The classroom was transformed into a sacred space. Each participant was smudged with sage as they entered. We formed a circle and created a resonant field. And we began…
The first experiential exercise, designed to engage the mind and aesthetic of each participant, was a smorgasbord of images. About forty in all, the images offered a compliment of everything from nature scenes to the earliest Goddesses images to Muslim women praying. Alex Grey stood beside Stonehenge; Raphael’s ‘God Creating Adam’ proudly found its place near a crop circle mandala. In choosing the images, I was conscious not to project my own thoughts and bias of the Divine Feminine.
Each participant chose an image, and back in the circle, we shared: What attracted me to this? What ethic of the Divine Feminine might be inherent in this image?
The conversation was illuminating, diverse and touched upon a variety of impressions, understanding and questions about the Divine Feminine – far more than I could have ever introduced on my own.
The second exercise was a meditation, followed by a somatic Open-Space. The meditation was from my work with Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Emergence Process, and led participants on an exploration of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine meeting a wounded egoic self and allowing it to speak its hurt and be transformed. I dare say this exercise had the most impact: weeks later, I am still receiving feedback from participants as to its transformative power.
Here is the brainstorm from the group – these are the words that emerged as they meditated and then expressed themselves through art, dance & movement.
DIVINE MASCULINE
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WOUNDED MASCULINE
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DIVINE FEMININE
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WOUNDED FEMININE
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The final exercise was a delight: Three men (including my partner) led us in a drumming meditation. The reflection question was: What gifts do you have that the world needs most right now?
The gift that my world needs right now is a return to wholeness – the Feminine and the Masculine each in their rightful place in a dance of synergy.
Blessings,
Maggi Feehan