Lynda Terry is a meditation teacher, spiritual activist and the author of The 11 Intentions: Invoking the Sacred Feminine as a Pathway to Inner Peace

For weeks now, as the days have grown cooler and shorter, as the brilliance of fall foliage has slowly dulled and dropped, leaf by leaf, to earth’s surface, I have felt Her drawing closer. She pulls me inward, into my self, into Her, through a longing for silence … darkness … sleep … the swaddled warmth of womb space … the liminal space of not knowing … of waiting …

Why is it that I feel the closest to the Divine Feminine at this time of year? Is it because it was this time of year, 21 years ago, that I first began a practice of daily meditation that transformed my physical and emotional health? Or because, at this time of year 16 years ago, she called me to Her in the form of a spiritual teacher whose love and grace awakened and transformed my heart? Or because, nine years ago at this time, She whispered into my ear, the details of a vision for women gathering that transformed my service in the world? Or that five years ago at this time, She showed me what dying and rebirthing feels like, transforming my understanding of miracles? Or is it because last year, at this time, She called me to a sacred earth site, where I laid my hands upon Her primal memories, activating an ancient promise of collective healing that transformed my understanding of suffering?

What is it that makes me the most receptive and surrendered to the Divine Feminine in these waning days of the Light, in this season of dying as prelude to new Life? I have given birth to new life in the last days of autumn, and my body has rejected new life in early winter – twice. My mother conceived me at this time of year, and it was on the winter solstice five years ago, that I learned she was dying. How is it that I’ve not noticed, until today, this pattern She has been weaving with me? And what might be the significance of having noticed it, finally, today … this year? What is the next thread to be woven into this unique design that is my woman’s journey?

I don’t have answers to these questions yet – only the inner prompting to slow down … to be ready for their subtle stirrings. So, I meditate before dawn to haunting Divine Mother Sanskrit chants … slip out into frost-filled air to watch the lushly sensuous full moon pause behind starkly barren trees … stay alone in my room for hours, holding sacred circles of One … and nightly, I fall into Her dreamtime arms, entranced by the cadence She sets forth in my remarkably resilient heart.

Luciana Cousin is a freelance consultant specialising in women-owned businesses. She also writes short stories, poetry, and articles based on women’s issues and gender equality.

Fleeting thoughts, a need for more,

Ever present, and yet out of reach.

After all, I have achieved….my life is complete.

My family, my boys, and a life.

But then the whisper faintly stirs a passion that lies deep within my soul

And while my voice is silent, my thoughts are loud.

Conflicting thoughts, is it right to want more

Beyond just being ‘a someone elses’, – wife, mother, daughter.

‘I am blessed with what I have’; I whisper back,

‘I must be grateful for this life although it is not really mine’, I whisper back,

‘I know there is much more to me;

That this is simply a fragment of the essence of me’. I whisper back.

‘I am not ready yet’, I whisper back.

The whisper is hushed for a time

But the whisper finds ways to make me heed;

It kindles neglected emotions and revives forgotten feelings,

And childhood dreams.

And it steadily guides me to the point of ‘what if?

‘But I am not good enough’, I whisper back,

‘It is too late’, I whisper back, ‘to become me’.

The whisper breathes into my soul, and ignites an inner strength,

And for a moment I can see the woman that is really me.

‘I am scared’; I whisper back, ‘what if I fail?’ I whisper back,

‘I cannot do this’ I whisper back;

‘Do you not know my role in life and it cannot be just about me’. I whisper back.

‘Stay strong, stay true to you’, the whisper echoes through my soul.

And as I grow in self-love, self-esteem and self-respect;

I find my voice and stand up tall, I make a difference and explore

Beyond the boundaries that I set a long time ago.

The whisper in my soul inspires me to accept that I do not need

The praise and criticism of others in order to succeed.

And as the whisper filters through the core of who I am

Empowering the woman in me, to inspire, to achieve and to love

Myself and who I am and who I will become,

‘I am humbled and in awe,’ I whisper back.

Susan Baller-Shepard is a mom, writer, speaker and minister. When not cooking for tweens & teenagers, she’s editing www.spiritualbookclub.com, a blog of 155 interviews and writing her own blog “Transient” here at Patheos.

Click here for Susan’s blog: “God without containers”.