About
Lauren Sleeman, a Jungian and Transpersonal Psychotherapist, is the author of two novels.
In Behold her quest is to bring the goddess tales of Greek and Celtic mythology to life again, especially the goddesses associated with the power of the Great Mother, and to acknowledge these strong archetypes and the sacred wisdom they bring to women’s lives.
Sleeman’s first novel, La Magdalena, honors the life of Mary Magdalen as a priestess and teacher of ancient wisdom. Sleeman has travelled widely, visiting ancient goddess sites and places of her ancestral origins, both of which she writes about in her fiction. A native of New Zealand/Aotearoa the author and her husband enjoy living near the southern mountain lakes and holidaying by the northern seaside.
Meet the Author - Lauren Sleeman MHSC (1st Class Hons)
The impetus to write Behold appeared to come to me quickly but its seeds had been incubating in
me for most of my life. As far back as I can remember I have thought long and deep about why
something so holy and powerful it brings grown people to their knees, was associated only with
maleness? This is because, as far back as I can remember, I have known that something, or someone,
was missing. Where was an all-encompassing Femina Divinity? Where were the Heart-Soul stories
for the rest of humanity, the Femina and the children?
It was these burning questions, along with my work and personal experiences, that gave me the fire
to write my Master’s thesis, The Forgotten Feminine. The ‘feminine’ I refer to here is not about
gender. It is about the inner sense of belonging, and the yearning, the sense of something missing or
wrong in us at a very personal level when we do not know this in ourselves. A yearning for belonging
is the essence of the two books I have subsequently written.
In my first book, La Magdalena: The Story of Mary I explored the ‘what if’ possibility of Jesus having
a partner who was herself a teacher and healer of significance, in a time where women’s stories
were already suppressed and marginalised. She was a ‘rememberer.’
Hekate and Lilith were waiting in the wings as soon as I started writing my second book, Behold.
Their voices were clear. They came to resacralise the experience of Self-Knowing, and to bring
change. Their stories of the forgotten Ancient Wisdom of the Femina, and the Holy and Sacred Art of
Self-Knowing brings belonging back into our world.
I hope that Behold gives you wings to explore and treasure your own Self-Knowing so that you too
may join Hekate as a symbol of new hope and belonging.
Blessings and joy,
Lauren
" Amidst the Feminist writers who are restoring the place of the Feminine in religion, history and mythology, Lauren Sleeman adds a luminous new voice. She not only tells the stories of Greek, Celtic and Sumerian gods and goddesses, but adds the dimension of the evolution of consciousness. "
- Dr. Lea Holford, Ph.D. Psychologist and Psychotherapist