There is a lot of talk in the world today about the Divine Feminine, and an encouragement for us all to embrace Her energy within ourselves and the world.

But all too often that encouragement is keen to lead us towards only the brighter, prettier, and more palatable parts of the Divine Feminine, while some of the more darker aspects of feminine power, and some of the more frankly terrifying Goddess figures from our history are still considered off limits.

One such figure is the lioness Goddess Sekhmet, a figure originally associated with Ancient Egypt whose story is actually thought to be even older.

For those who aren’t familiar with her, Sekhmet was said to be daughter of the Sun God Ra, who brought her to Earth when humans got a little too rebellious for his liking and he needed someone to take them in hand.

Sekhmet did exactly that, heading out onto the battlefields of Egypt and killing everyone and anyone she could find, stopping only to drink the blood that flowed through the battlefields in her wake. The humans of course were terrified, and could only stop her by lacing that blood with wine so that as she drank, Sekhmet fell into a drunken stupor.

It’s said that was when her father stepped back in, Ra waiting until Sekhmet had passed out to remove her not only from those battlefields but from Egypt overall. Some believe she was exiled to Sudan – a land where lions were much more plentiful and where the lioness Goddess may have once originated; while others say her father transported her back to the stars, never to return to Egypt as long as he was in power.

That’s right; a powerful woman was tricked into submission, exiled or vilified when the men who were in charge realised they could not easily be controlled. Sound familiar?

Because let us be clear; the story of Sekhmet is one we read versions of in almost every culture throughout history, not to mention something we still see playing out today in the women who are still cast aside and vilified today for tuning into the parts of themselves and their power that may not be quite so socially acceptable.

But isn’t it long past time we stopped trying so hard to be pretty and palatable ourselves?

Isn’t it time that when we stepped up to embrace the Divine Feminine within ourselves, we embraced all of that power, even the parts those in charge consider terrifying?

Perhaps even the parts we’ve come to consider terrifying.

I first began working with the Goddess Sekhmet in 2020 when I began to learn Sekhem – a form of energy healing said to have come from the star system of Sirius and the lost ancient lands of this world before making its way to the temples of Egypt and on to us in the modern world – and in honesty, was probably a little bit complacent.

I’d consciously worked with Goddess energies for years before. Hell, I’d even worked with more than a few versions of the dark goddess, and knew that to connect with them meant facing up to some of the more shadowy aspects of myself. And so when I learned that being initiated into Sekhem energy meant working with the Goddess Sekhmet I figured I knew what I was letting myself into.

But in the two and a half years since, I’ve learned that there is so much more to Sekhmet and her energy than I had ever known. And perhaps more than that, I’ve learned that there is so much more to myself and my own power than I had ever truly been allowed to connect with.

In the days of Ancient Egypt Sekhmet was known, amongst other things; as an alchemist – the Divine Restructurer who would fearlessly bring together all of the correct ingredients to allow potent change to take place.

That’s something we already know feminine energy carries within itself. In fact, the feminine power of alchemy is probably where so many of the ridiculous gender roles of our world today have come from; the ability of the feminine to create so much more than the sum of the parts they are given to work with!

But Sekhmet reminds us that Divine Feminine alchemy is about more than creating food, homes or even lives – it is about creating deep and powerful change such as when we raise our voices against injustice, take a stand in situations we know to be wrong, or walk away from circumstances which don’t allow us to live on our own terms.

It is to demand restructuring in a world that tells us to maintain the status quo, and a life for which we’re told we should be grateful.

More than that, it’s to accept restructuring as a natural part of that world – one which creates just as much as it destroys.

It’s there that my own work with Sekhmet has led me; to a place of inner and outer restructuring which has brought about deeper and more powerful change than I ever thought possible and that, in so doing, has both terrified and blessed me every step of the way.

I’ve learned the power of facing up to my shadows – the shames of things I’ve done in the past, and the fears of who I may be beneath them – and allowing those to guide me deeper into myself to a place where I recognise my own power over the monsters that previously lurked within.

I’ve found myself breaking free of so many of the patterns and restrictions I carried within me about how I should show up in the world, how my work must be and how my life could look, and instead come to a place of standing fearlessly and potently tall in the life that I want to live and as the person I know that I am.

And I’ve come to trust in the greater picture of alchemy as it unfolds within and around me, recognising that it is often within my deepest challenges and greatest disappointments that I find myself able to step up further and claim deeper aspects of a power that was always meant to be mine.

Because, at a time when women across the world are rising up and demanding to be heard, seen and honoured for all that they are; and at a time when Sekhmet’s own story and the stories of so many others are finding their way back to our consciousness, isn’t that what this is all about?

Reminding ourselves of the whole of the Divine Feminine power which is ready and waiting to be reclaiming by us; that which existed within each of us long before it was feared and buried, and which will only ever empower us and our lives if only we have the courage to face it.

If you’re interested in working more deeply with the power of Sekhmet for yourself and your own life, Embodied Sekhem initiations will be taking place in Glastonbury, UK this January. Meanwhile I invite you to join me in Re-Kindling Sekhmet’s story in this online workshop taking place the same month.