| Interview with an Archetype
-- The Priestess by Cynthia Jones I want to interview a woman with a past, and a future. I want to talk with a woman who lives in that magical space between her personal past and her vision of the future...and who can bring those two realities together. I am seeking a woman who owns herself, her name and her life. Unmarried in any conventional sense, I am seeking a biblical virgin whose chastity is defined by her fidelity to herself. Where will I find her? Will she be offering sacred rites or standing in the light of a full moon? Will I find her in the first sunrise of spring? I found her, the ancient-future Priestess, working in an orchard. She stood open-armed, embracing the world: the stars, the moon, the trees, night and day, the animals, people. Welcoming, inviting, drawing to her all who sought her -- as women tend to do. Her body blended with the trees, she was one of thirteen in a sacred grove. "Open I stand. I see the woodsman coming." she said. Her bare feet seemed to grow from the earth herself. Her body was planted in her work; she is the one who touches the stars and yet is fully committed to being on the earth. Her roots go deep into the soil, spiraling down, seeking the underground waters. She quenches her thirst in the unseen streams and cavernous wells that fill beneath the surface of things. She feeds her body from the Earth herself; her roots suckle the breast of the mother. Sweet sap runs in her veins. "Open I stand. I see the woodsman coming." Her branches; some reach to the stars, some move in the wind. Birds nest in her hair. Humans are inspired by her dance. It seems the exhalations of the universe choreograph her every movement; some wild and frightening, others gentle and caressing. "Planted in my earth, I see the woodsman coming." She sprouts. She leaves. She buds and flowers. She gives up her flowers in order to grow fruit. She gives her fruit to feed the hungry; the deer, the rabbit, the earth herself, the woodsman and his family. "I see the woodsman coming." Her body, strong and tall, developed a ring at a time. For each year that she stands offering her branches and her fruit, another circle forms, another ring. Organic, round and equal, her circles reach to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south. She calls to the birds and reaches for the water. She reaches toward the sun and connects deeply with the earth. "I see the woodsman coming." Rooted in her service, she stands. And the woodsman, he comes. He comes in the form of a friend, a former gardener who took part in her growing, waiting for the harvest. He comes in the form of a stranger, seeking wood. He comes intentional with his ax or unconsciously just cutting a path, but he always comes. He comes and he chops, and stares at the rings in the stump he leaves. He looks at her life but he does not comprehending what he sees. Rings. Circles. The years she offered shade and fruit. Small circles from the years of drought, expansive circle from the years of rain. Circles that witnessed life unfolding, the memory of robins spending an entire summer in her hair. He comes and chops and goes on to find another tree. "Who will stand and touch the stars? Who will give us shade? Where are the apples of forbidden wisdom?" I ask. Great deserts now cover the earth, where Priestesses once stood. Such is the role of strong women in the world. Priestesses all. Cynthia Jones has been teaching metaphysics for almost 20 years. In 1994, she and Patricia Storm founded Diana's Grove, a retreat center dedicated to developing healthy spiritual communities through personal growth and life-sustaining relationships. Cynthia's writings are a monthly feature of the Diana's Grove Mystery School. Copyright © 2003 Cynthia Jones |
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