Toy stores and department store aisles are decked with pink and purple princess paraphernalia. Disney has provided an array of princesses for little girls to choose their birthday party or bedroom decor from. But as we all know, there’s a deeper secret hidden in the FAIRY TALES that high powered media execs have made their fortunes on: THE GODDESS.
Every hero’s tale, be it in video games or romantic movies sets out to do one thing: SAVE THE PRINCESS. When I was a child I saved Her myself on my little Nintendo system never knowing why She was in trouble in the first place. And was I the only one who ever wondered why NONE of the PRINCESSES HAD MOTHERS!?
In the early Centuries during the Christianization of Europe, Pagans (which means “people of the land”) hid truths right under the nose of the newly forming Christian Church in their folklore, games and children’s rhymes to avoid being burnt at the stake. These simple people tried to covertly keep the Wisdom of the Sacred Feminine that they’d been honoring since the beginning of time, ALIVE.
“Legends often contain kernels of truth too dangerous to be asserted as fact but nonetheless significant. Oral traditions are often more reliable than history, which is known to record the bias of the writer.” writes Margaret Starbird in “Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile”.
Even the earliest followers and disciples of Jesus knew and took great measures to conceal and protect ALL knowledge of the Goddess. (For more on this read the “Gnostic Gospels” by Princeton University’s Professor of Religion, Elaine Pagels) Why? Because Jesus preached of Her, he was preaching the “Queendom of Heaven” but that conveniently got edited out. His high priestess bride, Mary Magdalene, along with Jesus were equal partners and were putting themselves in grave danger by spreading this knowledge of God being more than a single parent.
In these fairy tales, the princess (Mary Magdalene) was often put to sleep or kept away by a wicked STEP-mother (the Christian Church taking the place of the Divine Mother) until her charming prince (Jesus) would return. This reunion of the SACRED COUPLE would heal all vegetation and life of the land thereby restoring peace, everyone living happily ever after.
Think about it:
Cinderella- wicked step-mom who hides her,
Sleeping Beauty (named Briar Rose or “hidden rose”, the ROSE represents the Goddess),
Little Mermaid- NO MOTHER MENTIONED and her voice is taken away (“the voice of the Bride” (Jer. 33:11a),
Rapunzel- LONG hair like that of Mary Magdalene who washed Jesus’ feet with anointed oils as was the way of priestesses on their wedding nights and she is kept in a tower (Magdalene MEANS “tower”),
Snow White- again her stepmother sent her away to be killed (by her SACRED HEART cut out) and the apple (poisoned) represents the Womb,
And Beauty and the Beast- no mom, groom turned monster, they must fall in love before the last ROSE petal falls.
“The image of the impetuous prince slashing his way through the thicket of thorn bushes in an attempt to find his lost princess, his ‘other half,’ is particularly significant for our modern world.” Also, Margaret Starbird in “The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”.
This princess we are trying to save is our archetypical higher self trying to rescue this chaotic modern world. Women have been made to be thought of as secondary, unimportant and just for sexual desires or as house Cinderellas. And because we’re told God is only a MAN and Eve was the first disobedient wife- domestic violence, rape and EVERY other violent crime towards women and girls (and this includes Mother Earth) has been tolerated/encouraged.
But I see these little girls rocking their Elsa dresses and knowingly nod at them because I know on a deeper level THEY KNOW. The women are beginning to speak up, saying NO, marching and telling their stories and ARE CHANGING EVERYTHING. This world is in a deep flux as it’s societal pillars that were built on lies are crumbling. The Goddess/The Divine Feminine/the Great Mother is being rescued, WE are rescuing Her whilst rescuing ourselves. FREE SOPHIA!!
Our fearless and fabulous Princess Peach model, Patricia, is as strong and she is brilliant. You might not recognize that this is her second time modeling in the Goddess Project model, see her also as our Wonder Woman.
Thank you for channeling the feistiness and courage of the Goddess and bringing that to the project once again!
This otherworldly photograph was taken by Melody, who has portrayed Mary Magdalene and the Goddess Brighid for the project. Thank you for this stunning image, Melody!
For more on the Goddess Project go to the FREE SOPHIA blog homepage, or freesophia.com.
Colette Numajiri is a Goddess cheerleader and Creatrix of freesophia.com, the FREE SOPHIA blog, The Goddess Project: Made in Her Image, the Goddess Group and one of the Reverends of the New Wineskins Feminist Ritual Community in Dallas. 20 years of professional makeup artistry and design in the theatre lead her to blend worlds, creating the Goddess Project. THE GODDESS PROJECT: Made in Her Image Journal Journey is to be released this spring! Wife and mother of two young boys, she will stop at nothing until all of the World’s children are happy and free. Follow her on Instagram: @coconiji.
feminismandreligion.com 
Love this! Can’t wait for The Goddess Project Made in Her Image Journal Journey to be released.When and where can I get a copy?
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Thank you, Goddess Teresa! Send me your email to freesophia.com, and I’ll make sure you get a journal!
Roses to you..
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Hi Teresa, I wanted you to know that THE GODDESS PROJECT: Made in Her Image JOURNAL JOURNEY is now available on freesophia.com!
Roses to you,
Colette
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Great piece friend!
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Thank you, Goddess!
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I would like to think you are right, but when I see pink perfect dolls and little girls – princesses – the message I still get is one of women’s oppression and I am 73.
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Keep up the hope, Goddess Sara (what an important mission you must have come in with being named Princess of the Divine!) We still have MUCH work to do, yes. That’s why I love this project (which came to me in a dream btw) because IMAGERY sticks, especially among the population that doesn’t read.
We have to keep going, read the princess article to your daughters or the moms of the little girls dressed in pink.
I have two little boys that don’t dare call me “you guys”. They have seen a woman run for president, a female Jedi and Wonder Woman is their biggest super hero.
I mentioned the movie Frozen because the Elsa and Anna sisters save each other. The newest princess SOPHIA THE FIRST (!) is wildly popular among little bitty girls (and boys) and she has a daily TV show.
It’s happening, keep doing what you’re doing!
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Nice analogy that the Disney princesses are really Mary Magdalen. In the 90s, about when Holy Blood/Holy Grail was published, Magdalen was a HOT TOPIC. There were lots of interesting books (like Starbird’s) about her. (And a few pretty dumb ones.) I highly recommend Elizabeth Cunningham’s books about Maeve, the Celtic Magdalen With An Attitude.
In my ongoing saga (well, stories) about the witch and the ravens and the refugees, I’m writing about how they do magic to get back at El Presidente, In the (currently) 3-part story that starts on Sunday, March 4, they rescue a princess named Ella, which leads to further rescues. Twenty-seven oppressed and abused princesses in the third part (May). I think we all have the same goal in mind: freedom for young women. Good luck with your Goddess Project.
Has anybody else seen the Disney movie Enchanted? A modern princess lands in NYC and learns quite a lot. Her stepmother turns into a dragon.
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How interesting about MAUVE, I’ll have to check out Elizabeth Cunningham’s work! The thing that delights me the most about this project is the rabbit hole of an education the Goddess has sent me on. Every time a new woman wants to be in the project, She brings me a new incarnation of Her that I get to explore.
So, thanks for the information and I so look forward to reading your stories!
I’ll have to see Enchanted again, thanks, see what I replied above to Sara’s comment about Frozen and Sophia you might want to check out.
Blessed be!
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I can’t thank you enough for this post.
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I can’t thank you enough for your kind reply. Keep doing what you’re doing Beautiful Helen.
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Thank you for helping me re-imagine princesses! This is an outstanding article–hopeful and empowering!
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Thank you so much for reading the article. I think we need all of the hope and empowerment we can get!
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And thank you, Colette, for creating this Goddess Project that inspires and empowers so many people. You are co-creating with Her a new world! I look forward to the Journal Journey and more of your work published in Feminism and Religion and elsewhere.
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Thank you, Creatrix Jann, She is telling me what to do and I do it and then I sit back and look at Her work in amazement.
You TWO are co-creating with Her and SHE IS RISING!!
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Dan right she is……!
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Yas, Sister!
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Just the other day I was telling a friend about the light blue organdy dress with matching slip my grandfather bought me when I was 6 when he was supposed to have been buying me a school outfit. I drove my mother crazy because I wanted to wear the dress and to climb trees on Sunday afternoons at Granmmas. You are still like that, my friend said, very fem and glam and really strong too.
The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio was a Goddess image for me, as were angels.
Still, I share some of Sara W’s worries about all those little princess dresses and worry that children are no longer climbing trees and riding bikes or skating on the sidewalks for hours on end.
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What a lovely memory, thank you for sharing. I love that your friend said that you’re still like that. Reminds me of my 5th grade self with fists on my hips, pissed off that they wouldn’t let me be the space shuttle commander of our “mission” knowing that it was because I was a girl. I only got to speak 2 lines from ground control and I felt then the same as I do now.
But every word YOU write is moving us forward! We don’t know if we’re on the 17th monkey or the 99th. Just keep trying.
And don’t worry about the little ones, they’re a special breed these children coming in now and they’re going to know Her.
Maybe you can portray the Blue Fairy for the Goddess Project someday, fem and glam and strong.
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Beautifully written. Thanks for the insights. I too worry about the littles never getting to these deeper meanings of the stories….If I don’t know all that, how will they move past the dresses into the meaning? I guess that is ours to pass along to our babies and grandbabies…..although I’m not sure much sunk into my own daughter over the year….
I too totally dig Frozen for the fact that it celebrates Sister LOve!!
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Oh, yes! You have a one-year old daughter? We ARE making a difference, keep at it Sister!!
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Having checked out your website, I too, would like to be sent a journal when it becomes available please.
It was a very strange and exhilerating experience looking at the up-to-date photos of the Goddesses. I have often looked at pictures of Goddesses, but have never seen up-to-date photos, and it really brings it all into the ‘now’.
Also, whilst googling Sophia, for your project, I stumbled upon a reference for a book by Jann Aldredge-Clanton which is also super exciting. It is called ‘Praying with Christ Sophia – services for healing and renewal’. It seems to be a handbook for running a ‘church’ service along the lines of Christ Sophia…..amazing! She has written at least another two books, one of them, being her autobiography “Breaking Free: The Story of a Feminist Baptist Minister”. Wow!
Kind regard and again, thank you for your post.
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Oh, thank you, Helen for your comment and for checking out the website. I will let you know HERE when the journals are available.
I’m excited that you googled Sophia and Dr. Adredge-Clanton! She is the most gracious person I know, she continuously amazes me and has created incredible resources including Divine Feminine HYMNALS. I’m miraculously blessed to live in the same city as Jann and have her for a friend and mentor.
This is our Sophia from the Goddess Project: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107287050579003737566/posts/8UZKbX4r9gk
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You lucky woman! I’m on my knees, here in the UK.
I can’t believe this is really happening.
I have already envisaged using Jann’s book to start up alternative worship groups. Goodness knows when that would happen, given my level of fatigue, but if I can envisage it, no doubt it will happen…And if it can happen in America and the UK, it can happen anywhere. Hallelujah.
I intend to print out your Sophia icon and place it on my altar.
Now, I’m off to have a bath x
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Hello Helen, I wanted you to know the Goddess Journal (THE GODDESS PROJECT: Made in Her Image JOURNAL JOURNEY) is now available on freesophia.com!
Blessings to you,
Colette
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OMG – having just scrolled back through the comments, I see that Jann Aldredge-Clanton has actually commented on your post. Wow! Thank you both so much.
Jann – I am full of admiration and gratitude for your courage and am going off to buy your books now…..x
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Have you started your Sophia worship group yet?
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Thank you, Helen, for your kind words about my work. Yes, for many years I’ve been trying to bring feminist theology/thealogy to faith communities and apply it to rituals. I hope my books are helpful to you. Together we are all co-creating with Her a transformed world. She lives!
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She certainly does and I can’t wait until guidance/books like yours help us to redress the balance. God bless (and I hope that’s not offensive)
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