“She Who Nurtures and Sustains.” The way of the Great Mother is the way of receptivity. The Great Mother aspect acknowledges and empowers through nurturing, preserving, taking care by providing safety and security. Great Mother’s transcendent function in the Mystery is the fruit of union. She provides a grounded nest out of which creativity may be more freely expressed.

The shadow aspect of this archetype can look like fear of abandonment that causes an imbalanced focus on safety and security that supports fixity and predictability at the expense of freedom and novelty. This can look like the Cosmic Mama: over responsible, over-controlling, over-nurturing, unconsciously supporting co-dependency. Hidden in this shadow of over-nurturing are deeper collective issues of lack of self-worth and self-love. The balance can be found in nurturance through learning the lessons of giving and receiving and finally in simply allowing the Universal nurturance that simply is, to flow through us.

“She Who Enfolds in Mercy, Forgiveness and Compassion.” The way of the Goddess of Compassion is the way of unconditional love and mercy. This archetypal aspect of the Goddess is the essence of divine perfect love. As with Kwan Yin, She acknowledges and empowers herself and others through fluidity and being in the flow. The Goddess of Compassion’s transcendent function in the Mystery is the transmutation of the very perception of suffering.

The shadow of this aspect of the Goddess as it plays out in us, can be seen in personal self-denial, that is having more compassion for everyone else than oneself. In this shadow “no” tends not to be in the vocabulary and no boundaries are set for self-care. This tendency to be a rescue/savior in the name of compassion, actually feeds co-dependency and emotional addiction rather than self-responsibility and growth.

Green Tara, Kuan Yin, Mother Mary

“She Who Is Keeper of the Keys and Guardian of the Mysteries.” The priestess is the feminine archetype of stillness, silence and centered presence. From this female receptive place, she becomes the keeper of the keys, the guardian of the female mysteries; only from the place of inner stillness can divine knowing actually flow. The Priestess’ transcendent function in the Mystery is she represents the universal flow of the divine feminine and balance within that flow; through intuition and feeling she is a guide into the unseen realms.

The shadow aspect of the priestess can be seen in the human psyche, as over subjectivity, becoming so lunar and intuitive as to be ungrounded or unattached to the Earth plane.

Hestia, Mary Magdalene, Lady of the Lake

“She Who Gives and She Who Takes Away.” The way of the Creator/Destroyer is the way of non-attachment. This aspect of the Goddess acknowledges and empowers through intensity in all its forms, intended to polarize your responses until you instead choose to use the same intensity to experience Oneness. The Creator / Destroyer’s transcendent function in the Mystery is this archetype represents bringing one into unity consciousness through resolution of all duality pairs into Oneness.

The shadow aspect of this archetype can be seen in the human tendency to turn this raw or often unexpressed creative energy into chaotic destructiveness, developing affection for the drama of conflict, wanton fits of passion, anger, jealousy, competitiveness or wrathful revenge. In the human play out of this shadow there is a lack of the quality of forgiveness. In this shadow, one gets to experience how unresolved rage erodes vitality, creativity and well-being. In the shadow of this archetype there is a tendency to hold a grudge and withhold love or separate and cut-off entirely from a relationship rather than try to heal or change it.

“She Who Inspires and Energizes Manifestation.” The way of the Muse is the way of epiphany. (epiphany is the sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something, apprehending its soul, an appearance or revelatory experience of the Divine, the showing through and recognition of essence). The Muse acknowledges and empowers through creative insight. The Muse is a means of access to hearing and sensing the soul’s voice. The Muse’s transcendent function in the Mystery is she represents metamorphosis of the soul, hence her association with the symbol of the butterfly.

In this aspect’s shadow, sensitivity has often been shut down in the name of survival, in order not to feel. Often in the human reflection of this shadow, there is scattered and unfocused creativity, indecisiveness, boredom, avoidance, procrastination, lack of discipline and incompletion of that which has inspired one to create in the first place.

“She Who Gives and She Who Takes Away.” The way of the Creator/Destroyer is the way of non-attachment. This aspect of the Goddess acknowledges and empowers through intensity in all its forms, intended to polarize your responses until you instead choose to use the same intensity to experience Oneness. The Creator / Destroyer’s transcendent function in the Mystery is this archetype represents bringing one into unity consciousness through resolution of all duality pairs into Oneness.

The shadow aspect of this archetype can be seen in the human tendency to turn this raw or often unexpressed creative energy into chaotic destructiveness, developing affection for the drama of conflict, wanton fits of passion, anger, jealousy, competitiveness or wrathful revenge. In the human play out of this shadow there is a lack of the quality of forgiveness. In this shadow, one gets to experience how unresolved rage erodes vitality, creativity and well-being. In the shadow of this archetype there is a tendency to hold a grudge and withhold love or separate and cut-off entirely from a relationship rather than try to heal or change it.

“She Whose Beauty Embraces in Love.” The way of the Lover is the way of presence in the present moment. The Lover embraces, inspires passion, and offers eternally fulfilling unconditional love and sensual ecstasy. The Lover sees the Beloved in every face. Through beauty, life around her sphere is brought into natural harmony. Harmony is a natural state of being in this aspect. In this state of harmony, body, mind, feelings and spirit are not in conflict, but in unity and linked to ones essence and the larger pattern of perfection. Harmony is merely a reflection of a higher order of reality. The Goddess of Love’s transcendent function in the Mystery is that this aspect of the Goddess represents this higher order of natural harmony of which beauty is an example.

The shadow of this aspect of the Divine Feminine, as it plays out in human nature, may look like self-absorption, vanity, excessive focus on outer form rather than inner beauty, insensitivity to the needs and feelings of others, the use of flattery or other untruthful communication aimed at manipulating to get what one wants or to successfully compete for that which one desires. Jealousy, comparison and insecurity are shadow aspects of this archetype in human nature. In this archetype is found distortions in body image.

“She Who is Natural, Instinctual, Untamed and Free.” With the motto, “Everything to excess”, she pushes past the interpretations and boundaries the mind has developed out of habit patterns and limiting beliefs, into experiencing new freedom. Primal Goddess follows her instincts and passions without rationalization and mental approval of the inner adult critic or for acceptance. The Primal Goddess’s transcendent function in the Mystery emerges through the use of creativity and passion, and through that, co-creation of reality.

In the shadow aspect, shame, guilt, anger, powerless, doubt, and stagnant creative energy are common themes as we may try to get what we want, without simply standing in our power and truth and asking directly for what we desire, or use the powerful energy of kundalini to sexually seduce and manipulate.

“She Who Empowers and Offers Second Birth.” The way of the Initiator is the way of Truth. The Initiator acknowledges and empowers through challenge. She prunes, encourages growth, catalyzes change, expands perceptions, cultivates and ripens potential, motivates alignment with essence and truth, tunes the harmony of each being. If recurring patterns threaten to confine us in a stereotype of our authentic selves, the Initiator will confront us again and again until we grow. She cannot be distracted from her purpose. She leads us through pain to joyful insight. If we try to resist her, she will hound our footsteps to the end. In this, her compassion is unparalleled in its determination. The Initiator’s transcendent function in the Mystery is that she is coherence, the force by which molecules are held together.

The shadow aspect of this archetype plays out in the human psyche in issues of power, control and recognition. The initiator aspect may seem impersonal, cold, uncaring or unfeeling to the human ego.

“She Who Dreams and Weaves Reality with the Great Mystery.”The way of the Weaver is the way of relationship and connectedness. The Weaver Dreamer’s transcendent function in the Mystery is the nurturance of the soul, weaving the pattern that connects everything to the One.

In the shadow aspect, it is easy to be a “dreamer” and get lost in possibilities rather than focusing in a “down to Earth” way to realize one of those potential realities. There is also a tendency in this shadow aspect to disconnect, separate, withdraw to a dream world and not see oneself as part of the pattern of the whole.