Initiations Priest/ess & Magdalene Mysteries
Process Origins | Initiation Overview | Primary Process Precepts Priest/ess Process™ Facilitators | Magdalene Mysteries™ Process Facilitators |Process Facilitating Principles Other Facilitators & Processes | Venus Templars | Living Ceremony
To be an initiate is to be a candidate for an entirely new direct experience of spiritual significance. A priest/ess initiation focuses energy in a pattern that serves the sacredness in all Life. Individuals choosing to be initiated as a high priestess or high priest in the Magdalene Mysteries Process must first complete the Priest/ess Process initiatory work. No one engaging in either Process is required to make a membership commitment, take oaths, or profess vows of secrecy. If they choose, those who complete the initiation cycle may be active participants of the free-form New Earth Priest/ess community. These Processes clearly live, breathe, evolve, and have lives of their own. Each has its own energetic integrity that expresses diversely through those who engage these unified fields of consciousness.
Priest/ess & Magdalene Mysteries Process Origins
Nicole Christine, who was ordained in the Madonna Ministry in 1986, ceremonially deepened her commitment to the Goddess in 1990 and spent the next two years discovering what it means to be a priestess in these times in the Temple of the Living Earth. In 1992, she sourced the Priest/ess Process ™, totally unaware that hundreds of women and men would be drawn to this work or that, for many, it would be a portal to the Magdalene Mysteries ™. In the Spring of 1996, Nicole and numerous other priestesses committed to a Pilgrimage to Wholeness with the intent to heal the sexual/spiritual split in the feminine psyche, to heal the separation of the feminine and masculine, and to reactivate the sacred erotic. Nicole, with two other priestesses, outwardly enacted this intent in a three-month European journey to sacred sites that included sanctuaries of Mary Magdalene. Priestess sisters at home held sacred space for them and inwardly made the journey. Male allies stood with them in consciousness.
Near the end of this journey, on the Greek Isle of Lesbos, Nicole received a sexual mysteries matrix that gave form to a Magdalene Mysteries School. This sacred work re-established the consciousness of the sexual priestess as one who embodies the sexual mysteries and heals the wounds caused by the severing of sexuality and spirituality. Since this conception, hundreds of initiated High Priestesses and many initiated High Priests have, in groups and as solitaires, reclaimed wholeness through the Sacred Union Mysteries of the Magdalene and the Christ.
Nicole describes her first rememberings of an ancient sect of priestesses in this 1986 flashback. "We were running through an underground tunnel carrying scrolls under our arms. Invaders hostile to the teachings of the Goddess were destroying the Temple and we were fleeing with as many recorded mysteries as we each could carry. As we ran, we vowed that the teachings would not be lost and alchemically encoded the contents of each scroll we carried into our genetic codes to be brought forth when it was again safe for the Goddess to return. We had not known how many, many, many lifetimes we would have to reincarnate in one disguise after another before we could come forward again as priestesses and live the teaching, live the Great Mysteries. That time is now! At last, that time is now!
"Printed in the scrolls I carried, encoded in my consciousness, is the teaching that we are, each and everyone of us, Priest and Priestess to the World . and that there will come a time when the World again becomes the temple and there will be no intermediaries for anyone between Heaven and Earth. Yet another re-awakening will soon follow this. Encoded in the RNA-DNA of each of us is the memory of our Divinity as Sons and Daughters of our Mother Goddess/Father God. In the not so distant future, we will again walk the Sacred Earth in this consciousness. We will know the Great Mystery in the only way it can be known - by living it, by being it."
In living the Great Mystery, the higher truth of Mary Magdalene's life that is being discovered and restored as increasing numbers of people reclaim Sacred Feminine consciousness. Her story is being retold in many seemingly contradictory ways, but all versions point to her as a being of great light and love.
Nicole did not have this understanding when she began re-awakening to her Priestess Self in the early 90s, even though she was keenly aware of the discord generated by desecration of sexual life force. From personal experience, she knew that the separation of spirituality and sexuality is causal to the rampant sexual abuse and overall emptiness within the psyche of men, women, and children in today's world. But today she knows that the Magdalene Mysteries School work is helping to re-establish the consciousness of the sacred sexual mysteries and to redefine the wounded Christian myth.
Regardless of religious or non-religious identification, the systematic suppression of the Sacred Union of the Magdalene and the Christ created a tear in the collective psyche of women and men throughout the world. This resulted in separation between woman and man, sexuality and spirituality, and heaven and earth. Together, we can return to wholeness and celebrate our Oneness, within and without.
In a spiritual context, a mystery is a sacred truth that one can know only by revelation. It comes from the Greek word mysterion or sacred rite. In ancient times, the initiate had a profoundly transformative experience that s/he kept secret. In our times, what is important is not the secrecy , but that the mystery is an ineffable (too sacred for words) revelation that changes the person into an initiate. Initiates, engaging in the Magdalene Mysteries School process, will discover the mystery of the Magdalene as it is revealed to each of them individually.
While the Magdalene Mysteries School process is actively engaged in by increasing numbers of initiates, through the power of your own Inner Authority and Divinity you may merge with the Magdalene Mysteries through direct attunement with the Magdalene Archetype and Sacred Union consciousness.
In Nicole's book Under Her Wings: The Making of a Magdalene, she shares her relationship with the Magdalene and her journey to wholeness. In so doing, she invites the reader to journey with her and the many others who uphold the Magdalene Mysteries School directive.
Woman, behold the Christ in man.
Man, behold the Magdalene in woman.
Thus you will realize Sacred Union.
Deeper insights into the priestess archetype are offered in the compact disc "The Priestess Within: Your Direct Divine Connection" written and read by Nicole and Process Facilitators Anyaa McAndrew and Lisa Michaels. It is a tremendous tool to assist you in opening and deepening your direct connection to the divine.
Initiation Overview
Each Process is a Lunar Initiation (feminine) in which initiates surrender to the Goddess of Being-ness in contrast to a Solar Initiation (masculine) in which initiates perform for the God of Doing-ness. In other words, in a solar approach, the initiate must perform or do acts of courage. Whereas, in a lunar approach, the initiate must surrender to courage until s/he becomes, s/he is courage. Many initiates and facilitators find it more challenging to surrender than perform!
As a lunar or feminine initiatory experience, The Process works with natural cycles and elemental forces. Generally, this initiation process transpires over a nine-month period in which the initiate is pregnant with his or her priest/ess self that emerges and is self-proclaimed at the completion of the initiatory term.
Generally, a circle of 8-12 initiates meets 10-15 hours a month (one day and one evening or a full weekend). It is recommended that initiates meet several times throughout the initiation period independent of the facilitator in order to strengthen their independent sense of self and to co-create and interact without the guidance of a Process facilitator. Additionally, each initiate has, at minimum, a one-hour private session with a Process facilitator prior to the Rite of Initiation Ceremony and one prior to the Emergence Ceremony at the end of the initiation cycle. Each facilitator determines and maintains her or his energy exchange agreements for facilitator services.
Primary Process Precepts
The Priest/ess Process and the Magdalene Mysteries Process are each a living intelligence expressing as an enlivening initiatory process for women and men to open to an entirely new, direct spiritual experience in which they, as initiates, 1) embrace their own Inner Authority and Co-Creative Divinity, 2) work with the Power of Sacred Intent, 3) Co-create Living Ceremony, and 4) Self-Proclaim as a Priestess or Priest upon fulfillment of their Priest/ess Process initiatory cycle or as a High Priestess or High Priest after completing their Magdalene Mysteries School initiation process. All aspects of both Processes are facilitated according to these primary precepts.
Priest/ess Process™ Facilitators
These individuals are emerged high priestesses and priests who have been mentored by/apprenticed to an experienced Priest/ess Process Facilitator. They have the authority to use this trade name provided they 1) appropriately credit Nicole Christine as the originator and credit their mentor or apprenticeship trainer, 2) uphold the energetic integrity of the Primary Precepts, 3) bring through and activate their own Mystery School, and 4) generally adhere to the Facilitating Principles. Each Facilitator functions autonomously according to these guidelines. Upon request, several of these facilitators travel to facilitate initiation circles beyond their resident state. Contact individual facilitators for more information.
Celest/Teri Bybee ( Kansas ) Paula Hamm ( Oregon ) Alarya Jay ( Arizona ) Susan Kersey ( Georgia ) StarFire/Shari Lowe ( Georgia ) Anyaa McAndrew ( North Carolina ) Lisa Michaels ( Georgia ) |
Shae Moyers Rightmire ( Illinois, Kansas, & Missouri ) Carol Rydell ( Missouri ) Nancy Safford ( Arizona ) Pam Savory ( Oregon ) Shanti ( Arizona, California ) Sharon Fallon Shreve ( Washington, D.C. ) www.IlluminedWays.com Barb Westover ( Oregon ) |
Magdalene Mysteries™ Process Facilitators
These individuals are High Priestesses or Priests who have completed the Magdalene Mysteries Initiation Process and trained with Nicole Christine or a Magdalene Mysteries School Process Facilitator trained by her. They uphold the sovereignty of each high priestess and high priest to appropriately channel life force energy. The choice to be celibate or responsibly active sexually rests on the inner authority of each initiate. Facilitators honor this Magdalene lineage as spiritual keepers and celebrants of the sexual mysteries and uphold the creative power and sacredness of sexual energies by aligning with masculine and feminine principles, within and without. They have the authority to use this trade name provided they 1) appropriately credit Nicole Christine as the originator and credit their mentor or apprenticeship trainer, 2) uphold the energetic integrity of the Primary Precepts, 3) maintain their own Mystery School, and 4) generally adhere to the Facilitating Principles. Each Facilitator functions autonomously according to these guidelines.
Process Facilitating Principles
- Remember where attention goes, energy flows.
- Empty. Be the chalice, the hollow bone. Allow The Process to flow through you.
- Be IN the energy of The Process, of the Circle, of the Great Mystery.
- Witness/allow/attune to what is seeking expression/evolving through us as us.
- BE The Process, the priest/ess, the New Earth, the dreamer and the dream.
- Celebrate each one emerging in her or his own time and own way.
- Activate Life Force and emphasize Direct Experience. Information is secondary.
- Encourage initiates to take initiative in facilitating their own process.
- Surrender to your own initiation as a facilitator.
- Honor the priestess in every woman and the priest in every man.
- Read and work with patterns, systems, energy fields, archetypes & frequencies.
- Know Thyself. Be accountable. Prioritize self-care.
- Co-create with Spirit and one another. Experience Life as Ceremony.
- Hold safe, psychic space for what’s coming in, expressing, releasing, and leaving.
- Round out your thinking. Feel your wholeness, the wholeness of life.
- Transparently facilitate initiate authenticity as the force that defines their circle.
- Emphasize development of internal reference points, clear inner-direction.
- Honor the innate intelligence of The Process and uphold its energetic integrity.
Other Facilitators & Processes
All emerged priestesses and priests are encouraged and supported in developing and facilitating their equally valuable, important, and unique expression of their sacred work-independently or in ways that interface with and expand this larger priest/ess community. However, one who is not an emerged and mentored/ apprenticed high priestess or high priest and/or who does not choose to align with the Process requirements above does not represent her or his work as the Priest/ess Process™ or Magdalene Mysteries™ Process. These highly conscious and capable facilitators offer a wide range of processes and teachings ranging from the healing and creative arts, astrology, community involvement, and cultural diversity.
New Earth Sacred Order of Venus Templars
On Magdalene’s Feast Day, July 22, 2006, Akashic Record Keeper Thoth, through Maia Nartoomid, revealed our priest/ess lineage’s ancient connection to Magdalene’s seven Venus Temples. The potent Venus Temples energies, through group synergy, activate the temple codes (see Keynotes), which in turn activate and amplify personal codes. These animating light body codes are seed points of our innate gifts, capacities, and passions that are pressing to the surface of consciousness for release at a time when it is essential for us to actualize our fullest divine human potential and co-creatively construct a New Earth. A corresponding Venus Temples Process emerged out of the work done by those who bridged the seven temples energies at the Temple of the Midnight Sun in France in 2006. (See the Venus Temples Manual by Nicole Christine.)
On February 3, 2007, at the Ruby Flame Temple near Sedona, Arizona, thirty-five priestesses, priests, and partners initiated as founding members of the New Earth Sacred Order of Venus Templars. Members of this sacred order are in service to Divine Creation in accordance with the Divine Design and Divine Timing for their lives. This service includes attunement with Venus Temples that contain seeds of light that aid us in our planetary transition into the New Earth Star. Venus Templars willingly and appropriately: access and amplify the light codes within the planetary Venus Temples; tend the planetary Venus Temples, within and without; access, amplify, and express the Life Animating Codes in their Light Bodies and DNA; assist others in accessing, amplifying, and expressing their Life Animating Codes.
Living Ceremony
By Nicole Christine
Living Ceremony is co-created by a group of people who set an intent and lift it up to greatest good for all concerned. Together they create a bridge between the reality of spirit or soul and the physical reality. And they do so in ways individually and collectively meaningful to them. In her book The Spirit of Intimacy, Sobonfu Somé speaks of a ritual as a shared meal where everyone brings his or her own ingredients. When all the ingredients or elements are gathered the ritualists co-determine which ones work best. No two meals or rituals are alike so it is important to carefully determine what ingredients or elements are most appropriate for any given ceremony.
Carrying the meal metaphor further, sacred space is created by setting a beautiful table – an altar or shrine with objects significant to the participants and reflecting the ceremonial intent. The meal ceremony begins with appetizers – a centering in which spirits, including the spirit of place, and the ancestors are acknowledged and the intent is stated. This is followed by the main course – activation of the intent. The meal always ends with dessert – a closing to seal ceremonial energies and to give thanks to the spirits present, the spirit of place, ancestors, and one another. Just as at a dinner table, it is best to stay for the full meal and to respectfully excuse one’s self if there is a need to leave before the ceremony or meal has ended.
Aliveness is generated through incorporation of music, song, and dance in whatever ways are natural and enlivening for participants and by allowing for flow and spontaneity, tears and laughter. Many indigenous peoples say that the spirits only stay around if there is food and laughter. The components and intent of a ritual or ceremony, from a Hopi perspective, are 1) form/rules, 2) symbols/objects/place, 3) song/performance/words, and 4) dance/rhythm. The intent is to excite emotions and a sense of aesthetics and to bring forth power for good for all clans. The ritual or ceremony has universality – hope for life through faith, industry, cooperation, and love.
The potency (immediate and long term, personal and universal) of any ritual or ceremony is proportional to the participants’ sustained, focused consciousness and intent preceding, during, and after the activity. The primary consideration regarding co-created ceremonies is that the components are personally significant and relevant to the participants so that a harmonic cord is struck within their feeling realm. The essence of a ceremony has four key aspects: 1) energetic attunement with place, purpose, and participants seen and unseen; 2) personal relevance, 3) co-creative synergy, and 4) focused celebratory attention – even grieving ceremonies are celebratory in the sense of engaging life on life’s terms.
Life is ceremony. Life is celebration. By ceremonializing and celebrating our joys and sorrows, our dreams and our nightmares, we honor Life and fully embrace the human experience. We co-create a unified energy field in which we fully and consistently feel the frequency of sacredness. Living Ceremony is of the Eternal Ever-Changing Now. Living Ceremony quickens because it is spontaneously alive, never repeating itself, always evolving into the more Life is becoming. By ceremonializing our lives, we establish an open path between the worlds and continually experience our wholeness.