This ornament was made by my friend, Craig, and given to me on Christmas Eve.  Several weeks ago I serendipitously pressed the wrong button on my phone and accidentally dialed him. I’ve known Craig for at least six years but, until recently, we haven’t spent much time together.  The phone call resulted in me asking Craig to teach me qigong in an effort to improve my health and him asking me to teach him dance in exchange for qigong lessons.  We have begun this delightful, weekly practice of qigong, dance, conversation and tea.

I’m currently transitioning through a health scare involving my uterus mostly perpetrated and perpetuated by a doctor who has been harassing me for two months to allow him to do a diagnostic procedure that I feel is invasive and unnecessary.  During the first few minutes of my very first visit with him he used the word “hysterectomy” at which point my intuition screamed like a banshee, “There’s nothing wrong with me!  No one takes my uterus without a fight!  YOU don’t heal me.  My BODY heals ITSELF!”  After a very painful procedure all of my tests came back negative.  (Ladies, never let a physician tell you that the pain from an endometrial biopsy is similar to menstrual cramps.  It’s a lie.)  Yet the doctor still tried to force me into another expensive and even more invasive procedure.  I wonder how many women this physician has frightened in the same way.

This recent experience with allopathic medicine actually has me feeling a little grateful that I do not have the privilege of abundant allopathic care.  It has forced me to seek alternatives as well as to research my own healthcare and to make well-thought-out decisions concerning what I do and do not do.  I’ve learned many interesting facts.  For instance, one woman in three under the age of 60 in the US has had a hysterectomy.  I think that’s absolutely shameful.  (If you are feeling resistant to a hysterectomy or experiencing side-effects from a hysterectomy, please contact the HERS Foundation.  Nora Coffey is a saint.)

I take really good care of myself and my health is just about as good as it can get (just ask Lisa).  My health is, however, improving even more as a result of this mysterious “affliction” of my uterus.  I have seen many splendid practitioners and sought the support of a spectacular circle of friends.  My visit to Lisa’s was accompanied by a visit to Heidi Jost, an Arvigo Maya Abdominal Therapy practitioner, to realign my uterus and pelvis.  She has corrected what chiropractors have failed to fix for several years.

Back to Craig’s gift…When he presented the ornament to me I turned it upside down, held it out for Craig to see and said, “You realize you’ve just given me a uterus, right?  Complete with a cervix and a birth canal.  Look the womb cavity is heart-shaped.”  Then I turned it right side up again and pointed to the bottom of the ornament and said, “And here’s a horse head in the spalting of the wood.  You’ve given me everything I could ever hope for for Christmas: a healthy uterus–the center of a woman’s creativity–AND a horse.”