We are witnessing a rise in our awareness over the role and status of women in our society with recent accusations of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood moguls. The response of companies to distance themselves from these individuals is encouraging. There has also been a groundswell of victims coming forward as well. All of this is very good and shows that we as a society are having a cathartic moment and evolving. Unfortunately large and powerful counter forces such as 'technology, corporations, large institutions...' are increasing their grip upon us and increasingly manipulating us more and more .
I mention this because I am currently reading a book suggested by friends Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief, by John Lash Lamb. It is an interesting look at Gnosticism and Paganism in a way I am not familiar with. As a lover of Mother Earth it is a refreshing perspective showing how we became who we are and that long ago the subjugation of women, and Mother Earth, was not in the psyche of certain groups.
Lamb clearly lays the blame of the assault on women on Rome and the Abrahamic Traditions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam.) In my opinion Christianity became Rome when Constantine embraced it; we must separate Jesus from the Church, otherwise we promote Rome.
Lamb also says that the assault on women is tied to the assault on Mother Earth. They are inseparable. Mother Earth, is our Mother, she is the Sacred Feminine.
Here are a few quotes;
"The primary insight of ecofeminism--a term originally used in 1974 by Francoise D'Eaubonne, a French sociologist--is that domination of nature goes along with domination of women, This insight links the environmental problem to the issue of gender relations. Ecofeminist theologian Rosemary Radford Reuther stated the principle in one sentence:"There can be no liberation for women and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model is domination."
"Many ecofeminists suggest that as a movement deep ecology is insufficiently sensitive to the complex ways in which naturism (domination of nature), sexism, racism and classicism interlock, and to the strategically central role of gender analysis could play in dismantling these categories.(quoting Riane Risler)Gender balance in indigenous-pre Christian societies was crucial to their sustainability, but it also made them vulnerable. Salvationist religion (Abrahamic traditions) arising from the Near East brought naturism, racism, and sexism in its wake.. (Page 45)
One of the fruits born of North Star Country was the Women's Rights Movement in Seneca Falls in 1848. It should be noted that before the Women's Rights Movement women in the Haudenosaunee culture had enormous power; they are considered a matrilineal society.
Interesting to think that awareness of sexual assault and the domination of women is occurring at the same time as the recognition of the problem of Climate Change is growing.The Sacred Feminine is rising.
One of the fruits born of North Star Country was the Women's Rights Movement in Seneca Falls in 1848. At the time it was ambitious, audacious, unique and more. Since then the seed planted there has spread to many corners of the world, as countries have worked to bring about equality. How women are treated relative to men has become a key barometer in gauging a society (see
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions.) It should be noted that before the Women's Rights Movement women in the Haudenosaunee culture had enormous power; they are considered a matrilineal society.
In the last year or so I have gotten back to a more rigorous program of spiritual exercises--meditation, visualization, yoga, reading sacred texts...... Last week I began reading a book, and contemplating certain sections by the noted Vendanta (Hindu) mystic Adi Shankara (788 to 821.) He is credited with reviving Advaita Vedanta (all is Brahman((non dualism) at a time Tantra (energy, chakra, kundalini) was surging. Interesting the book Sri Saudaraya Lahari--the Descent is the worship of the Goddess Sri Devi.
The version I have is by the Bihar School and was interpreted by Swami Sayasangananda Sarawati. I am a big fan of both and strongly encourage people to read and buy books by the Bihar School--they are exceptional. You can search their archived Yoga Magazine, outstanding and informative.
In my reading today Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati noted that India once had a matrilineal society:
"Shakti (feminine) is the name given to the root matrix of creation. Shakti is raw potential energy, which has the power to manifest or create. The virgin power of Mother Nature manifests into the seas mountains, skies and planets....The earliest traditions of humanity were matriarchal, not patriarchal. Gradually as man became a social animal this began to change...Gradually women were subjugated and relegated to lesser and the men became the head of the family. Despite this, the matriarchal system is still alive today in some parts of India, and whorshippers of Shakti abound throughout the world."
Shakti, Shakti
The world is turning and its back towards the sacred feminine.
