Baubo and the Profane

Athana of Radical Goddess Thealogy and I have been discussing some interesting things lately. And her post on Baubo was the catalyst for the conversation. Below I have pasted the dialogue for your reading pleasure. :) Comment here if you like or run over to Athana's place to leave her some feedback.

Read my first comments at this earlier post on Baubo.

Athana said: I really like your interpretation of several of Baubo's prime characteristics, grian. I especially like the phrase "the perfectly imperfect animals She intended us to be." We in the industrialized nations tend to forget that we're animals, that we're imperfect, and that both things are just marvelously fine and nothing to be ashamed of.

Grian said: Exactly Athana. It's hard for a lot of people in our society to grasp the idea of not being perfect I think. We're all raised with certain ideas of what perfection is and we are taught to strive for such expectations. It's hard and sometimes a little soul-threatening to deal with. I can't count the number of times I felt I was bad because I made a mistake. I have beaten myself up for not being perfect - or at least for not living up to some intangible idea of perfect.

We are certainly animals. Modern people have just managed to burry our instincts a little better than most animals do. Or have we managed that? It seems a lot of things people think of as profane can be seen as quite instinctual.

Now a days I try to remember that we are not meant to be perfect. We are meant to be human - animals with all the baggage that comes along with it. Periods and even sex can sometimes be gross. There are smells and sweat, etc. Defication and other waste removing processes are certainly gross. But that's okay. Those things don't make us or the things we do any less sacred. It's all part of being an animal and a creation of the Goddess.

And sometimes being downright baudy is fun and makes other people smile much like Mother Demeter smiled at Baubo. Ask my friends. They often laugh at some of my crude jokes. Then again I might just scare them. :)

Athana said: But Grian, are bodily functions really gross, or have we just been taught they're gross? Have we been sold a bill of goods?

Animals don't appear to think bodily functions or secretions are gross. So why do we?

Thanks for reminding me, though, that making mistakes is not something to beat oneself up over. I've actually been doing that today. I think we in the Western and/or industrialized societies have certainly been taught that making mistakes is gross, unacceptable, and somehow a sign of inferiority.

So we all need to band together and remind each other constantly that that's a buncha hooey!!!

Grian said: I think bodily functions have become gross because somewhere along the line people began to understand the health concerns of leaving excrement in the streets and other such practices that led to poor health in civilizations. A corpse came to be seen as disgusting because we realized what a health concern it posed if left to rot without cremation or burrying it. Excrement and urine can breed disease. Washing the body regularly promotes health also. So, I think it's not so much that these functions are actually gross on their own, but as a way to keep people more healthy they have become seen that way. Because of these realizations we have jumped our average life spans from about 30 to the mid 70s.

As for making mistakes... as humans we make so many and I think that's an integral part of our learning process. Mama didn't put us here already knowing everything. Our souls need to grow and learn and sometimes making mistakes is the only way to do that. I personally invoke the Maiden aspect during those times I am feeling like garbage about myself. She reminds me not to judge myself and that I too am only a human being - though divine and holy - I am bound to a body and a life that comes with screw ups and hardships that help my soul to continue to strive for completion.

Oh... I also forgot to mention that even though menstruation is a holy process of the Mother - women left without the proper facilities to bathe during their moon times can get infections. This could be one of the main reasons why this has become a gross thing to some. Add on all the "women are evil" garbage from that bible thing and it becomes a downright taboo subject. I see that changing though. All the pad and tampon commercials - and yeast infection commercials - seem to be pointing towards a more open attitude about feminine hygiene.