfeit due to pain. It is hard to live, let alone thrive, with a chronic condition, so I hope Linnea Perrault's experience helps others learn ways to prevent injury and care for themselves before it gets too late.
Since any untreated soft tissue injury can lead to Myofascial Pain Syndrome, it is very important to pay attention to and get knowledgable treatment for Repetitive Strain Injuries. Not all physicians or physical therapists are up to speed on these issues.
Here is an excerpt from Cracked Bat. By this part of her story, Linnea had already been to her family doctor, an orthopedist, a chiropractor, and numerous other health care providers.
"She pulled the tear-stained drawing she’d done the previous night from her purse and handed it to him. As he glanced at it, she dug her fingertips into her neck, trying to loosen the lump in her flesh.
Dr. Perdue’s brown eyes widened slightly as he studied the disturbing image. “The areas you sketched in red burn. Right? The thicker black barbed wires show where you feel the pain, is that correct?”
“And pain is moving into where the lines turn gray.” She wasn’t a very good artist, but at least he wasn’t scoffing at her work. He actually seemed to be taking her seriously.
“Sounds like MPS to me.” Dr. Perdue spun toward the counter for a box of facial tissue and handed it to her. “Myofascial Pain Syndrome.”
Tears of relief welled over her bottom lids: at last, a diagnosis. Maybe Dan would calm down. “What’s that?”
“It’s a condition that wrecks havoc with your musculoskeletal systems. See, a continuous sheet of fascia covers all of your muscles and your internal organs. It’s like the slimy stuff you pull off chicken before cooking it.
When people, and for some reason most of them are women around your age, get injuries or develop trigger points in muscle tissue, the surrounding fascia bunches up abnormally. This can pull on bones and joints and even affect your internal organs...He handed her back the drawing.
“Nice sketch. MPS is pretty complex. Unfortunately, few people understand this dynamic.”
Joseph Hunton, certified Hellerworker and owner of Seattle-based Repetitive Strain Injury Solutions shares his favorite tips for writers.
Tips for Prevention or Management of Repetitive Strain Injuries
1) Set up your writing station to fit your body. The proper ergonomic fit will allow your body to work with comfort, keeping tension and strain to a minimum.
2) Take regular breaks, get up, walk around, and swing your arms in big circles to increase circulation.
3) Body awareness- notice how your body is feeling, check your sitting posture, and make adjustment to be more comfortable/supported.
4) Self awareness- monitor your stress level. Have some stress reduction practices-breathing exercises, meditation, stretching, physical activity.
5) Drink lots of water. Hydration is critical to proper muscle function. At worst this will force to get up and walk to the bathroom at regular intervals.
*If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, get treatment immediately.
Pain or soreness in the wrist or hands
Tingling or numbness in the hands or fingers
Pain or soreness in the forearms or elbows
Chronic neck or shoulder pain
There is more information about RSI's which is very useful for writers at http://www.rsi-solutions.net/
Since any untreated soft tissue injury can lead to Myofascial Pain Syndrome, it is very important to pay attention to and get knowledgable treatment for Repetitive Strain Injuries. Not all physicians or physical therapists are up to speed on these issues.
Here is an excerpt from Cracked Bat. By this part of her story, Linnea had already been to her family doctor, an orthopedist, a chiropractor, and numerous other health care providers.
"She pulled the tear-stained drawing she’d done the previous night from her purse and handed it to him. As he glanced at it, she dug her fingertips into her neck, trying to loosen the lump in her flesh.
Dr. Perdue’s brown eyes widened slightly as he studied the disturbing image. “The areas you sketched in red burn. Right? The thicker black barbed wires show where you feel the pain, is that correct?”
“And pain is moving into where the lines turn gray.” She wasn’t a very good artist, but at least he wasn’t scoffing at her work. He actually seemed to be taking her seriously.
“Sounds like MPS to me.” Dr. Perdue spun toward the counter for a box of facial tissue and handed it to her. “Myofascial Pain Syndrome.”
Tears of relief welled over her bottom lids: at last, a diagnosis. Maybe Dan would calm down. “What’s that?”
“It’s a condition that wrecks havoc with your musculoskeletal systems. See, a continuous sheet of fascia covers all of your muscles and your internal organs. It’s like the slimy stuff you pull off chicken before cooking it.
When people, and for some reason most of them are women around your age, get injuries or develop trigger points in muscle tissue, the surrounding fascia bunches up abnormally. This can pull on bones and joints and even affect your internal organs...He handed her back the drawing.
“Nice sketch. MPS is pretty complex. Unfortunately, few people understand this dynamic.”
Joseph Hunton, certified Hellerworker and owner of Seattle-based Repetitive Strain Injury Solutions shares his favorite tips for writers.
Tips for Prevention or Management of Repetitive Strain Injuries
1) Set up your writing station to fit your body. The proper ergonomic fit will allow your body to work with comfort, keeping tension and strain to a minimum.
2) Take regular breaks, get up, walk around, and swing your arms in big circles to increase circulation.
3) Body awareness- notice how your body is feeling, check your sitting posture, and make adjustment to be more comfortable/supported.
4) Self awareness- monitor your stress level. Have some stress reduction practices-breathing exercises, meditation, stretching, physical activity.
5) Drink lots of water. Hydration is critical to proper muscle function. At worst this will force to get up and walk to the bathroom at regular intervals.
*If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, get treatment immediately.
Pain or soreness in the wrist or hands
Tingling or numbness in the hands or fingers
Pain or soreness in the forearms or elbows
Chronic neck or shoulder pain
There is more information about RSI's which is very useful for writers at http://www.rsi-solutions.net/
Fiction Can Facilitate Personal Growth and Healing
As native artist Roy Henry Vickers say, "Storytelling is the ointment of the healer."Most of my friends can name two or three novels that helped them shift their perspective on important personal issues. Novels stretch and soothe us at the same time.
Fiction can fuel personal growth and healing. Unfortunately, most adults find themselves in a perpetual time-crunch. If you are cultural creative, actively reclaiming and reinventing aspects of yourself, attempting to BE the change you want to see in this crazily-constructed world, "checking out" of it with a good novel might seem...well, too darn leisurely. Really, it's hard just to find the time to floss, right? Yet, spending time with a good book can be a form of self-care that energizes and inspires you and may very well be worth the investment.
And of course, an adult having a personal or spiritual crisis naturally looks for a "real", "reliable", "research-based" solution. The quicker the fix is, the better. In Cracked Bat, Linnea is a busy, mother, wife, business owner, community activist, and friend. She has many responsibilites and certainly doesn't have time for her "wake-up" call. Yet, story ultimately shows her the way through.
This question, "Can fiction faciliate personal growth and healing?" boils down to "How wise is the storyteller?" and "Which part of her is speaking to which part of me?" This is a very interesting question. Like a medicine woman of old, canvassing harsh wild lands for an herb to cure her patient, a novelist sacrifices sleep, stretches her day-job paycheck, and risks repetitive stress injury to bring psyche's truth to her people.
The herbal healer creates a concoction around plants she identifies. The writer crafts a story around the pearl of wisdom she finds. If their alchemy if successful, they can both resolve some of or provide comfort for the pain or confusion that accompanies the human condition.
The test is in the fruit a tree bears. How do you feel when you've finished reading?
Fiction can fuel personal growth and healing. Unfortunately, most adults find themselves in a perpetual time-crunch. If you are cultural creative, actively reclaiming and reinventing aspects of yourself, attempting to BE the change you want to see in this crazily-constructed world, "checking out" of it with a good novel might seem...well, too darn leisurely. Really, it's hard just to find the time to floss, right? Yet, spending time with a good book can be a form of self-care that energizes and inspires you and may very well be worth the investment.
And of course, an adult having a personal or spiritual crisis naturally looks for a "real", "reliable", "research-based" solution. The quicker the fix is, the better. In Cracked Bat, Linnea is a busy, mother, wife, business owner, community activist, and friend. She has many responsibilites and certainly doesn't have time for her "wake-up" call. Yet, story ultimately shows her the way through.
This question, "Can fiction faciliate personal growth and healing?" boils down to "How wise is the storyteller?" and "Which part of her is speaking to which part of me?" This is a very interesting question. Like a medicine woman of old, canvassing harsh wild lands for an herb to cure her patient, a novelist sacrifices sleep, stretches her day-job paycheck, and risks repetitive stress injury to bring psyche's truth to her people.
The herbal healer creates a concoction around plants she identifies. The writer crafts a story around the pearl of wisdom she finds. If their alchemy if successful, they can both resolve some of or provide comfort for the pain or confusion that accompanies the human condition.
The test is in the fruit a tree bears. How do you feel when you've finished reading?
Speaking of the Triple Goddess
Since the beginning of consciousness, cultures have recognized and worshipped various forms of the triple goddess. She includes the maiden, the mother and the crone. Each of the three is complex and has given rise to many different goddesses.
Therefore, the Divine Feminine is passionate, pure-hearted, alluring maiden. She is life-giving, compassionate, comforting, and task-master mother. She is blunt, humorous, hard-choice, death-honoring crone. She is all of this at once and more. She never apologizes for "being too much and she does not allow herself to be dismissed by PMS.
Many people are unaware of the triple goddess. Others are dismissive or suspicious whenever she's mentioned. The historical violent suppression of Goddess as a viable deity has created both subtle and not-so-subtle dynamics that continue to play out in both interpersonal, cultural, political, and ecological imbalances and traumas over and over again.
Revealing and healing these dynamics through art, music, and literature is very interesting work. All over the world, at this very moment, cultural-creatives, women's circles, and men's groups are stepping up to "diagnose" the issues and "make the medicine." Some may say that it's all irrelevant now. God is not really father. It's neither male or female. However, the "God's-Just-Energy" theory hasn't resolved the woman's 77 cents to the man's dollar issue yet, has it?
Part of my Master's thesis at the University of Washington involved looking at what Sara Ruddick calls "maternal thinking." Simply put, she notes that if they avoid ideological management (raise your babies to go to war for the King etc.) people who have done the work of gestating, birthing, nursing, and parenting (who have given life to a special project) think and feel differently from the way they did before they conceived or manifested that work.
"Parental thinkers" become more tolerant, more willing to do the work to preserve natural resources, and interested in finding optimisitic life-preserving solutions to problems.
If we apply this to the triple goddess, we can see how the nurturing, sacrificing, mother aspect of her has a slightly different view than the hunting, envisioning, or more playful maiden.
Indeed, as cultural-creatives invite the Divine Feminine back in cultural consciousness, neuroscience gives us pictures of the most developed brains at work. To create, to give birth to thought and form, and then manifest it, numerous parts of the brain "light up" simultanously so that information from different regions within it can merge and flow. We have the wiring to "Be" one with a complex, evolving, creative force, if we chose to, but we have to recognize that it exists first.
The social construction of spirituality gets even more interesting when, after finding, acknowledging, and embracing the divine feminine, we call up the divine (mature) masculine and see what they can create by being "wise" together. That's what Intuit-Lit is all about.
Therefore, the Divine Feminine is passionate, pure-hearted, alluring maiden. She is life-giving, compassionate, comforting, and task-master mother. She is blunt, humorous, hard-choice, death-honoring crone. She is all of this at once and more. She never apologizes for "being too much and she does not allow herself to be dismissed by PMS.
Many people are unaware of the triple goddess. Others are dismissive or suspicious whenever she's mentioned. The historical violent suppression of Goddess as a viable deity has created both subtle and not-so-subtle dynamics that continue to play out in both interpersonal, cultural, political, and ecological imbalances and traumas over and over again.
Revealing and healing these dynamics through art, music, and literature is very interesting work. All over the world, at this very moment, cultural-creatives, women's circles, and men's groups are stepping up to "diagnose" the issues and "make the medicine." Some may say that it's all irrelevant now. God is not really father. It's neither male or female. However, the "God's-Just-Energy" theory hasn't resolved the woman's 77 cents to the man's dollar issue yet, has it?
Part of my Master's thesis at the University of Washington involved looking at what Sara Ruddick calls "maternal thinking." Simply put, she notes that if they avoid ideological management (raise your babies to go to war for the King etc.) people who have done the work of gestating, birthing, nursing, and parenting (who have given life to a special project) think and feel differently from the way they did before they conceived or manifested that work.
"Parental thinkers" become more tolerant, more willing to do the work to preserve natural resources, and interested in finding optimisitic life-preserving solutions to problems.
If we apply this to the triple goddess, we can see how the nurturing, sacrificing, mother aspect of her has a slightly different view than the hunting, envisioning, or more playful maiden.
People who have often endured the heart-wrenching loss of loved ones or reliquished dreams-once-dearly-held always find themselves at a crossroads where they must goes how they will go on in the world. These dark times are associated with the grandmother or the crone. From years of observation and experience, she has knowledge to share or knows what each seeker needs to do to tap into what is s/he already within.
When we put these ways of thinking together there's a life, death, rebirth, pattern that blends into a way of knowing that we call "wisdom."
Often, when we encounter the triple goddess in media, the "maiden" is all about sex, the "mother" is often trivialized, and the crone is either evil, the butt of a joke, or her source of wisdom is so "mystical" it isn't grounded in daily life or realistic characters. Such an immature understanding of what the feminine is and can be impedes both personal, relational, and cultural development.
Indeed, as cultural-creatives invite the Divine Feminine back in cultural consciousness, neuroscience gives us pictures of the most developed brains at work. To create, to give birth to thought and form, and then manifest it, numerous parts of the brain "light up" simultanously so that information from different regions within it can merge and flow. We have the wiring to "Be" one with a complex, evolving, creative force, if we chose to, but we have to recognize that it exists first.
The social construction of spirituality gets even more interesting when, after finding, acknowledging, and embracing the divine feminine, we call up the divine (mature) masculine and see what they can create by being "wise" together. That's what Intuit-Lit is all about.
More about Intuit-Lit...
People have read the back cover of Cracked Bat and asked, "Is Intuit-Lit spiritual?"
I think so, but it is humble in that regard. Hannah Arendt said, "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." Ten Pentacles acknowledges that no matter how beautifully crafted a novel is, the one who reads or listens to it is the one who ultimately creates its meaning. After all, intuition itself is extremely idiosyncratic. While there are counselors and teachers to help you hone your intuition and community to honor it, when all is said and done, only you can truly interpret the "signs" you see or the "hits" you get.
These days, people seem inclined toward non-fiction when pursuing this kind of personal growth, but historically, spiritual leaders used myths and stories to show people new ways of reaching their human potential. Whether or not a story is "spiritual" depends on the intention of the teller and the interaction of the reader with the words.
I think so, but it is humble in that regard. Hannah Arendt said, "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." Ten Pentacles acknowledges that no matter how beautifully crafted a novel is, the one who reads or listens to it is the one who ultimately creates its meaning. After all, intuition itself is extremely idiosyncratic. While there are counselors and teachers to help you hone your intuition and community to honor it, when all is said and done, only you can truly interpret the "signs" you see or the "hits" you get.
These days, people seem inclined toward non-fiction when pursuing this kind of personal growth, but historically, spiritual leaders used myths and stories to show people new ways of reaching their human potential. Whether or not a story is "spiritual" depends on the intention of the teller and the interaction of the reader with the words.
Intuit-Lit intends to illuminate limiting socially-constructed and neurologically-wired thought, behavorial, and physiological patterns so that characters can recast and overcome obstacles on their life paths. By sharing the characters' experiences, we hope our readers find themselves further along on their own journeys and are more conscious of and comfortable with their own intuitive abilities.
Yet, if a would-be-reader picks Cracked Bat up at a bookstore, glances through it, puts it down, and walks away, we trust that "moment of choice" serves us all in some way. Yes, it is a peculiar, but delighfully stress-free marketing approach.
Intuit-Lit is a New Genre
Intuit-Lit describes what I write, even though the publishing world hasn't identified it as a genre yet. Agents have tried to impose the label "Chick-lit" on Cracked Bat, but that didn't fit and I simply wasn't willing to squeeze my story into that one. The term Intuit-Lit is my tongue-in-cheek, rebel's response to former Chick-Lit encounters at writers' conferences. Using it lets me poke a little fun at the obsurdity of compulsively trying to force creative work written for complex women into a ready-made marketable package.
In actuality, books shelved in "Chick-Lit" run the gamet from a Really-Great-Read to Gosh-How-Did-This-Get-Published? Some of them invoke goddess lingo. But labels, and the images they create matter, especially for writers. For me, the distinction between Intuit-Lit and Chick-Lit suggests the difference between dancing barefoot on my friend's lawn beneath the beautiful cedar tree she calls Cherunda vrs. a woman strapping high heels on to go strut stuff in a smoky bar. There's absolutely nothing wrong with pulling a calf muscle or throwing your hips off kilter, to fall into strangers who don't care who you are...if that feeds your soul. Sometimes it's fun. But, Intuit-Lit is for those of us who prefer the ancient Cherunda.
Writers are still, to this day, patriarchally, urged to re-create the hero's journey when crafting a story. I'm all for Homer's Oddessey, but Intuit-Lit is about the heroine. A heroine's journey naturally has twists and turns that the hero's doesn't. Like Chick-Lit, Intuit-Lit is sexy and funny, but only a reader ready to spend time with triple goddess energy will feel comfortable with it. I've been surprised by how many men have picked up the book and appreciated encountering the divine feminine through it.
People have asked if Intuit-Lit is New Age Fiction, but we say no. Intuition is ancient. Could it be called Inspirational Fiction? Possibly, but...doesn't that really that depend on who reads it? Some have suggested I call it magical realism, close...but that doesn't fit either because what some readers might perceive as "magic" in the story is incredibly real for others.
In actuality, books shelved in "Chick-Lit" run the gamet from a Really-Great-Read to Gosh-How-Did-This-Get-Published? Some of them invoke goddess lingo. But labels, and the images they create matter, especially for writers. For me, the distinction between Intuit-Lit and Chick-Lit suggests the difference between dancing barefoot on my friend's lawn beneath the beautiful cedar tree she calls Cherunda vrs. a woman strapping high heels on to go strut stuff in a smoky bar. There's absolutely nothing wrong with pulling a calf muscle or throwing your hips off kilter, to fall into strangers who don't care who you are...if that feeds your soul. Sometimes it's fun. But, Intuit-Lit is for those of us who prefer the ancient Cherunda.
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