COSMIC COWGIRLS CREED
by Shiloh Sophia and the Cosmic Cowgirls
We are
Women Between Worlds
transforming Lives into Legends
and these are the 13 stands
of our community
We are
Inspired Revolutionaries
We do our own work,
choosing to do whatever it takes
to be truly who we are now
and who we are becoming
We are
Cosmic Connectors
We have been called to gather
in red thread circles,
trusting that our paths have led us
to one another and this circle
We are
Mysterious Muses
We are feisty seekers,
living from a space of muse-led inquiry
where we gather insights
and take inspired action
We are
Intentional Creatives
We choose to consciously create
through unbridled self-expression,
moving ideas and energy into form
We are
Everyday Alchemists
We embody our capacity
to be at cause for transformation,
collaborating with quantum potential
through art, poetry, dance, and ritual
We are
Dangerous Thinkers
We create our own innovative culture,
challenging systems and paradigms
We are both pattern-breakers and pattern-makers
who stand for freedom for all
We are
Generous Visionaries
We transform our stories into teachings,
seeking to uplift the mythology of our kin,
our families, communities, beloveds, and Earth
We are
Courageous Rebels
We dance between worlds,
weaving the irreverent and the sacred,
taking our own mighty stands
and respecting the stands of others
We are
Blazing Peacemakers
We believe in justice, safety, equality, equity
and care for all living beings
We encourage a global inter-generational circle
that is spiritually and culturally diverse
We are
Unique Individuals
We hold true that each person
has their own information
and a sacred responsibility to their
own piece of the red thread
We are
Legendary Weavers
We are badass mystics, edge-walkers
and mavericks living in the mystery,
who choose to author our own futures
we claim a chosen lineage
We are
Radical Sovereigns
A Cosmic Cowgirl chooses individual insights
and her own creed to live by
We are a community that does not require complete
agreement in order to stand, dance, and create together
We are
Wild-Hearted Women
We are born to love!
We choose to be fully self-expressed beings
in this rodeo of the soul!
With our bare feet on the red earth,
our heads in the stars and
our hearts on our sleeves!
And we all said, YAHOOOO!
Sharing in honor of the 18th Birthday Anniversary of Cosmic Cowgirls. Dedicated to the original Cosmic Cowgirls, and especially our cosmic mama’s who have returned to stardust – Sue Sellars, Caron McCloud, Carmen Baraka and Mary Gibbons Landor – all of them are in this photo from 2014.
VISIT ALL MUSEA EVENTS
Red Thread Letter #873
Riding the Rodeo of the Soul
Dear Ones,
At this stage in my life, things are unfolding day by day, minute by minute. The word ‘certainty’ no longer exists in my vocabulary other than knowing that I certainly don’t know where the road is headed. Perhaps you can relate? Our need to keep adjusting is perpetual these days!
Last Sunday we celebrated the 18th Birthday of Cosmic Cowgirls with over 90 women in our community, including the official owners of Cosmic Cowgirls Ink, LLC! This woman owned company, founded in 2004, is the beautiful seed that gave roots to grow our work of Intentional Creativity into what it is today.
I have been thinking a lot about legacy. About what it means ‘on paper’ and ‘in hearts’ to continue a vision into seven generations and beyond. How does it work? Why does it matter? And what exactly are we preserving? What odds are we standing against, if any. Where am I getting tripped up? Will you take a bit of cafe time with me and get a cuppa? It’s Letter from the Red Thread Cafe time…
I ask myself questions like: Just what is it that you, Shiloh, think is so important and worthy that you will spend your life and the majority of your available resources to preserve it? What is it that you think is so life-altering that you will invite tens of thousands of people a month to consider its value for themselves?
I admit. I am questioning at a very deep level, the vision I have held for our community. Largely based on my capacity to carry it through. How relevant and essential IS the vision to what we are navigating as a species today? How is love furthered right now by what we are doing here? In my own biomythological framework I call what I think* I am preserving the “cosmic library” – a modern model for the Library of Alexandria, that cannot be burned because it exists in information and energy and in many places and people aka the musea. If you don’t know about the library story, it was a physical place founded in 323–c. 283 BC by a student of Aristotle, dedicated to collecting all of the known books and wisdom of the time, scientific research, maps, imagery, chemistry, alchemy. Over 100 scholars were rumored to have lived onsite to study and learn together. (dreamy)
The Library of Alexandria was the original Seat of Muses, and the origin of the word we have come to know as museum. It was intentionally destroyed by radicals – they say it took six months to burn because there were so many documents. Wisdom from all over the world. The last librarian, and only female who was a part of it, was named Hypatia. She was a philosopher, astronomer, mathemetician and inventor. She was murdered by the mob, often called a Martyr for Philosophy. I think of her often. I was ‘raised’ on the idea of the library – but now have come to examine more closely the early conquest roots of the Greeks (Alexander the Great) in Alexandria in Egypt. And still, the library had up to 400,000 scrolls. As it was burning, it is said Hypatia filled her arms with the scrolls.
The ‘idea’ of preserving a place of wisdom is what has always called to me at a soul level. A shelter for the sacred must be chosen to be woven. What scrolls would I fill my arms with as I run from the burning building? What about you? For me it can’t be conceptual, it must be able to be actualized and put into use – whatever the wisdom is must be able to live, to have life, to give life.
There is a lot at hand for me. I believe it is natural if your parents, and your closest heart teacher move on within a year of each other to ask a lot of questions. What from their stories will live on? If anything. To walk through their homes and wonder about their writings, their art, their personal legacy – the artifact of a life lived with great meaning. What is worthy of preserving, more than a ‘legend’ about that person by those who knew them? How soon will no one care about that person – and what about that person is truly worthy of passing on? How much time will it take to ‘shape’ that story and who will do the work if that person is not famous to begin with. That story has to matter, and someone has to care enough about it to do that work. Most of us don’t have that kind of time or resources – or heart.
I love how the Cosmic Cowgirls have stood by each other over the years – some of whom I’ve known my entire life. Our commitment to hold the torch for our 100-year legacy is powerful, lighting the way for women and girls to know they can create their own story and be at cause for a more awakened and conscious future.
We danced, told stories and visioned our future together. It was pure bliss and a much needed reminder as to why I’m choosing to ride the rodeo of my soul.
I admit, there are times when the rodeo of the soul feels too bumpy. And yet, having times like these, where I can witness the interconnection of the work we do and how it serves the lives of so many, including mine, keeps me on that horse. Riding off in the sunset, wherever that may lead…but with many of you by my side.
Cosmic Cowgirls is my unreasonable dream.
What unreasonable dream are you nourishing?
with love,
I am especially thankful to Stella Mac, one of my dearest friends who has been with me since the beginning of Cosmic Cowgirls, as well as Jena Owen and her daughter Hazel, who is one of the heirs to our legacy and indeed an artist in training!
