A NEW EARTH
A WORLD OF BALANCE
The concept of a ‘new Earth’ has been a thought, an idea, that has been present most of my life. It was as if echoes of it came through every now and again. ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it’ - one of the REM songs, that sounded ominous when I first heard it, but also a bit like a promise. ‘We are the ones we’ve been waiting for’ – wow, that hit me hard when I first heard it said by ‘Little Grandmother’ Kiesha Crowther. It was as if a sixth sense picked up on these foretellings, whenever I encountered them. So, is this it then? Is this the big change, the shift into another dimension, the Age of Aquarius? And if I am the change I have been waiting for, what part do I have to play in these times?
Actually, I feel I have been part of the change, ever since I can remember and I am not alone. The first shift towards the new times, happened in the sixties, with the Flower power and Hippy movement. I have always seen that as the beginning of the end of our patriarchal structures and I so wished I would have been born earlier to have been able to be part of that. Still I experienced the ripples of it especially on a spiritual level. The idea of love as the main focus for the religious experience came directly from this movement. That combined with the second wave of feminism, opened a portal to the revival of a new spirituality embracing the divine as feminine, as Goddess. This embrace, strengthened by the archaeological findings and writings of visionairs like Marija Gimbutas, birthed a new movement in the world, the Goddess Movement.
The Goddess Movement was birthed in different places around the Globe, but I discovered it through the Goddess Temple and Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, UK – also known as Avalon. The energy of Avalon and the opportunity to be part of the Goddess Movement in Glastonbury, called me to move from The Netherlands to the Isles of Brigit, to follow my heart/soul longing and become a fulltime priestess. And so it happened. I have been building up my work as Priestess since 2009 and am now the tutor of the Brighde-Brigantia trainings, co-organiser of The annual Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, one of the four female sacred-tour guides at Mystical Earth Tours, Ceremonialist and workshop facilitator for groups and individuals, I conduct healing and oracle card reading sessions and offer other spiritual work following whatever people need.
This is how I feel I am already part of the change. I know that a big part of the change will be about reclaiming the divine feminine, Goddess, the feminine principle in our lives, our communities and society. This has been the goal of the Priestesses here in Avalon from the beginning. To create a culture shift towards balance. Because society has been so patriarchal, orientated on the masculine principles, we are still far way away from that balance. People sometimes ask me why I do not work with ‘the God’. I personally do, in my own way I have found my inner balance. As a priestess however I work towards that change and focus mostly on Goddess, because She still has a long, long way to go to become as present as God is, in the awareness of everyone in all the cultures of the World. This doesn’t mean I do not honour the Divine Masculine in my work as Priestess, but I feel that when this balance is really felt, understood and lived, the bigger change in behaviour and actions will follow naturally.
What is needed to make this change possible, is for us all to open our hearts and minds. Most world religious have often been very dogmatic and were focused on exclusion and sadly often fear induced and power driven. The feminine principle is all about trust, love and inclusion. I find it very important and try myself to adopt an ‘and-and’ attitude. There is no need for switching over to this new way of thinking by letting go of old believe systems, especially if they have been a place of comfort and strength. After all, the goal is to find a place of balance, a place where there is harmony and maybe even a form of oneness.
To open our hearts and minds means for me to step away from judgement, and instead be curious and playful. To try for instance to come to a Goddess Ceremony, talk or workshop; read about the her-story of the Goddess tradition through the ages; study the natural wheel (circle) of life; notice the beauty, the mystery and divinity of nature; explore the sacredness of your body and sexuality; ask questions; maybe try to connect deeper with a specific Goddess of your culture (every country has their own Goddesses), and see others very much as an expression of divine energy as well as human beings, searching for better ways, for better times – just like you.
So, in short, the change I could envision is a growing consciousness, a (spiritual) awareness of the feminine principle in our society, with the aim towards finding an equilibrium between the masculine and feminine energetics that work through in our everyday lives.
Personally, I have been working with and teaching about the Goddess/feminine divine for over fifteen years, and more and more people are starting to understand and feel this and welcome Her qualities into their lives, as well as spreading the knowledge and practical implementations of this energy. What we need is more Goddess loving and curious people to spread this new way of thinking and being. This can only happen by example, by living the ways and values of Goddess, with love, compassion, care, kindness, support and trust that She will lead the way.
Marion Brigantia
July 2020
