Dear friends,
At a dark time in my life when I desperately needed a spiritual community and divine feminine energy, the people and the sacred space of Prairiewoods helped bring me healing and illuminated my path. Since first experiencing the magic of Prairiewoods five years ago, I have experienced an intense time of breaking down, searching, grieving and learning to use my heart to guide me.
Sister Nancy Hoffman’s encouraging words “We are Divine!” and “We have everything we need!” and her tweed pants that look just like my grandmother’s coupled with the searing love that shines out of Sister Ann Jackson’s eyes and her encouragement and spiritual direction have been transformative for me. Although I have a degree in vocal music education and a masters in vocal performance, I often felt like I didn’t have a voice and my calling kept eluding me.
It wasn’t until I had exhausted every other musical outlet that I began to write. I wrote poems from my heart, whispered by the angels, and started composing my own songs. Often songs came to me in deep grief and in my dreams. Signs from nature would appear in varied forms and in magical ways. People and experiences led me to my next steps—and slowly I began to heal. I could never see exactly where I was going, but I learned to feel my way in the dark. The last poem I wrote, Kaleidoscope, highlights my struggle:
Kaleidoscope
Broken shards of light
fragmented into beauty
gorgeous to behold.
But my childhood wonder
of its magic
is tempered
by my mind’s
incessant will
to know the
whole picture.
The recollection
of our dreams
are like shards of light.
Shards of memory
shards of desire
shards of terror.
Illuminated with
new and strange colors
arranged into designs
incomprehensible to our
waking consciousness.
What is truth?
Is it the sharp
clear pictures
that a well-functioning
eye can conjure?
Or is it the
flickers of wholeness
felt under the sky
hidden in rainbows
of unfathomable design.
Beauty
found only
through
the narrow
tube
of darkness.
The beauty of music and its capacity to hold both darkness and light feel like deep truth to me.
On an old list of life goals, recording an album by the age of 40 was an agenda item. That birthday passed me by a few years ago, but then someone on my path said, “Why don’t you make an album of songs from your healing journey?”
And so, I did.
I believe the true healing of our world will come when every single person on this planet goes into the darkness to find their divine light within and claim their worthiness.
To claim our worthiness, we must use our voices. Our voices—which connect to the depths of our soul and are as unique as fingerprints—are a channel from the dark sanctuary where our inner light dwells to the bright sun, air and sounds of the cosmos that surround us.
I often find myself reflecting on the intertwining of light and shadow in our lives. Each song on this album explores this delicate dance, offering a path to healing. I am excited to share this music with the world on all streaming platforms on March 23—and in an intimate concert at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City on that same date. (I will also have CDs and vinyl for sale in the Prairiewoods Gift Shop.) You can find snippets of my music, videos and links to tickets for the concert on my webpage maryjaneknight.com and find me on social media @MaryJaneKnightMusic. Even better, subscribe to Letters from the heart, my monthly publication where I share inspiration, poetry and songs with my community at mary-jane-knight.kit.com.
If not in person, maybe you can find a quiet cozy spot with a nice cup of tea and go on a listening journey with me on March 23? 💜
And I encourage you to mark your calendars for August 22–23, when I will host a Vocal Empowerment Retreat at Prairiewoods. (Online registration will open soon. Until then, feel free to call 319-395-6700 to be put on the list.) I would love to get to know you and help you find the power of your voice on your spiritual journey.
Love and light,
Mary Jane Knight