Spirituality and Belonging
When we hear the word “belonging”, we might think of family, community and being with friends who share our values. These forms of connection bring us into relation with “other” people and make us feel like we are a part of something larger.
In my life, a sense of belonging also depends on my connection to the divine, to the spiritual world. I felt out of place in the religious context since I was a teenager.
Later in life, through my spiritual explorations, I felt that as a woman, I didn’t have a right to put my spiritual life in the forefront. I had to choose between having a family or following my callings in life.
I also sensed that women “in the past” were denied the right to follow their Souls, because their lives, due to patriarchy, either belonged to the Church or to the man and children.
It wasn’t until I visited the town of Magdala, in Israel, where Mary Magdalene lived, did I sense an awakening of the Divine Feminine in me. As I pressed my womb into the warm stones of the temple where she taught along with Jesus, did I feel included in the Christian religious story: not as a prostitute, not as an inferior being, not as a follower, but as an equal.
The journey into the exploration of the Divine Feminine is bringing me deeper into my sense of belonging in this world.
For me, belonging is closely linked to my Soul.
Belonging feels inseparable from my spiritual life.
At the same time, through various practices, I am reuniting my soul and body, remembering that they were designed to live in unity and not as fragmented parts.
I now feel, more fully, that I belong to my body and my body belongs to me.
Practice
If you want to start connecting with your SoulBody* in a deeper way, I invite you to explore the following questions:
What book awakens my soul?
What piece of music?
What painting?
What sacred site?
What season of the year?
*SouldBody is a word that was coined by Marion Woodman
