Sacred Feminine Spirituality
Sacred Feminine Workshop Flyer (660KB PDF)
Many of us are being called to honor the Sacred Feminine and the quintessential way that she is speaking to us in through the spirit and soul of Mary Magdalene. I’ve always had this desire to be “special” and called in a unique way. I think this is my spirit and the Divine Purpose on one hand, but I think it is also the wounded child within me seeking validation and acknowledgment. In any case, owning these seemingly opposing parts of self, allow for me to see honestly my beautiful and my shadows, who I am as blessing to others and sometimes curse as well.
Mary Magdalene was known in the early church as a prostitute and woman of ill repute but our honesty reflections and emerging stand for more and more truth about Sacred Feminine has taught us early beliefs were wrong. She was a woman of means and an esteemed teacher with Jesus. Those of us who have been called by her to bring more of her authentic spirit into being today know that she was at times, the teacher and source for Jesus, as women often are. She held great wisdom and intuitive care with him and for him. As she continues to speak to our souls and spirits, we learn more and more about the necessary balance between the Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine.
Mary Magdalene represents the Sacred Feminine and the essence of the following: intuitive knowing, power and strength from within, connection to Divine Source from within, gentle kindness and the wisdom to act from an inner Divine Place. Sacred Feminine energy leads the wounded and the Sacred Masculine into the understanding of partnership, honoring the whole and seeing the unity of all.
It is time to welcome and honor the Power and Leadership of Sacred Feminine energy within all women and all men. We first must heal the ways we have oppressed this energy within us looking at our relationships with mothers, grandmothers, sisters and the lineage of our ancestry. Then we see our part, the role we took on, the competitive and jealous judgements of other women. We can heal this and as we begin to honor self, we develop compassion for others. Eventually, we develop and strong and powerful compassion for our brothers that have hurt us as well. This compassion no longer tolerates abuse, but confronts it with strength and clarity. We no longer carry the share for our abusers. As the Sacred Feminine arises within us, we honor the Sacred Feminine in all things and use our energy to protect from abuse and stand for justice.
Honoring the Sacred Feminine energy within us and around us culturally is risky. The power differentials are shifting, relationships are adjusting and our responsibility as women and men called to honor this Feminine Divine time, is great. We must remember that we hold this responsibility together and the Source will guide, protect and teach us as we go.
Shadows reflect our light...
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,” said Carl Jung, “but by making the darkness conscious.” As the originator of the concept of “shadow” Carl Jung first brought into our cultural consciousness the necessity of loving ourselves through bringing to consciousness what is in the unconscious. This applies especially to the most unlovable and dark parts that we have worked diligently to hide, repress and deny. As a certified Shadow Work® facilitator and author of a book on the Sacred Feminine, I work with these energies and create environments that allow individuals to explore their darker side. With Sacred Feminine principles, we surrender to it all and know that the connection between dark and light, pain and joy, sickness and health is symbiotic. We cannot experience one without the other. Stepping into my own darkness and creating circles that invite others to do the same are the environments that I play, teach and learn within. These are the circles that I facilitate and allow myself to be facilitated within to continue my own emotional and spiritual maturity and trust my darkness to the light.
In Blessings From Mary my most recent book, I explore 9 Sacred Feminine Principles and offer daily meditations that lead one to their Divine Purpose. Here I share some ideas inspired by Carl Jung which encourage us to embrace those “dark” emotions rather than avoid and run from them. In an age and culture that prescribes to a quick fix from discomfort: physical, emotional and spiritual, it’s not always an appealing invitation to explore and embrace our shadows. We think if we are feeling good then we are living well and if we are feeling grieve, despair, fear or shame there must be something wrong.
Sacred Feminine spirituality encourages us to meet all of ourselves with open heart and allow our wounds to inform us of all we have to offer. Our woundedness and shadows teach us about our giftedness. In our full embrace of the hurts, pain, “feel-bad” emotions we carry, we also embrace our compassion, joy and deepest sense of self. In the Sacred Feminine perspective, we hold our darkness with comfort, care and a willingness to surrender. In our darkness, we find brilliance, wisdom and authenticity.
From this fullness, we give to others. Our fully experienced grief, fear and pain open our hearts and bring us the unexpected gifts of gratitude, joy and a deepened capacity to love ourselves and others.
Sacred Feminine (June 2, 2011)
This is a meditation from Blessings From Mary for June 2nd. As the Sacred Feminine reminds us, there is purpose in all things as we go within to find our answers. Sacred Feminine sees the “whole” picture and in time, we see with a Divine Perspective that which was only available to our sight from our human understanding. Surrendering to the Sacred Mystery of this unfolding is part of our experience of Divine Feminine.
While Mary Magdalene has been the most prominent Feminine Energy that has inspired and guided me, we know there are innumerable feminine archetypes that inspire and guide us all. Sophia teaches us that the wisdom we seek we find within. Kali teaches us that there is a time for anger, strength and a time for the woman warrior.
Here is the Sacred Feminine reading for today. May it bless you in your journey.
June 2nd
Surrender all to us. There is purpose in this pain.
Wisdom of Mary Magdalene
I am obsessing and worrying about what I should say or how I should say it. I wonder today how to surrender my wounded ego and be open to receiving Divine blessing. I bring this to Mary and my guides today.
“We see you. We hear you. We know you. We are here for you. Recognizing this drive within is a blessing to you and for others.
You can bring this pain into the light. You can bring your awareness into the light. You can see the healing that must occur. It will be made right within. It will be made whole within. It will be made clear from within.
There are wounded places that still require our attention but these places will bestow our greatest gifts.
Your drive to be seen, heard and known reminds you of your need for the Divine and for the powerful healing of Spirit. Do you see this gift?
Your drive to be seen, heard and known reminds you of your deep desire and commitment to serve. This is a great gift of remembrance. Do you see this gift?
Your pain from not being seen, heard and known reminds you of a wounded little one. As you comfort her, you learn self-love, forgiveness and compassion. What a gift this is. Do you see?
Bring your pain to us. We are here for you. Allow us to remind you of the gifts you will receive from your pain.
There is purpose in your pain.”
Sacred Feminine and Feminine Spirituality are terms that we are hearing more often in social media and in our society today. “Googling” the term will return tens of thousands of opportunities for exploration and definitions, some with slight nuances. There are also beautiful artistic symbols of the Sacred Feminine, archetypes of the Sacred Feminine with hundreds of websites offering workshops and courses on Sacred Feminine Spirituality.
In contemporary media Dan Brown’s best selling book The DaVinci Code was made into movie which grossed close to $800,000,000. Whether or not we believe any of the details of the story, it’s popularity indicates there is a deep resonance with the subject of the writing and plot of the movie; all of which explore Sacred Feminine Spirituality with Mary Magdalene personifying this idea.
The term, Sacred Feminine, has captured our attention. We want to know more about it and explore its meaning. There is a place inside our spiritually hunger selves that we long to feed with something more than what we have had. Sacred Feminine Spirituality gives us that deeper connection and nourishes us in ways that we have not been satiated with traditional patriarchal religion. While there may be debate and certainly differing opinions about what Sacred Feminine Spirituality is and how we can integrate it into our ways of being, there is little controversy over the necessity for Sacred Feminine energy. The common thread and theme state the need for balancing our masculine and feminine energies and transferring this balance into all areas of our lives; including our spirituality.
Generally, where the patriarchal view might focus on individuality, the feminine would look at connection and unity. The masculine perspective might be to rank and compete where the feminine would look to the value of the whole and embrace cooperation. A patriarchal view might have a “masculine” God who oversees all things and hovers over us to rule while “feminine” spirituality might ask us to look at the Goddesses that have blessed us, inspired us and who nourish our spirits.
Patricia E. ‘Iolana from the University of Glasgow discusses this intriguing new trend in women’s literature and autobiographical writings that reference the Sacred Feminine and Divine Feminine focus. She explores the authors who are looking more specifically at the Sacred Feminine in their own lives and what this means for the shifting in theological focus.
While re-evaluating our current spiritual beliefs, practices and exploring the emergence of Sacred Feminine Spirituality in our consciousness may be initially disconcerting to us, we know deepening maturity and transformation is often uncomfortable. There is tension in growth. We will experience a spiritual and cognitive dissonance in order to adjust our thinking and welcome new perspectives. The integration of the Sacred Feminine in our lives, the balancing of feminine and masculine energies and the widening of our view of what is sacred is essential to our continued emotional and spiritual maturation.
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