Twenty years ago, as an undergrad English major and aspiring writer, I wore all black and hung out with other writers in libraries or deli’s before there were coffee shops. I took courses in comparative literature, Joseph Campbell’s mythology and goddess religions. We studied In the Wake of the Goddess, The Chalice and the Blade, When God Was a Woman. For one of my course projects, I created a quilt of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as a goddess, the trunk a shapely female figure, branches and leaves extending from her arms. I was a divorced mother on welfare, going to school on a Pell grant, but it was one of the best times of my life. I was embraced by a tribe of intellectual goddesses, both professors and fellow students, all standing in our power, fully ablaze with passion and life energy.
I’ve drifted from that passion and goddess power over the years. It was a gradual process, baby steps toward conformity, maturity, expectations, success. Losing my balance. Evolving in the wrong direction.
Through it all, the goddess fire was dormant, waiting. Now she is emerging, light bursting insistently into my life. I embrace the balance of her fiery passion with worldly wisdom. I’m inspired by her again, enthusiastic and fully aligned in my power to stand with her and face the world.
(This article is a response to prompt #2 at A Year With Myself, a year-long journey of self-exploration. Join us!)