Becoming a Priestess
Part 1: Historic Lineages
Hello and Welcome,
We live in an interesting time of transformation, where sacred ancient traditions re-emerge and the divine feminine leaps forward to guide us through the changes. Old souls, Starseeds, Indigo, Rainbow, Fairies, Goddesses, witches and all kinds of beauties are stepping up to elevate and support the new 5th dimensional reality. There is a growing trend of women embracing their sacred roots and stepping onto the path of a priestess.
This blog will give you a good start in choosing your priestess lineage by providing general information on history of ancient priestesses.
You will find answers to these questions and more…
Where do you begin the path of a priestess?
What is a role of a priestess?
How do you become one?
What are the different lineages?
Becoming a priestess looks different for everyone. Some women hear a calling, others have a mystical experience. I became initiated into a Rose Priestess before even knowing that modern-day priestesses exist. I signed up for a mystery school on an impulse while searching for a spiritual business coach. Ultimately, I trusted my guides who led me to my priestess lineage and as a result my business shifted in a right direction without a help of another person, rather with the divine guidance. Whatever way you will hear the call, your heart, intuition, your inner voice will start to speak to your Soul, and your curiosity will awaken, and naturally, you will be drawn to raise the priestess frequencies within you.
Becoming a priestess is both divine and earthy initiation. This means that every experience is unique and is exactly the one you will need to embrace the priestess within you. My advice is begin where you are, follow your intuition and embody your priestess path through devotional practice. Ultimately, you will create your own priestess rituals, traditions, healing methods and ceremonies. It is a beautiful journey of Self-Mastery, the Divine Feminine and Universal energies.
Before you begin:
Becoming a priestess is a responsibility, there is a lot to learn and embody. Ultimately, it is your unique path and must be authentic to you.
There is no right or wrong way to become a priestess. Learning and receiving initiations through mystery schools is encouraged, but not necessary for developing a deep personal priestess practice.
As a priestess you will intuitively choose or will be guided to a Goddess lineage . It helps to explore your earthly and divine lineages, so you can practice with integrity and project values your lineage amplifies.
You may want to explore concepts of polarity, shamanism, healings, alchemy, metaphysics and metaphysical tools, crystal healing; astrology and the moon phases; nature, “As above, so below” and the four directions; the elements and green witchery; Ancient traditions (such as described below, and more
Priestess are not affiliated with a religion, however, some choose to incorporate prayers and the religious traditions into their practice.
Not all women meant to be priestesses, just like not all men are born to be priests. But I believe that all women, hold all the traits of a priestess, and unconsciously use them every day.
What is a priestess and her roles?
A priestess is initiated to perform sacred rituals and ceremonies. She is a leader in a spiritual movement or a community. A priestess represents a particular Goddess lineage. She is the voice of the Divine Feminine, a holder of sacred knowledge and traditions, peacemaker, seeress, healer, nurturer, light worker, guide, a shaman, a medicine woman, balance keeper, a prophetess, alchemist and pure beacon of love. She is a translator between the divine, the nature and the humanity. She has access to all places, lifetimes, and dimensions because of her deep connection with metaphysical and mysterious realms. Priestesses honour the Divine Mother, the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine. They are here to raise the collective consciousness and amplify the frequencies of love in the world.
Through devotional rituals, priestesses deeply listen to the divine sources and communicate the knowledge to their community. Priestesses are healers of the human soul. They represent various archetypes and energies of the Divine Feminine through the ages, time and dimensions. As keepers of sacred places and altars, they conduct rituals and ceremonies to amplify balance and harmony in the world.
The role of a priestess is to be of service to the humanity, the planet and her lineage.
Where do you begin the path of a priestess?
Once you know you want to follow a priestess path begin to educate yourself on your lineage and establish a daily devotional practice to your main Divine Feminine archetype.
The priestess path is a balanced embodiment of the two worlds: human and divine. This means that you will need to align yourself with both energies equally. To do that, allocate time every day when you are undisturbed and can fully dedicate yourself to exploring your priestess and the lineage of your Divine Feminine, the Goddess who you will guide you on your journey. Get to know her and her history, learn about her heritage and ancestry. Keeping the legacy of priestesses who came before you alive is vital, and you will do that by embracing their traditions, passing on their stories, learning from their words, studying their history and fully aligning with your lineage. This way you will accept the human side of the Goddess and most importantly continue her traditions.
Next part of your devotional time dedicate to practice, I suggest to combine a meditation, journaling, a ritual or and/or an oracle card reading. Begin with the tools you know and feel comfortable using, but start to push your boundaries. Meditation is the way we hear our guides that is why it is a essential to your daily practice. Call upon a Goddess, tune in into your heart and your your breath, make it easy for yourself. Journal your feelings, sensations and energy, soon your guides will get louder, keeping the journal will help you keep track of the spiritual development and teachings you will receive. This is how you will encompass your unique priestess and connect to the divine side of priestess work. The daily practice will support you on your decision of the lineage and the type of priestess you desire to become. There are many types of priestesses, but remember to always follow your inner knowing, your intuition and your heart.
At any point on your journey, find a community of the Goddess lineage, consider joining a women circle or a gathering. Priestess thrive in sisterhood, magnifying the energy of peace, love and magic they project together.
Goddess Lineages in History
There are many types of priestess that have existed throughout history and all priestess are devoted to a lineage. Below I cover ancient civilizations that have the most influence on the rise of the modern-day priestess. At the end of each section, you will find names of most influential Goddess, names of the women who fully embodies the energy of Divine Feminine and a significant symbol, you can use to bring forward a certain energy.
History
In ancient times, priestesses were the link between the physical world and other worlds, they honoured the Goddess, followed the cycles of nature and lunar phases. They held many roles in the society and were highly respected. However, over time, with the rise of Christianity and patriarchy, feminine spiritual practices were labeled evil and roles of all women were diminished. Many priestesses were sentenced to death for the beliefs and healing powers, centuries before the infamous witch hunt. Their temples were either destroyed or were converted to a priest-led religious institutions. Their names were either erased from history or transformed into a Christian saint.
The practicing pagans did not keep a written record of their traditions and practices. What we know today was passed on through stories, legends and students of priestesses who were able to escape persecution in hiding. As you do your research always check your sources, a lot of information surfacing the internet is channeled and will not apply to historic roots of your lineage.
So, let’s take a dive into the lives of ancient priestesses and their Goddesses through a short overview of ancient civilization which continues to fuel modern-day priestesses.
Ancient Egypt ☥
The ancient Egyptians believed that their Gods and Goddess created the world without chaos and distractions. The intention was to maintain a peaceful state on Earth. The Goddess initiated women into their priestesshood, so they would perform rituals thus supporting the harmony among people and Gods. Women were priestess of female deities, men mostly catered to male deities.
In the Old Egyptian religion, women of various backgrounds held a title of “hemet netjer” (maid of god). They served in temples side by side with male servants of god (hem-netjer). For many years, together, they performed all kinds of duties related to caring for the god in the temple and keeping order of the humanity. They were equal in the powers and abilities.
There are two significant concepts which directed and sustained not only the work of a priestess but also the people of the Ancient Egypt.
Ma’at or maat, is both an Egyptian Goddess and a series of essential values representing the order by which ancient Egyptian lived. Maat means order. The role of a king, priests and priestess was to keep maat to offset isfet (chaos). Maat was a crucial part of all people and embraced concepts of truth, reciprocity, balance, wisdom, harmony, law, morality and justice.
Goddess Maat is the most significant deity of Ancient Egypt. She represents the concept of creation, of how the universe was maintained. Maat is known to have wings on each arm and ostrich feather on her head. She was sent by her father, the sun-god Ra, to replace the chaos (isfet) in the world. The kings and priests were appointed to maintain maat thus installing the moral principles on the people of Ancient Egypt. Maat’s male counterpart is Thor.
Maat (order) was sustained by an underlying force called heka (magic). Heka was present before the gods and paved the way for gods to perform their deeds. The order (maat) was established by the gods through heka. The priesthood was created to care for the gods and keep maat though daily heka.
Heka, is also the personification of magic and medicine. Heka is believed to be a primordial force present at the time of the creation of the world. It is depicted as a God who’s main function to preserve the organic world order.
Ancient Egyptian Goddess: Sekhmet (Bastet), Hathor, Isis, Maat, Neith, Imentet, Nut
Women of the D: Hatshepsut, Cleopatra, Nefertiti.
Symbol of Egypt: The Egyptian Fellaha (peasant woman) was the first Lady of Liberty.
Ancient Greece⚕️
In ancient Greek religion, hiereiai was a priestess devoted to the temple of a Goddess. Priestesses were regarded as honorary city officials. They were women of the elite class and aristocracy. A priestess possession could be bought, inherited or won via election. A priestess served a limited time, usually until she reaches adulthood and gets married. Sometimes, a married priestess would continue to serve the married goddess Hera. Also king's wives acted as priestesses
Greek priestesses continued to influence and shape Greek traditions all the way until the Roman Empire took reign, and prosecution of pagans began. Every priestess was initiated to follow a particular Goddess lineage. She served in a temple and cared for her altar. She was a holder of sacred objects, the attributes of their Goddess. By performing Goddess rituals, the Greek priestess kept harmony and order in her particular niche. As a guide in her community (cult of a Goddess), a priestess was role model and often was given property, which was a breach of a Greek law.
The priestess participated in annual festivals in Athens and throughout Egypt. They carried out public prayers, meditations, sacrificing rituals and led processions carrying sacred items.
Ancient Greek Goddess: Aphrodite, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Gaia, Persephone
Women of the Divine Feminine: Sappho, Cleopatra the Alchemist, Agnodice, Sosipatra
High Priestess: Pythia known as the Oracle of Delphi
Ancient Rome ⚖︎
In Ancient Rome, women’s voices were in a background or even silent. Goddess were immensely respected and honoured, but women not so much. In general, women were excluded from the religious official duties, but there were two orders of priestesses which were highly respected: Vestal (Virgins) and Sacerdos Cereris (the Priestess of the Goddess Ceres). Both orders were similar in the way they worshipped their significant Goddess.
The Vestal Virgins were six priestesses. They lived in the House of the Vestal Virgins on the Roman Forum near the Temple of Vesta. The honoured Vesta (Hestia in Ancient Greece), Goddess of hearth. Their main ritual was to tend to the perpetual fire in the Temple of Vesta. The continuous burning of this sacred fire of Vesta was a sign that determined eternal Rome. Thus, Vestal Virgins were the keepers of life and soul of the city, symbolizing purity and prosperity.
The Vestal priestess prepared ritual foods and cared for the Vesta statue and sacred objects in the temple. A week of June 7th, they would officiate at the Vesalia, a time to worship Vesta as a community.
Vestal Virgins were chosen by the chief priest between the ages of six and ten. They had to be from respectable families with both parents alive and have no mental or physical issues. Vestal Virgins had to commit to a vow of chastity for the next 30 years, after which they could marry.
They had an option of emancipation from patria potestas (fatherly power), and a right to maintain their own property. Both were privileges closed to all other women.
Vestal Virgins honoured Goddess Vesta from 7th century BC until they were banned with all others non-Christian groups in 394 AD
Ancient Rome Goddess: Juno, Minerva, Luda, Diana, Venus, Vesta
Women of the Divine Feminine: Livia Drusilla, Chief Vestal Cornelia, Hortensia, Helena, Lucretia, Vestal Rhea Silvia
High Priestess: Bona Dea Goddess
Mesopotamia 🌕
Mesopotamian goddesses are the oldest in the world. The most known ancient Goddess is Inanna, the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
In ancient Mesopotamia each city was built around a temple of a particular deity. Their duties were anthropomorphic. They were known to be tremendous size and posses by extraordinary power. Their temples were complex large structures with lots of room for rituals, workshops and services. Mesopotamian priestess had to remain celibate, but could marry and be stepmothers. But the majority remained unmarried, serving their temple and their goddess. The priestesses in Mesopotamia were the first doctors and dentists.
Back in 4000 to 2000 B.C.E, Goddess Inanna, the Lady of Heaven, was the most prominent female deity. Her temples and shrines lined the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The temples were occupied by Inanna’s priestesses. At the spring equinox, the priestesses would take a man to bed with them. It was a way to honour the hieros gamos (divine marriage) between Inanna and Dumuzi, the first known love story. They would reenact the ritual of the divine marriage, an ancient ritual of unity of the opposites: male and female, light and dark, heaven and earth. Goddess Inanna represents what we become when we integrate and accept of our shadows. This theme occurs in Inann’s stories as she descents into the underworld to find her sister Ereshkigal. Inanna has to pass the seven gates to reach her sister. At each gate she must take off an article of clothing, so when she finally reaches Ereshkigal, Inanna is naked. With the power of Ereshkigal Inanna is able to ascend.
The High Priestess of Mesopotamia at the most important temple in Sumer was Enheduanna. She is also known as the High Priestess of the moon God Nanna and the Goddess Inanna. Enheduanna’s father was king Sargon of Akkad, the king of the world.
She was born during the Akkadian Empire around 2285 B.C.E. She is known as the first female poet and the first literary author in history. She composed 42 hymns, which influenced and inspired prayers and psalms of Hebrew Bible and Homeric epics, and used throughout the ancient world. It is said that Enheduanna, reached a semi-divine status in her lifetime.
Enheduanna was given a title of En, which signified her strong political power. Her duty was to integrate the Sumerian gods and goddesses with the Akkadian ones to initiate stability in the empire.
Some spiritual lineages believe Enheduanna to be the embodiment of Inanna, but assyriologist found her to be the priestess of the Goddess.
Mesopotamia Goddesses: Ereshkiga, Inanna and Ishtar, Shala, Tiamat, Kishar, Ninmah
Women of the Divine Feminine: Ama-e, Enheduanna, Oracle of Nuska, Artemisia I of Caria
Original symbol of Mother Goddess: Ω represents uterus
Ancient India 🪷
The founder of Isha Foundation Sadguru replied in one of his interviews about the temples maintenance in India: “Why are men maintaining all the temples? Maybe the women are maintaining the men!”.
In India, Hindu priests mainted the temples and some private shrines were maintained only by women. The women’s part is to nurture, balance and work with the energy from within the house or a temple. In general, both men and women could serve male and female gods, performing pujas (sacred rituals) and religious services.
Modern-day priestesses heavily align, embrace and embody the energy of Hindu goddesses. It is understandable because Hinduism is the oldest world’s religion and combines many traditions and philosophies. It carries foundational teachings and wisdoms for the evolution of humanity. Hindus worship many gods and goddess as well as minor deities, they honour symbols, perform numerous rituals, celebrate various festivals and read sacred texts. Hinduism is divided into four main branches: Shaivism, Vaishnava, Shaktism and Smarta.
Shaktism is the goddess-centred tradition on which priestesses of today base their practices and embrace metaphysical aspects of the goddess archetypes.
Shakti means energy, power or force. It is a dynamic and creative feminine principle in the universe. A supreme being and a divine cosmic energy, Shakti is known for creating, destroying, and restoring balance to the universe. She is the embodiment of feminine energies and is a consort of Shiva (divine masculine energy). Shakti is worshipped as mother goddess, a universal source of energy and creativity. In yoga, Shakti is a dormant power within the body. It is lying as a coiled serpent (kundalini) at the base of the spine and must be awakened and experienced to reach awakening or spiritual liberation.
In Shaktism, Shakti referred to as Mahadevi or Adi Parashakti, meaning the Great goddess. Mahadevi essentially manifested in all female deities, known by many names, and often referred to by one — Devi, meaning the Goddess. Ultimately, each goddess symbolizes and personifies certain powers, virtues, values and profound knowledge.
One of the groups of Shakti goddesses is the Dasa Mahavidyas, they are ten wisdom goddesses, representing ten cosmic personalities. They cover the whole range of feminine divinity, embodying terrifying goddesses at one end, to the ravishingly admirable on the other. The Mahavidyas are Tantric goddesses.
Goddesses are worshipped in their significant temples, where sacred rituals and meditations are performed by the priestesses to celebrate the divinity of each goddess and listen to their guidance.
Hindu Shakti Goddesses: Kali, Parvati, Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Gayatri, Sita, Yogamaya and Radha.
Wisdom Goddesses: Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi , Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala.
Women of the Divine Feminine: Raziya Sultan–The Sultan of Delhi, Ahilya Bai Holkar—The Philosopher Queen, Maitreyi, Meera Bai
Celtic Priestesses ☘️
The term Celtic refers to the culture and language of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. Celtic nations shared an ancient religion, Celtic paganism. The Druids and Druidesses were the high ranking intellectual elite. They were trained to serve as priests and priestesses. They were well educated in literature, history, poetry, law and culture.
The term druid comes from French druide: “one of the order of priests among the ancient Celts of Gaul (modern France), Britain, and Ireland”. But the meaning originates from Old Celtic derwos: true; root ‘deru’ : tree, especially oak; druadh: magician, sorcerer. So, combined the original Druids were the prophets of nature, carries of the earth wisdom. They were alchemists and healers, keepers of harmony and balance.
Druidess, also known as Bandorai, like the Vestal Virgins, were the keepers of fire, renowned for the power of magic. They were a testament to the divine feminine wholesomeness. The Druidess served the Divine Mother by celebrating the seasons, weaving all aspects of nature into their rituals. Through their knowledge, we can learn the wisdom of cycles of nature, align our energy to plants and elements. The role of a Celtic priestess was essential to the spiritual, intellectual, and public life of her community.
To fully understand a Druid priestess, it is worth exploring who were the Druids. Druids didn’t keep journals or any notes about their work and traditions. On that account, we don’t have definitive information about the druids. Druidism can be described as a shamanic religion and paganism. The female druids integrate the Green Goddess and the Queen of the Forest, they are known to communicate with fairies, the dryads and other magical creatures of nature. They follow The Wheel Of Year, celebrating the tradition with magical rituals, song and food.
I would like to note, the indigenous language of Scotland, Scottish Gaelic. If you are follower of Celtic Goddesses, I recommend to connect with Gaelic terms to enhance your rituals. The Gaelic language considered a second most high vibrational language spoken on Earth. The first one is the Light Language.
Irish Celtic goddesses: the Mórrígan, Brigid, Cerridwen, Rhiannon, Etain, Airmid; Queen of the Forest - Meilikki.
Celtic women of the Divine Feminine: Queen Medb of Connacht, Boudicca, Cartimandua
Sacred symbols: The Wheel of the Year, Triquetra, St. Brigid’s Cross, Celtic Tree of Life, connection to nature
Norse Seeress ❄︎
Perhaps the most commonly known goddess from Norse mythology is Freyja. She is the Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, gold, war, death and Seiðr (Seidr).
Seidr is a form of magic, derived from the Vanir, the masters of sorcery. The Vanir are the oldest gods in Norse mythology. They represent the power behind the cycles of nature. The greatest of the Vanir is god of the sea and Freyja’s father, Njord. So, Freyja was the Vanir by blood. She taught the magic of Seidr to god Odin, but even in doing so, she is considered to be more powerful than all the gods.
Freyja was the völva meaning seeress or a witch. Seidr a ritual she performed to communicate between the realms of the living and spirit. The Völva would go into a trance in order to lure their spirits to the ritual. She was circled by priestesses, supporting her to achieve the trance state and attract the spirits with their songs and the sound of drums. If the spirits were happy with the music, they would help the Völva in seeing the past or predicting the future. When the song stopped, the völva stayed in trance and at that moment could answer questions. The völva were also known for the seduction skills and for that considered to be dangerous. They were honoured and feared even by the gods.
What is very interesting about the völva is that her tradition came directly from the goddesses and exists in various ways today. In the time of the Vikings, the völva was a seeress, a prophetess and also a medicine woman, she would travel around predicting the future and helping people in need. As with other pagan traditions, the work of the völva was banned with the rise of Christianity, but couldn’t be forgotten, thus Freyja’s lineage continues (and Seidr is still practised) within modern-day Norse priestesses.
The Nose priestess altars were made at homes rather than temples and include attributes related to nature, elements, goddess and themes of the ritual. Her lineage is about bringing harmony between spirit and humanity as well as balance between light and dark, chaos and love. It is significant to understand because Freyja’s lineage is a non-linear balance between death and life. She is a feather-clocked goddess of love and a chief of Valkyries, a warrior goddess who would fly over battlefields and choose who lives and who dies. Freyja is the great teacher of discernment, foundational knowledge of a priestess.
Freyja’s Greek goddess counterpart is Aphrodite.
Norse Goddesses: Frigg, Freyja, Hel, Eir, Idun
Viking Women of the Divine Feminine: Sigrid the Haughty, Gunborga, Lagertha, Shieldmaiden (a group of women)
Sacred knowledge and symbols: Elder Furthak runes, Valknut, Vegvisir, the Valkyrie symbol
Slavic Priestesses ❦
Before the rise of Christianity, Eastern Slavic people practised paganism. In the United States, Slavic paganism is not common, however, you will discover many similarities in rituals, symbols and mythology with the Norse and the Druids. Paganism and shamanism in all parts of the world is related in its nature. Eastern Slavs women carry a tremendous amount of traditional wisdom, specifically in natural medicine, magic, predictions and discernment.
Slavic pagans didn’t leave any written information and a lot was destroyed during the Christianization. Their deities were either demonized or turned to saints to make Christianity more inviting. Today, in tight circles, Slavic Shamanic priestesses perform rituals, honour gods and goddesses and initiate pagan festivals.
Slavic female priesthood is composed of two ranks of zhritsa (a female who makes sacrifices) and vedunya (seeress). Zhritsas were healers, possessed mystical powers, practised voloshba — art of sacred embroidery, predicted the future and had a deep knowledge of cosmos. Zhritsas were the keepers of sacred dance and love rituals, music, poetry. Some were medicine women and assisted in sacred ceremonies, others practised the art of seduction (zhritsas of love) They were independent and strong woman with radiant inner beauty. Their divine role was to preserve peace and harmony through magic, love and joy. In the community, the higher priestess would pray and chant to invoke the help of gods and use zagovor (a form of magic) to help the people.
The major Slavic god is Perun. In Ancient Greece, his counterpart is Zeus and Odin in the Norse mythology. The main goddess is Mother Earth (Mat’ Zemlya) her counterpart is Gaia. Slavic pagan pantheon includes many gods, some will have a counterpart in other traditions, especially the gods of nature, but most are unique to Slavic beliefs.
Slavic goddesses: Dola, Lada, Rozhanitsy, Zorya, Zvezda, Zhiva, Devana, Morana, Mokosh
Mythical creatures (idols, dieties): Kikimora, Kupala, Baba Yaga, Vasilisa the Wise, Rusalka
Slavic Women of the Divine Feminine: Princess Libuse, Solomonia Saburova, Olga of Kiev
OK, we are at the end of our journey through the history of the various Goddess and the Divine Feminine lineages. However, this are a few more lineages you may want to consider and explore: Hebrew Priestesses, Arabic Priestesses and Asian Priestesses.
Priestesses are the embodiment of the Divine Feminine and servants to the people. Nevertheless, as a priestess your first responsibility is to yourself. As you move through your spiritual priestess path you will notice changes within yourself. In the beginning, it is most important to notice these changes and fully embrace your individual process of self-discovery. Should you need any support, I am here. Comment below, email me or book your 1:1 here.
Much love,
Katia