The Goddess Project: Made in Her Image, came from a prophetic dream I had after my daughter, Sophia, has been stillborn and I was then pregnant with my oldest son. In the dream, a diverse group of women all dressed in white (I now wear all white) came to me and told me that I was going to start a women’s group in Dallas. To my surprise, we did, The Goddess Group, and we began to meet monthly. Every person in the group had her Goddess name and I began to envision every female I met, in ornate queenly dress.
That was 6 years ago and now we’ve released over 40 Goddesses to the project, these Deities have been celebrated throughout time all over the world.
Soon, I found women friends that agreed to be photographed and I wrote about them in my blog at FreeSophia.com.
I quickly found that the models were as diverse, powerful and as fascinating as the Goddesses they portrayed.
For instance, one of our first models was Jann Aldredge-Clanton who personified, Sophia, a Female Divine name and image found more than 200 times in the Bible . Jann herself has lived an amazing life spreading Wisdom (Sophia is the Greek word meaning “Wisdom”) and has written more than a dozen books and over 500 hymns herself on the Divine Feminine and equality. Jann has taught me what to live in Grace looks like with her creativity, kindness and courage.
Our youngest Goddess model, yet, was portrayed by 6 year old, Harmony who is our Quan Yin. Both her and her sister are in the project (her sister, Hayden, modeled a different version of Kuan Yin, a must see!) Sweet, smart, Harmony IS compassion embodied, like the Buddhist Deity she represents and is so playfully full of life. Harmony spends Summers learning Mandarin in Vietnam and actually goes to visit Quan Yin shrines when she is there. I really wanted a child to portray, Quan Yin because, I felt that if we all could see each other as children the World would be a kind and gentler place.
And we also have an Octogenarian in the project, our dear Jo Wharton, portrayed the Native American “Spiderwoman”. Jo used to always used to wear fabulous sterling silver spider jewelry, because she brought women together with her web. Jo had started the original Goddess Group (although called something else) in Dallas in the 1980s and like Spiderwoman, has brought many women together in community. Jo also owned and ran the “Rosewindow” Goddess store, for many years. She’s lead pilgrimages to Goddess sites and workshops on the Divine Feminine. When I first met her and we were introduced, she high-fived me, friends for life.
My best friend, Ronda Litwin, is the supermodel of the project having portrayed 3 Deities including Isis and Pele. She is shown here as Oshun (Who was later made popular by Beyoncé in her music video, “Lemonade”.) Ronda is an attorney, but having just given birth to her 3rd son, she is committed to homeschooling or “unschooling” her children while spreading awareness about the process as well as being a local political activist.
I got to know Saraswati and Kali, the Hindu Goddesses so much better, thanks to my dear mystical Hare Krishna friend, Reivin Alexandria. Reivin is a brilliant and powerful occultist musician, writer, model and artist of every kind, embodying the Creatrix by constantly creating on Earth. She really brought authenticity and life to these likenesses as she, herself, steadfastly inspires many every day.
Similarly, the depth of research and honor my best friend, Sandra Soliz-Hudgins brought to her portrayal of White Buffalo Calf Woman, still takes my breath away. Her photo was taken at the time when activists were trying to protect the sacred Dakota pipelines and I could feel White Buffalo Calf Woman wanting the world to know about Her. Sandra is the most fun and big-hearted person you will ever meet. She is so creative and bright, she designs jewelry as a professional jeweler (she portrays our Crystal Goddess as well!) Soon, her youngest daughter, (who was born very prematurely on December 12th, Our Lady Of Guadalupe’s Feast Day) who is a brilliant, beacon of hope for this world, will bring Our Lady of Guadalupe to the project.
And lastly, I’d like to tell you about 54 year old, Martha who is a lifelong athlete. Once an actress, performer and dancer, she now teaches pilates, dance and yoga. Martha is one of the most beautiful and strongest people I have ever known. She is the cover model of our Journal Journey in her incarnation of Amaterasu (in which her costume is a combination of her Japanese mother’s kimono pieces mixed with my Japanese mother-in-law’s kimono.) Martha also portrayed the Goddess Tara, Who after researching, I learned is often considered transgender and Martha is lucky enough to be the mother of LGBTQ children and a huge advocate for awareness and acceptance.
I’m constantly amazed by this inspired project and grateful that I get to be a part of it all. The models have taught me so much about the Divine Feminine, not only the ones they portray but by the lives the lead as Her children on Earth. There are so many more Goddesses and fabulous models in the project, I just wanted to give you all a sample as we have PLANS for dozens more. You can read the full articles about all 40+ Goddesses on our website FreeSophia.com and view future Goddesses as They arrive!