reply to post by IAmD1
This. 1000x this.
One of the problems in our culture is that we think of everything in an absolutist, literal sense. We've lost the ability to think metaphorically.
In many myths, one of the main functions (and illustrations) of the hero's journey was the ability of the hero to integrate both the masculine and
feminine principles into a balanced whole.
In modern times, we've shunned, stomped on, belittled, and suppressed the feminine/receptive/intuitive/transrational/emotional principle in heavy
favor of the masculine/egotistical/heavy-handed/rational/intellectual principal. The sign of a healthy individual is one who not only recognizes the
legitimacy of both aspects, but realizes that neither is necessarily superior (or inferior) to the other and both are aspects of the same whole
(exemplified by the Taoist yin-yang symbol). You simply cannot have one without the other. Not only explicitly (the male and female sex), but
implicitly (the intraindividual masculine/feminine principles).
(As a quick aside, females who have achieved high positions of power can easily be overly dominated with masculine principles as well - Margaret
Thatcher being a prime example)
Our imbalance is best exemplified in the notion that we are somehow separate from Nature. Not only that, but that Nature is stupid, blind, and
mechanistic. This couldn't be further from the truth. We are not at all separate from Nature, we are part of Nature. I think it's better said that
we are an expression of Nature. Like an apple tree "apples," the Earth "peoples." We are something the whole of Nature is doing like a wave is
something the whole ocean is doing. And the knowledge of this connection is the beginning of an embrace of the feminine.
I say beginning, because mere "knowledge" isn't necessarily full understanding. It's still somewhat stuck in the masculine/intellectual/theoretical
realm. The persuasion lies in the "feeling" of this connection (which most people never truly experience). This can happen spontaneously. Often
times, in a beautiful and harmonious setting. It can also be cultivated through various methods. The original "purpose" of meditation was to get in
touch with reality as is in the moment, rather than reality as we talk about it, think about it, and describe it. Unfortunately, meditation has been
reduced to some brain-wave measuring, neurological cultivating, "intelligence" increasing mechanism needing some future measurable goal in order to be
considered "legitimate" by Western science/sensibilities.
Another method that evokes an apprehension of our inseparability is through organic/permaculture/regenerative/biodynamic/agroecological gardening
and/or farming. There's something undeniable about our connection when we get in contact with the soil, observe the web of life that promotes plant
growth (including pollinators and natural fertilizers like herbivores), and see seed grow to maturity and end up being sustenance that sustains and
grows our bodies ("flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone").
Various shamanic practices, rituals, and ceremonies are also performed to honor and invoke the feminine connection.
Most of these methods are marked by what is commonly called "mystical experience." An experience that is boundless, unfathomable, and ineffable;
experience itself. To quote pioneering consciousness researcher Stanislov Grof:
"Verbal communication and the symbolic structure of our everyday language seem to be a ridiculously inadequate means to capture and convey its
nature and quality. This principle is totally and clearly beyond rational comprehension and yet even short experiential exposure
to it satisfies the subject's intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual craving."
The key, it would seem, is the "experiential exposure" of this deep connection/inseparability.
That being said, it doesn't mean an outward recognition of the feminine is not in order. We should not only recognize and legitimize the feminine,
but outwardly celebrate the hell out of it.
edit on 8-7-2012 by deometer because: (no reason given)