Please join us as my partner Stacy (our Community Magic Maker) and fellow Priestesses who’ve completed Sage Priestess Certification chat about what the Priestess path means to them!

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See How Libby:

I had been looking for a program or circle to join for several months when I heard Vanessa talking about the Sage Priestess program on a podcast. When I looked at her website I knew instantly that I had found the program for me. I saw two things that were completely different than what I had seen elsewhere. First, while Vanessa clearly had a frame of reference for her spirituality, she invited everyone and encouraged people to find what was right for them. The other was the obvious intersectionality of spirituality, culture, and identity. I saw women of color, queer women, and women of different sizes represented on her page and she spoke to the openness of her community to everyone. These things were critical in my decision to join the Sage Priestess program.

While everything in the program was well organized, beautiful, and full of great information and deep practices, I learned the most from Vanessa’s leadership. It’s hard to put into words how much her way of being in this world guided my own (ongoing) development as a living priestess. Because of her, I know that I don’t need to look to anyone else to tell me how to live as a priestess, that I have all the answers inside of me and there is no one way to do this right. The ways in which she has intertwined the divine in her daily life feels accessible, practical, and real. Her willingness to share her ongoing struggle to develop a new way of being in a broken patriarchal, capitalist system demonstrated authenticity and bravery. I don’t know that she intended this to be part of the learning of the program, but it is one of the most valuable lessons I learned.

I am also incredibly grateful for the role that Stacy played in leading the program, from the beginning, but also watching her step into a bigger role as Vanessa undertook a pilgrimage during a portion of the program. Together they demonstrated communication, compassion, and true love & support for one another. Stacy consistently showed up with authenticity and deep vulnerability. I could see that she was healing as she helped the rest of us heal, and it was clear that this is the work. As priestesses, we never get to a place where we are healed and have it all figured out. Like Vanessa, Stacy showed us how to live the work, and in her own unique way. Having two courageous, honest women to look to as examples is really the best part of the Sage Priestess program. 

-Libby Smith