Pagan points to ponder (spiritual- philosophy) long

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Considering the responses to the pagan thread I thot ya'll might enjoy this.

Subject: Starhawk's letter to Atlantic Monthly

January 5, 2001

I write in regards to Charlotte Allen's article "The Scholars and the Goddess" (January 2001). Although Ms. Allen interviewed me and others at great length for this article, she still seems to have missed the core insights and perspective of Goddess spirituality.

Goddess religion is not based on belief, in history, in archaeology, in any Great Goddess past or present. Our spirituality is based on experience, on a direct relationship with the cycles of birth, growth, death and regeneration in nature and in human lives. We see the complex interwoven web of life as sacred, which is to say, real and important, worth protecting, worth taking a stand for. At a time when every major ecosystem on the planet is under assault, calling nature sacred is a radical act because it threatens the overriding value of profit that allows us to despoil the basic life support systems of the earth. And at a time when women still live with the daily threat of violence and the realities of inequality and abuse, it is an equally radical act to envision deity as female and assert the sacred nature of female (and male) sexuality and bodies.

Any discussion of "the Wiccan narrative" must begin from that framework if it is to make any sense at all. And to truly understand our theaology (with an 'a'-from 'thea': 'Goddess') you have to be willing to move outside of Jewish or Christian concepts of deity. Ms Allen, producer of the Catholic page on Beliefnet and author of a book on Christ, seems unable to stretch beyond her own belief system, and her conclusions should be read with that in mind.

To us, Goddesses, Gods, and for that matter, archaeological theories are not something to believe in, nor are they merely metaphors. An image of deity, a symbol on a pot, a cave painting, a liturgy are more like portals to particular states of consciousness and constellations of energies. Meditate on them, contemplate them, and they take you someplace, generally into some aspect of those cycles of death and regeneration. The heart of my connection to the Goddess has less to do with what I believe happened five thousand years ago or five hundred years ago, and much more to do with what I notice when I step outside my door: that oak leaves fall to the ground, decay and make fertile soil. Calling that process sacred means that I approach this everyday miracle with a sense of awe and wonder and gratitude, and that in very practical terms, I compost my own garbage.

The current discussion within the Goddess tradition about our history and scholarship is part of the healthy development of a vibrant tradition that tends not to attract true believers of any sort. We enjoy the debate, but we are sophisticated enough to know that scholars, too, have their biases and fashions. What is declared untrue this year may be true five years from now, and vice versa. Archaeologists may never be able to prove or disprove Marija Gimbutas' theories-but the wealth of ancient images she presents to us are valuable because they work-they function elegantly, right now, as gateways to that deep connected state. We may never truly know whether Neolithic Minoans saw the spiral as a symbol of regeneration-but I know the amazing, orgasmic power that is raised when we dance a spiral with two thousand people at our Halloween ritual every year. I may never know for certain what was in the mind of the maker of the paleolithic, big bellied, heavy breasted female figure that sits atop my computer, but she works as a Goddess for me because my own creativity is awakened by looking at her every day.

Allen makes a big point of asserting that ancient peoples were polytheists, and that this somehow disproves the myth that they worshiped a Great Goddess. She utterly misses the point that we are polytheists, now, today. No one, certainly not Gimbutas, ever postulated a monolithic, monotheistic Goddess religion of the past. But even the terms 'polytheistic' and 'monotheistic' come out of a framework that actually makes no sense to us. It's like asking "Is water one or many?" The only possible answer is "Huh? Hey, it's wonderful, miraculous, life giving, vital stuff that we need to honor and respect and conserve and not pollute, that's the point."

Goddess traditions of today, in all their forms and nuances: Paganism, women's spirituality, Wicca, Witchcraft, indigenous Goddess worship, are vast, diverse, and constantly evolving. Allen's bias is shown in the extremely narrow selection of Goddess thinkers and writers she chooses to interview or quote from. She quotes at length from the book I wrote over twenty years ago, but doesn't bother to mention the seven other books I've written or co-authored since, which include an economic and sociological analysis of the Witch burnings in Dreaming the Dark (Beacon, 1982), and a long discussion of the textual evidence for Goddess worship and the transition to patriarchy in ancient Sumer in Truth or Dare (Harper San Francisco 1988). She cites Cynthia Eller, whose own bias is revealed in the very title of her book, The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory. 'Matriarchy' is a term that most Goddess scholars set gently aside sometime back in the early eighties, if not before, because none of us envision an ancient society that is the mirror image of patriarchy. Using the term implies that Eller is either not up to date on the very movement she's critiquing, or unwilling to engage with the full range of thought within that movement.

Allen doesn't bother to cite the dozens of other Goddess scholars, philosophers, and journalists from Carol Christ to Margot Adler, who might have provided a counterbalance to what she puts forth as the new received historic truth. But her own bias is most clearly revealed in her use of pejorative terms such as 'bunk' and 'hokum'. This is not the language of either objective scholarship or dispassionate journalism. I doubt that Ms. Eller would write an article on new biblical scholarship, and then dismiss Jewish theology or Christian mythology as ''bunk.' I doubt that the Atlantic Monthly would publish her if she did. In today's world, people of good will of every religion are striving for tolerance, understanding, and sensitivity to other traditions. By resorting to religious attack under the guise of scholarly critique, Ms. Allen demeans herself and your magazine.

Sincerely, Starhawk

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 15, 2001

Answers

Thank you, John, I did enjoy it -- especially the part "Water, is it one or many?"!! I'll have to remember that . . . .

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 15, 2001.

Y'know the response to the reviewer being unpublished in 'Atlantic' re: the biased languge, viewpoints, etc. reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw once. "the stinking liberal Media is actually only as liberally biased as the conservative corporations that own them allow them to be."

I don't have to agree or disagree with any of this persons' philosophy or belief to agree wholeheartedly with the reasoning.Doesn't really matter which of us is onthe good road if the air can't be breathed or the water drank,etc. If I have to choose between 'right' or alive & well I prefer to be wrong, thanx!

I go by the idea that there may - or may NOT be - some big plan, or planner.Matter of fact, the word the Jesuits originally translated into Great Spirit could be translated to English to mean 'How Should I Know' - but I do believe that life takes advantage of everything.But that life may not necessarily be 2-legged (human) nor are we the be all & end all of creation.Maybe it's all really about the cockroaches or something, eh? But if I am here I would like to leave knowing that I tried to leave things at least as good as I found them. Good food for thought here, thanx.

-- Sparrowhawk (sparrowkiak@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.


I was listening to public radio as I do nearly every night, and one reviewer on there opined that the true translation of Great Spirit was closer to 'The Great Mystery'...not mutually exclusive of 'how should I know?'.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 15, 2001.

A philosopher (to me) is someone who can say in a few words what would take me all day to try to get out. You seem to have the knack. My husband didn't quite "get it" when I told him that I had a spiritual epiphany while turning the compost.

-- Terri (terri@tallships.ca), January 15, 2001.

Oh Terri, that was a good one -- "a spiritual epiphany while turning the compost". I know what you mean. Maybe you have to have been there?

If you want to read the article that sparked Starhawk's letter above, go to:

http://www.theatlantic.com/cgi-bin/o/issues/2001/01/allen.htm

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 15, 2001.



Great post, John.

You good people's definition of the Great Spirit also reminds me of one of my favorite Buddhist quotes: "I am wisest when I remember I know nothing"

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.


Julie, I liked you post. The American Indian shamanistic beliefs, particularly the Seri of nothern Mexico, have a similar concept. The Creator, also called the Great Spirit by early translators, is better translated as The Great Unknown. Language and translations cause most of our religious problems. It is natural to put other peoples words into you belief system. Not knowing that you are doing that is the cause of many problems.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 15, 2001.

You said a mouthful there, JLS!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 15, 2001.

I recently read an author who proclaimed that "God is the manure of the universe" in the sense that everything grows better where manure is spread.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001.

Soni, that may be true. Unfortunately there are two types of manure male and female. It's the BS that causes the problem.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 15, 2001.


Hi folks! wow, I seem to have started something! Good.

Anyway, if y'all want to read more on pagan homesteading, my friend Datura in West Virginia has some stuff up on a friend's homepage:

http://homes.acmecity.com/animation/wacky/507/datart.html

Unfortunately, she can't be reached right now because they had a house fire and lost almost everything - little cabin burned down - sometimes happens with wood heat! They just got a phone into their new cabin, no computer or ISP yet. Send her your good energies and thoughts! She's a cool lady.

Raven

-- Raven Kaldera (cauldronfarm@hotmail.com), January 18, 2001.


I enjoyed your friend's article, and I'll keep her in my thoughts. I have often argued that every Pagan should grow some of their own food supply, even if it's just a pot of herbs on a windowsill. In my own life I've found that it's like a series of interconnected circles: as my spirituality has increased, so has my interest in gardening and herbalism. And as my gardening skills increase and I grow more of my own crops, my spirituality and connection to the land increases as well. Winter's blessings, Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), January 18, 2001.

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