I recently reviewed Dorothy Atalla's new book, Conversations with the Goddess - Encounter at Petra, Place of Power and my favorite part was her exciting discovery that through deep meditation she was able to access images, information and eventually a feminine Presence who identified herself as the Goddess along with ancient people associated with the sacred city of Petra.
Dorothy's background is in academia so during these meditations her mental mind was saying, "You don't have solid research to back up these insights" and so she remedies this concern through solid research, reading and questioning of the Presence based upon a chapter by chapter discussion of two books: The Great Mother by Erich Neumann and Up From Eden by Ken Wilber.
"When men and women stand on the High Place in the age to come, the only sacrifice will be themselves, that is to say, the boundaries of the small self will dissolve to merge with the All."
Spotlight on Author, Dorothy 'Chickee' Atalla
In the ancient world the Divine Feminine, or Goddess, was often portrayed in three aspects: maiden, mother, and old woman.
We live in a very different world today, but it is worth looking at these three aspects because they are still important stages in a woman’s life -- even though they don't encompass all that a modern woman is. Moving from one stage to another marks a significant and irreversible natural shift in our bodies and our female being.
Now you might be thinking, This all sounds like the old maxim, “Biology is destiny,” and who wants to be defined by that anymore? Well, yes, it does sound that way – unless you also consider these three stages as spiritual shifts in our lives.
What might the spiritual nature of each phase of the Goddess have been like?
We can imagine something of this from looking at Minoan civilization, dating from about 3,000 to 1400 B.C. The Minoans lived on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean sea.
Abundant archaeological evidence exists for this society’s reverence of a Goddess. Murals found at Knossos, a town in Crete, show plant life in exuberant growth around the central image of a female deity. Animals and humans are depicted as part of this abundance. These paintings reveal reverence for the generative powers of Earth.
What do you think a society with reverence of the Divine Feminine might have looked like?
Women's rising awareness will shatter the present social molds as women turn within to find the energies uniquely theirs, in coming into touch with them, they will become empowered. This will set up an irresistible force which will alter society as it exists now...Women will be central in creating large scale communal values; they have been long engaged in creation and maintenance of relationship and communal living on a small scale within families.
More About Dorothy
On a January day in the depths of mid-western winter Dorothy (Chickee to her friends) Atalla expected more of the same: snow , ice and gray skies. But when she lay down on her living room carpet to relax with music, she had an experience which changed her life. Inexplicably, a vision of a radiant and beneficent female presence appeared to her. This astonishing event was only the beginning of a journey she could never have imagined. Nor did she then realize that her vision had any connection with a trip she had made to Petra, a site in the country of Jordan. That vision foreshadowed the dialogue with deity which is the essence of her new book, Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power.
Conversations with the Goddess swiftly evolves from personal story into a universal story in which a feminine Presence speaks about the role of the sacred Feminine in the future. She also speaks of the past, revealing a panoramic view of a time in which the Goddess was revered not only at Petra but also throughout the ancient world.
Because this event ignited Chickee’s interest in the Divine Feminine for the rest of her life, she has also produced other writings about it. The following blog post series is one of these.
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