Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone: The Divine Feminine

In our first story, we meet Inanna, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, a goddess beloved in ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Middle East). She travels to the Underworld to meet her dark sister Ereshkigal and learns lessons there she could never have accessed in the world above. This story is informed by and lightly quoted from the original Sumerian poem, the Descent of Inanna. Some listeners may find the dark themes of this story difficult, as there are many references to death.

In this lesson, we talk about the goddess Inanna, a little bit about her history, and what her story means. This tale is not only an explanation for the cycling of the seasons, it's a metaphor for grief and the dark night of the soul. As the representative of our Maiden archetype, Inanna moves from a place of innocence, potential, and possibility, and ultimately learns great lessons from the goddess of Death. The original Sumerian poem, the Descent of Inanna, can be found in Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Kramer's book Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth.

In this meditation, we will consider the Underworld--the imaginary place Inanna visited along with the metaphorical Underworld, the darkest place you've been in your life, a time of difficulty, confusion, loss, and/or sadness. Please have an unlit candle and some form of lighter with you, as well as your journal if you wish to write down your reflections. Try to do this meditation in as much darkness as is possible for you.

In this story, we meet Lilith, known as Adam's first wife in Hebrew mythology. In this retelling, she has moved from Inanna's world as a priestess and appeared in the Garden of Eden. For her, however, it is far from a paradise. Please note this story may contain sensitive content for some listeners.

In this lesson, we learn some of the history and context of Lilith, looking at her connection to Inanna and older goddess mythologies and how she may have been demonized with modern patriarchal perspectives on God. As the representative of our Warrior archetype, Lilith finds a way to fight back against her oppression, no matter what it costs her.

In this meditation, we work with our anger as a source of power within our bodies and our lives. We call it up and let it speak to us, like Lilith did, to see if we need to enact some change to be able to feel powerful, get our needs met, stand up for injustice, or escape. You may like to have a candle with you as you practice this meditation as well as a journal if you want to write down any reflections.

In this story, we meet our Mother archetype, Skywoman, the creatrix of Turtle Island, which many of us know as North America, within the Haudenosaunee and Ojibway traditions. Iotsitsisen (pronounced yo-ji-jisen) was born in a beautiful place, Skyworld, where everything was perfect and she had everything she needed. But she needed to know what was underneath the Tree of Life in the center of the world. What was beneath it would change her life forever.

In this lesson, we discuss the story of Skywoman Falling, our representative of the Mother archetype. We reflect on what it means to create in collaboration, in community, in connection, even with others we don't know very well. This story was sourced from versions told in Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a member of the Potawatomi Nation; Skywoman: Legends of the Iroquois by Joanne Shenandoah, a member of the Oneida Indian Nation, and Douglas M. George-Kanentiio, a member of the Mohawk Nation; Native American Stories by Joseph Bruchac, a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation; and “This is History,” an essay by Mohawk writer Beth Brant.

In this meditation, we sit with our relationship with the land that we are on. We consider our history with this land, as well as the history of our ancestors here (or wherever they may have come from). In this gentle reflection, we allow ourselves to learn from and be in relationship with the land we are on as a part of the community of this earth.

In this story, we learn the origins of Dhumavati, the representative of our Crone archetype. She begins with Sati, a Maiden figure, who is a manifestation of the great power of the feminine in the Tantric conception. We learn all about Sati's experience and how Dhumavati was born from her loss, grief, despair, and disappointment.

As our representative of the Crone archetype, Dhumavati expresses the power that can be expressed even in ugliness, widowhood, and old age. Here, we learn about a foundational belief of Tantra, which is that the goddess, Shakti, is everything, dark and light, good and bad, Maiden and Crone.

In this meditation, we reflect on the smoke from Dhumavati's fire, created from the withdrawal after rejection and separation. Please have a candle or some form of fire available that you can put out so that you can sit with the rising smoke for a little while.

We take a moment here to wrap up all the work we've done in this course, coming to conclude our cycle of Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone (which ultimately begins again, just like the seasons or the moon!). Please check out my bio for more information about me, including additional courses and meditations on Insight Timer. I'd also love to hear from you: don't hesitate to comment on this course with your thoughts and questions, I'd love to know what you think and have a chance to reply!