If the holiday season feels different this year—quieter, heavier, more reflective—you’re not imagining it.

In this episode of Bertena’s Spiritual Sanctuary, we explore what it means to celebrate Christmas after a spiritual awakening, when your inner world has shifted and old traditions no longer fit in the same way.

Many people on a spiritual path find that Christmas becomes a threshold rather than a performance—a time of stillness, awareness, and returning inward. Yet this shift can also bring challenges, especially when navigating family expectations, religious differences, and emotional boundaries.

In this gentle, reflective episode, we talk about how to honor the season without abandoning yourself.

✨ Why Christmas can feel emotionally and energetically different after spiritual growth
✨ How to celebrate the holidays in a way that honors your evolving spirituality
✨ Navigating family gatherings when your beliefs or practices have changed
✨ How to talk about spirituality (or choose not to) with family members
✨ Setting loving boundaries without guilt or conflict
✨ Reclaiming Christmas as a sacred season of stillness, reflection, and inner light
✨ Choosing presence over performance during the holidays

This episode is for you if:

• You feel more sensitive or introspective during the holidays

• You’re spiritually awakening and unsure how to fit into old traditions

• You want peace, grounding, and authenticity during Christmas

• You’re learning to love your family without shrinking yourself

🌿 What You’ll Explore in This Episode

Why Christmas can feel emotionally and energetically different after spiritual growth
✨ How to celebrate the holidays in a way that honors your evolving spirituality
✨ Navigating family gatherings when your beliefs or practices have changed
✨ How to talk about spirituality (or choose not to) with family members
✨ Setting loving boundaries without guilt or conflict
✨ Reclaiming Christmas as a sacred season of stillness, reflection, and inner light
✨ Choosing presence over performance during the holidays

This episode is for you if:

• You feel more sensitive or introspective during the holidays

• You’re spiritually awakening and unsure how to fit into old traditions

• You want peace, grounding, and authenticity during Christmas

• You’re learning to love your family without shrinking yourself

What is Yule, and why has the Winter Solstice been honored across ancient Pagan and Northern European traditions for thousands of years?

In this deeply reflective episode of The Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine, priestess, spiritual teacher, and intuitive guide Bertena explores the spiritual meaning of Yule, the significance of the Winter Solstice, and how this sacred turning point of the year invites rest, reflection, and renewal.

Yule marks the longest night and shortest day of the year, a powerful seasonal threshold where darkness reaches its peak and the return of the light quietly begins. Rather than rushing past winter’s stillness, ancient cultures honored the dark as sacred, fertile, and necessary—a time of womb-like gestation, inner work, and ancestral remembrance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What Yule is and how it connects to ancient Pagan, Norse, and seasonal traditions

• The spiritual and symbolic meaning of the Winter Solstice

• Why rest, stillness, and slowing down are essential during winter

• How Yule aligns with intuition, the Divine Feminine, and inner transformation

• Simple daily Yule rituals you can practice to honor the season without overwhelm

• How to work with winter energy for reflection, nervous system regulation, and spiritual renewal

This episode is perfect for anyone seeking seasonal spiritual practices, Pagan or earth-based wisdom, winter rituals, or a deeper connection to the cycles of nature. Whether you’re new to Yule or returning to it as a sacred tradition, this lesson offers grounding guidance for honoring winter with intention, compassion, and reverence.

✨ Light a candle, slow your breath, and join us as we honor the ancient wisdom of Yule and the quiet return of the light.

In this powerful and heart-opening episode of Bertena’s Spiritual Sanctuary, we explore why Goddess Studies are essential for modern spiritual seekers—and why the Divine Feminine is returning so strongly today. Drawing on her decades of experience as a priestess, historian, sociologist, and teacher, Bertena shares the deeper purpose behind goddess mythology, feminine archetypes, and sacred feminine practices.

You’ll also experience a sample lesson from the 52-Week Goddess Study, step into the weekly rhythm of ritual and reflection, and learn why you can begin this year-long journey anytime throughout the year.

Whether you're seeking feminine empowerment, spiritual growth, historical insight, or a supportive sisterhood, this episode offers inspiration and practical wisdom for women awakening to their divine path.

Listen to discover:• Why Goddess Studies matter now more than ever• How ancient goddess myths support modern healing• What a weekly goddess lesson feels like• How ritual, meditation, and embodiment deepen your spiritual practice• Why this year-long program is a dream decades in the making• How you can join the 52-Week Goddess Study at any time

Visit bertena.org to register for the next free info session and begin your own journey into the Divine Feminine.

In this powerful winter episode, Bertena guides you through reconnecting with your Spirit Guides as you prepare for a new year of clarity, purpose, and spiritual alignment. Explore the different types of guides who walk with you—angels, ancestors, goddesses, animal spirits, and your higher self—and learn how they communicate through signs, dreams, synchronicities, and intuitive whispers.

You’ll receive practical rituals for year-end guidance, a detailed tarot/oracle spread for 2026, and a deep guided meditation to meet your spirit guides. This episode is perfect for anyone seeking direction, healing, intuitive development, or Divine Feminine support as you close out 2025 and step into your highest timeline for 2026.

Hosted by Bertena — Priestess, Reiki Master Teacher, Divine Feminine mentor, and spiritual educator with over 30 years of teaching experience — this episode blends ancient priestess wisdom, intuitive development, and energy healing with her signature grounded, compassionate guidance. Through her work at the Ancient Arts of the Priestess Academy and her private spiritual practice, she continues to support women worldwide in reclaiming their intuition, healing their lineage stories, and building a spiritually aligned life.

In this powerful episode of Bertena’s Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine, we dive deep into embodied shadow work, the Priestess Path, and the sacred winter descent. Learn what the shadow truly is, why it appears during the darker months, and how embracing your hidden emotions, intuition, and truth strengthens your spiritual path. This episode blends education, storytelling, myth, somatic practices, and guided meditation to help you meet your Shadow Priestess, awaken your inner wisdom, and begin integrating the parts of yourself you once pushed away. Perfect for anyone called to shadow work, Divine Feminine healing, priestess wisdom, or intuitive development.

Your host, Bertena, is a Priestess, Reiki Master Teacher, intuitive guide, and founder of The Ancient Arts of the Priestess Academy. With more than 30 years of teaching experience and deep training in metaphysics, priestess traditions, divination, somatic healing, and the Divine Feminine, she blends academic knowledge with spiritual wisdom to guide women into empowerment, authenticity, and sacred self-discovery. Bertena offers classes, trainings, meditations, and spiritual mentorship online and at Cosmic Connections in Nashville, helping women reclaim their intuition, embodiment, and divine inner light.

Ready to go deeper into your own shadow healing and priestess awakening? Join me for the free intro class “Shadow Work & The Priestess Path” on December 4, and the 60-minute immersive ritual “Embodying the Shadow: A Priestess Activation” on December 18. Register at bertena.org or through Cosmic Connections. And don’t forget to subscribe, share this episode, and explore more Divine Feminine wisdom through my classes, writings, and offerings. Your shadow is not your weakness—it is your wisdom calling you home.

Discover what it truly means to be a modern priestess in this powerful episode of The Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine. Bertena shares her personal journey to becoming a priestess and explains the ancient role of the priestess, how it fits into today’s world, and why so many women are feeling called to this sacred path. You’ll learn how to begin your own priestess journey, what a priestess does, and how the Priestess Academy can guide you through goddess studies, feminine awakening, and spiritual transformation. This episode introduces Level 1 of the Priestess Academy—now available for free, explores the year-long Level 2 Goddess Studies program, and previews the upcoming Rose, Water, and Forest Priestess paths launching in 2026. You can also join us for a live Q&A on December 11th at 7pm CT on Zoom, and read more on the blog at Bertena.org.

Bertena is a Priestess, Reiki Master Teacher, somatic yoga guide, spirit guide communicator, author, and spiritual educator with over 30 years of teaching and metaphysical experience. She blends academic knowledge as a former sociology professor with deep intuitive work, goddess studies, energy healing, and priestess traditions. Through her classes, books, and The Ancient Arts of the Priestess Academy, she helps women awaken their Divine Feminine wisdom, develop intuition, embody their spiritual gifts, and step into a life of purpose, magic, and sacred leadership.

This short update is a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has supported The Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine. I’m sharing my gratitude, reflecting on the past year, and letting you know that the podcast is returning with fresh energy, renewed intention, and powerful new episodes. Expect more Divine Feminine wisdom, spirit guide teachings, energy healing, rituals, and intuitive support as we begin this next chapter together.

This episode may answer questions such as:
• How do I restart my spiritual journey after a break?
• What does a Divine Feminine reset look like?
• How can I reconnect with my intuition after burnout?
• What can I expect from a new cycle of spiritual growth?
• How do I prepare for a fresh spiritual beginning?

Fall is one of the most spiritually transformative seasons of the year. In this episode of The Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine, we explore the deeper meaning of autumn through an SEO-rich lens—diving into themes of release, reflection, ancestral healing, intuition, and personal transformation. You’ll learn why fall naturally invites us to let go, how seasonal energy supports emotional and spiritual renewal, and how to use autumn’s wisdom to realign your life, your rituals, and your inner world.

This episode also answers highly searched questions such as:
• What is the spiritual meaning of fall?
• Why is autumn a time of letting go and renewal?
• How do seasonal energy shifts affect emotions and intuition?
• What rituals help with releasing and manifesting during fall?
• How can I connect with my ancestors during the autumn season?
• Why do people feel more reflective or tired in the fall?
• How does the fall equinox support spiritual balance?