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Nuit and Geb These two are the Great Lovers, the Great Mother and Great Father, polar opposites joined in harmony. I have become acutely aware of Them as I spend time outside, touching the Earth, tending my garden, revelling in the tear-evoking beauty of the sunrise or looking up into the clouds, or even caressing the flowers in the floral department. All of these things are Milady and Milord, and much more. When the nourishing rain falls, She is caressing Him with love. When a tree blows in the wind, He is reaching up to touch Her. When the winter snow falls, She is covering Him with a blanket as He sleeps. In the spring, when new growth stretches up, He has woken. When the animals couple in the springtime and the flowers bloom, He is singing.
When I speak to Her, it is in meditation. She has appeared to me as the ultimate woman, who is all things compassion, all things strength, ultimate power in love and reason. She ain't no meek little housefrau, believe you me. She is the stars, the sky, the Universe. She is the wrath of the supernova, the emptiness of space, the vastness of the galaxy, the calm and rage of the heavens, constantly creating new life and new galaxies, constantly in motion. Try looking at images from space, and you may see what I mean. She surrounds us always, contains all life and all things in the Universe. Without Her, we would never have existed. When I speak to Him, it is with touch. I feel it is the way He prefers to be loved. When I tend my garden, I always walk in bare feet, for to do otherwise is to insult Him. When I lie on the ground in the midst of dried autumn maple leaves, I feel His fatherly caress. I never strip a plant bare, but always leave a bit for Him. When I drive on asphalt, I realize just how much we've hurt Him, paving over Him in order to make our lives more convenient, destroying His rain forests, His trees, with which He reaches to touch His love. Anything we do to separate Them, to cut Them off from one another, hurts Them. This is what I feel. I believe that we mortals are Their go-betweens, humans, animals, birds (especially birds). We at once walk on the Earth and touch the Sky. It is through us that They are joined. |
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The Earth Mother The idea that the Earth is feminine is a very popular one in the modern feminist movement. In ancient times, people noted the way the Earth "gave birth" to plants and vegetation each year, and this marvelous magic gave rise to the idea that the Earth is feminine. Many women (and some men too) have revived this thought, being frustrated with the Biblical idea that the Earth and the animals and such are to be mastered, used and exploited by human beings to our heart's desire. The fact is, the Earth was here first, and we have no real right to call it Ours.
Women (and, again, some men) who come to think of the Earth as a Mother are often comforted by the thought. After millennia of male domination, we finally had something that was Ours and not Theirs. You might ask me, how could a modern feminist such as myself possibly turn my back on the notion that the Earth is our Mother? I answer in this way: I am more balanced than that. I can see feminine attributes to the Earth, but I also see masculine attributes. Furthermore, what constitutes "feminine" and "masculine"? Nurturing, caring, strength, fertility, virility? These things are all present in the Earth and the Sky alike. They are found both in women and in men. I can actually see the Earth as being both feminine and masculine at once. I honor the Earth as male because that is the way my tradition handles it. I also have a place in my heart to honor the feminine side of the Earth. The problem, I think, with the ideal of the Earth Mother is that feminists assume that since She is our Mother, and therefore a Woman, then when She rises She will target those mean, nasty men who have been enslaving us for thousands of years. They assume that She would not target the women who have (unfortunately) taken part in Her destruction, because, hey, She's a Woman! What Woman would attack a Woman? We're supposed to be the victims, right? Furthermore, when you think of the Earth as masculine, you kind of assume that He will naturally be biased against Women and toward Men in the same way...that if He rises (so to speak), there will be no justice for Women and patriarchal tyranny will continue as before. (can anyone say "White House"?) You know what they say: "To Assume makes an 'Ass' outta 'u' and 'me'." Unfortunately, destruction of the Earth is not gender-biased. Therefore, if the Earthspirit arises ticked off at Her/His attackers, it won't be one or the other S/He attacks. Justice for Women will have to come from our own hands (and feet, and fists, and brick purses, and so on). We can't ask the Earth to favor half our species while dissing the other half, either way. That is my take on it. As ever, you believe what you want. |
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