An Interview With a Goddess: Patricia Maulding

Or, as she is affectionately known, 'Poppet' is a maiden soul. She is a rare combination of innocent and wise. Soft spoken and gentle mannered she embodies feminine charm. I admire her deep love of animals and nature, her uncanny ability to capture the most poetic moments with her camera, her brave spirit, and her generous heart. The goddess is seen in her alluring beauty, and though she doesn't share her secrets freely, there is magick behind her deep, soulful  eyes, which speak profoundly. I hope you enjoy this interview with a goddess. 

I am delighted to introduce this months 21st Century Goddess to you: 

Poppet Maulding

5 Questions I ask of the Goddess in You:

1. 
How do you nurture & nourish your self so that you may embody the goddess?

Through reading, editing photography, drinking tea and talking with friends about new ventures.

2. 
What inspires you and expands your awareness?

Magic. People who infuse their lives with the magical aspects of every day living. The extraordinary in the ordinary. No matter how bad your circumstances, you can always rise above by believing in the positive side of life. 

3. 
What poem, quote, song, or book both breaks & opens your heart? 

Emily Dickinson, "Part One: Life XIII". 
I love the absolute comfort in solitude that she had.

T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding". 

My mother gifted me with this poem before I went to Europe. There were lots of references in this poem that corresponded with my trip. I will spend the rest of my life trying to figure out the mysteries of this poem:

THE SOUL, selects her own society,
Then shuts the door;
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more.

Unmoved, she notes the chariot's pausing -----5
At her low gate; 
Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling
Upon her mat.

I've known her from an ample nation -----10
Choose one;
Then close the valves of her attention
Like stone.

Others who've inspired me: Edgar Allen Poe, Stevie Nicks, Rumi, & G. Harvey.

4. 
What truth do you live by that brings you back to your center, your place of balance? 

Being in Nature. Nature is perfection with its imperfections. The hole in a leaf, the dirt on the stone, or the way a tree curves... all imperfection, making it real and beautiful. Whether in the forest, at the ocean or in the mountains, I gain my center from Nature. My cats purring centers me as well.

5. 
What are you creating now that may inspire our sistars? 

Every day, I attempt to create a better version of myself, and I try to encourage that in others. Also, Greeting cards. I love designing them. I am proud of the fact that I can design something from nothing. Prints can be really expensive, but the image on a greeting card is much more attainable. My photography - being able to capture a moment in time is precious, as it will never happen in that same instance ever again.

Please share a personal blessing for my readers as closing to this interview.

"Blessings must arise from within your own mind. It is not something that comes from outside. When the positive qualities of your own mind increase and the negativities decrease, that is what blessing means. The Tibetan word for blessings means transforming into magnificent potential. Therefore, blessing refers to the development of virtuous qualities you did not previously have and the improvement of those good qualities you have already developed. It also means decreasing the defilement's of the mind that obstruct the generation of wholesome qualities. So actual blessing is received when the minds virtuous attributes gain strength and its defective characteristics weaken or deteriorate."

Dalai Lama XIV

Patricia Maulding's Bio:
Patricia (Poppet) is an artist and photographer living in an Illinois enchanted forest. She surrounds herself with books, crystals, cats and candles.  She carries a Chrysocolla gemstone around with her at all times.

www.poppetography.com
www.facebook.com/poppetography

Thank you, Poppet.

Lovingly,