Entering the Presence of the Dark Goddess By Ann Moir-Bussy

In my last column we explored the archetype of the Crone, and followed that with the zoom session on Cailleach, the Celtic goddess of winter who destroyed and cleared the land in readiness for the rebirth of spring. Another destructive goddess is Kali, also known as the ‘dark mother’ of the ‘dark one’, a revered Hindu goddess of time, death, and destruction, and often depicted as fierce and powerful, but also a symbol of transformative energy and the cyclical nature of existence. The dark goddesses present us with seeming contradictions.

The Paradox of the Dark Feminine
For almost all of us, there are periods in life where we only find meaning through a piercing and deadly darkness, often filled with hopelessness and despair which comes on top of us like a toxic cloud. It is not an external cyclone or horror event, rather an intra-psychic, depth psychological journey, a night sea journey or dark night of the soul, which we wrote of in an earlier column. It is the dark feminine who can give light and hope in such times.

The Dark Goddess
As noted last time, the archetypes are present within our collective unconscious, including both the goddesses of wisdom and the fierce dark goddesses, known for their transformative rage. They were warrior goddesses called upon to destroy evil and cleanse the land. They represented the untamed and often misunderstood aspects of the feminine and we will find them in many ancient mythologies and traditions, such as the Sumerian goddess Ereshkigal, and the Greek goddess Hecate, as well as the Black Madonna.

The dark goddesses came forward when it was time to take action, to change situations that were unacceptable, when enough is enough. TODAY, can we say ENOUGH – when we’re witnessing the destruction of earth and peoples by the overpowering greed of dominating egoistic self-serving individuals, who are served only by dominant destructive masculine energy (in men and women) and no understanding of bringing about transformational change and a wholistic understanding of ourselves and nature.

Interestingly, in mythology, the dark goddess was called forth when male gods were not able to defeat evil and only a powerful goddess was equal to the task.

Entering the presence of the dark goddess
We must awaken ourselves to the presence of the dark goddess within us. Encountering the ‘dark night’ within ourselves, (sometimes brought on by outer darkness such as relationship breakup, death of a loved one, illness, loss of security), is a time when we need her sacred energy, for we are confronted with the terrifying depths of the unknown. Clarissa Pinkola Estes challenges us to become Dangerous old women – radical and standing up for the values that embrace masculine and feminine. The dark goddess is more effective because her fierceness is balanced by WISDOM – the wisdom of the Self where the masculine and the feminine have to learn to cherish each other. They channelled conscious femininity. With wisdom, anger is channelled into a commitment to bring
about change.

Remember, the dark goddess is a mother archetype – and she is volcanic, voracious, a terrible devourer of the dark. She is the goddess who takes life, and she is also the goddess who gives life. This is a paradox, and it is beyond contradiction. It is not positive or negative – it is both, and our task is to learn from her: to let go and to be reborn. A wonderful example is the goddess of the sky, Innana’s descent to the dark goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal. Join me on zoom to explore her more.

To enable exploration, Ann is offering a series of five online zoom sessions to
explore these areas in more depth.  Registration is only $150 for 5 full access
sessions, (even if you can’t be there for the live sessions).
Descent to the Goddess will be on Thursday 27th March from 7.00pm to
8.00pm. Register now by email: annmb.ab@gmail.com or phone Ann on 0400 474 425