Can the goddess actually speak to you directly? If you ask her to, yes. After so many years of immersion in spiritual practice, why was I surprised again to experience this as true? A client came see me. She, herself, is a healer, in her capacity as a Naturopathic Doctor. The longing that brought her back to see me was a desire to feel a deeper spiritual connection to source. She holds space for a large client base, some whom are suffering greatly with a heavy burden of illness. She needed a way to stay resourced in the face of that burden of suffering and need. We spent a large part of her session reviewing many lifetimes where her Warrior archetype was very strong. We saw the moment when she decided she did not want to fight that way anymore, having seen too much death, and decided to fight for life instead. This is where her soul made the shift into defending and protecting humanity through healing rather than war. As the warrior energy softened, there was a shift from her masculine to her feminine side which we both felt arise distinctly in the right (masculine) and left (feminine) sides of her body. As these healing energies continued to arise and saturate her field and body, I saw an image of her entering a cave of initiation. She bowed down, dedicating herself to the gods and spirits of that place, and asking for teaching. The energy in the the healing room shifted and deepened. We sat in the initiatory energies. One of my very special Plant Spirits came into the field--one that does special work with women's initiation. My client works with plants too, administering herbal remedies. She also sensed the Plant Spirit's presence. Finally I saw her emerge from the cave; an energy field like a pool of turquoise water opened before her. And then I felt a goddess energy present. Hestia. How did I know? Sometimes I do not. I can sense energies arrive in the room and into a person’s energy field. I can sense if it is a feminine energy. I can feel how big and 'high vibration' it is. Sometimes I will get an image or a feeling of what culture the diety emanates from, or the qualities embodied, but not know exactly who it is. Other times, they name themselves directly. Most times they are very recognizable as an energy signature, an archetype, and I see a clear image of them. Sometimes, when these archetypal divine energies arise from the pool of soul and sacred, we just know. I’ve never worked with Hestia before, and have no particular call to the Greek pantheon or spiritual tradition. I spoke what I knew of her out loud to my client. I felt Hestia's presence, her signature, her warmth and welcome. I suggested the client look her up and begin to get to know her, especially by lighting a candle or spending time at her fireplace. The next day, I decided maybe I aught to get to know her more too! I sat at my altar and lit the candle. I prayed in my typical informal fashion: “Hestia, thank you for your presence in the healing room yesterday. It was wonderful to feel you. I don’t know you very well. Is there a way you could help me feel more of who you are?” I sat there, honestly, not expecting much! I have other divine expressions of the goddess I spend more time in relationship with. I know their signatures well as a result of cultivating those relationships. Would I get anything? Feel anything? To my surprise, Hestia spoke to me directly, and I hastily picked up a pen and recorded it, along with the images that came with the words. Hestia I am the warmth and that special feeling you have when you sit with the fire it quiets you steadies you changes your inner rhythms and opens you-allows you to cross the threshold into the sacred. Yes, I am earth too. Do you feel how the fire draws on the earth rests on the ground, or the stones Find the fire pit within your belly rest in the fire and warmth that arise there. {here she guides me to see a circle of firepit stones in my pelvis with the warmth of the hearth fire rising from this place. It feels very grounding but not in heavy way.} There is a hearth alight in your body. {she is referring to the triple heater, body heat, constant temperature maintained by homeostasis. We get sick when this temperature fluctuates} Do you feel that? To be alive, the hearth cannot be left cold So I am also constant fire as heat and warmth in the body that must be stoked to keep you alive and when that hearth goes cold you surrender the body and go to another goddess. Likewise, the fire in your spirit must not go cold and your devotion to sit at the Fire keeps it lit, and fed. and if you feed that fire it feeds you. Light your hearth daily, {here she means through daily spiritual connection, not necessarily lighting a fire...though that is good!} and your days, your heart, your belly will not be cold. I am the one who keeps it burning ever. It was such a good feeling to sit with her presence within me, that I’ve decided to cultivate this relationship more and continue to connect with her and explore relationship.
Is there an aspect of the goddess that you are curious about or courting right now? I’d love to hear how you cultivate your connection. Leave a comment below to share your experience.
1 Comment
Can you shift your focus away from your own betterment, to that of your clan?
This week in healing treatmetns, Guinevere has shown herself twice. What a mystery. Not an archetype or character from mythology, possibly even history, that I have had much resonance with personally. Even though my own ancestral heredity is Welsh, and she belongs to the Welsh tradition. If you have read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Guinevere is characterized as more of a weak feminine archetype: the shimmering golden blonde to the protagonist Morgaine's dark hair; the pious Christian adopting the new religion in Britain, to Morgaine's priestess of the old mysteries of the Goddess; the barren feminine to the fruitful, sensual woman of the Earth. But that is not the Guinevere who has been showing up energetically in the healing room. I see her as fair, but not weak. She has told/shown me something else of her story, or the symbolic energies she bears. With arms outstretched at waist level, open to all before her, she has been appearing as the Clan Mother, a deeply feminine archetype who's concern is for the welfare of her whole community. Her focus is communal, not individual or even to the individual needs of her own offspring. She vessels the Divine Feminine as Mother who's protective regard, nourishment, and care extends to the whole clan. An example of the Clan Mother's role taken from Iroquois ancestral traditions states: "The oldest woman of the clan is called the Clan Mother. The clan mother, whose position is hereditary, is responsible for the welfare of the clan. She names all the people of the clan; she holds a position in nominating, installing and removing the male chief, called Hoyaneh, meaning Caretakers of the Peace." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Mother The story of Arthur, Camelot & Guinevere, became highly romaniticised during the era of the Medieval Romances. But if we look into the old history of Britannia, Arthur was not a king. He was a Welsh (Cymry) chieftain. Therefore, Guinevere, his wife, was not a queen, but a Clan Mother. In the two healing treatments so far where she has manifested, she also showed me that she and Morgaine hold two polarities in a woman's soul (and a man's feminine): The fair, or White Goddess, & the Dark Goddess; the ephemeral & the earthy.; the spirit, & the Soul. During one healing, I saw Guinevere and Morgaine standing across from one another holding hands crossed so their arms and bodies formed a lemniscate representing never-ending cycling of energies from one polarity, through centre, back to another. The feeling of this profound archetype arriving in the room and landing her transmission into your energy field and thus the cells of your body...well...is not something I can adequately describe here! Here are some words from the women who have been experiencing Her: "The only thing I remember is just a certain feeling of solid calm. Being grounded, felt, received and understood. I feel as though I am being called to create more unity in my school community by linking students and staff with artistic talents and by modernising the art program through making it more relevant to students and also, more healing. Perhaps, becoming a clan mother for the arts in our school. Our discussion of clan mother and Guinevere, helped clarify a number of my current desires in a more profound way. Thanks for your help. I felt much more enthusiastic and recharged after the session." DB, school teacher for the Ottawa School Board. ""Guinevere brought with her a strength and ferocity that shook me in all of my worlds. Her power made for a great deal of shifting in my life that was not easy, but was also not bad. I allowed this energy to enter and I opened up to what was in store. I took that strength within me and made swift and decisive actions with my 'clan' at work, transforming it by clearing out stale negative energy and bringing in fresh and positive energy. I held the space so that my 'clan' could make this transition. Multiple times during this period my 'clan' called me mom, mother or even likened me to their own mother. Not only did Guinevere's energy effect my work life, it also shifted my personal world. I stepped out of the social hibernation I was in, and was able to reconnect with old friends that I haven't seen in months and even years...my 'clan'. Guinevere's feminine energy also manifested in my dreaming world, where I was a literal 'clan' mother or wise women for a royal family! While the first week after treatment can only be described as difficult, allowing myself to be open to what change and strength has allowed me to come out on the other side feeling alive and well. Happy for the inner strength and the reconnection with my inner feminine, the clan mother." Olivia, Chef and business owner But what does this have to do with you?
In the dance of masculine/feminine in our present culture, political systems, leadership, social structures, our way of perceiving the world, there is a very necessary shift afoot right now. The invitation is to embrace and vessel the viewpoint of the Clan Mother. Can you shift your focus away from what you want and need, your own betterment, to that of your clan? How will we re-create and re-dream our world when we look at all we bring forth to provide for ourselves (again social structures, economic, political, educational, environmental) from the communal, collective regard of the Clan Mother? How do we build families, communities, businesses, land co-operatives, gardens, and more, from the eye of collective provision, mutual support, communal resource, and a way that all can be provided for with no one left out of the tribal family? I invite you to begin to see from Guinevere's eyes. I'd love to know how things look for you from the perspective of the Clan Mother. Share your experiences, perceptions and questions in the comments below. I do read them! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2020
Categories |
© COPYRIGHT 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
|