The Sacred Principle Project

The ultrasound said the sex of the baby was female. We picked out a name and for over a month, got used to the idea that we would have a baby girl.  At the next ultrasound, the doctor asked if we knew the sex of the baby. What a strange question, I thought, when I had handed him the paperwork from the last appointment. That is when we found out the first ultrasound was wrong, and our baby had the undeniable anatomy of a male.  I was in shock. It felt like such a huge change. And the fact that I felt it so deeply also came as a shock, because I had convinced myself that it did not matter, that we would be gender neutral, that society places so many associations and expectations on sex and gender stereotypes, and I would resist that.  Lucky thing, we had decided to keep the sex secret during the pregnancy, so we were the only ones who knew of this change of plans. I did this, especially, to avoid the pink-and-blue dichotomy of newborn clothes and gifts. We refused to tell people the baby

Ever since I heard the news, the phrase that keeps playing on repeat in my head is: ...a struggle for the soul of America... The news being, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in the United States. (Good coverage on that here at Democracy Now! ) But also being, the two debates that divide the country along moral lines: gun control and abortion. Each side is adamant they are right, and neither side is open to negotiation. Each side feels only their position will save the soul of the nation. I first heard this phrase listening to Rick Tarnas of the California Institute of Integral Studies describe the state of the planets in 2022. The United States, he explained, will be undergoing a Pluto return this year, meaning the return of Pluto to where it was when the country was founded in 1776 as a political entity. Pluto, the planet of death, birth and transformation, upheaval, and raw, natural power, representing secrets, the underbelly, the shadow side. Tarnas described the