Another season is rolling around. The moon grows full and then recedes. The tides rise and fall. New life is born onto this planet as loved ones pass away.And so it has been forever.
As this particular Summer Solstice approaches, these timeless rhythms of Mother Earth offer some comfort while so much in the human family seems to be falling apart. We hear from wise, intuitive women every day who are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of pain and grief afoot in this world, who are seeking solace and consolation. It is a challenging time to be an empathic human being; it remains, as it has always been, even more challenging to be a female human in this patriarchal world determined to silence the voice of the feminine.
Several of us have recently returned from a two week Mary Magdalene pilgrimage in the south of France. Our first week was spent exploring what is known as Pays Cathar (Cathar Country) where in the mid-1200’s the Holy Army of the Roman Catholic Church hunted down and burned at the stake every man, woman and child who refused to recant their Cathar faith. Cathar spirituality was based on an early form of gnostic Christianity probably carried to France by Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and Martha shortly after the crucifixion which focused on the power of love.
When our hearts could take no more of the tragic stories of these gentle people, we soothed ourselves at beautiful Pagan sites nestled in nature and with visits to mysterious Black Madonnas usually kept in the basement crypts of various cathedrals and basilicas. We followed the path of many thousands of pilgrims to pray in the grotto on the side of Mount St. Baume where Mary Magdalene spent the final 30 years of her life in prayer and meditation.
While we are still integrating the powerful experiences from that sacred journey, we are beginning to glimpse one of the big learnings: No matter what horrific actions the patriarchy has taken to silence the feminine – especially the spiritual wisdom of the feminine – She has persisted in ways that are both simple and brilliant. The Divine Feminine has brought her healing medicine across all of human history – from the Chair of Isis where women have come for millennia to pray for fertility; to the rich troubadour tradition whose songs were encoded with secret spiritual messages; to the enduring Provencal Tradition that dictates the region’s wheat will not be harvested until after Magdalene’s Feast Day of July 22. Even our Air France flight served Madeleine cookies as an inflight snack as we flew out of Marseille, the same shell shape often associated with Mary Magdalene in art across the centuries. She is hidden in plain sight everywhere in southern France …. and we suspect you can find her hidden somewhere near you if you have eyes to see and ears to hear.
During this very challenging time between, it is important for each of us to root ourselves into the energy of the Sacred Feminine. We recently came across this definition of self-care on social media: “Self care is the constant practice of ensuring more pain does not accumulate. It is the constant act of remembering yourself, of claiming your own life.” The Sacred Feminine wants you to be fully, vibrantly, joyfully yourself! Remember these words from Tau Rosamund, a priestess from a Gnostic community in Northern California: “We are independent mystics from an almost forgotten faith that does not need permission or recognition from any other source.”
Do not let yourself be battered and beaten by the pain in the world. Do not wait for permission. Reclaim your own spiritual authority and bring your unique medicine now. Keep showing up as a force of love — and keep your eye on the light. Trust that the new world is already forming just beyond that horizon.