It's time for a new Goddess word, but today I wasn't up for some of the words left on my list, so I chose "channels". Interestingly, it is a word with a host of meanings, although broadly speaking they are all related: a passage or pathway, a river or watercourse deep enough for a boat to pass through, frequencies for radio and TV stations. As a verb, to channel is to direct something through a certain pathway, or to transmit information. And also interestingly, I had both "channels" and "open channels" on this original list ("love" appears three times!)
So when I was thinking about the Goddess fifteen or twenty years ago, why did I associate open channels with Her? I am not entirely sure, except to say that I picture Her as one who is always open to us, arms open, heart open, and soul open. She doesn't need to close herself or protect herself because ultimately she is more powerful than any outside force. The channels through which she gives birth (to human life, animal and plant life, planets, stars, galaxies) are open, not blocked. She wants all forms of life to continue to evolve moving forward -- and, despite all the hard balancing She is having to do to to maintain life on earth, She is not about "death", because in the longterm, death doesn't exist. All life has been birthed by the Love she constantly pours out, and we have access to that Love all day, every day, even beyond our so-called "deaths". Love is being channeled directly to us and through us, but it is up to us whether to keep our channels open.
Increasingly, I think of a lot of the writing I am doing here as "channeled" spiritual thoughts from my own highest self. I suppose I have been more open to channeling than many other people, especially well-educated people, and I can understand why it can seem pretty "out there", spontaneous, and unscientific. When someone channels a specific historical figure, or speaks in odd voices, even I can be a bit skeptical. But on the other side of the coin, I think that every creative person alive has essentially "channeled" their artistic, musical, poetic, or other expressive material. Many of us share that feeling that we don't know exactly where our creative urges are coming from, that they seem much bigger than ourselves. And a case could be made that most humans frequently channel the Divine -- when we help someone, when we cook a delicious meal, when we knit scarves for the homeless or hand-make gifts for our friends. Positive, beautiful acts may be said to have been channeled, birthed through some greater Love that we can barely understand. So when I intuit how the Goddess might think or feel, even knowing that I might be completely wrong, I'm comfortable with that activity. If it helps me to get through some of the tricky channels of life, or helps another person do the same, it's certainly worth a try.
I also think that a Goddess-led activity will generally happen fairly effortlessly, with the kind of ease that a boat (or even a leaf) floats down a wide river. Aspects of my current transition have happened easily and effortlessly, for which I am outrageously grateful. And I've tried to patiently wait out the ways in which I have felt stalled or blocked, knowing that possibly the solutions in front of me weren't the right ones. Waiting for the best possible door to open is hard. There are a number of Erie Canal/Mohawk River locks in this area, and perhaps it is like being a boat in line to enter a lock before continuing downriver. But I am trying to focus on the fact that the bigger channel is open, Her bigger Love is open, beautiful, and life-filled, however often I am momentarily delayed or put on hold.
