31 March 2009

My Version of the Myth

In the book, The Elements of the Goddess, author Caitlin Matthews at the end of the first chapter challenges readers, "Why don't you stop reading right now and write a version of the myth, pretending you are a person living several hundreds or thousands of years from now. Write it from your own current perception of the Goddess, even if you don't yet intellectually know who She is."

I read this passage several months ago, and it has laid in the back of my mind like a tapestry neatly covering an old table. I dared myself to propel further in the book and felt guilty for moving into the next few chapters before accomplishing the author's challenge. As life would have it, something, probably another book, distracted me from The Elements of the Goddess book. And as life would have it, the completion of yet a different book has sparked me to lift the tapestry and give attention to the old table beneath it.

In Philip Pullman's acknowledgments, at the end of his Dark Materials trilogy, he fully admits to stealing ideas from every book he has ever read. I want to openly thank him now for making this statement as I steal from him the inspiration (and a few reworded sentences) to begin the task of re-birthing and reuniting kindred energies. For I don't believe solely in God or Goddess. I believe that both energies must be equally balanced.

For thousands of years, humans' energies dominated Earth. By manipulating and distorting the masculine principle and trying to smother feminine energy, they wreaked destruction and mistrust while exhibiting firm control through fear, distractions and misinformation. Masculine dominance displayed and wasted much energy in creating a submissive, ignorant and weak society through centuries of emotional and physical abuse. A fear of feminine energy and power as well as the gluttonous desire for ownership, motivated humans greed, power and control.

It began as it always begins with a few in control of many. Some didn't bother to hide their control and openly held slaves or practiced societal and gender hierarchies by claiming the Gods had given the authority to the few. Some leaders were more just than others, but the majority were not. As injustices mounted, revolts and revolutions arose. The few in control soon realized that a new means of control needed to arise.

A few great and wise humans infused with divine knowledge walk and have walked this planet. At birth and as they age, unlike the majority of humans who forget, these extraordinary humans remember true wisdom. These remarkable souls radiate. Some have challenged authority as they encourage other humans to open their senses and intuition. Often, in the past, the authority who was in complete control without accountability, killed these blessed souls without tribulation.

These blessed souls, though, opened doors and new schools of thought. Bloodbaths abounded as authority tried to regain control. What eventually happened was a few good thoughts, ideas and customs of these blessed souls meshed with other traditions were brought to the forefront...just enough to appease the masses and meld societal and religious differences. Oral traditions were inscribed, manipulated and distorted and after several centuries of fighting, violence and murder, a moral tradition was born based on strictly masculine power depicting a stern Father as the One authority.

Whether inspired by true faith or true fear, many people followed the new moral tradition, and those who didn't, paid with their lives. Those who would not conform, hid or disguised themselves practicing one tradition in public, but practicing, in private, their own sets of beliefs. Because these secret teachings had to remain hidden or many carriers of the true oral tradition were killed, much wisdom was lost.

As in the past through rebellion and revolution, once recognized, humans continued quenching the thirst for justice. A few brave people called for accountability from leaders and as their cause gained momentum, it became harder for authorities to simply kill or murder anyone who stood against them.

But through the years while these battles enraged, much was lost and great destruction came to the planet.

Wisdom, though, had a way of keeping alive by whispering truth to genuine seekers, revealing shimmers to honest seers, and delicately moving through the cracks of time. And when it was safe again, Wisdom began to emerge.

Wisdom survived in many subtle ways...in the scent of a flower; the sweet taste of honey; the movement of the Earth; the changing of the seasons; the song of a bird; a soft breeze rustling the leaves; the trickle of a creek...she whispered, "Remember. Remember. Remember." Whether conscious or not, humans remembered Wisdom every time they worked the Earth to plant a seed or carried out a spontaneous kind gesture. Wisdom endured each time a child suckled its mother's breast or a woman toiled through the labor of a child's birth. Through art, music, storytelling and writing, Wisdom gained momentum. Wisdom grew stronger as humans acquired the freedom to express and share their experiences.

Once humans were reintroduced to the concept of feminine divine energy, whether they believed in it or not, a little something, like the tiniest of seeds, settled in the deepest crook of their minds. While some graciously nourished this feminine energy, others ignored it, fought it or denied it. But once Her feminine energies were sowed, her energy grew. And even those who refused to accept Her, couldn't help but awaken as well because the energy encompassed everything beautiful and gentle and loving in the world.

As natural as a gentle stream coursing with the terrain, attitudes and behaviors changed. Instead of a few individuals here and there making small changes, a mass dawning occurred and humans let go of trying to control everything, including the Spirit. It was scary at first and many people fought hard to keep control of an unsustainable way of life crying out, "What will happen to us?"

But like the explosion of Spring flowers, healing ensued, generosity flourished, poverty and suffering disappeared. And nature reclaimed Herself. As this happened across the planet, humans found what had been missing and what had been taught away from them. Humans remembered how to thrive in harmony with the planet, to coexist in unity with each other and to live one with both natures as the Divine energies ebbed and flowed freely once more.

Probably to be continued...

Spoiler Alert - The Amber Spyglass

If you haven't read The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, but plan to, then I recommend that you skip reading this entry. I plan on reflecting what struck me most about this book, and the deepest meanings, observations and questions come at the end of the book. So, unless you are prepared to have the mystery spoiled, then avert your eyes now. If you haven't read the books, this passage may be confusing. It is intended for people who have completed the trilogy.

The Amber Spyglass is the third book of Philip Pullman's trilogy entitled His Dark Materials. There is much that I didn't like about the book and namely how uncomfortable it feels through out the story. If this was Pullman's aim, then he did an amazing job. At times, the book feels sickly with its industrial descriptions and grotesque creations. Pullman takes on the Authority, not God as I know God, but God as an angel that took control and leads the church astray. He creates abnormalities which seem abominations to nature that created ill feelings within me.

I can see why church enthusiasts hate his books. It does seem that Pullman is out to kill God, but those of us who follow a different flow of the Creators, his books are masterful.

I'm not going to rehash the book. I don't even want to expand or unfold the story to explain the two points that stood out the most for me. I will try to expand my personal views without retelling the story, so this passage may seem a bit choppy.

Towards the end of the book one of the characters states: "...all the history of human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity...the followers of wisdom, have always tried to open minds; the Authority and his churches have always tried to keep them closed...And for most of that time, wisdom has had to work in secret, whispering her words, moving like a spy through the humble places of the world while the courts and palaces are occupied by her enemies."

This describes the world now. The world is at a pivotal point. I feel exactly that her wisdom is whispered to us as feminine energies grow, reclaim and restore this Earth. I know now, more than ever, the importance of quietness and listening and trusting what is true in my heart which is restoring our Earth and celebrating an energy that has remained hidden, yet that has not been destroyed.

The second point which conjures curiosity is the concept of atoms. Two characters, at the end of the book, describe: "I will love you forever, whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I'll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I fond you again...And when we do find each other again, we'll cling together so tight that nothing and no one'll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you...And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won't just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight..."

After reading this passage, I immediately thought "nuclear" bombs and energy which derives its power from splitting atoms. What if the energy derived from splitting these atoms comes from love? We know that nuclear energy is dangerous. We know the horrific effects of a nuclear bomb. What if, in splitting atoms, we are splitting souls?

In Pullman's first book, The Golden Compass, the author addresses the energy derived by severing a human soul from its daemon (Spirit). In The Amber Spyglass the author painstakingly finds a means for humans to reunite with their Spirits after death...their atoms are able to reconnect. What if nuclear power is creating a new World of the Dead? Or does everlasting life still exist because after being severed through nuclear fission, we travel again through the World of the Dead?

To pass through the World of the Dead, we must tell true stories of our lives on Earth. If we have no stories, we remain in nothingness and are not reborn into paradise and reunited with all Oneness. If we successfully pass through the land of the dead, we are reborn, so to speak. Our atoms become one with all the World creating new life through nature. Nuclear fission, at this point, is derived from plutonium, which is a natural source and atom rich (I guess...is it the gold of rebirth?). Does nature have memory? When those atoms are split, is there memory of life as plutonium? Is there wisdom or knowledge? Is there a story to tell? Or is there nothing?

When plutonium runs out, what are scientists going to split next?

Yes, these thoughts arise from a fictional book, but as Pullman states through his characters, "...wisdom has had to work in secret, whispering her words, moving like a spy through the humble places of the world..."