3:00 PM - Monday, Feb. 13, 2006
The Goddess
The following quoted passage is an exert from a really interesting book I�m reading about the history of The Goddess. It is referencing how war loving invaders quashed the reign of the peace loving Earth Goddesses and tribal priestesses with the introduction of the worship of a patriarchal ideology and male political power. They manipulated existing narratives to suit their own needs.
�As you will discover in Hera�s story, the great goddess was reduced to the stereotype of a jealous, vindictive wife. In order to diminish and weaken her power, the activities of Zeus turned his wife into a laughingstock, thereby reducing her power in the eyes of the populace. In keeping with the nature of myths in mirroring human experience, it has been suggested that this unhappy union represented the loveless state of marriage at the time. This is not surprising when you consider that many involved the merging of two very different cultures. One of the negative aspects of the Hera archetype is the unwillingness to direct anger at the perpetrator of shame and hurt. In Hera�s case her rage and vindictiveness was not directed at her husband, but at the various women he seduced and the children he sired.�
It reminded me of a conversation I had with my therapist many months ago. Why is it that we women are so quick to turn on each other before turning on �our men�? We females tend to be our own worst enemies, causing more pain and destruction in our subsequent battles with each other than were caused by missteps of the idiot man in the first place! And the saddest part of it all is that we have buried the peaceful, nurturing, earth mother parts of ourselves only to be consumed by the patriarchal ideals that those ancient barbarous invaders set in place to usurp the power of the matriarchal cultures they wished to overthrow. Can you imagine what the world might be like if ancient women had had the means of defending themselves against the warlike peoples rape of the land and their obliteration of the divine feminine? What a world it could have been�
The other book I'm reading currently is The Da Vinci Code which touches on Christianity's obliteration of the divine feminine as well. So I'm feeling the GIRL POWER really strong right now, LOL!
