Rise of the Dark Goddess – Dr. Bairavee Balasubramaniam PhD: The Sky Priestess

It’s here! It’s today! We see Black Moon Lilith conjunct the Super-Galactic Center and the North Node at 1 Libra. Black Moon Lilith (the Mean Apogee) represents the Shadow or Darker aspects of the Feminine, associated with figures like MahaKali, the Morrighan, Goddess Hecate and so on.

The Super-Galactic Center (SGC) represents, in astrology, the closest point to Source. It is a supermassive black hole in the M 87 Galaxy, residing at the heart of the Laniakaea Supercluster, of which The Milky Way is a part of.

The exact alignment between SGC and Black Moon Lilith occurred at 13:11 UTC today (September 4, 2015) at 1 Libra 8′ ”50. The True North Node is close by at 1 Libra 8′ ”53, which Black Moon Lilith conjuncts at 13:22 UTC, some 11 minutes later.

Placements close to the SGC feel unusually intense as we are attracted or drawn towards the fulfillment of powerful contracts with Spirit/Source. These will be focused upon the ways that we connect to or relate with other people, be it through personal, professional or even intra-personal relationships within Self.

The True North Node, making its (nearly twenty-year) bi-decade conjunction with the SGC also intensifies this need to reconnect with Source and to seek balance within and without. Watch the way you relate to others now as they represent a new direction of spiritual growth for you. It’ll be challenging as we are called to develop greater detachment, acceptance and tolerance of the ‘Other’.

This may be a time in which the Fires of Self that so many of us have been stepping into as an act of reclaiming the Self, now consumes that very sense of Ego-Identity. It is here that what we thought we once were turns to ash and is consumed by a much larger need to re-connect with one’s sense of the Divine.

So what does the Dark Goddess have to do with all of this? What challenge does Black Moon Lilith bring to this already epic, intense energetic backdrop?

Black Moon Lilith represents the aspects of the Shadow Feminine that have been suppressed, unacknowledged, or relegated to some distorted conception of ‘The Other’ for thousands of years.

As so many have begun to reclaim the Shadow, many are now – at this time – focused upon that immediate sense of rage that comes with a recognition of the extent of this suppression and its energetic consequences for generations forth.

So many have associated the Shadow Feminine with that need to rage, to whip out the machete and strike off the head of the patriarchal villain. So many have associated MahaKali in particular with the need and right to rage and rebel against this unjust silencing of the Feminine.

But that too, is a part of a necessary process of cleansing and purging – a much needed release of pent-up energy before it can then be modulated in a more stable form.

In some sense, the recognition of one’s anger at the Silencing of the Feminine is but the first stage of working with the Dark Goddess. And unfortunately, that is where so much of the popular conception of Her energies ends.

…..Just as we begin the deeper Journey with Her.

Collectively, with Saturn’s final days in Scorpio, we are – all together – turning the corner in the way we Dance with the Dark Feminine. We are moving past a personal rejection or reaction towards injustice and in so doing we are allowing our hearts to Open.

We stop viewing the Justice of Ma-Kali, the Morrighan, the Dark Goddess, exclusively in terms of which heads need to roll, or through the need to ROAR in one’s power.

Multiple responses, multiple possibilities, multiple ways of responding to the individuals, relationships and connections we make in our lives then emerge. We begin to explore alternate meanings to the phrase of ‘standing in one’s own power’.

This process begins as we experience, acknowledge and embody the energy and lessons of the lower three chakras, then freeing ourselves to move towards a Heart-based (4th chakra) level of consciousness.

As Hearts Open, therein we find the Pathway, or Bridge towards Wholeness, Re-Connection and Balance (Libra).

It is this opening that the current Black Moon Lilith-True North Node – SGC alignment pushes us towards. And then ……

………..

What comes next is between You and Her 🙂

Blessings to All,

Bairavee Balasubramaniam

The Sky Priestess

Image: Kaliposter1940s – With a flaming background that evokes the end of the world (bazaar art, c.1940’s) – Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (digitally enhanced for this article)

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The energy of the Dark Goddess has been building for some time now, like the low rumble of thunder gradually getting louder and louder before the full-blown storm eventually hits. With Jupiter’s transit through Leo, that energy has found expression through the many pathways and paradigms of mentoring, guidance and teaching that focus upon the Wisdom of the Womb Center (which we all have) and The Sacral Chakra.

A powerful, emergent wave of teachers, guides and seekers have begun to remind us of our innate, authentic, child-like, joy; of a life that is led as a celebration; of the flow of creative juices that precede great works and energies of manifestation and uninhibited expression. Much of this work necessarily involves the Rising Principle of the Assertive Feminine and overlaps with Her Dark Counterpart.

This powerful wave of energy and guidance is heading to a point of climax, with the exact trine between Jupiter (27 Leo) and The Galactic Center of the Milky Way (27 Sagittarius). The energy of the Feminine and Her Rise is woven into this powerful cosmic alignment by way of Eris-conjunct-Persephone (23 Leo) that trine the two, creating a Grand Fire Trine.

Whilst I’d originally planned to write this piece featuring the Jupiter/Gal. Center trine as its center-piece, I felt it necessary to situate this aspect within the larger context of the Rise of the Feminine and the Re-claiming of the Shadow. It cannot be isolated from this narrative, nor consigned to a footnote – for the rumble of the Dark Goddess, is no longer just a rumble, but a fully-fledged Storm…

So, what does this Grand Fire Trine encourage us to do or become?

Eris (23 Aries), The Dark Goddess, asks us to Roar in the Heat of Battle, to Rage against all that is an Inauthentic Expression of Self. She rejects the institutional and systemic suppression of the Feminine Principle, her Wrath Rising as She Asserts Her Right to Simply Be. We are called to rebel against patriarchal scripts that prevent the fullest expression of the feminine principle. For instance, the furore against Instagram’s banning of the #goddess hashtag comes to mind as a clear example (bear in mind that Uranus is also nearby in Aries, ruling electronic communication and social media platforms).

Persephone (23 Aries), daughter of Ceres and wife or co-regent of Pluto, asks us to look to Our Individual and Collective Descent into the Realm of the Underworld. Here, the Daughter of the Earth was once taken into the Shadow Realm by force, abducted and raped by Pluto. At first a captive, she then becomes a Queen. Persephone asks us to face all that we consider traumatic, taboo, unpleasant, mysterious, frightening – all the things we wish we didn’t have to deal with, only to discover their power magnified through the willful act of denial and suppression. What Persephone reveals is that our fears and monsters transform in the power of our fearless gaze and often become our allies, as we view them through the lens of compassion.

Some argue that Persephone had a greater agency over her seemingly-forced abduction and literal descent into the sub terra – even so – the narrative of descent, abuse/trauma/strife and re-emergence – remains intact, and is reminiscent of Goddess Inanna, Psyche, and so on.

Together, on the Battlefield of the Shadow-Realms, Eris and Persephone stand side by side, showing us the way to Reclaim our Power and to Stand in the Sacred Fires of the Self. As we take that traumatic, messy, cathartic, intense and powerful journey within, we discover a familiar face: The Dark Goddess – once proud Matriarch of the Earth, buried deep beneath layers and layers of patriarchal narrative and re-invention, vilification and denigration.

And Still, She Glows – Still, She Bleeds – Still, She Nurtures. From sparks, to embers, to fiery coals that burn through the storybooks, the scriptures, the shame… Droplets of sacred, scarlet red oozing through the black veil cast over all that is taboo, fringe, forbidden – and equally – over so much of the sacred, ancient, traditions of the Goddess.

The Shadow is being Re-claimed, Re-written with Sacred Blood long forgotten.

And to this inferno, this raging fire of Awakening and Radical Self-Acceptance, we see, connected by way of trines, a Triangle of Flame lit by Jupiter (27 Leo) and the Galactic Center (27 Sagittarius), to which we now turn.

Jupiter awakens us all to the Path we need to take, that we may find the most expansive understanding of who we are with respect to the rest of Creation. In this context, guidance appears as flames, beacons, lit through the Underworld, a trail reaching from the Belly of the Earth to the Dark Womb of the Galaxy.

Direction and Guidance appears through guides, mentors, astrologers, spiritual teachers, priest/esses and others recognized as Wisdom-Speakers. In Leo, the focus lies upon these lessons upon the Sacral and Heart Chakra, the tender connection between sensuality, romance, passion, joy, creativity and children. We are called to speak our truth, create our worlds and celebrate our authenticity with the playful, tender, fearless and naturally graceful expression of the Lion-Child.

It is a natural connection for those who work with the Rising Feminine to make. Women in particular, bear within their wombs, the memory of repression – and with it a rage that convention forbids them to articulate. Much of the expression that comes through now will channel this deep-seated Rage – which is wonderful as a first step of validation, but will later be followed by compassion-forgiveness-acceptance-release-integration. It is vital to remember that this expression facilitates the clearing of the Sacral, but that we need not be defined by or overly attached to the emotions that come through – for they too undergo an alchemical change of state.

Jupiter amplifies the need to Rise, Assert, Rebel and Unapologetically Be – as taught to us by Eris. It shines the light upon the lessons of the Underworld – the deep subconscious, our experiences of trauma, shame, regret, guilt, deep rage, and so on – that we may begin the alchemy-qua-Persephone: The transmutation of the ‘negative’ or ‘painful’ Shadow into an acceptance and embodiment of its Sacred, Regal, and Primordial Power.

But what of the Galactic Center of the Milky Way – what I like to call the Dark Womb of our Galaxy – with its Super-massive Black Hole?

The Dark Womb of our Galaxy calls to us with a pulse – a rhythmic beating that continually seeks to expand our vision, imagination and understanding of the Self and our place within the Wider Cosmos. In Sagittarius, its energies mirror that of Jupiter, which it is trined. Information can be ‘downloaded’ or accessed through mentors and guides (both living and departed) – this includes spiritually evolved beings such as Saints, Bodhisattvas, and the like – but also through focused meditation where appropriate.

What the Galactic Center will whisper to you individually I cannot say, only that it will ask you to look at your self and life in terms of the larger, grander perspective. Know that you fit into an incredible, intricately woven tapestry of consciousness and energy that connects you with the rest of Creation.

This expanded perspective will fan the Fires of the Self, reveal the full import of the wisdom of the Goddess-in-Exile, and will situate that reawakening in the fullest expression of your authentic, creative, tender, vulnerable, sensual, playful and beautiful self. But make no mistake – it’s not going to be easy. It might be engaging, life-transforming, invigorating, rejuvenating, but no, not easy.

Many possibilities for expansion will be revealed, and much of that requires a release of older forms of knowledge, belief-systems and paradigms that we – for better or worse – have become comfortable with. Finding your Path may be what you’ve been yearning to know for so long, but seeing it in person may in fact, be terrifying.

The Dark Goddess, in all Her compassion and beauty, is an exacting, sometimes terrifying, teacher (comes with the territory). Her lessons, guidance and requirements may stand in stark contrast to the life you expected to be living. And for many, releasing what is known and surrendering to the scarlet-black Unknown can be as painful as walking on hot coals. How you experience Her Guidance depends upon you, your Path and your approach to spiritual evolution.

For those of you who ready and willing to Heed the Call, in whatever form it takes for you – enjoy the wild, wild ride back into her Womb, and out again – Goddess knows where – not knowing is a part of the fun 😉

In short – It’s a wonderful time to be alive as we witness and experience an intense, pulsating alignment of energy that brings together the Dark Goddess, The Spiritual Path and Dark Womb of the Galaxy in a Sacred Dance of Fire, Shadow and Spirit.

The exact Jupiter-Galactic Center trine (27 ‘4 ”27 Leo – Sagittarius) takes place at 16:54 pm (UTC time) on 28.7.2015.

Blessings To All,

Bairavee Balasubramaniam

The Sky Priestess