Sacred Feminine
My work with the Sacred Feminine has, over the years, led me deeper and deeper into a vast tapestry of connection and source of wisdom. Often though I’ve also found that people mistake Sacred Feminine for “feminist”, but they’re not the same thing. However important the work of the feminist movement has been and still is, the Sacred Feminine is in comparison a vastness of wisdom, relationship, compassion, strength and power which can be experienced and shared by both men and women.
I like to use the Greek Goddess Wheel to introduce women to this subject as it’s so good at showing how the Sacred Feminine works both on a vast, impersonal level and on an extremely personal level. The Goddess Wheel is also a good way to demonstrate how the Great Mother has been splintered and split into different goddesses – a way in which the Patriarchal Age was able to ‘divide and conquer’ the power of the many Great Goddess cultures such as Sumeria, Egypt and Greece.
We feel this fracturing of the Sacred Feminine today, both within and without. The goddess archetypes instead of being in a flowing relationship within are often in discord. Some are ignored or suppressed and others have been denied their full expression being fitted into what is deemed to be ‘socially acceptable’ by the Patriarchal age. Women feel this deeply. Although they may not necessarily be fully aware of what is going on, they may have sense of feeling ill-at ease within or with other particular women, or not feeling that they truly fit into their lives, or just feel an inner conflict.
Using the language of Myth and the goddess archetypes alongside the Goddess Wheel, I’ve found that women have gained fresh and unexpected insight into how the Sacred Feminine expresses itself through them, how it has been blocked and how it can empower and heal. Often new light is thrown on relationships with the other women in their lives – sisters, mothers, daughters, friends, bosses, etc. Also it brings to light the particular goddess aspects of the Great Mother which haven’t had much of a voice and with this comes the opportunity to not only bring a greater balance and harmony to all of the Archetypes but also gives a much bigger reservoir of energy and specific qualities upon which the individual can draw when needed.