Summoned - Ortner, Toni

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Résumé :
Summoned contains the stories of six famous women from history, each on a spiritual path. I have selected specific women who, through their positive vision, significantly altered their society. Each woman tells her story from first person point of view as I imagined it. For each of these women there was a turning point, a fork in the road, when they were summoned by a power greater than themselves to take steps that changed the conventional course of their lives and altered society. Once summoned, each woman felt there was no turning back, no matter how difficult the path. Once on the path, each woman was guided step by step. In retrospect, it all fit into place although when the women were taking each individual step, they did not perceive the ultimate goal or the far-reaching beneficial effects their actions would have upon society. Telling their stories, they reflect back to encourage and empower the women of today to have the courage to trust their instincts and intuition, the vehicle through which a higher power speaks. I, likewise, in the writing of this book, felt summoned and guided in the steps I took although I had no idea of the ultimate outcome. Whenever I attempted to do it my way, I met with resistance, conflict, and confusion. However, when I opened myself and allowed the words of these women to come through, I moved forward easily. Traditional biographies are written in third person, present the facts of their subjects' lives, and provide a critical analysis. This book is different. While I researched traditional resources, my intuition told me to use the first person point of view. Each woman in this book speaks in her own voice and tells her story. They come from different walks of life and are examples of what is possible. The power of these women is the power of every woman if she has the courage to follow her inner voice, instead of blindly following the dictates of society. The voices are stories of hope and possibility for the women of today. Each of these woman was an ordinary person who accomplished extraordinary things by trusting and following her inner voice. You can do the same by following your inner voice. For the last one hundred years, American society has focused on the production of goods and on appearance rather than the quality of life and family relationships. Science and technology have been the twin gods of the modern world and the focus has been on validating evidence produced by the experimental method. The natural feminine energies of intuition, vision, empathy, and creation have been regarded as unnecessary, sentimental, and extraneous to the progress of the human race. As we enter the new millennium, these are the very energies needed to heal our society. The book contains a bibliography of the books I read so that any woman reading the book may find information she needs to further investigate, study, and strengthen her personal awareness of these six women. Women must break free of the limiting stereotypes that have fettered them and get into action. Spiritual growth is a process, so let us begin. I wish to thank Karen Marie Riggio for her participation in creating the first version of this book that was titled The Woman's Way but was never published. May the readers of Summoned be instilled with courage, strength, faith, and fortitude.

Biographie:
Toni Ortner has had 25 books published by small presses in the United States. Blue Lyrics is scheduled for publication by Adelaide Books in 2021. In 2022 Shadows and Silhouettes will be produced by Kelsay Books and Daybook IV: Flying Home by Deerbrook Editions. She lives in Putney, Vermont where she hosts the Putney Library Writers Salon that features writers of poetry and fiction from Vermont and other states. The series is on Zoom the first Thursday night of each month from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. until March of 2022. Toni is Vice President of Write Action which is a nonprofit group that supports writers in southern Vermont and the Brattleboro area through events, contests, and publications. Her website is toniortner.com where you can see recent work, reviews of her books, and where to buy them.