>So yes, this post is for new Jujumama readers. I have to catch you up! When I first started this blog I was in a regular, monogamous relationship. I don’t mean to make it sound drab. It was fabulous! Monogamy is a workable plan. I wanted it for so long in my teens and when I turned 21, I got it! I married my King! That was almost 14 years ago.
Our relationship was not ordinary. We are both upwardly mobile, Howard University Grads, and trained Shamans in the metaphysical Traditions. Having been trained by elders who practice Polygamy, that is: one poly man and many mono wives, we are familiar with alternative lifestyles; have seen them up close and personal. But we decided not to go that route.
Our decision lasted for 12 strong years until one day, my husband fell in love! I did not know it at the time, but when he fell in love outside our marriage, my ascent to personal liberation began.
You could not have told me that his falling in love would liberate me back then. I would have knocked you out! Mama said knock you out – huuuhh! This was a perilous uphill battle for me.
But this is my Menage a Montage. In this post I summarize my journey into Bliss as best I can… Maybe it will help you in your relationships!
I will tell you with video (coming soon) and words all about how my husband and I got to this point of openness in our marriage. Freedom was at first strange and terrifying – Freedom, finally, feels unimaginable good. I cannot believe I am writing these words… the journey has been life altering.
This did not happen over night and it was a struggle for me to drop the false identity painted onto my skin and into my soul. Mind of my mind, soul of my soul, how did I allow Western Thought to take total control of me? Once, just a short while ago, I blogged about how I should have the right to OWN my husband’s Mind, Body, Soul and most especially, his penis!
It only took three years for my husband to convince me release the pain of the past, the brainwashing of modern times, and open to flow and a new Paradigm. How did he do it? How did we do it? Well, it is a rather interesting tale…
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So married at the ripe age of 21. My husband-to-be mentioned, one day in the beginning, that he was interested in Polygamy. I thought to myself ‘whatever – I am never going to do that!’ But I entertained his conversation. I knew I wanted his mind, body and soul in marriage, so I played the game thinking that my special brand of love would end all that talk about Poly. At 21, I was the bomb. No man would need anything more than me!
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And we did marry. Just 8 weeks into our relationship, one in which I gave myself fully to him on the second date *giggle*, we cemented our love with a fresh one carat rock that would be upgraded as the years passed. Sure, we got along stunningly until I decided that everything had to go my way. I was surprised to find that I was one of those controlling women whom I’d always told myself I would never become. Stunning!
He took my fire for a while but not for too long. Ladies, I am with the men on this one, I can’t stand a nag! I did not think of myself as a nag because I was a cute nag. I was a sexy as hell nag. I was a cooking, cleaning, sweet as pie (a lie) nag. LOL! I didn’t nag so much as complain when things did not go as I wanted them to, that is not nagging, right ladies, that is being honest! LOL! I realized later that I did way more complaining than uplifting. I did not express to my man how much I respected him, honored him and so forth. Rather, I took the good stuff in silently and complained about what I felt was bad.
Two years after we married, I feel ill. It was just after the first baby. I was hospitilized and found to have a life threatning illness that was not going to go away. In fact, I was more likely to go away as a result of it. Doctors were not certain if I had a year or not. What? At 23 this was a shock. There is always fortune in the misfortune. My husband and I bonded, maybe for the first time. But only because I could not complain anymore. I could barely talk and I had to eat baby food as the chemo had eaten the cells in my throat. I had to just lie there in the bed, vulnerable to him, like a damned girl. I could not get up and put on my big black boots and demand (sweetly) that everything go my way anymore… boo hoo. I had to depend on him. I had to trust him. What? I had to submit to him and to all the others who helped me at this time. I asked the Universe to tell me why I was dying and it did – you are dying because you refuse to live as a female. What?
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[Click any colored link to go to the full stories.]
So I had to become female, I had to release control. This is how I defeated that crazy illness, I had made a deal with the angels. I promised to be a good girl and listen to my husband, stop the steady complaining, find the good and let him be the King of our home. I promised I’d find my lost feminine essence. So after 17 blood transfusions and 6 months in the hospital, I set out to learn the ways of womanhood.
It was really difficult, I had been raised in the top schools. Critical thinking was my forte! My mother did not have to be female, she got to run the house, why did I have to do it? My training in meditation and the metaphysics came in handy. I began to consider acknowledging the fact that I had breasts and womb and receptivity and flow. I began to catch myself when I was ‘doing it’, you know, trying to take over, dishing demands, even as I did these things quite sexily!
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So two more babies did flow, even as doctors had attempted to remove my womb! I had delivered all three children in the comfort of home. I believe in orgasmic, natural birth and I did it thrice! Heaven, my darlings. (Oh yes, make an appointment, I’ll tell you how to do that birth thing right!) Not only did I bare children, which is a great initiation into womanhood, but I learned how to say ‘Yes Honey” to my hubby, even when I did felt like saying ‘Hell No!’. I released the old stuff and opened to the new. But is took years darling! I mean YEARS!
I realized that I had shut him down to the point of rendering him lifeless in the bedroom! Yes, at 30 my husband became a lifeless dummy in the bed. That is when I had to face the hard lesson of the mirror. I learned that my man was my mirror, and that if I was acting up, he would act up. If I would not be female, he would not be able to be a man. SO I continued to shift my demanding ways and watched as he came to life in the bedroom once again! Heaven.Â
So we staved break ups over and over again.
By the time we entered our 10th year together, I thought everything was great, and it was more than a thought. Things were very good between us. As I stepped back and allowed him to secure me and lead me, he stepped up his masculine energy. Yin and Yang were finally born in our relationship! It was so good that I wanted to share it with others, I began to write my first book about it – Change Your Man – which I had done by simply changing myself! I wanted to share with women the magic of surrender. Of course I had to change my own, senseless, irrational need to control which in turn changed my relationship and my man! I had to trust this man. Click the Change Your Man tab for audios about the book!
Just when the getting was good, my husband fell in love! Although he did not open himself intimately to this women, he certainly wanted to, so he asked me how I felt about it. In between my huffs of sadness and despair, he asked me to at least meet the woman. In a way I was happy that he told me about it before proceeding to become physical, but in another way I felt betrayed. And yes, I did meet that woman. She was quiet, serene, relaxed and wore very baggy clothing and very little make-up. I was very glamorous, I was not a shy person and I was always dressed to the tee! I began to really feel betrayed!
If he wanted a shy, quiet type, why had he been married to me all these years? Damn!
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So in the long run, he did not carry on with this young lady. He had denied the urge to do so at my request. He was willing to wait for me to feel comfortable with his choices and I appreciated that on the one hand, but felt he might be mad at me on the other. Turns out he wasn’t mad, he simply moved on to someone a bit closer to home. He fell in love again! This time I had to really consider things because this person was a friend. How dare he fall in love with a friend? I did feel for her, her relationship was a mess and she had children to raise. But how was I supposed to accept this?
This woman had a different body shape than mine, I thought maybe he wanted me to have this type of body. I lamented the fact that he did not love me anymore, falling in love with others, I thought, was a sign that I wasn’t enough. At the time I could not conceive of it. I was like most American women, love me alone or leave me the hell alone. I did not understand that Love is not special – that love is love – love is infinite. I hadn’t a clue that maybe it was possible to love others AND love your partner in different, yet equally powerful ways. I just would not open brain space for it.
Again, he gave up on that relationship based on my dis-ease and did not violate our covenant by consecrating that relationship. Safe….
I felt safe again. My husband actually took our family on a cruise shortly after this one to say – “I am here for you, I WANT to be a part of this family – I LOVE YOU!”. But it wasn’t enough. I would not allow it to be enough. Anytime I saw him on the phone, I immediately thought it was her, or maybe some new chick. I was going a bit crazy inside as I attempted to debug my system from all these social standards that were making me nuts. Jealousy, envy, special love, lack of trust, lack of acceptance, intolerance – well, just to name a few.
One full year had gone by and my husband had given up on me accepting what I deemed his arrogant foolishness.  I told him that his desires and wishes were going to tear our family apart. He did not want this to happen, so he rededicated himself to proving to me that he would always be mine. MINE! This did not negate his attempts to explain his position (I have a strong, Yang man – thank God). I listened with one ear. With the other ear I listened to the Universe…
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So I continued to work on my book for women, I was seeing that maybe there are a few holes in the relationship paradigm, I want to go slowly, and I was pissed to the core about my husband’s requests. All of this swan in my mind. But I had to find the mirror. I know that our partners mirror our own thoughts, behaviors and desires. I thought about my relationships to men. I would never allow a man close to me during all my years of marriage because I felt I would be considered a whore, or a tease. I knew I was not going to cheat, so why flirt? I had shut that part of me down.
But wait, I love men! I love to have close male friends and companions. I love to be in the energy of love, the energy is nice. I like to be the center of a man’s attention with him building my CHI, my Kundalini. Is this unnatural? Am I actually a whore to the core? (By the way, who invented the whore concept, was it the same men who stoned women in the streets for adultery or sex before marriage, the same men who burned women at the stake? Was it the men whom have always had lovers but killed wives who cheat? hmmmm Not blaming men, just trying to find truth.) No way, it is natural for men to desire women, and natural for women to want to be desired! This does not end with a wedding vow. Sure, one can choose to ignore it, but it never actually goes away.
Wait a minute, I am just like my husband! We both desire attention and energy from the opposite sex, we both enjoy the company of the opposite sex, we both love one another and are respectful of the other. He is willing to be authentic, and I am not, due to fear. So what is the problem? Was I REALLY allowing Western Social Thought to dictate my life? As a Shaman, I have never thought of myself as a Western Thinker. I guess it was all intellectual, here is a real test of my metaphysical beliefs. What would be the problem with complying or at least trying to comply with his wishes? What is the problem with allowing my authentic self to be born?
Eventually, after long days and nights of contemplation, meditation, spiritual practice and communication, I opened slightly more to the notion. Sure, there were fights. Things got heated. It seemed my husband would not stop with the issue. I wanted the issue to just go away. I contemplated going away. My parents told me to just come on home, baby. But life challenges will never go away, we will always be pushed to the next level of self hood. We can only choose to accept growth or to decline and stagnate. I think I was choosing growth. Think of it, how are you being challenged to grow in your relationship? It may not be poly, but what is it? Here are a few of those painful growth moments in the form of posts:
- JujuMama The Advocate
- Practice What you Preach JujuMama
- Try Try Again – V-Day
- No TO Life
- Full Moon
- Amazing Me In The Mirror
- I Watched Things Get Ugly
Eventually, and after loads of soul searching, I was really open to the idea. So my husband was actually going to allow me to be just as free as he wanted to be? WOW! I never thought in one million years that a man could do that. Men are more possessive than women. It seems that women have had to swallow (no pun) this man sharing thing for centuries! I mean look at the history. European men have always had lovers, African women were the object of their desire here in the States – that is why my skin is so light! LOL! African American men, and indeed, men of all race have been involved with ‘affairs’ for centuries. In Western Africa, because of the Arab trade and influx of Islam, Polygamy is the standard. But my favorite example of openness are the Native American cultures who did not believe that sex was a part of the marriage contract. Married women and men were free to accept sacred, and healing love from any member of the community.
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As fate would have it – I did end up meeting a man. It was pretty amazing because I was not out looking for booty, this man just appeared from the Ethers. I felt giddy and afraid, I felt lonely because I could not talk to anyone about what was happening except my husband who of course supported my first relationship outside of my primary relationship. I wanted to tell my family and friends but I thought they would all have my neck and shun me, cut me from the will, or disown me. But like it or not, comfortable or not, I had my first boyfriend.
I was in it half heartedly thinking thinking thinking about what everyone would think of me, STILL! Most of all I wanted my husband to always love me and not lose respect for me. He seemed far away from that. He always approved of me and he always reassured me of his love. It seemed easier, somehow, for me to date this new man than to stand idly by as my husband dated. So guess what? My husband did not date! He waited for me to check back in with him and let him know how things were going between me and my new man! OMG – I married a spiritually evolved being!
But even after months of me dating my new love, I was not prepared for the summer of 2008 when hubby did have his first sexual experience with someone outside the marriage. Even as he allowed me to go first and supported me through everything, those old Western thoughts of fidelity and the rage that drives women to slash tires over cheating and so forth came up in me. I was so angry! I wanted control back – walking into the unknown is scary and I did not have allies, except the one who I felt had ruined my life – my husband.
It would have been different if I had just ONE girlfriend to talk to. It would have been different if there were a group of us doing this. But it was he and I against a montage of social conditioning that swept over me like raging storms. We rode the tornado together and had on and off love, fighting, acceptance, and pity parties. I was the one hosting all of the pity parties. LOL! I had a business to run, I was still life coaching and working with loads of clients all the while! I think I was stronger for them due to having real challenges of my own.
By the end of that summer things had simmered down. My husband saw that I was not quite able to handle things yet and so when my boyfriend broke up with me, hubby ended all contact with his friends. We were alone, again, as ONE, building our foundation. He was wise enough to know that the foundation had to be stronger. My book was released after a fabulous 2008 autumn love affair with hubby. We were getting along better than ever when we left for our second family cruise in November. But he had not let the subject go, completely.
To my surprise, he had found a love interest on that cruise, the young lady just so happened to live in the same city as we do! He wanted to pursue this and he did. I was OK with it, but not all the way there. I had been reborn so many time in the years that proceeded this, and so I was more open and accepting by 2009 when the “New Year” rang. He began seeing this young lady, staying out all night with her. He’d always ask me if this was OK, I would always say yes – trying. So he continued with it until Valentines Day when the final shiznit hit the fan! I went ballistic because he had taken her out on Valentine’s day. Sure he had taken me out and squared me away too, but that is how I felt, like he was squaring me away saving his energy for her!
I ended up in the psych ward after this one (Long Story – V-Day Post). I laughed when they released me as totally sane and when the psyche doctor asked me if I could counsel his wife! LOL!
I think that was my last big hump. I was allowing the negative emotions that we have come to worship in this culture – ownership, jealousy, envy, fixed, puritanical, thinking, tradition, pride, vanity, and all the others – to rule my life. I took some really deep breaths and asked the Universe to release me. My husband is in love with me. He simply wants to love MORE! He is not being disrespectful, he is not falling out of love, he is not disregarding my feeling. What is the harm in it? I want it too and had already experienced the bliss of it all, with his permission! So what is the problem. I had two choices. Stagnate and allow negative emotions to become my God or Grow and allow new emotions - compersion, tolerance, love, bliss, openness, connection – to shape my unknown future.
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FINALLY – I chose the red pill. I became awake by day, released from the matrix of lies that tell us we have to do it the way our parents did it or else! Lies that tell us we have to live the status quo or become an outcast. Lies that tell us we have to own another human being in order to feel loved and validated. It is a HUGE lie to think that one form of love is the ONLY form of love. There is beuaty in diversity. I was learning to respect monogamy and to open to poly. NO, I did not open because I wanted more sex. I opened because I embrace the expansion that is infinitely unfolding on this planet. I do not want sex so much as I want the experience of a new, authentic, way of being. I want expansion beyond a relationship paradigm that fails 55% of the time. I feel my experiences, as painful and blissful as they are, will be useful to you someday, useful to our children, maybe, because my luscious Hubby and I are blazing a new trail!
By March of 2009 I found myself authentically happy about my new life for the first time in months! I had cleared through the winter to find release, so sweet, in the spring. I began to post stories about my many adventures in friendship and expansion. Here are a few:
- Meet My Luscious Hubby!
- My YES YES YES Equinox Ritual
- My Second First Time
- Weekend In Paris | New Hot Ending
- Suggested Protocols for The Modern Relationship
- What I Think About This Man
- Chocolate Heaven – My Weekend Love
- Men Are So Freaking Smart
- The Amazing Power of ‘Yes Honey’
Our children know all about our lifestyle. They actually meet our friends on a regular basis. In fact, my husband and his “girlfriend” took the kids to the Tut exhibit just the other day, gave me a hefty day off. (See image way above) We are each friends with one another friends. He likes to check out my guys and I love knowing his partners. We have developed protocols for sexual intimacy as well as communication.
We are having the time of our lives and we know our work and story will be helpful to many as we are already streaming calls from those of you who want counsel to this end. I always tell couples that it may take years to build the type of foundation needed to house this next level of expansion and bliss, but the couples who have called so far are more than willing to do the work.
Currently, we are developing a system or protocol for couples who want to open to this form of love. As relationship coaches, we feel it our duty to share in this way. Think of the families that could be harmonized. Think of your own parents and the needless struggles they went through over fidelity. This may not be the answer for everyone, and poly is not an answer to relationships drama, but simply a road you may travel once your relationship is in tact… See Protocols for the Modern Relationship for our ideas on what an in tact relationship looks like.
But that is the story of this blog – not polyamory, but LOVE and Universal Law – everything you see here is for the advancement of the modern man and woman into a bright new day. Whether you are monogamous or attempting an alternative lifestyle, whether you are gay or straight, whatever you desire is infinitely possible, it just takes the spiritual fortitude to manifest your dreams and the belief that it is all good – life is good – right and wrong are relative and must be determined on unique spiritual understandings.
Yes we can as human beings on Planet Earth develop systems of peaceful, harmonious relationships, this is our mission. We are already a success – do join us! It is all good!
Thanks for stopping in! Schedule time with me. Let us talk about your love story. You can have what you want – we can support you!
Written By:Â Kenya K Stevens, CEO JujuMama LLC – www.jujumama.com

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April 4th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
This is soooo awesome!!! I married my hubby at 23 and he then was 39 and there was much to get through.. him being a young widower and me getting over a horrible relationship coupled with having an abortion from said ex… but the love grew especially upon meeting all 5 kids and seeing what a wonderful father he is .. i said i’ll be damned if i let this go.. this is what i want and what i need… i should email you more detail though ;o).
April 4th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
i would love to be like this but not with who i am with right now. there is only one person i know that is mature enough to be like this with me. i just need to manifest us together….hhhhhmmmmm
thanks for letting me know that black folks in the US do stuff like this.
April 7th, 2009 at 2:38 am
WOW! Your story is very similar to ours. Even the time line of last falls family vacation and v-day of this year. We also had landmark moments during those times. We have not let go of the western idea of “ownership”, but we’re working on it.
Much Love Sis
Kamau
January 31st, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I really enjoyed this post. I could see how any couple married more than 10 years would consider an alternative approach to the relationship.I could imagine how liberating it was for you to break out of the traditional Westernized approach to marriage that often makes us want to take full ownership of our partners. This ownership mode often leads to mistrust, deceit, and infidelity in the long run. Plus, my mother always says many men and women in relationships give a love to another human that should only be reserved for the Most High.
February 1st, 2010 at 5:54 am
What I dont understand is why are you still practicing the western ritual called marriage and not creating a new way to hold the space for what you are doing and calling eachother your partners…or whatever this is to be…not only is it necessary to create a new language but also to redefine at the same time…Most of what you are speaking of is already known as "Open….I dont consider it a marriage because it isnt the same paradigm and by the way this is how we spent our hippie days in our small communes…sharing, giving, trading and caring for each others children…This is a somewhat village orientation…only no other culture has this history or so I dont think…my question is how do you create balance when so much that is runnig this thing is about the physical plan and not the ruled by Spirit…Spirit has none of these needs to the point of anxiety and getting over another external force of thinking and believing…I would have liked to read more about this being a spiritual journey and rather than one that appears to be a struggle with desire…and as a coach myself what is your background of learning and your coaching philosophy…peace and gratiude
February 1st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Anita – giggle – one step at a time is how I move… are you currently practicing something different? Let me know? This was quite a journey for me, and I am always expanding, always growing… do you have children? Tell me more about you! I think that Physical and SPirit are both valid. I think that marriage and open are both valid. I think that all possibilities are good ones for someone – but I blog about the possibilities that I have created. Nothing more. Send me a link to your blog! Are you writing on it? Are you practicing? Nice to meet a new friend!
And a coach at that! YES! Send links! My spiritual journey is documented here on my blog… Keep reading sweet lover…
xoxoxo
March 7th, 2010 at 5:16 am
This is completely nuts. I just don't see how it could work.
March 7th, 2010 at 5:23 am
I hear you. Giggle.