THE DIVINE FEMININE PRINCIPLE

As we approach spring, flowers blossom and birdsong and fragrances fill the air, we feel uplifted and very alive. We could be forgiven for thinking that the countryside has taken on a very feminine and voluptuous aspect on earth, but what is really happening esoterically speaking, in all the dimensions, as a reflection of this?

If we work on the principle of "As is above so is below" we would see that Mother Nature is the maker of life, she is the feminine principle that creates all the conditions needed to gestate, give birth and nourish life. So whether this is a woman gestating and giving birth to a baby, the soil gestating seeds and providing them with nourishment and a place to grow, or human beings embarking on a spiritual path to create and nourish their human soul, the Divine Mother is present in all these processes.

In ancient cultures, the Divine feminine principle was worshipped equally along with the masculine. Anyone who has studied them would note that the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Aztecs and Celts to name but a few, had innumerable feminine deities. Even the Kabbalistic tree of Life demonstrates how "god" or the cosmic consciousness unfolds from the Absolute (Ain) between the opposing masculine and feminine pillars of Jachin and Boaz. In the atom, the interaction between the positively charged protons and the negatively charged electrons, form the basis of the processes of energy, matter and life itself. True creation only happens when opposing forces such as these attract in this way. The cosmos, the galaxies, the planets, the earth, all that lives on it, us, our cells and the molecules and atoms that make us all follow this divine law.

In our spiritual work, The Divine feminine principle within us (whether we are male or female!) is known as Devi Kundalini. She has the power to create and rejuvenate us spiritually and physically and destroy those aspects within us, that we no longer need or are holding us back. In the Christian tradition, she is an unfolding of the Sacred Holy Spirit and represents our potential to be creators of new Human beings in the physical, or the ability to create other bodies to investigate the cosmos and our own psychology, in other dimensions.

In order to use our own energies wisely in our spiritual path, we have to try to connect with this force within us, our Divine mother, to help us not waste our energies in unnecessary thoughts, feelings and actions. We do this by asking her to destroy negative thoughts and feelings, the moment we spot them, before we end up acting upon them and regretting it! This is no different to a gardener who uses the conscious will and observation (and her secateurs) to cut back unruly growth in a herb or a shrub, to direct its energy to a fresher more lush growth from the base of the plant.

In this way the Divine Mother helps us develop and grow our conscious will, and instead of our precious psychic energy feeding our negative aspects or egos, it is diverted towards growing the opposite of these, which are the human virtues and more conscious will. In summary, we can retrieve essence (consciousness) from the egos, bit by bit with a conscious spiritual work and the purifying sacred fire of the Divine Mother, to create authentic Human soul. We start to retrieve our soul and all its superior faculties.

© Gnostic Cultural Association S.A.W. 2006

Artist of the Month - Montserrat

Montserrat is an oil painter and poet, born in Barcelona, Spain. She came to the United States in 1983 and loved this country so much, it became her new home. Having always wanted to make a better world, and to make a difference, she began painting inspired images. Her images of angels, fairies, women and goddesses became wildly popular all over the world. A break from traditional images, many women have found inspiration and healing through her original interpretations.

A popular and respected artist in the Seattle area, Montserrat involves her time in issues related to women and the realization of their potential. Describing herself as an "eco-feminist", Montserrat incorporates the sacred feminine into every possible aspect of her own life.

Eventually, her creative energies expanded beyond her paintings and she started creating inspirational tools for the journey: brightly colored, aromatherapy candles, sacred jewelry, and sculptures.These beautiful gifts integrated naturally with her artwork, which is pictured on the labels, giving them a multidimensional expression of the theme and vision of each piece. Each item is a unique object of art with a definitive yet, practical, purpose. Her product lines radiate a vision of light, color and harmonious healing. All of her products are handmade with genuine care; only the finest, natural ingredients are used. None contain preservatives or animal products of any kind.

Patience, humility and unconditional love are qualities evident in the essence of her work. Her vision of the sacred feminine honors a creative essence that is available to all people, regardless of gender.

VISIONARY ART

"Heal the Earth"


"Light Gatherers"


"Creating The World She Wants"



GODDESS ART


"We Never Left Eden"


"Earth Keeper"


"Kuan Yin"


"Earth Goddess"



FAIRIES ART


"Remember The Way It Was"



ANGELS


"Guardian Angel"


"The Wish"



CANDLES


Candles with Goddess' blessings...

From Montserrat:

I am an oil painter, and I use my images as the labels of my candles. All my themes are spiritual and the candles are designed by me, including the labels, that depict my original oil paintings of fairies, angels, mermaids, goddesses and totem animals. Most of the candles sold these days are made by people who don't really care about them. It is just a job for them. It is easy to see why you should clear a store bought candle before you use it. All my candles are a conscious creation into which only high and inspiring thoughts and intentions are projected. You will feel the difference.All the pictures of my candles are taken by me, in my garden.

My candles are sold all over the world. My clients are varied and range from large department stores and catalogs, like Lord&Taylor, Hot Topic, Whole Foods Market, Book of the Month Club etc., as well as small gift and new age shops, my website, and people like you and me.

As an artist, I love to create new things!

Bright Blessings /Montserrat

Visit Montserrat at her homepage http://www.thesacredfeminine.com

New Earth, New Women, New Grounding

by Norma Gentile
for Drunvalo Melchizedek's Spirit of Ma'at Magazine (The Re-Emergence of the Divine Feminine June, 2007)

Women and Men ground differently. Gaia, her clothing the Earth, and the pure energy of Nature are available to support the human body as never before. A majority of energy and psychic techniques assume that we as humans (and women) need to learn how to ground. I believe in the reverse of that assumption. I believe that we need to learn to stop getting in the way of a connection to Earth and to Nature energies that already and always exists.

Grounding is a part of Incarnating

There are a number of ways to consider what is commonly referred to as 'grounding'. One method would be to acknowledge that every cell of the physical body is a mixture of both heaven and earth, spirit and matter. In this way, you ground through each and every cell of your body. If a cell weren't grounded, it would not exist. It is the blending together of both the subtle and physical energies that nourishes your body.

When your soul decided to incarnate, it drew to itself all of those energies desired for this incarnation. The saying 'as above, so below' applies here. As your Heavenly Soul exists, so too does your Earthly or in-Earth soul. Every possible energy of heaven is mirrored in the Earth. The incarnating Soul draws both the heavenly and earthly energies of an incarnation to itself, simultaneously.

Upon deciding to enter into physical form, the Heavenly soul gazes into the density of the planet Earth. "Where", it asks, "are all those energies that reflect me within this Earth? Where are all those elements of Earthly energy that vibrate alike to my own vibration, yet in this lower octave of matter and form?"

In this manner, your Heavenly soul calls to all those energies within the planet Earth that resonate and reflect it perfectly. For you have always been a part of this Earth, and a part of this Creation cycle. No wonder your Heavenly soul finds itself reflected in this pool of Earthly energies.

This pool of Earth energies serves as the foundation for the physical body. Your Heavenly soul calls to this pool of Earthly energies, and it is the potential of your physical body, forming within your mother's womb, that answers. As your Heavenly soul calls, it draws from that pool of Earthly energies all energies that are required to form your body as a fetus.

This motion of drawing spiritual and earthly energies together occurs during the months preceding conception. The soul remains in constant contact with this pool of Earth energies, pulling it through the fetal tissue, and forming the physical body as a mirror of the soul, existing now within the Earth. No matter what choices you make, the energies from both spiritual and earthly realms are available to support you throughout life. For this reason there is no need to force or imagine grounding. We are always and already connected to the Earth. If we feel ungrounded, it is because in some manner we have blocked this natural connection.

You are already Grounded

(MP3 sound clip: Grounding is Natural)

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/groundingisnatural.mp3

Any energy that is a part of your soul, is also and already a part of the planet earth. You exist because the energies existed within the earth to create you. Any guides or angels also have equivalent energies which are a part of the earth. In this way you have 'grounding' through both your earth soul and your earth angels.

Your physical form is a result of the earth soul responding to, and in some cases perhaps even calling forth, your heavenly soul. If you are in form you have a connection with the earth, you are grounded. Grounding is the prayerful state of communing with your earth soul.

Oftentimes grounding has been taught as dropping a plum line down from the first (or belly) chakra into the earth. But if your soul is both of heaven and earth, you are already connected. You need not 'send' any energy anywhere. Your grounding is inherently a part of who you are, not something you have to work at. Relaxing, allowing the connection that is natural, opens your body to feel the support of your earthly soul.

Grounding then becomes an acknowledgement of support from the earth, and an equivalent acknowledgement of interaction between spirit and form. While you can continue to frame this interaction in terms of a plum line, you may want to explore other options.

How Women Ground

(MP3 sound clip: Open Your Body to Ground)

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/openbodytogroundsong.mp3

One image that I've found helpful to get a sense of female grounding is that of sitting on one of those bouncy plastic exercise balls. When a woman is sitting in a chair, her grounding appears to me like a large ball of energy encompassing the entire area underneath the chair, and moving into the land.

In an advanced mode, there is a line of energy extending out of our female bodies from the tailbone and into the Earth. This is not a straight line, but moves at 45 degrees. This reflects the unincarnated masculine elements of our Earth Soul, grounding into the masculine Earth energies not utilized, but available to our body in this lifetime. Incarnating into female bodies, we use principally the feminine energies of our Earth Soul to create feminine bodies.

(If we had decided to incarnate into male bodies, we would have utilized a majority of masculine energies from within the Earth Soul. Obviously, this is a changeable percentage. The point is that because we are in a physical situation of polarity, a portion of the Earth Soul is utilized to create the physical gender of the body we inhabit, and the portion reflecting the opposite physical gender is less utilized.)

When the tailbone chakra in our female bodies is opened, a line of connection appears between our body and the underutilized masculine elements of our Earth Soul. A woman's skeletal system is then tuned to the power and strength of her masculine Earth Soul through this line of connection. This happens successfully only after the ovaries and front aspect of 1st chakra, as well as feet chakras, have been opened and allowed to resume their natural feminine body connection to Earth and Nature.

New Grounding

Visualize sitting, even bouncing, on a large exercise ball. The entire buttocks, lower torso, knees, feet and ankles are swaying and moving with the motion of the ball. Grounding occurs within the space inside of the entire ball, and wherever the physical body is moving. The ball is larger in diameter than the buttocks, so Earth Soul energies are all around the physical body as well as underneath it.

Grounding energies are usually felt in the lower chakras, but in this model can be noticed outside of and around the physical body as well. In this image of bouncing on a ball, grounding occurs through the space of the ball itself and all of the physical body and aura that is responding to the movement of the ball.

The Earth Soul is therefore acknowledged as being in the space surrounding the physical body, in the area of the ball upon which the body sits, and in the fluid quality of motion engendered by the ball. In this way the female body energies have permission to feel surrounded and safe in their own grounding energies. It is again not a sense of forcing or insisting that your body must do this, but rather a sensation of releasing into the energies which are already present.

Grounding Meditation

(MP3 sound clip: Grounding Meditation)

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/groundingsighmed.mp3

Another way of invoking this same consciousness of connection with the earth soul, or grounding, is to overlap chakra energies of your hand and feet. No special pretzel yoga training is needed for this!

Simply sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Place your hands, palm side down, on your thighs near to your knees. As you exhale see your breath travel back down, gently, into the space underneath where you are sitting.

Begin to inhale from wherever you just left your awareness in the space or land beneath you. Imagine your breath coming up through your feet, traveling through your legs and up into your pelvis.

With each breath allow your exhalation to move a little deeper, and let yourself draw your breath from a little farther underneath your feet. Allow the breath to loop underneath you, exhaling into the same point from which you are drawing breath. Let it always be easy and gentle, never pushing. Let the quality of your breath be one of surrender to the sacred earth and your own Earth Soul. At this point you are engaged in observing, and so enhancing, your own natural process of grounding.

This is a simple technique that you can use in meetings, at your work desk, or even while talking with someone. You need not set aside time each day for this activity. Simply incorporate it into your work or drive time routine a few times each day and see if your perceptions about grounding and about yourself change.

As the body grounds it simply acknowledges the part of itself which exists within the earth. It simply remembers itself more. As a result you may notice that your feet become warm or tingle a bit. You may notice that your breathing becomes slower and a bit easier or deeper. Your perception of your body and the space around you may become more acute, or you may notice that your mind clears and the chatter subsides.

As you ground and let your earth soul receive attention and prayerful nourishment, you may even notice that chronic issues begin to resolve. Working on the heavenly aspect of personal issues is something most people have done diligently for many years. What is left is often the part of the pattern held by the earthly aspect of the soul. Using breathing and visualization can help you understand the lessons your body is teaching you.

As you allow yourself to experience your earth soul, you allow the result of joining heaven and earth, which is manifestation, to be possible.

Norma Gentile

About Norma Gentile

Norma Gentile is a professional recording artist and singer who received a Bachelors and Masters in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan. She is also a natural clairvoyant healer and trained intuitive. Her three CDs of chant by Hildegard von Bingen, Unfurling Love's Creation, Meditation Chants, and Healing Chants, have met with international praise. Her concerts, workshops and recordings reflect her passion in bringing music from the inaudible realms into the physical world for healing purposes.

Other articles, audio clips and healing chants are available on Norma's website, www.healingchants.com.

Returning to the Good Mind — An Audio Interview with Grandmother Sara Smith

by Diane M. Cooper for Drunvalo Melchizedek's Spirit of Ma'at Magazine
(The Re-Emergence of the Divine Feminine June, 2007)

In this interview Grandmother Sara shares that the answers to today's challenges are simple and that we must never lose hope. We must "know" that everything has a divine purpose — the four-legged, the winged ones, the water spirits, Water itself — all are tremendously powerful medicines and are available to us and need us as much as we need them. Though honoring and appreciation and working together as powerful women and men, we can change course and follow the roots of peace.

Grandmother Sara Smith is a member of the Turtle Clan; a wife, a mother, and a grandmother living at the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada. She travels the world bringing to us her words in a soft voice and with a gentle smile, teaching of the sacredness of all life. Grandmother Sara's traditions are passed by word of mouth, through stories and teachings from the elders.

Audio Interview WMA (3 Mb, 21 min) http://www.spiritofmaat.com/june07/index.htm

Audio Interview MP3 (5 Mb, 21 min) http://spiritofmaat.com/grandmother_sara.mp3