Hierarchy of beetles positioned on top of free roaming
beetles in a sphere, circled by 28 beetles representing the 28 moon phases. Allusion to Aridne's thread (name of logic process of solving problems with multiple means of proceeding, based on Greek mythological story of Ariadne) with string held by 23rd phase female beetle to male beetle at central base
of pyramid formation. Pyramid features (from the bottom up): ground beetles, followed by
jewel beetles, lady beetles, large round hister beetles, poisonous lycids
(mimics and pretenders), desert beetles, four soldier beetles, two repsimus
beetles and a scarab beetle on top.
Humanity faces an imbalance between lingering attributes that were dominant and necessary for growth in previous ages, and new attitudes that must be assimilated in order for the race to move forward in a new era and time of spiritual development. Essentially, the feminine principle, in an attitude of balance
and harmony, must be liberated from dormancy and assume its rightful
position of prominence alongside and equal to the masculine principle.
For our evolution and reintegration, the feminine principle is
essential for restoring and maintaining the proper balance for growth in
our universe of duality. -Triune Member
"We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back."
22nd November 2014 By Christa Mackinnon
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
The world will be saved by Western Women ~ Dalai Lama, 2009
Not
long ago I spoke to a friend who is part of a team organizing a
consciousness conference. Looking at the speakers and their subjects, I
was surprised that a conference dedicated to ‘ecology, consciousness,
human evolution, spirituality, future’ didn’t include a topic that
explored the outcomes of the imbalance of the feminine and masculine in
our patriarchal societies. This was reflected in the line up of
speakers, who were predominantly male. I checked a few more events in
the consciousness conference calendar and found a similar picture: only
one third, or sometimes even less, of the speakers were female.
This
wouldn’t be worth mentioning if we were dealing with a different
subject, but it certainly warrants some reflection when we look at
conferences within the consciousness, eco, and spirituality scene. We
all begin to understand that a functioning, sustainable whole requires
the feminine and the masculine to be integrated within the individual
and within humanity as a whole, and we are increasingly aware of the
dysfunctional results of millennia of human development based almost
solely on patriarchal, masculine value systems.
The
issues deriving from this one-sided way of thinking and being reach
from the appalling way women were, and still are, treated all over the
world to the over-exploitation of our planet’s (mother earth’s)
resources. They show themselves in the way we use wars as a means of
conflict resolution and in the non-caring, self-centered attitudes of
our societies. They have led to the exclusion of the feminine from our
major religions and to valuing individual success, hierarchical
structures and left-brain scientific thinking more than caring for
communities, sharing structures and emotional intelligence and
connection.
None of the
countless issues we face on this planet today can be resolved by our
current way of thinking and being, based on our established, mainly
masculine, value systems.
So,
why is the feminine principle not more prominent as a subject and, as
importantly, why aren’t more women invited to speak about it? When I
asked my friend, who is a heart- and soul-orientated guy, this question,
he replied “Oh, it didn’t even occur to us.” Yes, that’s exactly it! It
is a kind of ‘thoughtless’ acceptance of the status quo.
The Development
The
feminine wasn’t always subordinate to the masculine. As far as we know,
it was the earth – nature itself – who provided our ancient, tribal
forefathers and mothers with the concept of the Great Mother and with a
value system based on nature’s ways and cycles. The Great Mother was a
symbol of life itself. In her womb grew all of life; from her body
emerged all of life; she sustained all of life through the nourishment
she provided, and all living things retuned to her when dying.
Therefore, the Great Mother, as an inclusive force of life and its
cycles, was seen as being sacred.
The
feminine principle stems in its origins from this nature-based concept,
as the female body exhibits the same patterns and cycles as nature.
Consequently, the feminine was seen as the life-giving, nurturing,
sustaining and life-embracing force, the ‘creative vessel of life that
contained, birthed, nurtured and protected’. Not surprising, then, that
ancient people respected the feminine.
Over
many millennia, we developed from a tribal, hunter-gatherer existence.
We became more powerful users of tools and resources; we established
agriculture and individual possession; we begun to fight territorial
wars; we started to build big cities and civilizations and we grew in
numbers. And as all of this was happening, our spiritual systems
changed: the feminine, as the sacred womb-creatrix, was replaced by the
masculine all-powerful god-head. We went from female goddesses and
priestesses, to both male and female deities, and then to the dominance
of the male gods and male priests.
These
gods were fierce, war-orientated, powerful creatures, competing with
each other for influence and for the possession and sub-ordination of
the feminine. This became increasingly evident in ancient Greece around
500 – 400 BC, but so far as our current state of consciousness is
concerned the subjugation of the feminine principle reached its
culmination in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In these three
‘religions of the book’ the ‘one masculine God in the sky’ is firmly
established whilst the sacred feminine disappears either completely or
is, as in Christianity for instance, replaced with a split, guilty woman
and a holy mother, subordinated to her son.
It
should therefore be no surprise that, parallel to this development, and
driving it economically and socially, value systems based on the
masculine came increasingly to dominate all levels of society.
The feminine, which is defined as the life-giving, nurturing,
heart-centred (emotional), intuitive, life-sustaining and
circularly-connecting force was increasingly suppressed, belittled,
devalued, silenced and even persecuted — and firmly defined as
‘inferior’ to the masculine force, which is the head-centered
(analytical), rational, hierarchically directed, seeding,
fight-orientated and conquering force.
The Future
This
gradual implementation of a patriarchal, masculine (value) system,
which is too complex in its many strands to describe in one article, has
brought us much by way of material, scientific and cultural riches, but
has now reached a point where the destructive outweighs the benefits,
where it cannot serve us any longer. Basic attributes of the
feminine principle, the life-giving, life-sustaining, the nurturing, the
emotional, the intuitive, the inclusive and connective, as well as the
wild, nature-based force need now to be brought to the fore, valued and
implemented. These values need to enter into our consciousness as a
system on which we base our way of life, our relating to each other and
our decisions, if we want to find ways and means to create positive
change.
No
longer is it helpful to look at our problematic development needs from a
dis-connected, head-centered, self-serving, exploiting view of life. We
need to cultivate a way of being that strives for emotional connection
and honours intuitive knowing, a consciousness that helps us to
experience ourselves as being part of the whole living community. No
longer can we afford to base our life on a war consciousness that
demands ‘to conquer markets’, to make ‘war on drugs and terror’, to
‘fight climate
change’, to ’struggle for success within hierarchical systems’. No
longer can we afford to turn a blind eye when looking at the mental health
statistics, which show that a quarter of the UK population now suffers
from depression and/or anxiety. Our rational, pharmaceutical and
profitable approach to this problem is to medicate, but we need the
nurturing, caring, sharing, compassionate and feminine approach if we
are to create a society that does not suffer chronically from
mental health problems. And no longer can we ignore that loneliness and
isolation is at an all-time high in our elders, who should be the source
of our wisdom teachings, and in our young people, who are our future.
No
longer can we afford to put factual knowledge above the emotional,
communicative and intuitive, because the vast knowledge and facts we
have accumulated neither deter us, nor do they make us feel
compassionate. We have, for instance, become numb to the fact that we
rear animals
brutally and slaughter them to provide us with the 7 billion tons of
meat we consume every year (that’s over 100,000 living beings per
minute). We have numbed ourselves to the pain of the earth and become
accustomed to the fact that we over-exploit her for resources, which are
used mainly to keep up our so called ‘life-styles’ and to produce
unnecessary goods. We have become numb to the suffering of mothers and
children in war zones all around the world and rarely do we take the
time to consciously form and contribute to communities, which might help
us to overcome our isolation.
In other words, no longer can we afford to cultivate a consciousness that is based on masculine principles.
If
we could just begin to feel again, instead of running away from our
uncomfortable emotions by taking prescription drugs or distracting
ourselves though entertainment, TV, internet, social media
and more. If we could cultivate our heart responses, allow ourselves to
communicate with each other more, tune into what is happening around us
properly and feel the suffering, we could begin to take the first
steps. If we would allow ourselves to honour woman in her wholeness, her
life giving abilities, her cycles and wildness and all the stages of
her life, from young to old, which would teach us much about nature. If
societies would value woman’s ability to nurture and to connect, her
capacity for endurance, communication and intuitive emotionality instead
of wanting women to be forever young, plastically enhanced,
sex-goddesses whilst expecting them to compete and succeed in the work
place or stay in low paid jobs, nurture the children, care for the
elderly, run our charities, stay out of religious hierarchies and whilst
doing all of this and more, never, ever utter the word ‘feminism’.
When
we allow ourselves to explore the feminine as a principle, to look at
deeper ways of experiencing it, to bring feminine principle values, such
as compassion, emotional intelligence, connecting, sharing, caring and
nature connected wildness into our education systems and much more, then
we will, and not before time, be taking vital steps in the right
direction. Needless to say, I believe that the ‘consciousness scene’
should be at the forefront of this.
About the author:
Christa Mackinnon
holds a Master of Science in psychology and is a family counselor,
clinical hypnotherapist and shamanic teacher. She has worked as a
psychologist, therapist, trainer, lecturer and trauma consultant
internationally for 25 years, and is an honorary teaching fellow at the
Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the UK.
Christa
now increasingly includes her spiritual learning and experiences in her
professional work, combining shamanic and Buddhist teachings with
contemporary therapeutic approaches. Based on her ground-breaking book
on the subject matter, she facilitates Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) courses for professionals, speaks at conferences and
lectures widely. She is currently in the process of writing a new book,
which will be about the feminine. Shamanism and Spirituality in Therapeutic Practice. Christa’s book ‘Shamanism and Spirituality in Therapeutic Practice’ can be purchased on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.comSource: http://wakeup-world.com/2014/11/22/what-about-the-feminine-how-patriarchal-value-systems-affect-consciousness/. Accessed 23/12/2014.
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