5 Ways to Replenish Your Divine Feminine (and Why Now is the Ideal Time to Do It)

The beginning is always a birth, and a birth needs a mother. The same is as true for the beginning of a new year as it is for the start of any new life. The Mother comes first.

Many cultures throughout history have birthed their Sun gods in late December or early January. In Hellenistic times in Greece, on the night of the January 5^th, Aion, or time, was born from his mother Kore, the Virgin. Early Christians chose December 25 as the day of Christ’s birth from a Virgin, the same day the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis gave birth to her son Horus, a sky god who contained the sun and the moon and was thus the god of light.

Why was December 25^th the birthday of solar deities? Because the Roman calendar considered December 25^th the traditional date of the winter solstice, even though it was off from the astronomical solstice. By December 25^th, you can actually see that the sun is returning. Early Christians chose that date because it was the return of the light, thus connecting the birth of Jesus with the birth of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun.

Christians were not the only ones to recognize the days between the Winter Solstice on December 21^st, when the return of the light begins, and January 10^th as the period of time that rightfully belongs to the returning light as it is birthed by the Mother.

Images of Isis with Horus on her lap became the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus when the temples of Isis were turned into Christian cathedrals. In her temple at Philae, Isis was herself worshipped as a Sun Goddess and as the Sun itself. An inscription at that temple says Isis is the “One Who illumines the Two Lands with Her radiance…”

Isis herself was born at this time of year. The Egyptian calendar had 360 days and added the “epagomenal”—five days at the end of the year to complete the 365 days of the solar year. During those extra five days, the Egyptian goddess Nut gave birth on the first day to Osiris, on the second to Horus the Elder, on the third to Set, and on the fourth to Isis.

Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Mary on January 1^st, the Octave (8^th) day of Christmastide. In 1960, Pope John XXIII gave the day fully to Mary and the part she played in the “mystery of salvation.”

All of that is to say the Divine Feminine energy is uppermost, and most available to you, from mid-December to mid-January, when the mother births the return of the light. The feminine part of your consciousness, whether you are male or female, is responsible for nurturance, intuition, empathy, creation, community, collaboration, and the feeling rather than thinking sense.

So how can you replenish your divine feminine at this auspicious time of year? Or as the ancient Sumerians put it: “In Hestia, the darkest month, a tiny light is born. Our Lady, Inanna, the Queen of Heaven, in Her Mother’s arms, shines forth on the grey dawn.”

Here are a few suggestions for bringing the light of the divine feminine more strongly into your life:

Try cooperation instead of competition

Climbing the ladder of success by stepping on other people is the masculine image of competition. Other people are seen as possible threats and you have to fight for what’s yours. But when you operate out of your divine feminine, others are seen as allies or mentors that you want to bring into your circle, not keep them out. The circle, not the hierarchical ladder, is the symbol of the divine feminine energy of inclusion.

Intuition, not just rationality.

The cognitive mind does a great job at thinking, but often misses the wisdom that is available from the senses of the body. Your mind may say “I’m confident I can do this,” while your stomach is “tied up in knots.” Listen to your body. Listen to the intuitive sense that says “stay away from this guy” rather than thinking, “what a great job he has.” Meditation is the master key to strengthening your intuition.

Seek balance.

You may be working on “loving everyone,” but have you allowed into yourself the love that is offered to you by others? Is the energy you expend balanced with the energy you take in? Are you taking care of yourself as well as caring for others? Are of head and heart in balance? Are your chakras in alignment?

Help Mother Earth.

We have dishonored the Great Mother in the way mankind has treated Gaia, our beloved planet Earth. Spend some time caring for the earth in any way you can—recycling; planting trees; cleaning the waters; using alternative forms of energy; clearing your house of toxic chemicals; eating more plant-based food than animals; living in harmony with the plant and animal kingdoms.

Listen, and keep your heart open.

The divine feminine is birthed in an open heart and receptive frame of mind.

So before you take down all those Christmas lights, or put away the menorah that held the Hanukkah candles, or light the seven candles in the Kwanzaa kinara, or get out the lanterns for Chinese New Year, or remember all the floating lights of Diwali, think about how you can birth this new year and strengthen your divine feminine connection to the light.

This is the ideal time of year to awaken the Divine Feminine energy within you, to discover this sacred power of healing and grace, so you can see the world with clear eyes and a full heart. To begin your journey towards activating your sacred feminine energy and connecting to your soul’s wisdom, so you can live a life of beautiful radiance, click here.