Mary, Mother, Virgin Goddess

As I write these words today, January 5, 2021, I am aware of the garden of the Divine Feminine that was seeded many thousands of years ago, long long before the story of the divine conception of Jesus through the Virgin Mary. 

Those ancient seeds planted in the garden of humanity’s spiritual evolution are now emerging as the fresh, bursting forth, shoots and stems of our human consciousness. We are expanding to realize, see with real eyes, the re-emergence of the Divine Feminine here on Earth.

Our human consciousness is experiencing a collective expansion, and participating, knowingly or unknowingly, in the next great step forward in our human evolution. And the focus is on the heart. The shoots breaking through are a song of hallelujah: thankfulness for the expansion of our global human heart and heart-centred consciousness. This expansion of open-heartedness reflects a growing awareness of the inter-connectedness of all life. It births compassion, forgiveness, and being at peace with the essential Oneness of all life.

The seeds of Love, Abundance, Truth, Joy, Equality, Peace and Justice will, in time, once again blossom fully into magnificent flowers in the garden of life. The Divine Feminine brings much needed and life-supporting wisdom, harmony and balance as we enter the Age of Aquarius.

Below are a few examples of historical references related to the Dove, to Mary, Iona, and the Great Mother.

On ‘Cnoc a’ Chalmain’, Hill of the Dove on Iona, was built the Iona Catholic House of Prayer. The Iona Nunnery (established in 1203 CE) was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Benedictine Abbey on Iona (established in 1203 CE) was once called Saint Mary’s Abbey and Saint Mary’s Cathedral. The ruins of the original Saint Mary’s Chapel are located in a field just north of the Abbey.

Iona’s name is associated with Peace. The Hebrew word for dove is Jonah (Yonah). Saint Columba’s name was ‘Dove of the Church’: Colum Cille. The Bible story of the Annunication of the Blessed Virgin Mary describes the presence of a Dove representing the Holy Spirit. Christian tradition identifies the Dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit or Divine Messenger. Dove as Divine Holy Spirit is feminine, ‘she’.

A Dove as Divine Holy Spirit appeared and descended to enter Jesus during his baptism by John. A Dove whispered in the ear of the Prophet Mohammed and was his oracle. Doves are associated with a very large number of great goddesses throughout history. These include Sophia, Asherah, Venus, Aphrodite, Ishtar, Astarte, among many others. In the text of the ‘Wisdom of Solomon’, Sophia is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Breath of Power, and the Glory.

The Goddess Aphrodite was said to have risen from the sea, born from an egg that was brooded by a dove, and pushed ashore by a fish. The Ancient Greek Temple of Dadona was a virgin-birth temple that hosted oracles (in Oak Groves) under the leadership of a ‘Black-Dove’ Priestess, (Norman A. Rubin, Afula, Israel). It is interesting to also consider that the Druids and Druidesses of Celtic times performed their ceremonies in Oak Groves, as well.

Archeologists have determined that for a period of tens of thousand years, our ancestors worshipped a Divine and powerful Mother-Goddess, who was honoured as the Mother of all life. The Venus of Willendorf, a small earthen, sculpted, full-figured woman has been dated at 35,000 BC.

Mother Earth

The words 'sisterhood' and 'brotherhood', 'sacred sisterhood', and 'sacred brotherhood' can elicit images that help to clarify and differentiate feminine and masculine aspects. Also the image of a womb as a receptacle for the nurturance of new life, and that seed of life which enters the womb as a Light of creation for new life can be helpful as metaphors to distinguish and clarify the two vital, but essential components of human procreation.

In ancient Celtic tribes, kingship was determine through divination rituals that would determine who was the most worthy of marriage to the Earth. It was believed that only the most worthy, could enter into a divine marriage with the Great Mother, Mother Earth. The people of the Kingdoms and Queendoms could only flourish if potential leaders could demonstrate that they could rule wisely.

Ruling wisely meant having appropriate relations with the Great Mother, the Earth. 

The culture was such that there was complete recognition of the need to enter into a balanced, reverent, and sacred relationship with the Mother of us all. It was cause for great celebration and jubilation when such a leader was chosen as it was seen to guarantee prosperity for all the people across the land. A new leader was celebrated because it meant towns and communities could prosper under their demonstrated wise leadership. 

Druids and Druidesses would determine and sanctify only those rulers who could demonstrate their commitment to responsibly caring for and being in a state of kinship and respect for all of life and the Great Mother.

In the earliest days of human culture and civilization on the planet, souls were infinitely more in touch with the guiding Light that created life, and that guiding Light revealed divine laws that governed all life. 

Since the beginning, there have been ‘wayshowers’, Light bearers, great Avatars, messengers of Creator, and those who could communicate directly with Creation that have assisted and do assist humankind in its evolution and path of incarnation. It has always been so and will continue to be so. 

Some who were inspired by the laws and mysteries of life left pointers for future generations in the form of carvings on stone temples. The spiral, the circle with a cross inside of it, the design called, ‘The Flower of Life’, and ‘The Tree of Life’, are some of the many examples of the secrets and mysteries of creation, and the unmistakable presence of Spirit, seen and unseen. These treasures passed on from our earliest ancestors speak to our soul in a communication language of Spirit to Spirit, soul to soul. 

The Great Mother

The Great Mother is divine in all of her aspects. As Mother Earth she is the giver of life who gives all of the fruits of the Earth for the sustenance of life. Another aspect of the Great Mother is that of ministering to the spirit as it departs from the earthly plane. 

It is interesting that the symbol of the great ‘Circle of Life’ (or Medicine Wheel as it is known in certain Indigenous cultures), is shown with a cross within it that designates the four directions. The East direction is the place of the rising sun, place of new birth and new beginnings, and the element of Air. In the West Direction is the place of our Ancestor spirits, of the dream time, the deep subconscious, and the element of Water. 

The South direction is the place of family, relationships, community, all green growing things of the Earth, healing herbs, and the element of Fire. The North direction is the place of courage, truth-speaking, justice, peace, right livelihood, and the element of Earth. 

Within this Circle of life can be found the designation, representation, and articulation of all things in fours. The number four is a sacred number representing Spirit infused in Matter, and balance, and strength in all things. The number four corresponds to the Earth. Examples of the sacred fours starting in the East direction and proceeding clockwise around the circle are: the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter); the four stages of human life (child, adolescent, adult, elder); the four elements (earth, water, fire, air); the four cardinal directions (east, south, west, north); the four stages of the moon (waxing, waning, new, full). There are many, many more correspondences. 

Mother Iona

What does Iona teach about the Divine feminine, the Great Mother? Iona’s role is birthing the recognition, re-membering, and re-emergence of the divine and sacred feminine, the Mother of us all.

Iona’s role is to make available, through the body of her mysteries, experiences of supreme joy, love, gratitude, and appreciation for all of life. In that way, she performs her role as Great Mother. 

Iona’s unique energy field and subtler more invisible dynamics function as a great receiver, a conduit, and an amplifier of the cosmic light, love and knowledge that runs through her from above and below. 

At the top of Dùn-Ì (the highest mound on Iona, located north-west of the Abbey) the energy is like that of a great Lighthouse of the purest Light. The Light shines there like the brilliant starlight of a thousand stars. One can journey to the great beyond on the waves of its invisible Light. 

The large boulder to the right the ‘Well of Eternal Youth’ on Dùn-Ì is the ‘Mother Rock’.

Receiving cosmic Light through funnels of spinning energy, Dùn-Ì acts as both an amplifier of this Light through its crystal construction (see Iona Crystals, Rocks, Pebbles and Stones), as well as being a geo-magnetic transducer of the cosmic Light – stepping the Light frequencies down into the Earth, nurturing the Earth in this way. 

Dùn-Ì is indeed a great portal between dimensions; it is the location of the Crown Chakra of the island itself. It is a powerful place that serves as a receiver and transmitter of the highest Light frequencies. 

If one allows it, Iona facilitates a deep connection to self, to the divine self within and without, and to the sacred feminine self within each of us.

Death Priestesses, Death Doulas 

Women have historically held a primary role in caring for the sick and dying as well as birthing. It is women all over the world who are most often the midwives to the book-ended, initiatory human life experiences of being born and dying.

The three Mary figures (Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethesda) provide us with a primary example of the care-taking responsibilities that women had more than 2000 years ago. There were special ointments and potions for the care of the dying and the dead. They did not leave the side of Jesus throughout his dying process. They were fully present and witnesses to the process. Mary Magdalene was the first at the tomb, and the first to see Jesus. 

One can see in the story of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, the enactment of the well-studied practices of ancient Goddesses. The Virgin Mother Mary conceived and birthed Jesus, mothered him, and was at his side to assist Him in his final hours. 

The Triple Goddess Spiral at New Grange, Ireland is dated at 3500 BC. It is older than the pyramids in Egypt, and Stonehenge. Three is a sacred number and designates, among other things, the creative dynamic of the cosmos (spiral). To ancient Celtic cultures, the Triple Spiral Triskelion symbol represents many aspects of the divine number three.

Not surprisingly, many of the rituals and practices related to death and dying have been relegated, to a large degree, to the fringes of dominant cultural practices. There is so much to be learned about sacred practices of conscious dying, and support for the dying to consciously ‘graduate’ to the next realm.

Those sectors that are directly in service to the health and well-being of others continue to be primarily comprised of women workers. Women dominate the sectors of caring professions throughout the world. Yet, their essential and vital work of care-taking both the young and old in health, social, child-care, and educational settings has been grossly undervalued and underpaid. 

The comparatively low incomes of health-care and support workers are starkly opposed to the extreme wealth and profit-generation of, for example, CEOs and other senior officials in large corporate and financial sectors. Men, not women, predominantly staff those corporate sectors where profit is the motive, and the profits are substantial. The on-going care, nurturing, and well-being of the human species is provided mostly by women, and their work continues to be under-valued and under-paid compared to the sectors that are dominated by men.

The resulting disparity and inequality of men and women negatively impacts individuals and families, neighbourhoods and communities, especially in a global context. The toll that extreme financial inequality exacts on the health and well-being of families and communities affects us all. We are all connected.

It is also mostly women who are the primary care-takers of the elderly. They work in service to those who are sick and dying, and they lovingly prepare family members for the transition of a loved one.

Speaking about the role of women in supporting those who are dying, it is, as anyone who has attended to the final days of a loved one, a process of initiation. In facing death, being present with the dying, one enters into a sacred space, filled with grace. It is a surrendering time. It is a letting go time, and a surrendering to the great beyond. 

Still, the death and the dying process, like the process of childbirth are, to a large degree, initiations unspoken of in our western culture. As such, many women are unprepared for the experience of childbirth and the majority of humans are unprepared for their death and dying process.

I believe that it is the Sacred Feminine that will birth further knowledge and wisdom for both of these initiatory events in life, because it has always been (including in the ancient past of druidesses, priestesses, and goddesses) a primary role and responsibility for women. Women were engaged in birthing and dying processes for the spiritual evolvement of the human species and to strengthen and support their communities.

The birth of a child is such a wholly sacred event. Finding ways to honour and receive the child, to celebrate its soul’s entry into this physical plane, and to ensure that its soul ‘feels’ its entry into a field of love, will enrich the spiritual prospects of humanity for future generations.

In some Indigenous cultures, babies are welcomed through a birthing song, a song created just for that new baby. Proper care and nurturance of the Mother was also understood to be a vital part of the after-birth experience. The Mother received as much attention to her physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing as did the baby.

A small group of women attended to the early necessities of the baby, while another group of women attended to the necessities of the Mother. Bringing a new child into the world was a community effort, a joyful engagement, and a celebration of Oneness.

At the same time, attending to the death and dying process of a loved one, facilitating their transition, their graduation back into the world of Spirit, back to Creator, is also an initiatory time that requires strength, wisdom, skill and guidance from the ones attending to the dying person.

The Divine Feminine holds the knowledge and the wisdom of the sacred work of dying. This, too, needs to be re-born into our current western culture that rarely speaks of death, or acknowledges its imminence.

Birthing is a dying process as much as dying is a birthing process. Both are highly sacred and profound. There is much to learn to actively engage and participate in both as sacred transformative acts.

Virgin Priestesses, Virgin Births

There is new research (see Dr. Marguerite Rigoglioso) showing that virgin births were part of thousands of years of goddess/female priestess practices in the temples in Greece and Egypt, and beyond. There existed an eons old culture of temple life for young girls (for example in the Essene community from which the Virgin Mary was chosen). Part of temple life included practices to elevate the consciousness of women to enable the facilitation of divine conception. How the divine conception actually occurred is still a mystery. However, it is clear that divine conceptions and virgin births were somewhat the norm for thousands of years in the temple lives of virgin priestesses.

In some locations, virgin priestesses belonged to a specific designation called ‘Priestesses of the Dove’. The Dove icon was frequently seen with seven rays connected to seven stars. The seven stars relate to the Seven Sisters, Seven Stars of the Pleiades. The Doves are part of that. 

Read more about this in the section, ‘The Dove, Iona, and the Pleiades Seven Sisters Star Cluster’.