Temple Illuminatus
Leila Raven
54, Female
Chilliwack, BC
Canada
Profile Information:
- Gender, any & all.
- cis-woman femme
- About Myself & My Interests...
I am one who lives true to my own authentic self out of a place of compassionate love and respect for all.
I live an alternative lifestyle in many ways, not just in terms of my spirituality. My spirituality is but one part, albeit the guiding part, of me living authentically to self and others. I follow no particular belief system and have no affiliation to any path or group or way of being.
I look at the world of the spiritual, the numinous, through as many different perceptual lenses as possible. Cognisant that each is but a metaphorical interpretation of something much greater that transcends human definition and classification.
For me I believe the nature of infinite reality is something that cannot be fully known through our finite minds, whether scientific or spiritual, all are simply theories. For me reality and spirituality is understood through the totality of simply being, we are one with all. However truths and wisdoms can be found in the metaphorical representations of all theories and belief systems.
So in a sense, I'm pantheistic and pandenominational. I believe in the divinity of all things, and that all belief systems are valid representations. We each perceive unique personal truths.
In terms of living authentically. I also love true to my spiritual nature. This for me means I'm pansexual (bisexual only includes two genders, pan is the prefix for 'all'). My romantic loves are not based on gender identity, the external house of flesh, but on the quality of the spirit. The packaging doesn't matter to me. All are beautiful.
I also live a polyamorous non-monogamous lifestyle. Just as I don't limit my love based on gender, I also don't limit it to a number of romantic partners. Each love is different and unique and love shared is love multiplied.
I live in a family of four adults, two women, two men, without children and with a lot of pets and a big garden. I also practice tantra, sacred sexuality, BDSM and power exchange. For me sex is a sacred bonding and a deep expression of love, I see nothing wrong with casual sex but it's not personally for me, I reserve sex for my long term loving relationships.
I have been on disability since 2000. I am diagnosed with CFS/CFIDS/ME/FM all chronic pain and fatigue disorders of the body and autoimmune system with no known cause. My body has been deteriorating over the last few years, I look completely healthy however I have no stamina, and am currently bed bound and using a wheel chair for most of my mobility. I can get up and walk, but very little.
I do believe my physical 'illness' and change is tied into spiritual transformation of self. I feel this is meant to happen. My main challenges are pain and weakness. Which means sometimes I am unable to type and
be online. I manage symptoms and health as best I can, and am at peace and feel happy with what I am learning in the process.
Thankfully while I was able, I enjoyed studying and working, I have a BFA in studio arts, a BA in psychology and an MA in counselling psychology. When I originally went on disability I was diagnosed with major depression as I was suicidal. I was working at that time as a home support supervisor, managing a staff of 60-70 workers providing support for a clientèle of 300-350 elderly, disabled, and medically fragile individuals in the community. This was not only very rewarding, but well paid union work and left me thankfully with a good disability pension. This along with my loving family taking very good care of me, means I am blessed in that all my needs are met.
I have no fear over any state my body wishes to go through including physical death, for change is inevitable in the physical, and death is just what we call that trans-formative moment.
What is, is what is meant to be. I live in love. I live in the now. I'm more self aware, self fulfilled, and happier than I have ever known.
I'm a passionate person who is predominantly interested in other people. Everything to do with people and loving people. I am interested in love, human psychology, culture, spirituality, philosophy, the arts, and anything that relates to exploring the nature of self and others.
I am a Lover and I am Love, through and through. I have always identified with love, and as a child one of my 'guides'/'imaginary friends' was Venus the goddess of beauty and love. It took a few years for me to understand what she meant when she would say that she was me, and I her. The reality is... we are all avatars of Love, All Gods and Goddesses.
My motto has always been:
Live in Love- My Teachers & Influences, What was it about them that influenced me?
Life has been my biggest teacher. It has thrown some incredibly challenging lessons at me some times. I like to think life is hardest on those students it feels has the ability to do that hard work and learn those most challenging of life's lessons.
So if life is treating you harshly at times, remember, it is because you have the strength to walk that path, and to stay focused on what can be learnt at those moments.
All are teachers and every moment holds a multitude of lessons. Ultimately, what one learns depends on what one chooses to listen to. The more teachers and perspectives one can find in life, the broader the scope of the knowledge to be found.
- Authors and/or Books I appreciate:
Authors - Joseph Campbell, Carl Sagan, Umberto Echo, Leo Buscalglia, Tolkien, Jack Chalker, Laural K. Hamilton, Anne Rice, Koontz, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Pat Califia, Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Pearl S. Buck, Franz Bardon, Franz Kafka, Nietzsche, Yukio Mishima, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Heinlein, Stephen King, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, RAW - Robert Anton Wilson, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Lewis Carroll, Hermann Hesse, Aldous Huxley, Eliphas Levi, Aleister Crowley, Shakti Gawain, Douglas Adams, John Steinbeck, William Golding, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, William Gibson, J.K. Rowling, Lao Tzu, Anne Frank, Kahlil Gibran, Arthur Golden, Shel Silverstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre,William Blake, Walt Whitman, Samuel Beckett, Rudyard Kipling, the Dalai Lama, Dr. Seuss, Sun Tzu, Stephen R. Donaldson, Noam Chomsky, Richard Bach, Hermes Trismegistus.Francis Barrett, Simon Magus, Starhawk.Self Portraits
The photos below are self portraits from 2008 onward. Mostly head shots, as I'm predominantly bed bound and most are shot on my built in laptop camera. For me photography is a strong creative expression of my thoughts and ideas, so these are not so much just representations of my self, but of different concepts I've explored.
Micole
Jun 29, 2020
MARGARIDA MARIA MADRUGA
Sep 12, 2020
MARGARIDA MARIA MADRUGA
Jun 13, 2022