The Sacred Feminine and Global Transformation

"May we be those who shall renew this existence."- Zarathustra
The feminine holds the mystery of creation. This simple and primordial truth is often overlooked, but at this time of global crisis, which also carries the seeds of a global transformation, we need to reawaken to the spiritual power and potential of the feminine. Without the feminine nothing new can be born, nothing new can come into existence - we will remain caught in the materialistic images of life that are polluting our planet and desecrating our souls.
We see around us a world being destroyed by greed and consumerism, and feel within us the hunger of our soul for a way of life that acknowledges the sacred within all of life. And deeper, there is the cry of the soul of the world, the primal cry that comes from the depths of creation when the divine light that belongs to life is being lost. At this time we need to reclaim what has been denied, what has been abandoned in the pursuit of our materialistic dreams. We need to return to the core of our being, to where the sacred comes into existence. And the mystical feminine holds the key to this work of redemption and transformation.
The last era has denied women access to their real power. The patriarchy systematically repressed the power of the goddess and the mystical teachings of the feminine. And yet this wisdom is still present, just as is the deep knowing every woman has of the interconnectedness of all of life. And every woman carries in her spiritual centers the sacred light of creation. Without this light she could not conceive and give birth, she could not participate in the greatest mystery of bringing a soul into life: giving the spiritual light of a soul a physical form out of the substance of her own body. Men do not have this sacred light within them in the same way; they have to purify and transform themselves to gain access to it. For a woman it always present.
But women have to recognize their true spiritual nature and the transformative potential they carry within them, so that they can offer it back to life—for without its light the world will slowly die. The world needs the presence of women who are awake to their spiritual light, and who can work with the substance of life in order to heal and transform it.
The last era has created a separation between matter and spirit, and so matter has forgotten its sacred nature, its ability to transform. Life itself has become caught in the abusive thought-forms of the masculine that seek to dominate through power. Life needs to be freed of these constrictions, and matter itself needs to be reconnected to its spiritual potential. This is a work that belongs to women, to those who know the sacred nature of life and how to bring light into matter, just as they instinctively know how to bring a soul into this physical world. For a woman the physical and spiritual worlds can never be separate: she carries the light of the world within the cells of her body; her sexuality is a sacred offering to the goddess. But she needs to consciously recognize this divine potential and deep knowing, so that she can live it in service to life and the need of the time.
For many centuries this spiritual knowing has been kept as a secret, hidden in order to protect it from the soldiers of the patriarchy and a church that repressed and persecuted the sacred feminine. Now many women are awakening to their natural spirituality, to their birthright, and also to the ancient tradition of feminine wisdom. They are seeking to reconnect to the sacred feminine in different ways, through creativity, healing, personal transformation, and other ways of empowerment.
QUALITIES OF FEMININE WISDOM
There are many different qualities of feminine wisdom, from the understanding of the healing power of herbs to the deep, lived knowledge of the feminine nature of the soul’s relationship with God, the soul’s true state of receptivity to the divine. So many of these qualities have been lost; so many priestesses have been killed, wise women burned. And yet the real wisdom remains, because it belongs to life itself. In the cells and in the soul of every woman this ancient knowing is waiting to be awakened, so that once again the sacred feminine can make her contribution, can help the world come alive with love and joy.
Women know the wisdom of receptivity, of holding a sacred space. They experience this in their bodies through the wonder of pregnancy; but the sacred feminine also knows how this works within the soul, how within the heart love and longing create a space for the divine to be born. Rumi describes this eternal mystery of longing:
Sorrow for His sake is a treasure in my heart. My heart is light upon light, a beautiful Mary with Jesus in the womb.
The feminine mysteries of love—the sanctity of longing, the receptivity of the heart that is always awake, waiting for her Beloved, for that moment when love comes secretly and sweetly—need to be reclaimed and honored. Only through receptivity can we give birth to the divine as a living presence within ourselves and within our life.
Women also know the importance of being rather than doing. We are addicted to activity, and have lost access to the primal power that comes from the still center of ourself. We think that the problems of the world and of ourselves can only be solved through “doing,” not realizing that it is this focus on ceaseless activity that has created much of our present imbalance. Rather than always asking, “What should I do?,” we can learn to reflect, “How should I be?” From this quality of being we listen, are attentive and aware. Through this simple but essential attitude, balance can return and a natural healing take place.
Just as a mother instinctively knows how to listen to her children, so that she can respond to their real needs, so does the sacred feminine know how to listen inwardly and outwardly to life, to experience and participate in this sacred mystery of which we are a part. Then we can make a real relationship to life and to our soul, learn to live the life of the soul rather than the illusory life of the ego.
An understanding of relationships belongs to the feminine. Feminine wisdom understands the way connections between people, and the interconnectivity of life itself, hold something essential. Without these connections life cannot sustain itself. The sense of separation and isolation that our masculine culture has created is damaging and deeply painful. Because women are closer to creation than men are, they are more awake to the sorrow of the earth and can hear more clearly its cry of despair as our present culture continues to desecrate and pollute it. They know that this cannot continue much longer, that the light that belongs to life’s sacred nature is being lost and that without this light nothing new can be born, there can be no transformation of life or human consciousness.
The innate wisdom of the feminine is needed to repair the damage we have done and to reconnect with what is sacred and essential within ourselves and within life. We need to understand our part within the sacred web of life, and how to relate once again to this primal wholeness that is a direct expression of the oneness of the divine.
It may be painful to be fully present, to hold this sacred connection with life, the earth, and our own soul. But without the presence of the sacred feminine and those who honor it within themselves, an essential substance will be lost to life. The spark of the divine that connects the creation to the Creator—the spark that holds the mystery of creation and the divine purpose of everything, every butterfly, every stone, the laughter of every child, and every lover’s tear—will begin to dim.
SYMBOLIC CONSCIOUSNESS
Listening is an essential quality of receptivity. We need to learn to listen, to be inwardly and outwardly attentive, watching the signs that tell the real story of life. In our present masculine culture we are often too busy to listen to what life and the Beloved are trying to tell us. Instead we are caught in superficial experiences, and so we miss the meaning, the real purpose of our soul’s life. Life is a direct expression of the divine, but unless we listen to this hidden presence, we experience only the distortions of our ego-self, its desires and anxieties. Life and the soul are always beckoning us, wanting to share the real wonder of being alive.
When we really listen we find ourselves present in another world full of meaning and magic. Then the signs within our outer life and in our dreams can speak to us, and take us on a journey far beyond the limited world of the ego. They open a door to the symbolic world that is just beneath the surface. It is from this inner dimension of images and symbols that the soul is nourished. Recognizing and working with symbols requires an attitude of receptivity that allows the symbols to communicate in their own language. We come to know this ancient part of ourselves that is fully alive and knows the deeper destiny of our soul. And it is from this inner world that our everyday life too is nourished and we are given the direction we need.
When we work with the images of the inner world, a mysterious alchemy takes place as the conscious and unconscious come together, a coniunctio of opposites. The symbolic world opens us to a depth of meaning beyond our conscious self, to the archetypal world of the gods, where we can gain access to the way these powerful energies can work within our inner and outer lives. Then we begin the real work of the soul, a transformation that takes place in the very depths of our being that expands our consciousness and enriches our daily life with a deep sense of purpose. Each of us has our own journey to make, our own exploration of the inner world, and we are drawn into this dimension through different doorways: dreamwork, painting, music, sacred dance, or just sitting and being present with the images that arise from the depths. But each journey follows the timeless path of alchemical transformation, turning lead into gold, revealing the light that is hidden in the depths of our being.
This is an individual inner work, and yet it takes us beyond our individual self into the archetypal world where the symbols that belong to all of humanity also change and transform. Here we may discover that we are working not just with the substance of our own soul, but with the anima mundi, the soul of the world. The light we discover in our own depths is a spark of the World Soul, and the world needs this light to evolve. When we make this connection within our consciousness and within our imagination we begin to change the fabric of life.
Within the anima mundi, the primal forces of creation, the energies and powers that give form and meaning to all of life, are also being transformed. New symbols are arising from the depths to guide humanity on the next step of its evolution, for, in the words of Carl Jung, “The archetypal images decide the fate of man.”
Symbols act as a bridge between the inner and the outer worlds, allowing the energy and meaning of the inner to flow into the outer. They can bring into life primal energies that have not been polluted or conditioned, which we can then creatively channel. Through our conscious participation, our inner work and creative imagination, we can recognize and help bring into life these images that are needed to heal and transform our world. In previous eras this has been the work of the shaman, someone who was initiated and trained to work with the energies and images of the inner world. But at this time of global need this work is open to anyone whose attention is drawn inward, who is receptive and attentive to the images arising from the source of life.
Within each of us lies the knowledge of how the worlds work together, how the images of the soul come into being and determine the fate of humanity. This knowing is a part of life, part of the miracle of creation. And we may find that these new images are not the esoteric images that we have associated with the sacred, but are simple images that belong to life and to the patterns of interconnectivity and wholeness that are now making themselves known. For example, the Internet is a powerful, living image of life’s interconnected oneness. As it becomes more and more present in our collective consciousness, it is more and more able to channel life’s underlying energies in new ways. It is a power and life force of its own, able to evolve and adapt like a fast-changing organism, and, like other emerging images of our time, it is reconfiguring our consciousness, helping us to interact with life in new ways. And yet, like all symbols, it will only reveal its real potential when we relate to it with the correct attitude. If we see it just as a mechanical tool, its meaning and transformative potential will remain hidden.
It can be a shock to think that the sacred is revealing itself in something as mundane as the technology of the Internet. But we need to be alert, to realize that the symbols that will shape the dream of the next era are likely to turn up in the places we least expect them—in ourselves, in the ordinariness of our daily lives. Then we can open ourselves to laughter and joy in the way the divine awakens us to a new way of being, turning our “spiritual” perception upside down once again!
Once we understand how these images arise from within life, we will give them the correct attention, and start a creative dialogue with the symbolic world. This is part of the co-creative relationship that humanity is being offered, in which the individual can interact directly with the whole. As we help bring into being the symbols that can heal and nourish the soul of the world, we begin to live this responsibility. We take on our role as guardians of the planet, and we do so with the consciousness of oneness that includes and connects the sacred and mundane, the inner and the outer, spirit and matter, the world’s soul and body and our own, the individual and the planet.
THE NEED OF THE TIME
At this time of global crisis and imbalance women have a unique role. A woman feels the pulse of life as intimately as she feels her own blood pulsing through her veins. Her knowing is not abstract, but lived in her very body in a way that is inaccessible to men. In the cells of her body she carries the light of the consciousness of oneness, a light that is not present in men’s bodies. In this light she knows the interconnectedness of life: how it is all a part of one living whole. This primal knowing needs to be given back to life, which is suffering under the masculine thought-forms of duality and separation. Our science has imposed upon life the image of the world as dead matter, something we can freely pollute and abuse. Feminine spiritual consciousness can reawaken the world to its sacred nature as a living being, and so help it to heal and transform. This simple acknowledgement of the divine within life is a powerful catalyst, transforming the life of the world just as a woman’s awareness of the divine nature of the child growing within her can transform her own life.
To be aware of the divine within oneself and the divine within life and the world, and to know that it is all one, is a simple and powerful practice. It means to be present in life as it is—not as one would want it to be. And it means to live in the moment—there can be no transformation in the images of the past or the dreams of the future. Yet we are conditioned to look to the past and the future, rather than daring to live in the now. But only in the now can we participate in the creative mystery of life.
Alive in the present moment, one can see the significance of newly forming patterns of relationship and the way in which they belong to life’s organic nature—an Indra’s net of dynamic possibilities. All around us there are signs of life recreating itself in new configurations as people begin to come together in new and different ways. The internet and other tools of global communication are an essential part of this process, connecting people together regardless of the barriers of race, nationality, or physical location. Different people in all parts of the world are linking together, forming networks of shared interests—networks outside the control of any hierarchy or government, belonging to life itself.
And these patterns of connections are growing. But we have yet to fully understand that it is these patterns of relationship themselves that are so essential, that will provide the simple answers to the complexity of the times. Their deepest meaning and purpose lie not in the information they convey, but in the new, fluid, organic interrelationship of individuals and groups they are creating. Something is coming alive in a new way. While masculine analytic consciousness sees only the separate parts, feminine consciousness sees the whole pattern, and thus allows us to recognize what is really happening, to grasp the meaning of these fast-forming patterns and understand their sacred purpose within their seemingly mundane appearance, to know these signs as all a part of the organism of life recreating itself from the matrix of global oneness.
And through this awareness a spiritual energy can be given to these patterns of relationship, an energy that is needed for life to transform. On its own, life evolves slowly over millennia. But the light of consciousness dramatically speeds up this natural process, just as a catalyst accelerates the process of chemical transformation. Through the light of direct feminine knowing, life can quickly reconnect with its own divine nature, and the divine can transform life in ways that we cannot imagine. With our own ordinary consciousness we cannot heal and transform the world of the effects of our pollution—it would take too long to redeem what we have destroyed. But the presence of the divine can awaken the world to its magical and miraculous power. If we welcome the divine back into life, if we acknowledge her divine nature—then we can participate in life’s recreation, in the miracle that is waiting to happen.
Women know the suffering of the world and also the secrets of its transformation. They feel this suffering in the cells of their body. And in the cells of their body lie also the sacred light and instinctual wisdom that are needed to help the world to change and awaken. How each woman lives this knowing is unique to herself, but connections are being created now that are an organic part of life’s regeneration. Some of these are connections between awakened individuals and groups through which the light of the sacred feminine can flow, communicating the primal mystery of how the divine can come alive within creation. The ancient mysteries of the feminine were never written down, but passed from woman to woman. As this wisdom resurfaces, once again women will create connections of light that honor what is sacred within themselves and within life. They will not deny the suffering of the world, but recognize it as a part of the process of transformation, the way “the divine enters through a wound.”
Each age comes alive in its own way. We are entering an era of oneness in which we have to return to the sacred source of life that is within each of us. We each have to recognize our own divinity and from this point of light make our unique contribution. And yet we are also one, part of an interrelated body of light we call the world. And in the core of creation a new light is being born, a light that carries the secrets of the future and of how the real miracle of life can once again be recognized and revered. This is the gift we are being given, the child of the future that is being born to each of us. And we are also the midwives of this destiny, this joy that is being returned to us, the primal joy of life celebrating its divine nature. Through the wisdom of the feminine we can all, each in our own way, give birth to this future.