Priestesses Pythonesses & Sibyls

The Sacred Voices of Women who speak with and for the Gods

By: Sorita d'Este, Janet Farrar, Kim Huggens, Caroline Tully, Katie Gerrard, Naomi Ozaniec, Diane Champigny, Viviene O'Regan, Cathryn Orchard, Bolina Oceanus

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Women have long been spiritual leaders, they have served and continue to serve their communities all around the world, spanning cultures and tribes, as the divine voices of the spirits of the land, the Gods and Goddesses of their ancestral people and of their adopted lands.” 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. Unique, powerful and insightful, this book expresses the liminal world of trance in an accessible way for the first time. "Priestesses Pythonesses Sibyls lifts a veil to reveal the mystery of trance as experienced by female magickal practitioners today. This anthology contains more than twenty essays providing unique and personal transformative experiences of trance from different spiritual paths including Goddess Spirituality, Thelema, Wicca, Seidr, & Candomble. This book contains essays by some of the foremost Priestesses of the Pagan and Magical Revival today, we recommend it to all women (and men!) who want to learn about Trance, Mediumship or who simply wish to explore Priesthood!"