Initiatory ceremonies are the domain of all religions and spiritual paths. The path of the female mystic, or priestess, can be seen in its own light in these times of great turmoil and change at the “Turning of the Ages.” It is unique not only because it is a feminine path, but because it has been absent from our psyches for thousands of years. We have witnessed the shadow side of the Divine Masculine, the Patriarchy, gain ascendancy and foster many forms of oppression, including the suppression of women’s rights, Holy Inquisitions, and the negation of feminine mysticism. Over millennia we’ve had priests but no priestesses; a male God, but no Goddesses. It has been out of balance, 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, mental meditations, some martial arts, and many forms of vision quests use the mind and endurance to reach out of the body and thereby elevate consciousness. By contrast, the Divine Feminine employs “lunar initiations,” or those that call Spirit into the body, a welcome alternative to jettisoning out into the universe to make a connection! The feminine loves the sparkle of life, the senses, getting down into body, the pleasures and pains, joys and tears of earth.
Another 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, denying the life-force energy that enlivens us and makes life worth living. We identify heavily with our thinking and action based on thought alone. 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 many faces of the Goddess to be soulfully expressed, as the human woman learns to step into her spiritual power.
After a long suppression, the Divine Feminine and the priestess archetype are returning to cultural consciousness and acceptance. Women walk differently on a spiritual path when they are fully encouraged to express their soulful nature. They are wild, willful, chaotic, earthy, sensual, sweet, empathic, merging, deeply emotional, passionate and compassionate. These natural soul qualities are the qualities of the Divine Feminine seeking to awaken the priestess within the woman. Through our wild desires and intricate passions, we find our soul stirring and our spirit calling. We stop silencing our deepest dreams and allow the voice of the Goddess to come through as our own. This awakening, can result in the full empowerment of a 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. The divine feminine and the divine feminist are joined. We can embrace a movement of soul and spirit, human and divine. We can experience the sacred in our daily lives and express our life force energy in everything we do. We can include the essential factors that make the new feminine mysticism, the priestess within, grounded and practical, yet imaginative and sacred.
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The Shamanic Priestess Process is Coming to Central Florida!
WHAT IS THE SHAMANIC PRIESTESS PROCESS—AND WHY SHOULD I BE INTERESTED?
The Shamanic Priestess Process is a life-changing initiation & spiritual process for women. As the Shift of the Ages progresses, as the Feminine is called to take the stage, we… as sacred women walking a spiritual path… discover that indeed, We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For! The Divine Feminine is returning, and women are called to participate in the healing of ourselves and our planet.
We learn that the old “power over others” patriarchal model has kept us from discovering who we really are. The Shamanic Priestess Process empowers women to walk through their own fears to gain their own personal power, magnetism, and explore their passions.
Shamanic Priestess Circles become catalysts of change in the lives of every woman in Circle.. We awaken, enliven and integrate the priestess within. We find our own sacred work, and bring forth our unique gifts to serve ourselves and the world in a bigger way.
WHEN IS THE SHAMANIC PRIESTESS PROCESS COMING TO CENTRAL FLORIDA?
This month, from November 14-16 2014, we’ll do several previews around central Florida, to “gather the women.” We’ll be doing them in New Smyrna Beach, Deltona, Casselberry, and Kissimmee/Celebration.
The preview will give you a “taste” of what the Shamanic Priestess Process is like. If it resonates for you, we’ll invite you to join us for the FIRST Central Florida Shamanic Priestess Process Circle, which will begin in January and complete in July. (More details on the below and on our Facebook page.)
I hope you’ll be able to join us in November; below are the dates/times of the gatherings. Please choose one you prefer and email Melody or Roxanne, our coordination team, immediately to confirm. We have limited space and it’s first come, first in.
1. FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2014 from 7 to 9:30pm in New Smyrna
2. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2014 from 11am to 1:30pm in Deltona
3. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2014 from 7 to 9:30pm in the Orlando area
4. SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 from 1 to 3:30pm in the Kissimmee/Celebration area
YES, you may invite your friends! And YES, teens are invited to attend with their mothers!
The 2.5 hours we’ll spend together at the preview will answer your questions and allow you to feel your resonance with the Process. We’ll connect via phone or Skype with Anyaa McAndrew, our facilitator, who has been seeding the Shamanic Priestess Process around the U.S. and Canada for the past 14 years. Find more about Anyaa on this website.
The power of our gatherings won’t always be immediately felt, so we also have a Facebook page for women to post questions, ideas, insights and allow the energy to build.
WHEN WILL THE FIRST SHAMANIC PRIESTESS CIRCLE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA BEGIN?
In 2015. On Jan. 23-25, we’ll experience our Shamanic Priestess Introductory weekend retreat. You can register and attend the January retreat (which is only $260) without committing to the entire Shamanic Priestess Circle. After the January retreat, only women who are committed to the Circle will be able to attend the remaining sessions.
Our first central Florida circle will have 20 women and will run from January 2015 to July 2015, meeting every other month. In these gatherings, we’ll explore:
• The New Priestess & Women’s Mysteries
• Initiation of the Priestess Within
• Enlightening the Shadow Between Women
• Telling the Stories of Our Spiritual Journeys
• The Archetypes We Carry
• Sacred Marriage with the Inner Masculine
• Conscious Death of the Old Self
• Sacred Rebirth of the Shamanic Priestess
• Emergence & Ordination
I’M INTERESTED. WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
Go here for the flyer, and for more information about the Process go here, for audios describing the Shamanic Priestess go here and for what women who have done the Process have to say, go here. You can also read interviews here and articles here!