The Return of the Divine Feminine
The Drumbeat of the Future
Several years ago, while on my usual morning walk, I suddenly became aware of an elephant walking beside me. By this time, I was accustomed to such visitations from the shaman’s world of non-ordinary reality. As we walked side by side, I asked the elephant why she had shown up. She says, "I've come to join the Shamans' Circle." I had recently started a shaman circle where people interested in shamanism could meet monthly to learn about shamanism and integrate shamanic practices into their lives. I inquired why she wished to join the Shamans' Circle. She says, "I am the guardian of the circle. I am its strength and its power." In the previous Shamans’ Circle meeting, I had suggested that we journey to find a power animal for our circle. Evidently, the elephant had answered that call. At the next meeting, I shared my experience. Several in the group reported that during that week they had dreamed of elephants. We welcomed the elephant as the spirt animal for our group.
Sometime later, in another journey, the elephant that had joined me on my walk showed up. I knew that I was to get on her. I did and we started off through the sky. However, suddenly we were walking through forests and dark green foliage. We came to an opening and there was a herd of elephants. The elephant told me that we had come to the "place of the elephants", where the “elephant people” live. I joined their circle and drummed. I was told, "visit us often and inquire of us. We are the drum beat of the future."
I wondered what their message, “we are the drumbeat of the future” might mean. A study of the elephants revealed that they are a matriarchal society. The oldest, most dominant female is called the matriarch. The matriarch is the backbone of the elephant family unit because she provides stability and determines ranging patterns for the rest of the family. I wondered if, perhaps, “the drumbeat of the future” might suggest a movement toward a more feminine and less patriarchal or masculine dominated society.
This week I picked up my drum and began drumming. As I did, the drum called in elephants from the corners of the earth. They came in herds and surrounded me. They told me there is a great migration happening on earth. The migration is the return of the divine feminine from the land of her exile. The elephants separated and an opening appeared. In the opening I saw a magnificent female being. It was like she too was coming from the four corners of the earth and even beyond. Her energy is alive and vibrant, of vibrating colors. Her hair appeared as the rivers and oceans, her eyes as the stars and planets. Her body was the very earth. Her breasts were like the mountains, her lips and mouth were the beautiful valleys. She was the earth and yet she was more than the earth. She transcended time and space and became an energy vibrating everywhere. The image and the energy were beyond description. I hear "I am here." The entire landscape shifted. The energies of the entire space reorganized into a new pattern. I hear “the migration is complete.”
Many indigenous peoples and religious traditions speak of the end of time or of a great change that is to come. Many believe that we are in the midst of that great change. The Q’ero of Peru speak of the "pachacuti," in which the world would be turned right-side-up, harmony and order would be restored, and chaos and disorder ended. According to the Q’ero, the great change has already begun, and it promises the emergence of a new human after this period of turmoil. The Q'ero believe that the doorways between the worlds are opening again. Holes in time that we can step through where regaining our luminous nature is a possibility for all who dare to take the leap. The Hopi prophecies describe this change as the time of Powateoni, a time of purification, of social and ecological disruption that will eventually bring a time of lasting peace over the world’s people. But before that, we will have to go through the eye of the storm. The Christian tradition speaks of the return of Christ and a reign of peace following a time of tribulation. Other traditions have their own prophecies regarding the end of an age.
For the individual, it is a time of holding the tensions of the opposites until the third or the solution emerges. Carl Jung believed that our survival as a civilization depends on how many people can stand the opposites in themselves. If enough can do so, Jung thought the situation will just hold and we shall be able to creep around innumerable threats and thus avoid the worst catastrophe of all: the final clash of opposites in an atomic war. Jung saw the individual as the key to the future: if there are enough individuals who are conscious, who recognize the reality of the opposites, who have done sufficient work on themselves to face and manage the opposites in themselves, then we might avoid this most horrendous of tragedies.[1]
Recently, Elliot Murray posted in his substack, Re-meme-ration: Where Memes Come to Create Ethos a statement by Jungian analyst, Marie-Louise von Franz:
“If we can stay with the tension of the opposites long enough—sustain it, be true to it—we can sometimes become vessels within which the divine opposites come together and give birth to a new reality.” Marie-Louise von Franz
Over the past several decades, shamanism has emerged from the shadows of an ancient time. A brief search on Amazon brings up over 300 books on shamanism and related topics. An internet search will bring up hundreds of websites dedicated to shamanism and energy healing. The number of shamanic practitioners has exploded over the past couple of decades worldwide. Every week, my in-box contains emails inviting me to enroll in some course on shamanism or energy healing. Many shamanic organizations offer classes from shamans around the world in person and over the web. There is a growing network of shamanic practitioners worldwide with members on Facebook groups total in the thousands. The Facebook Group, Shaman Portal, reports 126,000 members alone and Energy Medicine Groups has 54,000 members at the time of this writing. A search for papers on shamanism on Academia.edu, a platform for sharing academic papers, brings up over 47,000 entries. A 2021 Census on religion in England and Wales has revealed that 8,000 people now identify as shaman, up from 650 in 2011. This represents the largest increase in membership of any section labelled “other religious groups.”[2] Over the past 25 years, The Four Winds, founded by, anthropologist Alberto Villoldo, has trained and mentored more than 10,000 students from all walks of life – scientists, construction workers, nurses, doctors, psychologists, massage therapists, and others in shamanism and energy healing.[3] In many ways, shamanism and energy healing are exploding into our collective consciousness.
Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition that connects with nature and all of creation. In fact, shamanism stems from nature itself. Shamanic practices tap into the power Mother Earth has to offer. The ancient indigenous teachings are derived from the simple truths of nature. Shamanism restores the balance between the masculine and feminine energies, and some believe that its re-emergence at this time is to provide us a path forward by connecting us to the Earth and Nature, bringing us back into harmony with the feminine energies. This brings me back to the message from the matriarchal society of the elephants, “visit us often. We are the drumbeat of the future.”
I have shared in another post wisdom learned from the elephants. See my post “Wisdom from the Elephants” of October 23, 2023. But since the elephants appeared again this week with the message of the migration of the divine feminine, I’m inviting those called to journey again to the elephants to inquire as to what information, guidance or wisdom they might have for you for living during this time of change.
Guided Journey.
Leave a comment or share your experience on the Chat below.
[1] Hannah (1976), 129
[2] https://theconversation.com/shamanism-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-fastest-growing-religion-in-england-and-wales-196438#: retrieved 2/1/2024
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-four-winds-society/ retrieved 2/1/2024.
Over the past several years I have done paintings to honor the return of the goddess as my way of contributing to the emerging divine feminine in collective consciousness. Here are a few of those paintings.
Feminine Wisdom, Feminine Power: Healing the World
Goddess Rising
Grandmother Moon
Magic and the Goddess of Healing
Mother Earth and the Web of Life
The Time is Now
Share your experience in the chat.
I had a dream last night that all these elephants started coming outside my balcony. There were so many and a white baby elephant showed up and came inside….it was such a beautiful dream.
I finally had a chance to journey to the Elephants for guidance required for me to live through this time of change. An elephant approached and said to me "always follow the path of the heart" and touched my chest with her trunk. To me this is the ultimate affirmation of the need to achieve a balance with feminine energy and allow intuition to guide my choices. I was then led to a clearing where thousands and thousands of wildebeests and ornyx's, forming a heard many miles long, where stampeding. As they went up a hill, they launched into space. I became part of them and also launched up into the higher realm. It was a dark, foreboding place with lightening flashing all around. There was an intense battle occurring between what I assumed were dieties and their forces. I responded by willing light into the scene to overcome the darkness. A blinding light emanated over the region but was not consistent, forming a slow strobe effect- possibly due to forces of darkness willing darkness to consume my light. The journey ended but I have the sense that my higher self is still involved in holding space and shining light to dispel fear and negativity. Thank you for guiding the journey.