"After doing that meditation on becoming lingam, I have so much more compassion and appreciation for the masculine."
Said a female client to me this morning.
This beautiful woman (I genuinely love her!) completed my Meeting the Masculine course last year, has had some one-to-one mentoring and is now in the final week of my RAPTURE course.
And this was just one of many wonderful pieces of feedback she shared today.
It gave me tingles all over and flourished my heart.
Not only because I love to hear anyone expressing their compassion for anyone, but because this lady's history with men has been abusive and traumatic.
THIS is the kind of breakthrough that just reaffirms for me the value of my work in the world.
And I feel inspired to share it, not only because it's a delightful testimony, but because I'd like to address something I've noticed popping up.
Here it is.
What I've observed amongst some men recently, is the assumption, that women, who
a) speak of the patriarchy and/or b) are devoted to sacred feminine awakening or the Goddess pathway
are blaming, judging and excluding them.
And when they believe that thought, they can come across as defensive, aggressive or derisive.
I'm not exactly sure where this belief stems from.
If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say from unconscious wounding, shame and fear.
But my point is that this is the very LAST thing that goes on in sacred women's circles, both those I've attended and those I facilitate, since our focus is entirely upon healing our own wounds, owning our shadow and embodying the inner union of awakened masculine and feminine.
Yes, I hold all-female spaces, because for one thing, there is SO much trauma and such a history of shame and unsafety, that this is the only way (as things stand) for women to feel able to open up fully.
But this is not about blaming or othering men.
On the Goddess pathway, we commit to taking radical responsibility for our lives and living from the heart.
There is no space in that for man-bashing.
Indeed, I don't tolerate it.
Victim speak is named, though not shamed. And, with love, I guide women back to their own feelings and wounding. Because that's where the work is.
So yes, we speak of our painful experiences, but not so as to hunt down a perpetrator. We gather, so as to witness, heal and love home our hurts, in order to mature and integrate.
And it's only by each of us - man or woman - doing that inner work, that we can hope to heal the division, that the patriarchal matrix has set up.
There are so many layers of unconscious resentment, conditioning, wounding and projection.
It takes time, intention, humility and courage to illuminate and clear them.
All the women I know and am proud to call my clients are walking this path. And I fucking honour them for it.
I honour me too. Because it's not been a bed of roses facing all my darkness down. And that commitment to truth is unending.
But I - and we - are doing this not only to reclaim our true selves, but because we really want to love you men and co-create the New Earth without all that shit in the way.
And we know the only way to change things is by upping our game and awakening from within. Which inevitably shifts our outer reality.
Today I spent the day with my Dad. Pottering about in his beloved garden. We laughed and chatted non-stop. I left his place with a bag full of veg, a tomato plant and hydrangea cutting.
I used to hate this man. And project him onto all my lovers. Which didn't end well.
So this isn't pretty speak from a Priestess. It's the hard-earned insight of a woman who's done the work and witnessed the most miraculous turn-about in this foundational family relationship as a result.
My Meeting the Masculine course is available for self-study at any time AND I'm hosting a live version of the course (which means weekly Zoom calls with me alongside your self-study), that will run for 6 weeks starting Sunday, August 29th, for any woman who knows this an area where she's got work to do!
It's not about becoming more masculine, it's about illuminating and healing your relationship with him, so as to create more conscious, harmonious and co-creative inner and outer relationships.
Love, Shakti xx