The Divine Feminine

The more I talk with other women, the more I come to realize that the collective feminine is so far away from where we are meant to be on the spiritual plain. Why do I say this? It’s because I observe that women everywhere, don’t love themselves like we love others. ( I include myself in this category). When we are asked to look at ourselves in a mirror and say, “ I love you”, we can’t do it. The reasons we give are anywhere from, “ I hate myself” to “ I shouldn’t think about myself in that way; it’s selfish”. I personally think that there is a deeper spiritual disconnect happening here and it’s worth looking into.

Several years ago, I took a course called Sex and Religion. It was a fascinating course which opened my eyes to the historical journey of women in religion and spirituality. In so many words, women in primitive times were worshipped as the Givers of Life. They were the leaders of their tribes and men were seen as the baby makers and food providers; almost like worker bees. For the men reading this, you may feel that in your world nothing has changed, but historically, things changed in a big way.

Over time, the male/female roles reversed and by the time of Christ, women were to be seen and not heard. The sexual power they had over men, or rather, the way men felt around women was feared. Because men are physically stronger than women, they thwarted their power through force and violence and women were further down trodden. I love the beautiful stories of how Jesus talked openly with the women and treated them as equals. He paid a dear price for that decision in the end.

Then religion really got its hooks into the female population in what history refers to as the Dark Ages. If a woman used any natural healing techniques, or even liked animals, she was considered a witch and burned at the stake. This was a very dark time in history for women and has been actually called the worst holocaust of all time. Millions upon millions were killed in the name of religion.

Thankfully things are turning around for women in our modern day society. There are still places in the world where women are oppressed and live in very restricted environments. However, there is a general movement back to where women are at least at par with men in most areas of life.

I read it described beautifully by one historian that the experiences of women throughout history could be visualized as an hour glass, which ironically is also the shape of a female body. The lower end represents a time when the female was revered as a goddess. The middle section is when history was at its darkest time and women were persecuted. Now we are coming out the other side, and evolving into the glorious era that we have earned and are worthy of.

As Marianne Williamson says in her great book, Age of Miracles, it is our responsibility to live our lives in such a way that the deaths of all those women, who went before us, will never be in vain. We MUST find the Goddess in us, for when we do, the whole world will benefit. We must take our divine feminine power back and become leaders again, not excluding men, but including them, in order to help them heal as well.

The first step is to start loving ourselves. It is our divine birthright. We are beautiful beyond our imagination, and yet we cannot see ourselves as such. What a pity... As I said to someone who I dearly love, who was struggling with this very issue, “ It’s a pity that you can’t see on the other side of you.”

Thankfully there are groups and businesses reaching out all over the place to help women remember who they are. One great one in our city of Winnipeg is run by Deanna Hansen. She has a wonderful technique for starting to love and heal your body. Check out her website at www.dhyana.ca

How do we love ourselves? Here are 10 things to try along this journey of self-care:

1. Breathe consciously as often as you can - this one act alone will help you connect to your Source which is Love.

2. Connect with Nature - walk each day outside to see the blue sky, the green grass, breathe the fresh air and smell the flowers. This not only is healthy physically, it also fills you up spiritually.

3. Eat consciously - there is an enzyme that is only in your mouth. Therefore chewing your food the way your mother taught you is really the best way to digest your food and help you not over eat.

4. Connect with your body - it is important to love your body. In your bath, or in front of your mirror, say I love you to your body. It will respond.

5. Read enriching material - our brains need food to stay healthy. Good reading material is important.

6. Have a support system - being amongst friends is really a way to build self-esteem.

7. Give a gift every day - when we give to others we feel good about ourselves and it will return to us tenfold.

8. Visualize goals - we need to feed our dreams.

9. Cry when you feel like it - it is ok to have tears. It is healthy to let go of our sadness.

10. Say I love you at least once a day - this could be to ourselves or someone else.

One of the most endearing stories of all time is the musical, The Wizard of Oz. In the story, Dorothy is looking for home and after an endless search, finds out that she had the power within herself the whole time to get herself back to Kansas. I believe that we all have that power within us to find what we are searching for. The most profound journey we will ever be on is the journey of self-knowing. When we begin to remember who we truly are and live for that realization, everything chances., Everything is a miracle -including ourselves, as God intended.

In Spirit

Heather