The Goddess’ Journey
By Leah Starspectre, Apprentice
In my last sermon, I brought forward the idea that every person carries the element of the sacred feminine within them. I believe that this sacred feminine parallels and complements the Hero’s journey.
The Hero’s journey shows us the journey of the sacred masculine. We find the Hero journeying through the archetypes of the Child, the Warrior, and the Master. The child who hears the call to adventure, the warrior who passes through trials, and the master who holds skill and wisdom. It is the path that begins with ignorance, passes through strength and ends in wisdom. As Jedi, we’re all familiar with this path.
The sacred feminine goes through her own journey. Where the Hero rules the realm of mind, the Goddess rules the realm of the heart. In the Goddess’ journey, we meet the Maiden, the Mother, and the Wise Woman.
The Maiden is innocent and self-centered. Because she is new to the world, she believes that the world exists to serve her. She is naivete incarnate. The Maiden is the part of us that loves without limit, but superficially and with no concern for consequence. On one hand, she is flirtatious and fickle, on the other hand, she is jealous and petty. Just as many people never answer the Hero’s call to adventure, many people never grow beyond the Maiden mindset. That growth usually involves trauma that takes away the Maiden's innocence and forces her into the world, such as disability/death of a caregiver, major heartbreak, or violence.
When the Maiden opens her eyes and her heart after the trauma, she starts seeing through the eyes of the Mother.
The Mother is compassionate. She sees the suffering of those around her and is moved to care for them. She has learned that the world doesn't revolve around and and such, has started to take note of the effects that her actions have on others. Like a she-wolf, she is both nurturer and fierce protector. Her journey starts with caring for those around her - friends and family - and eventually extends to neighbours, strangers and even enemies.
The Mother will reach an time in her life when those around her no longer need her to care for them. Her children (real or metaphorical) have grown up and left home.
The Wise Woman is the counterpart of the Master from the hero’s journey. She is the keeper of heart-wisdom and emotional strength. But she is also a mysterious figure who doesn't give her knowledge freely. Her job is to challenge those who come to her and to pass deep wisdom only to the worthy. She has stopped caring about what society think of her and lives freely and joyfully, often apart from society.
It’s important to recognize that women are not the only ones who walk the Goddess’ journey. Men, women, and indeed everyone walks this path in their lives. In today’s modern western society, it’s especially important for men to realize this aspect of their journey - to embrace the Goddess which is embodied in the “softer” sides of their psyche.
The Goddess’ Journey is the path of the Sacred Feminine, meant to be walked in tandem with the Hero’s Journey (the Sacred Masculine). As Jedi, we work to keep both the masculine and feminine in balance within us: to balance the curiosity of the Child with the openness of the Maiden, the aggression of the Warrior with the compassion of the Mother, and the skills of the Master with wisdom of the Wise Woman.
Every person is born of the bonding between masculine and feminine, and so, we strive to celebrate them both, within and without.
