Soror Mystica: Balancing the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine

~ Deborah Gregory

Dear Friends, Jungians, Poets and Dreamers,

Here on Twelfth Night (or Epiphany, dependent on where you live in the world) under the resplendent light of the Full Wolf Moon, I’m so happy and excited to announce that my new book, Soror Mystica: Balancing the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine is now available! This still feels unreal as I never imagined that I would write and publish a book, let alone three. Deepest gratitude to the Goddess Sophia, my dear friends, generous clients and Jungian studies that all helped dream this manuscript into being. As seems tradition in birthing a new book of mine, here’s my postscript, covers and blurb. I hope you enjoy!

Postscript

Part sun, part moon, I journey towards Sophia. My destination, unity consciousness.

Amusingly, this book began in my wardrobe seven years ago! The day the doors flew open and out marched my heels. As I waved goodbye to tight, youthful clothes and hello to flat sandals, well-being and comfort, I found myself forever changed and rearranged. Thereupon, my archetypal Animus Diet guided me to find balance and harmony between my masculine and feminine sides, and so much more!

A journey of love and healing began which resulted in welcoming the genderless soul.

Ring out the old, ring in the new! Becoming Sophian over the next five years allowed this poet to spiritually transition and detransition all at the same time. Hence, I finally understood my lifelong attraction to androgyny. For I am both masculine and feminine, my soul holding no gender, complete with the understanding that everyone is born this way, an awareness that allowed integration to follow.

I began to weave my journal notes, dreams and poems into an open book of the heart.

A new body of poems awoke within, as Persephone stirred three springs back, three months before my mother’s death, flowing for several months before I carried my grief down a Jungian rabbit hole. Nine months later my father died and my orphan status was complete. Yet still the poems ascended with an illuminating dream that instructed me to follow the healing light of Mother Moon throughout February.

Meeting Sophia within the Mirror Ball of the Self, I discovered Her timeless wisdom.

Soror Mystica, the title I had sought for seven years came in a quiet moment last year. As the voice of my body and voice of my soul came together, I became stronger in my broken places. No longer did I choose a life of duality and separateness, instead I merged with each mystical sister I met on my journey. Sisters whose kindness helped me find myself, in the depths of my own heart.

Much love Dear Poets,

Blessed Be,

Deborah

♥♥♥

And now for the back cover and blurb …

‘Soror Mystica’ is Deborah Gregory’s third book. Weaving memoir, poetry and dreams together in a unique text, we follow her journey as she brings her inner feminine and masculine aspects into balance and harmony. By sharing her ‘Animus Diet’, ‘Divine Hermaphrodite’ and ‘Becoming Sophian’ adventures she invites the reader to also seek a sense of union between these opposites.

Drawing on her rich experience as a psychotherapist of twenty five years and a lifelong poet, Deborah encourages us to reconnect to the deep magick and mystery of our inner selves. In the ancient language of symbol and metaphor she meets with the Divine Hermaphrodite and the Goddess Sophia, and in doing so encounters Soror Mystica, the mystical sister she has been searching for her whole life.

“The privilege of a lifetime

is to become who you truly are.” 

Carl Jung

♥♥

For those interested in purchasing a copy of Soror Mystica: Balancing the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine or either of my poetry collections, A Liberated Sheep in a Post Shepherd World and The Shepherd’s Daughter please click on the links above to be taken to Blurb Books. Once there, hover your cursor over the flag in the top right-hand corner and click on the option for your country which will automatically change the currency – any problems please let me know in the comments below. Please note that post and packaging will be added to your total cost, however, do look out for a discount code for ‘trade books’ on the website. 

Lastly, another wonderful thing to howl about is the beautiful art of Catrin Welz-Stein! “The Moon” (taken from her Tarot Card series) brings ‘tame’ and ‘wild’, ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’, ‘spirit’ and ‘matter’ together under the artist’s Full Wolf Moon. This image for me illuminates so well the Divine Hieros Gamus, the Sacred Marriage – a place where the light of the soul opens to the light of spirit … a place my soul and spirit yearn to Be. ♥

Blessings always,

Deborah

 

© Deborah Gregory 2023

28 thoughts on “Soror Mystica: Balancing the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine”

  1. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CnocdQsh_SK/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

    Woo Hoo! I received my first book mention in this live broadcast (last Friday) by Paul Sanders, a photographer I very much admire for his mindful approach as well as his beautiful images. Paul starts talking around “Soror Mystica” about 2 minutes and 50 seconds in until around 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Short, but still … I’m grinning like a Cheshire Cat! The remainder of his 15 minute reel is very inspiring food for thought on sharing the small uplifting moments in life with others. For those interested here’s Paul’s website: https://www.discoverstill.com/

    1. Just listened…. I’m so proud of you, Deborah!! Don’t forget how hard you’ve worked to get here. All the best, Anna

  2. How exciting, Deborah! A beautiful way to begin the new year! Congratulations and New Year blessings to you

    1. Grazie per la tua bellissima risposta! New Year Blessings to you dear Luisa. I hope you enjoy! Love and light, Deborah.

  3. Congratulations Deborah, I am smiling for you. It is an absolute delight to be following your blog.

    1. Oh, it’s been ages Picasso! I hope you’re keeping well and writing lots! Thank you so much for your kind-hearted words and popping over on this icy cold day! Warm winter wishes, Deborah x

  4. Congratulations, Deborah!! I’m so very pleased for you and can’t wait to read Soror Mystica! I’ve been trying since yesterday to order it but after about 12 tries with different combinations of user names and passwords, I’m still unsuccessful. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I’ll keep trying. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

    1. Thank you so much dear Jeanie for your lovely reply! Oh no, I’m sorry you’re struggling to buy a copy. I’m guessing that you’re having to set up a new Blurb account? However, as you bought my last book I’m sure you must have an account already? Personally, I use my gmail account with them which works well, it might be worth setting up a new account? Let me know how you get on, it shouldn’t be this much hassle. Deep sigh. Love and light, Deborah.

      Update: For those interested, I’ve just noticed there’s a 20% off discount voucher for the entire Blurb Bookstore which ends tomorrow – code: READ20

  5. I’m so glad to order your book. I eagerly await its arrival and the experience of magic I’m sure to find in your new poems. The Carrie Newcommer poem about Liminality resonates in both inner and outer worlds since I’ve lived in that realm for many years now. Will I emerge into the sunlight? I don’t know. Does that depend on the Monarchs? Again, I don’t know. For now, I like to walk near the edge of the winter forest and wonder where my dreams are hiding. I trust they will return, probably awakened by your new poems. Blessings to you and your Soror Mystica at this magical time of new beginnings. With love and gratitude, E

    1. Thank you so much my dear friend, my Soror Mystica, for your kind-hearted, generous reply and for all the love, friendship, inspiration and magick you’ve gifted me along the years! My deepest gratitude to you, E. You know I’m ab-soul-utely thrilled you’ve ordered a copy and hope you’ll be grinning like a Cheshire cat soon when you turn over page 81 … where I’ve immortalised you in the form of a poem! Ha-Ha! Tis the perks of being a writer!

      I knew you’d enjoy Liminality! It speaks to the depths of my soul. It’s a strange time from here to Imbolc, a time where it seems that nothing’s going on … like the time of the dark moon, yet those scattered autumn seeds, within and without, are busy germinating, with frantic activity going on below … unseen, where dreams hide along the edges of forests, sight unseen, until one magickal day, a tiny green shoot appears. Love and light, Deborah.

      1. This is exciting. I haven’t received ‘Soror Mystica’ but it’s in the mail and won’t be long and I know where to look first. I feel the same deep gratitude for you–and your poems. We are in the liminal time, waiting for the earth to sprout and the birds to sing, but underground, seeds swell and send out roots. (Spring doesn’t usually show here until the end of March, but it’s unusually mild other than one cold blast on Solstice. There’s no snow which is dreary, but wonderful for hiking in the forest. Winter will still make an appearance here, but it won’t be a long winter since we sometimes have snow in November.) Sending you green love and dancing.

        1. Green love and dancing! Oh, I love that! Thank you from every corner of my heart! Same here, following one very icy cold, snowy week or so, the temperatures here suddenly shot up for a short while. However today, it’s back to … best stay indoors weather with fierce, howling winds and non-stop relentless rain. Deep sigh!

          A few days ago an idea came (unexpectedly!) prompting me follow the “Wheel of the Year” and create a new series of poems starting at Imbolc, moving onto Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain and finally Yule. Hopefully this year-long project will, in time, become future seeds of a new book, in (many!) years.

  6. How exciting Deborah, congratulations! Many waxing and waning moons have helped you on your journey, balancing the divine feminine and masculine, and now “Soror Mystica” is released into the world under the light of the full moon. I am so looking forward to immersing myself in your words once again. Many new year blessings to you, Sophia.

    1. Thank you so much Sophia for your wonderful comment and for journeying with me since this blog began back in 2015! Indeed, under the resplendent light of Mother Moon, in all her manifestations, have I journeyed these past seven years, often wondering if I’d ever write this book that had no title, until it came in a quiet moment last year. Warm winter wishes and New Year blessings, Deborah.

  7. Liminality

    So much of what we know
    Lives just below the surface.
    Half of a tree
    Spreads out beneath our feet.
    Living simultaneously in two worlds,
    Each half informing and nurturing
    The whole.
    A tree is either and neither
    But mostly both.

    I am drawn to liminal spaces,
    The half-tamed and unruly patch
    Where the forest gives way
    And my little garden begins.
    Where water, air and light overlap
    Becoming mist on the morning pond.
    I like to sit on my porch steps, barn jacket and boots
    In the last long exhale of the day,
    When bats and birds loop in and then out,
    One rising to work,
    One readying for sleep.

    And although the full moon calls the currents,
    And the dark moon reminds me that my best language
    Has always emerged out of the silence,
    It is in the waxing and waning
    Where I most often live,
    Neither here nor there,
    But simply On the way.

    There are endings and beginnings
    One emerging out of the other.
    But most days I travel in an ever present
    And curious now.
    A betwixt and between,
    That is almost,
    But not quite,
    The beautiful,
    But not yet.

    I’ve been learning to live with what is,
    More patient with the process,
    To love what is becoming,
    And the questions that keep returning.

    I am learning to trust
    The horizon I walk toward
    Is an orientation
    Not a destination
    And that I will keep catching glimpses
    Of something great and luminous
    From the corner of my eye.

    I am learning to live where losses hold fast
    And grief lets loose and unravels.
    Where a new kind of knowing can pick up the thread.

    Where I can slide palms with a paradox
    And nod at the dawn,
    As the shadows pull back
    And spirit meets bone.

    (From Until Now: New Poems by Carrie Newcomer)

    Yesterday, I chanced upon this remarkable poem by singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer which may resonate deeply with many readers during this liminal time. I hope you enjoy!

    1. What a wonderful poem – I see the time now between New Year and Imbolc as a liminal space, as I wait for the wheel of the year to turn once more and celebrate the first fire festival of the calendar, looking forward to the new energy this time brings.

      1. I couldn’t have put it better myself! It’s an extraordinary poem.
        Carrie’s music and words touch the deepest part of my soul. x

  8. This is such an important book. What a joy it will be for many. Your essays, prose and poems are sublime, Deborah – personal, yet universal. Is there a hardback cover available?

    1. Wow! Thank you so much BW for such an uplifting reply! Yes, with Blurb you can choose from one of three covers, either soft, hardback or image wrap. I hope your book is coming along well, winter writing is the best, is it not?! Love and light, Deborah.

  9. Deborah, huge congrats!!! I applaud the publication of your new book. Actually I can’t wait until Soror Mystica is in my hands! In case others are interested, I ordered one copy of your book which cost £16.30 in total, including shipping. All the best, Anna

    1. Thank you so much for your wonderful felicitations, Anna, and for all the love, friendship and support you’ve gifted me over the years! Believe me, I couldn’t have written any of my books without you! I hope you enjoy this one too.

      Re total costs, thanks for sharing this info and if any of my readers outside the UK are thinking of ordering a book, please could you let me know how much a copy costs (including shipping costs) and to which country? Love and light, Deborah.

    1. Thank you so much dear Aladin, not only for your kind-hearted words here today but for all the love, friendship, inspiration and support you’ve gifted me for many years now. My deepest gratitude, love and light, Deborah.

  11. This is so wonderful Deborah – or should I say Onederful. I know that this collection will be of great value in bringing out the value of freeing oneself of gender based roles and highlighting the value of androgyny where masculine and feminine energies enhance each other, and are not exclusive to each other.

    Your magical touch will deepen the soul of all readers.

    So, the full moon is tonight. From the moon in the south to yours in the north, bright golden, glowing and growing arrows of love coming your way. Susan

    1. Thank you so much dear Susan, my soror mystica, for believing in me and gifting me such a golden glowing reply! You know I love it when you start playing with words for wonderful and onederful do sound exactly the same!

      This morning I got up super early to birth “Soror Mystica” all the while watching Mother Moon setting Her fullness upon the horizon. It was a beautiful moment when She disappeared and my book transitioned in this liminal time.

      Oh, see how your loving arrows pierce this poet’s heart while I transform into a hand bell of the Goddess Sophia! Sending you love, light and laughter, always laughter, across the oceans, seasons and time zones between us, Deborah x

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