Virago

"VIRAGO" comes from the Latin word virāgō meaning a 'man-like' female warrior or heroine. The title signified respect and admiration, and was earned by a woman who surpassed expectations believed possible for her gender. Joan of Arc was considered a virāgō for example.
 
We all have a mixture of masculine and feminine energy. Feminine energy is a beingor a receptive energy - a feeling of connection and being in flow. Masculine energy is a doingenergy - a motivational drive to get things done. We need both. They complement each other, and we use them in different degrees depending on the situation. 
 
Women, especially in leadership roles, learned if we were to thrive we needed to toughen up, so we did. We tapped into our masculine energy, silenced our emotions, and relied more on rationale than intuition in our decision-making. In many ways, we lost touch with inner guidance, compassion, self-belief, and the joy of simply beingpresent.
 
Much of our culture focuses on the masculine energy of doing, pushing, producing, going; etc. While that is necessary to a certain degree, feminine energy has gotten pushed aside.  Imagine how the world would change if more people embraced and used this beingenergy alongside the doingenergy! 
 
My painting "VIRAGO" symbolizes a re-connection to the divine feminine within. We can remain a heroic warrior, but we must not deny the power of our beingenergy. Tapping into the feminine teaches us to look inward rather than outward for fulfilment - to use compassion, kindness, intuition and creativity in our interactions with others. The divine feminine shows us we already have everything inside. We are already whole. We are enough, and we are worthy of great love and happiness.