The Reverend Danae M. Ashley, MDiv, MA, LMFT is an Episcopal priest and marriage and family therapist who has ministered with parishes in North Carolina, New York, Minnesota, and is currently a priest in Seattle, Washington, USA and a psychotherapist at Soul Spa Seattle, LLC (www.soulspaseattle.com). Danae uses art, music, drama, poetry, and movement in counseling, spiritual direction, and creation of ritual. She has written for Working Preacher, Luther Seminary’s Faith+Lead, Sermons that Work, Dear Sophia advice column, and other publications, as well as being a contributor to podcasts, books, and producing a play about fertility struggle.
Danae encountered Hildegard about 20 years ago when she was awakened to the Christian mystics. Hildegard has woven her way into Danae’s life in various means, including being the patroness saint of Unfurling Embodiment, a clergy cohort led by the Rev. Danae Ashley and Rev. Meredith Holt Crigler in 2021. Danae’s latest adventure with our beloved saint was making a pilgrimage on the Hildegard von Bingen Pilgrimage Way in May 2023, meeting Dr. Annette Esser, joining the incredible worldwide Hildegard community, and receiving a Short-Term Writing Residency and the Kilian McDonnell Fellowship in Faith and Culture from the Collegeville Institute to support writing her book about Hildegard, viriditas, and psychotherapy.