Aspects of the Feminine
by Sharron Rose
 Looking across the landscape of today's culture, one can easily see
that the definition of what is feminine is mired in deep confusion.
Hollywood and the media provide us with stereotypical seductresses and
vixens; gun-toting, muscle-bound women who turn to violent answers;
anorexic models who teach us that self-starvation is eminently
attractive; hard-edged business women married to their corporations;
and women and girls portrayed as victims, prostitutes, and sociopaths.
Then, of course, there is always the example of the woman who has
totally subordinated herself to her husband, the image that so many of
us rebelled against in the 1960s and 1970s. But is commanding military
troops or leaving one's children to spend sixty hours a week fulfilling
corporate expectations really what women were fighting for all those
years?
Many years ago I was perplexed by issues such as these. Inspired
by the teachers and teachings I had encountered, I began to question the
validity of this newly created feminine path. As a naive young woman of
the 1960s and member of the feminist movement, I had been filled with
hope for a future in which women would be seen by men as equals and
partners. Yet as time went by and my experience in the world grew, it
appeared to me that something had gone very wrong in this quest for
female equality.
It
seemed to me that after years of effort women were valued or
compensated only to the extent that we could learn to be like men, and
that by taking on the male paradigm as our role model we were losing
touch with the very essence, beauty, and power of who we were. As I
watched women enter and rise in the corporate world, leaving their
children at very young ages to be raised by strangers, women so caught
up in the lust for power, fame, and fortune that they had no time to
fulfill their time-honored and extremely essential roles, as I listened
to children who spent more time watching television than interacting
with their parents, it struck me that perhaps this new feminist
approach was not what I had envisioned.
While some may argue that women presiding in male-dominated
professions are bringing their uniquely feminine gifts to those roles,
I have noticed that it is usually just the opposite. Because of
imprinted male suspicions of the intrinsic fallibility of the female,
in order to gain respect in these institutions women in such leadership
positions are forced to abandon the receptive, nurturing, integrative
aspects of their nature and become harsh and aggressive. In fact, these
women most often discover that this newfound toughness and aggression
is cheered on and admired by their male colleagues, while their natural
feminine qualities are denigrated. Can you imagine what would have
happened to Margaret Thatcher if she had dropped her tough masculine
facade and revealed her true emotions in public? Would she have then
been admiringly referred to as the "Iron Lady"?
Throughout the years of my mystic quest, I became more and more
cognizant of the high levels of stress, anxiety, suffering, and
exhaustion that are the signature of our modem lifestyle. As I listened
to my friends and students speak about their hopes, fears, illusions,
and disillusions; as I watched young girls being led farther away from
any sort of understanding of their true feminine nature; and as I
witnessed how the luminous energy fields of those around me were
constantly being depleted of life and vitality, it became clear to me
that the prevailing vision of the woman being offered to us by the
dream merchants of our contemporary Western society was extremely
problematic.
As I discussed these issues with others they would
frequently agree with this analysis. "You clearly embody a grace,
refinement, and femininity that is rare in our society," they would
say. "Having studied the spiritual teachings of ancient civilizations
for so long, would you speak to us about what you have learned? Can you
tell us about where we can find adequate role models for girls and
women or paths that lead us to our true spiritual heritage?"
At that point I began to offer my friends and students the fruit of
the work I had done and the insights I had obtained into the true
nature of the feminine experience. I spoke to them about the teachings,
rituals, and practices of the rich and fulfilling path of the
priestess, yogini, and wise woman. As I did so, my friends and students
began to perceive the severe contrasts between this sacred path and the
one we as women have been imprinted to follow by modern Western
society.
In these ancient societies, which were fully attuned to the ways of
spirit, it was perceived that in the ultimate sense, beyond the laws of
physical form and the dual nature of our reality, there is no essential
distinction between women and men. From this metaphysical perspective,
each human being was seen as an expression of the light and energy of
the fundamental unity and one divine source of existence. According to
this view, each human being ultimately contains both female and male
aspects. At the same time great differences between female and male
were recognized.
In the ancient world the beauty and wonder of these
differences was celebrated. The intrinsic powers and capacities unique
to female or male embodiment were understood and channeled in ways most
suitable to the health and welfare of the community. Through
gender-specific rites of passage the fundamental energies of each
community member would be aligned with her or his essential nature.
Once this was achieved each could begin to experience and appreciate
the energetic qualities of the other. In this way each being could have
a direct personal experience of the ultimate union of goddess and god,
female and male, that exists beyond all forms.
These civilizations believed that there were at least as many
manifestations of the Goddess as there are women on the planet, and
even more existed in the subtle realms of light. All women were
perceived to be emanations of the Great Goddess, and all men were
emanations of the Great God. Like the myriad rays that shoot forth
from the light of the sun, the divine effulgence was believed to
manifest as the wealth of forms that make up both the physical and
subtle dimensions. Each woman, man, animal, plant, and mineral was
regarded as a visible expression of that essential spiritual current,
or Shakti, emerging from the primordial source of all creation.
By
their very nature men were believed to be focused primarily on the
physical experience of existence. This innate attunement made them most
adept at creating the external material landscape of our reality.
Women, on the other hand, were perceived as having a natural affinity
for the more subtle realms of energy, emotion, and vibration. Therefore
they were instrumental in creating and maintaining the inner psychic
landscape or equilibrium of the society. Here the word psychic is used
not in the profane sense of the word that our modern-day "psychics" and
purveyors of all things supernatural would have us believe, but as a
derivative of its original Greek root psyche, meaning "soul." In fact,
in the Kabbalistic and gnostic traditions the female principle in
humanity was considered an expression of the soul itself.
However, in today's unbalanced society women have been undervalued
and treated as subordinate for so long that they have actually come to
believe that their knowledge and abilities are of lesser value. Why is
it that women tend to be suspicious, jealous, and judgmental of each
other to a degree that they would never be toward men? How many women
when meeting another woman for the first time automatically size up the
other woman to see if she could be a threat to her job, social
position, or relationship?
Over the years I have often heard horror stories about female
executives being harsher on their female employees than on the males.
It is as if these women, imprinted by the male paradigm, become its
most loyal soldiers and henchmen. They dress in female versions of
men's corporate attire and surround themselves with male trappings of
power. Perceiving themselves as being watched for signs of "feminine
weakness" by the men who surround them, they overcompensate by becoming
more dominating and more demanding of their employees than any male
executive.
What has this kind of thinking produced? A society in which women
tend to underrate, discredit, and demean each other; a society in which
children are left without nurturing and spiritual guidance; a society
of self-centered women motivated by the need to prove themselves in a
male world; a society of women who trade in the essential roles of
mother, teacher, and spiritual guide for worldly power, fame, and
fortune.
With the rise of the patriarchy and disappearance of women's rites,
women were left floundering in a man's world with no one to help them
understand their true natures, capacities, and purposes in life.
Separated from their ancient female heritage and living lives dominated
by fear and repression, women no longer even knew that it was their
task to create and maintain the psychic-energetic landscape in a
positive, harmonious way. The result has been increasing disorder and
chaos.
We have the ability to heal our confused and unstable way of life,
to restore a sense of harmony and balance to ourselves and the world
around us. Our task as women in this modern age, in this time of
darkness and oppression, is to journey to the depths of our beings and
rediscover the essential light and power that has always been there,
hidden by the dark veils of confusion and manipulation. We must have
the courage to honestly observe ourselves, release our imprints, and
discover who we really are.
Following this call is the beginning of the destruction of imprints
and the beginning of the path to awakening. We must create new
standards of feminine expression, seeking as our role models those that
offer us the purest and most virtuous goals. As a start we can look
back to the wealth of myths, stories, and legends of the Divine
Feminine that have survived throughout this dark night of the soul,
using them for guidance and inspiration.
This
article was excerpted from:
 The Path of the Priestess
by
Sharron Rose.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Inner Traditions. ©2002.
www.InnerTraditions.com
Info/Order this book.
About the Author
 SHARRON
ROSE, an internationally acclaimed teacher, writer, and performer and Fulbright
scholar in world mythology, religion, and sacred dance, has been investigating
the wisdom of ancient cultures for the past twenty-five years. She lives in Los
Olivos, California, with her husband and hermetic scholar, Jay Weidner. Website:
www.sacredmysteries.com
More articles by this author.
| Comments () >> |
 |
 |
