There’s a reason the dark feminine is rising and it has everything to do with our inner landscape.
Because the dark feminine has always been within us. It is an integral part of the divine feminine and before societies became entrenched in patriarchal structure, it was considered a necessary and beautiful primal life force energy.
In ancient times, the Great Mother presided over not just life, but also death. She was the original Triple Goddess and she cycled with the moon and with the bleeding time. Her energy was birth, life, death and rebirth.
When someone died, they were buried with ochre-painted cowrie shells. Ochre paint was used in all sorts of prehistoric art as it represented the blood mysteries of women and the goddess. The dark time of the moon and the bleeding time equated to death, shedding, and the release that precedes rebirth.
This dark time was an incredibly powerful time for women. During the dark of the moon when they bled, their oracular and healing powers were heightened. They were sought out for their wisdom. (Oracles like the Pythia only prophesied during their moon time because of this.)
And when a woman ceased to bleed – when she entered that period of the dark feminine – she was believed to be even more sage, even more powerful because her “wise blood” as menstrual blood was called, was retained within them.
Elder women in this dark moon phase of their lives were the healers, the lawmakers, the governesses in many cultures. Revered. Honored. Beloved.
They also posed the biggest threat to patriarchy.
Patriarchy requires that a woman be dependent on a man. And in order for it to proliferate as a system, it needs to control a woman’s reproduction. It is a system that perpetuates male domination.
And the dark feminine does not appreciate being dominated.
This is when patriarchy turned on the elder Wise and Wild Woman. The Hag (from the root word “hagio,” which means “holy”) and the Crone (from the word “crown”) became the old, ugly, evil witch. The one to be reviled. Discredited. Persecuted.
The Goddess, who had been fractured when the lightning and solar deities were introduced, now held contrast: the good and submissive Mother and the Terrible Mother or the Dark Goddess. The Dark Goddess, who had once been an integrated part of each goddess or woman, was now on the outs. As the ruler of the Underworld, she became – as patriarchy shifted the narrative – the goddess to be feared. The one who would lure women into temptation, into evil, into defiance.
The rising dominator model toppled the dark feminine and the wise woman because they were scared of her and all she represented. And they’ve kept us in fear of her. The Witch hunts, which affected older women far more than any other demographic, are an example of this.
But you don’t have to be old to hold this archetype within you because we all have it. The dark feminine is that part of you that is your shadow side, subconscious thoughts, emotional impulses and primal instincts. It is the wild, untamed and unapologetic parts of your feminine psyche.
The dark feminine or dark goddess energy is Scorpionic in nature. She’ll take you into the Underworld, dredge up your darkest secrets, throw open every closet door you’ve got and demand that you look at all of it. That you honor every bit of yourself. That you heal so that you can be reborn.
She doesn’t fuck around. She knows that your liberation is on the other side of your trauma. She’ll take you right into the heart of it so that you can get on with the amazing things you came here to do.
Dark Goddesses that possess this energy are: Hekate, Kali, Hel, Lilith, Persephone, Oya, Mictēcacihuātl, Baba Yaga, Sheela-na-Gig, Cailleach, and Sekhmet.
(If you want to learn your Goddess archetype, take my quiz here.)
The dark feminine is rising now because we are ready to face her. We are ready to feel the anger of 5,000 years of oppression. We are able to advocate for ourselves and others in the face of injustice without the fear of death. We can finally shout out our holy hell no and demand change. We are ready for the healing that will allow us to integrate the dark feminine so that she may empower us.
This is energy that holds our codes of sovereignty. It activates the Queen within us. As you accept this part of yourself, you develop healthier boundaries (discernment), you heal sexual trauma, you advocate for yourself and others, you embrace pleasure as a core part of your nature and you heal shame.
This is what is needed for the feminine more than ever. We don’t have to be just the good girl now. We can be all of ourselves. We can embrace our inner dark and wild woman who holds so much wisdom for us. Unleashing her gifts us her power.
Lots of love,
Janet
P.S. To join my virtual pilgrimage with Lilith click here. Through this course, Rolling Out from Under Adam: Reclaiming Your Sovereignty, Passion and Untamed Wilderness with Lilith, you will heal sexual wounding, become more able to advocate for yourself, embrace your inner wild woman and so much more.
I’m 61. I miss the old days when we used to meet in circles in person, whether for Native American gatherings or Goddess. I was never part of a Coven but all the Goddess circles did similar practices; it must be natural. As the patriarchy is being revealed, it is so ugly and rape is rampant. It’s hard to hold on to old ways when fields of herbs are being planted with houses and drought and deer resistant plants and the internet denounces comfrey or internal use of essential oils as deadly. Patriarchy under the guise of safety, is trying to break the old bonds to the men and women who understood our relationship with earth. The only answer is to go within do deeply we can connect with all of them ourselves. I hope your class is a great success.
I agree that we do have to go deep within. And we have to hold onto hope too. We are the Weavers, the Creatrixes and as we divest from patriarchy, as we heal those wounds, we can create a new timeline in which the Mother, Gaia and all women are honored. So much love to you, sister, and gratitude. ♥️
Very interesting subject, thank you for posting.Blog monetyze