Priestesses Pythonesses & Sibyls
The Sacred Voices of Women who
speak with and for the Gods
Edited by Sorita d'Este (Various
Contributors)
“A ground-breaking anthology,
exploring the magick of trance as experienced through
dance, divine inspiration, Drawing Down the Moon, dreams,
formal ceremony, mediumship, possession and mantic states
by twenty-one female magickal practitioners from the
paths of Goddess Spirituality, The Western Mystery Tradition,
Thelema, Wicca, Candomble, Voudou and Seidr”
Priestesses Pythonesses Sibyls lifts
a veil to reveal the mystery of trance as experienced
by female magickal practitioners today. Through happiness
and sorrow, myth and legend, art and poetry, through
ritual and dance each woman expresses her own unique
and personal transformative experiences of trance. Whether
through trance possession, mediumship, Drawing Down
the Moon, oracular or mantic states, dance, dreams or
formal ceremony the experiences and knowledge gained
during trance states can bring dramatic changes to one’s
life. The practices represented in this volume are drawn
from the experiences and research of more than twenty
women from around the world, each providing a unique
vision of their own experiences of the Divine.
The book begins with “Ecstatic
Histories” a section of three scholarly essays.
The first, Mantic Voices by Sorita d’Este provides
an overview of the role of mantic priestesses in the
major oracles of the ancient world, with a consideration
of the resurgence of the role of the priestess in the
modern Western magickal traditions. This is followed
by Caroline Tully’s The Pythia exploring the history
and role of the Oracle at Delphi and Kim Huggens’
Silent Priestesses which looks at female priests and
prophetesses in early Christianity.
Then in “Sacred Utterances”,
the second part of this anthology, eighteen modern day
Priestesses, Pythonesses and Sibyls share their own
personal experiences, wisdom and research on the practice
of trance. These women come from a wide spectrum of
magickal and pagan traditions, including Goddess Spirituality,
the Western Mystery Tradition, Thelema, Wicca, Candomble,
Voudou and Seidr. Sharing, sometimes for the first time,
deep spiritual experiences and insights gained through
the work they have performed as Priestesses serving
in their own unique way, they provide the reader with
insights into their practices which could not be found
anywhere else.
This section includes essays by authors
such as Janet Farrar, Naomi Ozaniec and Vivienne O’Regan,
Wiccan Priestesses Galatea, Diane Champigny, Yvonne
Aburrow, Emily Ounsted and Sorrell Cochrane, and Priestess
of Avalon Jacqui Woodward-Smith. It also includes Seidr
practitioner Katie Gerrard, Priestess of Apollo Bolina
Oceanus, Cathryn Orchard a Priestess of the Gnostic
Catholic Church, Voudou hounsi bossal Sophia Fisher,
Healer and Psychic Medium Kay Gillard, Orixa devotee
Andrea Salgado-Reyes, Teacher and Priestess Connia Silver,
and dancers Mariëlle Holman and Nina Falaise.
Unique, powerful and insightful, this
book expresses the liminal world of trance in an accessible
way for the first time.
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PB, 196pages, RRP £12.99,
ISBN 978-1905297214
First published by Avalonia November 2008
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