Down With Patriarchy! Make Way for FEMME: Women Healing the World

As a social justice activist, it has been my great pleasure to be a part of the documentary Femme: Women Healing the World.  Just part of the pleasure was meeting other wonderful and insightful women who nourished and fed me by their compassion, support and wisdom.  One of them was Celeste Yarnall, Ph.D who I've invited to share her blog post below with you.  And if you've missed the film in your area, you're not out of luck - click here to view Femme: Women Healing the World:  http://ykr.be/4ik59m1n6

The inspiring new award winning, feature length documentary film, entitled FEMME: Women Healing the World, directed by Emmanuel Itier and executive produced by Sharon Stone, has recently opened in both Los Angeles and New York City. Coast to coast, audiences are giving it a standing ovation and leave the theatre brimming with excitement. FEMME features over 100 women from all over the world sharing their views on how women will be the driving force to heal our troubled world. We see and hear in FEMME from global female leaders, Nobel Laureate’s, former Prime Ministers, actresses, musicians, teachers and women from all walks of life from all over the world.

It has been my experience at these screenings, as a co-producer and as one of the women featured in the film to sense the excitement that FEMME creates. It’s much like when a stone is skipped across a pond and we stand back and watch its ripple effect go out into the world.

We are delighted to hear from men and women alike that they are now eager to do something constructive to help heal our Mother Earth. Science now tells us that on a quantum level when love and positivity are the primal objectives in prayer and meditation that we are at affect in making a recognizable contribution to a more favorable outcome.

This phenomena is much like the famous chaos theory, by James Lovelock, that states,”It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.”  FEMME seems to be causing a “butterfly effect” all it own. Because much like the caterpillar possesses imaginal cells, that unbeknownst to the caterpillar cause it to transform into a chrysalis and then like magic to be and become a butterfly. We humans also possess imaginal cells in our hearts but we simply do not know how to activate them and become the butterflies of our own higher consciousness. A consciousness that connects us to the Gaia principle. For the most part we attribute love, compassion and nurturing to the FEMME spirit, FEMME means woman in the French language. Could it be that once we embrace the FEMME spirit that each of us might be able to transform ourselves and our planet by balancing what has long been missing from our lives, which is the feminine aspect of loving and nurturing in a “whole-listic” way? If we take responsibility for the holistic healing of ourselves as individuals and the holistic healing of the world collectively, might this be a better direction then the way the industrial military paradigm (driven primarily by the Patriarchy) has take us? Is it that primeval call within us to activate our inner butterfly that can help each of us  become the transformative change we want to see take place on this planet?

In order for us to see where we are headed, let’s look back and see where we have been in order to get a clear picture in this case of why I have called the title of this piece, Down with Patriarchy. For myself, it has to come tumbling down because as I journeyed back in time with many of the women from FEMME as my guide, I needed to go back 1000’s of years. Because it was 1000’s of years ago that this shift to the patriarchy occurred.  A very big shift from women being worshiped as idols and Goddesses and being 100% responsible for creating life, to having absolutely no role in human reproduction at all. As Miriam Robbins Dexter, in FEMME states:  “From the earliest homo sapiens sapiens to at least 4000 BCE, the indigenous people were goddess-worshipping and were equalitarian.  There is very little evidence of warfare.”

Many of the screenings for FEMME have included a Q & A following the film and questions are often taken from the audience. We can feel the empowerment occurring as people one by one become inspired to be a part of what I refer to as the FEMME Prime Directive.

It’s only natural for me to think this way because, I guest starred as an actress on an episode of Star Trek entitled, The Apple back in 1967. The Apple has become famous as it is one of the very few Star Trek episodes where the Prime Directive was violated.  Just what is the Star Trek Prime Directive? The Prime Directive is basically the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution and this is considered sacred. No Star Fleet personnel should violate this directive unless absolutely necessary and it was absolutely necessary in The Apple. A similar result has taken place, where the people of Delta Trianguli Vi lived to only be in service to and worship their god, Vaal. Their own Patriarchal leader forbade love, love making and even reproduction in their world. And so we stepped the landing party stepped in to set them back on course. But look what the Patriarchy has done to our own Mother Planet, with its wars and devastating weapons. The yin/yang principle of balance and living in harmony with nature has been violated in every way possible, primarily by the industrial military complex. This complex is now so advanced in its weapons of mass destruction that if it moves into space, with space based weapons, it will threaten our entire multi-verse and there will be no turning back. The Patriarchy has acted like some conquering alien species with little or no regard for the future of this planet and that is a clear violation of our most human Prime Directive which is not to just to boldly go but to be the good shepherds and stewards of this beautiful blue ball.

What has happened to the women all these years? Why did we stand by and watch this domination of women happen? As Barbara Marx Hubbard shares in FEMME,  ”We’ve had great women in the past, but really, in the ’60s, there was a rise of the feminine consciousness.  At first, it was to try to be equal to men, but after a while, we didn’t want to be equal in a dysfunctional world.  You don’t want to get to the front seat on the Titanic.”   Marianne Williamson picks up the call to action by saying, “So what we have to do is turn around the Titanic in time.  We have to turn around and we have to turn around now.”

In FEMME Women Healing the World, each of us  who was interviewed was asked by our director Emmanuel Itier, how we would feel about the creation or re-evolution of a matriarchal society and each of us answered that we didn’t want a Matriarchy.  All each one of us wanted to accomplish was an equal partnership with men. But how do we go about disentangling an epigenetic paradigm that began around 3000-4000 BC? Perhaps as Vandana Shiva offers, Gandi said it best when in his morning prayer he said: “Make me more womanly.” Vendana explains that Gandhi is talking about high levels of compassion. “ But how has it been for us women from the dawn of time, as we view it from our rear view mirrors?

 Femme takes us in a visual time machine  back through Goddess culture when Karen Tate explains that, “Scholars will tell you, you can look back at some of these ancient artifacts, like for instance the Venus of Willendorf.

They’re 30,000 or 40,000 years old and many scholars today will tell you that those artifacts point to a time when goddess was revered. Women were also more uplifted in society. They were the life givers. This was looked upon as something very magical, very powerful.”

Historically around approximately 3000-4000 BC things began to change drastically and remained so all the way up to the 20^th century.  During this period in history a major shift to a Patriarchal society occurred almost all over the world, which is as dramatic as a polar shift might be if one occurred in our lifetimes. This shift made women second class citizens with the exception of an island population here or there for the next 5000 years. It was declared through what was called science in its day that there was only one seed of life and it was found in the male’s testes. The women, our fore-mothers were just the fertile or infertile soil that the male planted his seed into. A very telling example of a quote which was said to have been written In 350 BC was from the ancient Greek, Aristotle, who influenced thinking for thousands of years by saying this: “The male semen cooks and shapes menstrual blood into a new human being”. I think it was a given that even Aristotle would admit that it would be the woman that would nourish the male seed and nurture it, with her body but she would not be considered having had anything to do with bring this life into being.  

Apparently not one woman mourned the passing of Aristotle. The distinction of being the creator of life belongs exclusively to the males of our species. Every pseudo scientific reason was dragged into play through the ages, such as Aristotle’s menstrual blood analogy, in order for the male of the human species to dominate and control where his seed was planted.  The research from science is staggering as they propose every which way a man does this. It was thought that even an education would weaken a women so much so that it would render her less of a baby making machine. Author Julia Stonehouse refers to the female, in her landmark book Idols to Incubators, Reproduction Theory though the Ages, women were simply that, his incubator. Miss Stonehouse also has a new Ebook entitled, Father’s Seed, Mother’s Sorrow.

To truly understand the road less traveled by a few brave souls who tried to overturn this dictum with some compelling science, everything from threat of death or ridicule would follow. And even into modern times in the early 1800’s we’d all have to ask ourselves, why would the good ole’ boys want to give up complete control over what he thought to be exclusively, his children. Besides that only male children seemed to be of value because it was they that continued the male line and females were dead ends. There was no knowledge base for nuclear or paternal DNA let alone the exclusive to women, mitochondrial DNA such as we know it today. The birth of a daughter in many parts of the world was the veritable end of a male line and therefore pretty much worthless. Now perhaps we can understand why we see certain dress codes enforced for women in many parts of the world. The male had to make certain that all other males were kept away from their women. Why? Because how else could paternity be insured? She, in many parts of the world would not have any rights in divorce or death of her spouse, as to the right to keep her children. The children belonged to the father and/or his family where this thinking was a way of life.

As we examine human rights violations the world over such as female circumcision, abortion of female fetus’s, although illegal, because of the Patriarchal desire for male heirs in India and elsewhere, deaths and or disappearances of newborn infant girls in China, to every other atrocity perpetrated against women all over the world, including human sex trafficking. It is know that in certain parts of the world a box was kept next to the birthing bed with tools to be used to the help the midwife murder an infant daughter.

Up to about 10,000 BC according to Julia Stonehouse’s Reproduction Theory  this particular time period in history was based on the female being 100% responsible for life. Intercourse virtually had nothing to do with the making of babies and men had no say over female sexuality.

Miss Stonehouse’s well researched time line led me on a path where one could clearly see that the Matriarchal way of life continued from 10,000 BC to approximately 3000 BC and here we still found the idea that the female contains the seed of life in her womb as their were clay statues discovered that depicted this image. Men were given some recognition in this time period because they collectively concluded that men watered the seed with their semen, however women were still thought to be the source of the seed of life and again men did not have a say in women’s sexuality.

We would not learn here in the Western world of the science that was daring to explore the role of the female ovum, (although found to be valid for fruit flies, and garden peas, etc.,) that without a doubt, women were 50-50 partners with men, in the creation of human life until 1900. Miss Stonehouse provides that it would not be until 1960 when the publication of a book called Ovum Humnum: Its Growth, Maturation, Nourishment, Fertilization and Early Development by Dr. Landrum Brewer Shettles shared the photo’s that would set the record straight.

We all know now scientifically that there are 23 chromosomes in the head of the sperm (one of which determines the sex of the child possibly becoming a male) and that there are an equal  23 chromosomes within the nucleus of the ovum (none of which determines any other sex but female). And so people just seemed to quickly bury down the rabbit hole 5,000 years of Patriarchal domination, tyranny and control of virtually every aspect of a women’s lives, from inheritance of property, to any rights what so ever. We can only give respectful pause and reflect on these very facts that caused some Queen’s heads to roll for not bearing certain kings a male heir.

This treatment of women and girls through the ages is a very brutal and violent legacy that we all carry epigenetically to this very day. I call it an epigenetic hangover because society is still sick with this drunken use of Patriarchal power in many parts of the world. What is epigenetic? In a nut shelf the context in which I am proposing this idea, is basically all that rises above the genome. It is what we carry with us from generation to generation, call it emotional baggage but it also affects our health on a body mind and spirit level and it may result in how we behave. Epigenetics has nothing to do with what we think of today as our DNA genetic blue print of say dark hair or blue eyes, etc. It belongs to a new field of study all its own.

Studying what has taken place for women over this period of time and it indeed what is still happening, may be for many like opening a deep wound  that you may not have even known was still there and letting it bleed out, however as we said in that now famous ad campaign from many years ago, “We’ve come a long way, baby.” And understanding what has happened to women in the past brings it into the light of day and helps us heal collectively.

There is so much that can be done now to right the inequity that remains within our current Patriarchal system and FEMME calls upon us loudly and clearly to act for the changes we want now but do it with a forgiving heart. As T. S. Wiley states so eloquently in FEMME,  “I think punishing men because they had a long turn at the helm, I think punishing them because they’re just men, is beneath us.  I think as women, we always had enough power.  We’ll have more power, and those of us who know it should wield it with some mercy.” I’m for that as well, because we need men to be our allies and partners. It’s clear we need the Equal Rights Amendment to at long last be passed so that we women today, our daughters and granddaughters have equal rights constitutionally with men now and in the future.

For my part in the film FEMME, I thought that I might share the fact that everything we know or think we know, is nothing more than a belief system.  I said,  “What many people don’t understand is that as the young child grows within us, every thought that the mother has, every meal that the mother has, every breath she takes, is being downloaded by that unborn child.  That actual fetal tissue is determining itself who and what it’s going to become, and by the time the baby is born, 50 percent of the baby’s personality has been actually manifested.”

If we take the approach that perhaps we all need to become baby whisperers to the next generation, because when the unborn child grows within the mothers womb it is in a state of delta frequency, something like a hypnagogic trance, where the mothers every thought, every meal, every action, is also being downloaded into its every cell and also directly into its subconscious mind. The responsibility of the parents, be they the birth parents or adopted parents or caregivers, of any gender, becomes huge as the infant and toddler grows. This downloading continues in early childhood development, especially when these baby’s minds next enter the higher frequency of delta, where their imagination is wide open. This is the time when most of us had invisible friends and we could talk to animals and butterflies, etc. Still, what is going on within the family, from what is blaring on the radio and TV, is all layer by layer piling up in that child’s subconscious mind. It is our subconscious, which according to a theory from the field of hypnosis which is referred to as Theory of the Mind is equal to about 88% of what we call the subconscious. I am simplifying the theory here for our purposes as it is more complicated an multi-layerd that these two equations). The residual number left for our conscious mind, basically who we think we are, where our rational thinking comes from, is only 12% . These young children don’t move into higher forms of consciousness and frequency, such as knowing that “I am me and/or you are you,” until about age 12. Sue Gehardt shares her research in her 2004 book, When Love Matters, How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain. I offer the idea that our future is placed primarily in women’s hands. However being loving and nurturing is not exclusive to female bodies. The idea is for everyone to take the responsibility of being a  “conscious” parent(s) seriously. But in that spirit let’s not forget who it is primarily that has near exclusive access to babies. It is we women who must take a certain portion of the responsibility for who and what our children become because of this early formative period in their life. What kind of women and men are we helping to bring up? We need to remember what the Jesuits were famous for saying, “Give me the Boy and I will make you the man.”

What contrast might we have seen if the Matriarchy of our ancient past had continued in an uninterrupted line to this day? Would there have been gender favoritism anywhere on this planet without religious dogma stating the male one God theory?  As Dr. Riane Eisler shares:  ”All of life was really informed by a veneration of the goddess nature.  This veneration of the goddess nature led to a love of peace, a horror of tyranny and a respect for the law.” What did this flip to a male deity cause for us women? Is this not a good question to ponder if one dares? When Jean Houston was asked about religion, she offered,”The whole nature of priestcraft, by its very nature, requires a male and a female sensibility, as well as a sense of God not being male out there, but in point of fact, having all the gendering.  To engender, you must have all the gendering.” Or as Sonya Sophia states,  “Well, God was a man, and then if you can’t be like God, well, take Jesus as an example, and then you could be like him.  But where does that leave you if you’re a woman?  It says basically that to be good and to be loved by God, you have to be masculine or try to act masculine or to do what a man would do.  And I think that that kind of thinking has informed our culture for thousands and thousands of years” And from female Rabbi Leah Novick we have:  ”Well, I study, Zohar Kabbalah has been my main focus for the last 20 years, and the tree is all about this, that you have the masculine, the feminine and then you have the middle pillar where hopefully, everything comes to the balance point.”

Especially poignant is this by Dr. Sue Morter: “The heart space is destined to rise to its expression in humanity again and it is time for us to begin to honor that.  It isn’t just the heart space.  It is the heart with the mind, the heart with power.  Power without heart gets us nowhere.  Heart without power can become a doormat, and so the combination of our heart, our power, our personal empowerment and our wisdom centers is the recipe for what is happening now in humanity.” Doesn’t this sound like a wonderful platform for women to use in politics?

Femme offers us so much to think about and challenges us all with each of the women’s interviews it shares. After all, all genders are here together right now and all genders need to do something right now. As Peace activist H. Schachna states emphatically, “I do force people to act.  Do you need good water?  So act for it.  Do you need clear air?  So act for it.  Do you need that the ground will be good and that you can plant plants and you can have fruit?  So act for it.  Stop talking.  You have all the knowledge.  You have to act.”

Let’s all act for it! And with the inspiring messages offered in FEMME Women Healing the World we can take action. The action that best resonates with us as individuals.

Everyone needs to see FEMME which they do by going to FEMMETheMovie but let me simply share here these beautiful words by Marianne Williamson:  ”The impulse of this moment is that we have a world to co-create together.  We need each other.  The masculine enters into the feminine, the feminine receives the masculine.  We need both forces.  In order for this planet to make it, yes, we need women and a divinely inspired womanhood, but we need a divinely inspired manhood as well.”

We need sacred partnership as this beautiful painting by Nazim Artist as seen in FEMME shares visually with us right now and it is that partnership at last that will heal the world!

A-Women – A-men!

               Celeste Yarnall is an actress, speaker, activist, and film producer who is well known for her guest-starring role on the original Star Trek, and as Elvis Presley's co-star in "Live a Little, Love a Little." However, her true passion is in women’s empowerment and healing on all levels for both people and animals.

            Celeste earned her doctorate in Nutrition and is the co- author of Holistic Cat Care with Jean Hofve, DVM, the author of Natural Dog Care, and the soon to be released PALEO DOG with Dr. Jean Hofve for Rodale Press. Celeste writes a highly popular blog for the social action network Care2.com, “Celestial Musings and has contributed to Natural News Network (naturalnews.com), as well as The New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine, Raw Instincts, Healthy Dogs, Naturally and many others.

        Her company, Celestial Pets, offers a clinical nutrition consultation service on holistic alternatives for people and their animal companions.

            Celeste and her husband Nazim Artist are the co-producers of  Femme: Women Healing the World, which features Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Karen Tate and Marianne Williamson along with Celeste.

             Celeste is a popular speaker on the Art of Wellness, on a body, mind and spiritual level. The Art of Wellness Collection includes Nazim’s Holistically glazed Art works, state of the art supplements and healing devices, along with Reiki and EFT.

Websites include:

MoxxArt.com

www.NazimArtist.com

CelestialPets.com

And Celeste’s Blog at www.celestialmusingsblog.com

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW FEMME; WOMEN HEALING THE WORLD -
http://ykr.be/4ik59m1n6

Life is Like a Lazy River

 
     I felt like I was holding on by a thread after my husband’s heart attack.  I found myself a caretaker while working a full-time job, dealing with our out-of-touch employer, editing my new manuscript for my publisher, keeping my radio show on the air and trying to pay the bills.  Then the opportunity to spend a couple days floating on the Lazy River at a resort in Las Vegas presented itself.

Yes, it was in the hottest part of summer in Las Vegas, but anything was better than being in the office where I could not shake off my boss’ demoralizing words.  I thought our performance for the last thirty years in his employ buffered us from the angst and vulnerability so many workers were feeling these days, but no.  His reply to my query if my husband could expect sick leave during this health crisis kept echoing in my ears.  “I don’t want to pay Roy for sitting home on the couch!” It took all my strength to refrain from hoping in his next life he came back as a migrant worker picking strawberries or the guy who cleans out port-o-potties.

So we packed up the car and headed for Las Vegas and the Lazy River.  Days of floating in quiet contemplation was just what I needed to recharge my batteries and have a moment to think about something besides stents, pills and doctors and how unappreciated I was feeling.  At first the Lazy River just allowed, allowed, allowed me to just be, with no pressure.  I could drift with no place to go but round and round, softly, gently, and quietly.  Even the kids sharing the Lazy River were not a source of aggravation.  It was peaceful and my brain could click off for a few hours.

As the hours turned into days, I began to feel like myself again and before I knew it the creative juices were flowing and this Lazy River became a source of inspiration. 

Sometimes we can just float along in life, easily avoiding the chaos all around us, without having to put forth much effort to avoid turbulents.  We see others around us going under but somehow we’ve managed to catch the current that just steadily pulls us along out of harms way.  We may be lucky enough to continue like that for a bit but sooner or later we’re going to brush up against the rocks.  We might even feel as if we're drowning as we are unable to avoid getting sucked beneath rapids and struggle to the surface gasping for air.   If we’re lucky, in the next few times around the bend, we might be able to catch our breath.  We feel lucky to maneuver ourselves away from the crushing weight of the waterfalls, large and small, we see along the journey. 

As we go round and round, with each turn of the wheel, we learn to adapt.  We try different positions to discern how to place ourselves so that we float along as stable as possible.  We stretch and strengthen our muscles to avoid the rocks and waterfalls.  We  keep an eye on the horizon so we might manage to avoid chaos and not get stuck in  log jams.   We wear protective covering to ward off direct hits we might not avoid along the way.  And sometimes, if we look for it, gifts present themselves during the struggle, and it is oh so important to embrace those moments in gratitude.  I am thankful.  I am thankful.  I am thankful.

Before Gordon Gekko There Was Star Trek

Before Ayn Rand became a household name or Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in the movie, Wall Street, captivated the masses with his "greed is good" ideals, a license to callously cheat and exploit, we believed in the progressive values of Star Trek.  Remember, in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982) when Spock's dying words to Kirk were "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."  Or a few years later, in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) Picard explains the world view of the future when he says "The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives.  We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." In fact, Star Trek's mission was one of exploration and humanitarianism rather than the Right Wing rejection of science or the Ayn Rand values to spurn collectivism and altruism.

That said, I wonder how many have considered how much more Trekkies and Goddess Advocates have in common?  Let's see.

Let's start with how Goddess ideals are about the "we and the us" rather than the "I and me."  Sounds synonymous with the words of Spock, does it not?

Goddess advocates have talked about a gift economy rather than the predator capitalism of Gordon Gekko causing vast income disparity and massive suffering of the 99%.

Women certainly were equal in the world of Star Trek, as are they in Goddess Spirituality.   Vaginal probes and pay or gender inequity were not something they endured.

Goddess, by her many names and faces across the globe is the poster girl for diversity and tolerance.  Think back to Captain Kirk and Uhura's first inter-racial kiss and the multi-cultural Star Trek crews throughout the series.

With our finite resources, we can no longer continue to exploit Gaia. We must reject unfettered growth and opt for the development of our species.

I'm sure this will get you thinking to the many episodes of morality within the long-running and beloved Star Trek series.  What was your favorite episode?   What values did Star Trek teach you or your kids? How did the series make you feel as you saw the bravery and selflessness of the crew?  Were they your heroes and heroines?  Did you aspire to be like them?

Star Trek may no longer be aired in prime time on major networks but with recent movies the franchise is far from buried and forgotten. I certainly remember when the series' ideology held sway within our hearts and minds.  Can we afford to bury what Star Trek taught us or shall we revive it?  So many of us yearned for a world akin to Star Trek.  Can we remember when the values of Trekkies showed the way and held the promise for the future?

What will it take for the collective consciousness of Americans to return to those values of caring and sharing, of justice and equality, of science and humanitarianism? How do we unplug from the hive mentality of greed and fundamentalism?  Perhaps we just have to remember who we once were and what we once valued.  Resistance is not futile.

Embracing The Other

I was recently interviewed on a radio program and the host asked me if I might name one way my mother influenced my life.  I immediately knew the answer to her question.  Evelyn, my mother, taught me to fight for the under-dog.  She never verbalized it, but I think she felt like an under-dog.  She grew up in Louisiana in the 1940's.  It was a time when women had little choice about the direction their life would take.  She had no protections like Roe v Wade.  Her mother was a janitor and education for women was not a priority.  Her world view consisted of getting married, keeping a roof over her head and her kids fed.  I can still remember her and my step-father, too poor for a decent meal because selling vacuum cleaners door to door was not putting food on the table, eating corn chips with some cheese spread for dinner.  Sometimes my breakfast cereal did not come with milk, but water to moisten it.  Ham was out of the question and I came to love bologna sandwiches, especially if I had potato chips to slap between the slices of bread instead of lettuce.  I didn’t know how poor we were and that seemed like a fun treat!

Never having taken a class in Women’s Studies and a product of the conservative South, I don’t think Evelyn can name the cause for her circumstances.  I can still hear her misplaced loyalty to her Southern roots as my step-father, a northerner from Iowa,  would tell her of the rampant ignorance and racism in the South.  Sexism never came up, however.  Afterall, women just had their role in society.  Evelyn’s life path was not in question - it was normal for the times, but I doubt she was happy.  I wonder if she even felt happiness was something she could hope for.  I got the feeling she was happy surviving.   I wonder how her life would have been different if she had the option to finish high school and go on to college or if she could make enough money not to have to get married or fulfill society’s expectations that women have children.  So, yes, Evelyn instilled in me to fight for the under-dog, probably because she felt there was no one fighting for her. 

She encouraged me to reach out to the lonely kids on the playground who were rejected by the popular kids.  We shared what little we had with neighbors who had less than us.  She told me to go out and get what I wanted in life because it would not come “knocking on my door.”  She tried her best with what she had to work with, which wasn’t much materially or education-wise, but she had compassion and empathy, which I believe, made her very rich.

So it’s no surprise, today I consider myself a social justice advocate.  I fight for “THE OTHER” because today, so many more of us are THE OTHER.  We are the ones with a boot on our neck. The boot of white, male, fundamentalist Christian men and their female counterparts who benefit from the oppression of others.  Yes, this is the root of so much of the oppression and denigration and it’s not just oppression from the elites.  Often it’s poor, white, male, fundamentalist Christian men and their female counterparts who play their part in this patriarchal scheme. 

Naming this foe sounds radical or scary to some, especially coming from a white woman.  They don’t recognize white male privilege in our society because it just has always been the norm.  They don’t recognize institutionalized sexism, misogyny, racism and homophobia because it’s also always been the norm, taught at their dinner tables and spewing from the pulpits on Sunday.  Poverty is a punishment from God, some say.  Capitalism, the free market and rugged individualism cures it all, no matter there is no level playing field out there and everyone doesn’t have the ability to get into a good school or borrow $20,000 from their parents to start a company.  It’s survival of the fittest out there - no matter the teachings of Jesus.  If you need help, you’re a taker - no matter corporations get corporate welfare with our tax dollars everyday, but helping human beings is becoming less and less a priority. 

Predator capitalism, injustice, inequality, voter suppression, human rights violations, poverty, destruction of the social safety net, infrastructure crumbling, environment being poisoned, militarism,  income disparity at all time high levels, children going to bed hungry, women being subjected to state sanctioned vaginal probes for exercising their constitutional rights.  So what?  We used to have a name for some of you, though it has gone out of fashion.  WASPs.  White, Anglo-Saxon-Protestants.  Google it.  

So, you just keep scrap booking.  Keep listening to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh so you’re safely insulated in that cocoon of media-sanctioned callousness.  Don’t learn how your religion has devalued women and decimated cultures.  Don’t explore how history has been re-written.  Those things don’t touch you.  You’re comfortable.  Why should you care?  That suffering is the plight of The Other, those people not like you.  The ones that don’t really count, at the margins of society.  Their suffering is their punishment for not being like you and playing by your rules and worshiping your God, or more accurately your version of religious dogma written by men.  

Only more and more of us are becoming The Other:  black and brown skinned people, immigrants, gays, non-Christians, the poor and elderly, workers and women.  Now imagine if your life path suddenly takes an unexpected turn. What if suddenly you’re The Other?  Will you be sorry then you did not stand in solidarity with the unions before they are destroyed for supporting worker rights against multi-national corporations as they give workers less and less while they pay no taxes and become extraordinarily wealthy from human exploitation?  Will you ever be sorry you did not care about our violent and male-dominated culture’s domestic violence against women or women having to resort to back alley abortions?  Will you ever be sorry you did not fight for equal pay and reproductive rights for women so they might achieve independence?  Will you wait to care about environmentalism until your water is poisoned by fracking or all our food is GMOs?  Will you care when it’s your daughter’s life in danger but she cannot have an abortion because white Christian men have obliterated the separation between church and state with their ideology?  Next time you go shopping do you  know, or care, that the cashier standing there works a 38 hour week rather than 40 so her employer does not have to pay her any benefits and her wage is so low she has to get tax-payer funded food stamps, but food stamps too are under attack by Republican men who would rather spend all our tax dollars to further enrich corporations already making sky-rocketing profits. 

I could go on and on but this is a blog entry, not a chapter or a book.  You either get it or you don’t.  You either have empathy for the planet and humanity or you think if they are not like you, hence, they are not your concern. Why think outside your bubble?  Why risk and rock the boat? What would your peers think?  Shudder!  You are either part of the problem by your ignorance or complicit in your comfort.  There are none so blind as those who will not see.  And you probably are not seeing the ground swell of The Other rising out of the ashes.  Peaceful rebellion is a’foot around the world.  Women, workers, gays, immigrants, brown and black skinned people, the young and elderly, the poor, the environmentalist are all weary.  We are weary of that boot of injustice and exploitation on our neck and we are calling out our oppressor. It is patriarchy.  It is white, male-dominated, mostly Christian fundamentalist authority, who would continue to control the masses because the Bible tells them they are entitled.  No wonder Republicans have to cheat to win elections.  More and more people are getting a clue their policies benefit no one but the 1%.

Do you hear our sacred roar?  We are coming armed with ideals of the Sacred Feminine. We
are carrying with us the archetypes of not just Mary and Kwan Yin but Kali, the Morrighan, Libertas and Sekhmet.  We’re tired of waiting for you to evolve and do the right thing.  No more will we tolerate a world of injustice and inequality.  No more will we allow the destruction of Mother Earth.  No more will be sit quietly and obediently as our dignity is stripped from us and our futures stolen.  No more will our sexuality and reproductive rights be in the hands of religious zealots and their handmaidens.  We want partnership.  We want accountability.  We want dignity and freedom. We want reverence for the earth and all of humanity.  We want a world of  compassion and empathy where we recognize our interconnection and practice caring and sharing for the 99%. 

And before you get the wrong idea, I don't hate Christians.  I know too many good ones doing good work in the world.  Myself, I'm a recovering Catholic and I see the Divine Masculine in Jesus and believe in his message as he taught women and preached empathy, compassion and charity while rejecting greed and wealth.  And no, I’m not a lesbian, nor am I on welfare, as some white men have assumed when they read my posts on Facebook.  Neither do I hate men or need sex as I've been told by far too many white men on social media.  I've been married to a wonderful man for more than thirty years.  So, call me feminist.  Call me a pagan.  Call me politically incorrect or divisive. Call me a loud-mouthed and uppity woman.  Call me radical if you will for shedding light and having the courage to name the root of our problems.  Call me anything you like.  That’s another thing my mother taught me: Stick and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.

Goddess Notices...

 Happy Birthday Isis!

As I prepare to write a book on sacred sites of Goddess in Turkey and consider leading another tour to Anatolia, my mind returned to our last trip to a rural and out of the way place there called Pessinus.  Pessinus was sacred in ancient times as a center dedicated to Cybele, though her temple remains hidden beneath the sands of time and as yet undiscovered by contemporary archaeologists.

 This might all sound trivial, but I remember feelings of sacredness in Pessinus presenting itself in surprising ways.  Although we didn't find Cybele's temple, I believe I   felt  her there.  It seemed her essence was in the people and the energy of the place, still today.  Burned into my memory were the kids playing with their cows, adorning their heads with costume jewelry, walking them down the main road, not much more than a mud pathway.   It was obvious this was just a daily occurrence, this joyous and playful relationship to their cows.  For a city girl, it was revealing also seeing the cows responding to them.  Like they were pets  But what hit me like a ton of bricks was this old crone, sitting in a doorway.  She was dressed in what we Westerners would call a costume, though I suspect it might have been her native dress.  She wasn’t there selling anything or trying to make herself visible in any fashion.  There was something about her gaze.  It grabbed me and seemed to follow me.  Even though it was years ago, it feels like it was yesterday.  Don't laugh, but if felt as if she was a conduit to Goddess, or Goddess in human form overseeing our pilgrimage.  I had this sense that our visit was not going unnoticed.  

Then just a couple weeks ago, it happened again.

On Saturday night, June 22, under a the fullness of a super moon, the newly installed, larger than life-sized statue of the Egyptian lion-headed Goddess, Sekhmet, was consecrated at the Goddess Temple of Orange County in Irvine, CA. She was welcomed to a packed house of women and men on hand to welcome her to her new temporary home. High atop her four feet tall, pyramid-shaped base, Sekhmet dominated the room in regal splendor. It was hardly a surprise, during the instant of her unveiling, smoke alarms suddenly went off and lights began to flicker, leaving no doubt to all assembled she was definitely in the sanctuary

 The evening was filled with music, singing, dancing, drumming and recitations to dispel the disinformation about her most well known myth, a patriarchal myth perhaps designed to cause women to be feared, or women to fear their own power. Sekhmet, a solar deity known today to help women and men transform and empower themselves is rising at a crucial time in our history. Have no doubt she is on the rise as people strive to find their strength, tenacity, passion, creativity, courage - their sacred roar

Some readers might not know me well yet, but I don't have these kinds of feelings often or casually.  I tend to be more  skeptical and question everything, not allowing myself flights of fancy.  Turkey, however, felt more potent to me than a lot of places.  That veil between past and present, Goddess and mortal felt a little thinner.  Certainly at the Goddess Temple of Orange County Sekhmet was with us. 

Why am I sharing this with you?  Well, I want you to have no doubt the things we do do not go un-noticed.  So while you’re busy recovering from the Fourth of July festivities, consider the end of July marks the birthday of Isis.  Get your group together or if you are in a solitary mood, go it alone, but remember Isis in the latter days of this month and remember our relationship with Goddess is about reciprocity.  We give to her and she most definitely notices!
 

Femme: Women Healing the World Screenings in July in Los Angeles

Finally, a documentary that addresses the issues of patriarchy, of women's rights, of our desperate need for partnership. Femme: Women Healing the World is a brave film that starts at the beginning, unafraid to talk about pre-patriarchal times, when women and Goddess were revered and people were more concerned about the We and the Us instead of the current climate of greed and selfishness, the I and the Me. Femme is unafraid to examine the relationship between religion and the oppression of women and the economic disparity that is the result of our following a patriarchal or male-dominated agenda.

With Red States and Republicans around the country taking away women's dignity and their rights to their own reproductive health, to abortions and birth control in the year 2013, never has such a film been more needed. With women doing 80% of the work with only 20% of the assets, never has a film been more important. With so many women retiring in poverty and austerity measures being thrust upon the poor, disproportionately affecting women and children, information in this film is vital to help shift consciousness toward a more equitable and sustainable future. With the daily assaults on our finite resources and Mother Earth, it is time to wake up and this film is a wake-up call!

Featuring Jean Houston, Marianne Williamson, Riane Eisler, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Sharon Stone, Gloria Steinem, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and numerous other women across the globe, including myself, speaking out on how we might change the world along-side our beloved men. Come see it and celebrate with your friends! If you saw an earlier screening, come again, you'll see the powerful final cut!

The Dalai Lamma said it would be Western women who would save the world. Certainly it can be women across the globe, stepping up, taking on their mantle of leadership, DEMANDING they no longer be diminished and oppressed under male authority, that can begin to tip the scales toward love, balance, peace and an inter-connection among us all. Nothing less is acceptable. Nothing less will save humankind and the planet.

Femme: Women Healing the World
Directed by Emmanuel Itier of Wonderland Entertainment
Executive Produced by Sharon Stone
Edited and Produced by Amanda Estremera

Los Angeles Screenings in July -
July 12th: The Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival ( http://www.dffla.com/ ) at 8pm, Downtown Independent Theatre at 251 S. Man St -Downtown
and
-July 25th: The Awareness Film Festival ( http://www.awarenessfestival.org/ and http://awareness.festivalgenius.com/2013/ ) at 7:30pm Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica

Femme will be in various film festivals across the globe. Check to see if it is showing near you.
For more information go to www.WonderlandEntGroup.com

Freedom & Independence or Oozing Patriarchal Oppression?

Sure I’m going to eat my share of festival food this weekend. I might light some sparklers and try to get in the spirit of the holiday, but I won’t for a minute be in denial about the actual lack of freedom and independence for women, minorities, workers, the poor and the middle class in our country and across the globe.   I can't forget the patriarchal oppression oozing out everywhere, especially in the Red States!

The statistics and current trends warrant repeating and repeating often. Women do 80% of the work around the globe while owning 20% of the assets. That sounds more like servitude than freedom and independence! Women and children are more likely to be adversely affected by austerity measures imposed upon the multitudes by conservative men running governments across the globe. Imposing unnecessary suffering and struggle is not something to celebrate. Women’s rights to birth control and abortion are being threatened around the United States while they are being subjected to state mandated vaginal probes that neither they nor their doctors want. Last time I checked being penetrated against one’s will was called rape! Republican congressmen and governors have literally made themselves state sanctioned rapists.  Sound like hyperbole to you?  I don't think so.

Workers in places like Wal-Mart work a 38 hour week but make so little money they must be on tax-payer funded food stamps. Too many Americans have shot themselves in the foot and drank the Kool-Aid making villains of teachers, fire fighters and union workers rather than hold the real culprits to freedom and independence accountable. Thanks to an activist Supreme Court, with the majority acting as an arm of the Republican party, corporations are now people and can contribute to political campaigns without limit and decades of voter protections for minorities have been gutted, disproportionately affecting people who vote for Democrats. Power over tactics are hardly freedom inducing.

Then there is this woman who has been in the news a lot this week. Her name is Paula Dean. She admitted to having said an awful word years and years ago when she was less conscious about such things. I know how it can be.  I grew up in the South, too. We all don’t evolve at the same pace. What gets me about this story is Paula Dean is paying a price that far outweighs her crime, while oppressive and racist political parties are allowed to stay in business. The GOP gets a pass for their sexism and racism, both of which rob women and minorities of their freedoms, only they aren't getting the same pressure as a single woman who makes no laws that affect people's lives.

Knowledge is a form of freedom, but not in Kansas where doctors must lie to women now, saying they put themselves at greater risk of breast cancer if they have an abortion. Still more lies and trumped up faux-facts to ram-rod male-dominated religious dogma into law as Republicans go about saying the fetus masturbates in the womb,  to make the point if it feels pleasure, it certainly feels the pain of an abortion.  In Texas some female congresswoman in a pink suit tries to explain the reason their extreme abortion bills do not allow for abortion in cases of rape or incest is because the rape kit, used to collect DNA, will “clean out” the woman, so an abortion will not be necessary. Interesting isn’t it these are the same people who pride themselves in applying the death penalty so easily to adults.   They also are cutting Head Start and food stamps and gutting education all the while they only agree on immigration progress if we spend millions on helicopters to protect the borders.  Of course we can always justify more money for the military industrial complex while we starve children's bellies and minds!

There is so much more I might say, but let this suffice: With brilliant minds of such depth as these steering the country maybe it’s clear why I don’t feel much like celebrating freedom and independence until more people at home and around the world actually have it!