It’s been a weird two years for the ceremonial priestesses – for the red tent focalisers, temple keepers, celebrants and sabbat ritualists.
We’ve been sitting on our hands going – is it ok to start again? Is it- oh wait, no. How about now? Great! Let’s start this, lets get…. no? Not yet. Oh.
And at the end of these two years, as the murkiness of the pandemic begins to lift (🤞) we are all bit tentative and unsure as we begin to awkwardly step back into our old life of circles and ceremonies.
Do we remember how to do this?
Will people come?
How do I get this to the people that need it?
Are the first few times going to be wobbly and weird?
I know for myself there have been lots of false starts over the last two years – I managed to do one circle and one ceremony, and that’s it.
One thing that comes up for me (that I am nervous about sharing with you) is that I am scared to step up and do this work again. Every time I have tried this last year something inside has sabotaged me.
The other thing that comes up is that I am ready to go DEEPER.
I want to learn all the things. I want to learn how to do this with such depth and mastery, because this weird new world which is so isolated and fragmented and anxious and terrifying needs priestesses to hold community, to be the anchors, and it needs spaces where folk can connect and feel supported and loved by each other.
The coming world NEEDS PRIESTESSES.
And I wanted to share with you all the things I am really wanting to deepen into this year for my practical ceremonial priestess work.
- Grief work. Hooo boy. This is a huge one. I am working with a dear friend who holds ceremonies for Extinction Rebellion (climate change campaigners) because we know that this grief piece is going to be key in the upcoming world. We need a space to process the heavy feelings of the world – and to figure out how to let people understand that they need this.
- Death Work. I’ve been dipping my toes into this in my Scent Priestess training (Myrrophores are a lot about death after all), but I want to understand it deeper because it’s a HUGE part of the rites of passage and something that is so forgotten in our culture… and I am a little scared and nervous of it. So it’s time to face it. On that note….
- Working with difficult emotions. I want more training and experience in learning how to troubleshoot and hold space for difficult emotions that come up in ceremony. In my decade of attending events and circles, I have seen unexpected emotional stuff handled super well and handled REALLY badly. I want to be prepped and ready to help my folk and not caught off guard so I accidentally act like an asshole in someone’s really vulnerable moment, because if it’s your vulnerable moment and it’s handled badly it can have a HUGE impact.
- Marketing. My favourite! I’ve been on the internet so long, I am so FASCINATED to find out what works for local and in-person marketing now in 2022. Just putting up a facebook event just doesn’t cut it for a local circle, and we need our beautiful spaces to reach the people that really need them.
- Claiming my Celebrant. I love this work. This year I am really invested in claiming my skills as a celebrant and doing that in the world. It’s time. IT’S TIME.
- Collaboration and co-leading. What boundaries, safeguards and agreements need to be in place to do collaborative work? What are the hard questions that I shrink from asking? How do I soften and ask for help… and make sure I pick the right people to do it with?
- LGBTQ and BIPOC inclusion. I really want to learn more about how to be a better ally and create welcoming spaces for all folks in my ceremonies, circles and programs. Goddess spirituality is dominated by well-meaning privileged white ladies (let’s be real I for sure am one of them) and there needs to be more space and inclusion for everyone and more training on how to do that without being an asshole.
I am 100% admitting that I need to do better and be better at this. And again, I have been avoiding really working with it because I am scared of making mistakes…. which is a shitty excuse for sure.
What does it mean to be a part of the new wave? How can we honour the divine feminine while including all genders? How can we honour this relatively new spiritual path without stealing and co-opting from BIPOC cultures? How can we make this space more safe and inclusive?
For me, this is what I am focusing on as I move forward this year and deepening my practice.
What are the top priorities on YOUR priestess development this year?
What training do you wish you could recieve to deepen your priestess skills this year?
Let me know in the comments, I always love to hear from you!
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