Feminine Archetypes: A Five Week Course

An online course through the major female archetypes; Maiden, Warrior, Lover, Queen, Priestess.

This programme weaves together embodiment, meditation, sharing circles and ritual to explore; the womb mysteries, breaking negative thought patterns, expressing anger, connecting to our sexuality, our sovereignty and our sacred being. 

Form lasting sisterhood friendships, as we delve into the mythic realms to uncover our innate wisdom and step more fully into authenticity and freedom.

Together we will tune back in to the cycles and rhythms of our body and the planet. By connecting to this primal knowing we unlock the deeper wisdom within us, and learn to trust our intuition.

Dates: 
Tues 1st Nov | 7-9:30pm
Tues 8th Nov | 7-9:30pm
Tues 15th Nov | 7-9:30pm
Tues 22nd Nov | 7-9:30pm
Tues 29th Nov | 7-9:30pm

Overview

• Each week we will explore one of the five major archetypes, focusing specifically on the light and the shadow qualities.
• You'll be in a pod of 4 or 5 other women for the duration, who you'll get to share deeply with each week to form intimate connections.
• There will be a mixture of embodied practices, such as movement and meditation, as well as sharing circles and rituals.
• There will be some homework each week, usually in the form of a ritual or meditation, for you to go even deeper into this work. This is optional but highly encouraged.

Structure

Week 1 - Maiden - She who Bleeds - We will explore the womb mysteries and cycle tracking
Week 2 - Warrior - She who Battles - We will explore boundaries, anger, and our will power
Week 3 - Lover - She who Blossoms - We will explore our relationship to sex and intimacy with ourselves and other
Week 4 - Queen - She who Believes - We will explore our sovereignty, letting go of attachments and calling in what we wish to claim. 
Week 5 - Priestess - She who Bows - We will explore our connection to the sacred, the earth, Celtic ritual traditions and our higher purpose in life.

Archetypes

I love working with archetypes (Greek Goddesses in particular), and find their virtues, as well as their vices, a great framework for deep enquiry.
Each archetype has a light side and a shadow side. As you develop your own personal relationship with them, you will uncover how they already show up in your life, and how to consciously use their different energies for support and growth.

Here is a breakdown of the archetypes we'll be exploring: 

Week 1 - Maiden - She who Bleeds

The maiden is all about youth, energy, new beginnings, innocence, joy, surrender, blossoming. I've chosen Persephone as the Goddess to represent the maiden, as her tale takes us into the underworld, and is really about initiation from child into woman.
In this session we will explore the sacred womb mandala which looks at menstruation as a cyclical process (like the seasons), and honours our cycle as something both primal and sacred.
Learning to love and honour every part of my cycle, instead of thinking of menstruation as an inconvenience, was totally revolutionary in my understanding of self, and how to live in a way that felt harmonious, mystical and nourishing. (Which means making changes in our lifestyle to support the hormonal, physical and mental changes that we go through every day!)
This knowledge would have been shared with all young women entering menarche, yet sadly for many thousands of years this has not been the case, and it's up to us to revive this wisdom and initiation for our children, and their children.
 

Week 2 - Warrior - She who Battles

The warrior is about boundaries, healthy expression of anger, will power, clear communication, justice. I've chosen Athena as the Goddess to represent the Warrior, as she is always very measured in battle. The shadow side of the warrior can be aggressive, hysterical, not really listening, clumsy, and she really shows us how to get what we want without too much forcing.
In this session we will explore how to tune in to our YES and our NO. How to get what we do want, and how to communicate what we don't want. We'll look at what happens when our boundaries are crossed, and what blocks us from feeling empowered to express ourselves.
We'll also connect in to our anger, and how this can be expressed healthily to keep the fire within us strong, as well as not letting that fire leak out in destructive ways.
 

Week 3 - Lover - She who Blossoms

The lover is about pleasure, sensuality, beauty, creativity, alchemy, ecstasy, playfulness, and surrender.
Aphrodite is our poster goddess for this archetype as she demonstrates how to activate our sensuality to inspire ourselves and others, whilst remaining sovereign and in control of our sacred life force.
In this session we'll explore our relationship to sex and sensuality. We'll discuss together parts of our sexuality that we find it hard to confront, and enter into a powerful ritual space to speak about past traumas and experiences that keep us trapped in stories of shame and dis-empowerment. By bringing these stories into the open, we realise we are not alone in our experiences. By giving voice to that which we feel is unspeakable, we acknowledge, which is the first step of transformation, and over time learn to love and accept those parts of us. The only way to overcome shame, is to bring it out into the open. Like a vampire it turns to dust in the light.

I'll also be giving you some juicy homework in this session: self pleasure sex magic!
 

Week 4 - Queen - She who Believes

The Queen archetype is about sovereignty, responsibility, commitment, self worth, self belief and service.
The major shadow of the queen is entitlement, and keeping others small. 

In this session we'll investigate the ‘Sister Wound’, which festers in our psyches as the part that feels jealous or threatened by other women. It is the Queen Bee energy that seeks to be above other women and creates competition and bitchiness.
The second half of this session will take us into a deep space to uncover what or who are we in service to? How can we use our power, agency and privilege to be of service to others? We'll be looking into what stops us being in our queen, examining stories of unworthiness, to let go of our baggage, and call forth what we truly want. This archetype helps us to take full responsibility for our experiences, and challenges to step up. Through self responsibility, comes sovereignty, comes true freedom.
 

Week 5 - Priestess - She who Bows

The Priestess archetype is about connection to spirit, honouring life, stillness, prayer, love, rooted, wisdom. We call forth Hestia to represent the priestess in this session, as her story shows the importance of tending the sacred fires within us, staying rooted and grounded, and being a real anchor in our communities.
In this session we'll look at Celtic ritual traditions. I'll give an overview of the wheel of the year, which covers the 8 major celebrations of the year according to Celtic mythology, and some ideas for land honouring rituals for you to take away and create in your own time. This will feel like a full circle, as the wheel of the year closely relates to the sacred womb mandala from week 1. As the culmination of our course we'll do some reflective work, and share some of our own personal spiritual practices that keep us connected to source.
 

How this work might affect you:

• Increase in feeling sensations in the body - leads to a deeper understanding of how we feel, what we want and don’t want. Able to feel more joy and pleasure
• Able to express emotions - leads to a healthier mind and body
• Able to regulate nervous system - reduces anxiety and boosts immunity
• Learn to connect authentically with others - reduces anxiety and alienation
• Able to speak up, and set boundaries - increases confidence and self worth

---

How Will this Benefit Me?

I think this course will be of great value if:

• You want to understand yourself on a deeper level, and are ready to look at your shadows, unhelpful patterns, and start to learn how to over come them
• You are feeling disconnected from your body, experience challenging emotions that you don’t know how to deal with, or simply want to develop a deeper relationship with your body and voice.
• You are lacking ritual, meaning and purpose in your life, this process will take you through a number of rituals, which you can then replicate and take home to your friends and family.
• You want to make friends with women who want to connect in authenticity and honesty.

If you’re not sure if this is for you, send me an email and we can arrange a chat over the phone or skype: gaia@psychedelicsociety.org.uk

Please note that while the effects of this work might be therapeutic, this is not therapy. If you are moving through anything extremely challenging we strongly recommend that you combine this work with a psychotherapist who can offer you one-to-one support.

Testimonials
 

About your facilitator

Gaia Harvey Jackson

I am a facilitator of women’s empowerment, ecstatic dance and authentic connection.

My work is playful, deep and courageous.

My mission is to connect humans to their primal nature to live a richer and freer life.​

I do this through embodied ritual, cyclical living, and creating spaces for people to test their edges, shed their skins, and find belonging in those they meet along the way.

I work with movement, dance, voice work, meditation, tantric practices and ritual as modes for transformation.

Find out about Gaia's other events and offerings at gaiaharveyjackson.com

“Gaia always holds a safe and loving space to explore the depths of our souls. It's one of the only places I have in my life to truly be myself - no expectations, limitations or judgement.”

“The evening was so powerful and really helped me embrace and surrender into my vulnerability. I felt that you held the space so beautifully for it to feel safe and secure"

 

What you will Receive

• 6 x 2.5 hour sessions
• Recorded meditations
• 6 x Pdf documents with course material and resources
• Access to password restricted parts of my website with resources and rituals to support your practice

Investment

Abundant: £250
Standard: £200
Low Income: £150

I offer three payment options to support people on a lower wage. If you consider yourself to be a high earner then paying to abundant option helps to subsidise places for people on lower incomes. We really appreciate your support.
If you feel strongly called to come but cannot afford the low income option please get in touch to discuss something that can work for you. 

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

Our facilitators have agreed to our code of conduct. Learn about our procedure for raising concerns

MEMBERS of the Psychedelic Society get a discount off almost all of our events.
Join from £5 a month and become part of this amazing community with invites to special events and more.