The divine feminine was always a mystery to me.As a sensitive soul, I could always tap into my heart and my emotions. I could extract the feelings in my chest, but I could not grasp the stirrings in my womb space. I could unravel my heartbeats, but I wasn’t so sure about the femininity within me. Over time, I became comfortable sharing from the depths of my vulnerability, but I still remained uncomfortable with truly understanding my sexuality and how it impacts my intuition.

Once I began my spiritual journey, I kept hearing the term “divine feminine” come up over and over again. I read about it in Ruby Warrington’s “Material Girl in a Mystical World,” I heard about it in workshops, and I even got served multiple tarot cards representing the divine feminine.

Because of the overwhelming occurrence, I decided to listen to the universe and set an intention to tap into the fierce power we all carry as women—the power that radiates from our womb space and intertwines with everything else. I am still timid about the landscape of my body and what it means to be in touch with (all of) myself, but I am learning.

On this path, I met two wonderful women whose guidance has helped me begin to unearth the divine feminine. Cara Kovacs, a third generation healer and intimacy alchemist, and Dr. Rachel, a licensed clinical psychologist and love alchemist. I sought their advice in understanding the mystery of a woman’s femininity. My conversation with these two alchemists shined a light on the power within us.

What does the "divine feminine" mean to you?

CK: In terms of spirit, the divine feminine is a force in all of us, no matter our gender identity. It represents the grounded nurturance, sensitivity, intuition, and empathy that we all have access to. In a cultural context, reclaiming these traits as forces of nature that can up-level our consciousness and our lives is so important.

We live in a logic-driven culture, where historically intuition has been labeled as a "silly" thing to follow in terms of decision making. With the spreading of spiritual thought leadership, I think we are seeing that intuition is an invaluable gift. As a sex coach, I think that the divine feminine represents innate sensuality from a place of grounded feminine energy. It lives in all of us but has not been encouraged. It can be embraced and ignited, and that is what I teach.

DR: From my lens, the divine feminine is a resurgence of the goddess and ancient energies that compose the softer and empowered aspects of womanhood. It’s a spiritual rising of matriarchal wisdom, respect, and qualities that modern-day women in the West are beginning to increasingly awaken to and embody. Fundamentally, my sense of the divine feminine is a return to equilibrium for the species and our planet. It’s a revolt against patriarchal systems that have permeated dominant consciousness, culture, and institutions for too long. It’s a revolution of awareness that men and women alike are honoring. The more we can all connect to the divine femininity that lives within our souls, the freer we’ll be to experience true alignment with love.

Do you activate the divine feminine daily?

CK: Personally, I feel very connected to my sensuality and sense of intuition. So activate seems less the right word as "luxuriate.” I luxuriate in what it means to be divinely feminine every day. I do it in how I dress, move, talk, make love, write, speak, teach, work with clients, and pray. For people who feel distant from their divine feminine, I would recommend finding some self-care rituals that enliven your sense of being grounded in the magic of your body.

DR: In any given moment of awareness, I’m attuned to my divine femininity and use it as fuel for living aligned with my highest self. My own ability to transform into the full knowledge of my divine feminist has resulted from intense and devoted inner healing work. At 35 years old, I’ve never felt more a woman. I’m certain this wouldn’t be possible without inner child healing, trauma recovery, and regular contemplative practice.

What are some practices you use to nurture your divine feminine?

CK: Anything from meditation, long baths, self-massage, masturbation, dancing, journaling, and your favorite self-care ritual can be a way to nurture the divine feminine. The goal here is to empower your sense of roundedness and connect to your body's innate wisdom. However you get there, is whatever works for you!

DR: Some of the ways I activate her is through spiritual acts of healing like meditation, talk-therapy, emotional expression and release, and deepening my capacity for self-discovery and insight. Somatically, I stay attuned to my body, find my anchor through breath, notice and name sensations, and move it deliberately to both soften and build strength. I also use sacred tools like tarot and oracle Goddess cards, expanding my consciousness through exploring the psyche, using imaginal exposure and envisioning, exploring archetypes, myth, and deities.

How does the divine feminine manifest abundance in your life?

CK: I teach masturbation to manifestation, which may seem a little far out, but let's explore. Orgasms happen in the mind—not the genitals. The genitals are neurologically attached to the gland in your brain that controls your sense of intuition: The pineal gland. In the Daoist tradition of Ancient China, (where a lot of Tantric practices originate) they believe that the sacral chakra (the chakra that is located in the genitals and controls your sexual energy) is the generator of all of your chi or life force. They believe this because babies come from the sacrum.

So in this pattern of thought, they hypothesize that anything that you wish to bring forth to the world can be created from the energy of the sacrum. When I want an apartment or a big opportunity, I imagine the energy of my orgasm like a ray of light shooting toward what I want to create for myself. It is a powerful visualization process. I think generally being in touch with my divine feminine heightens my sense of using my body as a compass. I can feel intuitively what is a good opportunity and what isn't. Getting in touch with your own sense of inner knowing is an incredibly powerful way to manifest.

DR: I set the bar high in my life; I expect back that which I give and I don’t settle for less. I cultivate faith and surrender and strive to experience balance between my masculine and feminine energies, discerning in any given moment which is indicated. I trust in my natural resources.

Do you have to be spiritual to tap into the divine feminine?

CK: We all have the divine feminine within us, and we can access the power of it in our own ways. I think people who are not spiritual may identify with a sense of connectedness in their body or to their intuition. They may also feel inspired to bring nurturance and softness to their life without it having a spiritual origin. However the divine feminine manifests, she is delicious and to be celebrated.

DR: Connecting to the divine feminine within is a spiritual practice. You don't have to be aware that it is to embody the characteristics of her. The rise of the divine feminine is stemming from the evolution of human consciousness, a process of awakening to our authentic selves, and aligning where we are now as a collective with wisdom from ancient times that will support our sustainability as we move forward. There is no mandate to be spiritual. Ultimately, it boils down to how a woman feels and what's working for her in her life. From my lens, this type of self-connection, which the divine feminine offers us, is inherently a spiritual reality and practice.

How do self-care and self-love intertwine with the divine feminine?

CK: Since a major force of the divine feminine is nurturance, giving that to yourself is the great gift of the divine feminine. I think people in general and women, in particular, are taught to put others before themselves and ignore their needs for nurturance. The divine feminine reclamation is, again, a space to reconnect to the sacred wisdom of your own body. And you cannot listen clearly if you are not operating from a place of self-love.

DR: I take risks to share vulnerably, open myself up to my desires, and trust myself to honor what I need. I assert myself authentically in my relationships, and I do the inner healing work to relieve myself of personal, historical, cultural, and collective traumas that have kept me from fully embracing my true self, and my divine femininity. I meditate daily both autonomously and in sangha.

Why do you think now is the time to talk about the divine feminine more?

CK: Reconnecting to our bodies and empathic compassionate wisdom of our bodies will help us as the collective make empowering decisions for our society. It will help align our values to care for those who are most in need of care. It will help us empower ourselves and our culture.

DR: The rising of the divine feminine is fundamental to the health and vitality of our species and our planet because it gives us the chance to lean into our softer and more gentle nature. It respects the sacred life force that not just the feminine holds in power, but that which gives our earth its position and capacity to be our home. The collective shifts when the individual does, so the more women are becoming awakened to their true divine feminine depth and unapologetically living from it, the more we create massive and profound ripples that extend outward into the whole of not just the human species, but all sentient life across our world.

As I continue to explore what rings true to me when it comes to the divine feminine, the biggest thing I plan to do is keep an open mind as I follow my intuition. Thus far, I’ve already learned that it’s okay to be curious as well as skeptical. I’ve also learned that it’s okay to evolve and to elevate as much as I think it’s okay to stay the same. I believe the most important part is just to give ourselves the opportunity to get to know our own feminine power—and call it whatever makes us that much more powerful.