Nomi Leasure On Sacred Feminine, Goddess Conspiracy Theories, Fashion Imagery and Nurturing Earth Mothers

Izabel Goulart In Sign from Lilith that Anne Has Religious Morals After All AOC Private Studio

By Nomi Leasure

Encountering the Sacred Feminine

“I’m not ashamed the foundation of my world view came from best-seller, airport fiction. Through Dan Brown’s twisted conspiracy The Da Vinci Code I had my first encounter with the Sacred Feminine. Granted, being born to a self-professed Pagan mother did mean coming in contact with terms like “feminist,” “goddess,” and “earth mother.” Yet, I still wasn’t presented a digestible theory until reading this novel. Within the pages of Robert Langdon’s journey to the find the Holy Grail, we uncover hidden evidence of a child of Jesus, a lineage that would disprove the divinity of Christ, and unearth the buried history of the Sacred Feminine and Goddess worship.

A Solid Faith Abandoned

Almost two years after finishing the page turner I found myself sitting cross legged with a Shaman in the hills of Big Sur, California. Within the spiritual safety of his Iowaska cleansed hut he divulged the guiding beliefs of Shaman who live deep in wooded mountains, awaiting the balance of the world to be restored. The world turned upside down, he told me, when we abandoned our faith in the Sacred Feminine and implanted a patriarchal society in its’ place. Ancient cave paintings depict invasions by “half-man half-beasts,” what we now know as conquistadors and Aryans on horse back who spread “religion,” as well as destruction. Humans lost their connection with nature, which resulted in a phase of history wrought with famine, war and disease that we are still within. Suddenly, what woman was once worshiped for, her feminine sexual powers of regeneration, were blocked by “sacred virginity.” The world will right itself, said the Shaman, when we recognize again the Sacred Feminine of the Universe and adopt a nurturing, rather than war-like, mentality.

These ideas encountered no opposition with me. Instead, they seemed to click with something deep and truthful, awakening a sense of guidance that had until then been dormant, but ever present.

But what I questioned — skimming through Myths of the Female Divine Goddess, loaned to me by Anne as background reading for my new post — does any of this have to do with fashion? At first, coming to Anne of Carversville, I couldn’t relate to the editorial language. I never peered much into the world of high end fashion for it was always a financial improbability that I would soon acquire any of the things I was admiring.

Suddenly now, in this schema of Sacred Feminine, the industry takes a new form in my outlook.

Kate Moss from Versace Spring 2013 CampaignThere’s absolutely no denying one thing: We love looking at beautiful women in and out of clothing. Women, as a sex, are a work of art that the world loves to adorn, depict and capture with the lens of a camera. We are infatuated with women’s fashion, couture and editorials because they are, in a sense, our modern day female worship. These images, I’ve learned, aren’t meant to emulate or capture the everyday woman, but the extremes and depths of a women’s temperament. Take one look at Kate Moss in Versace and there’s no doubt in your mind about the divinity of females. While one can make a legitimate argument about the shallowness of the fashion industry, in comparing images of female deities of the past and the models now gracing the page of Vogue we see similar themes and values. In both, women are revered, powerful and cloaked in the finest.

This is just the beginning of my understanding of Goddess, and I am both nervous and excited about where my journey here at AOC will take me. But where once I felt alone staring at the world this way, I can now seek comfort in the thousands of eyes widening along side mine as we explore ourselves and the world around us. I’ve learned that in embracing Goddess women have an instant connection with Her, as if by simply being female we all share a part of Her energy. Men and women alike may feel a connection with a male Almighty, but from what I’ve heard that connection is like that of a father, not a shared energy or soul. While God can love you, you cannot be God. Women, on the other hand, well we are all Goddesses.” ~ Nomi

“Nomi Leasure is the newest addition to the Anne of Carversville enterprise. Currently she studies Broadcast Communications and Writing at Temple University. A feminist before she even knew it, Nomi embodies the mission of the website and feels a personal connection to the values reflected here. She hopes her young, unforgiving and, at times, naive perspective will find a home in this viewership. Though not well versed in the language of high fashion, she is quickly learning and drawing connections between body image, sensuality, values and style. You can still be feminine and be a feminist.”  

Read Nomi’s first piece First Lady Michelle Obama in Jason Wu: The Feminine Feminist Wears Red. We’ll ask her what she thinks of Karl Lagerfeld’s criticism of Mrs. Obama’s new haircut. Karl loathes the bangs. 

On a parallel note, read Anne’s Lilith Stamps Fury on ‘Lady Lilith’ for L’Officiel Thailand February 2013 AOC Style

Izabel Goulart In Sign from Lilith that Anne Has Religious Morals After All AOC Private Studio