Navigation for Portals
“Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for She Who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be You, my God, for having created me.”[43]
“If the feminine had not separated from the masculine, she would not die with the masculine. This separation became the origin of death. It was because of this that Christ came, so that he might take away the separation which was there from the beginning and thus again reunite the two: and so that he might give life to those who died while separated and make them one.”[44]
Portal 5
From dissociation to wholeness: Reclaiming Your Fullness
Invitation
The reason I am using the word dissociation rather than disassociation is because the former is something that happens outside of a person’s control. Women have been collectively and culturally dissociated from their femininity. As we read in Portal 3, men’s ways of thinking and behaving have been normalized and made superior as a way of being in this patriarchal world. In that way, women have been told countless times to be more like a man. Read this quote for an example:
And it is no small patience which the natural imbecility of the female sex requireth you to prepare. Except it be very few that are patient and manlike, women are commonly of potent fantasies, and tender, passionate, impatient spirits, easily cast into anger, or jealousy, or discontent; and of weak understandings, and therefore unable to reform themselves. They are betwixt a man and a child: some few have more of the man, and many have more of the child; but most are but in a middle state.[45]
As we can see in this quote, women are evaluated in terms of their comparison to men rather than as an autonomous being. This quote diminishes a female's status by contrasting her to men (often idealized as rational and mature) and children (viewed as dependent and simple). These words imply that women are not as fully developed as men, with only a few females exhibiting "manly" traits, such as strength or reason; instead, most females are associated with immature and weak children. And we wonder why women have such a hard time celebrating the beautiful gift of femininity given to us by our Mother/Father. In these next three Portals we will be reconstructing our design and place in this world by opening opportunities to embrace the powerful role only designated for and accessible to women.
Anima and Animus
I will be using C.G. Jung’s foundational work involving the collective unconscious as represented by archetypes. You probably have heard of the word or concept of archetypes, but let’s just demystify it before we go on. An archetype is a universal psychological structure that is inherent in every human being. It is not learned but something that instinctively resides in us. For example, the hero and heroine archetypes are used to express meaning through story, art, symbols, etc.
C.G. Jung developed an archetype called the anima representing the feminine and the animus representing the masculine aspects of an individual. What is interesting is that the animus represents the masculine attributes in the unconscious of a woman, while the anima represents the feminine attributes in the unconscious of a man. Jung believed this was important because when a person can balance the energies of both masculine and feminine within themselves, this can actually lead to wholeness. Therefore, if a woman can integrate her feminine and masculine attributes, this will create harmony within herself and empower her to develop her own agency. If a man integrates his anima, this can help him to find inner depth through emotions of empathy, compassion, and nurturance.
What I believe was and still is lost is our construct of a collective womanhood where women are commended and celebrated for their strength as agents of feminine power in this world. How is this done? Yes, we need to embrace our animus, our masculine attributes; however, we cannot accomplish this without first completely absorbing our anima. We must believe that all that was given to us when we were born into this world is very good. The traits that make us who we are—our bodies, personality, intellect—these are the ways that we are different from and yet the same as other women. The very ways in which we are women and exude power in this world began in a place of worth, and it is up to us to channel that goodness.
What does feminine power look like? Before we begin, let me say that when we are discussing femininity, I am referring to women as a gender because this is my focus in these Portals. Women have been so vilified in our world that we have lost connection to our feminine selves and other women too; this narrative must be rejected since it is a construct of patriarchy. I do know that our world is changing, and therefore femininity is evolving, but that is not the scope of this exercise.
Some of the qualities that are conjured in my mind when it comes to feminine power are emotional intelligence (that does not mean we are not intellectually intelligent, but I focus here because this comes more naturally to us than men). Another is the ability to relate to others on authentic and vulnerable levels of consciousness. Adaptability and resilience are two other ways that we demonstrate our ability to thrive, especially in light of adversity. There are a myriad of other attributes in women that need to be named and celebrated, and that will be part of your meditation in this portal.
Now we will look at myth through the eyes of the anima/animus and discover what it must teach us through the lens of loss. “The function of myth is to put us in sync—with ourselves, with our social group, and with the environment in which we live.”[46] Earlier in Portal 2 we talked about the stabilizing force of myth in the collective unconscious to garner meaning out of our existence. Myths speak to the journey of the human as we find ourselves navigating the complexities of living on earth. They give meaning to the path set before all beings of personal growth, struggle, and finally transformation… but not all choose this path even though it is laid before them. It takes profound courage and a deep curiosity to go into the unknown and let it change you.
The problem for women is that we do not have an accurate myth to guide us on our journey of discovery and self-fulfillment. Our Western Christianity took away the myth of Goddess and the anima and replaced it with the animus, the masculine. In all other religions of the world, there are both Goddess and God, a feminine counterpart to the masculine, a wholeness when drawn together as one. The earth, fertility, and the regenerative power of nature represents the Goddess and as seen earlier in the Gnostic tradition, she also takes the form of Holy Spirit.
Joseph Campbell was a scholar in the discipline of mythological studies and brought to the forefront the urgency of bringing Goddess back to our American culture, including religion.
In the biblical tradition, which is the last great tradition of this Semitic line, there is not even a goddess in the tradition. Here’s a Father God with no Mother Goddess—a very strange thing. What happens to the Mother Goddess? She is reduced to the elemental level. She is the cosmic water; that’s there where God’s spirit hovers, above the water. He is given the human personification, and she is not… This places a terrific stress on our culture.[47]
We all feel that tremendous stress whether we can name it or not.
God and Goddess
Marija Gimbutas, a renowned archaeologist and anthropologist, developed the theory of the Goddess Culture based on her studies of prehistoric Europe. She was a remarkable scholar who conducted her research based on the relational web of the whole of society. She researched, not just their economy or language, but also their religion, their diet, the way their housing was constructed: She took a holistic approach to the discovering of ancient societies and found remarkable evidence for the Goddess culture in Crete, Greece.
At least nine thousand years ago, this was an egalitarian society where no one person was put above another. Their deity was a Goddess with a council of women, and the men were the overseers of the economy. The quality of life was very high—a peaceful way of living without weapons. They achieved high standards in art, and the overall aesthetic nature of their culture was experienced as a unity in all things.
The focus of this Portal is the integration of the multifaceted aspects of femininity and masculinity. We as women have the opportunity to receive all the beauty of our nature while we also absorb the inherent goodness of masculine energy. Both feminine and masculine traits are inherently good and valuable and necessary for our inner growth and fulfillment.
C.G. Jung believed that the Self is the totality of the human mind—which means the conscious and unconscious parts—and serves as what we may call the executive function of the personality. The goal is always individuation, which leads to wholeness and balance within a person. Individuation is a crucial step towards self-realization, and Jung developed four stages to guide us through this process.
Accepting the Shadow allows us to see our imperfections and become self-aware.
Embracing the Anima/Animus unlocks new ways of feeling and expressing ourselves.
Unifying the Conscious and Unconscious brings fears and desires into our present.
Encountering the Self accepts our truest nature beyond ego or family/social roles.
This of course is a lifelong journey but one that can immediately impact the quality of your life. This is the journey to discovering your true authentic Self.
Write Your Story
Take some time to write your responses to these prompts in your journal.
· What does feminine power look like to you and when have you experienced it, if ever?
· Name some of your own feminine attributes that you see in yourself and in other women.
· What masculine energy do you want to integrate into your feminine soul?
Meditation
Start the video that leads you to the fifth portal. When you arrive at this portal, envision yourself standing at the image in the garden.
· Let a word arise in the stillness and locate that word in your body
· When the music ends, write down your word and where it resides in your body.
Take as much time as you need to hold what has been given, and when you are ready, the sixth portal awaits.
click for Portal 6: From Marginalization to Empowerment…
(c) 2025 Kellie Wilder Daley. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Top image by Meinrad Craighead. "Clare of Assisi," 1981. Copyright Amy Dosser. meinradcraighead.com. Used by permission.
For footnotes, click here.