The Calling
You are loved, you are welcome, you are called
Follow me down the trackways, deep into the forest, dance across the heathlands, revel on the shoreline, splash along the river
Welcome the warm sun caressing your skin, the wind flowing through your hair
See my creatures and feel their power
I bless you with your gifts, I pull them forward, strengthened and renewed
oracle, seer, bard, keeper of the lore, Priestess!
You are with me and my sisters
Held in our embrace, trust and we will guide you on your next trip around the wheel
by Su, 2025
My Journey to Goddess
A Childhood Steeped in Myth and Legend
Me, Stone bothering.
The seeds for my journey were planted long ago in childhood, my parents told me the myths and legends of old, mixed with folklore and fairy tale all of which captured my imagination and somehow stuck in my mind. I was also taken, often dragged kicking and screaming, around the U.K. and Europe to visit sacred sites, standing stones, the ruins of the ancients and temples of other ages mixed with medieval churches, mosques, monasteries and synagogues (mostly built on old sites) and the stately homes, museums and other remains of our more recent past.
My Mother, both a medieval historian and deeply religious, would amuse me on these trips with biblical stories and the more lurid history, whilst Dad would break up the drives with constant stops to bird watch.
Between them they laid the foundation for my path, gifting me with wealth of "quite interesting" knowledge of history, folklore, myth, legend and birds, as well as a lot of other general stuff.
I was and remain a voracious reader of folklore, fantasy such as Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Gaiman and Pratchett etc who all draw heavily on ancient mythology.
My 1980’s Rebellion
The Rebel Years: Tarot, Wicca and a Search for Truth
Into my teenage years, I became a “rebel", an outsider, non-compliant with expectations, an individual who decided to walk my own path and see where it took me. During these years I learnt Tarot and dabbled with palmistry, clairvoyance, mediumship and the spirit board. I rejected the institutionalised religions and declared myself Wiccan! Although I enjoyed being a part of the Wiccan coven it didn't seem to sit quite right with me. I sort of understood that it wasn't where I was meant to be. It didn't ring true in my heart or soul.
I then went to live in Israel, a land I had felt called back to many times since my first visit with my parents and here I felt a change, a transformation from the gauche child to an independent woman. In my year away I also spent a time in the Sinai desert where I met a huge variety of peoples from across the globe and with little else to do most nights were spent in deep conversation often around spirituality and belief, this was a time where my eyes really opened to the breadth and depth of spirituality that was out there in the world and my desire to explore it in more detail to find the shape that fitted me.
Priestess Skills in Everyday Life
I followed my first calling to become a nurse, a career that lasted for nearly 40 years from student nurse to senior manager. I chose to work in high pressure areas with the acutely unwell in coronary care, acute medical admissions and accident & emergency departments. I then moved to transformational leadership, improving and creating new services as I felt this positively impacted a greater number of people. This work was local, regional and national.
In my chosen professional life I now recognise that I used many Priestess skills on a daily basis, most obviously my healing as I cared for both patients, relatives and staff alike. The most obvious example of this is with the dying and bereaved so many of whom I have sat with in stillness and peace in their final hours, offering comfort for both body and soul, succour to the relatives at their most vulnerable. Less seen or acknowledged is the guidance, support and care I gave to so many colleagues sometimes just being the steady presence walking in after a difficult shift, seeing them as they truly were, encouraging them in their growth, offering advice or just holding space for them when needed and always ready with a story to cheer them or explain a challenging experience.
By the time i hit my 30’s I was in need of a significant shift. My home life was at times chaotic, violent and distressing either due to violence or the unpredictability of caring for a child with cPTSD/autism as well as working through my own healing journey in the aftermath of the extreme domestic abuse I had endured. At this time I relearnt the power of nature and connection to heal, it's when my practice of walking the land daily truly embedded and I recalled the power of joining to the energies of place, feeling the echoes from the past and listening to what the trees, animals, wind, stones, bricks and mortar have to tell us. I recognised that I was at this time a solo practitioner of something.
Beyond Gender: Finding Her in Myth and History
Gender has in recent times become a controversial and much debated issue with protagonists on both sides of vehemently defending their position. The need for this debate is somewhat lost on me because I just think we're humans and the concept of gender is an artificial construct, I see myself as neither female nor male. I'm just Su.
In relationships to my journey to Goddess gender played no significant role I think because I found Her in the ancient texts, archaeology, history both oral and written, in the land and buildings I know that the distinction of male and female is comparatively modern starting at the rise of the Romans. Even in this time the Goddesses and Gods demonstrated both what we would now call male and female traits e.g. Athena, Artemis, Prometheus, Eros. If we look to pre Roman Goddesses we have Scathach a warrior Goddess who trained Cu Chulainn amongst others or even Morgan Le Fay who was a Ward to many noble sons which she trained who became Arthur's knights e.g. Lancelot. We have Baldr the Norse God of light, joy and purity whilst Hel is a fearsome Goddess of the underworld. I see part of my role as Priestess is to remind people that we are just humans with a mix of qualities/energies and allow them to express themselves without trying to fit into a stereotype.
At the White Spring in Glastonbury joining with the energies of the water.
The Call to Avalon
Having visited Glastonbury innumerable times over the years always understanding it was a place to regroup and collect myself again, about 2015, my need to return more frequently grew stronger, more compelling, like an ache deep inside. I knew I was wanted there. At this time I also started having a recurring dream, I've always had lucid dreams but this one was more intense, more insistent: it was of me standing before the waterfall at Chalice Well, stepping ever closer until the water was all around me and I stepped through the waterfall and She was there, taking my hand, guiding me to Avalon to be by Her side. This was my first glimpse of my Priestess self and so I am now undertaking my training to become Her Priestess in whatever role She sees fit. I don't believe I fully understand where She will guide me on this journey. I will trust and wait to see where the path leads. She has already led me here, called me to become a story teller and oracle (reinforced on pilgrimage to Delphi) anything that comes next is all part of the adventure.
During my training I heard Goddess loudly calling me to become a Midwife of the Soul/End of Life Doula. When I spoke to my sisters about this, the general response was “I thought you already were". So alongside my time with them I undertook my End of Life training with Living Well, Dying Well and became certified with End of Life Doula UK. Now both are complete. I am establishing an End of Life Cafe for my local community to open the conversation about death and dying in a supportive environment with others who are facing this journey.
End of Life Cafe, Hordle WI Hall, 3rd October 2.30-3.30pm- Free! Tea, coffee and cake provided.
