Priestess Pathway Practicalities #2

Virgo, Virgin, Woman of Magic: From Priestess to Priestessing.

Happy Priestess New Moon. I rarely do astrology themed essays but when it aligns it aligns.

I had scheduled the second edition of my Priestess Pathway Practicalities series for this week and fabulously the New Moon is in Virgo which is the zodiac sign of the Priestess. Virgo does not - as commonly thought nowadays - refer to virginity at all. A virgin originally is a woman who is not beholden to any man.

This is the first edition in which I give you practice for our modern everyday life which actually changes your relationships, jobs and personal wellbeing.

Priestess Pathway Practicalities #1

Today we focus on a little background of the traditional role of the Priestess and what it means to be one in our time and age.

Priestesses where sovereign women, often very wealthy and in high standing. They are the embodiment of the vessel through which the goddess speaks. Through oracular insights, divine gifts, prophecies, but also sacred service and peaceweaving. Priestesses often had partners, families even, were married (or alone) and had lives outside the temple. The difference was that their lives were dedicated to Spirit, the Unseen, Goddess, Creatorverse, you name it.

Take note here: A priestess dedicates to something more than what the rational mind comprehends. This doesn’t take her away from life though, quite the contrary.

Priestesses are Bridges

Think about the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Virgo”.

Virgo by Johfra Bosschart, more about the symbolism in his pice can be found here

Let me guess: perfectionism and tidying. Maybe purity, innocence.

The latter has more to do with purity of heart and intention than sexuality by the way. Although virgo also stands for the receptive earth, symbolised through the grain she holds (the harvest to come if we sow the seeds and care for them), embodying persephone ready to descent and become a woman, mother and queen over the winter only to emerge again in spring.

The whole notion of the zodiac sign virgo standing for cleanliness and admin skills originates from the temple service - from scratching off candle wax, to polishing floors, smudging and clearing the air, tending to the physical temple of oneself and others. A virgin as in priestess would be dedicating much time to organising and tending to the visitors, creating and executing sacred service as well as mundane tasks. Ceremonies are work, and celebrations in honour of the goddess require planning.

But when we think of a Priestess we might think of the depiction from the Raider-Waite Tarot:
A High Priestess on her chair between two pillars (a high chair actually was used in Northern seidr tradition and the tripod by the Oracle of Delphi as an important ritual tool for shifting states and consciousness).
The water behind her is symbolic for the subconscious ocean and the Unknown, the Great Mother Goddess and archetypal waters of creation as well as intuition, insight, imagination. The High Priestess herself is dressed in a blue robe, scripture roll in hand and separated from the waters by a curtain decorated with pomegranates which link to Persephone again.

This is the vision we often have, a woman sitting serenely on her throne, wise and full of knowledge about the world(s), a representative of the Mystery Traditions, but quiet, peaceful, often veiled in order to represent her state of being between the worlds.

Not really the achievable work in a world like today. And if I may say so not one to strive for either. We don’t need more people to detach, dissociate and escape from humanity but expand capacity to hold more of it.

Because the more you separate your spirit from your body and compartmentalise yourself the more you give away your power.

“And how do you destroy the human spirit? By ejecting the soul from the body or detaching the real “I” through environmental means - by […] poisoning the body and poisoning the spirit […]” - Bernhard Guenther

I see the image of the priestess as a reminder for my inner world to remain calm, poised, devoted. Not copy that image like a performance in my world. Although theatrical and ritualistic practices such as using a veil and practicing physical and mental stillness can really help shift into this state. Which then informs my work, I go about my writing, my ceremonies, my trainings from the powerful presence of the priestess. Nonetheless I am human, I allow life to be messy. I am a mother. I am not expecting myself to BE that image 24/7.

Women in particular are fluid creatures, we shape shift. Every few days our hormones adjust, we bleed blood given in peace, we create new life and birth it through our bones. Bones that literally crack open. Did you know a woman’s pelvis breaks in order to birth a child? I tell you, we are not meant to be machines that function every day a certain way. Same for the priestess. She knows the true magic of evolution happens by embracing the Unknown The Unknown is basically a word for change, it is something we have not yet experienced. And that often is really uncomfortable, scary or simply unusual to our nervous system. I will write more specific about helping others through phases of transition, creating rites of passages and navigating the step into the Unknown in an upcoming essay for the Priestess Pathway Practicalities Series.

Being off service as a priestess can take many shapes and forms. Singing songs for the seasons and teaching your children about the sacredness of nature is priestessing. Listening to your neighbour’s complaints and simply giving them a moment to rant without engaging in their conflict or gossiping is priestessing when they go away with a sense of empowerment to resolve their situation instead of getting stuck in drama.

It becomes something we do, a verb, a practice. We priestess to midwife healing, to birth transformation and to raise change.

Part of my priestess path is bridging from mythology to modern magic, to make abstract teachings relatable and integrate stories long forgotten to find meaning that helps to navigate challenging times and empowers people to step into their sovereignty.

One such story I have written myself, and it is has been published in the bestselling compilation of Rebel Ma: Women’s Stories of Liberation, Healing in the Time of the Feminine. Get your copy or ebook here:

Becoming the Bridge

You are a priestess when you devote to the Mystery all the while being fully embodied in your human experience.

When you bridge between shadow and sovereignty, illusion and reality, sacred and mundane, powerless and empowered, seen and unseen, unconscious and conscious - you are priestessing.

I would love to know what you are bridging and in which are of your life you are priestessing! Leave a comment or reply to this email and let me know what you like to learn more about the Path of the Priestess.

In the upcoming PPP posts I will dive into devotion, how you find your way of integrating the priestess in your day to day and what makes an Avalonian Priestess.

Want to embody your priestess and train with me? I am currently only have an in-person retreat for german speakers but the doors to my one-year Priestess of Avalon online study course will open again in October. Take a look at it here: https://lauradurban.com/lp-courses/avalon/