There was always an abundance of seekers who wanted to know the outcome of their fortunes in the ancient world. This task was given to a group of select women who ancient societies trusted to unlock the mysteries of the unknown. There are voluminous historical accounts through the centuries where Emperors, Kings, Pharaohs, and Rulers all reached out for the prophetic words of female Oracles, Seers, and Sibyls. These ancient women were not only devoted Priestesses but deeply spiritually contemplative in their day to day lives. I am a Priestess who does trance meditation and I can attest to the enormous concentration that is needed to open the door to channel Deity. I have read accounts of ancient Priestesses dying from mental exhaustion after a particularly intense writhing session within deep trance. My ancestral sister Priestesses are a true inspiration. The celestial words of Deity that came through their mouths as they uttered their mystical messages influenced the integrity and character of ancient civilizations.
Sometimes their temple homes were simple structures, other times they were a complex series of buildings, like a city within a city. Archeological evidence about the role of the Temple Priestess is oftentimes controversial and always varied. Within the temple walls these very individual ancient Priestesses went into their unique trances to utter profound words of wisdom and prophetic guidance. Their words were not exclusively for the hierarchy, as many societies welcomed pilgrims who traveled far and for the opportunity to ask a question and receive an answer of an Oracle or Sibyl.
The tumultuous times of the ancient world is really not that dissimilar from our own world of chaotic political machinations and confusion. Today, Psychic advise has made a resurgence as modern societies try to make sense of all that is around them.
A modern Priestess can function quite well without living within a temple or cloister. We no longer need the protection of temple walls and in most modern societies we can live and work freely. The current Priestesses initiated within a number of wiccan and pagan traditions take their roles just as seriously as their predecessors, serving the spiritual needs of their covens and communities.
Traveling from antiquity to the present I have traced the threads of many unique and interesting stories of powerful spiritual women. Today we not only have Priestesses, but many authors, teachers, oracles, psychics. Mediums and sacred dancers. In many current societies, women have more freedom to pursue their psychic vocations and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. As in the past, history often paints these ancient women as less significant. The mystical sciences are mysterious and many fear what they don’t understand. Our primordial sisters, Priestess pioneers of the ancient world, have inspired and stirred the soul of every modern Priestess as we continue the sacred journey.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (known as Madam Blavatsky) was born on August 12, 1831 and passed away on May 8, 1891. She was a Russian philosopher and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She was well known as a leading theoretician of theosophy. At a very early age she developed an interest in Western esotericism and in her later years she traveled extensively throughout the world. Madam Blavatsky was someone who was fascinated to discover and experience diverse spiritual and mystical practices. She claimed to channel a group of spiritual adepts whom she called the “Masters of the Ancient Wisdom”. Heavily involved in the spiritualist movement she moved to New Yok City in 1873 and rose to public attention as a spirit medium. In 1875 she co-founded the Theosophical Society with Henry Steel Olcott. Theosophy is tied to the esoteric doctrines of Hermeticism and Neoplatonism.
Blavatsky described Theosophy as “the synthesis of science, religion and philosophy”, proclaiming that it was reviving an “Ancient Wisdom” which underlay all the world’s religions.1
A brilliantly vibrant personality, Madam Blavatsky, had her share of critics. But she remains one of the most mysterious free thinkers and influential spiritualists of her day. She was the author of Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology; The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy; and The Voice of the Silence.
As a devout matriarch of the Divine Feminine and dedicated spirit medium she joined her ancient sisters in channeling mystical messages from the Elysian.
Jeane Dixon (January 5, 1904 – January 25, 1997) was one of the most famous psychics and astrologers in the twentieth century. She was born Lydia Pinckert in 1904. According to legend during her youth in California, Jeane received a crystal ball from a gypsy who predicted she would become a famous psychic and “advise powerful people” throughout the world.
Dixon’s most famous prediction was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which she wrote about in 1956, seven years before it happened. Dixon went on to write several successful books and a regular newspaper column. The gypsy’s prediction also came true — in 1971, Dixon advised president Richard Nixon on possible terrorist attacks in America.
Doreen Valiente (January 4, 1922 – September 1, 1999) was an Englishwomen who was initiated in 1953 by Gerald Gardner into a tradition of Witchcraft. Soon afterwards she was the High Priestess of Gerald Gardner’s “Bricket Wood Coven” and she is thought to be responsible for much of the early Gardnerian liturgy. As an author and poet, she adapted many ancient texts into what became known as “The Witches Rune” and “The Charge of the Goddess”. Both became incorporated into the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. She also published numerous books dealing with esoteric subjects in addition to Witchcraft.
As a Priestess she was interested in the early research of her religion’s history and became involved in the Witchcraft Research Association. As an author she contributed to the published works of her Wiccan friends Stewart and Janet Farrar. In her later years she served as a patron of the Sussex-based Centre for Pagan Studies.
As a modern-day Priestess and Oracle, she channeled Divinity in writings that have inspired Witches and Wiccans for decades.
Within the occult community, Valiente has become internationally known as the “Mother of Modern Witchcraft” or “Mother of Wica”, although she herself disliked this moniker.2
Sybil Leek was an English Witch, astrologer, occult author and psychic, who was born on February 22, 1917 and died on October 26, 1982. She was the author of over 60 books and numerous magazine articles on all subjects of the occult including astrology and various other esoteric subjects. Her autobiography Diary of a Witch, was a declaration that Witchcraft was not dead and was still very much alive. Because of the popularity of her book, the BBC labelled her “Britian’s most famous Witch”. From that time onward she attracted a lot of public attention. She was harassed by landlords and the public who felt a genuine prejudice against Witches. In her diary she writes about living with the Romany Gypsies in the New Forest where she learned about ancient folklore and the practical use of herbs. She then went on to become, for a short time, the High Priestess of the Horsa Coven also in the New Forest. At one point she was invited to New York by a publisher and there she met Hans Holzer a parapsychologist who was investigating psychic phenomena. They were a creditable team and produced many television and radio programs on their investigations. She was the medium Hans trusted most in his ground breaking research of the paranormal. Sybil was a trance medium which meant she was able to pass on (channel) messages from the deceased while in a state of deep trance. Trance mediums are also called oracles. Eventually she toured and lectured frequently in the US, England and Europe. She made a lasting mark on the Witchcraft community and that of real psychics and mediums.
Much has been written about Sybil Leek, most of it controversial as many did not agree with her beliefs or her methods. As with our ancient Priestesses whose stories were so often eliminated from ancient texts, I believe Sybil was not given her due. She was active in the repeal of Britian’s Witchcraft Act in 1951 which then gave her a safe platform to not only practice but write about the ancient traditions of the craft.
Her legacy will live on. (Her books have achieved cult status and are very expensive and often difficult to obtain).
A coven of white witches in the New Forest are following in Sybil’s footsteps. High Priestess Julie Forest says: “She was a pioneer of her time and she is an inspiration to modern day witches.”3
Olivia Melian Robertson was born on Friday, April 13th, 1917 and passed into the spirit world on November 14, 2013. Olivia was a healer and in 1940 she served as a V.A.D. nurse in Berkshire during WWII and in the 1960’s along with her brother Lawrence and his wife Pamela ran a local welfare system. She was also a successful artist and writer who authored a number of books including Field of the Stranger that was named Book Society Choice in London.
Later in the 1960’s she moved back to her ancestral home of Clonegal Castle with her brother Lawrence and his wife. There the three formed the Huntington Castle Centre for Meditation and Study. Olivia had a talent for guiding others in meditation or “magical journeys” as she called them. Beginning a journey of self-discovery she investigated Christianity, Theosophy, Hinduism and Sufism.
As her awareness of the Goddesses deepened, she realized the Goddess embodied the Divine Chalice, the Holy Grail. As a symbol of the Divine Feminine Principle, it began to have a transformative effect upon her life.4
Along with her brother and sister-in-law they continued to work with psychism and each had wonderful visions of the Goddess, which eventually led to their forming of the Fellowship of Isis (FOI). Olivia as an Oracle Priestess of Isis traveled extensively throughout Europe and the USA. As a trance medium she provided oracular messages and her sacred liturgy awakened the essence of the Divine Feminine in rituals honoring the Goddess. The Fellowship of Isis liturgy that she wrote has a worldwide audience.
A true Temple Priestess of the Goddess, Olivia was also a Sacred Dancer. As a dancer and teacher of Sacred dance and a Priestess within the FOI, I had the great pleasure to know Lady Olivia quite well. Once I gave her the gift of a “dancers chiffon tunic” which she immediately wore. Olivia danced each step that I taught and my dearest memory was of her looking down at my feet and copying so very carefully my every nuance and expression. She would then dance and let her spirit soar with inspiration and abandon.
And on the day of her passing in 2013, the faeries made her one of them and away they danced into the night.
Laurie was born on March 6, 1933 and was one of the first people to popularize Witchcraft in the United States and is the author of several books. She founded the Cabot Tradition of Witchcraft and the Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple, a non-profit Wiccan Church. She also founded The Witches’ League for Public Awareness to defend the civil rights of Witches everywhere. She is a long-time member of the Fellowship of Isis and was a friend to Lady Olivia Robetson. Laurie is a force to be reckoned with. In the 1970’s she was declared the “Official Witch of Salem, Massachusetts” by Governor Michael Dukakis to honor her work with special children. Laurie still resides in Salem, Massachusetts and is part of Salem lore. She has been in many documentaries and talk shows and has been interviewed for numerous periodicals. She is the author of a number of books and is definitely the most recognized Witch in the World. She follows in the footsteps of the Temple Priestesses of Antiquity, her ancestral sisters.
I have witnessed her as an Oracle and in her trance medium states she is truly gifted as she channels the Goddess illuminating the Divine. She is also a Sacred Dancer as well as a talented artist. We have danced together in ceremonial rituals and her flowing grace has always melded with mine to raise worshipful energy in honor of the Goddess.
She has been a dear friend and almost a mother, for most of my adult life. During the years we have shared many adventures (which could be a book in itself!). Observers have said that when we are together there is an aura and vibration that passes from one to the other. Those who are intuitive can feel the sacrosanct between us.
Lady Belladonna Laveau is the Archpriestess and Matriarch of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church International (ATC) and the dean of Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary, an EDU. The Seminary is the only recognized Wiccan sponsored college in the United States. Bella is a true Temple Priestess and Sacred Dancer who lives within the Mother Church/Temple. She is considered one of the leading voices of the Goddess in the Witchcraft and pagan communities as she serves a modern congregation. She is a Sibyl and Hierophant of the Great Mother Goddess Demeter. With her intuitive oracular spirit Bella is a direct channel to the Goddess and serves at her behest. She is a sister Priestess and it is with her encouragement that I joined the faculty of Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary. In 2019 on Gallows Hill in Salem, Massachusetts, three High Priestesses; Bella, Gypsy Ravish and myself channeled the “Three Fates” during our Samhain Ritual not knowing how very appropriate their wise words would be.
Gypsy Ravish is the High Priestess of the Coven of Akhelarre in Salem, Massachusetts, in the Alexandrian Traditional Lineage family of Wicca. She is also the principal Minister of the Temple of Nine Wells, ATC in Salem whose congregation presents public Rituals for all the Wiccan Sabbats. The Temple of Nine Well is an affiliate of The Aquarian Tabernacle Church. Gypsy is a singer/songwriter whose music came to her through dreams and invocations from life challenges, deep tribal memories and connections to the Ancestors. In processional ceremonies her music encircles the participants in light. She too is a true Temple Priestess.
Lady Haight-Ashton is a modern Temple Priestess. She is an author, teacher, Sacred Dancer, and a Priestess of Lilith, Selket, Hecate and Isis. She is the High Priestess of Sacred Moon Coven, affiliated with The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC), and the High Priestess of the Iseum of the Graceful Goddess and a Priestess in the Fellowship of Isis (FOI). Lady is a professional psychic medium with clients in the USA and Canada, licensed Clergy Counselor, member of the Maine Pagan Clergy Association, the Crossroads Lyceum and the Sacred Dance Guild. She is the author of numerous books including The First Sisters: Lilith and Eve and this book.
A psychic since childhood, Lady now practices within a trance medium state, where she periodically transcends this dimension blending the spirit world with the physical. In her altered state of consciousness, she records her verbal and written oracular messages from the Goddess to share with her fellow Witches and Psychics (and the public) in rituals.
When Lily Dale was founded 140 years ago, it was created as a place unlike any other. Not for being flashy or grand, as much of what is different about Lily Dale is not visible. This is a place people come to renew, to expand, to connect, to explore. Mediumship - talking to the dead - has been an important part of Lily Dale since the very beginning, but what many people don’t know is how much healing has played a role in the creation and evolution of the place. In the early days this included critical social justice movements of the time, in particular women’s suffrage, as well as early developments of alternative healing from the laying on of hands to hypnosis.
Lily Dale is an international member organization and residential community comprised of persons who practice the faith of Spiritualism, which is an active faith guided by a set of principles. This faith is applied through prayer, meditation, healing, and mediumship.
Lily Dale is a year-round community, that is home to more than 50 professionally registered mediums. It is also the home of a thriving community of Spiritualists, including groups and committees dedicated to every aspect of running a summer program and year-round activities for residents and visitors alike.