It’s widely acknowledged by those attuned to the energies of the Earth that much more balance is needed. The Divine Feminine, once a powerful force on the planet, has been overshadowed by a patriarchy that diminishes the presence of the feminine. The result: few women in the role of spiritual leader and a culture lacking in compassion and nurturance of all. Cries can be heard, if one listens carefully, for the sacred feminine to be restored as an equal player in the consciousness of this planet. One who has listened and responded is Nicole Christine, author of Temple of the Living Earth and creatrix of Celestial Earth Center in Tucson, Ariz. She has created and nurtured a lineage of women who have set the intention to “fully awaken, enliven and integrate the inner priestess” through a process known as Awakening the New Millennium Priestess. Anyaa McAndrew, a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, has worked for 25 years in the sacred work of emotional healing and leads women through the Priestess Processâ„¢.
Tell me about the role of the Priestess in past cultures.
Anyaa McAndrew: There’s a lot of new information coming forth that indicates that the Goddess probably ruled on the planet for maybe up to 25,000 years before patriarchy. Women played the major role in those times and, even after patriarchy came in about 5,000 years ago, there was still the Priestess and the Priest. They co-facilitated and mediated between the Divine and what happened with the people on the earth. The Priestess’s role was that of a mediator, like the Priest or Pope in the Catholic Church. In ancient times, she facilitated puberty rights of passage, marriage ceremonies and served as an intercessional between the celestial realms and the earth realms. Right now we don’t need that. We don’t need Priestesses to be an intercession for us. The point now is not to reinstate the temples or reinstate Priestesses alongside of Priests and Ministers, but to really find those archetypes within ourselves.
That’s a major shift in the role from the past to the present.
McAndrew: Yes. Those roles that are spiritually better than or inferior to the rest are just not effective, because we are moving into a time period when it’s important for all of us to connect to the Divine within ourselves and to have a clear channel. It’s about the role of the Priestess to create what we call Celestial Earth on earth now – to create heaven on earth. The function of awakening the Priestess now is to help women claim their own spiritual authority. It has been very difficult for women to relate to a white, male God, because that’s so different from who they are, so there’s an automatic disconnect that happens when women try to relate to God the Father. They may not even know they are feeling this until they are in their later years, and they disconnected with their own spirituality.
Sliding through the door the second the ceremony began, I settled into a seat in the back of the room. The Mistress of Ceremonies, Anyaa McAndrew, was welcoming us to this important occasion. Eleven women were to proclaim themselves priestesses, aligning with and reclaiming their spiritual authority. I knew the gravity of what was about to happen because I went through the process myself only a few years earlier. Like them, I had embarked on a journey that spanned nine months, meeting for six weekends to play spiritually and do deep work emotionally. I found the best part of the weekends to be that I could fully own myself sans the roles I fill in everyday life. I could dream, play and just plain BE. The priestess process that these women were completing had required them to open their hearts and follow their spirits. It had moved them to connect with the Divine Feminine.