eight
The Priestess
Navigating Between the Worlds
Ageless I stepped out of the sky
Touched down into the sea
Saw my image/In the reflection of the Sun …
We are One!
–Necia Desiree Harkless26
Imagine sitting quietly, imbued with power and wisdom, holding the space of loving connectedness to all your relations and to the earth. You feel the infinite wisdom of the vast cosmic web streaming through you and its profound loving energy that moves through all living things. Now imagine that your guides come to visit. They may come as specific beings, goddesses or gods, forms of light, or simply as a loving presence. Imagine they surround you as you continue to sit on the rock in quiet wisdom. Their light and love infuse you with an even deeper wisdom. Then you begin to travel up and out of the garden, taking flight to move through the dreamtime. Perhaps you take the shape of a flying bird or grow wings as you move up into the skies and travel over the landscape. Ask for a vision of the dreamtime, one that shows you who you are and why you are here. Be open to the messages that come from your guides, whether in the form of images, sound, or simply knowing. Ask your guides to take you to another power spot, one that holds information from the cosmos. Perhaps it is a sacred stone or living altar; it may be high on a cliff or mountain. Imagine receiving powerful, loving, and wise information from this sacred spot in the dreamtime as a priestess. Visualize yourself in the role of leader, space holder, and enabler. Remember what you are told and know that you can revisit this sacred wisdom place, just as you can revisit your sacred garden for healing and love.
As we move more deeply into a place of wisdom, we encounter our inner Priestess. The Priestess is the culmination of our practice with the sacred feminine. She is the visionary, the loving healer, the empowered warrior, the sacred weaver all rolled into one. She is the part of us that can see the broader picture, dip her ladle of understanding into antiquity, and pour it forth across the world which is thirsty for the reclaiming of the sacred feminine. Our inner Priestess has traveled a long journey and uncovered many sacred and nourishing spots along the way and knows it is time to share her wisdom.
The Priestess is akin to a shaman, one who is able to see in the dark. The Priestess archetype is often figured in the Tarot deck standing between two pillars: one of light and one of dark. She effectively navigates between these two worlds, the seen and unseen, the negative and positive, the masculine and feminine, the sacred and the profane, the sexual and the spiritual. Not only is she able to straddle these worlds, she is also at the very center of sacred space, carrying with her a deep understanding of the four directions and the elements. Jalaja Bonheim captures well the role of the Priestess, saying, “Today I would describe a priestess as a woman who lives in two worlds at once, who perceives life on earth against the backdrop of a vast, timeless reality. Whether or not she is mated to a human partner, she is a woman in love, wedded to being, to life, to love itself. Having offered herself, body and soul, in service of spirit, she mediates between matter and spirit, between the human and divine realms.” 27
The Priestess is the part of us that never dies, the wellspring of eternal wisdom that resides within each of us. She is our inner voice that arises with clear guidance and loving compassion; the voice that sings to us when we are quiet and connected to all that is. As the Priestess, we have many guides now; we have worked through the deeper obstacles in our path as a woman; we have learned to transform our fear of the dark into the power of night. In this chapter we work with Isis, the Great Mother and Queen of the World, who is able to transmute poison into power and reclaim her wisdom of the sacred feminine using the power of sacred sound.
The wise Priestess connects us to the vast spaciousness of the sacred feminine, honoring not only the earth but the sky as well. Many traditions honor the sky as father, aspects of the sacred masculine, connected to the qualities of transcendence, including the ceremonies in this book. I invite you to also reflect on the qualities of the sacred feminine that are akin to sky, celestial bodies, the starry night, the moon shining brilliantly, and the vastness of the cosmos. We hold the wise space of our own wombs within and contemplating the inner creative spaciousness helps to activate the Priestess.
At this point on the path we have a clear understanding of our power and love in the shape of a woman. Our connection to the sacred feminine is clear and strong. Our inner Priestess urges us to begin sharing these gifts with others, to open ourselves up to become a channel for the community. The Priestess asks us to literally priestess—to hold space for ceremonies that honor the earth, love relationships, births, menses, and death. Connecting with not only the earth, but with other humans through art, dance, creating businesses, social networking, and political activism is a powerful part of Priestess work; she is our outward expression to the world. When we fully activate our inner Priestess, we become the goddess herself.
Cultivating Intuition
Beginning to work with and trust our intuition is crucial to activating our inner Priestess. Intuition is the inner wisdom within and guides us to follow our heart-body-mind connection that is in alignment with divine flow. When we tap into our intuition, we have a clearer sense of what we really want in our lives and are better able to trust the way that will unfold.
Learning to cultivate, listen, and act on intuition may take some practice. In ancient times, intuition was a very strong part of existence and aided hunters in tracking animals for food, clothing, and shelter. Intuition was used to speak directly with plants and know how they could be used for food and healing. Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz, a specialist in women’s bodies, points out that “Intuition is a natural product of your brain and body … if you have a brain and a body and you sleep at night, by definition, you have all the equipment you need to be intuitive. … In fact, the areas of your feminine brain and body that make you unique—whether you have an exceptional talent or are challenged by depression, anxiety, or other health problems—are exactly where to look to find your intuition.”28
As we begin to uncover our intuitive side, we should remember that some people are very visual, while others perceive the world through sound or touch, and this will translate directly into how we intuit the world around us. Various ways to explore the intuitive part of our brain include: spending time in nature; creating art through painting or sculpting; working with symbols and divination such as runes, tarot, or scrying; practicing meditation, yoga, or tai chi; drumming and doing drum journeys; working with healing arts such as Reiki or chakra healing.
One of the aspects of the Priestess is her role and function as a seer or prophetess. By working with an oracle, you can develop your intuition more keenly. I encourage you to seek out a particular oracle such as the tarot, runes, the I Ching, or other divination method and begin to practice. To become effective at this kind of work takes practice, and doing so is good for cultivating discipline, working with symbolism, and understanding the patterns of life. I recommend choosing only one deck or system to start with, and really spending a few years working with that one until you have mastered it. A good way to practice this is to choose one tarot deck, pull a card each day, and then observe the day and how it unfolds in relation to the card. I have worked primarily with one tarot, the Aleister Crowley Thoth deck, for over a decade and found it useful in gaining better understanding in complex situations. There are countless resources on these systems of divination, some listed at the back of this book. We can also use nature as an invaluable tool to hone our intuitive process. We each contain the wisdom of the Priestess within; by using the exercise below, you can develop this much more fully.
Using Nature to Develop Your Intuition
Your inner Priestess is deeply in tune with her intuitive side, inspired by the natural world. To develop your intuition further, choose a place in nature that you enjoy. Pick one spot to work with for a three-month period. This will allow you to really come to know this particular place and allow it to speak to you. Be mindful that you will want to try and sit in this place regardless of rain or even snow. Make sure there is some level of comfort and that you will be warm (or cool) enough to do your work well. If it does pour rain on your session, do your best to stay, or retreat to a nearby covered area and watch from there. If there is really no place at all in nature you can get to, try to find a place you can visit outside your home: a rooftop, a sidewalk bench, any outdoor place that you can visit for a period of time that is not in your own space. Commit to the three months, marking it on your calendar. Buy a new journal or use one you already work with that has plenty of space for your notes, drawings, and intuitive workings.
Next, each morning when you wake up, set the intention, “I am listening to my intuitive self.” Intention is very important when you begin working with the intuitive realms and energy. You may want to write down this affirmation, or one similar, and pin it up in your house to remind you throughout the day that you are honoring your intuition. Also state this intention (or something similar) every evening before sleep. Many powerful messages come from our dreams, and when we are clearly intending to hear those messages they will become more prominent. During this three-month time span, be sure to track the moons and your monthly cycle if you have not gone through menopause. This will give you more insight as to when your intuition is stronger. Several Native American traditions considered menses to be an extrasensory time of the month when women would retreat to the Moon Lodge to receive a vision.
Spend at least one session per week at your special place in nature. During the first month, simply receive. Go to your spot, create a sacred circle, give an offering to the nature spirits there. Make it simple if it is in a more public area so as to not draw much attention and simply observe. Note down the date, the moon cycle, and your own menses cycle for that day. Then sit quietly without writing. Allow thoughts to come and go, but do not make a strong effort to do any particular meditation. If you find you are thinking furiously, come back to your intention: “I am listening to my intuitive self.” This practice not only opens up the intuitive and creative aspects of your being, it also disciplines you to become more focused. So often we receive a new practice from a teacher or friend or book and rush to try it, only to give up a week or so later because our mind becomes bored with it. If we can learn to tap more deeply into the intuitive self, boredom dissolves as each moment becomes wondrous and new. This is a good way to more fully activate our inner Priestess and enables us to use guidance when we begin to hold ceremony for others. Sit for at least twenty minutes. Notice the smells, the sounds, the colors of the sky, the grass, any flowers or trees, any other people passing by, the clouds. Do not write during this time; just be there with the place.
After twenty or thirty minutes, write down what comes to mind in a page or two in your journal. The first month, you can write anything down but keep it to a couple of pages. You may want to use colors to draw spontaneous images and/or draw with your nondominant hand. Often this can reveal certain qualities or messages. Do not analyze or try to understand what you are drawing or why.
During the second month, you are to come up with a question, a specific issue that is bothering you. Avoid yes or no questions; instead start the question with “how.” You may want to ask about a relationship, a job, or a health problem. Ask in a way that leaves room for answers. For example, instead of asking, “What is my next career move?” try “How can I financially support myself in a way that fulfills my soul?” Follow the same practice you had for the first month, but ask your question aloud or in your mind after you have created the sacred circle and given an offering. Again, like before, observe the natural world around you, open and close your eyes as you feel inclined to, and try not to analyze what comes to mind. Simply allow the intuitive self to work around the issue. The world is a direct reflection of you and your being. If your question is clear, eventually a clear answer will come. Stick with the same question for at least two weeks; if you feel you have a clear answer, you may ask another question the second two weeks of the month. Giving the question those two different times to work with your intuition is more powerful than just once. Remember that by sitting in the sacred space and asking the question there, you are opening yourself up to receiving information that will often come in the form of omens, dreams, and synchronicities.
The last month is the same as the second, but you will ask a question for a family member or friend. This helps to cultivate the seer aspect of the inner Priestess. After the first two months (and only then), you can tell someone you trust what you have been doing. It is important to be quiet about your practice before this, as this helps to hold your power so it won’t dissipate or lose ground. Choose a friend or family member whom you feel comfortable sharing this with and ask them to tell you an issue for you to work on. Repeat the sitting process, asking the question with your friend’s name spoken or said in your mind. Sit for the twenty or thirty minutes, then write and draw. Again, look for omens or synchronicities as the weeks go by. Allow yourself to come to an answer after two weeks and give your friend the message. Repeat this with another friend (or the same one) using a different question for the last two weeks. In your final session, perform a simple gratitude ceremony to the place where you have been working, to thank the spirits for nourishing you during the three months. Of course you may continue to use this place for your intuitive work.
After you have finished your three-month work, this process can also be done in a very short time as well. You can practice this over the course of a weekend, taking the first morning to observe, the afternoon to ask your questions. I find it extremely valuable to first give yourself the longer span of time and commitment to the discipline to become very effective at the work before doing it more quickly. Allowing time to work in your life enhances the quality of your connectedness to the earth. We are often moving very fast, mentally, without really processing or integrating the massive sensory stimulus we receive. This practice enables us to slow down, hone our intuition, and learn about setting clear intentions for what we want. This becomes a valuable tool when activating the wisdom of the inner Priestess.
Isis
Isis, whose name means “great throne,” is one of the longest worshipped goddesses in the world and is an all-encompassing aspect of the sacred feminine: a true priestess and Queen of the World. She was known as the Great Mother and connected to the moon. She is believed by some to be the origin of the Black Madonna and is connected to the dark mother, our distant ancestor who has evolved through time. She is linked to the Tree of Life, immortality and known to be the goddess of life-giving waters, the star goddess Sirius as well as the fertile pig goddess. Isis was in existence long before her stories were written down around 2500 bce and was still held as a powerful female principle by Plutarch in the second century.
Of all the Egyptian goddesses, Isis reveals some of the most personal and human-like qualities, such as pain, grief, and anguish. She was continuously honored during the centuries of slow shift from the millennia of goddess worship into the cultivation of a priestly patriarch, and we see these messages reverberating in her stories. In one myth, Isis mourns her lost lover, Osiris, who is torn to pieces by his evil brother, Set. Isis reassembles Osiris except for his penis, makes love to him with a golden phallus in its place, and is impregnated with their son, the hawk-headed Horus. In the following, more ancient, and shorter myth below, Isis reclaims some of her own rightful power from the god Ra. Both of these stories illuminate the power of the Priestess that still resided in women in ancient times—a power that is rightfully ours and is becoming more accessible each day.
A Tale of Isis: Power of the Word
Isis was a beautiful woman who possessed words of power, but she was tired of men. Instead, she was fascinated with the realms of the gods, and even more, she had a strong desire to connect deeply with the realm of the spirits. One evening, she meditated in her heart, saying, “I too want to leave this earthly realm and become a goddess of like rank and power to Ra, god of the heavens.”
Ra had grown old and weak. He dribbled and his spit fell to the earth. Isis took some of the spit and kneaded it with her magic to create a sacred serpent. Then she let the snake loose on the ground in front of Ra. As he walked down his path, the serpent bit him. He cried aloud, and the poison spread quickly throughout his body. “Who could possibly have done this to me? I am the all-powerful Ra! I am the god who has endless names and forms. I dwell deep within every god and no one—mortal or god—may infect me in such a way!” Nonetheless Ra remained stricken with the pain of the poison.
The children of every god came to him, grieving and weeping over his pain. Isis also came, bringing her words of magical power, and her mouth was full of the life breath. Isis was long known for her healing talismans. She was also capable of breathing life into the dead.
“I will heal you,” she said, “but first, tell me your name, holy Father, for whatever it is that you name aloud will then be healed and live.”
And Ra said, “I have made all things. I made the heavens above us. I made the earth, seas, the mountains, the trees, and the skies. I open my eyes and the light comes. I close my eyes and the darkness comes.”
Isis said, “Still, you have not spoken your name aloud. Tell it to me and the poison will go.”
The poison burned Ra like fire and he was in great pain. Finally, the great god agreed and said, “I consent, then. Isis, you may look within and my own name will pass from me into you.” She looked within and found his name.
Isis called out, “Poison, leave Ra now! Let Ra live and the poison will die.” These are the words of Isis, the mighty lady, the mistress of the gods, who knew Ra by his own name. Thus Isis healed Ra of the infliction she had put into him and herself became a goddess, full of wise power and immense love for the vast realms of the universe.
Keys to the Tale
This story begins with Isis feeling weary in her dealings with men and even gods. She wishes to connect more deeply with the spirit realms. The inner Priestess reflects our own yearning to more deeply connect with our spiritual selves and activates the fiery burning desire to become goddess. Ra has grown very old and is retiring. We can apply this also to our own world; the patriarch is indeed becoming tiresome! He is the part of us that, in previous stories, attempted to usurp our power, love, and wisdom as women. He is the voice of society that has become feeble in its attempt to prevent woman from working her mysterious magic. By her own craftiness, Isis claims her status as a goddess, just as we can open to become a true Priestess of wisdom.
Isis takes some of Ra’s spit and kneads it into a snake. She tricks him by using his fluids with her magic to create change so that she can become a goddess. This is akin to the work of an alchemist, the ability to transmute poison into bliss. Isis turns the spit into something that is both poisonous and sacred, a serpent, which is a potent symbol of the sacred feminine. The serpent signifies transition, transmutation, and a shift from one realm into another. It is an eternal, magical symbol, one that is distinctly connected to the sacred feminine, sexuality, birth, and rebirth. Myths all over the world speak of serpents as creators long associated with the sacred feminine. These serpents are a reflection of deep earth wisdom that is capable of imbuing people with magical abilities. In fact, according to Sjöö and Mor, there is a “world wide occurrence of the Goddess and her Serpent … [and] we can see the profound power as well as universality of this cosmological symbol, its range of endurance in the human mind.”29 The serpent’s coiling nature and ancient connection to primordial life has in recent times been linked with DNA, the life-giving codes of our cells. Eve was offered the knowledge from the Tree of Life by a serpent. In India, Tantric practitioners carved snakes in their temples, shown coming out of women’s vaginas, representing the vital life force and power of the sacred feminine. The serpent symbolizes our own inner ability to deeply transmute that which no longer serves us into the brilliant, powerful, loving wisdom of the Priestess. This is a magic that cannot be shaken, once achieved. When we give birth, experience death, raise children, we continuously make magic by using the old to create new.
Isis forms Ra’s own bodily fluids into the serpent, which then bites him, sending poison through his body and blood. As a priestess, Isis takes power into her own hands and compels the power and magic of the gods, determining her own destiny, rather than leaving it up to others. The snake is also a symbol of regeneration and cycles. Serpents shed their skin to make room for the new. Ra represents the part of us that has held on to the old way of creating power, a way that is dominant and no longer serves us. This aspect of our being wishes to keep old identities alive while our inner Priestess is working her wise magic to transmute them into an even more powerful woman. We have a choice—we can never give that incredible wise woman the chance to emerge and stay in our old patterns of ego, lower thinking, internalized pain, or we can choose to change and become even more powerful than we thought possible. Often times this scares us because becoming a wise woman means living from a place of courage and fearlessness. If we think of all the goddesses in this book, we see beings that are acting from a place of fiery power, love, and wisdom, clearly holding the ability to transmute and transform, even at the expense of not following all the rules, not always being nice, not doing things because we’re supposed to, but doing them to dream a big vision into reality. Thus, relinquishing his name, Ra reflects the leap of faith we must take to grow ourselves into goddesses.
Ra’s pain can be relieved by Isis and her healing abilities only if he reveals his name. He protests, claiming that he is the god of all things, all the earth and skies. Yet, long before Ra, many of these qualities were attributed to the goddess of the Paleolithic and Neolithic times, when the mother was revered for thousands of years. Isis inspires us to use our own cleverness to reclaim what is rightfully ours. Women have the right to create the kind of life that nourishes our well-being; we have the right to have the kind of birth that supports our bodies and our babies; we have the right to leave a relationship that no longer fulfills us; we have the right to be both sexual and spiritual; we have the right to call out to the winds and honor the spirits; we have the right to imbue every day with wisdom—feminine wisdom that is intuitive, cyclical, clear, and brilliant, even if our society says otherwise. We have the right to dance wildly in the woods, to take back the night from those who would crush the feminine in their own ignorance and pain. As our inner Priestess is activated, we must continuously seek out ways to make magic, make love, make the earth anew.
This myth also illuminates the power of the spoken word that is a crucial quality of the Priestess. The power of the spoken word is a part of every culture, religion, and ceremony throughout the world. In the ancient Vedas of India, certain yogic techniques consist of mantras or sacred sounds that are spoken to activate the chakras, with the voice being the carrier of that activation. In Sanskrit, each letter is believed to be sacred, and many are considered bija or seed syllables, which when spoken correctly will activate certain areas of the energetic body. Similarly, in South American, African, Native American, and Tibetan cultures, specific sounds are used to call on the spirits. Chants are passed down orally through the generations and guarded by the shamans or spirit keepers of a tradition so as not to tamper with or dissolve the potency of the sacred sounds.
Using the power of words and sacred sound, we activate our inner Priestess, opening up the way for higher wisdom in our daily lives.
Using Sacred Sound
This exercise encourages you to use sacred sound in different aspects of your life. First, choose a sacred sound and practice working it during your daily meditation. You may know a mantra given to you by a teacher or you can use something simple such as Aum sound. Spend a few minutes during your meditative practice chanting the sound and if possible, visualizing the symbol. Notice the affect the sound work has on your body and mind.
You may choose to incorporate sound into your ritual and ceremony work as well. When you set any intention, use your voice to ask for what you want. Call out to the spirits and universe with your request. When you voice aloud what you want, it becomes much clearer to yourself as well as your guides what you are asking for. For example, during the full moon ceremony, instead of simply making a list of your intentions, call them out aloud. Keep it simple and clear, and your ability to manifest will become much stronger.
Another way to work with sacred sound is to discover a dream song. You can do this in combination with the intuition exercise above. Spend one of the times in your power spot asking for a song. This requires you to move around in different areas of your spot. Take paper and pen and sit in your sacred spot. Ask for a song, harmony, line, word, or sacred sound from that spot. Each place in nature has its own vibration, song, or tone. Then simply listen and wait for the song or tone to be revealed to you. Once you hear it, write it down. Then move to another area near or around your sacred spot. Again, be quiet and listen and wait for the song or tone. It may come simply as a word, a color, a feeling, or an image. Write down whatever you experience. Repeat this in five or more spots within your sacred area and then put the images, phrases, tones, or colors together to create a song. Even if you are not musical at all, this will work, because your intention is clear. This song becomes a personal wisdom song and can be used in your Priestess work.
Sky Journey
In ancient Egypt, Nut was the goddess of the skies who swallowed the sun every evening and gave birth to it each morning. Even today, our name for the galaxy, the Milky Way, is rooted in the sacred feminine. In several worldwide myths, this stream of stars was the milky river of the great mother goddess’s breasts, a beautiful image that invokes nourishment from our skies. By honoring the sacred feminine in the form of the sky, we are connecting with our vast self, our star-like qualities of brilliance, beauty, and expansiveness. In this journey, you will travel to the upper realms to connect with your inner Priestess.
Gather together the following items:
- Four candles and offerings for the four directions
- A large silver candle for the sky realms or milky way
- An offering of copal or other resin (such as frankincense) that can be burned in a small clay bowl
- Pictures of space, the cosmos, star nurseries, the Milky Way, or any celestial images of heavens
- A drum or drumming CD, or other repetitive sound maker
- A journal and pen
Before you begin, think of a place where you can imagine leaving to enter the sky, such as a mountain or cliff top or the top of some trees. Next, call in the four main directions, light the candles, and make your offerings. Also call in the directions of above, below, and center, but do not assign them as father sky and mother earth. Create sacred space. Then call in the feminine sky realms, intending guidance from the starry realms in the guise of the sacred feminine. Light the silver candle and give the offering of copal or frankincense by burning it in the clay bowl.
Set your intention to journey to the upper realms to meet your inner Priestess. Lie down and cover your eyes. In your mind, restate your intention, such as, “I intend to visit the sky realms to meet my inner Priestess.” Begin your drumming CD, or if you are doing this in a group and have a drummer present, have the person begin to drum a steady beat. Imagine yourself on the top of the mountain or cliff. Visualize yourself leaving the mountain top and moving upward into the sky. Imagine that you pass through a door or barrier and into the celestial realms. As the drumming continues, let yourself move through the realms, exploring and stating your intention. Eventually your inner Priestess will appear. She may be in the form of an animal, bird, human teacher, or even light. Be open to any messages or information she has in order to help you activate the inner Priestess in your daily life. After twenty to thirty minutes, the drummer can begin to slow down the beat. Imagine coming back down from the skies or upper realms, through the door, back into your body. Thank the guides as needed and remember the wisdom given to you. When the drumming stops, slowly stretch and sit up.
Write down what you have been told so that you can further use the knowledge. Watch for dreams and omens that speak of synchronicity in connection with your journey to the celestial realms. You can revisit this realm anytime.
When you are finished, dissolve the sacred space by snuffing the sky candle and thanking the feminine skies. Release the four directions and also snuff those candles as well.
Creating Your Own Ceremony
Cultivating our inner Priestess asks us to more fully become a community participant, whether this involves networking with friends or leading community events. The Priestess has a clear sense of her gifts and knows how to pass them on to help others. She knows exactly what she is capable of, which tools to use and when, and also when to delegate tasks to others. Connecting with the earth and people through art, dance, creating businesses, social networking, or political activism is a powerful part of Priestess work; she is our outward expression to the world. She is the gift we choose to give back because of what we have overcome.
I encourage you to sit with all the skills you have learned thus far and create a ceremony for a group of people. This may be a full moon ceremony, as in Chapter Five, or ceremony to reclaim menarche, as in Chapter Two, or a different kind of ceremony altogether. Design a ceremony that feels appropriate for you; it can be something very simple, such as taking a group of people to a nice spot in nature and creating a circle of intention. When we branch out and expand ourselves, we dissolve the attachment to our lower ego-self and open up to the broad-reaching pulse of universal wisdom. This helps us bring our power and love into a place of wisdom, where we begin to share our work with others.