Can the goddess actually speak to you directly?
If you ask her to, yes. After so many years of immersion in spiritual practice, why was I surprised again to experience this as true?
A client came see me. She, herself, is a healer, in her capacity as a Naturopathic Doctor.
The longing that brought her back to see me was a desire to feel a deeper spiritual connection to source. She holds space for a large client base, some whom are suffering greatly with a heavy burden of illness. She needed a way to stay resourced in the face of that burden of suffering and need.
We spent a large part of her session reviewing many lifetimes where her Warrior archetype was very strong. We saw the moment when she decided she did not want to fight that way anymore, having seen too much death, and decided to fight for life instead. This is where her soul made the shift into defending and protecting humanity through healing rather than war.
As the warrior energy softened, there was a shift from her masculine to her feminine side which we both felt arise distinctly in the right (masculine) and left (feminine) sides of her body.
As these healing energies continued to arise and saturate her field and body, I saw an image of her entering a cave of initiation. She bowed down, dedicating herself to the gods and spirits of that place, and asking for teaching.
The energy in the the healing room shifted and deepened. We sat in the initiatory energies. One of my very special Plant Spirits came into the field--one that does special work with women's initiation. My client works with plants too, administering herbal remedies. She also sensed the Plant Spirit's presence.
Finally I saw her emerge from the cave; an energy field like a pool of turquoise water opened before her.
And then I felt a goddess energy present. Hestia. How did I know?
Sometimes I do not. I can sense energies arrive in the room and into a person’s energy field. I can sense if it is a feminine energy. I can feel how big and 'high vibration' it is. Sometimes I will get an image or a feeling of what culture the diety emanates from, or the qualities embodied, but not know exactly who it is.
Other times, they name themselves directly. Most times they are very recognizable as an energy signature, an archetype, and I see a clear image of them.
Sometimes, when these archetypal divine energies arise from the pool of soul and sacred, we just know.
I’ve never worked with Hestia before, and have no particular call to the Greek pantheon or spiritual tradition. I spoke what I knew of her out loud to my client. I felt Hestia's presence, her signature, her warmth and welcome.
I suggested the client look her up and begin to get to know her, especially by lighting a candle or spending time at her fireplace.
The next day, I decided maybe I aught to get to know her more too!
I sat at my altar and lit the candle. I prayed in my typical informal fashion:
“Hestia, thank you for your presence in the healing room yesterday.
It was wonderful to feel you.
I don’t know you very well.
Is there a way you could help me feel more of who you are?”
I sat there, honestly, not expecting much! I have other divine expressions of the goddess I spend more time in relationship with. I know their signatures well as a result of cultivating those relationships. Would I get anything? Feel anything?
To my surprise, Hestia spoke to me directly, and I hastily picked up a pen and recorded it, along with the images that came with the words.
Hestia
I am the warmth and
that special feeling you have
when you sit with the fire
it quiets you
steadies you
changes your inner rhythms
and opens you-allows you to cross
the threshold into the sacred.
Yes, I am earth too. Do you feel how
the fire draws on the earth
rests on the ground, or the stones
Find the fire pit within your belly
rest in the fire and warmth
that arise there.
{here she guides me to see a circle of firepit stones in my pelvis with the warmth of the hearth fire rising from this place. It feels very grounding but not in heavy way.}
There is a hearth alight in your body.
{she is referring to the triple heater, body heat, constant temperature maintained by homeostasis. We get sick when this temperature fluctuates}
Do you feel that?
To be alive, the hearth cannot be left cold
So I am also constant fire
as heat and warmth in the body
that must be stoked to keep you alive
and when that hearth goes cold
you surrender the body
and go to another goddess.
Likewise, the fire in your spirit
must not go cold
and your devotion to sit at the Fire
keeps it lit, and fed.
and if you feed that fire
it feeds you.
Light your hearth daily,
{here she means through daily spiritual connection, not necessarily lighting a fire...though that is good!}
and your days, your heart, your belly
will not be cold.
I am the one who keeps it burning ever.
It was such a good feeling to sit with her presence within me, that I’ve decided to cultivate this relationship more and continue to connect with her and explore relationship.
Is there a goddess you are curious about connecting with right now? I'd love to hear. Send me a message at shelley@shelleyharrison.ca
Would you love to explore your own relationship with the divine feminine in a women's circle? Join us inside the Soul Nourished Woman.
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