Saints + Beauty vs. Glamour
Saints + Beauty vs. Glamour
Happy All Saints Day! And some thoughts about what is icing and what is cake.
Howdy, Kumquats!
Happy All Saints Day! I’m looking out the window now at a defunct church-turned-fancy-fitness-center with a statue of St. Stanislaus gazing down at me. As you know, my wild artist journey has landed me back in my hometown, Baltimore, back even in my same old haunts, and living in my friend’s 1826 “captain’s house” in the historic seaport neighborhood of Fells Point.
I remember when I lived here before pre-2010, when the neighborhood was fighting to save the church from demolition. Won the battle but lost the war, I suppose. The church is intact but it’s a bougie personal training center called "Sanctuary” now.
St. Stanislaus is the patron saint of Poland, the young, students and seminarians. Which I guess explains why his statue shows him holding a baby. And this used to be a very Polish part of town. My neighbor friend says that St. Stan is who she asks to help her find parking spots. I get it. I’m not Catholic, but I turn to St. Anthony whenever I lose things.
The other night, YouTube showed me a video from Hildegard von Bingen’s feast day parade in Germany. People were singing her music and walking in a procession behind a relic in a red trunk that was carried by men. I wonder what the relic was! Was it a hand or a foot!? Or an eyeball? So weird and morbid, some of these rituals!!
Although her feast day was September 17, I put an offering (herbs, stones, homemade liver pâté, chocolate, salt, beer, incense and a candle) in her honor out in the garden the other night, under the butterfly bush. One of her many masterworks is in the natural health domain— she wrote books about food / nutrition which included many stone/crystal and herb combinations to treat different ailments. So, herbs and stones were prominent in my offering to her.
Hildegard is the patron saint of musicians and writers, but I would say she’s a saint of creativity itself. She was just so accomplished at so many things. One website said she was the saint of GREENING and growth even. That’s a beautiful way to put it— she wrote with nearly orgasmic enthusiasm about the hot, wet, pulsing VIRIDITAS or “greening” power of all of Nature— which she explained was showing us the fractal omnipresence of Source / God / The All.
She’s also one of four women to have been named Doctor of the Church and was canonized rather late— 2012. Better late than never.
Who is your favorite saint??
Do you have one?
I’m still incubating a project I want to do to honor Hildegard’s influence on me. It’s all coming in its own time.
Interestingly, Arch Angel Michael is considered one of the saints. The head saint actually…because he’s the leader of the Army of God. Which doesn’t entirely seem fair because he’s an angel, not a mere mortal, which is basically a super hero. But maybe all the saints are actually angels in disguise. LOL.
Either way, I always marvel at Michael….unconditional love and light in a fierce bold package. Still needs a sword to bind demons on Earth though. It’s a full time job slaying demons, ya’ll.
Anyway. That’s not why I’m writing today.
I’m writing to discuss—
The difference between GLAMOUR and BEAUTY.
beauty
noun
, plural beau·ties.
the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).
Synonyms: allure, attractiveness, pulchritude
a beautiful person, especially a woman.
Synonyms: belle
treatments and products that enhance a person’s physical attractiveness, or the industry associated with this:
She left her career in business administration to pursue her passion in beauty and wellness.
a beautiful thing, as a work of art or a building.
Often beauties. a beautiful feature or trait in nature or in some natural or artificial environment:
the rugged beauties of our seashore and mountains.
an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm:
a vivid blue area that is the one real beauty of the painting.
Informal. a particular advantage:
One of the beauties of this medicine is the freedom from aftereffects.
(often used ironically) someone or something that is extraordinary, remarkable, or amazing; a beaut:
That sunburn is a real beauty!
something excellent of its kind:
My old car, now she was a beauty.
I think I’m going to have to make a separate essay about it, there’s a lot to say. For now, let me just plant a few seeds….
What is the difference between GLAMOUR and BEAUTY?
Often I ask my Spirit Posse for what is real, beautiful and true. Those words all go together for me. Most beautiful things are natural. They may be cultivated, but they are not created out of nothing. Whereas glamour can actually allude to a form of trickery— a spell or a charm. It can appear with a veneer of beauty that is not real.
glamour
noun
Isn’t that interesting?
One seems to fade, where one is lasting.
One is like frosting, the other like the cake.
One expires or wears off, the other deepens and expands— it never dies.
A big part of “THE GREAT WORK”…meaning gnosis, enlightenment, self-realization, etc.— is about de-programming yourself (yes, Virginia, we have been lied to about everything) and strengthening your discernment.
It’s not that bad things stop happening or demons go extinct, but you can become more skilled at avoiding and neutering them with discernment. It’s where the spiritual rubber meets the road. Where you can apply unconditional love and unity consciousness only in situations that it can be received. Otherwise, you withhold your gifts. Don’t cast pearls before swine, kind of a thing. Wisdom, baby! We’re talking about walking the talk. Not everybody wants to wake up. Some like staying asleep.
Tango with the sleep walkers at your own peril!
Your guides WILL test your resolve. Completely 110% —our virtue and dedication is being tested all the time. We make tons of choices that lift us up or drag us down. One useful goal is to just avoid being hoodwinked by posers, trolls, fakers, half-steppers, dangled carrots or Babylon Frosting1— and thereby find peace and productivity with less dumb shit clogging the sink.
There are many glamorous people that are ugly on the inside.
There are many beautiful people that are ugly on the outside.
What is real and true and lasting?
Beauty is, for sure, subjective…it is in the eye of the beholder.
To me, beauty is like a rose or the ocean. It’s poetic. It’s full of longing. Full of the awareness of the fragility and impermanence of everything. It’s full of presence. It’s very existence implies it’s eventual absence and it kind of breaks your heart a little.
Glamour is like a shiny distraction. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong. Burlesque is a lot about the illusion of glamour with all the sequins and makeup
. But the real work that I do on myself is cultivating integrity inside, that’s the foundation of beauty.
That’s why I’m here writing this blog. To share the ways I do this work, in the hope that it inspires you.
Stay beautiful, ya’ll.
Thank you for being here.
Back soon with more.
Love, Trixie
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Later alligators.
Babylon Frosting is a fantastic expression, sort of related to the idea of a “honey pot”— a decoy system set up in cybersecurity to lure criminals into revealing their nefarious behavior. But more it’s about boundary-free “spiritual” (aka Tantric / new age) posers masquerading as Divine Feminines during the hedonistic End Times (uhhh…like right now. LOL). I herd this term first from Vedic astrologer, Donny Boots, but I was reminded of the brilliance of it recently by my pal over at Dream Party Hotel.