Clearing My Throat

Goddess (Photo credit: junibears)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For years now I've been reading the works of Matthew Fox,

a former Dominican priest who was silenced by the Vatican.

This is taken from an interview he gave a few years ago:

I think that the return of the Goddess is one of the most important

movements of today's hope.... the Goddess represents the Divine

creativity in everybody ... if we have just a male image of God, that

legitimizes the other patriarchal privileges and oppression - including

men towards men - that goes on in the culture. So obviously we need

gender justice in our divinities.

A few weeks ago I signed up for an online week-end seminar he was

leading.  Unfortunately the first speaker I listened to wasn't Matthew Fox. 

But Matthew Fox was there and I felt betrayed.

 In the space of one hour the speaker told the audience of mostly women

four times that he knew he was being sexist but he didn't care, (i.e. I

know this is sexist but I insist on a literal translation of this [ancient] text.)

 I don't give churchy men a second chance anymore.  I've heard this kind

of bullshit my whole life.  In my opinion if the ancient text is sexist then

it isn't ancient enough.

 Shortly after the week-end ended Matthew Fox tweeted this:

 

 ... The suppression of women in the Church is but one of the many signs

of this masculine domination….Reason has to be 'married' to intuition;

it has to learn to surrender itself for the deeper intuitions of the spirit...

from the presence of the Spirit in the depths of the soul. -Bede Griffiths

 

Normally I would be far too intimidated to reply to such a famous

intellectual but I couldn't stop myself.  I was far too angry.

Francie McGlynn@Frazzee1       @FCSCreationSpir What am I missing? This was the message I was hoping to get from the Christ Path Seminar but it wasn't what I heard. - 03 Jul

 

Surprisingly he answered me right away:

 

@frazzee1 Bede is talking about the need to include right brain and intuition and spiritual practice to counterbalance left brain rationality. There was LOTS of that this weekend--surely the entire Sat aft practice with the Cosmic Christ icons; the Cosmic Christ itself; the chants. My talks on Jesus as a mystic/prophet living out the four paths of creation spirituality and the recesses of his soul. - Matthew Fox

 

Jeesh. 

I thought Bede was talking about the suppression of women and

male domination.

But Matthew Fox didn't ask me where I had gotten lost.

Anyway, somewhere in the middle of this struggle of mine I read

Magaly's blog that spoke about how angry she was when she learned

that there was a host of Anglicans who were adopting pagan practices

hoping to bring more people back to the church.

Her many Pagan blog readers were angry too. 

Actually angry isn't the right word but is there a word in the English

language to describe feelings that have built up over 5,000 years?

I decided to throw in my two cents. 

I said not to worry, Jesus would have accepted Pagans because that's

just the kind of guy he was but the Anglican Church would not.

 

The funny thing is that it wasn't until yesterday when I read that Dr. Fox,

former Dominican now ordained Anglican priest, is giving another talk

did I put the two together.

My own words came back and stuck in my craw.

 Because they were true.

The Church (be it Catholic, Anglican or any other denomination) will never

end gender discrimination.

 

I need to regroup.

 

 

 

 

A Goddess Myth for Gay Pride Week

The Earth seen from Apollo 17. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 There was a time when the Wind was all that existed.

The Wind did not think, the wind only 'was'.

In the emptiness of nothing the Wind birthed time

and time begat mass and mass begat the universe

and the Earth.

 

The Wind blew across the dark waters of Earth and

land formed and became green.

 

People appeared and the people named the Wind

"Goddess"  and they worshipped Her.

And She became strong and full of Wisdom.

 

The Goddess cared for the earth

and her daughters and sons. 

She found great joy in all of creation. 

 

But one day men came who took the Wind

and remade it in their own warlike image.

 

The Wind became Yahweh the angry,

jealous God. 

 

It forgot its joy in creation.

In birthing.

In its love for daughters of

the earth.

 

For thousands of years the Earth was

convulsed by wars and poisoned by greed.

 

Until it lay dying.

 

Then a cry went up from the people

and was lifted on the wind.

 

And the Wind remembered.

Who She was.

Who She is.

 

Blessed be.

 

***

 

You'll find Her wherever an injustice to

the Earth and it's people is being righted.

She is with the women's movement,

the labour movement, the struggle for civil

rights.

She is with the 99%, the Idle No More movement

and the environmentalists.

 And today she is with the LGBTQ community.

Congratulations to all my gay and lesbian family and friends.

Enjoy your day!

Holy Mother Russia

 

 

It isn't the image of the three members of the punk band Pussy Riot smirking in the prisoners' box in the Russian Courtroom that sticks with me.

Anyone who has spent time in a classroom has seen bravado before.

 

It's an image that I didn't see.

An image so powerful that when I read about it, it took my breath away.

 

CBC news reported that in protest of the harsh punishment  

and the role the Russian Orthodox Church played in the whole fiasco,

a woman took a chain saw to a Christian cross that stood atop a hill

that overlooks Kiev.

Ishtar!

 

 

***

The Tears of Old Mary

I was looking at pictures of religious statues last week and came across a Kitchen Madonna.

They are charming statues of the Virgin Mary holding a broom or doing some other form of house work.

They are meant to be kept in a woman's kitchen, hence the name.
.

Of course it is the Goddess, but I won't tell the Pope if you won't.


Anyway, at this point in my life, my concern isn't with my kitchen,

although maybe it should be.


My concern is with aging and mortality.


I began to wonder if the face of the Virgin ever got old.

Was she also the Crone?


Surely She would understand the pain of aging and death.

I haven't done any art since my elderly father died last September

but the muse is back.

I decided to draw Mary as an old woman.

What I saw when I finished wasn't  a Lady of Sorrows.

Jeesh,

Mary has an attitude!

And I have a feeling if you catch the tears of Old Mary

you'll be blessed with courage and creativity for all your days! 

***

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.