Giving a Name To the Emptiness

May The Blessing of God Go Before You

May Her peace and grace abound.

May her spirit live within you.

May her love wrap you ‘round.

May her blessing remain with you always.

May you walk on holy ground.

~Miriam Therese Winter, Life Prayers

How often have you felt that vagueness, that undefined nothingness in your life that leaves you feeling disconnected, no longer part of the daily activities that move around you? That feeling that you are trapped inside a movie set with no script and the director just won't yell, CUT! Do you find more and more that you are often less and less motivated, or fail to get excited over the accomplishments of your children, your spouse, or your own the way you used to? Mental health practitioners would most likely mark these symptoms up to depression or some mood disorder. Would they ever think to consider that perhaps it is just a "lost connection"? A broken connection to the very substance that is the wellspring of the body, mind and soul.

I am talking about our lost connection to those things we view as sacred, divine...in particular the feminine aspect of divinity. It does not matter what "religion" you practice..the sacred force of life knows no dogma, no boundaries, no heritage, no bloodline. The very essence of life requires a balance of opposing energies. When one energy becomes dominant or excessive, natural processes become unbalanced. When upper air masses and surface wind currents become unbalanced we have tornadoes, hurricanes, destruction on a grand scale. When the pressure within the earth, or the pressures on opposing land masses shifts, we have volcanoes or earthquakes, sometimes catastrophic. When solar heat exceeds needed rainfall, we have drought and often famine, likewise excessive rain and inadequate absorption results in widespread flooding. In all of nature when we experience imbalance, catastrophe and devastation follow. Why then should an imbalance in our sacred connection and our natural spiritual selves be any different?

Religions and cultures around the globe, have for millenia become "paternalized". All aspects of their divinity have become strictly a "Father" image. The women have been delegated to supporting roles, or very often to demons and temptresses, but almost no where are the faces of the divine seem as feminine. For millenia in every corner of the globe, nearly every culture revered and worshiped a mother goddess. Her relationship to the god was as consort, sister, mother. In her triune aspects, Maiden, Mother or Crone, she could address all the issues, ills and trials of a woman's life. She was a warrior, a protector, a provider, a healer, a nurturer, she from who all life proceeded and she to whom all life returned. As male dominated religions grew, she was pushed into the shadows, and with it women's power. Her groves, temples and monuments were replaced by basilicas, temples, churches and synagogues. Her role as Supreme Being was transformed into temptress, demon, sorceress and all but stripped of her power. Women were no longer viewed as sacred, divine beings. They became "second class citizens", property, insignificant.

Over the last one hundred years there has been a conscious shift growing. What became a small ripple at first, is quickly becoming a tsunami. Women are yearning for their own, personal connection to the sacred, for a divine presence they can relate to and know that she is as close as their own heart.  In even the smallest, most backwoods towns all across America, women are coming together to meet and rediscover what has been missing in their lives.  They are answering an ancient call to gather, to share and to learn; to heal and be healed.  They gather to discuss the issues significant to women, and the broader issues of community and state affairs.  

Where women gather, magic is always present.  It's no wonder that women were accused of being witches and men feared their power.  Problems and even illnesses that seemed hopeless have been healed in the sacred container of feminine power, issues facing a community or a town that the biggest brain trusts have been unable to solve, have been dissected, boiled down, analyzed from a - z, and a solution is found.  No fancy software, or algorithms, no convoluted theories of government or political science...just common sense humanity balanced with compassion and logic.  And woman's intuition. 

Women in Arabic/Islamic countries are beginning to stand up and stand their ground. Some of them have paid the ultimate price and we all suffer their loss, but we must also celebrate their victory in bringing change and a new world for women in countries where women have been subjugated, maligned, crushed down and robbed of their power for too many centuries. In African countries where the practice of female genital mutilation has been carried out for as long as memory serves, even the men are standing up and demanding the process be stopped.  

In 2016 we have a woman running for President of the United States, and many more strong women holding offices in the House and Senate.  We've made great strides in tearing down the walls of male dominated institutions, but we still have many long battles ahead of us in creating true equality for women.  The battles against abortion, Planned Parenthood and other women specific political agendas continue and instead of pulling ahead it seems each round of the battle we lose a little more ground.  This imbalanced playing field leaves too many women feeling hopeless and even more disconnected from their divine nature. Masculine assertiveness and aggression, apathy and greed have all but silenced our ancient memories of the Great Mother, and left us with an emptiness that could not be identified, silent, stripped of her power and nameless.  But there's been a shift in the universe.  A stirring sending out ripples through the circles in those small towns and big cities.  A knowing is rising, and her name is on the wind.  The emptiness has a name....and it is SHE.

Rebirthing the Divine Feminine will be a long and daunting path.  Reconnecting to her infinite love and restoration will require many women (and men too) to reach deep within to find the remnants of our memory of Her.  She is there, and is re-awakening after a long, forced slumber.  Perhaps she thought we had forgotten her and resigned herself to return to the nothingness of our amnesia.  But she has felt our tug at her silver cords, our beckoning to restore a season of nurturance, an attitude of common welfare, of responsibility to the earth and all its inhabitants.  She has heard our prayers for a world of peace and compassion and has begun to spin her web of healing and softening of minds and hearts.  

The more we come together to meet in our circles, and stand up to help those who cannot help themselves and actively work to create positive, humanitarian change in the world, she will rise even stronger.  We will no longer feel alone and disconnected from Her.  We will be her children again.  Our Human Family will be whole again.