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| Our planet and our consciousness's are changing. We are being challenged to think in different ways, to rediscover a more expansive understanding of ourselves. It will require us to re-evaluate the images and stories we have been told about our origins as a species and to question our fundemental religous beliefs, beliefs that have unerpinned our self identities for centuries. As a woman, it is essential to question the beliefs that have been traditionaly handed down to us from all the institiutions that have ever shaped and informed us. WHY? Because our our model for being human is MALE, and as such we have adopted male values like a telescopic lenz, making them superior while aligning female values to the margins as inferior - all done in a trance hypnotic type of unconsciousness that comes from knowing no other way. Thus in our world today, both women and men ascribe to male values because it is all we have ever known. Our religions are male orientated and lay the framework for what a woman is, along with politics which has always been a bastion of male power, values and ideologies, although this is now changing. All the religous orders on our earth are absent one major element, have you noticed. It is the missing element that truly unites and holds the world in balance, but has been missing delibratley for the past few thousands years. Although we are in the 21st century and many gains have been made by women, my 'sensing' is that the world is still very much based on unconscious Male Values. If you need to ponder this, then take a moment to reflect on the Taliban's treatment of Afghanistan Women, (indeed many women in the world experience similar treatment). Here we have a classic example of a male defined system of values of what a women is, her roles and place in his society. We here in the west can take the opportunity to recognize that the male defined value of women is alive and well in this 21st century world, from the overtly extreme, as exhibited in the plight of Afghani woman to the modern western worlds covert refusal to acknowledge women's rights, or pay parity or even her own right to choose if she terminates HER pregnancy or not. In the West, it is subtle, covert and malignant. In the male world, his version of the equality that women have championed for is to join his military and kill like him, become like me the adverts scream. Hollywood in response to this notion of equality makes the female heroine equally as violent and ready to kill and kick arse as the men. this is equality patriarchal style - and we pretty much don't blink an eye. Statistically female violence is increasing globally There is a feminine version of life that has never been fully adopted as a model because most people have no awarness of any such thing, since male values have been the standard. Women's studies have challenged the male order of things, and women, at least in the western world, have incredible opportunities and there is growing number of women's organistation which are promoting a female agenda and lobbying for women's issues, which are family, environmental and community based concerns. Yet there is something missing, something so profound , something almost intangible that sits at the core of being woman, which rises up every now and then to reveal to us a different understanding of being human. The missing element is the MOTHER, she is missing from every religous story. Here in the west the only female models we have as women is a virgin and a Whore, both constructed myths that bear no semblence to truth. After all the easiest way to demean a woman is call her a whore. Please see the origin of words for the definition of Virign and Whore. - She, the Great Cosmic Mother stirrs within the world of man, embodied by women, her wisdom and power sits deep within our history, all but buried to the common mind It is she who is stirring, who will, within women and men, rise up and challenge the supremecy of the male order, an order both religous and political that is taking our world to the brink of chaos under its male defined values that sees every thing female in need of control, including nature. Not to mention the masculine propensity towards possesion and ownership As we enter the 21st centry, we witness yet more war, the casualties are women and children, while the men are used as pawns in strategic political games that are becoming visible to everyone. We are witness to incredible violience, bloodshed, famine and ecolgocial damage that we can no longer ignore. Today more than ever, it becomes vital to question the fundamental principals and values of the world we live in. As a woman, I beleive this is essential, for it is women who birth new life into the world. Yet in many instances throughout the world, it is, men who determine policy affecting all sphere's of women's life, from birth control, maternity leave, childcare and the birthing process, to pay parity in the workforce There are vast differences between Women and men, biological, chemical, hormonal. A woman for instance has a womb and the ability to grow, nurture and develop an evolving human embryo in her body. Chemically, hormonaly, and electromagnetically in ways that we have yet to fathom, this gives woman a life centered veiw that is necessary in birthing new life onto the planet. Alas we have negated this ability in women and negated her concerns at the toxic world man is creating and the many wars he is continually contemplating. It is time for women to intercede on behalf of all life - for all children and for the planet herself. It is time that the feminine essence - that which is an attribute that flows through both men and women - be expressed and actioned. MANKIND - Lets take a moment to look at the word 'mankind', although interchanged with the more politicaly correct term 'humanity', the word mankind is still in common usage. The word 'mankind' is supposed to be inclusive, meaning both men and women, yet as a woman, when I continually read in the text HIM, HIS and HE, I begin to question women's invisibility. Where is SHE or HER ? The same is true if you pick up any text book on early history, here you will find the history of man, the hunter, warrior, king, god. The very words used to discuss the past speaks of tools, weapons and men. We are told that early humans were gathers and hunters, yet everywhere we see the hunter, and hear of his heroic exploits, we hear of the warrior and the god whom he follows. Where is the priestess, the mother, the woman, her goddess ? SHE is not included in the history text, nor is she included in the word mankind, rather she is presumed present somewhere or other, in the background cleaning the cave or cooking the food that HE provided. What am I, or any woman looking at this supposed to think? Acutally many women don't have the awareness to even think, the male paradigm is so cemented in our reality that most don't even question it. Yet something incoherent sits within her, frustrated and nameless. Instead she contorts hereself into something she is not, she constantly goes agaisnt the grain of her basic feminine nature. She has no knowledge of, or fragmented knowledge of her own story, a story if revelaeved would shake the very foundations of the world we have taken for granted, a male defined world that has worked for eons to erradicte the knowledge of the feminine. What religion could not do with the witch burnings, male historians completed and today we have a fragmented knowledge at best and supersitsion at worse, in terms of what it means to be women. The words we choose to use reveal our unconsciousness, the term 'mankind' does not include the feminine. The term denontes an unconscious mind that has little to no understanding of the feminine and indicates a pattern of beliefs that unconsciously exlude the relevance of the feminine. Those who continue to use the term show themselves as unconcsious of the wider implications. The term humanity is much more embrasive even though it appears genderless - Humanity embraces in its unspokeness, both male and female, it is implied and inherent, it is not merely PC MENSTRATION - A graphic illustration of this is menstruation. No where in the modern working world is there provision for the menstruating woman. If a man had a nose bleed every 4 days out of 28 days you can be dammed sure that provisions will be made to accomodate it. Hell, he'd probably get FREE nose tampons to boot! There is no accommodating the natural cycle of all women. Further, menstruation is still considered to be a 'curse' by women, and most women if asked would like to be free of it, never truly knowing just what it is. Today many women still suffer from PMT (pre menstrual tension), I beleive under the current male defined value system, coupled with a deeply embedded fear based view of women as a whole where even woman herself is taught, albeit unconsciously, to dislike her body, PMT now stands for Patriarchal Menstrual Taboo. Yes we are that powerful ! An insidious belief about ourselves as woman and our menstruation, deeply embedded and totally unconscious underpins our feelings; our bodies create the tensions and wholla ! PMT to whatever degree. It wasn't that long ago that men considered menstruating women contamenated crops, curdled milk, or made flowers die, she had to be banished to the menstrual huts, isolated from the men, food and children. In some cultures she was held in contempt, yet in others she was venerated as sacred woman. From the menstral huts of these cultures came the sisterhood. Hand in hand with the sisterhood, came her knowledge of the mystery of life, thru her body. Her cycles where in accordance with the moon, her dreamtime, a time of power to explore the non physical realms. In truth menstrual blood was once considered the most sacred blood on the planet, it was freely given and no blood sacrifice of animal or human was ever needed. But that was long ago and the modern human knows nothing of this way of being.....a way that could have once been our future. Long ago our ancient ancenstors, in their wisdom, looked around them for a representatvie form that would symbolise and epitomise their understanding of creation and life. They chose the pregnant female form, simply because to them, it was the closest approximation and it reflected their understanding impeccably. It is the mother (female), who gives birth to both male and female, the masculine and feminine, signifying the unprejudiced unity from which we are all birthed. Further, they understood the unity of male and female could result in creation of human life, and they held that knowledge as sacred. Their world view was one of partnership and reverence for life, expressed in their relationship with the goddess, who they knew was neither male nor female, but a complimentary representation of the unity between the two. Her form is littered throughout the archeological record (goddess figures). Popular pictures depicting the goddess as she was perceived by our ancestors show a full busted, very preganant female form. What we don't see nearly so often is that this pregnant form, often has a phallus head signifying the unity of male/female as one complimentary union. It is a powerful key in understanding the unity and partnership that existed between masculine and feminine. We need to see this complementary aspect of oursleves rather than the gender differences we have been taught to see. It is within our own hearts that the key to our future lies. It remains encoded within our genetic memory and the memory of historical times held like a photographic negative in the electromagnetic energy of the planet herslef, and represented in the most powerful symbol we have as women. The Great Cosmic Mother has returned from our ancient past to give to us a key that will allow us to comprehend the vast distance we have travelled. With her she brings awarness, understanding and change. For she has come to reimind us of a time when life was lived and experienced in a vastly different way than we have been taught to beleive. Yet she reminds us that we have known this way deep in our heart of hearts and that it is this inner knowing we can resonate with at this time. It is the awareness of love, co-operation and partnership within the dynamic of the female/male paradigm. It is the awareness of unity, of oneness, a totality that sits at the core of being human beings. Much has been written about the Goddess, her names are in myth and legend. Many attributes have been ascribed to her, but who is she really, and what does she mean for women and men; for us, in this sophisticated technological 21st century ? To understand her relevance it becomes necessary to comprehend an historical context. Nothing exisits in isolation, nor did we arrive at the fear ridden belief system/world that has devloped today by chance. It took a long time to rid our memories of the Mother, the goddess, to dishonor the feminine and disgrace the masculine. Thousands of years, although some would argue it has taken millieniums Still others would counter, that you can never eliminate something that powerful, so, she lives on in our mothers, our sisters and our daughters, as a principal, as an essence, an ideal, embodied primarily in the female form Although it has been women's culture and spirituality that has been absent from history and denied her as of right, a woman cannot heal nor can she reclaim her rightful power, if she continues to see the mans world and the men in it as her enemy. Desipite the horrors of rape, childhood sexual abuse and all the injustices continually inflicted on the feminine, by this I mean women, children and the planet, it is necessary for woman, in her reclaiming, to see that there have been civiliasations whose culture was based on the masculine's support of the feminine. As women we need to know this, in fact it is vital that we recognise it, because if we do not, then we cannot heal what must be healed in order to create anew. It has been through the subjugation of women that men have robbed themselves of being able to fully express the masculine, instead they have conformed to the patriarchal dualisms, thereby becoming victims, unable to give to the feminine and unable to fully reveal themselves. We need to recoginise that men have been victims, albeit in a different way than women. As long as the antagonisms that have helped define the battle between the sexes remains, along with the inferior/superior dualisms, we will continue to be influenced by these deeply ingrained beleifs systems. Today the re emergence of the goddess is in danger of misinterpretation, our human proprensity towards fragmentation and separation continues. We are in real danger of missing the deeply profound meaning she brings us. If we see her as just a symbol of female sovereignty cloaked in the myths and legends of earlier races we will miss a profound opportunity. We are just as likely to miss her deeper meaning if we continue to ascribe ritual and worship to her as all the individual female deities we have fragmented her into. she is none of these things, yet she is all of them. Certainly the goddess legitimizes the sovereignty of the feminine principal, primarily embodied by women, but she returns for men also. The single most relevant meaning of the re-emergence of the goddess, is that she represents the unity out of which everything exists. |
The return of the feminine Essence |
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