Sense of Soul - The Dark Goddesses

Episode Date: June 3, 2023

Bonus episode drop from Spirit Sherpa podcast with host my friend, Kelle Sparta! Kelle is a transformational Shaman and Spirit Doctor. In this Bonus episode from Spirit Sherpa’s Mythology Series, Kelle and her guest speaker Charlemagne dive into the Dark Goddesses. Kelle Sparta is also a Sense of Soul affiliate. You can check out her available programs at https://www.mysenseofsoul.com/sense-of-soul-affiliates-page If you’ve been searching for your next step in your personal growth journey, take this quiz here. Follow Kelle Sparta on social media and TikTok @kellesparta and visit her website https://kellesparta.com.  If you liked this episode follow Spirit Sherpa and rate, like and subscribe!

Hello, my soul-seeking friends. It's Shanna. Thank you so much for listening to Sense of Soul Podcast. Enlightening conversations with like-minded souls from around the world. Sharing their journey of finding their light within, turning pain into purpose, and awakening to their true sense of soul. If you like what you hear, show me some love and rate, like, and subscribe. And consider becoming a Sense of Soul Patreon member, where you will get ad-free episodes,

monthly circles, and much more. Now go grab your coffee, open your mind, heart, and soul. It's time to awaken. Hey listeners, today I am dropping a bonus episode from the Spirit Sherpa podcast with host Kelly Sparta, the transformational shaman and spirit doctor, who is also a Sense of Soul affiliate. And if you've been wondering, what is the next step on your personal growth journey? Well, Kelly Sparta has created a quiz

to help you determine just this. I just love quizzes. I'll put the link in the show notes. Now in today's episode from Kelly's mythology series, Kelly and her guest, Charlene, deep dive into the topic of the dark goddesses. my car, I'm all alone, but feeling good and feeling strong, knowing that this path I'm on brings me to myself, I'm driving. Hey now all, this is the Spirit Doctor, Kelly Sparta, and you are listening to Spirit Sherpa, the show that helps and encourages you on your journey to unlock your magic mojo. Today, I'm joined by Charlemagne Tremont, and we are going to talk about the dark goddesses. Welcome back, Charlemagne. Thank you so much. So happy to be here, Kelly.

So we have got some really interesting things to talk about today. So why don't you give us a little preview? Who are these goddesses that we're going to talk about? First off, what makes a goddess a dark goddess? Great question. I think there's a lot of misconception about that. So let's begin by destroying the binary. When we talk about light and dark, we're not talking about colors, we're not talking about weight or more and not even so much yin and yang although there is a degree of that but we're really discussing is aspects of potentially what we think of imagine as maybe more underworld goddesses or goddesses who have aspects that might be strong in areas of death is a you know one aspect or of the more latent part of the year which we're

in right now as a matter of fact so this is a wonderful time to be talking about them because this is their time their high time so when you say latent time of the year you mean the time of the darkness yes indeed i do indeed so the nighttime, daytime ratio, there is far more nighttime. So yes. Because we have just passed the winter solstice. So the sun is coming back, but not nearly fast enough because it's 19 degrees out tonight. And there's snow in Virginia. That's not okay. Okay, so the dark goddesses, they're not evil. No, not at all. Certainly in my view. We could talk about that. Are their doings evil? But I would say straight off the bat that there's a

misconception and you can even begin that as the entryway into the topic, which is the very first really biblical dark goddess is not that she's evil it's that she's a feminist and that would be Lilith I mean we can go there we can go straight there if you like like how does she get this reputation how does a goddess become looked at as a dark goddess? So many of them have aspects of them that we might say are countercultural. They go against the norm. They show us the things that can be scary. They often point to the shadow realm, not just the external, but also the internal, the things in ourselves that are uncomfortable or that we'd rather not shine light upon. Yeah. And I want to talk about Lilith for a second, because, you know, I follow a bunch of pre-rabbinical scholars on TikTok who talk about these things. I watched one recently who said, Lilith is not actually a person. If you go back early enough in the

scholarly tomes, that it is a plural of the word lily and a bunch of other things that sound similar, and that it basically just means a bunch of monsters. And yet, the stories that we hear from people further along are that in the feminist model is that Lilith was Adam's first partner, and that she was cast out of the Garden of Eden for daring to be his equal, to try to be his equal and to mount him from the top right um and i have to say from an energetic perspective both are true now and even if the feminist thing is not accurate it is now because gods and goddesses are infused with the belief of their followers and they are created the morphic field of them is literally created from the beliefs of their followers and so enough people have embraced this aspect of Lilith that I believe that energetically the morphic field will have split from the original and created this other version because enough people have engaged it that it makes it real. And this is where magic is a living, breathing entity. This is not religion that is set in stone

and you have to follow it back, blah, blah, blah. We are not talking about religion. We are talking about magic. And so, magic is created by the intentions of those who wield it. Yes, and I would actually also be very curious because, yes, I've read that one of the translations of the word that becomes the word that we come has the name of Lilith often is described or transcribed as demons. However, I would also say that that is also a very particular type of reading of those texts. texts let me put it that way without having to go too deep into why that may be so when we are casting the role of a female figure who refused the biblical traditional view if we want to also say the patrilinear patriarchal desire for women to be a certain way so that this is part of how we get the story this is also part of the power of this story and many of the stories of similarly maligned, shall we say,

goddess lore that we've come to have. And this is another great example of another thing about the power of language. Do we really have to demonize them? Or is it the most convenient thing to do to turn people against one thing and towards another? I think this is also a really interesting topic for debate for another time, because I do think this could have been done in a way better way that would have kept more, that could have kept more people. It's people trying to manipulate others through dominance and control. And we're

actually seeing that right now as well in a lot of things in our culture and you know when you operate out of fear then people are more pliable and more easy to to manipulate and that's generally the case so it is what it is but um okay so Lilith is one of them right and we just we just talked about her a bit um How about Hecate? Hecate is wonderful. Hecate, of course, goddess of the crossroads, a very well-known Greek people who do not heed her warnings, pay attention to her signs, her omens, you know, but in terms of a death goddess per se, not as much, you know, but she's a fright fearful to many people, you know. When people talk about the dark goddesses that they're afraid

of Hecate is right up there along with the Morrigan and Brigitte and and Kali absolutely and Kali you know for certain has a death aspect as well as a very intense visage. She's wielding multiple swords in her arms with a string of decapitated heads and blood on her tongue dancing over the decapitated body, you know, of one of the gods, depending on which pantheon you, you know, ascribe to. But yes, very fearful for many and yet very much embraced very lovingly in her home in India as a mother, a dark mother who takes us in, right? Brings us to the spirit world in a very specific way, enlightens us through the understanding of the death-rebirth cycle. Which you can do within a culture that believes in reincarnation, right? When death is an end, it becomes more difficult to embrace it even when there's the

you know the promise of heaven on the other side conceptually i think yes this becomes very challenging and it's a lot of the themes that you'll find amongst many of these quote-unquote dark goddesses or death related death mothers is that there's going to be a place where the nurturing part of mother is what carries the soul over, right? Or the idea of each individual gets carried into the next world in this loving embrace, right? Of the death mother. It's so much about transformation, really. And then how do we move forward and what do these goddesses have to teach us? And that many of them also, again, at this time of year are talked about and revered as we're watching the cycles of the earth look like, if you're in the northern hemisphere right now, look like it's a stillness, it's what's happening in the underworld in the underground where that silence stillness and darkness is what nourishes and fertilizes the seeds that are there waiting that we won't see till spring and so it's part of their journey part of what their teachings are

this mystery of this liminal dreaming space this dark quiet time it's like bear going into hibernate it's the time when we're getting in touch with our subconscious our our higher selves our our deep underpinning of ourselves right it's the time when we go visit the primordial ooze of life yes and you know surrender to it i think that's the other part that's very hard in this culture and it's the thing i was talking about just the other night and uh or moon circle is that the ways in which we at this time of year have the opportunity to become far more aligned with the quietude the powerful quiet of the stillness that this

time can bring us in terms of nourishment right into our bones, even though it's not what the popular culture would want. The richness, if we give ourselves that richness of that repose of rest, that it is generative for us, much like the earth. That's a hard thing, though, to give ourselves permission to do because the culture doesn't necessarily support it. In fact, right now, there's a huge burst of activity because it's New Year, so it's time to get hustling and do this and do that. For me, the last several years, it's actually been my time to go and to have my retreat because that felt closer to me to the

rhythm that I wanted to be in alignment with the rhythm of the earth well and there's a certain amount of you know the reason that the the mother the dark mother is is referenced here is because motherhood is its own death. Becoming a mother is its own death. Once you become a mother, you can never not be a mother again, right? So the part of you that was childless is gone and is killed off in the act of birthing a child. And the act itself is painful and a process that cannot be stopped. And therefore, you must surrender to it. Right. Can't be stopped without dire consequence for certain.

It is a pathway of death and birth, literally, and of a surrender to the process that brings you new life. Yeah. So when we talk about these things, it's not surprising that the female is the one it's the same as moving from the outer world to the you know rather i'm sorry from the inner world back into the outer world if we think about the the cave again right the rebirthing the re-emergence from that dark womb-like cave into the light of the fresh widely awake more awakened earth and world is very similar and khali in particular i've always had infinity for khali being being uh so in touch with my warrior self in my younger years yay sparta right um but uh when we when we look at the dark goddesses, when we engage with their energy, we really have to sink into that energy.

There is a seductive energy about it. It is very seductive to sink into the, you know, because Kali holds a lot of rage too, right? She does destruction for the sake of destruction, right? Not because it brings, you know, space for creation. Screw that. She's in it for the destruction, right? When she's in her frenzy, yeah. Which is in her frenzy, yes.

But it's also just she's given herself over to the rage. And so many of us can relate to that, right? Where the rage has bubbled up and we've given ourselves over to the rage and then you know we look at the destruction that we've left behind in our wake right and and there's a seduction to that rage and there's a there's a lesson to be learned from it right because you you give over, you surrender to the rage, but then you have to also be prepared to deal with the consequences of what comes when that rage has burned out, right?

Truth. And I would also put here that part of that is talking about, again, what we think of as dark, again, or maybe even thought of as negative or unseemly emotions and rage most assuredly is for many people way up high on that list and that part of also when we think about a warrior goddess who's considered a dark goddess such as Kali is there's a place where her devotees also go into deep surrender what does it mean to surrender to an emotion like that, to let yourself completely go to it and the place where identity death becomes a part of this? We know we're getting into the real depth now of what this becomes for many of her devotees and for many of these death goddesses or dark goddesses because they're not all death. Some of them are just

destruction or we get underworld goddesses too. Persephone is considered one of those goddesses because they're not all death. Some of them are just destruction or, you know, or we get underworld goddesses too. You know, Persephone is considered one of those goddesses. Arishkagel is considered one of those goddesses. And they both have had very large roles to play in the evolving mythologies of both of the traditions they come from. And yet I would say that for the people who work with them deeply, there's an aspect of ego death that working with them demands. It doesn't just ask politely, it demands. And for Kali, it's the same. She literally takes the head. So she's taking the ego identifications and all of the things that are wrapped up and demands a process of letting go and of transformation, which is one of the ways that I think can very positively be working with these goddesses can bring us to

in terms of transformational work and our magic shifting, really pushing our growth into a new place that you wouldn't necessarily get from a softer, kinder, more easygoing deity or energy. Yeah. Well, and anytime we surrender into something, which whatever that may be, there is a commitment that happens at the same time. Because you can't surrender to that which you do not commit to. So, when we commit, as we practice the art of commitment, we practice the ability to wield our intention at the same time.

Because you can't halfway wield your intention. You must commit to it. also part of any working that you do to create because it is you are creating and you are surrendering to whatever the outcome will be, right? Because everything you do will have unintended consequences. There will be butterfly effect to everything you create. And so in the act of creating it, you are also committing to and surrendering to whatever the consequences of that so dire because again if you approach these goddesses especially without commitment without clarity of purpose your life will be changed in ways that are not only um hard to imagine but sometimes exceedingly exceedingly powerful and can be detrimental on the outside to things that are structures that you've created that you may love.

But you've called in a force that is much, much bigger. And unless you are really ready to honor and surrender and really approach with intention and clarity, I don't think this is going to go the way you think it will, people. And that's one of those important warnings. And it's not to make it scary. It's to make it scary. It's to make it appropriately well thought out as an approach. That's really the key here, right?

Is that it is about consciously engaging with thought for thought and intention and thinking through the possible consequences to try and frame it in such a way that it is going to be the consequence that you want and not a consequence that you accidentally got because you languished badly, right? That sort of thing. I think I said this the other day. I don't remember where I said it, so it might have been here. I don't know. But I said the other day that somebody wanted to live in a magical house that I had a friend who said, I want to live in a magical house. And I was like, take it back. She's like, what? I said, take it back.

I said, you do not want to live in a magical house. You do not want to live in a house that has sentience, that the doorways go to different places every time you open them, that the doorways go to different places every time you open them, that the length of the hallway is different every time you go down it, that you don't know what entities are coming and going from it at any given point in time, that it may morph entirely and swallow you whole one day. You do not want a magical house. She went, no, I don't. No, you don't. You want a house in which you can do magic and in which you have people around you who also do magic. That is a different thing than a magical house.

Be careful with your language. It is very important. And that's the sort of thing that different model the yin and yang model right when we think about what is yin what is the cool darkness the coldness the dark the receptive that's also part of what is a makeup of some of these goddesses, right? Until they get activated in a particular way, which may come out as ferocity, right? But we don't see some of them art though. You know, we can look at the two examples I gave you

of two underworld goddesses whose demeanors are incredibly different. A Rishka girl is a fierce goddess of the underworld who, you know, hangs her sister on a meat hook, right? Like we can talk about like she's scary there's a reason this transformation of the hard way and then we could look at persephone also an underworld goddess who is beloved to the dead she is gentle with them she helps them across she helps soothe their grief their dismay their disorientation to underworld goddesses yet they they have some similar jobs

and some very very different ones and i think understanding that so that people don't pigeonhole these entities is important too and to see them again as mirrors of the feminine that are important just as women have these aspects and as any person I don't want to bring in the binary here in a negative way. Yeah, even if we're taking it out of the context of the body, if we look at the feminine symbols like the ocean, right? The ocean is cold and deep and to be reckoned with, right? And, you know, nothing can stop her force. And so, you know, it's the same energy is what we're talking about there as what we're talking about with the goddesses, what we talk about with the yin energy and and so on and so we we have to start to see how all of the pieces interrelate yeah so when we're talking about the dark goddesses what what would you say uh if you

wanted people to take away one concept from the dark goddesses what would be the most important thing that you would want them to have? Okay, that's kind of hard, but let me see if I can do that. I would say this, you know, we invoke and commune with them for a variety of reasons, that it is an archetype that also can have to do with the dark night of the soul. They can bring us to a place of real revelation and transformation. And I recommend cultivating of that relationship because that is where our also where our most brilliant and fertile seeds will come nothing that hasn't spent time in the dark will ever come to birth i think that is a supremely important thing to remember and acknowledge that's actually pretty profound say that again i. I'll do my best. That part of why we go to the dark goddesses is because there is a space within us where

we are called into an embodiment of truth, right? About what is born in the darkness. Nothing can come to birth until it has spent time in the dark. It simply cannot. It has to get fertilized and nourished there, just as we have cycles and seasons of our own soul and self, such as our magic. And so, this is an ideal time to spend time with those energies, with those archetypes. It's powerful. Yeah. And this is the piece that brings me back to what I keep talking to people about with, you know, that nothing can come to light that can be birthed that did not spend time in the darkness, right?

It brings me back to this idea that our challenged childhood has made us more powerful than we can imagine, right? And that's truth, right? That's just true. Every time we've overcome a challenge, it stretches our ability to one, believe in ourselves, and two, to be able to overcome the next challenge. Just as equivalently, every time you allow yourself to not overcome a challenge, every time you give up, every time you allow yourself to not overcome a challenge every time you give up every time you fall back every time you let resistance get in your way you build the wall a little bit higher between you and whatever it is that you were trying to accomplish and so it's important to not allow yourself to do that It's important to put yourself in a position where you are as likely as possible

to make it over the wall of your resistance because you don't want to build that wall higher, right? You want to instead build your courage, build your belief in yourself, build your ability to survive and thrive on the far side. Yeah, and I think that's part of what I was aiming at, which was speaking of the dark night of the soul. And this is really where we oversee our own regenerative process

once we come back the other side. But we have to spend that time in what can be an uncomfortable stillness and quiet so that we can hear the soft voices from within us or the soft voices of within us or the soft voices of spirit trying to reach us and help us move from this point to the next. Well, and this is what I was saying about committing, right? Because when we commit, we follow through. When we test or try it out or experiment or we don't follow through. And that's where we set ourselves up to reduce our ability to engage the magic on a more powerful level. So, yeah. So, if I were to

leave you with one thought from today, I would say commitment. No matter whether you're going into the light or going into the darkness, commit fully, surrender, and hold your intention, and you will find your way out the other side. Fastest way out is straight through the middle. Okay. Well, I think that wraps it up nicely. and I'm fun and funny and I banter and I don't know Jack, but God, I'd love to just ask Kelly questions all day long and ask these guests questions all day long. You would be perfect. So reach out and let me know that you are around and you can reach me at kelly at kellysparta.com

and I would love to talk to you. Okay, and with that, that is all we have for this week. Tune in next time when I share another episode on energy, magic, and the spirit world. I'm Kelly Sparta. Here with Charlemagne Tremont. And you have been listening to Spirit Sherpa. So long, everyone. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks for listening to Sense of Soul Podcast. and thanks to our special guests for joining me. If you want more of Sense of Soul, check out my website at www.mysenseofsoul.com, where you can work with me one-on-one or help support Sense of Soul Podcast

by donating to my coffee fund. Thanks for listening.