Our blood, instincts and intuition know so much more!
A Hymn to Women
5000 years ago the lands of today’s Egypt and Mesopotamia were conquered by warlike Indo-Europeans — who subsequently chose themselves as the pharaohs. What went down in history as a glorious union of Upper and Lower Egypt was into a brutal oppression of the indigenous population, a peaceful advanced civilization protected by Queens and Priestesses, consecrated to the Great Mother, Nature, fertility and Women.
Why does no one in Western historiography speak of these matriarchal Queens? Why do we hear about the glorious conquerors, pharaohs and kings — and no one speaks of the suffering, destruction, subjugations, rapes and murders? And why do these practices still seem normal, legitimate, even necessary today?
Egypt and Mesopotamia did not remain isolated cases. Since these destructions, a culture of violence spread throughout Europe and eventually throughout the world. Temples of the Great Goddess, consecrated to Mother Nature, have since been destroyed and their Priestesses persecuted and killed. In their place, a patriarchal father god was imposed on the population, the ruler of an otherworldly kingdom of heaven. His representatives are exclusively men.
Since this violent upheaval, women and their natural power have been devalued without measure. They were and still are called stupid, animals, inferior, and a freaks of nature (Thomas Aquinas). Aristotles said of women that they are a natural state of deficiency. This is the basis of Modern Culture, which even today is called the most progressive.
When I write these words, I cry out because I was born into a culture that is deeply contemptuous of women and desecrating of nature! Environmental destruction and wars are still tolerated as if they were necessary. And as a society we seem to be coming to a solution from a higher, unattainable, distant being, a leader or a savior.
I cry because with the devaluation of women, our innate intuition, instincts, feelings and sexuality have been demonized. We are waiting for statistical evidence to change behavior because these natural navigation systems are no longer trained. Is it any wonder that people no longer know where to go?
Is something else possilble?
‘Ancient Europe was a domination-free, egalitarian and peaceful culture from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic, which came to great flowering with the invention of pottery. The ancient Europeans lived in theacrathic-monarchical communal forms, presided over by priestess-queens. These social forms had no borders, no fortresses, no weapons, and no warrior classes, for they needed none.’ (H.J. Massingham).
They honored the blood, power and symbol of life. The blood that flows in each of us through the vast branching network into the billions of cells, providing us with nourishment and information- just as the roots of plants are connected by a global network, transporting nutrients. Those who are connected with nature, their own body, intuition, feelings and sexuality feel life and its deep mysteries. This does not require an otherworldly god to tell us what to do.
Instincts, intuitions and feelings still speak to us because they cannot be destroyed — but after 5000 years of violent suppression of this natural knowledge, many people carry with them the fear of stepping over the edge of the prevailing patriarchal structures. For 5000 years this natural knowledge was persecuted — and today we urgently need it back! Therefore I say here: We are back!
Let’s listen again to the blood in our veins and learn again to understand its messages. The adventure begins when we dare to let intuitions speak through us and recognize where we are trapped in a 5000 year old cage. If we give space to instincts, they may lead us into a creative life that breaks the box of eternal obedience and shows us the urgency of change. If we give feelings their space, old wounds can heal — not only ours, but all those who have long since passed away.
I honor with these words all the women and men who have the courage to venture beyond the edge of the existing culture and embrace healing, dancing, joyful and shouting possibilities.
Let’s embrace our the intelligence of our feelings and their power of showing ways out of this millennial madness. Life is connection, ecstasy, emotions and so much more — because life wants to express itself! Rational constructs that curtail this joy are not fit for the future and belong to be composted.
I wish women, men and children a year full of deep, transformative, living journeys! Time is literally calling for breaking through the walls and enter the land of creation.
I thank Doris Wolf for her extensive research on the matriarchs and their coexistence with nature! Text excerpts from ‘Enough — 5000 years of patriarchy are enough!’ (available at doriswolf@dewe-verlag.com)
Love
