A few years ago, Diana Dorell realized that while her masculine energies were fully functional, her feminine side needed a nudge. “I knew how to get things done — I used to be a high school English teacher in East San Jose — and to work hard and speak my mind,” she said. “But I had a hard time receiving and accepting help”: that is, being vulnerable. She sought solace in Athena. The ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, and industry inspired Dorell to quit her nine-to-five job, take up dancing again, and go into business for herself. These days, she hosts shows on SoulsJourneyRadio.com and ParanormalTVNetwork.com; performs in films and commercials; teaches monthly “Goddess Dance” classes; and hosts gatherings such as the upcoming Goddess Circle at Angel Light Books & Gifts (3347 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Berkeley) on Saturday, February 20.
As a toddler, Dorell cherished an imaginary friend whom she called “the Queen,” staging elaborate shows that “would always have magical creatures and plenty of crowns, wands, and glitter.” Formal ballet study started a few years later: “It felt so natural. So majestic,” she said. “I did feel like a queen/goddess and couldn’t understand why others around me didn’t.”
Upon graduating from Northwestern University, she started to take her intuitive skills more seriously. During card readings, for example, she always seemed to know which cards would be drawn, even before the decks were shuffled. Hoping to use this talent to help others, she changed careers.
Becoming a certified Angel Therapy Practitioner and Reiki Master, “I wanted to create a place, a company, where women could connect with their feminine creative power, but I was stuck on a name,” said Dorell. “Then one night, my grandmother, Mercy — a Colombian-Indian medicine woman herself, which I didn’t know until after she passed — came to me in a dream as a white bird and showed me an image of a beautiful woman dancing on the beach in a white, flowy dress.” Upon waking, Dorell knew that she must call her company “Dancing Goddess.”
Goddess energy “opens a larger space up for creativity, honoring our divine intuition — which exists in all of us regardless of our gender,” she said. Despite being divine, a goddess “never demands power like a tyrant or dictator,” but instead “commands power, which comes from a place of leadership and confidence.”
Goddesses can also awaken the four elements within us, Dorell avowed: “The fire is where our true passion lies. The water is our sensitivity. … The earth is about standing your ground. … Air is the ability to communicate. … Striking a more harmonious balance between those elements and knowing that the Goddess lives within each of us brings me excitement for where we are headed. We only need to allow ourselves to be guided and surrender to what is.” 3 p.m., free; reservations required. AngelLightBooks.com
