Our Lady of Roses

the realm of the goddess

I was born into a conservative, Protestant home - bereft of the goddess or any form of divine feminine. And yet somewhere along the line, I realized I was an always had been a mystic…

In the Baptist church I grew up attending, the Virgin Mary rarely makes an appearance, other than a nod to her status as mother of Jesus the Savior.

I was raised to love and to fear god. To behave like a good Christian. And yet what I saw in my family and in the world around me did not line up with what I was taught in Sunday school.

I began to question the faith that excluded so many who chose to walk a different path.

When it was time for me to accept Christ, I refused to “go forward” and be counseled for baptism. I was in a process of open rebellion that led to difficult repercussions in my life.

Ultimately I lost my faith completely.

When I refused to attend church searches with my family anymore, I was told that I had to go to church somewhere in order to keep living in my childhood home. So I decided to go to Catholic mass with some friends to meet my mother’s demands.

When I stepped into the Catholic church I was overwhelmed with the maximalist vibe - it seemed like there were icons, altars and candles everywhere! This was so very different from the lone crucifix hanging on the seemingly bare walls at the Baptist church I grew up in.

Most shocking of all was the reverence for the Virgin Mary.

Her image, whether painting or statue, was everywhere. She even had her own prayers!

Even in her muted state, seeing Mary as a woman worthy of worship & devotion was a key that opened the door to a feminine spiritual path that began to nourish my thirsty soul.

I did not want to be a Catholic, which seemed more of the same propaganda but with extra bling, yet the rosary was a mystery I wanted to understand.

While Mary was the first, the Hindu goddesses quickly made themselves known to me. I was particularly drawn to Durga riding her lion/tiger and the ferocity of Kali.

Always one to walk my own path, I began to research the her/story of the goddess from the mid-eighties onward.

Once the internet became a thing, learning expanded. Soon I was connecting with very ancient goddesses and discovering the massive smear campaign against the goddess, who was worshiped by many cultures for thousands of years.

Even more astounding, I found connections between Mother Mary and Isis. I met Inanna, whose death and rebirth seemed to be the model for the story of Jesus.

I found out that many gospels were excluded from the Bible, and that Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute, but a teacher in her own right, and a companion of Christ.

I realized Venus/Aphrodite was Inanna/Ishtar. I met the Black Madonna, Hathor, Sekhmet, Hekate, Lilith. So many goddesses connected by a mycelium woven into the very fabric of the Great Mother herself, our precious Gaia.

And then I met the Asteroid Goddesses, and the trajectory of my life and work began to change…..

This is first in a Venus Day series of posts about the feminine, preparing the way for the upcoming round of Goddess Codes which begins July 22. To find out more about Goddess Codes sign up for the upcoming free class, Working with Venus & the Asteroid Goddesses. SIGN UP FOR VENUS & THE ASTEROID GODDESSES.