Friday, November 2, 2012

Discerning God/dess

We are accustomed to think that witchcraft is a goddess religion & that this is somehow different to a monotheist tradition. Typically we have no way set in stone to understand divinity, but I am uncomfortable with the approach sometimes expressed by monotheists that since god is one all understandings will somehow lead to him.
No. No. No! NO! For me divinity is *not* one and that attitude is merely a way of saying that their understanding is superior to mine & that I will arrive at their revealed truth eventually. Starhawk says somewhere words to the effect that it is not necessary to believe in the existence of the Goddess because she just is, no more than you believe in the existence of a rock or a chair underneath you. However since we are not complete pantheists (if divinity was all it would be impossible to invoke her into a person), there must be some way to differentiate the presence or activity of this being we call God/dess around us.
I think the first has already arisen above: Goddess consciousness is marked by many ways, and a valuing of that diversity. I find it less uncomfortable when, say, an Asatruar talks about their divinities, even though they're not mine.
Goddess consciousness is marked by responsibility given to the individual, rather than a set of 'thou shalts' which gives the onlooker the idea we have no morality. Compare us with the 'thou shalt' merchants have broken virtually all of their thou shalts! In Goddess consciousness you will never need to feel bad for having broken some arbitrary rule.
The reason is that the 'thou shalt' merchants feel a need to clean up the world. There is a problem in their theology explaining the presence of evil and also a problem with trying to contain the messy stuff, like the power of sex. Goddess consciousness instead focuses on the difficult stuff: integration of ourselves and us in the world is made possible by a frank acceptance of our wilder desires. Pretending that the messy stuff doesn't exist is what leads to it splurging out when you least expect it.
In fact Goddess consciousness will rarely lead one to assert power over another: you know where the Goddess is active because those are the areas where people individually and collectively have the power balance right in their lives. You are free to be you and me to be me. The exception to this is that Goddess consciousness will not oblige me to turn the other cheek if you impinge on what I believe to be rightfully my terrain.
Similarly, the lack of a concept of 'sin' in Goddess consciousness means there is no mechanism for forgiveness. I would doubt that paedophile Catholic priests did it thinking they could confess & get it forgiven (more like they progressively justified their criminal fantasy to themselves), but the possibility was there. I personally can see no way in which I can undo my actions. The potential effect on myself and others beyond this life *should* make me think twice about what I do. And by 'I' I mean me alone, without an external locus of authority, who can be blamed. I am without sin, but rather I create my own future, in a totally matter-of-fact, valueless way.
Goddess consciousness therefore focuses on the agent: if I bollocks up my own life, I needn't expect other people to pull me out of it, & similarly because in Goddess consciousness each action is valued, I do not feel the need paternalistically to 'rescue' people from situations of their own creation. Obviously I mean a situation where their own 'stuff' or life task is in action, not someone who's fallen over the edge of a cliff! Helping in a Goddess milieu will also therefore focus on empowering the individual to help themselves.
Finally Goddess consciousness is marked by ecstasy: we do not feel the need to be sad or solemn, & there is no place for needless suffering. The Goddess is alive & active in our world, through us! And you can tell where she is by the liberty & ecstasy that follow wherever she is invoked.
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