The Return of the Feminine and the World Soul

by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

The feminine holds the mystery of creation. This simple and primordial truth is often overlooked, but at this time of global crisis, which also carries the seeds of a global transformation, we need to reawaken to the spiritual power and potential of the feminine. Feminine qualities belong to both men and women, and they draw us into the depths within us, into the mysteries of the soul whose wisdom is called Sophia. Without the feminine nothing new can be born, nothing new can come into existence—we will remain caught in the materialistic images of life that are polluting our planet and desecrating our souls. We need to return to the core of our being, to where the sacred comes into existence. And the mystical feminine holds the key to this work of redemption and transformation. Over the past two decades Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has given different teachings on the feminine and the anima mundi, the World Soul. They are compiled here for the first time.

Genres: Spirituality, Goddess, Feminism, Philosophy, Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee is a Sufi mystic.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (born 1953, London) is a Sufi mystic and lineage successor in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order. He is an extensive lecturer and author of several books about Sufism, mysticism, dreamwork and spirituality.

:: History
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee was born in London in 1953. He began following the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi path at the age of 19, after meeting Irina Tweedie, author of Daughter of Fire: A Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master. He became Irina Tweedie's successor and a teacher in the Naqshbandiyya Sufi Order. In 1991 he moved to Northern California and founded The Golden Sufi Center to help make available the teachings of this Sufi Lineage (see http://goldensufi.org).

:: Works
Author of several books, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe on Sufism, mysticism, Jungian psychology and dreamwork. He has also specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of Jungian psychology. Since 2000 the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition, and an awakening global consciousness of oneness. More recently he has written about the feminine, the world soul, the anima mundi, and the emerging field of spiritual ecology (see http://workingwithoneness.org). He has also hosted a number of Sufi conferences bringing together different Sufi orders in North America (see http://suficonference.org).
His initial work from 1990 to 2000, including his first eleven books, was to make the Sufi path more accessible to the Western seeker. The second series of books, starting from the year 2000 with The Signs of God, are focused on a spiritual teachings about oneness and how to bring them into contemporary life, with the final book in this series being Alchemy of Light.
Llewellyn has been featured in two films, One the Movie & Wake Up. He has also been featured in the Tv series Global Spirit and in August 2012, he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey as a part of her Super Soul Sunday series. He also writes a blog on the Huffington Post.

:: Books
* The Lover and the Serpent: Dreamwork within a Sufi Tradition (1990: out of print)
* The Call and the Echo: Sufi Dreamwork and the Psychology of the Beloved (1992: out of print, reissued in 1998 as Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology)
* The Bond of the Beloved: The Mystical Relationship of the Lover and the Beloved (1993)
* In the Company of Friends: Dreamwork within a Sufi Group (1994)
* Travelling the Path of Love: Sayings of Sufi Masters (1995)
* Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart (1995)
* The Paradoxes of Love (1996)
* The Face Before I Was Born: A Spiritual Autobiography (1997, 2nd Edition 2009 with new Introduction and Epilogue)
* Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology (1998)
* The Circle of Love (1999)
* Love is a Fire: The Sufi's Mystical Journey Home (2000)
* The Signs of God (2001)
* Working with Oneness (2002)
* Light of Oneness (2004)
* Moshkel Gosha: A Story of Transformation (2005)
* Spiritual Power: How It Works (2005)
* Awakening the World: A Global Dimension to Spiritual Practice (2006)
* Alchemy of Light: Working with the Primal Energies of Life (2007)
* The Return of the Feminine and the World Soul (2009)
* Fragments of a Love Story: Reflections on the Life of a Mystic (2011)
* Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism (2012)

Reviews

[Juliana Haught · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book gradually over a couple of years, as I felt drawn to it, because I found I wanted to take time to digest each part I read. Additionally, I didn't read it in order, but jumped around from chapter to chapter. This book is written from a series of lectures, so it doesn't have the sort of specific continuity that a novel would. Vaughn-Lee is a deeply spiritual man, steeped in the Sufi tradition, with a great respect for the mystical aspects of The Feminine. This book is written from the heart, and that's how I read it, as lovely, prayerful, gentle teachings. The overall message in the book, that humanity needs some profound healing and re-balancing, through the pathway of deep respect for women and their inherent spiritual gifts, was very touching for me. Very soothing and lovely book.

[Julia Gebel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book to help explore the meaning of the divine feminine. The author sadly fails to acknowledge that women will need the true divine masculine to assist in the rebirth of our world soul. An opportunity missed. What a pity.

[Susan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a collection of lefties given by the author, so it repeats itself a bit, but for me that helped to really get the message straight in my thoughts. I enjoyed this book very much.

[Gloria Battini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book! As a woman I felt so understood reading this, every word resonated deep within my soul. A must read for everyone.

[Dayva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found myself struggling a bit with the parts that repeat themselves, but the author did warn of this at the onset. Not an easy read, but definately worthwhile.I will probably read it again to see if I absorb more of the content.