Last year I read a book called "The Triple Goddess: An Exploration of the Archetypal Feminine" by Adam McLean. Now I'm reading a book called "The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine" by Nancy Qualls-Corbett. The combination of these books along with this blog and the books by Alison Armstrong as well as archetypal discussions had by Caroline Myss on her Sacred Contracts radio show has me thinking about the subject of Femininity, Masculinity, Patriarchy and Matriarchy through multiple different filters.
Within Qualls-Corbett's introduction, she's talking about the passing out of active consciousness of one aspect of the Divine Feminine which occurred at the same time as the rise of patriarchy as a social system. Now I'm relatively familiar with the rise of civilization in the middle east and its progression through the systems. Since Qualls-Corbett is specifically lamenting that this aspect of the Divine Feminine is absent from modern Western culture, I know to bring the roots of that culture into the picture: Christianity and pagan Europe.
Christianity, as one of the Abrahamaic religions, is pretty firmly patriarchal. Despite this, the Divine Feminine remained a powerful figure in the form of the Virgin Mary, and to a lesser extent in the Lover Mary -- whether you want to argue Mary Magdelene was a literal or idealogical lover of Jesus is still hotly debated, but in either manifestation she is the Lover. My question upon seeing this was: Why? To my limited knowlege, neither of the other Abrahamaic religions has a positive Divine Feminine to speak of. Why the difference? Why did Christianity, which became entrenched in temperate Europe, retain a Divine Feminine while the other convert-seeking religion, which became entrenched in largely arid climates, not have one?
It suddenly struck me: Land of Origin.
When Christianity moved from arid climes into more temperate ones, and the people converted from their polytheistic systems into it, they refused to allow the Divine Feminine to fall into obscurity. A sort of mini-cult around the Virgin Mary developed, and no matter what the early Church tried, this adherence and reverence remained staunch. So they gave up and just went with it, even further elevating this impossible Virgin Mother ideal far beyond the emulative reach of mere mortal women -- and then they villified the Lover into a reformed Prostitute, making her likewise one not to be actively emulated. But Europe and the people there were steeped in the fertility of the land. The Mother Earth was everywhere, and she cannot be stopped -- controlled and channelled, but short of poisoning the land the earth all around the Europeans was immensely fertile.
Compare this image with the arid climates, in which the fertility of the earth is less abundant, less in-your-face. Oases and river valleys are the centers of life, but surrounding this is harsh and unforgiveable land. There is little softness in the desert -- it is hard and cruel, prickly and unwelcoming. It then is not a huge stretch to imagine the Protector Masculine swinging into action to corral, contain, cultivate and protect what precious little active fertile land is present from others who would seek the same -- a haram of land, adopted by and emulated within the society. Women then are precious resources, to be tucked away and hidden lest they be stolen away.
I live in Southern California now, having grown up on the East Coast. What a contrast! If you haven't experienced it, this approach may not make sense but having seen both, I can now easily see the correlation between what the land is doing and how it manifests in stories and the native cultural psyche.
So here it is in a nutshell: I would posit that there is a correlation between the strength of the Cultural Feminine and the level of Land Fertility -- more fertility means a stronger feminine, less fertility means a weaker feminine identity. It's certainly an idea I've never seen anywhere else before, and it might actually make for a very interesting Masters dissertation.
In our modern way of life, we don't even bother to pay attention to when the sun rises and sets anymore, and even fewer have any realistic awareness of the native fertility of the land on which they live. For the average person, food is derived from grocery stores, not gardens or farms. The Solstices are just dates on a calendar. I could see, given this, that our connection to both the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine is currently rather compromised. If this is the case, where might this lead us as a people? Is it a positive or negative thing? Is reconnecting with the Divine Manifestations part of the process of reclaiming and celebrating my own individual femininity?
-- Lioness (in training)
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