I think once you have seeen what you have seen, Gary, You would be quite welcome in my political, social and business structures. In fact it would be a pity to put you out to pasture!

brutal wars.

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

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

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

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