It seems that the Feast Day of the Magdalene has touched more of us than ever before – that “the other Mary” has become very present in the lives of an incredible number of men and women around the planet. Women in particular are having clear memories that they know are of the life of Mary Magdalene, or are getting messages from her, or even feeling they are embodying her.

In this phase of the Medicine Wheel, we are moving toward the Autumn Equinox and our voyage within – into the darkness of the cave – our inner lives and the feminine aspect of our selves. During the Summer Solstice celebration at Heartroot this year, I saw that the template for the healed masculine principle, acting in the fullness of integrity and dignity, is now in place and accessible for us in ways that previously seemed impossible . We have the capacity as a species to wield the swords of our intellect with compassion, choosing and creating our realities with strength of will and purpose. I saw the healed masculine become the Bridegroom, stepping aside from the centre of the aisle to await the coming of his Bride and their union in Sacred Marriage, to create Oneness from duality.  So what, now, of the Bride?

As women and in most human cultures, we have historically embraced and elevated the role of Mother – a wholly logical and understandable stance for a species attempting to simply physically survive.   “My mother was a saint!” – if I had a penny for each time I’ve heard this ..!  Mothers are supposed to endure, to sacrifice, to feed and to clothe. In return, they get veneration. Or… that was the original deal, wasn’t it?  The perks of playing Mommy were supposed to have been: being in absolute control over the lives of your offspring, getting lots of brownie points for sleepless nights and being in 24-7 service mode (though they may only be accumulating on our own private score sheets, we expect some Divinity somewhere, must be keeping tally with us…), and the gratitude and adoration of the father of your children who does not know What he would do without you. Well…that’s what we were taught, anyway…. It’s not exactly the reality that most of us have lived….

For a younger generation of women, in relationship with men who have been trained that they must indeed venerate (and often emulate) Mother, even those promises, made and broken, are simply not enough. Women are realising that we have suppressed and denied a huge part of ourselves in exchange for being Mommy in Control. The luscious, juicy, creative part of the Feminine is crying for manifestation, throwing off the pillow that’s been held over her face and the lacy hankies and grotty rags that have been stuffed between her legs….

The complaint I hear more than any other from women now is that they do not feel like Women with their men (Actually, the way I hear it is “He does not make me feel like a Woman”). After judging men so long for having mid-life red-convertible-and-younger-women crises, women seem more and more to find themselves in the same wretched state (one of those humbling and fundamental spiritual principles – what we judge belongs to us….).

“I need to find my Passion – the purpose of my life!”  has become a leitmotif.  Women have had it to Here with mothering – with taking care of Everything for Everybody, and men are refusing to attempt to single-handedly support their families.  (I pause here to interject that in western culture, we have the luxury of this reflection….). We are less and less capable of setting aside our dreams and desires for self-realisation – to do so seems to come now at a very high price.

The creative, passionate, sexual aspect of the human being is the vital energy of the body, the body is created of  the Earth, and the Earth – Gaia – in our 3D existence, is a manifestation of the Divine Feminine. As men and women, this is the aspect of ourselves that has been the most suppressed, judged, ignored, tortured and despised. The whispered remembering of wholeness that is the source of all passion – duality aching for oneness – is the foundational principle of all art, religion and even science. It is upon this foundation that we kneel in reverence of the Divine Feminine – and from whence emerge the various truths related to Mary Magdalene, the Feminine Christ and the Black Madonna….

I believe that we are now experiencing the potential for Tikun Olam – for the healing of the world and the reweaving that reunites duality into Oneness – and that the energies of the Magdalene, the feminine aspect of divinity in human embodiment, are rising up through matter – through the Earth and our bodies – and into conscious manifestation.

We are preparing the Bride – bathing her in ritual waters to purify our perceptions of her as sullied; dressing her in crystalline light that shimmers with all potentials of Life and Being; gathering her bouquet from the flowering fields….

Her place awaits her at the side of the Bridegroom, before the high altar of human destiny…

Blessèd Be!