In the following excerpt from her groundbreaking article, “The Divine Feminine Unveiled,” EnlightenNext magazine senior editor Elizabeth Debold describes the challenging and sacred role that women need to play in the evolution of culture:
We women can move culture forward and create a future beyond patriarchy. But it will neither be easy nor necessarily feel “natural” if we see our nature primarily in terms of the roles we have played in culture over most of historical time….The goal would be to develop a consciousness that both includes our biological and cultural inheritance and also transcends it, so that a new, free space of relationship is created in culture in which to catalyze a new partnership between women and men. This would be a new expression of the feminine, and given how essential it is for transforming our world, such an endeavor is nothing less than sacred.
Join Elizabeth Debold on Saturday, November 7, 2009, for a FREE teleseminar presentation in the Women on the Edge series. The series also includesJean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and other visionary women leaders exploring the role that women play in creating the next stage of our collective evolution. Click here to learn more.
Andrew Cohen, Editor in Chief
Carter Phipps, Executive Editor
Elizabeth Debold, Senior Editor
Ross Robertson, Senior Assoc. Editor
Tom Huston, Senior Assoc. Editor
Joel Pitney, Associate Editor
Megan Cater, Assistant Editor
I’m in. Thank you.
It is time to transcend this gender thing…. spiritual beings in different suits….different cultures all devleoping at a separate pace….the interent connects us all and lends speed to the process… but time is what it always takes to let go of the old and trust the new…fear of loss can only be swayed by the ability to love… first one then the other…. to see me in you all the same in different worlds of reality.
“such an endeavor is nothing less than sacred”
>> “sacred” is used in so many ways, yet that line hits the mark. The patriarchy is the source of inhumanity. I’ve long advocated dissembling the patriarchy and putting men out to pasture with no say in politics, business, or government. (I am a man)
My comparison:
MALE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FEMALE
Warrior nature>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Peacemaker nature
Urge to procreate >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Urge to thrive
Greed>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Generosity (within limits)
Male dominance>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Family
Tribalism, racism, nationalism >>>>>>Community
Self-centered, short-sighted prioritizations>>>Sustainability
Self righteousness>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Negotiation
Any strategy for reducing male dominance would be of interest.
I think it is really important to realize that patriarchy is a system that was created by men and women, the masculine and feminine in a certain dynamic. Both genders need to hit the escape hatch together!
I am so glad to hear you say this. The male bashing is nothing but an (understandable) reaction to our painful history. As a male I am so acutely aware of what can happen when women step into their new role as equals and partners, the electrifying effect it has on a man’s awakening. It happens here and there. Men need that so much, and women would likewise benefit from this step up the ladder. (I do see women in the leadership role there)
We – men and women – are both Shiva and Shakti inwardly, the same. Outwardly we play these different roles according to our gender. It’s simply fits us best, to be true to our gender in awakened communication.
When we dance in our universally prescribed male and female roles, an enormous creativity arises.
So lets hit the escape hatch from our conditioned pain and enter the promised land of being women and men together in purity and mutual honoring of the great universal gift we are to each other!
Absolutely beautifully said…thank you!
I agree. We still think in terms of one or the other and although we are mostly born into either, it is much more complex than that. Many of us have explored both sides of our own natures. Women have a warrior aspect and men are also able to be nurturing – we all need the freedom to express our whole selves.
THE equitable unity of man and woman …
http://my-head.gaia.com/blog/2009/3/the-sanctity-of-marriage
Opening the door …
http://my-head.gaia.com/blog/2008/2/opening_the_door
TOGETHER ! …
http://yeshe.gaia.com/blog/2007/5/why_the_next_buddha_will_be_a_collective
I am of the baby boomer generation but becoming a mother @ 16 left me between two worlds. I missed out on the spiritual stuff. I was all for women’s lib and I have fought all my adult life for equality. In the work place, in social networks and especially my husband (ex) for 26yrs. I see myself as a field worker.
I have experienced the evolution of several eras and I have never felt so excited as I do now. When everything is said and done, it will come down to two things. Negative energy and positive energy. We shall know the power of both and the wonder of both and, we shall know how to use them, for the greater good I hope. Regards
Hi Paula,
2 thoughts regarding my experience: we don’t miss out on anything, there is just a time when something happens, and it’s always the right time.
And I have learned there are no negative energies in truth. All is positive, the dark part of the light is just harder to understand.
Hi ram girl braun,
thanks for your response. Yes, I know what you mean by no negative energy in truth but it still hurts dreadfully sometimes. The harsh truthsaren’t always in a positive format and it is these truths that hold equal power with the positives. I would agree they are difficult to understand. regards
In my experience, embracing the negative truths
I totally agree. Now its time for partnership not duality, integration not separation, masculine and feminine melding into one spirit, with the awareness of our individual soul expressing itself. Great words I know and thoughtful intention yet I too struggle with how to put it into new action. So lets see, if both genders (and I agree) need to hit the escape hatch together than the “work” must be done by both and simultaneously. Perhaps then the way to reducing male dominance is really not about reduction but creating a new perception. Of course that’s what Andrew’s work is all about. I am so there with you Elizabeth.
In my experience it only takes one to change a relationship, and to change reality. I also observe that in the ways of the Heart women have so much power. Men, if they are at all ready, are tremendously eager to follow that power. They have been waiting for it for thousands of years.. Liberate them with your love!
PS: And don’t take our crap!
I like what you said, especially not to take men’s crap but then a feeling of heavyness came over me, as in women’s work is never done! Liberate them with your love you said, is no doubt in my mind of the highest intent and only way. But lets bring it down to earth for lessons to learn. I’m the eager student and you the love giver, tell me how to do this in the face of denial of dominant behaviorl? I’m willing to listen.
I recall an old Saturday Night Live Sketch that parodied The Donahue show. The “guest” on the show was there to push her book “Women Good, Men Bad”. It still makes me laugh. Though I find the “real world” version of it far less amusing. Sometimes it seems that somehow the past “could have been different” if only we were as “enlightened” as some believe they are now.
The short of it is that humans did what they needed to do to survive…and that, admittedly, has not always been pretty. I love what Elizabeth Debold says, because more than anyone else I’ve seen on the subject she is so much more beyond the simple-minded divide of the faux-Donahue guest’s book (which reflects the sentiment of much of postmodern segment of our culture). Until more people do the same, both men AND women, I think we’ll just keep retreading the same tired and useless self-righteous platitudes of the past 20-30 years.
Time to move on to something else!
Gary,
You are my hero!!! I can’t believe a man is actually saying this!! You are so totally refreshing as well as correct on so many levels. While it’s not all roses with women either, too much of the group think syndrome has gone on for far too many decades; and there needs to be an evolution toward the betterment of humankind (womankind and mankind).
When we put economic value on the raising of children, this will be one major step forward. I’m talking about paying women or men to stay home and raise their children.
Then, when that is accomplished, we can look at a guaranteed minimum living wage for everyone. That will take care of crippling poverty.
Once people are secure in their basic needs, their essential creativity will have a fighting chance to grow and blossom.
Although I do agree with women changing culture radically, I wholeheartedly disagree with calling it enlightened. Women are becoming a powerful force in the world, and uniting to do so, and the world will be a better place for it. Yet when I think of the days in the seventies and eighties when I fought, wrote and lectured for womens rights, and men’s need to alter their perspectives, I have to say in all honesty I feel regret for having done so.
It seems to have evolved into a demand for unbridled actions and no accountability, the push for a matriarchal reign of power base. Equality was the banner cry of so many decades ago, and now we see the same lopsidedness of old once again.
In the fifties we saw TV commercials that made women appear – less than intelligent – shall we say, to commercials that portray men as grown little boys that cannot get ketchup out of a bottle without female assistance, in front of the kids no less. We cannot change the remote settings, and the shift is no less healthy for either sex when all is said and done.
History has seen matriarchal and patriarchal rule and its failures in both camps, is how is this enlightened? Unless we achieve actual equality, the outcomes will be the same, why would they be any different?
In the war of the sexes, there are no winners, and there will be no truce as long as this battle yields profit, and it does, enormous ones. After the smoke clears from the the constant accusing by both sexes, it is seen both are equally guilty of the accusations being slung back and forth.
Our present approach is like trying to achieve equality of race by enslaving whites to prove blacks have been liberated finally. Reverse discrimination if the more horrific of the two, as discrimination could always plead ignorance. This is not possible with the current trends of equality.
As a man this will be ignored under the label of anti-feminism, just as when I disagree with a Jew – I am antisemitic, a black person, I am a bigot , and so on.
At the last meeting of ‘ enlightened ‘ souls a woman got up and asked ” Where are all the men ? ”
I left smiling and crying simultaneously, same feeling I had after reading this brilliant article, bu an obviously brilliant woman.
Sincerely,
Darrell Borza
I agree with your basic point: flipping patriarchy to become some form of feminine-archy just will keep the old pattern of domination and suboridination in place. That’s the point of another article that I’ve written, entitled “Whatever Happened to the Vikings?” Check it out online on our site. But being victimized by the shift toward women dominating is surely not going to help anyone!!
Yes you are so right Elizabeth. Patterns of the old patriarchy need not to continue. Yet when I listen to my female students talk about their individual strentghs of character, how they feel empowered to be and do anything they want, the flip side of their lack however becomes apparent when they speak of their personal relationships. Perhaps the ego’s need to be accepted still rears its head and shadows the intellectual understanding of partnership. In today’s world young women do feel empowered by their successes, but behind closed doors mayt be quite another thing, hence the internal conflict remains. I try my best to discuss the need for partnership on all levels, the shift away from old patterns of the dominant/subordinate model and I do sense their desire for change, at least from the female students. I’m wondering if the change of percption is slow in shifting might be partly due to the many immagrants who have brought their traditional roles and unconscious ideals with them?
This is refreshing and exciting. Finally we delve into what we as women can and have always offered the world. Feminism has become a dirty word. However it isn’t some funky, dirty thing we need to dismiss or relegate to the past.
I work with 65 men, inan envoroment that is traditionally male, so some things are always in my face. It took me a while to see that I can make changes for the better, influence others and there is no need to fear my abilities. I find that it’s easier to be a woman. The hard must be or haves are not relevant. As a womean I am freer to be myself, more open, spacious and fluid. I don’t have a role to fit and live out. It was so uncomfortable in the beginning, until I embraced the knowledge that there was no-one who knew what was on my mind, just people talking about their perceptions. I find that men will quickly tell your story in order to get back to the comfort they felt before you became an issue to them. Women are never an issue until we embrace others projections. and start to frantically make adjustments. Just be who you are, there is no gender related soul in you and never apologize for your existence. We are all children of the universe, with gifts to give, talents untapped. As long as we hide ourselves behind roles defined by others, we will always be addressing the gender issues. My precious grand-daughters are exceptionally smart and intuitive and I would be derelict if I somehow made them believe they sould be shooting for the less than their best. Being stong, full of character, resolute, confident, looking to be all one can be isn’t a gender issue, but a person thing. I really wish women of today would see how important our voices are and can be. Feminism is not a dirty word, unless one wants to keep the feminine spirit locked into a box that is always objectivefied.
You go, sister!!
As an Adjunct Professor who teaches out of Women’s Studies, I am of course delighted to be part of exploring the new evolution of women. Francine Glick
Powerful. It’s time.
I enjoyed this article a lot.
It’s great to see Elizabeth standing on the shoulders of giants with her granular journalism. Packaging up all the established ideas from postmodern turns in sociology, philosophy and the history of ideas (et al) and shaping them for an audience so often hostile to ‘green’ things, is a wise action. In these ‘integral’ communities where the evolutionary narrative is so often misunderstood and unproblematically applied using simple enlightenment logics and values, I’m enthused to see someone integrating the brilliant genealogies and archaeological perspectives which helped situate our understanding of the development of knowledge itself (e.g. the Jung as Victorian offering).
Has anyone read Dr Sarah Nicholson’s work? She’s part of the integral salon in Sydney, Australia, and she gave many of us access to her amazingly comprehensive PhD thesis on integrative approaches to gender and feminism while it was being written. I remember being very excited reading a long chapter about the way feminist archaeological evidence might revision not only how we understand the previous ’stages’ in our cultural history, but in doing so, help to vision a post-patriarchial shift. I believe she’s about to publish all of this as a book. I think the wise, academically-informed thinking of women like Sarah and Elizabeth are exactly what these integral movements need in shaping their views on gender.
Thanks, Luke, in fact, I do know Sarah’s good work. I was fortunate enough to be on her doctoral committee. She is going to make a significant contribution, for sure!
As always you are spot on Elizabeth…count me in!!
Rayona Sharpnack
Founder/CEO
Institute for Women’s Leadership
650.556.8800
rayona@womensleadership.com
http://www.womensleadership.com
http://www.tradeup.bz/
AUTHOR: “Trade Up: 5 Steps for Redesigning Your Leadership & Life from the Inside Out”
“The scale of global challenges that we face requires us to forfeit our comfort in being lone rangers!”
Thank you, Rayona, and all the other great women evolutionaries who will make this next step happen!
Would this help raise anyone’s consciousness?
ADAM’S LAMENT
I am a modern Adam, God,
and I would speak with you.
Trying so hard, I am, to keep control
over desire, fear, and hatred
of the modern Eve.
She is too powerful, dear God,
and I…I want to kill her
for what she does to me.
Put her back into my rib,
replant me in the Garden,
and please don’t
start the story all over again.
Ava Kar
Q 1 What does God reply?
Q 2 What does Adam imagine God replies?
Q 3 What does Eve say?
I wrote this some time ago in answer to all the murders of women even in our Western Christian cultures, let alone in other societies. A.
If anyone tries answering the Qs, please let me in on the results! Anna
Dear Anna,
What you have written is very compelling, because indeed I believe the Garden and all of our stories and perceptions about it lie at the heart of the matter, and the heart of the matter is this: can we be unified beings again, or will our fear of “the other” drive us completely over the edge of our perceived polarity?
God’s reply: “Click your heels together three times, dear Adam, and say “I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home.”
Adam imagines God replies: You’re not worthy. You blew it back in the first Garden, and I’m a vengeful God. Deal with it.
Eve says: “Jesus Christ, then we really are stuck because it can’t be that simple!”
Written not entirely in jest,
Libby
http://www.iamliberty.us
http://www.liberatedconsciousness@blogspot.com
YeS! this is what is needed but what that looks like is what is creating the challenge. In the work I do as a healer, mostly with women, is that a large percentage of women do not even know or have an experience of what is feminine energy. All we have to go by is porn and celebrity, there are very few if any women role models that actually embody the true power of the Feminine , most “Power” women are extremly masculine. While the ” liberation” of the the 70 took us out of the kitchen ( not the that there is anything wrong with the kitchen ) Joining the men in the work force we became men, we left the feminine at home and learned how to be “Power woMEN” . We learned how to lead with our mind and leave our heart at home. Coming back to the TRUE Feminine is coming home to the heart. Living from the heart.
I worry that our ideas of the feminine are very limited to nurturance and caretaking, combined with a dose of manipulation rather than directness. For many many reasons, we have to evolve beyond those traditional roles…but I cannot explain why and how here…join me on the call Nov. 7th!
I am in of course but this development cannot be succesful unless we join forces with the male camp otherwise it will become just a theoretical ‘masterpiece’…where it should be a mutual growing process in humankind…most men do not have a clue what it is all about!!!
It also should be a process of coherence between the heart&the mind in each single indivudual…
Catharina Van Leeuwen – fine artist/author/creative spiritual thinker
To be fair, most women do not have a clue what it is all about. Just sayin’ And maybe letting go of the notion that we are in opposite “camps” might help. Again, just sayin’
But otherwise I am in full agreement!
I’m writing from the south of Brazil and this fact is very important considering the issue because, it does not matter from which part of this wonderful planet we may be living in or from, the new way women see themselves is spread all over it . The new way of being a woman has become a whole new language . I’m totally in.
interesting that this article appears right now, as ive been thinking lately about how much better this country and world would run with a lot less testerone……..less posing…….less settling issues with military force…..less need to ‘win’ the game of war, that no one even knows what its about……….or why we’re killing so many innocent soldiers and civilians…….ours and theirs…….to what end?……..
I am a woman in my 5o’s.I came to all this late in life. Health & Finances seem to be a barrier, I still have a sense of purpose, How can I acheive my purpose in the cosmos?
Shakthi is a principle of the ancient vedas.Shakti is the supreme force which is behind all movements.It is the primal energy and the primordial energy.It is inertia.As the vedas naarate Shakti and Shiva or Man and Woman is only consciousness.In the physical level there are variations betweeen man and woman,but in th spiritual level both Shakti and Shiva is all pervading and is a apart of both man amnd woman.Yes I think it would be an interesting seminar which will really help all.
I’d love to know how “a new, free space of relationship is created in culture in which to catalyze a new partnership between women and men” actually empowers women. It would seem that this is the way we have been going historically, through partnerships and relationships, with men. We use our collaborative and cooperative spirit in working with men, however, I have a sense that they still operate from a competitive viewpoint; that we are more about relationships, while they are about focusing on the goal and outcome. I wonder if we might “make room” for our individual empowerment, freeing up space for increased earning potential or rewards that come in a concrete form from outside of ourselves. I have no doubt that we have, as women, tremendous strength and power within, yet am hesitant to say that it is evidenced externally in our society. As I’ve thought about our “sheroes” in current times and in our history, a few come to mind who have influenced me enough to be called a role model. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could have women recognized as much as men, and lauded for their accomplishments?! Although this is not “true” spiritual power, it gives me the sense that we are making great strides in relationship to men, rather than in relationships WITH men.
We both have to drop our “weapons” and old ways of being at the same time…tricky, yes, but not impossible. It takes courage from each. Being oppositional to men is simply a variant of the same power dynamics that we chafe against. And I do agree that it would be fantastic to have women’s accomplishments lauded in this culture.
I hope you study the divine feminine from Nicholas Roerich in “Banners of the East,” “Then Issa said, Reverence woman, mother of the universe. In her lies the truth of creation. She is the foundation of all that is good and beautiful. She is the source of life and death. Upon her lies the life of man, because she is the succor of his labors….As light divides itself from darkness, so does womankind possess the gift to divide in man good intent from the thought of evil.” quoted in “Mary Magdalene and the Divine Feminine: Jesus’ Lost Teachings on Woman” by Elizabeth Clare Prophet.
I’m hearing a lot of ‘dogwhistle’ codespeak in this. My ears are keen enough to catch the lower band of the transmission frequency this uses, although not all of it. So, even if I don’t know precisely what is going on, I do know that something is going on.
You might be surprised…
I do agree with it.
I think that the masculine and the feminine are two parts of the same whole, and neither gender, as expressed in this material world, is complete. I think that the spirit has no gender, and has no need of a gender…..In this material world, males have the dominant role, because of their strength, and because they are much more prone to violence. Testosterone rules this world, and that is its tragedy. Male aggression brings war and chaos and this will continue as long as women are denied their equal seat at the table. We must have a co-presidency, and congress must have equal numbers of men and women. I assure you that if intelligent, aware women had as much power in the gov’t as men, there would be no wars, there would be no homeless, no starving people, and the common good would be the top priority. Notice I said “intelligent, aware” women, because there are a lot of women who have been dumbed down by this sick society.
Very happy to see this discussion going on here. In the conversation about the differences between men and women and how to move forward, I find it most helpful to bear in mind that at a fundamental level we are human first, our gender second (if it’s even that high up on the recipe list of what makes us up). So although in certain cases, drastic differences between men and women may appear, deep down we’re made up of pretty much the same stuff.
Interesting that if we observe how the omniactivity of the Universe/God/Life seems to be unveiling Itself, it’s simple to conclude that the gender issue is being absorbed in the whole/totality. The integration of all includes the individual feminine and masculine aspects of the individual being balanced to the place where whether we are male or female it will not be the basis of judgement.
Wonderful ideas, cites to sources of theory and its transmission here. Yet it is notable that most seem to be coming from their heads, which is a fine place from which to brainstorm but not the source of the creative. Change happens – real and substantive change – from that psycho/emotional/spiritual place inside each of us that tells us that we have to stop doing what we have done, because it’s never going to get us what we need. Jean Houston tells us that we participate in our own betrayals (in Search for the Beloved), and from that place we must individually and collectively search our hearts and souls to uncover how we are wounded, and how we then turn that to wounding others – to learn to see them as ‘other’ – so we don’t have to feel it. What inner voices do we heed when we feel threatened? Do we understand that we so often act and speak from that structure where those voices live? It’s an inside job – all of this – one that calls us to first become the author of our own lives, to know the story of self, and to offer that story to others to check its truth.
Men are not the warriors while women are the peacemakers. Our fierceness is innate to our humanity, but we fear its power until we begin to share it with others who can accept it and hold it. How can we each manifest the creative warrior who is fiercely compassionate, who faces their fear and transmutes it into courage? I am learning to explore those inner landscapes that held me in chains for so long – and find that, as I express and act from that learning, others are drawn to it and to me. Offering who we are, all of who we are – including our shadows and our defenses – IS change-making.
Rosa Parks sat down on the bus because she was tired. Period.
I think this has been happening for a while but slowly. Both men and women are more frequently acknowledging their masculine/feminine mix. If this continues both sexes will realise it doesn’t matter if your a man or if your woman essentially you are part of the whole.
Right On!
Women’s leadership will be key. We are entering a season of 10-15 years of radical change and transformation, driven by radical technology acceleration as a part of the solution to ongoing global economic and environmental disasters.
It’s not accidental that the one thing that causes the transention of 3rd & 4th world countries (as tracked with multiple economic and cultural measures) is the education and cultural elevation of women in their culture. We need to advertise and push this as a key part of the solution to our ongoing global economic recession and restructuring.
Please notice the “Advertisement” for the 2-day workshop “Discover the Architecture of Global Change,” with Don Beck of Spiral Dynamics (a cultural approach to transforming organizations and countries). I have signed up to attend. We certainly need several “Wise Women,” to participate.
Note also that women have a much larger corpus callosum linking the right and left brain hemispheres. It allows women to think much more holistically, including linking images and feelings to thoughts. We need this in many of our world leaders.
Humanity will have to “grow up” rather quickly, as we face a coming “evolve or die” challenge. The full participation of wise, caring women in many leadership positions will be a key part of this.
“Life is a daring adventure, or nothing.” — Helen Keller.
Are you ready to dare to help humanity choose to evolve rather than to die? In the coming few years, you will discover many enlightening people wanting to collaborate with you on-line in whatever niche of this challenge best suits your talents and passions.
Another interesting part of our future cultural evolution is from research on “Happiness” or “Positive Psychology.” If people are taught and encouraged to wisely pursue their “Happiness” (Engaging their talents in pursuit of their passions, in service to a larger whole.) they will be healthier, more successful, wealthy, loved, resilient, and another 15 desirable measures.
Religions and cultures need to incorporate teaching this research-based, wise pursuit of “Happiness.” Or they will fall behind, and become a part of the problem, rather than a part of the solution.
By teaching “Happiness” religions and cultures will become much more agile in embracing the wonderful new technology and cultural transformations coming over the next 15 years. Then our current warring religions, will be able to find a way to integrate into a then next wonderful evolution of human Spirituality, as forecasted in Spiral Dynamics.
We will all become a part of the Global Brain/Spirit/Community.
I am intrigued by all this – I’ve awakened to my deeper feminine aspect while trying to understand who I was as woman in this very male defined world that some call patriarchy and I discovered a female spirituality that is tied in with her body that not many are aware of – or only now becoming slightly aware of and for me its this where real change will come once its fully comprehended
I can’t participate in the on line thing – but I can listen and will be interested to hear what comes out of it as – in my cynical stage I see so much simply re arranged in a different order and touted as change
I work mainly in the esoteric realms for want of a better word and I see that through the chemical, hormonal and electrical makeup of the feminine that her way of being in the world is totally different than mens – and yet this difference is never fully embraced nor understood even by women themselves let alone men
the idea of equality for instance is the equal right to exist side by side, not that women can do everything and so should have equal rights, per sae, but that she deserves as a human being to exist equally with her brothers – this is not a right given to many women in some cultures even today – the differences between men and woman/yin/yang are the very things that complement and yet they remain the very things that seemingly divide – competition being a patriarchal thing co operation being more a feminine thing as I see it
menstruation is a powerful shamanic tool for women, who were the first shamans and yet this female function is not fully embraced and still considered if not called a cruse by so many young women who at least in my culture answer to and call each other ‘bro’ – so heavily entrenched in the male world as to not comprehend the declining sisterhood – as the world moves towards a ‘brotherhood’ of man
The dalai Lama said that western women would change the world or something to that effect – but only if she can summon her unique feminine power understand it and comprehend that its vitality lies in its difference not in trying to be equal per sae or compete in the male defined culture
as all of humanity comes first through the body of woman, then its important to note that women have a connection to life that is different than mens and this difference is hardly touched upon in many cases and its this difference – at least to my mind – that needs to be explored further
its interesting that this conference of women is coming at this time – I like the work of Raine Eslier and her partnership way – and see this dark time the end of the dominator culture a good time to start bringing awareness of the deeper aspect of spirituality – or the sacredness of life from a woman’s perspective considering that the biggest blind spot on the planet is that there is NO mother – female equivalent to the male/masculine/father figure of the worlds religion – this incredible blind spot is the signifier – at least to me – that there is a long way to go – even woman herself fails to recognize the absence of the feminine aspect – the yin to the yang in religion – instead she accepts her secondary and often subordinate/inferior role within that story thus co-opting her own story and her own growth
in many cultures the primary ideas of life are entrenched male/patriarchal ideas that women and men conform to and support so it will be interesting to see what comes out of this conference
many thanks
j
Do you really want a Divine Mother like the mythic Father God? I don’t. Hasn’t, as Andrew Cohen has said, God fallen from the sky? How can we create the new from the deepest, nonrelative, aspects of our individual/collective Self? Gender is so often a hiding place for pride, separation, and superiority.
Hi Elizabeth
No I don’t really want a divine mother like the mythic father god – I mention it only because she is missing from the picture and I feel it important that she be reclaimed
We know through history that once upon a time the masculine and feminine stood together – shakti/shiva Isis/Osiris the yin and the yang, – in this worlds main religious story there is only the yang – for me I see an imbalance that is vital to address because this imbalance has undermined the sacred union of masculine and feminine for eons of time and allowed a distortion between men and women to arise that sits at a fundamental level in our psyches and has a deep influence on all our interactions and relationships
in reclaiming her would we not also reclaim a divine part of ourselves from a story that has actively demeaned the feminine/woman? – many women still don’t know the existence of a time before we started counting time that embraced a female deity – and along with it a female spirituality that hasn’t really been primary
maybe that’s what the di vinci code movie was trying to do – it certainly stirred up quite a bit of controversy to suggest a sacred marriage between two polarities of divinity – the masculine and feminine – the level of debate was quite telling in terms of how strong some will fight to maintain their fiction
I am discovering that within duality masculine has feminine in order to be balanced – yin/yang – and yet the feminine aspect is almost completely invisible in the religious story of the worlds and its this story –that has shaped and formed many minds/beliefs about the nature of the feminine and men and women
However beyond duality – or when duality merges there is only unity and the polarity of masculine and feminine become one – I don’t think we are there yet as a humanity – certainly many individuals are – for me it’s a process that can only begin when the feminine aspect of divinity is given form in duality acknowledged included and embraced – only then can both masculine and feminine merge into that unity and become one and I feel that this is a prerequisite for coming into balance as a humanity
I do acknowledge however that many individual have made that connection remembered and merged the missing feminine with the masculine in order to come into unity consciousness – but for most it hasn’t occurred yet because they can’t see that there is a missing feminine face of divinity
I think doing so would bring balance/integration so that change can occur
The more spiritual a woman becomes, the more feminine she becomes. From my own personal perspective, men are much more attracted to the feminine than they are to the sexual, but most are not aware that the woman is spiritual….Women who are spiritual are more straightforward than other women, they look people in the eye. I have found that many men take this as a sexual invitation, when it is definitely not! …..I also find that I am very content on my own, and I have no interest in a relationship with anyone who is not spiritual. It is a real blessing to be able to live alone and be happy!…..Nietsche said that when women show their masculine traits, men run away, and when women hide their masculine traits, they themselves run away.
I have gained great respect and admiration for your work Elizabeth. Thank you.
I want to know how you recognize and realize the “sacred,” which you mention. Then, how do you make ritual or rites around that? Have we passed that or is it on its way? My reference is to your piece on masculine/feminine
The sacred is that which cannot be explained with the mind and that the mind and small self recognize to be greater than it. I don’t think that we need ritual so much as to live from that recognition every day.
Thanks so much for your contribution to the ongoing dialogue on evolution of culture. I appreciate all the depth of information you brought forth. I also notice that all that information sent my mind into a endless circle of “trying to figure it all out.”
The evolution of the Divine Feminine expressed more fully in the world is not going to come from “figuring it all out.” It will come from a deeper bodily experience of living that emergent new energy into the world.
We are all being called into the next level of our evolutionary journey as women beyond the hyperfeminine consciousness AND beyond the hypermasculine consciousness to the next level of awakening. The emergent energy of the feminine is that which is coming forth from within each of us.
On an outer level having more women come forth into leadership positions is imperative in a healthy balanced unfolding of our future. But perhaps more important than the gender of our leadership is the level of consciousness and integration of our leaders.
As women we are being called to deepen into the shadowed (unconscious) elements of our being — our true power, radiance, and relatedness — to reconnect with the evolutionary currents of the Universe beckoning us forward.
Personally, my own journey of awakening involved embracing the shadowed internal “hypermasculine” elements of my own being. The way in which I would use one part of myself to override another. The way in which I would deny my own feelings and try to be “more” or “better” than I was (to fit an external standard of who I should be). The journey into the Divine Feminine Unfoldment has been a journey of “holding and nurturing” myself and joining together with others in this field of “holding” to emerge as the Divine Feminine in much the same way as a butterfly emerges from the cocoon. If the caterpillar had to think its way into becoming the butterfly it would never happen.
May we attune to and feel the currents of the Divine Feminine emerging in each of us that we may fly forward and lead the collective evolutionary unfoldment of our society and world.
Delighted to see this dialogue!! I know of no more important issues facing our species at this time.
Thanks to all for “playing in this pool!”
Like Jenese, I too love the work of Raine Eisler. Although I must admit, reading her opened up many disturbing doors. And she didn’t answer one key question for me . . . why? If patriarchy had such obvious drawbacks, then why have we evolved into this male centric world? Gerda Lerner wrote a wonderful book called The Creation of Patriarchy. Only after reading her book did I understand the role both men and women have played in setting up this model, a model that was key to survival in our earlier beginnings. As Elizabeth said at the start of this conversation, both men and women are responsible for the cultures we’ve created. I think that’s something we need to understand in order to keep from being angry, to stop blaming “the other” so we can open up the types of dialogs that will initiate change. I read another book, one by Susan Faludi called Backlash, The Undeclared War Against American Woman – it too opened my eyes. How desperate many are (both men and women) to keep things from changing. And yet, can we have a future without change?
I’ve read where some feel that we are blurring the lines between the masculine and feminine. I don’t know whether that’s true or not. If it is, I doubt if it’s the intent and I certainly don’t think it’s the answer. We women are feminine as well we should be, we are weaker in some ways, stronger in others, but equal in all. I beleive we are here to balance the male energies, not subordinate to them. And matriarchy is not the answer either; it would only be a form of role reversal and will keep us all locked in this same battle.
I don’t think I’ll be able to participate on the 7th since I have a prior committment. But I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity to work with Barbara Marx Hubbard in her upcoming Maestromonth conference. I’m so looking forward to that!
Hello Liz,
It’s too bad, people never learn. In “Playing for Time” Vanessa says “…..no, they are not animals, they’re people, and we’ve learned something about the human race and it’s not good news.” I hope you saw the movie. Anyway, it’s not a matter of men or women, (as you all already know), it’s a matter of good vs bad. I don’t know which gender is worse, but I know for sure they’re both crap,- at this stage of evolution. You are suffering the same nightmare as me, but you wish to dream of a beautiful society. We are nowhere near to that, not even in the ballpark, sorry!!! But when push comes to shove, I think you will discover that, although women can be ruthless, vicious and cruel, men can shove a lot harder. That’s life.
Ooh! Such cynicism! Evolution matters, and not just in the material realm. Around this planet, different cultures are in different places developmentally. If we were to clue into that, we would have a much better understanding about how to move forward. The fact that women can move freely about in the most advanced (yes, I said that) societies and not really have to fear is a huge advance. Things actually are getting better, despite the huge mistakes and painful trial and error of the process. Our next step as privileged postmoderns is to change our reflex for survival and separation. It’s truly possible. And I’m not Pangloss in Candide, either!
It seems there is an underlying, perhaps unspoken, utopian assumption/desire in many of the comments and in the left-leaning college town worldview (I live in Boulder, CO). There is a long standing human hope for things to get “fixed” and once we do we can all take a collective sigh of relief.
We don’t live in a “sick society” that could someone be fixed if everyone were somehow magically “enlightened” by say, a humanities degree, or a weekend seminar of some kind. We live in a HUMAN society that has and is doing it’s best to survive in an imperfect and often cruel, beautiful world.
I think if we look at how messy each of our OWN individual lives are, it might put the hope that somehow collectively we could work things out in a simple way in perspective. Most of us, myself included, can hardly get their relationships with a significant other to work…so why do we think we can fix our “sick society” in a permanent way?
This is mirrored in the somewhat foggy notion that at some point in the past we “had it right” and some bad group (*ahem*…men) screwed it all up. I’m not sure how this idea gets taken seriously. Surely most of you out there laugh at the notion of the world being 6,000 years old, yet are perfectly willing to believe that if only it weren’t for the big, bad men we’d live in a perfect world–or at least a better one. It’s a myth plain and simple.
Unless both men AND women put our heads and hearts (amongst other things) together it’s going to be a *really* rough patch coming up. Forget the rah-rah matriarchal storyline and lets start taking responsibility for ourselves *right now* and who we are and who we can become. History is messy, but we *can* move on to our next stage of development and deal with what we find there. My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that what we’ll find once we “get there” is a whole new mess to deal with…and that, it seems, is the unavoidable part of the human condition aka “the inner adventure” in the world.
Well, maybe it could work in a smaller/ less developed nation. If you have watched the latest generations in USA, you will see how this culture/society has degenerated. Many think this was accomplished puposely, but even if it wasnt, it surely was made by massive abject stupidity. Im referring to education,healthcare,environment I could go on ad infinito here. I am not employing cynicism. Look for yourself. I hope you are right, but for me it seems like too little too late.
Thanks, Jack! The anti-modernist belief in some earlier time when everything was okay is the same as the belief that if we were smaller or less developed, then we might pull it off. These postmodern ideas–which reacts against the modernity that both gave us the quality of life to think about these things (!) and is negatively viewed as “masculine”–are important to transcend in order that we can move forward and find new ways, rather than creating new myths about the past or looking at everyone else as the reason we’re going down the tubes. That’s what EnligthenNext is all about, frankly. And going back to your comment on relationship, Jack, the sense that I have is that the reason our relationships don’t work is that we are putting too much pressure on them to be our personal source of fulfillment when what we are really looking for is something that can’t be found in a pair bond: higher purpose, deeper meaning, and a real chance to make a difference. That, too, is what we are about here at EnlightenNext.
Yes, I agree entirely with your assessment of why relationships don’t tend to work so well these days. We are, for whatever reason, religious beings. We will find *something* to worship…and if our pop culture is any indication of where were at as a society then we have raised “romance” to a religion. With the inevitably disastrous results.
But relating it back to the topic at hand, I think a lot of the confusion is that we are largely confused about who we are and what we expect from the other person (perhaps particularly in male/female relationships). It’s high time we speak honestly about this from both sides of the picture.
The conflicting messages we all have to sort through i.e. biological, cultural, psychological in regards to our sexual/gender identity have barely begun to be honestly discussed. Doing so well definitely, in my opinion, bring us to a place far beyond beyond our “correctness” (which I think is slowly starting to come undone).
As men, we have had to face (and continue to face) our own shadow issues and abuses–and for the record, I am *all* for a full-court press on that issue. I applaud what you are saying because it’s long past due for women to do the same. (Note: For those of you who don’t think women have anything/much to answer to/for, and see women, as opposed to men, as beings of light and love and goodness sullied by the bad, bad meanies–I *AM* talking to you!).
Thank you, Elizabeth, for being a voice of reasonableness and honesty!
Been waiting for the day and looking forward to this!
Altough I am a man – I FULLY agree, and very much adore your Ideas in this excellent Article – dear Liz!!!
Women had been instrumental in transforming society to higher levels through caring for their children – the only for transformation. But the things have changed now. Women, leaving their homes and the children uncared for, are trying to rule the men through their sex-appeals. This is highly unfortunate for te whole humanity.
Well, I’m not sure I would agree that women transformed society by caring for children–we ensured the surivival of the species and our cultures. I do agree that the emphasis on women’s sexuality as her most important source of power–which is a message that girls get every day–is bad for girls and for, as you say, the whole of humanity. But that is not simply caused by women…
The masculine vs. feminine debate is really about the “ego” vs. the “higher self.” The answer to both lies in integration, in becoming whole by integrating the masculine and feminine within. We can talk all we want and write a billion articles on the subject, but nothing will ever change unless we takes the steps to integrate with the higher self within. Isn’t it time?
Free report available on my website on reconnecting with one’s higher self. Click on “Free Report.”
Thanks,
Christine Hoeflich
Thank you,
Elizabeth, for a sensible view of our situation, and thank you, all, for intelligent responses. I find it helpful to watch my language … definitions of masculine and feminine (and the Masculine and Feminine) are loaded for everybody, so whenever a more exact description is possible, I use it. So that means we can talk about Dominator and Partnership Cultures (á la Riane Eisler), and Left Brain and Right Brain talents, and History (primarily his story) and Prehistory (goddess-worshipping, Earth-centered times), the Contractive Impulse (gravity) and the Expansive Impulse (electromagnetism), Yin and Yang, etc. That way we can recognize the contributions of the rational, agentic, exploratory, and cultural, as well as the feeling, cooperative, nurturing, and of Nature … without pigeon-holing men or women into them.
I am not saying here that generally women and men don’t have tendencies to one camp or the other, only that if we are to move forward and create new ways of living in the world, we must keep our focus not on our gender differences, but on a vision of us all in this together. On a soul level we’re all made out of the same stuff. With that as our starting point, we can then go ahead and celebrate our sexy femininity and exuberant masculinity, or whatever, when we so choose.
We know all too well that women have suffered gravely under the Patriarchy … and so have men. It’s time we recognize the evolutionary limitations and at times pathological behavior of our forebears – men and women – take time to heal our inherited wounds, and say Basta! (Enough!) – Let’s invent something kinder.
Becca, I really appreciate your decision to use words other than the very loaded “masculine” and “feminine.” Cindy Wigglesworth and I made a presentation urging the same at the recent Integral Leadership in Action conference. I’m working on a blog post about it and will post later this weekend or early next week.
It is a wonderful idea.Sahkthi is a principle which is behind all.No man is born without a woman.There is a woman in a man and vice versa.If we all can unite and understand the role of women clearly(in real braoder terms and not from a male oreinted viewpoint) things will definitely change for the betterment of all.
May God be with you.
A great article with great content.: “A new expression of the feminine, a new partnership between women and men.” I am experiencing this on a daily basis in a very special and enrichening way in my relationship and in my friendships with companions of the other gender than me and with those of my (masculine) gender. A lot of that has happened and happens due to the application of insights given Feminenza, a phantastic worldwide network and organization (www.feminenza.com) of females/women/ladies who explore (and genuinely put into conscious practice the working with) the needs of the different layers (these three and more) of femininity, from more than a brain standpoint.I believe and experience that as long as we look at ourselves or other humans or speak about ourselves or other humans as singular leveled beings we will miss a lot of opportunities to understand and respect ourselves and others and then build from that.I also feel and believe that it will be great when many more people in the world discover Feminenza (The United Nations, amongst others , have already done that), who does a lot of great work in many countries and , to settle you about that, is not affilliated to any specific religion,race or political opinion.
This may sound like an advertisement. I hope , however, that it doesn’t stop you from having a look on the website and getting into contact. I would love to see the world change from more than a level at which equality, which is very much needed to allow people to flourish, is promoted. Equality in a world that is as it is now will not bring the change that we, that which has made us and sustains us such as “our” Great Mother, planet Earth , we humans now, including”our” grandchildren need. As far as I believe the gender issues and gender wars have to also be approached from a higher level than equal rights.
Kind greetings,
Barry Wentzel
man/male /gentleman (and more)
Thank you for your great awareness…I love the way that Eckart Tolle expresses this sacred purpose of humanity in his book The Power of NOW…”We are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold…that is how important you are.”
I am a woman and I am ready to answer the calling in every moment. Whether you are man or woman, those with ears to hear will be transformed and live the holy/sacred life.
That being said, I do see woman dropping their egos to serve humanity. Thank you all…peace.
This sounds like what is needed. Being in the forefront is difficult when you have no one else around you that also ‘know’s. Perhaps this sharing will be helpful to myself as well as others. THANK YOU! Sounds great! It has taken me a lifetime to pull Horse Holiday Org together, and to have the right facility to do so. Only by God’s plan for us.
I agree that the best way to influence the world is to transform ourselves and this will radiate outward. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” I have granddaughters and they are vulnerable to this material society, and giving them lectures has very little affect. But by being a good example, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback. It is a fact that children want adults to guide them, even though they would deny it. But I must say its hard to compete with Hannah Montana, and the others. Peer pressure is very compelling in American society.
We can look at this dance of female – male on all the different levels of understanding. Remembering that the higher levels are causative, and the lower we go the more confusion reigns, I like to get my bearings by looking as high up as I can and then filtering this truth down to every other level I live on, all the way to the dirt under my toenails.
So I see that we are being lived. That ultimate consciousness, the divine spirit in all is not only orchestrating this grand show of reality, it IS it. That realization eliminates a great deal of fear with a gigantic sigh of relief. I don’t have to be charge after all. Puhhh!
As I am observing myself being lived, my ability to witness the show strengthens and over time I get caught less and less in the drama of my own story. That in turn frees my heart to do what it does best and it allows the mind to stand in the way of love less and less.
When I thus obstruct love less and less, the great problems tend to get fixed from within. The spirit that is acting in them sees to their resolution. Perhaps my observing (and enjoying) that process helps. We’ve all heard how the observer influences the experiment. When I look with the eyes of the heart the world looks very different. To attempt to contribute this view, I think, is very important work.
I thank you all for proving my point. I was reading an article today and thought you might be amused.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112751.htm
As already expressed by others, the issue is primarily about healing the split off aspects of the masculine and feminine within our own psyche. I believe this is the sacred work we are called to do as it is only from that platform that a conscious relationship between men and women can unfold on the outer level. We cannot move forward without first taking back our projections on the other gender (or on the outer world for that matter), e.g., our assumptions, expectations, demands, and without healing our own wounded selves so that we can free ourselves of our co-dependent needs towards becoming truly inter-dependent.
This means rolling up our sleeves and getting engaged in the necessary (and at times chaotic and messy) shadow work, e.g., BOTH taking responsibility for our own feelings, distortions, manipulative and defensive behaviours, AND remaining in contact with the other from a heart place. This is challenging work as it means having the courage to embrace all of ourselves (the beauty and the beast) and overcome our false pride amongst many other things. It also means a commitment to truth and staying true to one’s own experience, whatever that happens to be. There also needs to be enough psychological maturity on both sides to allow defenses to come down. It is a process of gradual disarmament which can only occur when a person is secure enough in themselves, as this requires taking the risk of being open and vulnerable.
How can we fully participate and engage with the evolutionary impulse if our defenses prevent us from letting it permeate us so that we can interact with it freely?
I believe it is this kind of shadow work done by both sexes that will help us to transcend the issue of genders. It is by engaging with each other from a heart place (which involves relinquishing our need to be better than) that we can both embrace and accept ourselves as we truly are, and transcend it at the same time, opening a gateway into new dimensions of relating, being and doing in the world.
Over years of my own healing of inner wounded selves, it is this very growing compassion, self-acceptance, self-love, self-nurturing that is allowing me to feel safe and secure enough, and to trust my own experience rather than keep on abandoning myself. And it is from this inner ground of safety that I am now able to increasingly stand in my own authority, to assert my needs and desires, to express the masculine principle whilst being safely grounded in the feminine. Whilst I am a woman, I also see men around me on a similar journey of integration.
As far as I can see, the emergence of the feminine is increasingly permeating all levels of existence on this planet, regardless of gender. It is desperately needed in our world at this time if we are to survive, and evolve. The separation of body (feminine) and mind (masculine) is now dissolving, as we are referring more and more to ‘bodymind’, as the integration of male/female energies. And the heart space is the middle point in the chakra system, or the meeting ground as is our planet. After all, it cannot be a coincidence that EARTH anagrams to HEART.
Alongside what the Dalai Lama said, I feel it is our responsibility as women – exactly because we have this innate capacity to connect and relate – to help ourselves and men to move into a more balanced future. Rather than seeing one gender needing to catch up with the other, I prefer the view that each gender has developed in different aspects, and therefore can greatly learn from each other. This is time for the feminine to take its rightful place in the world, no more, no less, alongside the masculine. And then, who knows what becomes possible?
(I felt moved to participate in this discussion, as I am currently writing on the experience of embodied spirituality for both men/women as part of MA dissertation, and I have enjoyed reading everyone’s contribution to it)
So many truths and realities. I agree strongly and have held this post for many years – but find myself surprisingly uncomfortable with it still. I think it’s the “male” part of it all – when really it’s the ‘patriarchal’ and ‘misogynist’ aspect that creates the difficulty. There are women who are staunchly pro the p&m view you know. Also – we are catagorizing all – transgenders, gays, lesbian, bi etc. in or out of something not-simple, expressed in simply sounding language. Sorry – having some trouble expressing this. Thank you.
The Hierarchy of Being cannot be avoided or sidestepped; it is the very structure of the Kosmos. The creativity and commitment it will take to transform culture, to r-evolutionize “equality,” to transcend and include “what is/was” our respective gender roles, will require a depth of fortitude and service to the Self in the Other which will, no doubt, also create the necessary “conflict” to break down the most stubborn, inauthentic structures of both genders. This “creative conflict” will be the more difficult task for women. Why? Because, as yet in human history, it has been the male that has generally”led” evolution, the male that has had “easier” access to the energetic force of Eros – the energy of ascension up the Hierarchy of Being – because it has been male “aggression,” action and agency (Eros) that has forged new cultural forms and new eras of change. Men have had the advantage because they can move about in a culture that has supported them without question, and of course! – they created it with the cooperation and support of women.
For women to remain fearless in the face of daunting forces of transformational change, to not succumb when those forces emerge in creative conflict, which will be not other than the search for a new cultural center of gravity, is what Andrew Cohen was talking about when he said “women have a harder time holding formation.” He means, women fold under the pressure, draw back and retreat from the challenge of riding the evolutionary wave, the wave that never ends, that is always seeking new forms. Why? Women, in general, haven’t easily resonated with the energy of Eros. Women have fear boundaries that have arisen out of self-preservation, and the energy of Eros runs counter to the structures in consciousness that rule, among other things, these fear boundaries. I also believe women have a more difficult time accepting what “hierarchy” is. We have relied on “sameness” too much, needing to feel “part” of an accepting and embracing group, to be supported in self-preservation, but also in competition for the male. To sacrifice the separate self-sense which is “same-sense,” will push at those fear-boundaries within the individual and the collective, and it will take a radical fearlessness on the part of women not to retreat to what is protective, to not succumb to what “has been,” and to bravely turn away from the accusations of being a “bad” woman.
Spiritual liberation, which is not other than the transformation of culture, requires that women create healthy boundaries within which they can stand, because transformational change, which requires the energy of Eros that will arise in the female soul and psyche when she pushes at her fear boundaries, is Unbounding, Un-Earthing and this is counter to relation and communion with others…as Elizabeth said, “It may not feel natural.”
Women have too easily followed for too long. Healthy boundaries in which a woman can move, stand her ground and seek her liberation, to proclaim her love of Self and Culture, is for the sake of the whole, for the sake of a balanced culture that honors women as creative forces of evolution, for the sake of Soul and Spirit, and I pray for the radical fearlessness of women to rise to the occassion, to claim Divine power in equality as humanity gazes into the horizon and all the challenges we face.
As a male feminist, happy to see the lively conversation!
I am very interested in the question, “what does it mean to a human being” and then reaching farther into “what does mean to be a Human Being”? It seems that this is where I am beginning to be drawn into. To be an expression of the life force that runs through me as a Human on this planet, among all other beings also inhabiting this Universe. It seems to be a more simple contemplation that includes being made up of all the qualities I might identify. I as a human, have both feminine and masculine qualities that can be expressed through me. Both of which I am very familiar with. I have chosen to identify and express myself mostly as female, all of this life. What if those qualities are not necessarily feminine? But are Universal qualities. What if I have only been an expression of only half of who I truly am? We speak of “roles”… and I am becoming very excited about deeply understanding and uniting all of who I am. Becoming an expression of a fully Human Being and embodying this “role” in each and every moment.
Elizabeth,
Really thought provoking article. All sorts of questions are raised. The post mortem on Victorian-ism’s insidious influences is very interesting. As an artist I believe we have to imagine our way through our dilemmas. But, one dilemma is is how do we untether our imaginations from cultural contexts? This is where art has agency.
I have recently written a few posts on my BLOG about the sacred feminine or reclaiming the sacred feminine. I have also written a BLOG post questioning the existence of duality. In each case I have paintings which visually explore…
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/09/where-is-your-paradise.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/09/adam-and-eveleft-and-right-brain.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/08/garden-of-eden.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-wednesday-18-march-at-6-pm-i-am-co.html
Kind regards,
Kathryn
I hope I’m not repeating some observation already made that if a woman identifies with a masculine persona in her workings, little change can be expected. Women in key places need to work in partnership with the guys if possible, not merely takeover, or find men able to be partners.
I love the expression: “Women hold up half the sky. ” Any questions?
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for this lively discussion you’ve sparked. I myself am very interested in this passage from your excerpt:
The goal would be to develop a consciousness that both includes our biological and cultural inheritance and also transcends it.
This calls to mind another passage from your article “The Fire of Freedom” from the Sept 2007 issue of WIE, where you wrote:
Who would we be if we were free of these structures — yes, even free of the compulsion to appear caring? One of the lessons that I take from history is that the deep changes that have moved consciousness and culture forward have not come from women who are primarily identified with our biologically based role as caretakers. Change has emerged from women who dared to defy tradition to wholeheartedly heed Spirit’s call to be free….what freedom does the deepest spirit in woman yearn for now?
And while I must say I loved that article for the light it shed on the spiritual history of women, I also can’t help but feel that the provocative questions of your conclusion, restated in this excerpt here, aren’t fully taking into account the answers already put forth by the great women of our collective spiritual history. Furthermore, I would assert that there are subtle but significant androcentric undertones in some of these conclusions about the most appropriate way to further evolve the feminine spirit.
For instance, in that same 2007 article you write, “Before there was Christianity, women claimed the freedom to proclaim Christ’s word” — but is simply proclaiming Christ’s word, and explicitly claiming the freedom to do so (as in making a purposeful political statement), really the same thing?
From the writings of many of the female Christian saints, I see a simple insistence, born of love, devotion, and clarity, a sense that they would rather go on celebrating Spirit however they feel most called to do so, rather than adhere to some arbitrary social construct (admittedly patriarchal) which ultimately meant little to them in comparison. Words like “claim,” “freedom,” “challenge,” and “struggle” I would argue are among the most classical jargon of masculine agency. Take, for instance, the writings of Mechthild of Magdeburg, Teresa of Avila, or the life of Mary of Egypt. They, just like many of their male peers, didn’t so much pose an active challenge to the existing system, as in, “System, I challenge you!” Theirs was an agency born of illumination, not of political ambition. And I strongly believe that if we look closely at their words, there is extensive evidence that they didn’t really care what the world of men was up to, and that they were determined to simply go on loving God — the rest, come good or bad, was more-or-less irrelevant in their eyes.
This goes for all the great women of spiritual history. Take, for example, the beautiful 16th c. poetry of Mirabai:
This infamy, O my Prince,
is delicious!
Some revile me,
others applaud,
I simply follow my incomprehensible road.
A razor-thin path
but you meet some good people,
a terrible path but you hear a true word.
Turn back?
Because the wretched stare and see nothing?
O Mira’s lord is noble and dark,
and slanderers
rake only themselves
over the coals.
Although clearly conscious of the controversy she stirs up, Mirabai doesn’t really relate to it. Rather she happily goes on following her “incomprehensible road.”
Oftentimes though, there’s not even a mention of political turmoil, indeed, almost an oblivious quality. In its place we are treated to a simple, elegant dedication to following a path with heart, as in this 19th c. poem from Bibi Hayati:
Before there was a trace of this world of men,
I carried the memory of a lock of your hair,
A stray end gathered within me, though unknown.
From the moment of Time’s first-drawn breath,
Love resides in us,
A treasure locked into the heart’s hidden vault;
What can I do but thank you, one hundred times?
Your face illumines the shrine of Hayati’s eyes,
Constantly present and lovely.
Or this, from 13th c. Mechthild of Magdeburg:
Lord, you are my lover,
My longing,
My flowing stream,
My sun,
And I am your reflection.
I cannot dance, Lord, unless you lead me.
If you want me to leap with abandon,
You must intone the song.
Then I shall leap into love,
From love into knowledge,
From knowledge into enjoyment,
And from enjoyment beyond all human sensations.
There I want to remain, yet want also to circle higher still.
I think there is ample further evidence supporting this basic idea: while their very presence may have been enough to shake up their respective cultures, many of the most exquisite examples of feminine spirituality we know of today placed a much higher emphasis on the qualities of love, devotion, and pure Being, rather than on any sort of drive to change, challenge, or reform the condition of their culture at large. Their writings are juicy! To paraphrase — Delicious!, eyes, present and lovely, song and dance, locks of hair, breath, and sunlight — all the imagery of an embodied, radiant jubilance. Where do we see the call to action which you seem to interpret in their lives’ works?
Actually, in that same WIE issue, I think Sofia Diaz puts it beautifully when she writes:
Masculine means penetrative, functional — “Do something about it!” Whereas the Feminine Principle is being itself — literally the nourishment force of existence, because it is existence itself….[The suffering of women today] has to do with a prioritization of information over the emotional and psychic health of embodiment….Relationship to the Feminine is our relationship to embodiment.
I personally am of the belief that these two Principles are alive and radiant in both men and women. But if you choose to issue a challenge to women, a call to be agents of “Do something about it!”, then I would suggest it be done in the name of embracing a conscious relationship to their own Masculine essence, and not that it is, in fact, somehow an evolution of the Feminine.
To be clear, as an important movement towards a more loving, compassionate, and harmonious society, I am in full support of this effort as a necessary stage in our overall growth. But I would, however, respectfully object to your invocation of the legacy of this planet’s great Feminine spirits, as by their own words it would seem that the blissful fulfillment of the Divine Feminine is found and expressed principally through Love, Beauty, and simply, joyously, Being.
Respectfully,
With love,
Andrew
Hi again Elizabeth,
On a related note, I’d like to comment briefly on your views about Masculine (as agency) and Feminine (as embodiment) as distorted archetypes in your related EnlightenNext article, “The Divine Feminine, Unveiled”:
You write:
As Freud noted, we inherit not only our parents’ psychic landscape but that of our grandparents and great-grandparents…the Victorian cultural echo of the 1950s and 1960s have internalized these oppositional distinctions in our psyches, and they haunt our notions of the Divine Feminine. But these archetypes represent how women and our relation to the basic life force—our sexuality—have been distorted within a gender-polarized culture. The insistence on an opposition between masculine and feminine, male and female, is an expression of patriarchy.
and elsewhere
That’s why I’m puzzled when I hear that the feminine principle is rooted in the experience of embodiment—or is embodiment itself. From a certain point of view, my value as a woman in patriarchy has only ever been about my body or my capacity to have sex and to bear and nurture children. Women’s souls and spirits are shaped to be nurturing vessels and to exist in relationship—which makes this our deepest level of conditioning, one that is almost completely unconscious. Resorting to traits that have developed in women, by virtue of our capacity to give birth and nurture life, over the thousands of years in which our primary value has been to reproduce doesn’t seem to get us beyond patriarchy.
I hear what you’re saying here Elizabeth, and I think it’s useful to look at it in a certain sense, but only from the position that these cultural leftovers now leave us with a mess of distorted perceptions of the fundamental value of men and women. But as for the archetypal qualities of Masculine and Feminine themselves, these are so many millennia older than Jung! I mean, Jung himself was borrowing heavily from many ancient traditions…Again, I would submit that all we really have to do is to look at the words and teachings of those great female saints and sages of our ancestry — oftentimes, like in the case of Mirabai, or Lallesvari, they clearly didn’t give a hoot about establishing academic distinctions, blabbing on about archetypes, etc.
Such a great number of them DO relay such a similar message — Love, Beauty, Light, Being — across era and culture, using similar language and metaphor. The idea and influence of patriarchy is a mental artifact — but these saints and poetesses all are speaking from a transmental, ineffable source (often by their own admission). And while there are some men who have also beautifully expressed their spiritual truth in this way (the Sufi tradition comes to mind in particular), the simple fact is that the greater body of writings and teachings of male sages such as Shankara, Buddha, Longchenpa, Muhammad, Mahavira, and the Desert Fathers appear so qualitatively different from their female contemporaries. (Just the same, there are some instances of women writing more in this spirit, but again, this is not, at least from what I have read, a significant majority.)
And in all this, after all, I’m a man, so I can only speak directly of my own experience of the Feminine, as well as observe it in the women in my life. I suppose what I’m saying is that, just as it’s not very useful for a physicist to start attacking a contemplative tradition on intellectual grounds (unless he also has contemplative experience roughly equivalent to the individual whose perspective she is challenging), I don’t know that it’s useful either for us to approach an understanding of spiritual truth — whether it be masculine, feminine, or something entirely different — strictly from a position of cultural or historical analysis. I think those viewpoints are certainly useful, but only to the extent that the might serve to augment the direct understanding we come to as a result of spiritual practice. One is mental, symbolic, analytical, and the other is supramental, radiant, and, especially in the case of the Feminine, not particularly prone to valuing any sort of definition or purposeful agenda at all.
In my own case, I’m just a beginner on the contemplative path (on the academic path too, for that matter!), and my own experience thus far therefore only has some limited relevance. I do, however, find great inspiration and guidance in looking to the bright spirits who have gone before me. Just as I would consult an experienced medical researcher for insight as to the workings of human biology, I first and foremost think we should look to better inform our own musings on the spiritual nature of humanity by listening to what the all-time greats have to say, at least, in my case, until I have achieved their same degree of clarity. In the meantime, I am very happy to trust in their collective wisdom, as I find, at least thus far, that their teachings even today continue to bear an elegant relevance.
Respectfully,
With love,
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful responses. I am coming to this question as a mystic, understanding that the Ground of all Being and the Creative Impulse that brought forth all of manifestation have no gender. As to the great yoginis and women saints of millennia past, their perceptions have been shaped by the cultures and consciousness level of the time. Which is not our time. This is why a deep understanding of the evolution of consciousness and culture is so critical in shaping the leading edge of spirit today, free of the limitations upon thought and expression of the past. Realizing this demands that we go very deeply into our own experience and find out for ourselves, rather than rely on the often mythic representations from a certain time that, while elegant and lovely, inevitably color and shape, and so distort, the way that we receive these truths.
In appreciation,
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for your response, I very much appreciate your lending time to this discussion. What I hear you saying in your response is that the female mystics of ages past (males too, for that matter) had experiences, which, however powerful, were shaped and colored by their own environment, and therefore we can’t really look to their wisdom as an accurate representation for how our own truths might emerge today — that we will almost certainly find something different.
I would ask two questions in return:
First, if we can’t build up a head of steam fueled by the experiences and attitudes of our forebears, then why in The Fire of Freedom do you make such an eloquent case for following the lead of historical figures in women’s spirituality (and what you see as their claiming freedom from patriarchal suppression)?
Second, if it is in fact true that our own cultural narrative will dictate a completely new spiritual truth than those that have gone before us, then why is it that many men and women today still, after achieving some degree of awakening, report much the same foundational revelations as have many of the mystics throughout antiquity? For that matter, the range of poetry and quotations I provided spanned hundreds of years, and came from disparate cultural environs. Isn’t there some evidence to the contrary of what you propose here, in that women from 19th c. Persia, 16th c. India, and 13th c. Europe were singing similar songs?
I do agree that cultural narrative necessarily does shape and inform much of our lives, and certainly the way we relate to ourselves as gendered beings. But I don’t believe that that is the whole story. I do see some elements of the human experience as enduring across time and culture — just as Kohlberg has found evidence for developmental stages across many cultures (and accompanying narratives), and as Ekman has noted that facial patterns of emotional expression are universally similar around the world, I think that in the writings and teachings of the great mystics throughout the world, we can see a profound similarity in the truths they report. Further, I think there is also a division that is apparent, at least for the majority, between the writings of male and female sages, even though they often speak to the same great reality that Spirit is ultimately the ground of All, nameless beyond any identity. Personally, I don’t feel it is a slight to either men or women — rather an acknowledgment of the perpetual play of warp and weft which so awesomely vivifies our living Tapestry.
Thanks again for your time and consideration!
With gratitude,
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Really good questions–it’s great that you are thinking so deeply about these issues. I think they are critical to our evolution as human beings. I will try to provide succinct answers to the two that you post here. But I’m afraid that to do them justice, I’d need to write another book–or at least a feature in EnlightenNext!
First, in terms of “The Fire of Freedom,” I don’t claim that the women who defied the conventions of their time won freedom from patriarchal suppression. (In fact, I believe less and less in the blanket idea of “patriarchal suppression.”) Just that they broke with the traditions of their time and place, which seems to be part of a larger pattern leading toward greater freedom in multiple dimensions. They are inspiring for the risks that they took, and we should emulate them for that, not for the particular spirituality that they practiced.
Second, the Absolute is always and ever the Absolute. Language can only approximate an articulation of the Ground of All That Is. Women have been conditioned to engage with life from their roles that are rooted in reproduction, and so, their expression of the Absolute has a certain flavor. For example, there was an explosion of women mystics in the middle ages after a well-known male cleric began to use the metaphor of Christ as Bridegroom–it was a way of relating that resonated for women. (Think of one of my favorites: Mechthild of Magdeburg.) What we hear in the differences between men’s and women’s expressions of truth has to do with deep, acculturated differences that are intertwined with the different experience of embodiment that we have in culture.
That being said, there is another dimension of the Absolute that these great mystics did not have conscious access or awareness of. I’m referring to consciousness in action, the Creative or God Impulse, or Eros or the Evolutionary Impulse. Not realizing that time has a linear dimension, and is not simply cyclical, these great saints and sages could not really pereceive or appreciate the arrow of Eros moving through time in a multi-billion year trajectory. Alignment with this dimension of the Absolute is the essence of Evolutionary Enlightenment. Which is a new spiritual path for our time.
I hope this is clear enough!
And thank you for your deep and sincere inquiry.
Warmly,
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for your thoughtful response, I really feel like we are on the same page now — or at least the same chapter!
I like what you have to say about current culture’s greater awareness of the vast breadth of linear time as having a profoundly shaping effect on our cosmological and spiritual perspectives. While I would note that Buddhist, Hindu, and Mayan cosmologies have looked at even linear time as a process spanning billions — in some cases, trillions — of years, they certainly were not so informed as we are today as to the fascinating record of life’s evolutionary progress on this planet. Your point makes me curious to re-examine modern day spiritual efforts in a new light; how, exactly, do we as contemporary practitioners consciously and subconsciously integrate our knowledge of linear time with the spiraling patterns of Spirit’s slow crescendo? Nietsczhe and Eliade come to mind as theorists who have tried to tackle this concept intellectually, but I don’t know of anyone who has actually made an effort to assess the impact of chronological awareness on modern culture. Do you have any leads in this direction?
I also can appreciate looking at the lives of early women saints as genuinely bold and inspiring, without necessarily corraling their transcendent contributions solely into the container of gender politics. I would say though that in this context, the courageous efforts of both men and women who chose to value their connection to the Divine above all else should be considered with equal measure. In the end, Ignatius, thrown to the lions, didn’t have it any easier as a man, than did Feliciitatis and Blandina in their martyrdom, and so the same with the many men and women throughout history who were killed for their faith. I believe the inspiration behind their collective choice to die rather than renounce their Truth was probably born out of an unwavering identification with that same genderless unifying Ground you described. In this sense, it isn’t so much a choice, or a risk, to live this way — but rather a choiceless action, born as a consequence of following Mirabai’s “incomprehensible road.”
Then again, those are some pretty extreme examples. I guess in the middling grounds of, say, simply being discriminated against because of one’s faith, it probably did make it a lot less of a hassle to be a man in a male-dominated social order. And probably it still does. On that note, thank you for making such a strong effort to support and encourage women’s efforts, Elizabeth. It’s been nice discussing these issues with you. My appreciation again for your time and considered replies — I look forward to when you do get around to writing that next book!
With love and gratitude,
Many thanks,
Andrew
I can’t help but feel that this is the age of the woman. I doubt we will ever go back so men just have to catch up. I find a male with intuition is an awesome thing. They just have to develop it and Emotional Intelligence.
The truth is genderless.
Amen!…or should I say, “A-women”?!?! :-)
Women, whole and enjoying their cyclical state do have an incredible offering to make. As we have an inherent physical relationship with the earth’s turning within our bodies, our menstrual cycle, we can experience a delicious state of harmony with the natural turning of the wheel. With men alongside this, honouring what women have to offer from the depths of truth found in an unbound womb, we have the possibility of a balanced future, with each other, with the earth.
The Blood Lodge, along side a Fire Lodge, that has a Full Moon practice connecting these places, where of sharing this power becomes the learning… from here a tribe can govern their future, in their communities, from the center outwards.
I have dedicated my life to women learning how to be whole with their cycles, embracing and living the ebb and flow of the moon through their womb into the earth. As more and more men I know engage their real fire, their intrinsic power of the sun, they find less need to bring down/ be intimidated by the power of the women in their lives and a greater desire to find the state where the play is explored, when each gender suit worn is celebrated! Here in lay the future… perhaps.
The arrival of the sacred feminine is real, in both man and woman, how we practice and learn to honour that, is up to us. BUT first and foremost, women could step up a little deeper to the plate, and bring forth their intrinsic wisdom… tis there, in the belly of every woman.
With DEEPEST compassion for us ALL as we unravel this our current possibility.
Katherine.
Hari Om
I echo the sentiments of Andrew.I would like to quote what Swami Sivananda Saraswati has said about women.
WOMAN
WOMAN is the mighty work of God, the wonder of nature, the marvel of marvels, the abridgement and epitome of the world, the queen of the home, the real governess, the sweet companion and helpmate of man.
Woman is the energy-aspect of the Lord. She is the child of primeval power and holds the key of this world. She controls the destiny of children. She is the mother of Sankaras and Buddhas.
Woman is a mysterious mixture of softness, gentleness and grace. She is a compound of service, patience and love. She is Maya’s tempting charm and magic. She comforts and cheers up her husband, children and guests. Even Brahma the Creator failed to describe her fully. She is a kind of mysterious something that gives charm to this world. Without her the home is a void. Without her man is helpless. Without her this world loses all charm. Without her there is no creation.
—Swami Sivananda
Salutations to Divine Mother, the Sakti of Brahman!
The society in which only one half (man) has been spiritually inspired and guided is like a bird flying on one wing! It can hardly move an inch forward. It is only when both man and woman lead the Divine Life, both of them will be able to march forward with bold and gigantic strides to the great goal—God-realisation.
The inherent divine qualities in the woman enable her to lead the Divine Life with much less struggle than man! Ahimsa: This is woman’s very nature! Satyam: though woman shares man’s evil tendencies in this respect, she is capable of more easily following the path of truth! Brahmacharya: Indian woman’s purity is unrivalled. When one ponders over the survival of these divine virtues in the Indian woman in spite of the powerful alien base influence, one is wonder-struck; what powerful personalities, what great upholders of dharma, what embodiments of righteousness and of daivi sampatti, the women of ancient India must have been! My humble obeisance to them! The very utterance of names like Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Anasuya is purifying.
May God bless you all and enable you to shine as jivanmuktas and bhakta-siromanis in this very birth! May you all lead the Divine Life of Truth, Love and Purity!
re: gaining equality of women
Many women have gained ground in the corporate world and other high positions. We should be watchful, however, of women who are actually on the men’s team, congratulated for their successes as a female but actually are men in a woman’s body who act in self-interest. Women who will change the status of women will identify with their sister’s interests.
Equality will be when women earn equal pay for equal work. Wimbledon finally started giving women the same prize money as the men, I believe.
I am wondering about the ‘evolution of consciousness’ and aspects of caring with regards to women. The traditional, and some would say natural role of women is based on her ability or compulsion to care and look after others, particularly children. This caring dispositon is said to be founded and conditioned by her reproductive role, yet it permeates and influences a woman’s life and the choices she feels she needs to make. Is it really a natural state to be continued throughout a woman’s life?
I have noticed that generally throughout the world there is an intense interest in ideas of compassion. Now, to me compassion is genderless and not rooted in anyone’s repoductive role. Compassion [to me at least] is based on an equality of exchange where two or more parties open up to a respectful relationship where a static hierachy of giver and receiver is not welcomed or maintained. Compassion in this respect is quite different to sympathy where there is a clear giver and receiver, with both parties potentially falling prey to the power plays that each role entails. Sympathy can be given and received in ways which emotionally colonise the needy, poor or the underdog. To me, there is a neediness in both receiving and giving sympathy whereas compassion is not needy.
So, I am thinking about women and the way they care and the way care has been fashioned over time. From my own experience I know I played a role as the mother of young children, in the sense that I cared for their every physical and emotional need. Yet, after years as a single mother I tired of this way of caring, because it depleted me and tethered my children to me in ways which were not helpful for them as teenagers and young adults. My attitude now is that I care from an attitude of compassion rather than sympathy, pity, approval or disapproval. Compassion encompasses empathy, kindness, consideration and understanding. There is an equality in these latter words that does not equate with any kind of hierarchy.
So, in terms of reclaiming the sacred feminine there maybe clues in this discussion about compassion? Maybe it is where the sacred masculine can also be found…a meeting place where a oneness of being in brought to light?
Kathryn
Dear Kathryn,
Yes, a lot of people believe that what women bring to the spiritual feast is compassion–usually rooted in our care-giving roles. I’ve been thinking that what we mean by care or compassion changes with development, is transcended and included, so while physical care is the first and most survival-oriented level, there are increasingly higher orders of compassion and care. Whether this is particularly feminine, I don’t know.
I also have noticed that so many people think that compassion means being sympathetic or nonjudgemental or loving no matter what the circumstance–like we should be compassionate toward, say, a Hitler. Which reminds me that the Dalai Lama (or was it Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche?) once spoke about “idiot compassion,” which had to do with that stance.
Thanks for your comment,
Elizabeth
What a great discussion!
Andrew’s comment regarding your response Elizbeth: “What I hear you saying in your response is that the female mystics of ages past (males too, for that matter) had experiences, which, however powerful, were shaped and colored by their own environment, and therefore we can’t really look to their wisdom as an accurate representation for how our own truths might emerge today — that we will almost certainly find something different,” created new clarity, for me, regarding the evolution of consciousness.
Andrew’s response: “I do see some elements of the human experience as enduring across time and culture —…” brings into play ‘transend and include,’ as an integral approach.
Your reply: “…the Absolute that these great mystics did not have conscious access or awareness of. I’m referring to consciousness in action, the Creative or God Impulse, or Eros or the Evolutionary Impulse,” helped answer the question within me as to “how,” I might become aware of the Fire of Freedom … and the ability to share this blog with my fellow sisters…of any age.
From my heart to yours
Angelika