Atalla, Dorothy
Dorothy Atalla
Never having heard of Petra, in Jordan, Dorothy (Chickee to her friends) went there on a whim. While exploring Petra with her family in the 1970s, Chickee found herself profoundly affected by the ruins of the ancient city. She became fascinated with Petra's ancient people. She wondered what their arts for living were like, as well as their traditions for death. At the time of her visit in Jordan her goals were modest. One goal was to encourage her sons to perceive themselves as global citizens by way of their father's Middle Eastern heritage. She also had always hoped to provide her sons with a well-rounded cultural and academic education. Seven years after her trip Chickee had her first encounter with a feminine Presence. And so her dialogues with the Goddess began. Recognizing that she needed an authentic vocabulary to articulate these experiences, she entered areas of inquiry beyond what she learned as an undergraduate. As a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of Delaware, Chickee received an endowed fellowship for a Master's degree in English Literature. Her dialogues with the Presence led her to dip into ancient history, archaeology, depth psychology, quantum physics, transpersonal psychology and the evolution of consciousness, and additional study of ancient religion and mythology.
In recent years Chickee attended both Jean Houston's Mystery School and her Social Artistry Training Program. Chickee herself has created programs around the theme of the Divine Feminine, one titled: "Coming Home to Our Bodies: The Radiant Body of the Goddess." Chickee says, "My hope for readers of Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power is that they will feel they are experiencing the voice of the Goddess. Every woman is part of Her Story, emerging in our times, a story which includes affirmation of women's wisdom and the spiritual power of the feminine."
Family continues to be vital to Chickee. She, her husband, two sons, daughter-in-law, and two grand-daughters have the good fortune to live in the same city where they frequently enjoy each other's company. Books continue to be among her best companions, as they have from childhood. Chickee Atalla is currently developing a sequel to Conversations with the Goddess.
On a January day in the depths of mid-western winter Dorothy Atalla expected more of the same: snow , ice and gray skies. But when she lay down on her living room carpet to relax with music, she had an experience which changed her life. Inexplicably, a vision of a radiant and beneficent female presence appeared to her. This astonishing event was only the beginning of a journey she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams. That vision foreshadowed the dialogue with a deity which is the essence of this book.
Conversations with the Goddess swiftly evolves from a personal story into a universal story in which a feminine Presence speaks about the role of the sacred Feminine in the future. She also speaks of the past, revealing a panoramic view of a time in which the Goddess was revered not only at Petra but also throughout the ancient world. Her story is a multiplicity of strands which she deftly weaves together, creating a tapestry that spans immense time frames in earth s evolution. As her tale progresses, people from the deep past step forward to tell about their lives and their relationship with the Goddess. And a fascinating group of characters they are from Zillah, slave woman, to Hayyan al-Shubri, high priest who serves the chief goddess of Petra.
Woven into the dialogues are lively commentaries about Petra as a cosmic power point, women as agents for planetary evolution, and restoration of ancient Goddess knowledge and women's mysteries. Other threads in this weaving are also relevant to modern women: woman s innate spiritual power, earth s powers and the powers of woman, symbolism in female artifacts and the consciousness which created them, what the dark Feminine really is, correction of misperceptions about the nature of the Great Goddess, and a path toward balance of the divine Feminine and the divine Masculine.