#intentionalthoughts

Sacred marriage ~ invoking the whore

As a subject, Andromeda has been popular in art since classical times; it is one of several Greek myths of a Greek hero's rescue of the intended victim of an archaic hieros gamos (sacred marriage), giving rise to the "princess and dragon" motif. From the Renaissance, interest revived in the original story, typically as derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses

Hieros gamos or Hierogamy ("holy marriage") is a sacred marriage that plays out between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities.

The notion of hieros gamos does not always presuppose literal sexual intercourse in ritual, but is also used in purely symbolic or mythological context, notably in alchemy and hence in Jungian psychology. Hieros gamos is described as the prototype of fertility rituals.

The symbolism of union and polarity is a central teaching in Tantric Buddhism, especially in Tibet. The union is realized by the practitioner as a mystical experience within one's own body.

Goulven Peron (2016) suggested that the Holy Grail may reflect the horn of the river-god Achelous as described by Ovid in the Metamorphoses.

In Wicca, the Great Rite is a ritual based on the Hieros Gamos. It is generally enacted symbolically by a dagger (known as an athame) being placed point first into a chalice, the action symbolizing the union of the male and female divine. In British Traditional Wicca, the Great Rite is sometimes carried out in actuality by the High Priest and High Priestess.

The spirit spouse is one of the most widespread elements of shamanism, distributed through all continents and at all cultural levels. Often, these spirit husbands/wives are seen as the primary helping spirits of the shaman, who assist them in their work, and help them gain power in the world of spirit. The relationships shamans have with their spirit spouses may be expressed in romantic, sexual, or purely symbolic ways, and may include gender transformation as a part of correctly pairing with their "spouse". Shamans report engaging with their spirit spouses through dreams, trance, and other ritual elements. In some cultures, gaining a spirit spouse is a necessary and expected part of initiation into becoming a shaman. Evidence of spirit spouses may be seen in non-shamanic cultures as well, including dreams about Christ by nuns, who are considered to be "brides of Christ".

In Christian literature, there are demons called incubus and succubus, who are also called types of spirit spouses. They are specifically referred to as spirit wife and spirit husband, respectively. We knew of these creatures, for instance, in the work of St. Augustine where it was stated that "many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experiences others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often wicked assaults upon women." These creatures are considered as spirit spouses, who only exist in dreams having intercourse with the dreamer. Some sources state that they are acquired through sexual promiscuity and are prominently connected with witchcraft spells, love potions, and lust.

Hey Friend!

It took me quite a while to really understand what intentional living was and how I wanted my life to look in relation to intentional living.  Have you thought about what intentional living looks like to you?

About 9 years ago I started looking at my life in a different way.  My life a was a complete mess.  I was in a marriage that, although my husband was good to me, I knew I didn’t want to be in.  I was longing for a different way to connect with the higher power of my understanding.  I was simply “not happy” as some of us have often described a state of feeling where we couldn’t exactly put our finger on what exactly the problem was, we just knew there was a problem!

At that time I found Law of Attraction, the documentary The Secret, Abraham Hicks, Eckert Tolle, Gabby Bernstein, Life Coaching and so much more.  It was like one thing led to another.  You know how that goes: you buy a cut knitted scarf, then you decide to take up knitting. You make a hat then a shawl, which leads you to quilting which then leads you to making blankets and such.  You get what I’m saying?  We’ve all done something like that before-what fun though!

When I started studying and applying the concepts I learned from these people, I began to understand how to live my life intentionally and why doing so was the best thing ever-my life totally changed.  

I’m not talking about seeing shifts months later, I’m talking about my life changed the very moment I used the strategies.  For the most part, all of the people I mentioned use some variation of the Law of Attraction.  There are quite a few perspectives and techniques of the Law of Attraction so figuring out which explanation is best for you is pretty much as simple as who’s ability to describe how to practice it vibes with you and your understanding. 

For me, the Law of Attraction IS intentional living. Intentional living is practicing perspectives or strategies that allow you to live according to your values and beliefs. Periodt. 

When you bring in more of the things that you value and live according to your belief system, you are a happier person.  And everyone benefits from your happiness-

Happy people make people happy!

The trick is to get clear on the values and beliefs.  Making sure they’re actually yours and not someone else’s ideals. 

You’ll find yourself right back where you started if you’re living according to what someone else thinks is the right way to live. So make sure you dig deep and get clear on YOU. You can do this by goal setting for intentional living based on how you want to feel. 

Start by looking at the end result you’d like to have.  To figure that out you need to ask yourself one very important question-

How do you want to feel?

When you’re clear on how you want to feel in your life, then you’ve created your soul inspired goal. 

Your soul inspired goal creates the pathway for you living your intentional life.  Here’s an example:

Let’s say you decide to live an intentional life, you’d like to feel free.  

What does free look/feel like to you?  Maybe free feels like less stress in your home, being more organized, experiencing more simplicity less overwhelm, spending more time reading books or making chunky blankets.  

Your soul inspired goal is: Freedom and you have a definition of what that looks like/feels like to you and that becomes your roadmap for creating plans that allows you to successfully design your version of intentional living. 

When making your plans, you now know what to say yes to and what to say no too.  Anything you do, you can ask yourself-will this thing allow me to accomplish my goals? It’s easier to make a decision because you have your roadmap!

I’d love to hear what you came up with.  What soul inspired goal did you choose as your pathway to living your life intentionally?