Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Katalin Jett Koda is a visionary author, tarot reader, energy healer, Reiki master, and queer mystic. She has been deeply intimate with the natural, non-human liminal worlds since she was a child. After a series of health issues, she developed clairvoyant abilities that allow her to see energy fields, guides, and helper spirits. For more than two decades Jett has taught the arts of healing, divination, tarot, and ceremony. Jett continues to receive guidance and inspiration from her ancestors, interdimensional guides, and living teachers around the world. She offers her gifts locally in Portland, Oregon, as well as globally and online. Visit her online at https://jettkoda.com/.

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FIRE OF THE GODDESS

Llewellyn Publications

Contents

Introduction..............................xiiiONE: The Fire Bearer......................1TWO: The Initiate.........................23THREE: The Warrioress.....................53FOUR: The Healer..........................71FIVE: The Consort.........................95SIX: The Bodhisattva......................117SEVEN: The Weaver.........................131EIGHT: The Priestess......................147NINE: The Crone...........................165Conclusion................................185Glossary..................................189Acknowledgments...........................195Resources.................................197

Chapter One

Igniting the Inner Fire

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

–Anaïs Nin

Imagine you are standing on a cliff facing the ocean; the waves are crashing, and the air is sweet and salty. The sun is rising directly in front of you as the stars above slowly fade into the lightening sky. You turn and look behind you. There is a river of molten, fiery lava oozing down the mountainside making its way to the ocean. The lava drips into the sea, the primordial life energy meeting the turquoise waters. It is so hot that it continues to flame in the brilliant cooling water. When the two forces collide, huge clouds of vaporous steam rise out of the mixture, illuminated by the glowing light of the lava. You stand with a sense of awe watching the fire, water, and steam. This is a moment of utter paradox in which old land is destroyed and new land is created. You take a deep breath, open your hands and heart, and close your eyes. Suddenly there is a massive explosion and lava spews out in front of you, embers fall around you but do not harm you. One ember lands in your outstretched hand. This is a seed of light, a gift from the sacred earth in the form of the Fire Bearer. You take this seed of light in reverence and gratitude. You know, in that moment, you will plant the seed and cultivate your own sacred feminine just as the lava creates new earth.

The Fire Bearer is the first archetype we meet on the path of the sacred feminine. She is the gift that inspires us to give birth to a life imbued with power, love, and wisdom. The Fire Bearer symbolizes the seed of our inner light and holds the powerful potential to grow a sacred existence. The Fire Bearer comes to us as Pele, the fiery goddess who is believed to live in the Halema'uma'u crater of the volcano Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai'i and who presides over the active lava flow.

The work of the Fire Bearer is both creative and destructive. When we begin the deep work of healing and transforming our pain, we recognize our inner creative power and destroy what no longer works for us. Creative passions come in the form of birthing children, making art, or creating a new way of living. Destroying the old may come in the form of leaving home, divorce, or simply letting go of old stuff. As molten lava creates new land on the island of Hawai'i, it also destroys whatever is in its path. This is one of the potent messages of the Fire Bearer: to step boldly, create new life, and remain fearless as we destroy what no longer works.

The Fire Bearer becomes apparent in our lives when we realize we are the keepers of a precious gift. This gift may be a talent or special skill such as healing, singing, or writing. This gift can also be our capacity to experience love, connectedness, beauty, truth, and joy. Coming to this realization is so simple, yet vital; it is akin to realizing the preciousness of our very own breath and body.

Recognizing the Sacred Land

When I arrived in Hawai'i, I felt a strong connection to the goddess Pele and her creative and destructive power. Because I live in a place that could be destroyed by lava at any moment, I am constantly reminded of the power of nature. Pele as Fire Bearer shows us that we must honor our surrounding environment. We cannot fully appreciate our own creative gifts until we deeply connect with the earth and know that our fiery spirit is manifest on this planet, right here and now. The Fire Bearer is presenting us the seed of this reality, to recognize our gifts within and without. It is up to us to cultivate that seed into a blaze of creative energy. No matter where we live, the nature around us is full of life and power and has the capacity to inspire our own fire. In the path of the sacred feminine, we can look more deeply at our own surroundings and find her presence, thus honoring our earth more deeply.

My own connections to the sacred feminine are inspired by living in India and Hawai'i, where goddesses are still worshipped and reverence for the sacred feminine is a living tradition. Much of the ancestral knowledge is still intact along with the stories that connect the people to the land. Everywhere I travel in both India and Hawai'i, ancient stories are told about the land: a giant stone perched on a desert mound is Krishna's cosmic butterball; glistening lakes in the desert are where Sita's tears fell when she was abducted by the demon king of Ceylon; on the island of Kaua'i of the Hawai'ian islands, Pele dug with her digging stick, leaving behind a lava hill called Pu'uopele (the hill of Pele); near my home on the Big Island of Hawai'i is the cave, referred to as the yoni cave today, and the flying vagina cave in ancient Hawai'ian story. Seeing the perfectly formed vulva of hardened lava in a cave was a wondrous experience that deeply nourished my feminine spirit.

I am continuously enchanted by these stories that have woven into the culture for thousands of years. When I arrived in Hawai'i, I felt compelled to give many offerings to Pele as well as other gods and goddesses, such as Kanaloa of the sea. Pele in turn showed me the gift of the Fire Bearer, which was the seed for this book. Finding out about your own land and its stories will help you connect to your inner Fire Bearer, thus opening the way to journey the sacred feminine.

Exercise I.I

Seeking Out a Local Goddess

Just as I connected with Pele upon my arrival in Hawai'i, I encourage you to connect with a goddess or heroine who existed in your neighborhood, state, or area of the country. The Fire Bearer archetype reminds us that seeking out stories that nourish us will activate our own inner creative fire. Go to the library and research which native peoples lived where you now live and who were the heroines, goddesses, or warrior women. If you cannot find a story from the distant past, then search for a story of a woman who lived in your area more recently, a story that compels you. Reclaim her stories and then connect her to the landscape around you.

Research the geography, the plants, the trees, and other natural aspects of the place where you live. See if you can find any folktales containing herbal remedies, older wisdom, and interesting stories that are still floating around the locale. Digging down into the ancestry of a place will naturally connect you more deeply with it. Similarly, learn the plants and trees of your neighborhood,...