Reinventing the goddess : emanations of the feminine archetype in the contemporary world

Abstract

For many years I had experienced events that indicated the possibility of contact with another subtle level of reality that existed apart from, yet permeated the physical world. These experiences necessarily challenged the ontological and epistemological parameters of the scientific-rationalist discourse model that is foundational to the Western cultural narrative. From the perspective of that model, experiences of another reality could be only understood as delusions, fantasies or the products of diseased brain. Yet I seemed rational, capable and functional. Those mysterious and inexplicable contacts gathered intensity and culminated in a psychological crisis of confidence I called "ontological shock". Ontological shock is the mind's struggle to reconcile two diametrically opposed models of reality. Because these types of 'psychic' experiences are excluded by the dominant cultural narrative, I looked for a model of reality that could embrace them. I discovered the presence of a mystical and magical tradition, largely concealed within our culture, that had its roots in ancient pre-Christian paganism, Alchemy, Hermeticism, the Holy Qabbalah and elements of Greek, Egyptian and Gnostic mysticism. It is referred to by the catchall title, 'The Western Magical Tradition' or sometimes as the 'Lost Shaman Tradition of the West'. I was to eventually find there was meaning and order in my apparently chaotic experiences of the subtle world and that to my shock and surprise, I had been 'chosen by spirit' in the initiatory tradition of the universal shaman. This dissertation, therefore, gives an insight into how a shaman is 'made' in the contemporary era. The Western Magical Tradition provided me with a workable theoretical map of the subtle world and an archetypal symbol, the 'Great Goddess'. The Goddess model of reality is animistic. She is the subtle, yet conscious and intelligent spiritual reality that underpins the physical universe, and the interconnected web of energy that links everything in both the visible and invisible worlds. The Hopi give her the title "Grandmother Spider" indicating she is both the 'Weaver' and the 'Web'. My aim in conducting this research project was to discover if my impressions and intuitions about the efficacy of a body of innovative work that I had previously conducted in an education, and in a psychotherapy context were accurate. This prior work had been framed within a 'Goddess' model of reality, and although I had seen results suggesting the ancient model could be successfully translated into a modern context, I had received no feedback about the benefits or otherwise of the methodology from my prior students or patients. The research was designed to discover how my students experienced teaching and learning within a Goddess focused education framework and to evaluate the consequences and outcomes of their experiences. I also wanted to review the experiences and sequelae of a group of patients whose treatment was based upon a shamanistic approach to therapy, yet had a modern psychological influence to it. A third strand of my inquiry, was an investigation into a group of people I originally believed to be 'animal communicators', but as a result of the research, was to find they were, in fact, a group of modern shaman healers. I wanted to understand how they lived and worked within a Goddess model of reality in the contemporary world. My central thesis is that the Goddess archetype is re-emerging in a way that is relevant to the contemporary Western world. My research question is: How may the transforming wisdom of the Goddess Archetype and the spiritual insights and practices that flow from it, inform our understanding of education; of therapy; of healing and of our human identity? This is a qualitative research project that seeks to discover how thirty-one research subjects, (including myself), make meaning of their lived experiences of contact with the Goddess archetype. The research model is ethnographic and gives an insight into a sub-cultural world marginalised by the dominant cultural narrative. The research instrument is the in-depth interview that explores the shifting patterns of thoughts, feelings, vulnerabilities and behaviours of the interviewees as they encounter a different reality; how they cope with ontological shock, how they integrate their 'initiatory' experiences and live within a Goddess reality. My inquiries into 'Goddess education' and 'Goddess therapy' are longitudinal studies that examine the recollections of the research subjects and ask about the influences of their experiences over time. I also used the in-depth interview as the research instrument, to inquire into how the 'animal communicators', the contemporary shamanhealers, live and work and make meaning within a Goddess ontological and epistemological frame.

Date of Award	2007
Original language	English