New Civilization News: The Divine Feminine    
 The Divine Feminine9 comments
picture1 Jun 2007 @ 07:00, by Richard Carlson

There is not a petal of a flower or a blade of grass that does not configure the Way.

---Bassui

Everyone wishes to have truth on his side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.

---Richard Whately

There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.

---Federico Fellini

Offering of Fruits to Moon Goddess, 1757
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(b. 1727, Venezia, d. 1804, Venezia)

I have to be very careful here. Here I am offering up an article about a (The?) feminine perspective, and all the quotations up there are by guys. Is it a (The?) male perspective to explain things and solve problems, as those gentlemen are attempting? Women often respond by telling me what's wrong with my thinking and ignoring my solutions.

And of course there is a thin line between reporting and advocacy. I've had a whole life of trouble through advocating things, albeit worthwhile. Civil rights, anti-nukes, peace, organics, education and citizenship, cleaning up fraud and corruption, anti-consumerism. But of all the movements I tried to support, the feminine one has been the trickiest around which to maintain objectivity.

So I'm going to try just to report something here that I think may be significant and of interest having to do with what some call a particularly feminine outlook. Actually Cathy Holt is going to report it, so I'm hoping to get pretty much off the hook. I've subscribed to Cathy's occasional newsletter almost from the first day I got onto the Internet. Originally she wrote about natural foods and the alternative lifestyle, but from the vantage point of someone still struggling in the mainstream. That appealed to me because I try to do that. But a couple years ago, she decided to involve herself in an experimental community of people in North Carolina, who want off the grid and out of the rat race. As far as I know, there she has stayed...and while she doesn't write much about the struggles of such attempts, it seems to be going OK.

This article is a bit different, as she reports on a workshop she attended. Since most of the people who read what I send out---or at least skim through the ones with intriguing titles (before hitting delete)---have an interest in what direction the species seems to be headed, I'm hoping Cathy's effort will be helpful and inspiring toward hope!

EARTH & US: Sacred Activism

The Divine Feminine came to Asheville in the form of Jim Garrison and Andrew Harvey of Wisdom University. They electrified hundreds at a weekend workshop on Sacred Activism. Garrison is a theologian and philosopher, author of six books, and a proponent of the emerging "Wisdom Culture." Harvey is a Rumi scholar, worshipper of the Divine Feminine, and author of numerous books including The Direct Path.

"Wisdom is always collective," said Garrison. "Why is it that after billions of years, our species has brought all life to the brink of extinction?" This ability to destroy the world was seen as something only God could do, previously to our times. He reminded us of other times of collapse in history, when many thought that the end of the world had come. For example, in 14th century Europe, the plague killed one-quarter of Europe's population. The medieval order collapsed along with monarchy. However, in 1380, two councilmen from Florence reformed the educational system. Teaching children "civic humanism" may have been the spark that ignited the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment. At moments of great duress, the feminine wisdom takes hold, Garrison believes, adding, "We are in one of those moments now."

All the movements of the sixties and seventies have now produced a body of some 60 million people which Garrison calls "the new moral majority." Quoting Dr. Paul Rahe (another professor at Wisdom University), Garrison says that Conservatives are now about 24% of the populace (and dropping), Moderns about 50%, and Cultural Creatives are about 26% and rising. Their values:

* Personal development, spiritual growth
* Environmental protection
* Community
* Social justice

Genocide is at the basis of the power of the U.S. empire. The U.S. has broken treaties and international laws under Bush; the world community now sees the U.S. as a rogue nation. It's up to our generation to change that, by realizing our power and using it to create social change arising from collective vision and reverence for the Earth.

Andrew Harvey, who was raised in India, first experienced the divine feminine there. "Rumi is a force of the great birth in the midst of apocalypse," he said. "Unless we transform our consciousness on every level, we'll die and take most of nature with us." He believes that our false self is showing up as fundamentalism, ecological crisis, trashy mass media, techno-addiction ("the cement garden"), insane busy-ness, and psychotic denial. The Divine Mother offers transformative wisdom now, leading to the fusion of the mystic's passion for the divine and the activist's passion for justice. "The shadow of the mystic is being without doing; the shadow of the activist is acting from indignation, demonizing the opponent, and addiction to doing," Harvey declared. "The dynamic, passionate fire of love in action will transform the Earth into a garden!"

Quoting Rumi ("the voice of the birth of mystic truth"):
The tender words we said to one another
Are stored in the secret heart of heaven.
When the world is consumed with fire,
They will descend like rain
And the world will grow green with our love.

Harvey spoke of Rumi's luminous vision of creation: "each thing filled with wisdom and beauty." The profoundest courtesy of soul is due every creation, which we must respect and cherish with deep tenderness. Harvey, who is a great lover of cats, is fond of pointing out that Rumi's cat died shortly after he did, and was buried along with him.

Real birth and transformation, Harvey said, isn't all light. It's a scary process and can only arise from the death of the false self. This is the dark night of the soul which every mystic experiences, followed by the resurrection, the liberation into the power of alignment with divine compassion. "Just as soil must be broken in order to grow food, abscesses must be pierced to heal, trees are cut to build a house, and wheat is ground on the millstone, so must we purify ourselves and abandon all arrogance, burn our egos to ash, and receive the bliss of limitless existence." Such transformation comes not from intellect, but from the sacred fire.

"Passion burns down every branch of exhaustion."
– Rumi.

"Let divine passion derange and possess you," Harvey exhorted. "Marry the human nothing with the divine everything."

Harvey led us to examine our shadow and its seven aspects of fear: fear of suffering; of looking weak & emotional; of trusting our deep instincts; of overwhelming guilt; of causing pain to others (and losing their approval); of powerlessness, helplessness; and of awakening to full power and total responsibility.

The activist often has a Messiah complex, "I have to do it all." Activists may demonize their opponents, self-righteously projecting evil onto others. They may mistake stress and burnout for glory and authenticity; they may depreciate ordinary life, preferring heroics; and they may be ungrounded in spirit. Mystics, on the other hand, may be addicted to transcendent bliss, escaping from the real, believing "I need do nothing but love." They may deny the reality of evil, and even lack compassion for the suffering of others.

Owning the shadow gives us wisdom to see our "opponents" as a manifestation of ourselves. "Knowing our own darkness is the best way of dealing with the darknesses of other people," Harvey asserted. He listed seven practices to help the activist find balance.

1. Spiritual practices: "Cool" practices of meditation, mindful breathing and walking, calming and peaceful focus on the Divine; "warm" practices to keep the heart compassionate, from Christian mysticism and Mahayana Buddhism; sacred body practices to strengthen and ground oneself, such as yoga and Tai Chi.

2. Surrender the fruits of action (non-attachment). This clears the ego out of the way and prevents discouragement when results are poor. The greatest power is in surrendering to divine intention. This was true of both Jesus and Gandhi.

3. Recognize evil, face it in oneself and in society. Evil is the conscious enjoyment of destructive power. So much human intelligence has been focused on cruelty to one another.

4. Transform anger into fierce wisdom energy. This is not demonizing others, not suppressing or repressing outrage, but transforming it into wisdom and compassion. Allow anger to arise, imagine it flows out the belly and into Kali's mouth, where she breathes it into herself to transmute. She saves the pure gold and streams it back to us as fierce wisdom with compassion.

5. Do shadow work. This means seeing the other as oneself reflected, leading to heart-broken tender compassion for all beings. "Shadow work is the ultimate form of protection." We can each claim the parts of ourselves that are like George Bush, and send healing energy to those parts. "The way out of hell is to find a child of the enemy and raise him with total love."

6. Create networks of grace. Don't wait for governments and corporations to change, but network with people everywhere. Realize you can't do it alone, and that synergy, mutual sharing of insights and resources, is the only way.

7. Challenge escapist and burnt out activism. There is great joy in inspiring, uplifting and energizing people, unleashing the energy of the creative force. When we are joyful, others can't help wanting to join us.

He closed with a powerful story from the Truth and Reconciliation process in South Africa. An elderly black woman offered her love to the white man who had killed her children. When asked how that was possible, she simply said, "Jesus gave me the strength."

Cathy Holt
www.kindcommunication.com
Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest
And let the spirits fly in and out.
- Rumi


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9 comments

1 Jun 2007 @ 10:39 by rayon : The state of Feminity
can only be created by Man, not woman, Jazzolog, so fear not, and speak away. If an individual woman speaks it is not necessarily for all and the state is subject to that of the other, thank the heavens too, o lordy lordy. Man in his ultimate cleverness is the only one to put the chess pieces in place for the state to exist to a greater or lesser extent. Hopefully this also has its rewards and is the true power base and fulfills all the conditions in all philosophies for the true happy and contented life. Blessed are those understanding the ancient notion of Chilvalry. Anything a woman says is always at the behest of Men, and if not it is left as a mere oddity, something the modern world seems to thrive on. I made a promise to my thesis to stay within the bounds of Feminity in its philosophy while dissertating and to a measure I hope this was achieved. - Only now will I read your own Jazzo words, as a test to appreciation, and as I read, I see many similarities albeit from another vantage point. Super Duper stuff. thanks. There is lots more on this and will have to return, for this occasion it was a sneak out from a buzy time.!!!  


1 Jun 2007 @ 10:57 by jazzolog : An Architectural View
I tend toward states of masculinity and femininity more in a flow than perhaps you do, raye of unending delight. I think a couple (man-woman, man-man, woman-woman) dances to its balance...or eventual falling.

Anyway, I don't see what's so feminine about a reformed system of education as devised by those 2 dudes in 14th century Florence. Why is education "feminine," according to Wisdom University? I guess I'd better Google up some of those people. Are there any women weekend workshop leaders at the place?  



1 Jun 2007 @ 19:58 by a-d : What a Wonderful
essay ..... with so much "Right On"! Thanks Jazzo; you're the Coolest! : )  


5 Jun 2007 @ 13:58 by rayon : Brave New Log
of yours Dear Jazzo. Power punching words, no wonder there was no inclination to proffer as one's own!!! Stand easy above parapets!!! smiling, with gesturing hand!! haha

a Multiple Bulls Eye article here, much precied, or reduced from original form. Taking many final statements and stringing along, a good deterrent to precise response. "Divine Mother offers transformation wisdom now . . ." yes always, just for the asking and seeking usually, showing a pathway through, while holding certain beliefs up high to prevent contamination - but I must say - Passion - is always a passing thing, may be recurrent but can never be maintained constantly, so a misnomer here.

"The mystic's passion for the divine" does not suggest the correct frame of mind needed from my perspective at all - this is an expression used by someone to suggest to the completely blind, and unlikely to ever see, but to leave a mark, a fire brand on their minds and hearts, to harken in this general direction for the rest of their lives, being the best they can do. I personally hope I have more compassion than this, so patronising.

"The activists passion for Justice"? surely the activists wants discourse, debate? If he wants Justice, what or who's justice precisely is he wanting? before I can put my blind sympathy behind this phrase. This is stuff of the subversive.

What is the connection to the Feminine here? don't see it. As one goes further into this text, it crosses my mind that there easier more pleasant routes to the wisdom squeezed into these lines, which are more concerning individual, than a broad notion of Feminity. More like All Purpose Rhetoric for raising a little fervour.

There is no doubt of his understanding of Rumi from India, but these things are difficult to translate reasonably into western thought patterns while maintaining same integrity, and hence the rendition.

My own view of Feminity, is as the greatest power basis afforded to couples, who recognise the familiar roles and find contentment. I describe Feminity not as an Entity, but rather a Domain, where certain things are sure happen in a certain way, if the basic education was sufficient to get a majority of a community to that point. This is why Children's education is so important, and cannot be provided by one group only due to importance of a balancing "Other" view, for the individual child to join up the coordinates at his/her own pace allowing the same peer group respect in later life, without having to reinvent the wheel. It is with the "joining up of coordinates" that the Feminine domain hosts.

When Feminity rests in repose in society as whole, wispy coiffures, floaty skirts, distant appeals of the eyes it is only the most idealised furthest remove from actuality one can get.

BUT in my thesis, staying within the bounds of feminity, meant something else. It meant maintaining a subjective response while translating it through objective prose for immediate comprehension. This is not the sole domain for women, exactly the same responses could be done by a man, but they are not instrinsically part of his education and brainwashing, unless he was brought up in the Classical tradition with its focus on appreciating the suffering of others which includes Christianity, vis. Mary at the foot of the Cross, what more does one need to explain this.

Neither I do think a women's weekend workshop is a beacon source of topical light. Wild horses.

There appears to be many aspects to this thing called Feminity, thus is its sheer and very real myticism revealed tellingly. This is enough to recognise, the rest happens at its own behest. Brave New Log Jazzo!  



2 Jul 2007 @ 02:08 by chiszar : The Divine Feminine
Hello. Folks, We (other than a rare few) have all been here many times. We have all been pretty much male and female many times for the experience. Some are primarily incarnate Female, some Male, yet we have almost all had at least one of the opposite sexual personifications. We are Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience in either a male, female, or hermaphrodite body suit. Some of us are very aware of "the mission" on the only planet of free choice, others are not. Some are playing "good guy" some are playing "bad guy" (we've all taken turns). Some do it conciously most of their existence, others let themselves be programmed into "mass" minded thinking. In any case, we are all responsible for our thoughts. Regardless of how comfortable or uncomfortable this makes one feel, it is cosmic truth. (please don't take my word, go into your sacred space, i.e. your heart or "the holy grail" and discern this with Creator and your loving "I Am Presence" or higher self) What we are all here doing on this only planet of free choice, is deciding to love or not in every given moment.
At this time on our great Mother Earth, Gaia, we are all helping in one way or another to bring harmony, a balance of energy, and to anchor the Divine Femine Aspect of Diety, or Creator, or Godhead Soul, or Allah or Yahweh, or God, or the Dude, or whatever fits ones personal preference. (The Dude loves us all completely, unconditionally, and completely without Judgement. This Planet was originally Created to experience the illusion, Maya, Temporal Reality, the Party, School, or whatever floats one's proverbial Boat in total joy. The only difference between the great "Masters" and those who would not yet consider themselves "Masters" is that the Masters know this, and they they Honor this with the understanding of great Responsibility, Freedom and Joy. The Prime Creator, (or the Big Guy Or Big Lady in the sky) has no need; it is only in our humaness,{ or while wearing "the veil" (by the way apocalypse = loosely translated from greek to english means "lifting of the veil" or preparing the bride=our consciousness level for the Groom="Self or "God realization within"}that we consider ourselves less than perfect. (or anything other than "Created in the Image and Similitude of Creator"). When we "anchor" the Divine Feminine, (as the Divine Masculine was anchored around 2000 years ago when the one people call "the Christ" or Yeshua if you are close family, or Jesus if you are "christian") their will be great Divine balance and true re-memberance of who we really are. "Greater things than these shall ye do" means that we too will re-member the "Christ"consiousness within ourselves, take Responsibility, and Live our individual and collective Truth(s) Joyfully. This wonderful Achievement (So, " I Am" a visionary) will mark the beginning of the greatest most wonderous planet in all of the cosmos. A place where Souls can come and experience the great contrast of personal creation, while living fully in Joy (thus God's most holy will for all of us).

Come on parents, what is it you want for your children? You want nothing more than for them to be happy, right?! What could God and his or her or it's "allmighty will" for us really be? Something even grander than we could ever have dreamed up for ourselves? So, as we work on this thing together, (something I like to call "come on children, stop fighting, get along and play nice")this mass shift Forward into Creator's pure unconditional Love for one another(after all, we are all one, right) as we balance Divine Masculine & Divine Feminine within ourselves, (Jesus can't do it for ya, allthough he could point "The Way" i.e. "I AM" The Way; I AM="god in me is") we will then experience "The Age of Aquarius" within and without. Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!
Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(can you tell that I've been workin' on the railroad to freedom and enlightenment for a long time?)
Thank You for joining me here, on planet earth, as well as this comment section. It is by no accident that You led You to read these words. If any of them ring true for you, then they are your truth, if not, no big deal. "let them who have ears, let them hear, those who have eyes, let them see", and those who have computers and found this link, let them discern for themselves. Peace, Love & Light Thomas :)  



2 Jul 2007 @ 09:55 by jazzolog : Dear Dude, Who Art In Heaven...
I confess to posting this uncustomary (for me lately) "wisdom" article to see if I could attract some interest within the vast NCN membership, particularly among females (that is, those Divine Beings currently wearing that anatomy disguise). A whole herd of ladies quit this rough shoot-em-up site a year ago or so, some of whom used to leave comments at jazzoLOG---usually trying to show me how wrong I was about something. Since those friends left, both the Logs and the Chats have slowed down considerably. Cathy's essay did draw in a couple of the stalwart women still here, but not much has caught fire until Thomas' train pulled into the station this morning. Toot, toot, and welcome. We have many engines of enlightenment around here.  


3 Jul 2007 @ 13:39 by rayon : Greater Fear than terrorists
within the Western world is caused by its free use of the Feminine in a so called liberal world. I say Rape.

Whilst doing some further reading on this log here, plainly the texts say, that the Earth is the Feminine factor, and Heaven always the Masculine factor, just like the way Thomas above mentions. With the West declaring women's Equality etc there is only a Lessoning of the Feminine Quality. This, despite all the material riches in the world, will lead to a ravished and wasted world into poverty strickenness. It is here that Poverty for the Child starts and will not end until cultures and religions are restored to their nations to shuffle slowly back into the place a broadly nurturing femininity, from which both partners and children, and relatives with nothing can take succour.

The persecution as I see it, makes it almost to painful to either think or speak. It is from the demoralised unloved children of an especially unfeminine world that the Torturers are bred. No one does it on purpose, but out of blindness, out of habit within otherwise rich societies. Even the catholic church with its feminine images of Mary, is side lined here, on a regular basis in the West. (Yes they like the Pope because he is the one person to whom the Buck can be passed by a President here or there finally has his back up against a wall of pressure over something). But they don't want the love, the possibility of miracles, the feeling of spirit, the TESTIMONY to the truth which is surely the first and foremost requisite for Christianity - without this forget all the church going and choir singing (Jazzo excluded) but generally I mean, the Truth as that person sees it is the first requisite for Christianity, and second is Femininity.

How can Men "get in touch with their Feminine side" if all the women around are behaving like Amazons. How will they intuitively know which way to go? I ask. A group of downtrodden anywhere will grasp Power with both hands when given, and many women are doing just this, in a Protestant/Modernity based society such as we have today from the Greater America (and UK). Now trying to forge its way into the hungover-Catholic Europe. The Power these women grasp can only be done in a self centred way, often reducing a burden on menfolk for which they may be most suited.

There is so much so little understood about real power sharing, such as in families and the invisible spirits and bodies of collectivity - and this can get used unwittingly (or many times wittingly) at the expense of younger members of families. This is where Tyrants spring from. Religions and beliefs, take into account this real power sharing, by building in acknowledgements and respects for the sake of it into the actions of daily life in an effort to maintain a regular balance for things while every material thing is actually extremely unequal indeed, in shape, form and thought and condition.

This is where I believe Femininity resides at its best. Shakespeare's Rape of Lucretia is interesting reading, this is Torture.

All the good lines prepared for this entry have vanished in the terror noticed on this subject when brought to mind. Ten years ago, saw me more antagonist than now, and I hope I have not let up on the fight for the Human Right to Femininity.  



15 Jul 2007 @ 17:08 by rayon : Single word definition
for Feminity - can only be gained by restraint. It is the one Entity which will be compromised by any form of excess. However, in nature, and in life, for humans, it does require the basic necessities to survive, but any excess of these or intrusions to its existence will reduce the whole capacity it offers. Without it, civilisation will cease, for every living thing. No wonder they raised it to divine level!!!

For Jazzolog.  



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