Queen Esther
An orphan child,
who became
a well respected queen,
Esther, the Queen of Persia,
was a woman of integrity,
Wisdom and courage,
a beautiful woman, truly supreme,
favored by God,
She had a awareness of dependability,
steady strong, long-suffering faithfulness, with vision foreseen
in courage to stand in times of trouble
with true self esteem,
wise above measure,
Esther, Queen of Persia.
Like many Goddess tales, Esther (from the Old Testament “Book of Esther” or the “Megillah”) took full control of a dangerous situation and against all odds created a miracle, saving the lives of ALL OF HER PEOPLE.
There is a yearly Jewish celebration because of Her called PURIM (today, March 1st this year) where people wear costumes, re-read the Megillah, feast and give gifts of food and money to the needy.
Little girls look up to Queen Esther because She is brave and beautiful. It was Esther’s beauty that first won Her favor with the King, who’s first wife, Vashti (who was another strong biblical female) he had killed for refusing to parade naked in front of drunken party guests.
So, poor orphaned Esther became the queen by Her beauty but it was because of Her courage and faith that She took a chance and stood up for Her people knowing it very well could have caused Her own execution. And by Her bravery, She saved them!
Ashley Ross wrote for Time Magazine: “Esther is a feminist icon for many women in third world countries and many women of minority groups—women who have had to find their way of surviving and standing strong in spite of unspeakably difficult circumstances, such as being forced to marry men they don’t love, or being victims of human trafficking, or enduring such horrors as Jewish families experienced in the Holocaust, or maintaining their human dignity as unending conflicts tear women and their children from their homes and countries in many parts of the world today. This can also be true of minority women in first and second world countries who do not have the same rights as first world white women.”
Queen Esther is a role model and a Goddess for all women, now and back then, gently telling women to be brave, faithful and stand up for what you believe in!
Our Queen Esther MODEL ALEXANDRA is a fearless professional ballerina (she recently went to Japan on holiday for two weeks ALONE) born in Washington, DC. On portraying Esther, the elegant, warm-hearted and bubbly Alexandra (whose name means “helper of the world”) said:
“Esther is one of the many women in Jewish tradition who impacted Her people in such an incredible way, to me She deserves the title of Goddess certainly. She also crosses over the lines of religions and lore alike, and I think She is iconic in this way. Her story is mystifying and also imparts Her bravery on all of its readers. I am humbled to portray Her, because Her greatness is so incredible! As a young girl on Purim I always wanted to dress up as Esther (SEE adorable PHOTO), so I have many memories of that, dressing up in my mom’s slips and costume jewelry and wearing a fabric crown.” Besides modeling and dancing, Alexandra is also a fantastic writer as her mom was an editor! “My father’s mother was named Esther, and so the connection by the name was also with me – my grandmother was a PIONEER in JEWISH ORTHODOXY WOMEN’S RIGHTS, so she really was much like the biblical Esther in a way. Esther and her story is something I read every single year on Purim, and every year I feel I learn something new from her story.”
When the stunning model, Alexandra, who is of Jewish descent came to me and proposed that the Goddess Project have an “Esther”, my heart lead me to agree not knowing ANYTHING about Her or very much about the Jewish faith. Thank you, Alexandra for bringing your Wisdom and beauty and for teaching me about Queen Esther!
Thank you, also, Drake Humphries for being our photographer on this shoot. Drake was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and outside of his photography and technological skills, Drake is also a brilliant professional ballet dancer. Thank you, Drake, you are so talented!
Lyrics to Queen Esther HYMN:
Queen Esther Saved Her People
Esther 4-8
Queen Esther saved her people; she helped them all survive;
she risked her life to save them, to keep them all alive.
When violent forces gathered, she heeded Wisdom’s voice,
and stood up for her people to make the loving choice.
Queen Esther moved with courage in that most urgent hour;
for such a time she came to the seat of royal power.
In spite of fear of danger, she spoke life-giving words,
and joined with Holy Wisdom to make her message heard.
Queen Esther met each challenge within her time and place;
she faced oppression based on her gender and her race.
For such a time she rose up and followed Wisdom’s ways,
resisting evil actions, creating better days.
In such a time as this now we work for saving life;
we speak against injustice and act to end the strife.
With Esther we claim courage to rise up and resist;
with her we find our power and patience to persist.
Words © 2017 Jann Aldredge-Clanton
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 
I can’t help but wonder how life would be in Iran if Queen Esther were alive today. Would she be married to Hassam Rouhani? Married to Supreme Leader Ali Khameini? (I just did a little google search and didn’t find anything that says these men can’t be married.) I bet a strong queen would do much to help the women of Iran.
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I know it, I wondered the same about Queen Esther if she lived today. Her spirit does though, and she reminds us that one woman can make big changes.
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Thanks for this post, Colette, fascinating. Queen Esther inspired me to do a search at google.com for “women leaders in the world” and it came up with 22 of them, each with a photo and a link to info on their background. Wow.
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Really!? Oh, thank you for reading! I’m finding the power of an image, that’s what I love most about this project – every woman I post, forces the people in my life to start viewing ALL women as Divine!
Roses to you..
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Wonderful post and photo! Thanks!
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Oh, thank you so much beautiful Linda!
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