“Safety in ceremony is built when no part of the space asks to be desired.”
(Feminine Temple Teaching)
In the Brazilian Amazon, it’s said that the Pajes —those who would one day become true keepers of medicine—must first devote themselves to five years of celibacy. This isn’t about denial for its own sake. It’s about something deeper: the discipline of channelling one’s life force, of learning how to hold it. To hold power without needing to perform it.
In the spiritual realms of our modern world, where ancient traditions mix with contemporary healing modalities, there is a rising tide of women reclaiming sensuality and power. And rightly so. For too long, the feminine has been shamed, boxed, regulated. Women reclaiming the sacredness of their bodies, shedding centuries of shame, is necessary.
But what happens when we get stuck there?
What happens when spiritual embodiment becomes performance?
When the sacred becomes spectacle?
We are witnessing a global theatre of archetypes: the showman or the shaman, the priestess or the princess? And if we look closely at these gendered paradigms, is it any wonder so many now feel confused about what it even means to be ‘woman’ or ‘man’?
Is femininity confined to goddess robes and curated sensuality? Must one appear a certain way to be seen as spiritually “in tune”? If we don’t adorn ourselves in flowing silks and celestial crowns, are we somehow less divine?
As someone who has walked many paths, who has sat with tribal grandmothers and wise Native American elders, I have witnessed an entirely different expression of the sacred feminine: quiet, grounded, unadorned, powerful in its stillness. These women, often covered head to toe—be it in Sekhem teachings, in indigenous Ayahuasca ceremonies, in traditional tribal councils or tantric empowerments—hold a magnetic force that transcends appearance.
Because nudity, beauty, sensuality—while natural and powerful—can also be distracting. Especially in ceremonial spaces meant for healing. If we truly seek to channel life force to the higher centres, to be of service to spirit and community, we must ask: are we cultivating clarity, or confusion?
A woman—a true spiritual woman—is not one who performs femininity, but one who is connected to the Earth. Who walks with reverence. Who is safe to be around, even in the deepest vulnerability of others.
Yes, yoni de-armouring and sensual reclamation have their place in healing. There is a power in releasing shame, in connecting to the sacral chakra, in awakening that creative fire. But we cannot remain fixated there. Evolution requires balance. The spiritual path, through systems like Reiki and yogic philosophy, asks us to rise through each energy centre—anchored, but never trapped.
When embodiment becomes the destination rather than part of the journey, we risk mistaking sensation for liberation.
This is especially tricky in our current culture, where spirituality is often confused with aesthetics. Beauty becomes currency. The magnetic feminine becomes a brand. But for many heterosexual men genuinely trying to evolve spiritually, this can create deeply conflicting messages. They are asked to be present and respectful while surrounded by archetypes that play directly into their conditioning. Their hormones. Their ancestral wiring.
We need to have compassion for that too.
Spirituality must be more than attraction and procreation, more than performance and presence. True devotion is to all that is—not just to ourselves, not just to our sensuality, not just to our desires.
For many years, I chose to remain unseen in certain ways as a practitioner and i thoroughly believe it has helped me to access higher states of consciousness and to create the causes and conditions to become a Kalachakra tantra practitioner. Like the Pajes in the Amazon, I made conscious efforts not to attract the gaze through purifying through the 5 year periods (and then much more) and it taught me a lot. In film theory, we speak of ‘the gaze’ as an instrument of power, which some theorists believe can actually lead to objectification. Essentially we surrender up true power through being attached to being looked at. This is then described as becoming further ingrained in patriarchal heterosexual frameworks and does not emancipate the ‘object’ but subordinates them through the lens of desire of the viewer.
In ceremony, attracting the gaze can become a weapon of distraction. I learned that to be a clear channel for Spirit, to be a versatile practitioner and to lead into deeper tantric awareness we need to understand the artform of being able to shapeshift—unfixed, unattached to identity. To offer the archetype needed, not the archetype branded.
And therein lies the paradox of the Neo-Priestess. When embraced without awareness, she can become a fixed role. A persona. And in doing so, she may block the very fluidity that makes the feminine sacred.
Tower moments—those painful, ego-shattering collapses—are vital. Because they strip away the masks. They remind us that true leadership is not about who we appear to be. It is about who we are when no one is watching. And in this age of constant watching, perhaps one of the most radical acts is to not perform.
To create safe ceremonial spaces is to be deeply accountable. If a person comes to us for healing and we are embodying the Enchantress while also promising neutrality… what signals are we sending? Mixed ones, at best.
Yes, the Neo-Priestess has her time and place. There are rituals where that archetype is deeply appropriate and potent. But in day-to-day practice—especially in one-on-one or trauma-informed spaces—we must ask: are we offering sanctuary, or seduction?
Are we being medicine, or are we the distraction from it?
These questions are not easy, but they are necessary. As we weave new maps for what it means to be spiritual, sensual, sacred—and safe—we must constantly return to discernment.
If these reflections resonate with you, I invite you to explore further in my book Dakini Weaving – Keys to the Golden Age, where I dive into the energy body, duality, and the Venusian codes that shape our spiritual landscape. Dharma STARS has also produced extensive teachings on these codes and how they intersect with astrology to support our soul’s evolution.
May we all remember that sometimes, the most magnetic force is not how we appear, but the stillness we embody and the presence we provide.
Empowerment to the Golden Age 