Connecting with the Goddess is symbolic of our own meeting with our own concept of perfection. In Ecospirituality, “perfection” means the ability to accept our darker impulses from the Shadow without feeling obligated to act on them. By recognizing and accepting these parts of ourselves without feeling obligated to do anything about them, we create the capacity to just be with those darker impulses, without acting on them, until they pass.

When we are able to do so, we are able to integrate the Shadow and the Persona into a perfect, whole True Self. Integrating the Shadow and the Persona is another way of connecting with the Goddess because these integrative experiences are of the awe-inspiring variety that is the goal of ecospirituality.

Sometimes these experiences are described as reconnecting with the Goddess. In this case, the Goddess can also represent nature. In any case, connecting with the Goddess or reconnecting with the Goddess both mean connecting with love. The idea of “reconnecting” implies that we are connecting again to something that we somehow became disconnected with, in the first place.

How we became disconnected isn’t as important as finding out how to reconnect ourselves and to love. If there are barriers between ourselves and the things we wish to be connected to, we have the ability to remove those barriers. Ecospirituality allows connecting with the Goddess by eliminating the barriers that keep us separate from our concept of the divine, from each other, and from our true selves.

The way to have truly meaningful spiritual experiences (connecting with the Goddess) is to remove those things that keep us from connecting.

Take some time right now to think about the things that keep you from feeling connected. Make a list of these. Write down some of the things that in the past have kept you from feeling connected to others, to nature, to the divine (or your concept of “perfection”), and to your own True Self. Try to think of at least three.

Now that you’ve completed your list, look at it again. Of all the things you’ve listed, how many of those things on your list have to do with barriers within yourself? How many of them have to do with barriers from other people? How many of them have to do with barriers due to your circumstances or the environment in which you live?

What would it take to remove those barriers? Remember, you can’t change others, you can only change yourself. So focus on things that would involve activities and actions that are within your power to change about yourself. For example, you may have a person in your life who has a talent for making you angry. This anger keeps you from feeling connected to this person. Since you can’t change the other person, is there something you could change about yourself that would make dealing with this person easier and less stressful?

Brainstorm a number of solutions to removing the barriers you’ve listed above. If the answers are too difficult for now, don’t be discouraged. Set this list aside and come back to it when you feel ready.

Now that we’ve thought a bit about the barriers to connectedness we find in our own lives, how do we go about changing those barriers so that we can achieve connection to others? To nature? To our True Selves?

Think for a moment about the different faces we wear each day. If you’re interacting with people at work, do they see the same person that your family at home sees, or do you wear a different face in work situations? When you’re at school, do you interact with people in the same way that you would interact with someone on a date? If you are at church, mosque, or temple, do you act in the same way you would act if you were out for a night on the town?
If you’re like most people, you probably have different masks that you wear for different social situations.

Are there any people who prevent you from connecting with the Goddess?

Think about those people for a moment. Be totally honest with yourself. Do you think that those people act the same way in all social situations, or do they wear masks as well? Pick out one individual with whom you have difficulty feeling connected. Think of the mask they wear that seems to act as a barrier to your ability to connect with them. How much of that mask is their natural inclination, and how much of it is their response to the mask that you wear when you are with them?

This is not to say that you are responsible for the rude or reprehensible behavior of others. Each individual is responsible for his or her own behavior. The idea here is to evaluate your own responses to such behavior. Is there anything you can change that might make it easier to connect with them?

If so, try it and see if their behavior improves. If, after changing the way you respond, you still find the person difficult to connect with, or even to be around, then you’ve done all you can do to correct the situation. At that point, your part in the problem interaction is over and done with, and you will have to practice mindful awareness. If you’ve done everything you can to try to get along with a difficult person, and they’re still being difficult, then this is usually a good indication that the problem lies with the other person and not with yourself. You are not obligated to change other people’s behavior.

With this idea in mind, you can also try to see beyond the mask that the other person is wearing. Masks are often worn to hide a person’s true identity. Is the other person trying to hide something? Could it be that they wear the mask out of fear of letting someone see who they really are? What could you do to help them change their mask? What might be preventing them from connecting with the Goddess? Even if you can’t get them to put on a different face with you or with others, you may come to understand that their mask hides a deep hurt, and their mask is their way of protecting themselves from further hurt.

Going back to Jung’s ideas of the Shadow and the Persona, the Persona is the mask we wear in our day-to-day lives, possibly to hide those darker impulses in the Shadow. Think about your Persona mask. What sort of mask do you wear with the world? What sort of mask would you like to wear?

Now imagine the person you are becoming as you walk the Way of the Coyote. If your True Self were a mask, what would it look like? What sorts of masks might help you in your quest of connecting with the Goddess?

Connecting with the Goddess and the Way of the Coyote

The Way of the Coyote is a path of fluidity and instinct, guiding us to connect deeply with the natural world, our inner selves, the divine, and the people in our lives. As we follow the Coyote’s way, we learn that connection to nature is not only about appreciating beauty or preserving the wild; it’s about embracing the cycles, unpredictability, and resilience that nature teaches us. The Coyote shows us that to truly connect, we must release rigid expectations and open ourselves to the mystery of each moment. This means trusting in our instincts, allowing ourselves to be both vulnerable and wise, and meeting challenges with creativity and adaptability.

Connecting with the Goddess within this path is to discover our own ideals of love and perfection in a way that feels authentic and attainable. The Goddess is not some distant, flawless ideal but a reflection of our highest potential, embodying love, compassion, and self-acceptance. When we connect with her, we are connecting with the part of ourselves that holds these qualities, not as impossible standards but as expressions of our deepest truth. Through the Way of the Coyote, we come to understand that love and perfection are not rigid states to be achieved but flowing energies we can embody, guided by a spirit of adventure, acceptance, and reverence for all life.

This last post of 2024 on connecting with the Goddess concludes our series on the Way of the Coyote. Next week, as we begin a new year, we will start a series on how Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy can help with a variety of issues.

Share Your Thoughts on Connecting with the Goddess!

Have you completed your quest of connecting with the Goddess? What was that experience like for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!