Lisa Marie Rankin [00:00:00]:

Hello and welcome back to the Goddess School Podcast. This episode closes out the current season. It's not an ending, but a conscious pause. I'll be taking time to write, reflect, and tend to what's being born next. But in the meantime, I want to leave you with a few valuable ideas, questions, and suggestions for moving forward in these tumultuous times. I am so grateful you're here. Let's dive in. Hello, beautiful ones, and welcome back to the Goddess School Podcast.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:00:38]:

I'm your host, Lisa Marie Rankin. Today's episode is a little bit different because it's the final episode of the season, and I want to be very clear, it's not goodbye, it's simply a pause. I've released 75 episodes back to back without a break, and this feels like the right moment to rest, reflect, and listen more deeply for what wants to come next. As many of you know, there have been quite a few changes around here. I closed the container of my Beloved Membership at the end of December, and I recently wrapped up the final cohort, at least for now, of the Women Who Run with the Wolves Book Club. Both of those experiences really had led me through such a profound adventure that I am forever grateful for, and even And more importantly, they've allowed me to know and connect with so many extraordinary women. And as I've always taught, it's important to follow your whims and fancies. They're not distractions, they're invitations.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:01:51]:

I like to think of them as gifts from the divine, little ideas we have that are saying, "Will you be my steward?" And lately I've been called to write more. I'm working on my first piece of fiction, which is both exhilarating and also very, very humbling. I'm learning the craft of prose, like really trying to learn it, and it's definitely stretching me. I'm also writing a lot more on Substack, and I know many of you are already over there in that community, and if you're not there yet, I definitely encourage you to get on over there. The link link to learn more is in the show notes. But over on Substack, I've been genuinely delighted to discover, like, such a thoughtful community of women who are hungry for long-form content again. No more of, like, you know, just little Instagram captions. And not only that, but to dive back into literature, myth, symbolism, and the hidden meaning in art of all kinds.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:03:00]:

I've also been going deeper into my spiritual practice through meditation, prayer, reading ancient texts and scriptures, and yes, even going to church. I've been tending to my home and trying to make it more beautiful. And then I've been asking myself this very honest question: with everything that's going on in the world, How can I best be in service right now? First and foremost, I believe all of us should be putting our heart where our feet are. So for me, that means tending to my family, my partner, my home, and my immediate community. And second, I'm feeling deeply called to encourage women to use their imagination so that they can create lives that they actually want to be living. Here's something I want to say, and I've talked about it in past episodes, like the shadow side of self-help, the shadow side of coaching, but I think it's worth saying here again at this point, as we, as we pause, I don't believe you are broken and I don't believe you need to be fixed. As a culture, I feel like all of us, myself included, have spent an enormous amount of time and often money circling wounds and being on this hamster wheel of healing. And often our culture promotes this because it sells.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:04:36]:

When you believe something is wrong with you, you will pay to make it right. But life is challenging. It seems like we might be in the most challenging of times right now, and yet there's always been very challenging times. Nevertheless, the more time we spend circling our wounds, the more convinced we become that something is fundamentally wrong with us. I know many of you have heard that phrase: where attention goes, energy flows. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. I truly believe it's time to shift, from healing to creating. So consider this: what do you want to bring to life? What is calling you to come through you? Do you want to create a beautiful home, a book, a painting? Maybe you want to create a body that can run a 10K this summer, or you want to raise children who are curious, kind, and alive with wonder.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:05:41]:

In a recent conversation I had, and it's just about 2 episodes back, with Jungian analyst Muriel McMahon, she shared a quote from one of her teachers, and it's really stayed with me so much. I've been writing about it, I've been talking about it, but it really hit me. She said, feminine authority is the timely transgression of the rules in the service of life continuing. Feminine authority is the timely transgression of the rules in the service of life continuing. So here's another powerful question: How am I in service to life continuing? Now, this doesn't mean that you need to have children. I know that many of you have, but maybe you're tending to a garden. Maybe you are teaching others. Maybe you have wisdom that you want to pass down, but really thinking about how are you in service to life continuing? Another thing I've been reflecting on is that I've really noticed how much anger and rage are moving through our culture right now, and often for very real and understandable reasons.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:06:52]:

And of course, we don't want to repress it or suppress it. That only creates more harm, particularly to our physical bodies and our health. But we also don't want to live there. We don't want to feed it. So I just deleted Instagram from my phone because I don't want to engage with polarizing content. I don't want to be told what I need to do to look 20 years younger. I don't need that information right now. I'm more interested in protecting my consciousness.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:07:26]:

So, I also invite you to recognize your anger, your age, identify whether it's creative, so whether it's moving you towards action, if it's acting as a catalyst for change, or whether it's keeping you stuck and how you are feeding that as well too. Because we want to move that energy. We can use it again to inspire, to catalyze, to become something creative and life-giving, but we don't want it to keep us stuck. There may be tremendous value in containers for rage, and I feel like I've been seeing a lot of that lately as well too.. But that's not my work. I alchemize through beauty, through creativity, through imagination, play, and devotion to the divine. And that's exactly what I'm doing over on Substack, This Enchanted Life. I'm moving away from what's wrong consciousness into what's possible consciousness through myth, story, active imagination, book clubs, and personal reflections.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:08:41]:

Right now, we're wrapping up Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. We're looking at what happens when desire, when eros, is suppressed. And next, we're gonna start to explore works like The Red Tent, The Mist of Avalon, and films like Black Swan. Again, what happens when we don't integrate our shadow? We're engaging with feminine authority, what that means through figures like Eve and Lilith. Exploring what an embodied relationship with the divine actually feels like, and so much more. Now, when the Goddess School Podcast returns, I'll be interviewing women who are telling stories, creating art, reconnecting with nature, and reminding us of everyday magic that is still very much available to us and is just waiting for us to engage with it. So thank you so much for being on this journey with me. Again, this journey is continuing.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:09:39]:

I hope to see you over on Substack. The link is in the show notes. And in the meantime, protect your consciousness, nourish your body, and prioritize your creativity. Many blessings, my friend. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the Goddess School Podcast. I hope it sparked your imagination and expanded your vision for what's possible. If you're ready to explore these concepts more deeply, reclaim your personal myth, and live with greater creativity and enchantment, I invite you to join me inside Enlivened, my divine feminine mystery school and sacred community, where we bring these teachings to life through ritual, story, coaching, and of course, real-world action. You can find the link to learn more in the show notes.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:10:29]:

And remember, the goddess isn't a deity outside of yourself. She's an aspect of your highest self. You are the goddess. Until next time.