My last post created quite a stir unexpectedly but perhaps I should not have been surprised; apparently the pronouncement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that the Western woman might save the world resonated with many IM readers. His Holiness said that at the Vancouver Peace Summit, Canada in 2010. It was as a self-identified “feminist” that Tenzin Gyastso made the remark.
http://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/western-women-can-come-rescue-world
Many were stunned to hear this and others thought him being “politically correct” as it was said in the company of powerful Western women. That, I think, is not the case. Serious students of spirituality as well as those who favor “New Age” precepts have been saying for a long time that the feminine side of humanity is missing in action. Humans have both sides and both characteristics. For centuries now, the male side of the human has been dominant.
Jung called this split in the human the archetypal “Anima” or female characteristics and the “Animus” or male characteristics. Each human being has both. Traditionally in Western culture, the Animus is dominant with the Anima being subconsciously repressed. This is illustrated well by the Yin-Yang symbol of Taoism (Chinese) from the I-Ching philosophical text which illustrates the Yin or feminine side equally balanced by the Yang or masculine side. The Yin-Yan measurements are recurrent in nature and mathematics and represent perfect balance between the Yin feminine and Yan masculine side of the human. The symbol makes use of the mathematical Fibonacci Sequence- a naturally occurring ratio in nature.
Western culture has, for far too long, focused on the dominant Animus to the detriment of the human race. Pure animus leaves no room for the feminine characteristics of nurturing and compassion but focuses on the male characteristics of aggression and war-making. The race has been off balance for centuries now while the male has been in charge or in leadership positions.
The natural world is more feminine than the artificial concrete jungle made by man. The feminine is softer, gentler, nurturing, all-inclusive, human family-oriented and tends to want to preserve life more than the material or invented world. Nature does not hunt for sport but for food. Nature has natural cycles where destruction if at all visited upon nature, is followed by new growth.
Even the symbols tell the story. In the natural world, things are round and curved whereas in the artificial world things are sharp edged and angular. The Earth is round, seasons go round, rivers and oceans have natural tides that flow in and out. These are all feminine principles. The man-made world tends to be angular, aggressive, abrupt. Houses are square, urban planning originates with a grid, fences are erected and sharp lines rule. This pattern is repeated in war making tools, for example– arrows, the original weapons are pointed and angular. More modern and advanced warfare tools tend to be even more phallic in shape (bullets, bombs, guns, etc.) Is the phallic shape accidental or is it, as Freud and Jung would say, an extension of the male penis? The phallic symbols have been used by many cultures to connote power and dominance.
So, the fact that the Animus has dominated the world thus far may have been good for survival, it has not necessarily been good for humanity as a whole. Perhaps it’s time to bring back the feminine side or at least bring the sides into equal balance, equal credence? I think that is what His Holiness was saying– to bring the feminine archetypal characteristics into play on the planet.
The Western woman has achieved a modicum of independence, autonomy and equality as well as sexual freedom with contraception limiting the number of offspring she was previously forced to have by male dominance and hierarchical structures. Much of the rest of the world’s feminine population still struggles for their independence and autonomy from the oppression of men. The Western woman is free to demonstrate upon her world her natural nurturance instead of on an unlimited number of offspring and perpetual motherhood to infants. Now she is free to mother the world. And the world needs mothering! She is wounded!
I linked the Dalai Lama’s statement with Michael Jackson for many reasons. Michael’s death not only woke people up; it seems to have specifically awakened the women most exposed to him and his message– the Western woman. Jackson’s “Earth Song” anthem and “Man in the Mirror” tell the story of a man who heard the silent cries of the earth long before the rest of the crowd did. He followed Rachel Carson’s plea for conciliation and moderation in her epic Silent Spring published in the sixties.
As a student of semiotics (the study of signs and symbols) and a shaman, I pay close attention to coincidences and echoes that seem related. Let me explain what I mean by echoes… as an incurable storyteller, I will tell you a story: “The first time someone calls you a horse, you might want to punch him in the nose. If a second person calls you a horse, you might be inclined to call him a ‘jerk.’ But the third time someone entirely unrelated to the first two incidents calls you a horse, you might want to go shopping for a saddle.”
You can call those occurences coincidences but they are likely not coincidental. They are the world, the Creator and the Cosmos talking to you. They are the Universe’s nudges and they find resonance in the soul. Similarly to a guitar plucked in the same room as another– both instruments will resonate to the same vibration that manifests in sound. When Michael Jackson said the Universe is a cosmic song or a cosmic dance, he was being literal. All of existence is vibrating; it’s all resonating or experiencing dissonance– which is a clash with the prevailing vibration.
There are laws inherent in the natural world; there are cosmic laws of energy and resonance. When something in your environment “resonates” with you or causes a stir within, that is a signal from the internal compass that is called by many names and is linked to the soul. The Native peoples call it the “Seventh Direction.” A shaman or native doing ceremony calls into the ceremony circle, the four directions: East, South, West and North. Each direction has a characteristic that it manifests in the circle of power. Mother Earth and Father Sky are the fifth and sixth directions and the seventh direction is internal- in the area under the breastbone and above the solar plexus. This is the soul’s “compass” that helps to point out the correct direction.
There is a bit of a magnetic pull that can be felt when the compass is working. There is also that phenomena of things showing up more than once or repeatedly showing up in different forms but with the same theme. When things show up again and again in the same or similar forms, one should pay attention– that is the Universe leaving its calling card.
I was invited to a Dharma Center during a visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Madison, Wisconsin area. I had been a visitor and guest of a Tibetan Dharma Center for a few years when a friend left the harsh world of corrections for the more natural world of spirituality and invited me for many summer visits. I spent time with the monks getting to know their world. I read half the bookstore; I attended meditations. I wrote their story and won the “Unity in Diversity Award” for it. That award-winning story may be found at One Wordsmith:
http://www.onewordsmith.blogspot.com/2007/07/award-winning-short-story-trading-faith.html#more
When one is escorted into the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, one must first rinse the mouth to purify the stains of the body, speech and mind. Water is offered and the disciple must then spit the water into a container to cleanse and rid the self of any impurities. It amused me that the cleaning begins with the mouth– the only place in the human that can lie; the body does not lie. I was fascinated by how the mouth had come to represent the most unclean part of the human; it’s worth pondering. We weren’t asked to wash our hands or our feet symbolically– but our mouths. Hmmmm.
His Holiness is round and robust; his eyes twinkle in merriment and his sense of humor is sharp and dry. In a ceremony that closely resembles Catholic Communion, he stopped halfway through and remarked “I seem to be the only one partaking of this enjoyment” as the crowd erupted in laughter. He does not take himself seriously, has no affectations but appears to relish life and social intercourse. He behaves as a humble little monk but his Presence fills the room. I prostrate myself with a vow I take along with him– to walk the path of non-violence.
The god has ruled for centuries; the goddess is ascending the throne. The Pantheon of Egypt includes female goddesses and even animal gods. The Oracle at Delphi was female. As women ascend to their rightful place as wisdom keepers, peace makers and nurturers of humanity, things will change. Women who think they must be like men and compete in order to survive or thrive are living by men’s rules. Women who claim their own power and who insist on showing the feminine face of God will heal the world from the harsh machinations of a global society dominated by men.
“In mythos and fairy tales, deities and other great spirits test the hearts of humans by showing up in various forms that disguise their divinity. They show up in robes, rags, silver sashes, or with muddy feet. They show up with skin dark as old wood, or in scales made of rose petal, as a frail child, as a lime-yellow old woman, as a man who cannot speak, or as an animal who can. The great powers are testing to see if humans have yet learned to recognize the greatness of soul in all its varying forms.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Michael Jackson not only constructed messages about how to save the world, but he embodied those messages on the planet. Women resonate with that. That is why so many women are now awake; are you one of them? Are you called to “Heal the World?”
Suggested reading:
The Feminine Face of God: Hopkins, Anderson
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Clarissa Pinkola Estes
21 Comments
Yes.
I`m with you on that one Gertrude!
… joining forces… an awakened earth-mother too.
(H.H. the Dalai Lama was visiting Belgium, May 24th: http://www.dalailama-2012.be/en/ unfortunately I couldn’t be there)
Barbara,
The Dalai Lama’s statement that the “Western woman will save the world” empowers each of us. Barbara, I applaude your connection to the awakening Goddess energy and for the need for each of us to realize how we must change the world.
Do you think the women in this country realize the impact that they can make right now? As an economic force we are formidable. 85% of all consumer purchases made in the United States are made by the woman living in that household. Imagine what would happen if collectively we decided NOT TO PURCHASE whatever we deemed unhealthy? Or dangerous? Or harmful to the planet? If we decided to eliminate that which was processed, packaged, or chemically laden from our lives and the lives of our families and friends? One small change, or deviation in purchasing can move the entire planet to shift. I have seen it in my own life.
Twenty years ago when my daughters were born I started to question conventional purchasing. That began the journey of conscious consumerism. Educating other women about the enormous economic power they wield when they decide to join forces as a conscious consumer became second nature. Reading labels, observing packaging and understanding the impurities and toxins in our food, household cleansers, health and beauty products is only the beginning. Furthermore, as our children grow eventually our purchasing patterns become evident to them so that how we make our choices and why affect the next generation. So we “teach our children well”….as we nurture by example.
By utilizing the power of the purse we can “make that change”. By deciding not to put down harmful pesticides on lawns where our children and pets often play sends a message to those big manufacturers of dangerous pesticides. When we buy gentler, more natural products it is easier on our ecosystem and on young bodies as well. When we decide to purchase non GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods to save our seed supply from contamination, when we refuse to purchase farm raised fish products, or foods with high fructose corn syrup we send a message to the market that a shift has occurred and change is in the air.
Today we have natural supermarkets, farmers markets and a host of other choices where conscious purchases can be made. Where organic milk, eggs and baby food is standard fare. And yes, it can be more expensive….but not as expensive as it used to be. And if you decide never again to bring home processed foods you will have that extra income available to make those healthier purchases of fresh organic fruits, vegetables and proteins. Because with more people clamoring for natural products this creates price competitiveness. The more choices we make this way the more the market will rise to meet our needs. We must be the change that we want to see in the world.
As nurturers we should realize that we are the consciousness of the marketplace. The energy of the Goddess will help to guide our choices so that we can heal the world and make it a better place for each and every one of us. But we must especially be the advocates for our children. I know that this issue was near and dear to Michael Jackson. I know that he was very particular when nurturing his own children. I also know that this is the one area that the women of this country can begin to assert their power in an immediate and effective manner.
Michael called us his “soldiers of love”. He knew that culture of war must end and that it needed to be replaced with a culture of nurturing, dialogue and compromise He embodied all the gifts of the Goddess. I believe our time is now and I am ready to “soldier” on for love.
Blessings,
Victoria
Thank you Rev. Kaufmann! I’m awake and I’m all in 🙂
LOVE and GRATITUDE 🙂
I am
I do
I will
Thank you Barbara for these sage thoughts and writings.
They resonate deep in me. Forgive me if I detected a confusing typo or mix-up (hey, it ‘s me that makes dozens of them) but I read a couple of times “Anima” where I thought you would say “Animus”. Am I wrong?
🙂
Love,
Marjos
Present
Present,too. Crying, tears coursing, heart re-opening, present. One of the greatest gifts I have had on this Michael journey is glimmers of recognition of the strength of the feminine.
Barbara I have a favour to ask…are you able to refer me to any books or authors who write about transforming passion into action, belief into being? Does that make sense? I feel as if I have been sitting with these immense changes within me for three years, with no idea how to bring them forth into fruition..paralysed and pregnant with the energy of readiness…
Right, Marjos; fixed now. Thanks for catching that. ~B
What comes immediately to mind is The Pregnant Virgin, Marion Woodman. This may help understand; however, we are all pregnant virgins, I think. We are all more than ready to move on to the next stage of enlightenment. It can make one weary being in the first wave of any kind of movement or change. Being a visionary in a world that doesn’t see itself can be fatiguiing. We must remember that all is Divine Timing. It takes critical mass to move the Anima Mundi (translated as the world’s soul) into a new position.
Evidence of the movemnt toward critical mass can be found in the most interesting places– Hollywood for one, the music industry for another and in the burgeoning success of the “Miss Representation” film, its impact and the growing popularity of its message. I hope you have checked it out. You can like “Miss Representation” on Facebook. I believe MJ fans can create something similar and I am working on and toward prototypes. So stay pregnant, will you?
Barbara
Thank you for your wonderful suggestions, advice and direction, you are amazing…. Can’t wait for the prototypes……Count me in.
Love,
Victoria
Thank You Barbara ( pregnant is the perfect word to describe this state I’ve been in for what feels like years now..pregnant ripe, almost bursting, SO READY to burst! I will start with that book :))
Thank you and AMEN to Victoria, too– YES to the Power of the Purse! ( oh, how I wish I could draw the cartoon I see in my minds eye right now!) That lightning bolt hit me years back on a personal level, and my mantra for years has been “every dollar you spend is a vote for what you believe in”. We can change the world in so many ways, and I have spent years wishing I could escape the monetary system altogether, but your words, and yours, too, Barbara, about boycotting media publications that deal in slander, remind me that we can USE this same system make our voices heard and create an impetus for change. Thank you.
There is a very wise saying that “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” The role of women in shaping the next generation is essential. We as fans of Michael not only have the right but the obligation to form human beings pursuing the same ideals of love and respect for the world around them, people interested in healing the world … that is smart and necessary if we go forward in a world increasingly complicated and uncertain. We women now have the power to change the fate of the world, through our actions and our example, healing the world continuing the legacy of Michael. I hope so. I love you Barbara.
LYM. ~B
Hello Barb
Excellent post. I’m on board. Women have always been the healers of earth and humanity but have never received respect for it. Healing takes place on many levels and one level that I have come across is the medical field. I could never understand why people go into a hospital for an illness and the treatment causes more problems than the actual illness. Treating and healing are not the same thing.
Although I do believe in Divine Timing I also believe that if more people got together under the same umbrella at the same time MANIFESTATIONS become thousands of times more powerful and faster.
Wonderful Barbara, this is only the second time that I post a comment, but I have been here from the very beginning, absorbing your wisdom, checking your website even a few times a day:), hoping that you had written another article, hoping that you would never stop! You are a part of my life and I am glad to have you, like I am glad that I have Michael, Toni Morrison or Hermann Hesse in my life as well!:) Keep teaching, I will keep learning and loving you!
Thank you, Karin, so, so much. And you keep the faith, OK?
I have awakened! Thank you Rev. Barbara. Namaste.
Hi,
This is so true, the Fall of Man in the Bible is actually symbolism for the abandonment or judgement of the feminine principle (the emotional, the chaotic, the dynamic, the empathic, e-motion = energy in motion, the subconscious), which caused us to “sin”. It is worship of order/logic/the mind (Father God) and hatred of chaos/emotion/the body (Mother Goddess). It is extremely ironic that the religious who are constantly talking about sin are actually one of the biggest sinners, for their concept of sin lies purely in self-defined belief systems of good/bad. Hence, you see them covering up their bodies everywhere, for the sinner always ends up as being the body. This fall was however a requirement for becoming self-conscious individuals.
But now is the first time in the history of the human race that the divine feminine gets re-integrated back into our lives (Second coming of Christ (within). The person Jesus was one of the first to re-awaken to the feminine, to prepare us for these “end times”, aka the end of the fallen Patriarchy.) So yeah, the question now is this: Is modern man man enough to allow our women to rise, and is modern woman prepared to face the lie of feminism (another patriarchical mind game, causing woman to despise their feminity under the guise that this liberates woman. It doesn’t! The movement was designed to trap you to where men are.), and bring the phoenix of emotion back in the game?
Check this website out if you want the science behind this: http://www.stankovuniversallaw.com/
This is one way to explain the changes taking place on the planet now. Methodologies and principles based on Universal Principles keep individual lives, life, and the planet in balance. “Masculine” and “Feminine” in the context of this comment and discussion are Archetypes. We live in a world of duality that constitutes opposite poles. (In this discussion, we are speaking of Masculine and Feminine Principles- humanity holds both and each gender holds both.) The union of opposites or balance is what creates homeostasis or equillibrium. Universal Principles (that govern the clockwork of the universe) must be stepped down much like electricity is stepped down by transformers to be made useful and not burn out the vessel that carries it. Just like electrical voltage, when one pole is turned up too much, the overburdened wires or vessel carry “too much juice” and burn out destroying the system.
What the reader is saying here is that when one pole is dominant, holds sway over another or its principles are taken to extreme, the homeostasis or balance is lost. While this is an oversimplification of some sophisticated and esoteric science, it is useful to know that the Masculine Principle has been dominant on the planet for a long time. The Masculine is not “bad” just as the Feminine is not “bad.” It is when they are unbalanced because they are unequal that the homestasis is jeopardized.
Masculine Principles are physical, forceful, competitive, aggressive warlike and oppressive when taken to the extreme. Feminine Principles are malleable, weak, wishy-washy and flighty when taken to the extreme. In the reader’s parlance, “Patriarchy” means an over-abundance of the masculine prinicple (and energy) resulting in dominance, might, force, coersion, competition, aggression and war. The “goddess energy” or Feminine constitutes nurturing, compassion, life giving, nourishing energy.
Humans are out of balance and the planet is out of balance. This knowledge was withheld from the general population thought to not be spiritually (or intellectually as in illiteracy) ready for it and was kept in esoteric traditions and mystery schools as hidden written or oral traditions (teachings.)
We are waking up to the realization that we humans live in an imbalanced state because most of our institutions phylosophically reflect the Masculine and this imbalance causes harm that can manifest in war and violence. What the reader is saying is that we need to bring back the Feminine into balance and into the equation in order to mitigate the harm and restore balance to the race and to the world. One way this can be better understood biblically is to read “Eve” as the Feminine Principle. “Science” used in this context is different than modern “science” and some who are more rigid would label it pseudo-science.
Male dominance is pretty deeply entrenched in culture. Hierarchical and patriarchal institutions are the “norm.” Male dominance (imbalance) is demonstrated in male “machismo” and a disdain for “girly men.” You see the tend toward Patriarchy in institutions: corporations, military, banking, politics, and so many cultural traditions that oppress the feminine. Painfully simplified, the question is: Is the race and the world ready to reclaim its neglected half?