Moving toward the Summer Solstice
The sun is actually shining, the days are long, the mornings and evenings announced by heart opening bird song and the sweet scent of flowers, warm earth and freshly cut grass (one of my all time favorite scents) is delighting my senses. I’m about to take 2 week long Goddess Pilgrimage tours to Crete, and am looking forward to sharing the priestess life memories held in the Minoan Goddess temples and sacred sites of this wonderful island. Always inspirational and deeply resonant with the presence of the ancestors who loved, honoured and lived the Goddess ways.
Meanwhile, in all the hecticness of a full on life, I am aware of the softening that is still arising in every moment as we move toward the Summer solstice point of the year. As if the warming sun rays melt into layers of stuff held in our body and being. It tends to bring up all that is resistance or stuck, from the deep ancestral woundings and karmic patterns, to out dated conditioning that would hold us limited from the full living expression of our soul path. Yes, powerful and often challenging times for so many of us on a journey of awakening. The Path of Her Love is not always easy, and I, like many, have been having a strongly felt time of contrast. I am learning to say Yes to what is more fully rather then feel I need to fight something or rebel against a ‘testing’. Rather I am experiencing this year to be a stretching of me, which has the full Yes of my soul, and is able to hold the healthy No of my boundaries.
There are so many moments of bliss and perfect flow, intimate little family moments, and beautiful work experiences where Essence emerges and dances in presence and surrender.
One of these is the Path of the Lover men’s group, now traveling into the 3rd House, of Fire and Passion. Such a privilege and honour to journey with this amazing group of men into the mysteries of the Goddess Rhiannon and into the remembered authenticity of their being, to find the Beloved, the God within. This takes courage, vulnerability, ability to own and share all aspects of the self, practices to enhance the shine of the soul and a willingness to journey into shadow hunting. I am always humbled by the sweetness of men in the group that becomes the holding vessel of Her Love on this training. This year, the Brotherhood of Rhiannon journey includes 3 ‘lodges’, as well as the Sweat lodge during the House of Water and forgiveness, and the Death Lodge of the House of the Crone, we have started this year with an Initiation Lodge in the House of the Wild Youth. Beautifully facilitated by Priestess of Avalon Louisa Potter and by the men of the Brotherhood themselves, we worked with the arrows of our fear, the magic of the wild that travels between realms and the clarity of our vision.
The Priestess of Rhiannon Year 1 and Year 3
These trainings are also developing into an even richer arising of Her felt and experienced presence. The practices of Year 3, which are designed to help prepare the ‘vessel’ of the sacred sexual priestess to tune into, enhance, charge up and be filled by the energy of Her field of Love is proofing to be profound for those who are really committed to the work. With the weekends being spaced further apart then in the training years that precede it, a deliberate need to be self-reliant is created. No longer can the buoyancy of the training weekends float you along, it is now up to you to ‘swim’ (to do the practices) to keep afloat and gain the honing of skills and experience of ‘turning up for yourself’ so needed in this work and soul path choice. I am delighted to find that the 3rd year group is becoming a true, lived experience of sisterhood.
In our longing to heal the wounding of the cruelty of women’s behaviour with other women, we are often rushing into naming a circle of women we are sharing an experience with as ‘sisters’.
Undermining, back stabbing, competitive and jealousy based behaviour is part of the expression, participation and perpetuation of patriarchy in and between us all but especially between women. Designed to keep us small, afraid and mistrusting, the effects of feeling alone, misunderstood, unsafe and worthless are subtle yet profound in all areas of our life. The hunger for the home coming to normal natural healthy relating between women is strong, and wonderful to find an experience of, as we sit in circle together. However, this short shared experience does not make true sisterhood, and understandably though it may be to want to interpret it as such, it’s at best pre-emptive and a dangerous self delusion that can only lead to disillusionment.
Just because we have shared a training year, a moonlodge circle, or have held ceremony together does not make us ‘sisters’. For me these points, these circumstances, are the initiation of the possibility of becoming so: The point from where we get to choose, to start to learn what that actually means and then to prove being ‘sisters’ by our actions. Actions that at times may be challenging. It is not easy to choose to support without undermining, or choosing to stay with the tension, to not join in with gossip, to allow the possibility of not being liked for suggesting something is not right in the way we speak/react/project/smear/libel etc. It takes courage to assist a face to face meeting with people in conflict rather than band-wagon jumping, let alone be willing to turn up for one yourself if you are the one in conflict.
To be a sister (or brother) to me means that we listen out for uncomfortable avoidance, (in our self and in others) and that we invite reflection. That we give and ask for loving support to move through and see things differently, and ‘shadow hunt’ rather then enhance or encourage projection. It means we are aware and choose to step out of the running of our need for drama to make us feel a little better,. It requires us to choose to let go of the more comfortable places of story in others and us and own our shadow and shine with healthy boundaries and self-responsibility. It means we stand up for, not against, and that we turn up and step up. It is a practice in consciousness because we all slip into the old patterns created by the woundings of patriarchy, which comes in so many different forms, all the time.
Love, like sisterhood (and brotherhood) arises in and through lived actions, not just in words. It does not mean it makes anyone who isn’t ready for this yet, who isn’t able in a particular moment or circumstance an adversary, it just means you are not a ‘sister’ or ‘brother’ in the real meaning of the word for me.
To be in sisterhood (and brotherhood) is not a small ask. It takes a lot of courage to be with people, friends or strangers, when things get tough, and to hold your commitment to sisterhood. It might even mean you’ll likely to ‘take a hit’ for someone else and that you risk not being liked by everyone. On the receiving end it will feel that those who you choose as your true and proven sisters (and brothers) have your back and will dare to hold the mirror up for you, not ‘against’ something/someone, but ‘for’ something and with everyone who wants to show up and step up to actually live healthy sisterhood/brotherhood.
The Goddess Conference in Glastonbury
We are preparing for a beautiful and powerful Goddess Conference here in Glastonbury in August. Lammas, the Ceremonial group, is a lived experience of sisterhood that meets throughout the year to listen for Her guidance and weave the ceremonial container of the Conference creating a wondrous array of ceremony, presentations and workshops for this international Goddess experience. We are in our 20th year and will be honouring the Cosmic star Goddesses and Stella Nolava, our guiding Star Goddess of Avalon, as well as the Cailleach, most ancient of Mother of air. Do come and join us, there are day as well as full conference tickets and you will have an unforgettable experience on the sacred land of Avalon in celebration of and connection to Goddess that will change you life. I know mine was transformed by coming to my first Goddess conference 18 years ago. It became a high light of my year and I’ve been there every conference since.
I love being in ceremony
And so it was with particular delight that I’ve been able to be a part of Colourfest festival in Dorset again this June. This magical conscious living, yoga, dances and sacred life path festival is a complete delight and the creation of two friends of mine: Ravi O’leigh and Rowan Cobelli. and their fantastic team of miracle workers who make this festival happen every year, first weekend of June.
There are really no words for what is in my heart and the total gift of what they both vision, share with such graceful magic, create and hold. This Colourfest was a much needed ‘Harvest of Love’ for me personally, with the chance to re-connect and so many friends from many streams of my life for laughter, tears, words of wisdom and sweet real moments shared. It was wonderful to be with those way showers I am blessed to call my peers, how very lucky I am to have you in my life even if we only meet once a year, and to have some time to talk and share: this is so rich with grace. Colourfest has a beautiful healing area where great treatments were given with much love and there are musicians blowing my mind with their skills and tunes. I spend the days with my heart wide open to surrender into the sound, to dance the gift of life, to be the colours of Her radiance. I am grateful for all the people who came to my workshops and dared to be real and open and so generous in your feeling and being, this so inspires me. Offering a workshop a day is really a place of ease and receiving for me.
This is the feedback from one person who came: “Thank you so much for the fantastic workshops you gave at Colourfest – I connected so deeply with the way you work and the ceremonial, reverent but embodied way you teach – I feel great respect for you & wondered why it has taken me so long to try out your workshops. Both workshops were the best ones for me at Colourfest and I just wanted to convey my deep gratitude.” J. B.
Oak and Owl Green spirit Festival in Holland
In July you can find me here sharing some more of my work, so do come and join me if you can. It promises to be a fabulous event. You can find out more information here about how to book and participate.
Goddess Pilgrimage tours – Crete
I am on my way to Crete for two wonderful Goddess Pilgrimage tours. I am looking forward to traveling to and sharing the sacred sites and ancient power places that hold the memory of Goddess and the people who loved, honoured and lived Her ways with a mixed European group and a Slovakian group of women. I will be posting some pictures and updates of our adventures for you to enjoy.
In the meantime, if you want to find out more about future tours or stay up to date with any of my work, please join the mailing list and be the first to be informed of up-coming events and opportunities to join me.
Have a fabulous summer and may the full flow of life in and around you be blessed by Her grace and presence.
Katinka 🙂