Feelosophy

Who is Ravyn?

Ravyn Lunatique emerged from the great womb more than a decade ago, called to blaze a new trail by relighting an old path.

As a Burlesque Artiste and Bellydancer Erotique, I revel in retelling the long lost fairy tales, whispered in the serpentine tongue of my body's language, while also revealing my own fair, feathered tail in my online Peekeasy.

As Head Mistress of my online Bawdy and Soul Studio and Lunaversity, I love teaching other women to do the same, immersing them in the Sacred Mysteries and initiating them into the ways of old, so we can all just be divinely feminine together.

The Birth of an Obsession

Almost two years ago I fell madly in love, and the time since, which has been spent almost daily with this love, has only served to strengthen my commitment and devotion. I’d even go so far as to say I might not be here today if I hadn’t had this love to center and support me during this transformative phase of my life.

It all started one fateful night with the conception of a burlesque fundraiser to raise money for the local community radio station, WXPI. Burlesque had been a faraway dream and goal of mine for more than seven years (continue reading...)

Sexual Healing

Let’s get one thing straight: burlesque is all about sex.

It’s the thing that distinguishes it from other performing arts. While other artistic mediums may communicate using sexiness as an accent, with burlesque, sex is the language itself.

Even if that sexuality is being expressed ever so subtly, burlesque is all about the adult version of fun, where sex is a natural, normal, and often a very provocative thing.

I think this is a big reason so many women initially get involved with burlesque, to learn to feel more comfortable with that side of themselves and stop seeing it as “wrong.”

In a society that still generally makes women choose between being publicly naked and sexy in a strip club, but limiting her power to that arena, or being publicly demure and therefore respected but sexually powerless, there is a deep desire in women to merge these two options: To be overtly sexual and powerful and still respected, maybe even revered (continue reading...)

Making a Sexy Statement: Burlesque as Performance Art

Most of you may not know this, but the original purpose of burlesque, even in performance, was often to make a political statement.

In fact, if you do an internet search to find burlesque performances, don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some old texts from the 1800’s with burlesque in the title.

The word was originally used to describe literature, music, and theater and essentially referred to a style that used humor or lightheartedness to deal with an otherwise serious, “high brow,” or political topic.

Burlesque as a performance style, on the other hand, has come in and out of fashion in the U.S. over the past century and a half, and each revival has had its own signature style.

In the mid to late 1800’s, burlesque first became a novelty in the theater scene in America, where it arose as satires and parodies that made political statements, using a tongue-in-cheek tone to disarm the audience and open them up to what was being said, much in the same way shows like The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live do today.

In those days, women might have been an accessory to the action, but it wasn’t yet the naked lady show we think of today (continue reading...)

Strategies in the War on Sex

So maybe you’ve been inspired by my posts so far and started to embrace your sexuality publicly, and now you have a bone to pick with me.

While you were performing some sexy moves on the dance floor and feeling oh so good, you noticed a few dirty looks shot in your direction, got some undesirable attention from a few less-than-gentlemen, and you could swear you heard that girl at the bar whisper “slut” behind your back.

Welcome to the revolution!

Unfortunately challenging the status quo comes with its own drawbacks, and sexual freedom has its price. So you must start deciding just how much you’re willing to pay (continue reading...)

Rebirthing Myself

A few months ago, as my flame dimmed to a flicker, I prepared for my final exhale from this body. What happened instead was a benevolent rescue by the Goddess, in many forms and guises, and being inspired by her once again.

You see, I believe that in my fervor to exclaim her name and try to cram her into a society that still actively (if covertly) disowns her existence, I was quickly wandering off the path she had laid out for me.

Now you might think it’s silly or even repellant for me to refer to the Goddess, but I bet if I had said God you wouldn’t bat an eye. The truth is, the divine nature of the universe has been given many names, and Hers happens to be the one that rings truest to me.

In fact, viewing the divine as a great mother is the oldest form of religion known to humankind, and by the end of this article you might just understand why (continue reading...)

Are you Eggsperienced?

It started about a year and a half ago.

I was homebound and recovering from severe anemia, and I mean the kind of severe where I ended up in the emergency room and had to receive 3 bags of blood but could still barely walk to my kitchen and heat up soup.

My periods had been prolific and vociferous for almost three years non-stop, and the doctor had no solutions for me other than birth control pills or a hysterectomy, neither of which interested me even remotely. I decided to heal myself, and in that quest I tried many, many things.

One of those things was buying a rose quartz yoni egg (continue reading...)

Keep your Feminine Flame from Flickering Out

These days women are somehow balancing both work and home, often working a full-time position at both.

If this is you and you feel like shooting someone in the face every time they tell you to relax or take a bath or read a book, because they obviously have no idea just how much you have on your plate, then this article might just be for you.

I might not have the family, but I have the fledgling business (going on three years now), and at times it feels like my partner, my child, and my job all rolled up into one.

Add to that an actual full-time job, a relationship, and a deep personal desire and need to focus on my spiritual development, and it’s very easy some days to feel like I’m being buried alive under an avalanche of to-do’s.

Can you relate?

So how exactly do you stretch your Wonder Woman self in four directions these days (health, work, family/relationship, life purpose) and do it successfully?

Even more importantly, how do you do it without burning out?

Well I don’t know if I have all the answers, but I have some. So here are my personal habits that keep my feminine flame a-flicker (continue reading...)

My Missionary Position…