Submitted to Sunstream Magazine

June 13th, 2009

By Kristina Violet & Kelly Ann Woods

Our community was blessed recently with its first Priestess Ordination after a profoundly intensive 9-month process.  This is a great time of awakening and transformation on the planet. As stewards of these changes, a circle of 15 women journeyed through several initiations, rituals, ceremonies & celebrations, culminating with Sunday’s (June 7^th) Emergence.  An Ordination occurred for many of them, giving them the title and responsibility of a Reverend within the Madonna Ministry, a-global Spiritual Community, a Church without walls.

Women from all walks of life came to the Shamanic Priestess Process out of a deep desire for greater balance, purpose, connection and inner spiritual authority, as well as activating the return of the divine feminine, walking in harmony with the masculine. The Priestess archetype is a vehicle of that return and union.  She lives her life in a sacred way, connecting her human self and her goddess self at the same time.” says Anyaa McAndrew, the group’s facilitator.

The course also offers a greater understanding of archetypes and how they live within us, often influencing and directing our thoughts, feelings & actions. One may move through the Amazon, the Vision Quest Heroine, the Courtesan, for example, the goal being to acknowledge, accept and integrate these energies?, thus reducing fears of the shadows which lurk within each of us and bringing the gifts and light to the surface.

One of the participants, Reverend Kristina Violet expresses, “This transformative journey equated to a 9-month gestation of giving birth to my authentic self, allowing me a deeper sense of purpose, spirit and connection to all.  Although being in the womb and giving birth wasn’t always easy, I feel reborn, recreated and ready to serve my community in a more unconditional loving, playful way?.  As a circle, we shared deeply, danced daily, laughed and cried loud and clear each time we came together. I know that we will always be friends, and bringing more spirit, ritual and service to the Sunshine Coast, the lower mainland and the world at large.”

“Upon completion of the nine month process, each Priestess proclaimed their personal intentions and gifts they bring to their community in the presence of over 75 guests, allies and those who’ve shared their journeys.” claims McAndrew.

A new circle commences June 27^th as an intro weekend for the next Shamanic Priestess Process.  Women interested in stepping into their power, to share their gifts and contribute more fully in their home and community, are welcome to join in this profound journey. More info can be found at www.goddessontheloose.com or call Kristina at 604-885-6688.

As I See Myself

One of the most powerful lessons I have learned is that we can all be doing so much more. We can be doing more to help the world, more for our loved ones, and more for ourselves. The reason we don’t is because we think we’re insignificant.

Many of us downplay who we are, feeling we are just small cogs in a much larger wheel. Change the world? Please. That’s for presidents, world leaders, celebrities, and holy men. I’m just one person. What can I do?

And even for those of us who do believe we can make a difference, the truth is that we don’t really appreciate how much we can do.

The reality is (and this is a profound lesson) our self-perception can diminish or increase our power.

We are as powerful as we believe we are. Our thoughts and view of ourselves, conscious or subconscious, determines who we are and how much power we wield.Unfortunately, oftentimes we don’t see ourselves as significant, and this is manifested in our actions. We treat others – or ourselves – poorly because we don’t think what we do matters in any real or lasting way. Or we do not push ourselves to do even small positive actions because at the end of the day we don’t know our real power. This then becomes who we are.

On a spiritual level, this means the next time we pray for somebody or seek to bring blessings and assistance to ourselves and others, we have a weakened ability to effect change. The Light says to us, “Remember what you thought yesterday? If you are not all that important, then you are not all that powerful, and I cannot give you the Light to truly create change. Your actions clearly show that you do not see yourself as significant.”

When we know we are purposeful, powerful, and possessing of the ability to influence others, then we don’t allow ourselves to fall into the petty traps of acting small. We are careful even to avoid the slightest negative actions because we know our small behaviors are significant. Conversely, we push ourselves to do tiny positive things because we know that for a soul as magnificent as ours, every action is large.

When we view ourselves in this way, the Light of the Creator views us and interacts with us in a similar fashion. And then our words, prayers, blessings, and actions become powerful and capable of creating great things. Again, this is because how we view ourselves is how the Creator views us. When we see ourselves as powerful and purposeful, our words and actions become imbued with tremendous spiritual forces.

This week, if you feel yourself about to do something negative and small, stop yourself and remember your importance. If you are struggling with whether or not to do a positive action, even a small one, say to yourself, “I need to do this because what I do has far-reaching consequences.”

Practice this thought process often and it will make you powerful in the truest sense, as well as create a change in who you are. Remember, “When I see myself as significant and powerful, I receive assistance from the Light to make significant and powerful changes.

As I see myself, I am.”

 

 

Kabbalah Centre International
1100 Robertson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035 USA

 

Creation

I will forge my own goddess in the fire of my need

Unmet by the father-god daddy-world

(call her Kali)

Hammer her curving, open form on the anvil of my power

(call her Hecate)

Carry her close in the medicine bag of my heart

(call her Inanna)

Worship her with love of self

(call her Diana)

Love of life

(call her Demeter)

Love of Earth

(call her Gaia)

She asks no burnt offerings, no fatted calves,

No “Thou shalt nots”

Indeed, she sings to me “Thou shall!”

Oh, truly is she flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood,

Bone, sinew

Never further from me than my heart, my skin

My belly and breasts,

I call upon my goddess, “Rise up within me!”

And, oh, she rises.

Karen Runkles Throener © (1996)

The story below belongs to Anna Cariad-Barrett, A Minneapolis Shamanic Priestess who emerged in 2005. This was a piece of Anna’s thesis and an affirmation of her priestessing in the world.

Anyaa McAndrew

In the fall, I began my first semester of the Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. This program affirmed my background in systems theory, social activism orientation, and prepared me for clinical therapy work with individuals, couples, and families. At the same time, I began what I view as the second half of my graduate studies. Inspired to open more fully to a relationship with the Divine I signed up for a year-long developmental spiritual process which focuses on personal empowerment and explores the feminine face of the Divine.

I gathered with a circle of women for many powerful weekend workshops and community events. (facilitated by Anyaa McAndrew, High Priestess, and Psychotherapist) This process does not involve particular beliefs, dogma, and structure. Instead, it is a fluid and evolving developmental process that supports and enlivens the unique journey of each woman into her full spiritual empowerment and self-knowing. As it explores the priestess archetype, it is called the Priestess Process. The “P” word! What does the word “priestess” trigger within you as you read it?

For many in Western society it is a denigrated and dangerous word. It has been associated with other terms: witch, whore, unholy, illegitimate, exotic, and dangerous to the social order. It has taken time for me to step away from this dominant patriarchal social perspective and define the archetype of the priestess for myself. To me, a priestess is a woman who is a spiritual facilitator, takes a personally-empowered spiritual stance, and honors both feminine and masculine aspects of the Divine.

Over the hundreds of years of the women’s holocaust, or the witch trials as they are popularly known, thousands if not millions of women were tortured and killed (Armstrong, Pettigrew, Studio D, National Film Board of Canada, & Read, 1990). These women were not witches, but landowners, women with money, healers, those active in the community, or those who were simply too bright, beautiful, and gifted to be tolerated by medieval society. In other words, women with any sense of personal power were found to be dangerous and systematically stamped out of Western society (Armstrong et al., 1990). By blaming the victims as witches, we belittle this holocaust and deny its connection to the long-term oppression of women. Women have long been “known” to be sinful, and we are told to look to our fathers, husbands, and men of the church for authority. A woman with a healthy sense of internal authority and empowerment could be dangerous to the status quo! It is no wonder we have been denied positions of authority within many Western churches.

I was disconnected from the Feminine Divine, but she is my source. Up until 2500 BCE, many of the agrarian communities of Western Europe were socially organized around Goddess spirituality, and were led by women (Crawford, 2004). A number of recent feminist authors, including Crawford (2004), have stated that these societies were peaceful, egalitarian, and surprisingly complex. Though many Neolithic cities held large populations, archaeologists could find no trace of warfare for thousands of years (Crawford, 2004).

Closely mirroring the plight of women, the feminine face and principles of the Divine have been denigrated and forgotten. The Goddess and priestesses were given the negative mask of the witch and were associated with the devil (Armstrong et al., 1990). As Western society shifted from matriarchy to patriarchy, I do not believe it is a coincidence that the snake, an ancient symbol of wisdom and the feminine, was utilized in Genesis as the devil tempting a woman with knowledge, thus bringing about the exile of mankind from the heavenly garden (Kidd, 1996). With the origin of the Judeo-Christian world, the identity of woman as sinful and unholy was cemented. In recent times many men and women have begun to explore this lost feminine face of the Divine (Kidd, 1996). This journey is unique to each person. My reclamation of the feminine Divine has been instrumental in the journey that calls me to work with larger systems.

After the women’s holocaust, many women learned the forced lesson to be small, quiet, and sacrifice themselves. This is how my female lineage survived a gender-oppressive reality. It is no small task to reclaim the Feminine Divine and claim my personal spiritual power and worth. Many women are still metaphorically burned at the stake for being powerful in this culture. Living into the archetype of the priestess has been a powerful developmental journey for me. As I explore aspects of the Feminine Divine, I explore myself and the planet.

As I wrote these words, I felt my storyteller’s voice take on a new tone. As both a storyteller and participant of culture, I hold this herstory of women and my own reactions to it. The emotion of my voice tells an additional story. I refuse to be unconscious of the oppression, violence, and mystification of experience that women and all other marginalized groups face. As I identify my own determination, anger, and refusal to shrink into less than I am, I resonate with the interconnected experiences of oppression that others have faced: the loss of indigenous culture, the bigotry directed at different cultural groups and the LGBT community, the rape of environmental systems, and the economic piracy of large corporations. What began to rise up within me, as I explored the loss of the Feminine Divine, was a voice that said with certainty, “This oppression will not stand anymore. This is my work on the planet.” I claim the following intention statement for my life:

Life Intention Statement

I am Priestess Anna Cariad

Mystical dreamer

Visionary

Creatrix

Sentinel and protector

Wise elder of the circle

Loving energy incarnate

Mother to all

Through these many facets of self, I shine as a beacon to the world.

I am a global leader, teacher, and healer.

I have come forth in this lifetime as a truth speaker.

My voice and actions shake the brittle cage of oppression and violence

Until it dissolves into the flowing birth waters of harmony, understanding, and connection.

I am divine midwife in the birth of a new planetary consciousness.

I am catalyst of energy potential.

Through the divine energy of my truth,

I activate the power of my life intention.

I call forth the dynamism of my life expression

And commit myself to walking this journey.

I stand in the power, truth, and beauty of myself.

I am Priestess Anna Cariad

Anna Brooke Doherty (2005)

As Within, So without… As Above, So Below

(Continue reading…)

The shift has hit the fan! Humanity has shifted its karma into surpassing gear, and political climate change has come to America. Thanks to a grassroots up-wising, we the people huffed and puffed together in the same direction and the winds of change blew in a breath of fresh air. And we can all breathe easier.

The vote in November was more than a vote for a new President. It was a vote for a new precedent, to overgrow the “lowest common dominator” paradigm and take a step towards government of the people, by the people, for the people where the government does our bidding, not the bidding of the highest bidder — and where the Golden Rule can finally overrule the rule of gold. In the short term, the up-wising has been successful, and the American Evolution has begun. The first big shots have been fired, and we are on the road to recovering from an eight-year bout with Mad Cowboy Disease and Electile Dysfunction.

But now, if we want to heal the body politic of conditions like Deficit Inattention Disorder, Truth Decay and the deadliest one of all, an unchecked Military Industrial Complex, we must elect ourselves. Spiritually, it’s time to quiet our barking dogmas and evolve past the Ten Commandments to an even greater realization ” the One Suggestion: ‘We are all in it together.’” Once a critical mass of us chooses to live by this credo, we can avoid the critical massacre called Armageddon, create Disarmageddon instead, and achieve fulfillment as a species — Humanifest Destiny. The End of the Age of Nefarious? Every journey into the light is preceded by a dark passage, and our entry into the Age of Aquarius is no different. As predicted in the celebrated quatrain (”When the goon moves into Lincoln’s house, and stupider aligns with Mars, then greed will guide the planet and fear obscure the stars …”), the Age of Nefarious delayed the start of the new millennium. But now the quatrain is heading down a new track, and soular power is shining a light on the endarkened corridors of soulless power.

Just as the eight-year journey that took us from Whitewater to Blackwater was coming to an end, some overzealous Bush-bashers hurled footwear to give the departing regime one final boot. That was understandable, but unnecessary. Better we should keep our shoes on, and use them to stand together at a time when healing wounds is more important than wounding heels. Besides, without Bush there could have been no Obama. His alarming actions awakened more people than Buddha, and a body politic in a fear-induced coma miraculously regained consciousness.

And now there is a new President: Barack Hussein Obama. After eight years of insanity, we can proclaim to the world, ” America has a President Hussein!” (who’s sane!)

So now, we must face another awesome truth: We are living in a world gone SANE.

Welcome to the sane asylum. Trickle Down Goes Belly Up It’s a good thing our political fates are on the upswing, as our economy has taken a sharp downturn. The house of credit cards economy based on trickle down has gone belly up, and we must face another, sadder truth. Individually and collectively, we’ve been suffering from Deficit Inattention Disorder, and since we were unable to do the math, we must now do the aftermath. It’s a buy-o-logical fact. You cannot spend more than you have. Nature knows this. We can use no more energy than what we have in reserve. We cannot charge energy on our Ascended Master Card and repay it next lifetime.

So yes, the casino economy is coming down, but there is an upside to the meltdown. There is a great opportunity in the crisis. Consider this.. When the dollar hits zero, we can pay off our entire $10 trillion national debt and hardly feel it!

Meanwhile, over the past eight years we have seen the fall of reptilian entities like Enronosaurus Wrecks, and most recently a character named Madoff made off with billions. Our entire economic system has been revealed as an extraordinary ponzi scheme where ordinary people are left holding the empty bag.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. It’s the same old needy-greedy where our collective fear of not having enough — “scare city” — has empowered those privatizing privateers who are plundering our planet with their mining operations: that’s mine, that’s mine, that’s mine. This mining has overmined the planet and undermined humanity. Thus, the emergency we face right now.

So, what do we do? I am glad I asked that question. We must go beyond the fear-based state of emergency, to a state of emergent seeing. That is where we emerge and see the genuine wealth that is all around us: the virtually infinite energy from Father Sun, the prolific nourishment Mother Earth brings us every season, the love we generate from our hearts, and the inventiveness of our minds. With this realization, we have a one way ticket out of scare city … and we enter a state of a-bun-dance. That is where we get up off our assets, move our buns, face the music and dance together. In using our resources to create good goods and greater goodness, we can weave a web of mass construction that will make us all interdependently wealthy. Heartland Security and Purple People Power So … how do we do this? How do we go from our habitual “every cell for itself” consciousness that has caused our current “mining disaster”, to acting on the evolutionary truth that we are in reality “all cells in the body of humanity?” How do we shift from survival of the fittest to thrival of the fittingest?

First we must move from the fear-based Homeland Security to the love-based Heartland Security, and realize our one true security is in the land of the heart. While the beliefs in our head fool us all the time, the love in our heart is foolproof. When we face up to love, we can face down the fear.

What this means in practical reality is that we must step across the red-blue political divide that has kept us separate, and show our true colors as one purple people. Yes, we have all been wounded by polarizing politics, so let’s give ourselves a purple heart, and take the next courageous step to cohere around our shared heart core values and become … we, the purple.

I have a dream … that the rednecks shall lie down with the blue necks, and we tune out the polarizing mainstream media, which is sadly a brainwashing machine stuck on spin. More than ever, we need forums not againstums, dialogue instead of debate. When the body politic stops mass-debating and chooses to have healthy, pleasurable intercourse, we will finally create a healthy brainchild together.

This February, we celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial, and our friend Richard Lederer (the anagram master known as Riddler Reacher), tells us that when we scramble the letters in “Barack Hussein Obama,” we get “Abraham is back: One U.S.”

You don’t have to be a Barack-backer to see that instead of relying on leaders from above, the next evolutionary step is for us to become the leaders we have been waiting for. I am Lincoln. You are Lincoln. We are Lincoln. And by linkin’ together, we free ourselves from slavery to the divisive beliefs in our minds, and form a more perfect union in the land of the heart.

Sure, these ideas may seem far-fetched, but we are nearer to fetching them than ever before. Remember, we are now living in a world gone sane. Change is ahead, change is afoot, and everything is changing from head to foot. Like it or not, we are destined to have heaven on earth. Might as well get used to it.

© Copyright 2009 by Steve Bhaerman. All rights reserved. To find our Swami,s schedule and get a free catalogue, call toll free (800) SWAMI-BE or visit him online at www.wakeuplaughing. com.

Swami Beyondananda