I honestly wasn’t sure I would even attempt that final ascent before I got there, but the 2 previous miles had been so rewarding that I was inspired and “on fire” when it came time to step forward. I had walked those incredibly beautiful and breathtaking 2 previous miles with Patricia, a very powerful 69-year-old woman, and Feminine Power coaching client who I worked deeply with the previous year and who has since become a very dear friend and evolutionary partner. She has knee issues and the heat was getting to her, but she was absolutely inspiring and incredibly attuned with her inner strength as I extended support and love to her with every step going up.

Through her empowered attunement, Patricia recognized her limits and decided to stop under a tree on Scout’s Lookout, the first pinnacle before Angel’s Landing, with a gorgeous view of the looming peaks and valleys all around us, to wait for us to return from the final ascent to the top-most pinnacle.

The hike up to Angel’s Landing required that in many places, one hold onto chains that are bolted to the side of the wall with a sheer cliff on the outer edge of a sometimes 18” wide walkway. If one were to fall, that would be “It.” So, ‘I’m Not Safe” was definitely in my face… This required lots of holding and containing fear, extreme focus on the places to put my feet and hands and great surrender to the strength of my nearly 60-year-old body that I spent months conditioning for this very event. Every once in a while, the grace of the Great Mother would give us a moment of reprieve and the path would widen enough to stop and take a breath. The ascent was slow, but steady, even though sometimes my fearfully shaking legs were not the most steady part of my body.

We were all so ecstatic when we reached the top!!! Sunni, our Priestess Elder, a 73-year-old sister sojourner who experienced a really challenging time making it was deeply supported by amazing 58-year-old Carla, who, in her deepest desire to be of service, extended her training as a Yoga teacher for the elderly. They were so extremely overjoyed as the top of their heads peeked over that final ledge and their sparkling eyes danced as they met ours. What a testament to the power of the feminine, the power of supporting each other and to the power of relatedness we all were!

So all of this, in and of itself, would have made for quite the inspiring story, but what happened next completely blew my mind and shifted my very essence of “knowing!”

We sat on top of that landing for about 45 minutes, taking in the incredible view and feeling the bonded awareness of not only our group, but of the 75 or so others on top of that landing who had also made the same efforts and had tackled the same fears that we had.

When we finally started to make our way down, I was feeling so happy and in love with everyone and all of life. After the first set of chains, we came upon our first widened pathway and just before I stepped upon the flattened surface, I noticed a woman standing against the wall, looking tired, forlorn and despondent.

I reached out to her with my energy and said with my voice, “Sweetheart, you are so amazing…[planning to finish with, “look at how far you have gotten, the end is just ahead!”]… but, because I had taken my attention away from my own center, and what my feet were doing, my left foot slipped on the side of a slightly protruding rounded rock on the flat area and slid into sand… my left ankle buckled, foot twisting onto its side and popped as I went straight down to my knees. This was quite shocking and I immediately knew it was serious…as we quickly pulled off my shoe and sock, a 3 inch blue egg extended under the surface of my skin on the top of my foot just below my ankle.

…before I could utter a word, a legion of angels, strangers who I had not even noticed were with me, flocked around as the perfect “others” to support me through this event. The young man, Johnny, who was standing next to the forlorn woman me reached into his backpack and pulled out some ankle wrapping tape and started activating an emergency ice bag. (Turns out he was her trek guide and lived in the same valley that I did in Colorado.)

The young man, Kyle, who “happened” to be walking behind me was the medic for a Division 1 Women’s soccer team, also from Colorado. He tested for a break and then determined it was just a torn ligament; “Phew!” He proceeded to tape my ankle so that I had an instant professional cast. Behind him was a friend of his, Connor, a young fireman, who insisted upon staying with me for the treacherous hike down the .5 miles to Scout’s Lookout. Emily, quietly held a powerful feminine presence as we made our ways down…

Prem, my co-facilitator on the Journey, pictured with me above along the narrow pathway, gently held my foot and sent her comforting method of energy healing, then stayed behind to help the other half of the group down the rest of the hike.

… Had the “goodness of life” not lined up with the extended way I was being and all of those others had not been also attuned on a deeper level, this would probably have meant a very dangerous, dramatic, expensive and painful helicopter rescue off of the side of the peak…

As it went, we were all so grateful for the expression of healthy divine masculine that was all around us! I was so focused on where I needed to place my hands and feet to maneuver my way down, it was better not to be touched by anyone else, but that they were “there” for me. How it all happened, I didn’t even notice the edges and I flew down that path on the sturdy arms that I had worked so diligently to condition for the journey…

When we returned to Scout’s Landing, Patricia was there with her big smile and loving arms. She and another joy-filled, loving and amazing sister sojourner, Debi, supported me for the final 2 miles back down to the trail head, guide being guided, supporter being supported…giving and receiving love as we made our ways home.

“Angel’s Landing,” what an apt name for the incident that activated every fiber of my being to “know” that “it is safe to trust in the goodness of life” and that this is the key to my “ability to give and receive love” at every turn and in every moment of my life…

To discover how Marilyn Hager can support you to step fully into your power, call 424.634.0408.

Each time I cross the threshold into the empty presence of another feminine archetype, I am touched to my very core. At the same time, my whole self: my heart, my mind, my spirit and soul expand across space and time. At the end of the first round of my exploration, when I reached the Alchemist, the thirteenth archetype, I stepped into a sense of vast peace and solid, inner strength as a more complete, confident and powerfully centered version of myself.

The most profound outcome for me has been a renewed connection with my creativity as an artist, a writer, storyteller and a coach. I am in the process of developing a book project, an online course, and art pieces that will include the power of our priestess pathway.

I have also incorporated the mentorship of the archetypes into my Goddess of Success coaching practice, as well as into my Heroine’s Journey travel adventures for the empowered woman.

Most of all, this has been an opportunity to share temple space with a precious sisterhood of incredible women from all over the world, women who I have known and will know throughout all time.

I feel so blessed to experience this wonderful journey. I’m so grateful to have taken the steps to allow myself to come home to this sisterhood of Priestess Pathway of the Sanctuary of the Open Heart.

I have also noticed this collective awareness when I witness my daughter and her husband play drums and dance to African rhythms in their performance group. I feel the undulating waves of communication between them infuse my body and we all become one…

In 2012, I experienced this direct awakening at the Feminine Power Mastery end-of-session live intensive. It was amazing to to take part in the exercises that transported us to this zone, first with the core leaders of about 20 people, then we were joined by another group of the next level of leaders within the same field the next day and two days later, the rest of the assembled community stepped into the field we had been building until there were about 150 of us all experiencing an extraordinary level of oneness.

It was amazing to witness how the levels of hierarchy flattened out within a container of safety, peace and oneness. At the very end, we created a circle and faced out to send a wave of this awareness beyond us and into the rest of the world. I was quite moved and felt exceptionally comforted.

Just last weekend, a varied group of twelve women whose experience, ranging from several years of engagement in the Feminine Power Community to several who had only heard about that work and wanted to know, gathered in my living room to experience this collective awakening with amazingly powerful results.

My sense of what caused and catalyzed this collective opening:

The Ram Dass experience: We had become so unified within the practices and teachings we were experiencing together, at that moment when the preparations for the meal were complete, the quality of the environment so peaceful and powerful at the same time, our essences came into a cohesive vibrational field, a sense came over us that the deeper truth of each of us was connected with the deeper truth of everyone there.

African Dance and Drumming Ensemble: They are all so rooted in their own proficiency, so deeply connected with their own sense of the rhythm moving through them, that the cohesion between them is infectious, and I catch the energetic wave between them. It is a multi-dimensional experience.

Feminine Power live intensive: We had been sharing the evolutionary edge for 9 months, so we were already very connected, but the exercises within the safe container of our bonded awareness created a powerful resource for this opportunity. That we started with the most bonded, advanced group stepping into the experience of collective awareness first was also a powerful catalyst. Then, with that in place, aligning the next group with the evolving frequency, watching it rise even further and become more powerful was really astounding. Finally, it was easiest for the next group to catch the wave. At one point, with all of us riding the wave together, the conversation went so deep and so wide, that the PA system made a loud booming sound and the electricity grid in the small beach town where the retreat was held went down for several hours…we pondered, wondering if it was the third big bang in the awakening of human consciousness… Who knows? Maybe…

This experiment with collective awakening, collective intelligence, the “We Space” promises to provide a container for the consciousness of humanity to step into a whole new level of integrity, deep connection and, ultimately peace beyond present understanding. I pray that world leaders will learn to stand in this place, to drop power-mongering, chest-pounding and ego-justification practices so that we can all learn to feel so self-empowered that we lead ourselves from the deepest truth of who we all came here to be.

Although, I also feel a particular pull toward my granddaughters, who have my heart strings and to whom I am deeply devoted as a mentor and support in this physical form. The adults who I love, my beloved and my daughter, I feel I can allow drifting away if need be, but my granddaughters have a hold on me…a visceral connection that gives me pause as I attempt to take the energy between us to the space of allowing all things to come to pass as they need to.

Problems and difficulties: I attune to a deeper place, one of curiosity and discovery, one that is not attached to an outcome that would have me be right, but one that allows the truth to be known so that love can stay present if all involved are able to open to the truth.

When I believe in love, how I relate to the larger challenges that face us as a species and in our communities is to listen carefully, opening to inspiration and beckoning forth the energy to co-create solutions with others, understanding and deepening into the perspectives of others.

In my vocations as an educator in the principles of transformation, a Wise Woman Rise coach, Calling in “The One” coach, Conscious Uncoupling coach and Feminine Power coach, and also as a creative alchemist, when I believe in love, my relationship with my work becomes joyful, inspired and open to allowing the creative impulse to either speak through me or to flow forth in my creative alchemical offerings. I listen carefully to what the other who I am working with is bringing forward so that I can travel beside and co-create with them.

When I believe in love, I relax into my spiritual practice, knowing that whether or not my ego feels it is doing the meditation or spiritual practice properly, I am open to giving to and receiving from the co-creative impulse to evolve in a powerful and an open and inquisitive way.

How do you believe in Ultimate LOVE?

Email WiseWomanRise@gmail.com for a complimentary 30-minute coaching session in the principles of Wisdom Awareness, Calling in “The One” or Awakening Our Feminine Power or phone Marilyn Hager directly at 310.844.7548.