Just the thought of working with women in a sacred way and helping them live their potential made my heart sing. The second I was offered a chance to apprentice a priestess circle, (someone invited me from my original circle called The Rainbow Rays), I wanted to accept. The thought of helping to create space for women to aspire their dreams, a place to hold their true voice was honoring for me, and I knew the time would come but not quite yet!!!.
Then it came! I now have the privilege of apprenticing the Sacred Sisters of the Phoenix Fire, an amazing group of spiritually conscious women that want to change their lives through the Priestess ProcessTM. This process helps women identify and integrate the emotional, psychological, and spiritual issues that sabotage their efforts at creating a life of fulfillment and abundance. It is an initiatory process that consists of seven weekend sessions over the course of one year. The patriarchal cultural model of duality that we live under is crazy if you take it too seriously. That’s because there are worlds beyond rationality and logic that resonate with the relational model of wholeness women carry in our DNA. While we are all spiritual beings, it is especially important for women to connect with and live from their own spiritual authority so women can raise the world consciousness to a higher, life-sustaining level.
What exactly is a priestess? A priestess is a woman who lives her life from her heart and sees everything as sacred. She serves as a bridge between heaven and earth, a walker between the physical world and the spirit world. Her intention is to make the world a better place by being a conduit of Spirit and setting the stage for all people of the planet to return to the heart space of unconditional love. A woman’s job is important because it is the energy of women living from deeply feminine, life-sustaining values that will turn our unbalanced world around.
Category: The Divine Feminine
The Goddess, The Sacred Feminine, The Feminine Face of God, The New Feminine
Reclaiming Initiation: The Priestess Path
The Divine Masculine may have started out as a worthy counterpart to the Divine Feminine in the ancestral environment. Unfortunately, over the past few thousand years, patriarchy, the shadow side of the Divine Masculine, has gained ascendancy and fostered myriad forms of oppression (suppression of women’s rights, Holy Inquisitions, etc.). You can tell how true this is by how you feel in your gut about the very word “patriarchyâ€. Over millennia we’ve had priests but no priestesses; a male God, but no Goddesses. It’s been pretty one-sided . . . but things are changing.
One of the features of patriarchy has been an emphasis on “solar initiations†or those that focus on transcending the body to join with Spirit. Fire-walking, warrior sweat-lodges, the Sun Dance, meditations, some martial arts, and many forms of visionquests use endurance and trance to reach out of the body and, thereby, elevate consciousness. By contrast, the Divine Feminine employs “lunar initiationsâ€, or those that call Spirit into the body (a welcome alternative to jettisoning out into the universe to make a connection!). After a long suppression, this Divine Feminine and the priestess archetype are returning to cultural consciousness and acceptance.
A feature of patriarchy is our loss of soul connection to our bodies. The result is that most of us center ourselves from our neck up. We identify heavily with our thinking. But as women reclaim their Divine Feminine natures, 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 fully runs 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. Priestess consciousness allows the myriad faces of the Goddess to be soulfully expressed, as the human woman learns 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 itself is described as feminine by many sources, being at once wild, willful, chaotic, earthy, sensual, sweet, deeply emotional, passionate and compassionate. These natural soul qualities are also the qualities of the divine feminine seeking to awaken the priestess within the woman. This awakening results in the full empowerment of the woman as a Priestess whose Temple is the everyday world. She exerts her influence in all of her roles—as daughter, mother, lover, career woman, neighbor, and in every interaction she has, moment to moment. At last, the divine feminine and the divine feminist are joined.
Women’s spiritual work calls for full embodiment if we are to co-create a New World with Spirit. We can no longer afford to be disembodied victims of a worn-out patriarchal system on any level: physical, economic, social or spiritual. At the same time we cannot afford to exclude the Divine Masculine as we embrace the Divine Feminine. This Sacred Union, or Sacred Marriage within, is the spiritual foundation from which springs true personal growth and empowerment. It is the alchemical activity that engenders wholeness and balance.
The Priestess calls us back with the “Charge of the Goddessâ€:
I who am the beauty
Of the green earth and the
White moon on
The mysteries of the waters,
I call upon your soul to arise
And come unto Me,
For I am the soul of nature
That gives life to the universe,
From Me all things proceed
And unto Me
They must return.
Let My worship be in the
Heart that rejoices,
For behold
All acts of love and pleasure
Are My rituals,
Let there be beauty and strength,
Power and compassion,
Honor and humility,
Mirth and reverence within you.
And you who seek to know Me,
Know that the seeking and yearning
Will avail you not,
Unless you know the Mystery:
For if that which you seek,
You find not within yourself,
You will never find it with out.
For behold,
I have been with you from the
Beginning,
And I am that which is attained
At the end of desire.
—Doreen Valiente
from “Earth Prayersâ€
Anyaa McAndrew is a licensed psychotherapist and resides in Western North Carolina. Her work is grounded in Transpersonal and Shamanic psychology as she walks the spiritual path of the Goddess. As an ordained Madonna Ministry Bishop and a Magdalene High Priestess, she has birthed the Mystery School of Life Force Energy, encompassing the Scorpio-Taurus Mysteries. Her Priestess Circles empower women to reclaim the lost soul essence of the priestess within.
You can contact Anyaa or call 404-432-1499 or Anyaa@goddessontheloose.com
See “Events” for priestess circles forming or contact Anyaa to schedule an Introductory Weekend in your area.
Awakening the New Millennium Priestess: From The Spiritual Path of The Goddess by Tim Miejan August 2001
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.
Awakening the Priestess Within
By Kim Oursler
Driving to the Introductory Weekend of Awakening the New Millennium Priestess Process™, I found great apprehension nestled in my tummy. It took the form of a knot of fear and suspicion. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, knowing that I was to at least see what this whole “Priestess Process™†thing was about.
The weekend was held in a clubhouse which was part of an apartment complex. Before I entered the clubhouse, I cloaked myself in anonymity. I did not really want to be seen or to exchange pleasantries with strangers. Little did I know that these women were about to become part of a lifelong Sisterhood. I made my way to the back of the room and found the registration table. The scent of sage smoke wafted through the air and I turned to find its source. A short, stocky woman with flaming red cropped hair named Shae stood with a large abalone shell and a smudging fan filled with feathers. She told me to write down whatever was holding me back from embracing this process. I named my fear on that slip of paper along with past betrayals by women. I watched as flames engulfed the paper and transformed it quickly to ashes. Shae allowed the smoke to wash over my body in a cleansing way and I inhaled the sacred, familiar scent.
The ding of Tibetan prayer bells called us into circle. There were 22 women new to the process and 5 apprentices who had been through the process in a previous circle. A woman with shiny long straight hair and gorgeous turquoise eyes named Anyaa McAndrew welcomed us with a smile. She was the facilitator of the process. She instructed us to form an inner circle of 11 women facing out. The remaining 11 women were to form a circle facing in. Our two circles gazed at each other. Anyaa asked us to look into the eyes of the woman facing us. “She is your sister,†she stated as she proceeded to lead us into a guided meditation. “See her as a child, see her giggling and laughing at age four.†Many of us smiled and began to laugh a little as we glimpsed the possibility of a newfound “sisterâ€. “Now see her Divine Feminine spark as you look into her left eye.†I felt my own light shine a bit more and began to feel strong. We each received the Divine Feminine mirrored back to us in the woman we stood before. “With permission, place your hands over the heart chakra space of your sister,†Anyaa instructed. My new sister, Emily, asked if she could place her hands close to my chest. I answered yes. Her hands hovered on my front and back, covering the heart space. “Now whisper this into her ear,†Anyaa shared and Emily leaned in to my left ear. She whispered, “I apologize for the hurt that women have caused you…in this lifetime, and in all others.†Whoosh! I felt something flush through my body from the heart space, racing down into my legs, leaving my feet and joining with Mother Earth. Tears filled my eyes and I knew that no matter what sort of commitment I had to make to these women and this process, I would do it. The fear was gone, the suspicion was gone and I opened like a child filled with the wonder of the world.
The Priestess Processâ„¢ was a nine-month journey into the seat of my own soul. The 22 women became my sisters. Together, we were initiated as Priestesses of the Goddess. We created divine works of art that represented the angels within each of us. We stated intentions that held great power and were blessed by the entire circle. We faced the shadow of ourselves and found healing. We shared the stories of our spiritual journeys and found that we had been guided all along to lives of awakened purpose and action. We learned about Shamanic Astrology and worked with archetypes that enlightened us more about who we were and why we are here. We released old stories, old patterns, and old ways that no longer served our highest good. We welcomed in the New, knowing that it was a complete mystery but trusting in it all the same. We embodied the Truth of the Divine Feminine and committed to continually opening to Her in our own selves.
When I want to connect with this Sisterhood of Priestesses, I recall dancing with my sisters during the Priestess Processâ„¢ as a moving time of meditation. There were times when emotions poured through me as I claimed my body and moved it in a way that was unique to my own inner rhythm. Looking on the circle with half-closed eyes, it seemed we were transported to another time, a time of the Temple Priestesses where the scent of frankincense and myrrh blended with the sound of jingling bells and tinkling chimes. The women flowed in their grace of movement and seemed much more alive at the end of every dance. This image remains in my heart, forming a healing connection to women Seen and Unseen, Known and Unknown. It is a blessing to me and an awakening from which I will never be released.
Kim Oursler is a writer, mother, and High Priestess. She is a spiritual midwife for women walking the sacred path and open doors for herself in order to light the way for others.
Priestesses of the World
It was a cold summer night on the Isle of Lewis in the highlands of Scotland. The stones of Callenish haunted the landscape like the Ancient Ones of legend. My heavy red velvet cape was keeping me toasty warm as we ushered in the full moon on this auspicious night we were here to ceremonialize. It was 1997 and in that moment I felt the priestess within me quicken and congeal. This part of me was longing to be re-born and to have her say in my life.
Inspired by her first book journaling her own Priestess Processâ„¢, I met Nicole Christine a few months before in Sedona, Arizona. She agreed that if I could gather enough women in Atlanta she would come to facilitate the 9-month “Awakening the Priestess Within” process. In October of 1997, 12 women began the process, and in June of 1998, 11 women “emerged” priestesses, some self-proclaimed and some ordained. Stepping through every imaginable fear of our selves and our power, we danced, journaled, and shared our life stories. We created awesomely beautiful ceremonies, held council when we needed to be serious & played when we didn’t. We laughed, cried and bonded for a lifetime. Most of all, we found a deep, rich core in ourselves that is authentically our priestess selves. We will never be the same, for each of us has recovered a piece of our Soul and our Sacred Work in the world. This is no small task at the Turning of the Ages when there is so much available and so much confusion about what has authentic heart & meaning.
Since 1998 I have gone on to do the High Priestess Magdalene Mystery teachings with Nicole Christine and I facilitate “Awakening the New Millennium Priestess” circles. The women who participate are mothers, practicing healers, corporate executives, artists, writers, technicians, teachers & women on the quest for their life’s mission. Every circle is as unique as the women within it. As each circle walks together for the 9-month journey to spiritual empowerment, its’ unique contribution to the community is further defined. Networking among members, partnerships, and community projects blossom from the abundant creativity available. Sacred Presence returns through each of us at this auspicious time on planet Earth. We have the unique opportunity to help guide our destiny.
If you feel called to this process, please join us for an Introductory Weekend in the Atlanta area or e-mail to find out about an “Awakening the New Millennium Priestess” circle in your area!