| Temple of the Goddess Grounding Meditation By Karen Tate This meditation came to me while I was on my way through Los Angeles traffic to our annual Renaissance Festival. I was in the passenger seat (of course!), attempting to tune out all the chaos on the road around me. While trying to focus and practice my grounding technique I found myself traveling to a place I'd never had the pleasure of visiting before in such vivid, luscious detail. I usually have great difficulty visualizing during meditation, so I was thrilled to have the Goddess take me on this wonderful journey and I wanted to share it. If you don't have someone to read this meditation for you, I suggest you play some soothing background music while reading it into a tape recorder. Be sure to use a pace that best suits your visualization. With a tape you can take this journey whenever you like without having to read the text or memorizing all the details. You can just sit back and be guided along a wonderful ride. *** Focus on your womb and the sacred thread or root lying asleep inside. Awaken the root with your intent and breath. As it awakens it glows golden, beginning to slightly pulse to life as the fingers of the root begin descending down your legs. Continue to breathe it down your legs to begin its journey into Mother Earth. Breathe it down through your shoes and the floor, through the concrete of the street, past the sewers of the modern world until you get to the true earth. As you get past the concrete foundations and touch the soil of Mother Earth, feel its moistness. Run your finger-like root through the moist soil. Can you almost smell its richness? Continue to breathe it in. Thank the rich black or red soil that nourishes and supports all that we eat. Breathe in that life force of the soil, of our Mother. Send that root farther down, all the while breathing and visualizing your root glowing as it absorbs energy of the earth. See the roots of the plants and grasses and trees. Become one with them as you breathe in their energy. Soak in the life forces and energy all around you. Take in what you need. See the small creatures that inhabit the soil. Acknowledge the presence of the Mother's small creatures. The earthworms, snakes, burrowing mammals who all make their homes beneath the earth. Soak in their energy and share yours. Exchange your life forces as each of you comes to know the other. Breathe the energy back and forth with these creatures, seeing your root glowing golden and rich with energy. Breathe down farther into the earth. Reach down to the bones of our past ancestors. Allow your root or cord to mingle among their bones. Allow yourself to soak in the ancient wisdom they have to offer. Breathe in their knowledge of the days of the worship of the Goddess. Mingle with them. Savor their knowledge. Soak it into your cells. Breathe it all in. Your root glows and burns with golden energy. See it pulsing back up to your body with each breath you take. If you are with a group, see the glow intermix with others in your circle as it builds a whirling sphere of golden light weaving in and out of each of you. Bid the bones of the ancestors farewell as you go still farther and deeper. Breathe in the energy of Gaia. Feel yourself growing stronger with every breath. Continue down, going deeper through the rock. See the fossils of ancient creatures of even more ancient times. Go down farther and breathe. See and feel the cool underground streams and vast deep pool that is the source that feeds all the seas, oceans and rivers on earth. See the mosses growing on rocks near the edge of the water. Everywhere is teeming with energy and life. Immerse your root in this pool this Element of Water. What do you see? Darkness? Clear blue waters? Creatures of the sea? Remember all this is of the Mother. Have no fears. Absorb what you need through your root energy, wisdom, and knowledge of the earth. Breathe it in. See your golden thread pulse with vitality that charges up to your body invigorating it with energy. Continue deeper into the underground pool. All this time you've been drawn deeper and deeper into the earth as if there were a magnet pulling you. The pull is strongest here. There is a pulsating as never before. As you continue toward the pulsing you see down through the water what appears to be an opening to an underground cavern. You must leave this pool to explore the cavern and learn of its secret. As your root exits the water and travels over the sandy beach leading to the opening of the cavern, feel the sand. Breathe in this new Element of Earth. See the starfish and shellfish of the sea as the tide rolls in and out giving you glimpses of these creatures of the Mother. As you see and hear the tides rolling in and out it reminds you of Her breath. Breathe with Her, in and out, in and out. Be at one with the creatures of the sea. Breathe in their energy. Know them. Become one with them. Feel your golden cord pulsing with this new energy. Shoot the energy like lightning bolts up the length of cord that is connected to your body. Breathe it in as the knowledge and energy permeate your cells, becoming one with you. Focus your attention back to the cavern at the seashore. As you enter you see the stalagmites and stalactites just inside the cavern. Feel the energy of this cavern; the vast, cool blackness of this place. Soak it in. Now as you breathe it begins to glow. Breathe the glowing. Continue back into the cavern. As you look around, you see the cavern is made of all the precious metals and jewels of the earth. They shine copper, gold, silver, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, and ruby. See the gifts made of the earth radiate their energy and engulf your root or cord in swirls of energy. The precious bits of all the elemental jewels are like a windstorm swirling around you. Breathe in the elements. See your cord glow fatter, richer with what Mother Earth has given you. Shoot these energies back up your cord to your womb for all the cells of your body to share. Watch the energies dance among the circle, filling each of you with love and warmth and wisdom. Back in the cavern you breathe in the mystery, the beauty, the endlessness and awe of the cavern. As you glimpse ahead you see engulfed within shimmering light steps seeming to draw you. Ascend the marble steps. At the summit of the winding path you come to a temple of rose quartz. This temple seems to be the source of the pulsating. You can almost see it pulsing as if it were alive itself. How does the temple look to you? Is it Egyptian with pylons at the entrance, or is it Greek in style? Does it appear to be a castle? The Temple of the Goddess may look different to each of you. See it in your mind's eye. Soak in its beauty and magnificence. Be thankful for the privilege of entering this sacred place. Breathe in its energy. Become one with this place. Excitement is rising in you as never before, for you know beyond the doors of the temple is the hearth of the Goddess. When you open the door what will you see? Breathe. Ready yourself for this experience. See your root pulsing with energy and excitement. Push open the door and behold. See the Goddess in Her innermost temple within the earth. How does She look? What does She say to you? Breathe in this experience. Breathe in Her message to you. If there is no message now, simply breathe in the wonder and energy of this sacred temple and the presence of the Goddess in the form She chooses to present to you. Your cord or root is filled with the love and energy of the Goddess. Send what you have absorbed from this experience back up through your energy root, still connected to your body. Savor this energy. Breathe. Absorb all you can from this experience; allow it to find a place of reverence in your memory. Breathe it in. Let this whirling ball of energy dance among all the members of the circle. When you feel you are ready, say farewell to the Goddess. Let your root begin its ascending journey back to the body, back through the temple door and down the marble steps, through the womb-like cavern, back to the seashore. Take a moment to look back and breathe this place into your being. Make your breath one with Her breathing tides. See the golden cord pulsing with vitality. Know this place so that you may come here again to absorb the life force it offers. Enter the pool and continue upward through the pool beneath the surface of the Earth Mother. Continue to breathe in all that is around you. As you leave the pool, feel the Element of Air as the winds beneath the surface of the earth dry your root, swollen with energy and vitality. Feel the warmth of the molten lava surging near the molten core with the Element of Fire. Breathe in these Elements as they exist beneath the surface. You have now experienced all four of the primary Elements of Earth. Continue upward, through the soil, past the fossils, past the bones of the ancient ancestors, past the roots and mammals, just beyond the surface of the earth. Pass through the concrete, travel up through the floor, through your shoes, up your legs and nestle for a moment in the warmth of the womb in your body. Embrace your root. Welcome it back home with a breath of thankfulness and love. But your journey is not over. We must complete the circuit. Allow your golden cord to travel up past your heart and through your head. As it leaves your body, will it to become a magnet to absorb all the energies of the sky. Travel past the clouds and birds. Breathe in their energy. Travel up past the layers of the atmosphere until the earth is like a beautiful blue sphere beneath your golden cord. Breathe in the wonder of the universe and the stars all around you. In this place where you can experience the sun and moon simultaneously, let your golden cord touch the moon. Dance along the surface of the moon and absorb its celestial energies. Draw to yourself the energies of the sun in the distance. Reach out your root toward the clusters of stars all around you. Breathe their energies toward, you absorbing all they offer and taking what you need. Remember this place in your mind's eye so that you may come here again. Let the energy of this heavenly place pulse within your cord and shoot like lightning bolts back to your body and among the circle. See the heavenly energy dance from person to person in the group like a silvery blue wave. Now when you're ready, catch a shooting star that's descending back to earth. Allow your cord to catch a ride down through the infinite blackness of the universe, passing the other moons and stars and the sun on your way through the heavens. As you're about to reenter the atmosphere, jump free from the shooting star and travel back down to your body on your own power. Feel the energy you have absorbed among the heavens and planets and stars. Later you can spend more time here to learn of the vast mysteries of the universe, time and space. Breathe in the wonder of it all. Descend still farther down toward home, past the clouds and birds. Remember to breathe in energy all the while you're traveling. Let your golden cord reenter your body. See your body glow with the delight of the experience. Breathe. Savor it, for you have visited the universe of the Mother. You have seen Her many gifts. And you have had the privilege of partaking of Her wonders below and above the surface of the earth on which you walk. When you are ready, reach down and return any energy that you have taken and cannot use. Return it back to Mother Earth. *** I hope you've enjoyed this journey to the inner core and the Temple of our Mother. These were the images that came to my mind. Your unique variations and messages will be relevant to you. However you experience it, what is most important is connecting with the Mother as often as possible. Relish the wonderful gifts She gives us each day. They are all around us, beneath us and above. Enjoy, and may the white light of Her wings embrace you always. Karen Tate organizes Goddess Tours through A Special Journey Travel, an agency dedicated to the empowerment of women, raising consciousness of the Goddess and providing a link between the mainstream and the Goddess for those who have not yet discovered Her. Those new to this spirituality as well as long time practitioners are welcome on her tours where leaders in the Goddess Community re-create pilgrimages, and do magick and ritual in sacred space at ancient Goddess sites. For 1997 she has organized the following trips: Discover the Goddess in Greece with Morning Glory Zell of Church of All Worlds and author Patricia Monaghan, two of the foremost authorities on the Goddess. August 1997 Bewitching Salem with Lady Brenda Matarazzo, to celebrate Samhain and pay homage to sisters who have gone before us. October 1997 Experience Magical Egypt with Lady Brenda Matarazzo, an Egyptologist, psychic and priestess of Isis. This includes private time in the Great Pyramid for our own group. December 1997 Haunted New Orleans with Dr. J. Gordon Melton, comparative religions expert and Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion. January 1998 You can contact Karen to sign up for one of these tours or to organize a tour for you at: A Special Journey Travel, 660 Venice Boulevard Box 199, Venice CA 90291; 310/450-6661, 800/450-6813, FAX: 310/827-4887; e-mail: specialjourn@earthlink.com | 
