About Greta Hassel Grace
A journey from the Bible Belt “Good Girl” to Sexual Educator and Intimacy Coach
Greta Hassel is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Intimacy Coach and Sexual Educator. Her Master’s Degrees in Divinity and Psychology are the foundation for an education that includes the lifelong study of Modern Psychology, Ancient Wisdom and Sacred Sexuality.
Greta is the creator of the workshops “Love, God and Sex” and “Good Girls Do!”, and facilitates The Red Tent Los Angeles. Her groups are designed to activate the fire of our women’s power and passion, and release the fragrance of our unique feminine essence. She has been featured on Fox, CBS and a variety of radio interviews.
Greta has worked with women and couples for over 25 years and has a private practice in Marina del Rey. Visit www.gretagracelmft,com.
Here is an excerpt from her live performance, “From Guilt to Goddess”
Every message I learned as a girl was ripe with sexual shame. You see, I cut my teeth on the story of Eve, the Temptress, who ate from the Tree of Knowledge and offered the fruit to Adam. Because of Eve, Original Sin was blamed on women and carried down through the centuries. It’s one of the fundamental stories of Christendom, and I believed it. The heroic Jesus of my childhood was eclipsed by these teachings. I felt shame and guilt. Unconsciously, I was disconnected from my body, cut off at the waist, and living with an invisible chastity belt.
Nevertheless, I had a deep passion for meaning and a fierce devotion to the Divine, which led me to travel across the country to Southern California and enroll in Fuller Seminary. My goal was to become a pastor.
As I went deeper and deeper into my studies, I found that the vocabulary for God – and all people – was exclusively male. I discovered that the roots of this rigid language lay in fear of women’s bodies and women’s power. Even more shattering, I uncovered a shocking truth about Original Sin, a foundation of my faith. I learned that the widespread Christian belief in Original Sin was the 4th Century creation of St. Augustine. He promoted the concept in a convoluted attempt to assuage his own conflicted sexual angst. When I read the truth, I fell to my knees, sick, nauseated, reeling with anguish.
The more I studied theology, the more the patriarchic politics of the church came into focus for me. As I was exposed to the vilification of women’s sexuality, a crucible of fire erupted. It birthed within me an inner knowing and I began to claim my own sovereignty. Like the Phoenix, the power, beauty and wisdom of the lost Divine Feminine, emerged from the ashes of antiquity and was born anew within me.
In my quest for answers I read countless books, pivotal ones, such as When Women were Priests, and The Christology of Erotic Power. I immersed myself in Rumi, Tantra and Kabbalah. I traveled to Crete, where women have been Priestesses and leaders for centuries. I studied with shamans in Peru, encountering indigenous people who still believe they are living in the Garden of Eden. The awareness of the Goddess, and lost Wisdom Traditions were a transformation for me. Ancient rituals awakened me, each pointing back to my body as divine, my blood as sacred.
I came face to face with the ancient legacy of Sacred Sexuality. I was transformed: Original Sin became Original Blessing.
As I healed the disconnection from my body, I came to understand that my life – my entire spiritual and sexual history – had a purpose. It was to prepare me to work with women to reclaim our Sexual Birthright and live the Truth of our Sacred Sexual Power.
I believe sex is a gift from the Divine. It has the power to Heal, to Create, to Transform. It is a force of nature. There is now no question in my mind: “Good Girls Do!”