The Heart of the Goddess

by Hallie Iglehart Austen

The Heart of the Goddess: Art, Myth and Meditations of the World’s Sacred Feminine — culled from cultures around the world — has the potential to change the dominant narrative about human nature and about women’s creativity, beauty, and power, to inspire and unite us, as well as future generations.

The Heart of the Goddess empowers women and men to become more fully human. The values we attribute to the Feminine are human attributes and, by developing them, we can help heal global issues of poverty, violence and climate change. Women and men are called to work together to dismantle the power-over patriarchal paradigm we live in towards one of partnership, justice and compassion.

Images speak to our hearts and our guts, and can free our psyches if we carefully choose which images we surround ourselves with. This is a crucial time of transformation and we must ingest and share what nourishes all of us and helps us grow. A powerful way to counteract disempowering images is to look at art of the Sacred Feminine, which encourages reverence for life and awe at the mystery of creation.

Though I use the word Goddess, the true nature of the Goddess is the Life Force. She is not simply a female version of an external remote deity—She is each of us and all of life—She is love combined with power—creating the potential for a more powerful love and a more loving power. The unity of birth, growth, death and rebirth are the basis of the Goddess’s teachings. She is creation, transformation and celebration.

Part of the path involves bringing ourselves back into balance, reclaiming the lost feminine deep within ourselves and sharing that wisdom and power with the world. One of the best ways Hallie knows to do this is to contemplate gifts of art, myth and music, receiving messages from our global family—especially those who know the Sacred Feminine, along with the Divine Masculine, and see them all as human first. To become whole, we must shine light on and celebrate that which has been denied and suppressed.

Hallie Iglehart Austen grew up on a farm and has lived close to the earth for most of her life. Her lifelong interest in goddesses began at the age of twelve when she started studying ancient Greek language and mythology at Bryn Mawr School. After graduating from Brown University, she drove from England to Nepal and back again over the course of a year.

This journey, described in her book, Womanspirit, led to her synthesis of spirituality and feminism, which she first started teaching in 1974. She has led workshops, rituals and conferences at the University of California, United Nations International Women’s Conference, and Graduate Theological Union among others. She created Womanspirit Meditations and collected worldwide Goddess art, myth and meditations in her book, The Heart of the Goddess.

In 2001, driven by her love of marine life, she co-founded Seaflow: Protect Our Living Oceans to educate people about the dangers of active sonars and other ocean noise to whales, dolphins and all sea life. Hallie continued her passion for sustainable living by building two model green homes, one in bamboo. In 2010, she initiated, All One Ocean: Cleaning Up the Oceans , One Beach at a Time.

Hallie uses Austen as her last name, to honor her matrilineal heritage. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and offers private consultation and classes.

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