With the timely publication of Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present and Future we now have a definitive textbook on the incredible outpouring of modern Matriarchal Studies that has occurred in recent years. An excellent anthology of research, essays, and ideas by luminaries in the academic world, Societies of Peace also brings together political activists, goddess scholars, feminists and indigenous women from all over the world. The new paradigm of Matriarchal Studies is here to stay! Presenting concrete social alternatives to the looming global crises our patriarchal civilization has wrought, Matriarchal Studies holds great political potential and lifeboats developed from thousands of years of experience.

If we take the wisdom in Societies of Peace and DELIVER IT! as Kenyan activist and powerhouse Wahu Kaara suggests, it will have an incredible impact on the world.  The times require a fundamental shift in the way we perceive our collective reality, and findings on matriarchal cultures can offer us the vision of a new/old egalitarian society.

Matriarchies have a non-violent social order, conform to motherly values, and are based on gender equality.  Political decisions are reached through consensus, and social guidelines guarantee a good life for all. Matriarchal spirituality, deeply rooted in a reverence for Mother Earth and her gifts, prevents the exploitation of nature or animals.  These societies, both ancient and still existing on the planet today, are humanity’s – and especially women’s – greatest heritage.  Societies of Peace presents to a wider public the message of an alternative social and cultural model that promotes trust, mutuality, and abundance for all.

Edited by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, the founding mother of modern Matriarchal Studies, the scholarship and ideas in Societies of Peace are taken from two groundbreaking World Congresses on Matriarchal Studies that she led – “Societies in Balance” in Luxembourg in 2003, and “Societies of Peace” in Texas in 2005.  For the first time at these Congresses, international scholars working on Matriarchal Studies and women’s spirituality in isolation from one another came together to connect and collaborate. The book features exciting, creative and important contributions from (among others) Riane Eisler, Barbara Alice Mann, Peggy Reeves Sanday, Claudia von Werlhof, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Vicki Noble, Susan Gail Carter, Annette Kuhn, Lamu Gatusa, Bernedette Muthien, Fatimata Oualet Halatine and Wilhelmina J. Donkoh.

Of special interest is Genevieve Vaughan’s contribution and sustaining support, both to the Texas congress and the book, as well as her essay “Matriarchy and the Gift Economy.” The guiding light for the new gift economy movement, Genevieve Vaughan describes the practice of “freebies” like housework, childcare and other “random acts of kindness” that already exist in society, unrecognized and unappreciated by the dominant patriarchy. Within a matriarchal culture, the modes of distribution are based on the principles of nurture, and needs are met directly resulting in a more functional community than a market economy based on self-interest, greed and profit. Gift-giving creates positive relationships, justice and solidarity, and with radical change, can be adopted as a new alternative economy at local levels and beyond. 

The knowledge and insight made possible with modern Matriarchal Studies is absolutely amazing, and has the capacity to change the historical record and create a paradigm shift in the prevailing worldview.   Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present and Future gives us the tools to wake up and take on this great work, which is creating alternative, life-affirming matriarchal models as the basis for a new society!

How deeply are human beings entwined with the natural world? Bespoke wisdom, a vision from the wild, or an offering from my animist Clan Mothers, an epiphany came to me in the trance state between sleeping and waking. This fantastical manifesto, an ontology inspired by our most ancient beginnings, extends past the far reaches of modern environmental theory and gives us much to contemplate as we continue to be humbled by the Great Mystery. 

WHAT IF it was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that your soul is eternal?  That your soul is a unique and sacred spark, a blessed part of the Divine Mystery that animates your inner life from birth to death and beyond?  AND WHAT IF it was proven that your soul is on a continuous forward journey?   AND WHAT IF PROOF EXISTS that between lifetimes your soul resides IN the landscape and IN the various features, elements and creatures in the natural world? THAT IN FACT, the natural environ-ment serves as a vessel or holding place for your spirit? 

The trees, plants, wetlands, grasslands, wildflower meadows, sand dunes, mounds, rocky escarpments, underground tunnels, caverns, ponds, lakes, rivers – any of these numinous and holy landscapes could serve as dwelling places for your soul.   

AND KNOWING THIS TO BE TRUE, believing beyond a doubt that the continuum of your soul depends on this eco-resting place, how can we allow the destruction of the natural world to continue?  The contamination created by conveniences and technologies,  the pollution dumped into the water systems, air and earth, the forests logged, the animals harvested, the earth’s body stripped by mining, the replacement of wild nature with highways, fences, factories and cities all pose a real and terrible danger to your personal destiny.   After your physical death, where the Great Mystery will place your spirit cannot be predicted. (Unless you have had exceptional training and have willed it so.  Making personal decisions affecting the process of being born into death used to be a given in indigenous societies.)  

Therefore the reckless and thoughtless damage to the environment on every level MUST BE STOPPED!  It goes far beyond the adage of We are All Connected.  We now know that without access to the undisturbed natural places on this beautiful planet that have been provided for our soul's rest and return, our spirits will surely and completely disappear. Contrary to the modern worldview, humans are not meant to exist in close proximity to concrete cities, technology and the built environment, but thrive in the truest sense ONLY in the embrace of the green and natural world. 

The farther away we push nature the smaller our souls become – this is not a metaphor but a fact, as experienced by the millions today who feel a void, something missing in their lives.  Endless void-fillers, distractions and therapies exist to address this emptiness, but most of the theories bypass the simple truth that would address the foundational requirements of our eco-soul.  The contemporary endemic shrinking of the spirit is a reality, and healing is possible when we return to our ancestral and earth-connected roots, reclaim our enchantment with the world, embrace the wild for our ensouling, and re-establish the connection to Mother Earth so vital to our well-being.
            
As we co-existed peacefully with the Earth for millennia, we must expand once again into our true nature and potential as fully-realized human beings. To survive as beings of both body and spirit, we must acknowledge our vital reciprocal relationship with nature and embrace our true human role as keepers and protectors of  Earth Community. 

Examples of the Eco-Soul dynamic are found in earth-connected and indigenous societies worldwide, in oral tradition, myth, and even contemporary filmmaking. Based on Yolngu Matha indigenous knowledge and filmed in  the Ganalbingu language, the Australian award-winning movie Ten Canoes is a dazzling and accurate portrayal of a pre-contact hunter-gatherer society deeply bonded to the natural world in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. During the course of the movie, the storytelling in their oral tradition reveals that the souls of their people continue to live in a particular wetland, or billabong, between lives, and that the pregnant women of the tribe will go there to coax a soul into their belly.

Sourced from the ancient folklore of Europe and elsewhere, James Frazer states in The Golden Bough that  the  spirits of  the  dead  reside  in the trees,  awaiting rebirth. The indigenous peoples of Lithuania, Greece, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Britain, Africa, Indonesia and the Americas worshipped the trees as sacred beings with in-dwelling souls, and protected them from harm. Depending on the culture, trees can be the abode of spirits, gods, ancestors, or souls waiting to be born.

One of the ancient megalithic structures found in Malta, the Hypogeum in Ħal-Saflieni is the oldest intact underground temple in the world, and is thought to have been sacred space for rituals of birth, death and regeneration. Both above and below ground, the temple complex of this ancient matriarchal society (3800 to 3600 BCE) reveals construction and symbols that celebrate fertility and the female form. Having amazing acoustic properties, the subterranean chambers and structures enabled powerful communication with the spirit realm, and were places for worship, divination and healing. From tomb to womb, the Hypogeum in Ħal-Saflieni was also the burial place for thousands  of community members, and the Chamber of All Souls held the spirits of the collective between lives as crucible, vessel and cauldron. The highly-evolved wisdom held by this society allowed for the successful migration between disembodied and incarnate spirits, in a dance of Sacred Mystery that embraced the perennial cycles of  life.

Artisan and writer Maia Heissler is the creator of a charming sub-culture of elfin creatures called “The Forest Friends.”  A pleasure to contemplate for all ages, she constructs these magical beings from natural materials and arranges them in dioramas of earth-connected and harmonious activities.  As lifelong companion to the “wild places and wild things” in her own backyard, her beautiful rune stone set (Lifestones) came about by allowing space for the deep meaning inherent in the movements of animals and the shapes of leaves, roots and branches to come to her as insights which she translated into beautiful symbols.  Maia’s goal is to re-sensitize people to the wisdom of nature and inspire us to love the earth, and  her recent book "Wild Things for the Soul" does just that with its blend of spiritual memoir, nature writing and DIY modalities.  

This year on my March 17 birthday (the day of the Celtic green!) I looked out over the expanse of drab lawn uncovered by the recently melted snow and saw that the robins had returned.  Spring enfolds very slowly here in central Ontario.  The robins touched with red busily foraging and the tiny buds barely visible on the highest branches are the first hopeful signs of renewal and rebirth.  Year after year, ravaged by the cold in myriad ways (I don't like winter) it's no wonder that I resonate with Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and her monumental struggles.  In the discovery of Her story and the deep meaning inherent, I found a myth that speaks to my own experiences with hibernation and illness, and my emergence into the light of recovery and transformation.

In Greek mythology, the maiden Persephone, daughter of the harvest Goddess Demeter, is abducted and raped by Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.  Facing abuse, adversity, and the bleakness of her new home, she still manages to find her true self and embody the dark and mysterious persona of Hades' new wife and Queen of the Underworld.  In the meantime, Demeter searches desperately for her daughter.  She neglects to nurture the land in the process, and the earth becomes a wasteland barren of crops or vegetation.  Eventually Persephone is rescued by her mother, but because she was tempted by Hades to eat pomegranate seeds, she must return to the Underworld every half-year.  Persephone now divides her time between the upper and lower worlds, with an awareness and existence in both the dimensions of the living and the dead.  She cannot return to her original innocence, as she has eaten the seeds of death and knowledge and has evolved from Maiden to Queen. 
 

The Persephone myth contains many layers of meaning for us today, and working with the story of her descent into darkness we learn that our own experience of powerlessness can be our greatest teacher.  When we are betrayed by our own bodies or by dire circumstance, we enter into an Underworld of disability and pain, and lose our yang energy and the ability to act of our own free will.   But like Persephone, when we surrender to the deep currents and dark places of our misplaced fears, many gifts and blessings can be found.  We quickly learn to trust and honour the mysterious workings of our bodies at a deep cellular level, which is very grounding and humbling.  We learn to trust our own unique purpose which may (or may not) include a healing crisis. We learn to slow down, to recognize our limitations and appreciate the small things in life, like the gestures of kindness and the everyday places we take for granted.  Illness becomes our teacher and the greatest gift is the "turning within" which occurs.  When in this yin mode we experience the peace at the heart of the world.  Peeling back the layers, we come close to the Divine Plan and can feel the location of the "key to the soul" - the sacred energies that are at play in our lives.   What at first feels like the push of The Dark Goddess into a life-shattering experience transforms into Her embrace!

As Daughters of the Goddess, we can keep the themes of Persephone's story close to our hearts.  She is the "green fuse" in our soul, and represents the regenerative energy and potential for growth and transformation.  Looking deep into the language of the myth we can develop the skills to transform ourselves as we adapt to all of our experiences, both light and dark, and move toward wholeness and awareness.  Persephone teaches us that at our core we are of the highest ultimate value, and have an intrinsic self-worth.   No longer afraid of the shadows in the Underworld, we have embraced the holy darkness, and claiming all parts of our soul, emerge into the light with joy and love both for ourselves and others. It is time to bloom, to ripen, to embrace our full power and celebrate our extraordinary triumph after a long and painful struggle.

For me, Persephone ultimately evokes springtime, sunshine and liberation! She symbolizes the recurring patterns and gravitations within my own self.  In Her name I acknowledge the healing of the feminine and honour our transitions, the cosmic dance of all  life,  and the sacred cycles of the seasons.  As surely as spring follows winter, and as the richness of the darkness moves creatively into the light, if we can surrender to our transformation nothing is ever lost.




unfurling first - the buds of willow
the grass - a thick carpet of green
the birds - can't stop their joyful singing
Persephone has returned!

In that spirit, I was taken by surprise to see a gorgeous miniature book entitled Wicca: Ancient Feminine Magic in one of my local recycling shops.   Not passed down to me from mysterious ancestors, but priced at $1, a unique find nonetheless!  A welcome addition to my magical library, it contains many inspirational passages such as this:

"Open the door.  There is magic in the wind outside, chanting to you.  The ways of Wicca are of pleasure and delight.  Approach Wicca with love and respect.  Learn to pay attention and listen to the world around you. Mother Earth holds many secrets in her bosom.  These secrets are whispered to those who will listen."

You just never know what you might find (or what might find you) in with those curios and clear-outs.   Blessings in Her!

View the "Goddess Series" and more from this award-winning artist at ~www.davidparson.ca   “The process of creating is what sustains me, what connects me to my authentic self.  With divinity we grow…..to grace we aspire…..in love we cherish the day.”   David Parson 

“The feminine fire is a primordial, elemental force that is powerful
beyond our wildest imaginings.  It is, in fact, power itself.”  

Teri Degler's brilliant work of scholarship and wisdom connects mythology to our spiritual and creative journey and the awakening of the Divine Feminine.  By decoding texts from religious and mystical traditions and delving into the mysteries of kundalini energy, Teri has been able to identify the Divine Feminine Fire as a source of empowerment already embodied within us.  This cosmic force, also known as Shakti, Shekinah or Sophia, is not just the voice of the feminine, or the divine within, or of our higher self, but it is the force itself.  Teri helps us to understand this force, how it exists within, how it manifests, and how it propels our spiritual journey and boosts our empowerment and self-expression.  We know this power as the yearning we feel to help others, to heal, to grow spiritually, to express our creativity and to transform our self and the world.  Often we suppress the yearning to create in favor or more socially acceptable activities.  Teri counteracts this with the life stories of both historic and contemporary women, and gives us teachings on how to "fire-up" our creativity and birth our own passions, desires, projects and visions.

Examining the Divine Feminine Fire at work in the fascinating lives of Mahadevi Akka, a 12th century Hindu saint and Mechthild of Magdeburg, a 13th century Christian mystic, reveals surprising similarities to the spiritual experiences of women today.  The kundalini-shakti experience of Mahadevi teaches us to become comfortable with our wilder, more powerful emotions, and the holy spirit experience of Mechthild teaches us to go with the flow, to accept and embrace the life-long process of transformation.  Covered with greater detail in her earlier book "The Fiery Muse", Teri describes how the works of Hildegard of Bingen parallel the universal life force (the Divine Feminine "Shakti" principle), triggering a transformation of consciousness that led to Hildegard's mystical experiences and divinely-inspired creativity.

Teri finds that three manifestations of the Divine Feminine from different spiritual traditions - Shakti, Shekinah and Sophia - share many of the same characteristics.  They represent the embodiment of the sacred within, manifest as divine light, are seen as the universal life force, and are a source of transformation and creative inspiration in our lives.  Inspired creativity is part of Shakti Awakening - a path that combines both spirituality and creativity.  Teri has found that the source for spiritual experience and creative energy is exactly the same, and moves us in the same transformational direction.  Creative blocks and the critical inner voice can be overcome, and our work is to allow ourselves to hear the call of the creative spirit, recognize the urge or profound need to create, and give this feeling its full expression.  The energy of life and creation is impossible to control, yet it pulses through each one of us and has a role to play in our daily lives.

Women have always had access to the Divine Feminine within, but Teri gives us the actual steps we can take to recognize this energy, make it real, and discover how the embodied Divine Feminine can become an ever-expanding source of creativity. The first step is to recognize Her in your life by becoming familiar with the sacred stories of Shakti, Shekinah and Sophia; the second is to learn to listen to Her when she is calling you; the third is learning to hold Her great power in your body, to simply be with Her; and the fourth step is to express Her, the creativity of your soul, and allow Her to flow outward from the heart of your being.  With these four steps we can integrate the Divine Feminine into our lives, connect with Her through creative expression of all types, and "radiant with joy and enthusiasm", dedicate ourselves to manifesting Divine Feminine Spirit in the  world!

Way back in December of 1987, I wrote a poem entitled Women Are the Only Hope in a meditative moment.  Little did I know that the title would be the wording and precursor to a concept that would later appear in the collective consciousness, and expressed by (among others) Mendelson Joe!