About
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 Aotearoa/New Zealand the author and her husband enjoy living near the southern mountain lakes and holidaying by the northern seaside.
Meet the Author
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 that 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 three 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 marginalized. 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 resacralize 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 bring 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