She Who Is aware of
What then is my repentance?
If not, by rote this repetition?
“Godde is.”
“Godde is.”
“Godde is.”
“Love.”
And my face tastes
The beating coronary heart
Of the solar’s name
For reclamation of
SHE Who Is.
SHE Who Is: is aware of me.
She, who additionally, is.
©Margot Van Sluytman
From the second I noticed the title, Goddess Misplaced: How the Downfall of Feminine Deities Degraded Girls’s Standing in World Cultures, by Rachel S. McCoppin, I knew I must learn it. When it arrived in my mailbox and I noticed the duvet, I used to be imbued with inspiration. Then I learn two sentences within the Preface, which articulate what for me, and for a lot of, is among the most important, highly effective, and, as but, under-addressed, details.
With precision, readability, and brevity, these sentences explicate a foundational fact with which, for which, and into which we are going to proceed to stroll, as we shake free from the bondage of restricted and limiting understandings of our shared-humanity contoured within the poverty of systemic patriarchal hegemony.
Modern schooling curriculum typically teaches primarily about patriarchal historic civilization. It is a disservice to each our daughters and our sons. I would love my very own youngsters to know that perception methods existed everywhere in the world that revered ladies as sacred succesful and robust. (p.1)
What an important and very important perception, one that’s addressed in every chapter of this e book as Rachel takes us on a journey across the globe into the realm whereby feminine knowledge, authority, and political savvy was not solely valued and extremely revered; however was, as nicely, a vital factor in every of the societies wherein we journey through her writing. Europe, India, Asia, Africa, the Center East, the Mediterranean, and the Americas our locations.
What shook me profoundly on this work, is the chapter about Asia, wherein Rachel delineates how with the arrival of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity, a sluggish and regular erosion of matrilineal, female, and matriarchal deities, changed by patriarchal ideologies and agendas, whereby backlash and discrimination in opposition to womyn, began to proliferate not solely threatening, however eradicating womyn’s voices. Womyn’s knowings. Womyn’s teachings.
Womyn have been barred from turning into monks and clergymen for concern that they might corrupt males; therefore, society at giant. An concept that was not lived previous to a shift in who had the facility and satisfaction of place in formally structured non secular methods, and what they have been permitted to and allowed to do and why. Rachel exhibits the sluggish and systematic dismantling of Goddess worship, because it was changed by patriarchal mores. Even so, it turns into evident on this e book, that small and dedicated communities of womyn practiced Goddess worship and ritual. Even into immediately, as may be famous by our personal wealthy neighborhood herein, through Feminism and Faith, a light-weight is shone on this incidence. Womyn collect nonetheless. Womyn will all the time collect. Goddess, as Rachel addresses, could also be hidden, could also be much less seen, but is alive and never solely worthy of our consideration and honour, however speaks by us in our writings, work, and delicate and beneficiant rituals.
Addressing how colonialism performed a big and detrimental, in addition to a damaging function within the dismantling of the Goddess, is one other essential, essential, and well-argued side of this e book. Underscoring how gender inequality and violence in opposition to womyn continues in a rampant method as a result of introduction and savage indoctrination of monotheism, with monotheism that means a male God, demonstrates the taking away the numerous faceted faces of Goddess; therefore demonizing inclusivity, variety, and relegating nature and the pure world to different. Different for use and abused within the service of patriarchy, versus being valued, cared-for, understood as one and the identical as us.
Empowerment is vital to the essence of the why and the how of the inarguable knowledge of feminine spirituality. That womyn don’t want a particular religious path, don’t have to belong to a religion system in an effort to embrace and know the power, the sweetness, and the knowledge of Goddess, factors to the truth that spirituality within the female can and does embrace, in reality thrives, within the pure world the place binary, dualistic, restricted, and limiting conceptions of formality and worship aren’t mandatory, aren’t kin.
I began this e book evaluation with my poem, She Who Is aware of, for it situates the content material of this life-infused e book within the crucible of care, care turning into as soon as once more extra deeply acutely aware of how Goddess means and issues not just for the feminine gender, however for all genders. Journeying with Rachel’s knowledge is a wealthy invitation to enter into deep relationship with sisters in spirit, within the spirit remembering what was ‘misplaced’, was, is, and can ever be with us, as we collect round literal and figurative fires of, with, for, and due to in-forming, re-forming, trans-forming, and being trans-formed by feminism, female, and matrilineal methods of realizing and methods of being. Being in a steady lineage of an ever-alive and thriving Knowledge which is and of every of us.
To learn, Goddess Misplaced: How the Downfall of Feminine Deities Degraded Girls’s Standing in World Cultures, is to know justice, is to know pleasure. Is to recollect and to rejoice our very personal voices of knowledge. Our very personal voices of unmanacled energy. Life-giving energy to resurrect not solely our voices however the voices of all. For all. She who is aware of guides and consecrates this.
Obtainable to buy on Amazon or McFarland Publishing
BIO: Margot Van Sluytman is an award-winning Poet and award-winning Therapeutic Writing Mentor, and Justice Activist. She teaches International Citizenship within the framework of Sawbonna at Centennial Faculty in Toronto, Canada. Her books embrace: Birthing the Celibate Soul; Sing My Backbone-A Response to the Music of Songs; Dance with Your Therapeutic-Tears Let Me Start to Converse; Breathe Me: Why Poetry Works; Hope is: The Pandemic Poems; Wild Self Actual Self: Give up Not Management; and, How Mining Which means Leaves its Mark. She is the Poet Laureate of Roncesvalles United Church in Toronto, Canada. She was nominated for Ontario’s First Poet Laureate. Within the yr 2000 Margot was gifted with the Spirit Identify: Raven Speaks.