Why We Need the Sacred Feminine

This post has been rolling around in the hay and compost for awhile — decomposing, fermenting and recomposing into something that resembles dirt. Or soil. Nourishment for roots, fungi, worms and souls. If that sounds distasteful to you, then you might not like this post, and I’m OK with that. But I cannot, in good conscience, say nothing, so here goes, in no particular order, because sometimes messy, sullied, unruly, damp and slimy provide exactly what standardized artificial fertilizers, synthetic UV lights, rationality and endless iterations of patriarchal straightjackets fail to deliver. Here goes.

Take a mainstream media source, any mainstream media source, male or female. Now take an alternative media source — go ahead, there’s a lot to choose from: Alex Jones, Jon Rappoport, David Icke, Zero Hedge, David Wilcox, Benjamin Fulford, Jeff Rense … and many more. Take a politician, any politician, male or female, including Hillary “Takes Glee in Having Defended a Man She Knew Raped a 12-Year-Old Girl” Clinton. Take a music video, fashion runway, magazine, or Hollywood film. Now pick a fundamentalist offshoot of a religion (any one will do) — Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Jesuit, even the “Golden” “New Age” fundamentalists.

Regardless of intention or sincerity, what do such a diverse group of “representatives,” “mouthpieces” and “arbiters” all have in common?

A complete desecration or denial of the Sacred Feminine. If She’s not attacked, co-opted as a female figurehead, or corseted into the more socially accepted “Divine Feminine,” then she’s simply absent. Not available for comment. Three Monkeyed out of existence. I almost wrote “Sacred Famine-ine” … because it’s that dry and barren. Nary a Goddess in sight, except to mock, co-opt, demonize, sterilize, neutralize, or ridicule. I am sure at least some of these people sincerely wish good will upon humans and our planet, but with friends like these, who needs Thought Police? Who needs a carefully orchestrated One World Government and One World Religion when we’ve already eradicated the Creatrix Womb and such subversive, exuberant, and juicy birth canals? Who needs the Hidden Hand of a New World Order, Ordo Ab Chao, when we’ve already neutered or repressed all that “superstition,” “mindless ritual,” “emotion,” “false energy Matrix” and “ridiculous”/”evil” magick?

Haven’t you heard? The Light of “Reason” or the Pure Light of the Golden Age of “Oneness” is on the verge of defeating and destroying all things dark, silly, irrational, unequal, evil and soulful. Haven’t you heard? The soul’s a “trap.” “They” will kindly remove and dispose of it to save you the trouble of reincarnating. Or emoting. You, too, can join the (non-hierarchical) ranks of never-ending Light. At first you’ll experience accelerated growth, but yeah, eventually, you’ll fry. That’s OK, though, because this is the “New” paradigm, the pinnacle of existence, the static “5D” nirvana of “Oneness.”

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, but….

What if Light is a force that enables clearer seeing, but like any force or tool, it depends on how it’s used? Light can illuminate or blind, just as fire can warm or destroy. Darkness, too, has its place. In the real world, important things take place in darkness. Like gestation. You know, in the womb. Or seeds, sprouting in the Earth. Or last year’s waste, turning into this year’s fertile compost. Light can sterilize and prevent infection, but “to sterilize” also means “to deprive (a person or an animal) of the ability to produce offspring, as by removing the reproductive organs” or “to make incapable of bearing fruit or germinating.”

A world of All Light, All the Time is no healthier and more fertile than a world consumed by Darkness. On the contrary. Light and Shadow play upon and through each other, showing depth and form. A world that demands and celebrates All Light, All the Time quickly becomes one dimensional. In the art world, chiaroscuro allows a two dimensional painting to reveal 3D form. This process happens due to the dynamic interplay of light and shadow. When you erase all shadows, you don’t “go 5D.” You go 1D. One dimensional. A single point. “Oneness,” yes, but with complete, permanent rejection of anything except light, you get annihilation, not increased dimensional options and creativity. That kind of radiation will eventually kill or sterilize everything.

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“Oneness,” the “Cosmic Zero,” the “Stillpoint,” “One Love” — whatever you want to call it — is powerful because it contains All That Is in pure potential, but it’s also sterile without the impulse and ability to re-expand. That impulse to birth is inherently Feminine. And Sacred. The Great Mystery surrounds and imbues Creation. Indeed, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” something beyond pure mechanics. So is Life. (Or at least, certain types of Life.) Our Universe contains far more “dark matter” than scientists can explain. Our souls contain far more freedom than religion can detain. In Ancient Times, women isolated themselves during menstruation, not because it was dirty, but because the menstrual blood held so much power. Men needed protection from that potent, mysterious force of Nature.

I had originally planned to title this post “Desecration, Dimensions and Discernment: When ‘More’ Means ‘Fewer’ and ‘Less,'” but Gillian of Shift Frequency loved my almost typo: “Sacred Famine-ine.” I’ve settled upon “Why We Need the Sacred Feminine,” because most people seem to have forgotten that we do.

“A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”
― T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

I’d like to make clear at this point that I have nothing against the Divine Feminine or Divine Masculine. We can certainly use more of those in our world; however, they are not, on their own, enough to create something entirely New.

We need the Sacred Masculine, too, but Sacred Masculine and Sacred Feminine are different in kind and function, as well as form. The Sacred Masculine can fertilize but He does not gestate. The patriarchy can desecrate seeds into GMO’s, inject nanobots and pervert DNA, but despite its obsessive efforts, it can never entirely control Creation. The ability to create and birth new life rightfully belongs to the realm of Mystery with a capital M. Conception, gestation and birth remain a process of the Sacred Feminine. The Sacred Masculine provides the spark of fertilization, plus strength, support and protection for the Sacred Feminine. Some kind of fertilization is necessary, but it is possible for the Great Mother to carry the New to term without the strength, support or protection of a Sacred Masculine. These qualities are nice, perhaps even preferred, but they are not inherently required. The Sacred Masculine, Divine Masculine and even the radiantly Divine Feminine cannot birth New Worlds into being anymore than a man or the external shell of a woman can grow and birth a baby.

Once the rebirth happens, the New can include the ongoing Cosmic Dance between Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, as well as the Secret, Mysterious Communion of Sacred Masculine and Sacred Feminine. But we really need the Sacred Feminine in order to birth that New: if we want something truly New, rather than a shiny rehash of the crumbling old or complete annihilation, then me must honor and invoke the Great Creatrix.

OK, OK, but where can we find Her?

She hides and reveals Herself in Nature, shadows, chalices, coves and wells. She receives and allows reception. She rests in the Land Herself and in Ancient Songs and Ways. The Fae honor and adore Her. The Soul recognizes Her. We love Her as we embrace the Sovereignty of Land and Soul.

Recommended resources:

Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore

The Shadow King by Sidra Stone

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Return of the Dark/Light Mother or New Age Armageddon? Towards a Feminist Vision of the Future by Monica Sjoo

The Goddess vs. The New Age: Singing the Sacred Land by Jacqui Woodward-Smith

Tarot Shadow Work: Using the Dark Symbols to Heal by Christine Jette

The Goddess Path

Bealtaine Cottage

Eternal Curves

The Venus Project (photoshopped versions of classical art masterpieces — scroll to the right)

Your own two hands — in the soil, hugging trees, preparing food, healing and creating in deeply longed for ways.