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What is an awakening? What does it mean to be awake? What is the Divine Feminine?
The whole purpose for this site is to encourage the emerging awakening in women but I realized that it will kind of be a hard thing to encourage if women don't even know what it means to be awake!
And that's the whole jam here, to help you understand it if you don't, to help you awaken to what's been veiled within you, to help you remember what it FEELS like to live in an awakened world.
I will say, before I get into the thick of it, that awakening isn't for all, and that's okay. Some are ready for it and meant for it but some aren't. It isn't for the faint of heart and it isn't for those who aren't ready and it definitely isn't for those who aren't willing to lead a (slightly rebellious and) courageous life.
Awakening feels like having your heart and your concept of reality blasted open moment after moment day after day. You might begin to wonder if you are crazy, because you don't know if anyone else feels this way (or understands), and if they do, then (in the beginning, chances are, in the reality you live in), no one talks about it. It's uncertain and this uncertainty can be scary ... but underneath the initial uncertainty lies incredibly beautiful and encouraging meaning. In the midst of all the unknown, a deep sense of serenity takes hold and day by day you feel more and more yourself. You start to feel like you are FINALLY the TRUE YOU you were always meant to be. Awakening feels like an authentic coming home to yourself.
Everyone's awakening is different, each spun by a different set of circumstances. Some are rapid heart-wrenching awakenings that bring you to your knees and some are slow and steady streams of realization. But the essence of awaking in is always the same. Awakening to the Divine Feminine means you awaken to an innate essence within yourself. An essence that has always been there, waiting to emerge, but hasn't yet (for whatever your unique circumstances are) had the ability to do so.
So when we begin to awaken, the Divine Feminine typically begins to manifest within us as a sort of realization and remembering. A realization that there is something more ... that YOU are something more ... that there is something stirring under the mask that society has made you wear ... and that something has been missing. Something big. You begin to remember certain things, typically tied to the element of the feminine ... that you haven't been able to experience or express yet in this lifetime.
So what is the Divine? The Divine is quite simply the limitless essence of possibility that lives within you. Russell Brand refers to it as "a self that resides beneath and beyond our identity, a divine self that is connected to ALL things, to infinite creativity and divine beauty within ALL OF US." We all have the ability to awaken, and luckily, some of us will, but also like I mentioned, some of us won't. Anne Baring describes it as "an unseen dimension of our soul to which we are connected through our instincts, our feelings, and the longing imagination of the heart." She says the Divine Feminine urges us to discover a new ethic of responsibility toward the planet; bringing us a new vision of the sacredness and unity of life.
Essentially, the Divine Feminine is a sacred connection within ourselves, the Earth and the Feminine essence of the greater creator, whatever you believe that to be.
We all have qualities of polarity within us ... yin/yang, light/dark, masculine/feminine, god/goddess, positive/negative ... and awakening to the Feminine, for many of us living in a masculine dominated society, is a realization that the positive elements of the YIN/GODDESS/FEMININE have not been allowed to be expressed (within us personally or within society). That these elements of the Feminine have been kept small and kept quiet and over time, the vital element of the Feminine was written out of history all together. And so often, for many of us awakening now, we have been kept unaware of the existence of the Feminine, and the most common reason we haven't had an element of connection with the Feminine because it hasn't been encouraged. Somewhere along the line, the Feminine became a threat to the Masculine, so we were told to dismiss the sacred nature of our female form. We weren't allowed active parts in religious life, we weren't allowed to vote, we've been led to believe that the degradation the environment isn't such a bad thing. And now, we see that all of these things, being connected to our bodies, living sacred lives, caring deeply for ourselves and humanity, living with compassion and kindness for all creatures and taking reverent care of our home Mama Earth, are all elements of the Feminine ... and that in order to save ourselves and the planet, we have to re-connect to the polarity of the Feminine that has been lost for so long. And this isn't about man-bashing or overpowering the Masculine structures of society, it's about coming back into balance so we can find the connection that comes from the place of unity.
Because the thing is, as humans during this era of evolution, the reason so many of us are awakening right now is because we are all searching for a form of transcendence that comes through connection. Connection with ourselves, our higher Divine selves (also known as our soul), connection with our physical bodies, the temporal vessels that we inhabit for such a short time in the blink of infinity, connection with something that is benevolently bigger than ourselves.
We seek connection with others, with people our brother and sister humans, because we are able to see part of ourselves and therefore part of the Divine within them. We seek to connect to our breath, every inhale, our very connection with life. We seek intimacy to bring us closer to our true nature and to connect deeply with the nature of another. We seek connection with the sacred presence of this moment, which is in reality, the only moment, the only real place time exists. In truth, this sacred connection with all and sense of presence is the only thing we seek.
But within today's society, our cultural narrative has told us to seek this connection outside of ourselves, telling us to fill ourselves with any means possible but the Divine, anything but the loving, healing, compassionate element of the Feminine.
But in truth, we each have this essence and ability for connection within us. In most of humanity it lays dormant, sleeping, unable to rise out of the cultural rubbish that aims to keep it where it is, safely buried beneath the surface. And so for many, there it stays buried into oblivion or it bubbles into a false delusion. Many believe they awake through the power or belief in another (most world religions) but an awakening is not something that can be transmitted to you, it is something that must be experienced within you. No one else can wake you up.
Of course there are those on our journey that help us remember the truth, those humans that help to show us the way, that help to rekindle that spark that flutters so dimly within us until it's time for that spark to turn into a DIVINE WILD FIRE. And they are undoubtedly vital messengers for us on the path, but it's important to remember that's all they are, messengers and reflections of what we are supposed to wake up to and witness within ourselves. Because we are all the same, we are all in union, we are all reflections of one another, but these beautiful messengers are often the ones that lift the veil of our awakening, and somehow they shake us up to see the truth of love ... because these messengers remind you that the truth leads you to love, and you begin to realize that the truth of the universe is based on LOVE. Love within ourselves, for ourselves. Love for the Divine, also within ourselves and love for others, that also begins within.
What Brand says is, "underscoring everything is love, that divine spark, the truth that we are trying to find within ourselves." It's all love. And the thing is, all of this love comes through connection. And connection comes through the Divine and the connection with the Divine comes through awakening and awakening comes through THE FEMININE.
... making sense?
Awakening simply means you awaken to the divinity within you and you awaken to the modes of awakening, the vehicles that help you get to that place of transcendence.
In this awakening to the Divine Feminine, there are a few themes. Awareness, appreciation and healing of your relationship with your physicality, your sensuality, your sexuality and your relationship with other women, through true sisterhood.
So here is an exploration of some of these themes.
You have to heal yourself physically before you can fully receive. This is a pretty basic tenant so I'm going to keep it simple. You've gotta have a clean vessel. If your body is stagnant and cluttered with toxins, it's so much harder not only to enjoy existing physically, but to actually feel what it's like to be a FULLY ALIVE being. If your numbing out or stimulating yourself all day long, you can't tune into the deep but subtle well of wisdom within. Your physical system will just be too affected. Care of your physical vessel lays the foundation for connection, and without this foundation set, you can't fully move into the rest of awakening, which relies on your relationship with your body and the experiences you have through it ... like our senses and sensuality.
We've been told for so long that our sensual relationship with our bodies and with the Earth is wrong. But sensuality is EVERYTHING. Sensuality is what allows you to experience the relationship with your physical body and your energy body. It's what allows you to feel your heart and allow it go guide you. It's what allows you to tune into the reservoir of energetic intelligence that resides within you at all times. Sensuality is what allows you to appreciate your relationship with the Earth. Her rhythms, her cycles, her seasons, her health, her gifts. The moon cycles, the tides, the seasons, the bounty of her harvest, the delicacies she shares for our daily nourishment. Feeling your feet on the Earth, registering the wind on your skin. Recognizing the perilous state of the planet and the exploitation of her limited resources. All of these things are sensual, perceived through the senses, but also not limited by them (but that's an entirely different quantum conversation for another time).
Another element of awakening revolves around sexuality. Sexuality is one that so many women awakening struggle with because of the shame and guilt we have been forced to carry through abuse or the extreme negativity that resides within our personal experiences or the collective unconscious. Indeed, sexuality in general, the element of being sexually desirable, was reason enough for women to be burned at the stake. Regardless of a woman's actions, her beauty or ability to incite lust in men during the witch hunts was reason enough to get her killed. So, overcoming this and being able to joyfully and healthfully EMBRACE celebrating and connecting to the sacred nature of your sexuality is a powerful piece of awakening. You realize that yes, your sexuality and your relationship to it imbues you with strength. Few things in this world are more powerful than a woman directly connected to the power of the energy that resides within her that is able to be expressed through her sexuality, which is why women have been so suppressed and repressed in relation to all things sexual or sensual. The rising power of women at this time is largely because women are healing these wounds and realizing that transcendence can be found healing and moving through the fear of sexuality and discovering the joy, innocence and strength that lays on the other side.
Segueing from sexuality we have the cultural impact of the repression of the Feminine. We started out as a matriarchal society. Women were worshiped for the life giving abilities of the Goddess herself. Paganism, the worship of the Earth, was feminine in nature. The Earth was revered for her live giving attributes, and ideologies that celebrated her integrally related us to the Earth. But as the relationship with the Divine shifted from our direct connection to source, both Earthly and Divine, we lost this connection with matriarchy, and with the loss of matriarchy, we lost our sense of sisterhood.
For thousands of years we gathered around tables and fires together. Laughing, singing, crying, supporting, praying, caring for one another. We saw the likeness and reflection of beauty of the other within ourselves. This reflection sisterhood bound us to one another and to the Earth. We believed in one another, we saw each others gifts clearly and positively utilized the unique power that resided within each of us. And today this is re-surging because we are realizing that a powerful tribe of women allows us to rise safely, together, with the support and love that so many of us are lacking these days. Because when you wake up, you need surround yourself with people that will take you higher. That will see your truth and will support you. Acceptance, unconditional love, support and connection.This is what sisterhood is.
So it's quite simple. The Divine Feminine is an essence within you. It's basis is often found within the trinity of connection between sacred sensuality, sexuality and sisterhood. It is as much of what connects you to the Earth as it is what connects you to yourself. And once you begin to emerge, there comes an inability to keep quiet about this stirring essence within you. Because once you experience the truth within yourself, you know you can't keep it to yourself. You know that you have a responsibility to share it and shout it. Because once you see how deeply you have been silenced you can't stand for the silence any longer.
You know this truth heals, and once you begin to understand the truth, it becomes your duty to not only continue to heal yourself, but to heal all of the other sad and beautiful creatures (male and female) that have been silenced into sleep as well.
And this is why we awaken, to rise, to share the truth with others. To become the fully realized loving and compassionate human beings that we are meant to be, in mind, body AND spirit.
Big love to you, you big beautiful thing you, xx.
