PATH OF DESCENT: THE CRUCIAL FEMININE PATH OF SPIRITUALITY

“The descent happens when something unequivocally gives in inside us, and we finally say Yes, I will listen.” - Carly Mountain, Descent & Rising

The spiritual path of the descent takes us down, from above to below, into the earth of things, the sensuality, pleasure and pain, into the Underworld’s watery depths. There, we confront the human parts of ourselves and face our own mortality and the death of all that we are not.

It takes us on a descent into the Underworld of our own psyche, story and truth - as well as the collective’s - where things have been hidden, denied, and forgotten in an effort to survive in our world. It makes them conscious so we can heal from it, begin our ascent and thrive.

The descent into the psyche’s “inferior” and infernal regions is an essential aspect of the initiatory process. Myths and rituals from the oldest times attest to the transformative possibilities of the descent - the obtaining of treasured self-knowledge from realms of luminous darkness, and the bringing up to the collective consciousness of what is genuinely profound.

In Inanna’s myth, the Goddess voluntarily descends to the Underworld, the realm of the dead ruled by her sister Ereshkigal, in order to assimilate its great mysteries, re/member lost parts of herself, restore her Truth, and then returns to the world strong with grounded integrated power.

“The descent to the Underworld is a sacred journey, endured to sacred purpose.” - Linda Hartley

Humanity is going through a collective momentum right now - the awakening of the Goddess, the Feminine force.

For thousands of years, spirituality has been mostly reserved and developed in men, by men, for men, as a Masculine path to reaching enlightenment, a path of disembodiment and rising to higher realms beyond the physical experience, a path to reaching a bliss state of equanimity and detachment from feelings, as seen in yoga, meditation or asceticism.

Meanwhile, the Feminine path to enlightenment, associated with sensuality, bodily experiences, raw emotions, shadow work, cycles and mess has been completely denigrated and repressed in our societies.

The results of this imbalance and suppression of Eros are obvious in the way that history repeats itself with wars, violence, social injustice and abuse, as well as in the way we’ve depleted our home Planet and destroyed Nature.

Of course, the Feminine path to healing and enlightenment is beneficial to the Feminine within men, too. Yet I observe that women are especially being asked to reconnect with their true Nature, to become whole again and to remember their forgotten wisdom as the embodiment of the Feminine principle.

The world falling apart reminds us that the Feminine has been repressed, denied and abused for too long. The time has come to reestablish the balance between the God-given polarities of our reality.

This means taking a journey into the depths, as individuals and as a collective, descending into the dark abysses where lies what we’ve ignored for so long, doing the work of integrating our trauma, and listening to the voice of our Feminine nature.

This means surrendering to the Goddess - reawakening the Snake of our primordial Life force energy - our Eros - in our bodies, letting ourselves die, feeling our feelings without restraint, voicing our truths, reclaiming our dreams, vision and intuition, dissolving into the Cosmic Womb of creation, undoing harmful patterns and conditionings…

The Snake represents the relentless, death-dealing aspect of nature, a form of ancestral spirit and guide into the realm of the Dead. Yet the Underworld that She mythically inhabits is also the fecund ground from which new life emerges, a place of healing, initiation and revelation, the dominion of the ancient Great Goddess.

In tantric traditions, the Feminine cosmic energy of the Kundalini - Shakti - lies asleep like a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, waiting to be awakened and rise to reunite with Shiva at the crown.

The Snake is the symbol of many deities such as Zeus, Persephone, Kali, Hades, Isis and Shiva. Sacred to Asclepius, the divine healer of ancient Greece, the Snake embodies the “demon” or genius of the physician and was often depicted entwined around his staff.

It is obvious that humanity has reached a turning point.

I see it like this:

Those of us to whom this has been profiting or who are too scared to evolve will continue in the same direction and perish miserably in their own self-deception. Those of us who are brave enough to listen to the inner and outer callings, to awaken and to embark on our healing journey, will remember our sovereignty and co-create a New Earth.

But first, the old skin must be shed.

This is a painful and courageous process, which, my dears, is inevitable.

Healing is messy, chaotic, cyclical, powerful, unknown, and profound - in the image of the Feminine force. It is scary, and it is the only way to live an embodied, integrated life, thriving at your full potential, and truly serving the collective.

Throughout this pivotal moment in history, what is going to guide us is our ability to connect to our truth and discernment, our intuitive wisdom and spiritual connection, and our connection to our heart and humanity.

Thanks for reading me,

With Love,

Iris

If you need support and guidance on your healing or spiritual journey, know that you are not alone. Please feel free to reach out!