Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms

By Frances Billinghurst

The Dark Goddess is often associated with the Underworld where she leads the uninitiated through a transformative journey of self-discovery, change and soul renewal. She is connected with the unwanted, the forgotten, the ignored or even ashamed parts of our psyche. However there is more to her than that. Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms guides you through what this challenging facet of the Divine Feminine, the Dark Goddess, is truly about, and encourages you to step through the veils into her hidden realm to explore 13 aspects of herself. Whether you seek healing from past trauma, release from fears or acceptance of the “unacceptable” aspects of your self, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms offers ways for you to transform and heal your life through the power of meditation, ritual and inner journeying with the Dark Goddess into her shadowy realms. Use the 13 goddess myths as a guide to discover how to remove the stagnant and unwanted and embrace the ever changing aspects of life that can drag us into the pits of despair. When we connect to the Dark Goddess, we are able to find the light within the darkness and our lives are enriched through the integration of all aspects of our soul as a perfect whole.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
• Release date: Mar 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781789046007

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Basilisk

Part I

The Dark Goddess

Who is the Dark Goddess?

The goddess or Divine Mother holds the key to the spiritual regeneration of humanity in this ecological age. Without reconnecting to the deeper feminine energy of the universe, we are unlikely to solve our current global crisis that is based, to a greater extent, upon ignoring the divine presence of the goddess in nature and in ourselves.¹¹

When the goddess is talked about with modern Pagan and goddess-centric spiritual traditions, she is often referred to in her triple form as Maiden, Mother and Crone, with each aspect associated with a phase of the moon. This connection between the goddess and the moon was first made by Jane Ellen Harrison¹² and later mentioned by Robert Graves in his poetic work, The White Goddess¹³ as opposed to there being any actual historical association. It is this latter aspect, the Crone, who is commonly associated with the dark phase of the moon and therefore the Dark Goddess. As the Crone, the Hag, she is the older representative of the goddess who has passed her child-bearing days and who now, through retaining her blood, retains her wisdom. The Crone reminds us of our mortality, as it is she who waits for us at the end of our days, where she will initiate us into our new self only after showing us our transgressions in this existence and subsequent lessons. Baba Yaga, Cerridwen and Frau Holle are just some of the names given to the Crone. However, they do not solely represent the Dark Goddess.

The late Shekhinah Mountainwater¹⁴ used the term Dark Maiden to describe the aspect of the goddess who is the sorceress, the seducer, and the ruler of our suppressed desires. Compared to the Crone, the Dark Maiden is young, sensual and often enchantingly beautiful. She is Lilith, Circe and Persephone, weaving her spells and illusions upon us. The Dark Maiden is also the ferocious warrior who is not able to be controlled. These goddesses may or may not have consorts, a point that holds little importance when it comes to stepping into her own power. Here she is Sekhmet, Durga and Pele.

Probably the most terrifying aspect of all the goddesses is that of the Dark or Terrible Mother, she who not only births us but also devours us. She shakes and destroys in order to transform and recreate, pushing us to our limits as if we need to prove to her (and ourselves) that we are worthy. Her motherly love is tough love which we have little choice but to embrace. The lessons that the Dark Mother shows us are often realised through the process of reflection and contemplation. When the goddess appears in this form, she is known as Kali, Oya and Scathach. She sees straight through our veils or the masks that we wish to hide behind.

There are also many other aspects of the Dark Goddess who cannot easily be pigeonholed into the Maiden, Mother and Crone triplicity. This is because the Dark Goddess is the shapeshifter, the shadow stalker, who flits in and out of our dreams (or nightmares), stealing her way into our lives when we least expect it. She may reside in the Underworld, in the hidden depths of our subconscious, and in the shadowy realms just out of our peripheral vision, but she is also very much at home exposing herself (and our inner most fears) to the world, especially when we do not acknowledge her.

Should we continue to ignore her presence, her subtle communication and ways of getting our attention, she changes tactic and we find our lives suddenly (although it has never been sudden – we have just been ignoring the signs) collapsing around us. Be it through illness, stress, depression or another emotional crisis, even the realisation or total disbelief or dissatisfaction of our lives, the Dark Goddess has a way of getting our attention. According to Emma Restall Orr:

… by her touch, we are woken to the darkness inside our own soul, allow us to better perceive - and at the same time reflecting – that which is all around us. Without sufficient reverence, we are lost.¹⁵

Orr goes on to remind us that while many religions tend to focus on the light, the actual source of all creativity, whether it be imagination or creation itself, is darkness. It is the dark womb of creation that is the core of woman, together with its currents and tidal flows of hormones, of blood, fertility, and emotion. This darkness is what makes a woman. It is her very nature and what is the centre of her creativity.¹⁶

Regardless of how we define her, it is the Dark Goddess who is often neglected or misunderstood. Orr further describes this aspect of the goddess as being the formless unknown of complete release and pure potential within our souls¹⁷. As such, we need to realise that it is within the darkness that the keys to the secrets and powers of the divine feminine can truly be found as well as our connection with the earth, the night, and the mysterious realm of dreams. It is within the darkness that a seed germinates and the brilliance of a star can be seen. Even magic and transformation take place here amongst the shadows. It is by understanding the Dark Goddess and integrating her into our spiritual lives that we can gain the true power of inner growth, not to mention the enlightenment of spiritual awareness.

The Dark Goddess and the Shadow Self

It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster.¹⁸

The Dark Goddess is often associated with the Shadow Self, a concept found within Jungian psychology. Carl Jung described the shadow as:

… a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognising the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge, and it therefore, as a rule, meets with considerable resistance.¹⁹

The Shadow Self is also seen as an archetype that represents the neglected side of our nature. It is this aspect of ourselves that can drag us down into a pit of despair. This darker side of our personality relates to the reptilian, or our more primitive, instinctive brain functions that we share with all reptiles and mammals. These most powerful functions form part of our oldest coping brain functions and without which, we would not be alive. These functions include emotions and impulses such as anger (often coupled with fear), sex drive (need to procreate) and selfishness (survival). If any of these functions are taken to the extreme or enacted upon in a less than desirable manner (dictated by society’s norms), then we may find ourselves shunned, our actions disproved of, and we end up being categorised as undesirable.

According to psychotherapist David Richo, the shadow is:

… that part of us that is incompatible with who we think we are or are supposed to be. It is the realm beyond our limits, the place where we are more than we seem. The shadow is ironically humorous because the opposite of our self-image proves to be true in spite of all our tricky attempts not to believe or display it. Fear of that wider self keeps it in the dungeon, but there are ways to release the prisoner.²⁰

As humans are naturally social creatures, we tend to seek approval and acceptance into our tribe at some level. Therefore, to be, or have the fear of being, rejected can weigh heavy on our subconscious and cause devastating consequences. It is important to keep in mind that our modern Western society has largely been influenced by Christian morals for over 2,000 years which has impacted greatly on our subconscious, regardless of whether we perceive ourselves to be a Christian or not. The concept or fear of guilt should we demonstrate, or even realise we have, emotion-led behaviours that are deemed inappropriate, or we do not live up to the expectations of others (usually a higher authority) is an extremely heavy burden to carry. Regardless of whether it is engaging in promiscuous sex (usually attached to women more than to men), illicit drug taking, and alcohol abuse, or even choosing a different manner of parenting or diet, we can often find ourselves subjected to the disapproval and even be shamed by some sections of society. The negativity we are subjected to, no matter how much we attempt to ignore it, can lead to feelings of shame and guilt. These in turn may manifest into anxiety and depression. Our ever-changing social norms, when it comes to body image for example, have led to eating disorders, low self-esteem, self-harm and even drug addiction and personal shame. We are encouraged to seek an exceptionally high level of perfection with little thought given to the harm caused when we realise just how unattainable this level actual is, and we are sent