Sharron Rose - The Path of the Priestess: A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine

The Path of the

Priestess

A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine

SHARRON ROSE

Inner Traditions

Rochester, Vermont

This book is dedicated to my mother, Paula Bronfein Scherr, to my guruji, Sitara Devi, and to all the wise women and men throughout the ages whose eyes have never strayed from the shining path of spirit.

Acknowledgments

N o book is written in a vacuum. There are so many factors and forces that merge to bring about a work of art, so many experiences and interactions that add to its import. How can I adequately pay tribute to the contributions of teachers, friends, family, and students who have encouraged and assisted me throughout a lifetime of learning? So many have opened their hearts and minds to me over the years, filling my life with great depth and meaning. To all of you I am grateful.

Foremost, I wish to thank my husband, Jay Weidner, whose love, devotion, and insight has sustained and assisted me through the process of writing this book. It was his belief in my capacity to transmit the wealth of my research and experience in an eloquent and meaningful way that gave me the strength and incentive to take up the task of writing this book. Our days and nights of passionate discussions concerning the essential nature of Tantra and alchemy, the history of humanity and the political milieu in which we currently abide, provided me with great fuel for The Path of the Priestess.

I would like to express my profound gratitude to my parents, Paula Scherr and Herbert Beckenheimer, who gave me the strength, courage, and support to pursue my dreams, even when they took me into cultures and teachings that appeared to be very different from their own. And of course to my son, Ari Ben Weiner, who has traveled so much of this path by my side.

I would also like to thank those whose knowledge and insights have contributed to the dominant themes inherent in The Path of the Priestess. Janet Fine, Tim and Vicki Richards, Bhanu Atthaiya, Bikram and Gina Khan, Shantilal Somaiya, Dr. Jivan Pani, Antonia Minnecola, Mark Weiner, Sister Kiran, and Roy Ulery for their insights into the art, culture, and spiritual traditions of India. Paul Leake, Shanti Shivani, and Louise Landes-Levi for their work in the field of Indian classical music and the Indo-Tibetan tradition. David Sharp, Dr. Miranda Shaw, Clark Johnson, John Reynolds, and Kyu and Dr. Steven Goodman of the Dzogchen community for their insights into Tibetan Tantra and Dzogchen, as well as my dear friend Pat Johnson for the many hours of thought-provoking discussions concerning Tibetan Buddhism, healing, the nature of mind, and the feminine principle. Marcus Daniels, Dr. Celeste Pepe, Dr. Alberto Villoldo, and Frank Lowen for their teachings in the realm of healing, John Nichols for his knowledge and assistance with the texts of ancient Egypt, Gerry Kessler for his insights into early Christianity, and Vincent Bridges and Darlene for their astute work in the areas of the Egyptian mysteries and gnosticism. I also would like to express my immense gratitude to Darlene, sacred artist and priestess of Sekhmet, for the beautiful goddess illustrations and line drawings that adorn The Path of the Priestess and bring the sacred teachings to life. Thanks also to visionary artist Alex Grey for the use of his powerful images of the luminous energy body.

Throughout the writing process there were friends who nursed me through both the excitement and the frustration inherent in the creation of this work. I am grateful to Jill Bittinger, Dr. Kimerer La Mothe, Pedram Shojai, Annie Hickman, Lee Torchia, Simone Temkin, Laura Hungerford, Deborah Salt, Elena Johnston, Blanca Rose, Brian Beckenheimer, Cindy Hiller, Barbara Goldenberg, Shannon Dye, Amy Looker, Alex and Allyson Grey, John Major Jenkins, Jonathan Goldman, Laura Lea Cannon, David Tresemer, and Adelina Alva Padilla, for their support in this process.

For many years I have had great respect for the quality, focus, and artistic excellence of the books that Inner Traditions publishes. From the inception of The Path of the Priestess it was my wish to have it published by Inner Traditions. Needless to say I was delighted when my wish was fulfilled. I would like to thank those who I have had the privilege of working with during the birthing of this book: my project editor, Susan Davidson, for her questions and comments, which provoked deep contemplation in me; Jon Graham, for our fascinating conversations concerning the sacred mysteries; Jeanie Levitan, for overseeing all aspects of production; Robin Catalano, for her thorough copyediting; and publisher Ehud Sperling, who provided me with the forum to express myself through the medium of the written word.

Finally I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my teachers Sitara Devi, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, and Dr. Robert Masters for their devotion to the preservation of the sacred knowledge of the ancestors. It is through their generosity and blessings that I, an American woman, have been able to enter into and drink from the fountain of their ancient lineages of transmission and directly experience the light, energy, and ecstatic bliss of the Divine Feminine.

I pay homage to the goddesses and dakinis who have filled my life with beauty and grace. May their selfless love, wisdom, and compassion continue to enlighten the hearts and minds of us all.

Contents

Preface

T here is a sacred current of light that runs throughout time and spacethe light of the Divine Feminine. It is a continuum. It arises at the birth of creation and forms a sacred path into the denseness of matter and back again. As we descend from the fullness of this light into the depths of the material world, this light is always present to nourish and sustain us. Flowing through all our lives and incarnations, it is the vital and transformative current of truth, virtue, and integrity, a shining stream of spiritual essence that leads us along the path of emanation to the path of return and reunion with the primordial source.

As women, as mothers, as teachers and guides, as emissaries of the Great Goddess, it is our sacred duty and privilege to hold this current of light in our hearts and carry it from generation to generation. This is our essential role as women: to hold this pure light of Divinity in our hearts, to keep the lamp of inner freedom burning in the darkness, to nurture and protect this light whatever the cost, and to transmit its radiance, its exquisite beauty, to our men and children.