*Slight Rant Warning*I was thrilled to see that there was a Goddess Temple operating in Orange County, California. I couldn't wait to head over to the website and check it out, but when I got there I was more than disappointed. Please visit the following link: http://www.goddesstempleoforangecounty.com and read through the site - specifically the beliefs page before reading my comments below.
Women's Spirituality? Where is the inclusiveness of the Goddess? The Goddess teaches connection not separation. Why is Goddess religion assumed to be for women only? The Goddess does not love her female children more than her male - or her four legged more than her two legged. Calling Goddess Religion Women's Spirituality or Feminist Spirituality is not only a misnomer, it also creates uneeded and unwanted separation.
We can not change the world by only exalting half of it. How can we create change throughout the entire human race by replacing male dominated religion with female dominated religion? The difference between Goddess Religion and those of Abrahamic descent are so vast that at some point the gender issues are no longer relevant. Just to sum up, one is based on fear and separation and the other is based on love and oneness. Huge difference!
I understand the need for women to come together and heal. I truly do. But men need that same opportunity under the Goddess. Men need to be able to find freedom from Christianity and Patriarchal institutions as well. If they don't what we'll continue to have in this country is a bunch of idiots who do nothing but grow fatter and watch football while calling each other gay for having emotions. There needs to be a new standard for the American male. The Goddess can create change for men too. Spiritual development should be more important than SuperBowl Sunday.
The Goddess is the center of the first religion of humankind. Period. Not womankind. Not mankind. Humankind. It's time we wake up.
6 comments:
I think we're on a vibe again; men and goddesses are very much on my mind lately. I'll get into why at home, because it's going to run long, even for me :)
I will say this for now, though: I didn't get far through that Beliefs page before I was stopped in my tracks by the assertion that the word shaman means or ever meant "woman." That is utter bullshit without a scrap of ethnographic or linguistic support. I have read literally hundreds of books and articles, scholarly and popular, on shamanism, and not one ever gave "woman" as a possible meaning - including Barbara Tedlock's excellent book which seeks to return the female shaman to her proper place in literature on the subject!
I couldn't agree more, men do very much need to find freedom from patriarchal institutions too. Indeed the patriarchy has done little for most men other than conscript them for war, oppress them at work and force them into moulds that many of us simply cannot fit. Meeting and listening to women changed my life. Finding Goddess Religion changed my life too. Luckily here in the UK we have a wonderful Goddess Temple in Glastonbury that is open to all. Love your blog, Goddess blessings.
Hello Grian and everyone,
Way back in the 70s,"Women's Spirituality" was the name given to the questioning of the exclusion of women both from full participation in mainstream religions and from "god language" and personifications of the divine. Some people still use it today. I live on the East Coast, so I've never been to the Goddess Temple of Orange County, but it seems they are doing something remarkable in building up their Temple with very little initial financial input. I don't know if you read the 2-parter on Medusa Coils about the Temple, but from the way guest-blogger Barbara Ardinger describes it, they started with little money, few people, in a relatively small physical space and have moved to a larger spaces as interest and participation has grown. As Ardinger describes it in part 2, in a post dated last Sept 7 , on http://medusacoils.blogspot.com/2006/09/guest-blog-part-2-goddess-temple-of.html ,the Temple congregation wrestled with the question of mixed gender participation, mostly because so many of the women were new to Goddess, and the current policy is to include men in some events and not in others. I don't think this is intended to mean that the Goddess is only for women, but rather than because of the history of exclusion, sometimes women need their own space to begin to feel a sense of empowerment that would begin to bring them equal to the sense of empowerment that men feel. Different groups -- and individuals--make different decisions about this, and I think we should honor this difference.
Re: women and shamanism, you might be interested in historian Max Dashu's essay on the subject on http://www.suppressedhistories.net/articles/womanshaman.html
And btw, thanks for your mention of my Jan. 1 post on Medusa Coils, below.
Medusa,
I understand that sometimes women need a place to come together. Why can't this be done in smaller groups as opposed to the temple congregation at large? Not every woman needs to heal from some gaping patriarchal wound any more than the average man does.
I was born in 1977. Thanks to the efforts of feminists I have never not been empowered about being female. The only issues I experienced were about sexuality and most of that came from a guilt-ridden Christian point of view. My point is that maybe it's time to stop segregating from men and begin the process of healing as a people not as genders.
I think the Temple of Orange County is doing wonderful things. I apologize for not making that positive statement to begin with. I just hope they stop making Goddess Religion about being female and start making it about being human.
Paul, thanks for your comments. How fortunate you are to have a local temple - and in Glastonbury no less. I feel a bit of envy coming on. :) Ah, one day I'll make it there myself.
Hooray! I was beginning to get the feeling that my Goddess didn't love my fiance as much as She loves me! In all seriousness, I live in a town with no temples, so I worship in solitude. The Pagans here are traditional Wiccans... if there is such a thing. My fiance is a Christian but he wholeheartedly accepts my Goddess religion. I have just been doing my own research into Goddess religion and felt like it was unfair to have men so alienated. What, are they some sort of lower species made to grunt and scratch and belch while we have the beauty and grace of the Goddess to save us? I think not. Anyways, I appreciate so much your words in this regard. I agree and wish there was a larger population here that sees the Goddess in all of Creation. Thanks again for your great writing! Men need Her so much, it's time we stand up for them as well.
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