Eyes of the soul

                                                        Eyes of the soul

Gloria Anzaldua writing in Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza left me speechless and fascinated.  She addresses to her writing as a human being, with the same anatomy and fleshy desires. Her style of writing is very descriptive, she uses words such as splashing, cold, sweet,rough to give us a sensory image of the scenario.  Personification is found throughout the essay "sore soul",she talks about her writing as being rebellious and having a brain of his own.   Her writing is Coatlicue or la Musa bruja, the spirit  that is within her.  Anzaldua talks about the different views western cultures and tribal cultures hold for works of art. She states that western cultures see art as inanimate objects, something like a trophy that is meant to be displayed in fancy frames, or luxurious galleries to feed the artist ego. Meanwhile for Indian tribes art work is alive, is its own person, it craves what it desires, it has a soul and a deep spiritual meanings. As I was reading the Shaman State section,  I felt a connection between her and the Novel Outside the bones. Not only do Lyn Di Lorio and Gloria Anzaldua write about supernatural topics, Spanish is also incorporated into their writings. She states "But, in reconstruction the traumas behind the images, I make sense of them, and once they have meaning they are changed,transformed. It is then that writing heals me, brings me great joy.  This piece reminded me of the spirits leaving the cauldron in outside the bones.  Anzaldua becomes free through her writings, there's no limitations to her imagination.  She can be anything she wants, a snake, a mountain a mosquito, the wind perhaps. She uses hyperbole to emphasize that "writing is my whole life , it is my obsession". She says" escribo con la tinta de mi sangre" which means I write with the ink of my blood.  Rhyme is used in the text " I give up, let go, let the walls fall" as well as alliteration.
            Fast speaking woman by Anne Waldman was inspired by an introduction to the texts of Maria Sabina. After doing research on Maria Sabina, i found that she used to work with mushrooms that would make you hallucinate, therefore allowing one to become spiritually in touch with supernatural forces. Sabina would call her rituals, a Velada.  Anaphora is used in the text, Walman begins  each line with "because i" at the beginning. also with " I'am the" and " I'am a". She uses words rhyme, " I'm a flesh woman, I'm a flexible woman".  Waldman in one hand is interested in Tantra, which is exactly what Anzaldua was experiencing, where "Death was the magnificence teacher that wakes you up". This explains her insomnia and being able to write during the night time.  For Anzaldua hallucinations was in her nature, however for Waldman she had to eat mushrooms to experience such spiritual experience. She was inspired by Sabina work.   In Sabinas case individuals view her practice as  selling drugs which had an impact on their culture and drained out the meaning of what Shamanism truly represents. Both "Fast Speaking Woman" and "La Frontera" t are narrated from a first person point of view and both address the same topic of supernatural experience, one in a more descriptive and personal way. The other from inexperience.