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Priestess
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Reclaiming
Initiation: The Priestess
Path
By
Anyaa T. McAndrew
One
of the features of patriarchy
has been the emphasis on 'solar
initiations', or those
that focus on transcending
the body to join with Spirit.
Fire-walking, warrior sweat-lodges,
the Sun Dance, some martial
arts and many forms of vision
quests, meditations and other
spiritual practices use endurance
and trance to reach out of
the body and thereby elevate
consciousness. As women, we
have tried and often succeeded
in using these methods to
reach heightened states.
But
finally, as the Divine Feminine
is returning to consciousness,
the Archetype of the Priestess
is also returning as her portal
of entry. 'Lunar'
initiations, or those that
call Spirit into body, are
a welcome alternative to jettisoning
out into the universe to make
a connection!
The
Priestess is the embodiment
of the Goddess Consciousness.
Psyche, or Soul, loves to
be fully embodied. Another
feature of patriarchy is our
loss of soul connection to
our bodies. Most of us center
ourselves from our neck up.
As
we women reclaim our goddess
natures, this is where the
true feeling function of femininity
gets to play and be re-membered.
Shakti dances into ecstatic
bliss. Aphrodite revels in
sacred sexual pleasure. Pele
runs full the life-force energy
of fiery passion. Inanna consciously
surrenders to the death-rebirth
mysteries. Baubo laughs her
bawdy belly laugh. Kuan Yin
cries her tears of compassion
for all living things while
Gaia pours forth her infinite
abundance. The priestess consciousness
allows the myriad faces of
the Goddess to be soulfully
expressed as the human woman
is allowed to step into her
spiritual power!
Women
walk very differently on a
spiritual path when they are
fully encouraged to express
their soulful nature. The
soul is described as feminine
by many sources, and is at
once wild, willful, chaotic,
earthy, sensual, sweet, deeply
emotional, compassionate and
passionate. In my work with
women in priestess circles,
I find that these natural
qualities of the soul are
also the qualities of the
feminine seeking the awakened
priestess within. The priestess
initiate, filled by
her
internal connection to Goddess
Consciousness, which can also
be described as a soulful
connection to self, relationships
and the Earth, is then prepared
to move through the tasks
of initiation. This results
in full awakening and empowerment
as Priestess in the Temple
of the World.
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