Returning to the Goddess

The head of an Egyptian goddess. The gender is suggested by the lack of a beard, and the simple hairstyle points to the divine status of the subject. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was not surprised to see that the federal government has moved to quash the ruling that would legalize prostitution in Canada.

***

It bothers me that our western culture has never developed the female side of God.

It bothers me because life in heaven as viewed by a society usually reflects that society's social norms.

In other words, those with power on earth will make damn sure their gods are made in their own image.

If God is perceived to be male, with no female counterpart to balance things, the worth of all females is devalued.  

I think that is why there are 900 missing aboriginal women in this country.

I think that is why the law that would regulate prostitution and give the women who are on the lowest rung of society a measure of protection, is likely going to be struck down.

And I think that is why there is a strong, quiet movement among women to return to honouring the Goddess.

Women, in the Christian heaven or on Christian earth, just aren't that important.

Related articles

• When God was a Woman: The Herstory of Goddess Worship (geeky-girl.me)
• Goddess Aloud! Goddess Worship and Getting Vocal! (thepurplebroom.wordpress.com)
• Canada legalizes prostitution (ipublicizenaija.wordpress.com)

Where the Hell is Mrs. Satan?

Satan Girl (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, where is she?

Where's Mrs. Satan?

Christians have a well developed male god named, well, God.

He can be merciless and vindictive to evil doers as well as loving and protective to His people.

Christians also have an evil god named Satan.

If you aren't careful he can lead you to do bad things and then God won't want you in heaven.

This makes Satan happy because then he gets to keep your soul in hell for all eternity causing you endless excruciating pain.

My problem with all of this should be obvious.

Where's Mrs. God and even more puzzling where is Mrs. Satan?

Well, truth be known, Mrs. God is making a comeback.

And I must say it is about time.

For thousands of years before the Israelites brought the warlike Yahweh  out of the desert people worshipped the Goddess(es).

And today,  many women not finding themselves reflected in the Christian God or church are returning to paganism. 

And the movement is growing. 

Quietly. 

Underground. 

But that leaves one person unaccounted for.

Where the hell is Mrs. Satan?

The question is more important than you might think.

Next: Federal Government moves to strike down laws that would legalize prostitution.

Did Bev Oda Hire a Rhinoceros?

Secnarf

Cabinet Minister Oda

In light of today's news that Cabinet Minister Bev Oda is in hot water over a expensive trip to London, I thought I'd check in again with Secnarf, the only living member of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada.

Francie:  Secnarf, there is a rumour that you quit the Rhinoceros Party and got a job with the Conservative Party as Bev Oda's double.

Secnarf: Lies. All lies.

Francie:  Well nobody can believe that a REAL cabinet minister would go to a conference in London and refuse to stay at a five star hotel because it wasn't good enough.

Secnarf:  Bloody 'ell! It weren't me, Ducky!

Francie:  So you deny the accusation?


Secnarf: Blimey!  Do I look like a Tory?

Francie:  Yes. You look like Bev Oda.

And there IS going to be bloody hell to pay when the average Canadian taxpayer finds out that Minister Oda stayed at a swanky hotel at double the price and we still had to pay for her original rooms.

Especially because Canadians  are being asked to cut back and food banks are empty and ...

Secnarf:  But I paid ... I mean Minister Oda paid all the money back to the Canadian tax payers!

Francie: Yes. After The Canadian Press found out about it and released the information.

Secnarf:  Crap.  I hate journalists.

Francie: So what do you have to say now?

The rich pay $16 for orange juice in a pretty glass at the Savoy while the middle class is carrying a heavy tax burden and the poor are hungry.

Secnarf:   I say the poor should haggle for tuna in dented cans. Then they wouldn't be hungry.

Francie:  Jeesh. We've heard that one before.*

But, thanks for your time, Secnarf.  We'll check back during the next election.

Secnarf:   Always a pleasure! And don't forget:

Vote for SECNARF

 the only candidate who looks like a cabinet minister!

*David Tsubouchi, a Conservative cabinet minister in the Ontario Mike Harris government once suggested the poor haggle for dented tins of tuna.

Related articles

• Five-stars not good enough, Bev Oda opts for hotel favoured by royals (thestar.com)

Port Dalhousie Ponderings

Notice the salmon and trout sign?


Who would have believed that the Lake Whose-Name-We-Dared-Not-Speak in the 1950s would ever be stocked with anything other than polio meningitis, two headed carp and raw sewage?




But thanks to many concerned people and organizations Atlantic salmon, last seen in Lake Ontario 150 years ago, are making a comeback. 


You can read more about this wonderful project at:


http://www.bringbackthesalmon.ca/

It is impossible to get near this place in the summer, but right now in April, while the leaves are still coming out, it's very quiet.




Port Dalhousie rhymes with oozy.


If you said, "There's a Port Dalhousie floozy in my jacuzzi," people would totally be in awe of your poetic skills.

On a clear day you can actually see the Toronto skyline from the pier.


I know that it seems as if whole armies of people swim back and forth to Toronto daily these days, but I remember when the radio flashed the news that 16 year old Marilyn Bell had become the first person to ever complete the swim.


I was a small girl and I remember my grandfather saying jubilantly, "She made it!"




(High fives hadn't been invented in those days, but people did other things like saying,  "She made it!" or "That's amazing, eh?")

This young man is fishing. 


He told me he catches them, takes a picture of them and let's them go.


(I had boyfriends like that at one time.)

 
He was disappointed that he didn't catch anything when I was there but I assured him that I had seen fish before and he seemed happy with that.




There's a speck on the horizon behind him.


It's a laker or an ocean freighter moving towards the Welland Canal.


The Welland Canal allows ships heading for one of the American cities that sit on the Great Lakes, (i.e. Detroit, Chicago,etc.), to get past Niagara Falls.


Which is a good thing because if we didn't trade with the Americans, they might get cranky.

Port Dalhousie is another part of the North End.

It ain't so bad.

:)

***

Grave Faces VIII

I came across this pajama party angel a few weeks ago.

She looks just like a teenage girl at a sleep over.

Her mouth is open and she's telling me something.

Something personal, because she knows me so well.

And it's just as scary now as it was in 1967 -

for different reasons.

This woman is not interested in telling me anything.

She's on a mission.

Her head is tilted down with determination

and her eyes are set on her goal.

Although I'm sure  the message is about heaven,

I must say that I've seen that look

on the faces of teachers who are desperately

trying to find time to get to the washroom

during recess.

I get the feeling that

she knows that I am here

and at any moment

her eyes will snap open.

I don't linger.

If this angel is aware of me, 

she doesn't let on.

Her wings are big and heavy looking

and she is very slight

so perhaps she is simply tired.

I suppose angels have to grow into their wings and

adolescence is a struggle in heaven too.

This little fellow really made me laugh.

His name is Hope,


 but neither his face nor his position

suggest anything hopeful.

But he is patient.

If he has to

he can wait an eternity


 for someone to come along and free him.

But he won't have to wait - 

because the message of Spring is

rebirth and hope.

Happy mid April, everyone!

Pontificating on The Hunger Games Movie

Years ago, for some reason, I decided to show the Christmas section of Franco Zeffirelli's movie "Jesus of Nazareth" to my grade six class.  

Most of them didn't get it.

Zeffirelli didn't show the Angel Gabriel giving Mary the news that she was pregnant, he just showed Mary having a one sided conversation at an open window.

"Who's she talking to?" my students asked in bewilderment.

I hadn't realized that you had to have read the book to 'get' the movie.

And that was my initial reaction to the movie version of "The Hunger Games", so this is a warning - if you haven't read the book, this blog won't mean much.

Cover of The Hunger Games

My rather pompous review of The Hunger Games movie

I thought the male/female roles were enhanced and 'fleshed' out in the movie. 

For example, we clearly see that Petah is a physically strong young man.

That is important. 

So important that Catniss herself points it out when she tells him to show the judges how far he can throw a heavy weight.

But Petah, like many men, has been wounded, first by his family and society and later in the arena.

 Even his name seems to have been castrated. 

The soft 'ah' ending rather than the hard 'er' sound in Peter.

Earlier in her life, Catniss had been saved by Petah.

When she was dying of starvation he had tossed her a loaf of bread.

Not only did she live, she went on to learn many life skills, skills that Petah did not learn, tied as he was to the rules of the oppressed society within which they lived. 

But Petah had one thing going for him, other than the physical strength that he did not recognize as a gift. 

He was not afraid to let Catniss save them. 

She didn't have his physical strength but she was a skilled archer. 

Skills honed from years of illegal hunting to keep herself and her family alive.

I think the message here is important and the wonderful thing is that it seems to be resonating.

Young men should be rightfully proud of their physical size and strength, it's a good thing to be a hero.

But they need to see that women have different skills that must also be utilized and honoured if we are to to survive these troubled times.

 Young women need to acknowledge that too.

  

In other words, girls, don't make men carry the complete load anymore,

It's time to pick up that bow and arrow.

(Oh yeah, I liked the movie.)




***

Related articles

• The Hunger Games - Novel & Film (all-things-andy-gavin.com)

Happy Easter

Transgendered Tales

 Getty Images via @daylife)

Two transgendered women made the news this week.

And the reasons were very different.

 Jenna Talackova, a Canadian transgendered female, was forbidden to take part in the Miss Universe Pageant  by Donald Trump, (who evidently owns the contest).

The 'good' news is that after hiring an expensive American lawyer and making a big and very public fuss she is going to be allowed to strut her stuff after all.

Now she can degrade women just like anyone who was born with a vagina and has the looks, the money and the shallowness to enter the contest.

I was still pondering her 'win' against Mr. Trump when  Angela Turvey made the local headlines.

Angela Turvey is a transgendered female from Niagara who works as a peace maker for the Occupy movement.

Unfortunately she had her nose broken and an eye socket fractured when some police officers took her to the ground while she was filming a scuffle between the protesters and the police in Toronto a few days ago.

The case is now being investigated.

The upshot of these two cases is that

Jenna Talackova is  trying to make a difference for marginalized  people

and so is Angela Turvey.

The difference is that the people in Jenna's margin are 1% of the whole

whereas Angela belongs to the 99.

Related articles

• Donald Trump on Jenna Talackova Decision: Gloria Allred Still Sucks (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• Trump Organization Says It Won't Bar Transgender Contestant Jenna Talackova from Miss Universe Pageant (towleroad.com)