First off, I've published another essay (in the Essay section) called "Boy Scout Jamboree." It is a little out of season, for I had started it in the winter and forgotten about it. It has a late-winter pessimistic feel, too, but this is necessary sometimes. No matter what, our winter, at least on this earth, will come, and it is important to realize that this is for real to live a full life. For me, this is very hard; in America, death is kept far, far away.
To Rooson's new comment, Christianity's role in recognizing women is huge - it was the topic of one of those classes I was made to teach at the church. With a little thought, it becomes obvious - look back on Martha and Mary. They were not subordinate players, but stars of the cosmic drama. And so it continued with the Apostles, until the powers that be of the Mediterranean cultures just couldn't take it any longer. But in Catholicism, Mary remained queen.
To continue on Power and the Feminine: if the feminine should not have power as the masculine does, that is, does not take it and keep it aggressively, how could it ever have power at all? I have to ask the question, but even in asking the question I betray my environment. It's really very simple: the "Yin" power comes into being through voluntary acquiescence. I have mentioned before how the peace chiefs of the Indians were recognized - exactly through non- aggression and benevolence. Such is often found in families, where a supportive and caring mom comes to have more real power than the big-voiced dad. Dad you can confront; mom you just feel ashamed for not being the good boy she thinks you should be.
Western churches are now run on the same principal. As patriarchal as the Catholic Church seems to be, all its power nowadays comes from acquiescence. It really is Mother Church, sole male leadership aside. (this is why the pederast problems recently have had such and affect. We have this problem in our communities, in our leadership and our schools all the time, but the Church survives by being better than us). The power of gurus in India and most Imams in the Muslim world comes from the same source: respect and acquiescence. This is the power of the feminine, regardless of the often masculine face.
Going further afield, the power of the contemplative is the power of the feminine multiplied many times over. His (or hers, of course) is a life of complete surrender - complete submission - to God. It is from this that he gains all his "powers" which are not powers at all as we understand them, but are powers nonetheless: peace, love, union. And oddly, these powers that are not powers have been seen to be much more powerful than traditional powers of the world. Some saints relate that in opening up to God, they open the community up to God, whether it knows it or not - just as a household based on love offers something to the outside world (and one based on fear another thing). To them, it is a matter of scale: willed acquiescence is greater than forced submission, just as total submission to God is greater than human to human reverence. Thus the paradox of the power of the feminine: the more it avoids power, the more it gets. "The meek shall inherit the earth." None of this should be strange to us. FK
To Rooson's new comment, Christianity's role in recognizing women is huge - it was the topic of one of those classes I was made to teach at the church. With a little thought, it becomes obvious - look back on Martha and Mary. They were not subordinate players, but stars of the cosmic drama. And so it continued with the Apostles, until the powers that be of the Mediterranean cultures just couldn't take it any longer. But in Catholicism, Mary remained queen.
To continue on Power and the Feminine: if the feminine should not have power as the masculine does, that is, does not take it and keep it aggressively, how could it ever have power at all? I have to ask the question, but even in asking the question I betray my environment. It's really very simple: the "Yin" power comes into being through voluntary acquiescence. I have mentioned before how the peace chiefs of the Indians were recognized - exactly through non- aggression and benevolence. Such is often found in families, where a supportive and caring mom comes to have more real power than the big-voiced dad. Dad you can confront; mom you just feel ashamed for not being the good boy she thinks you should be.
Western churches are now run on the same principal. As patriarchal as the Catholic Church seems to be, all its power nowadays comes from acquiescence. It really is Mother Church, sole male leadership aside. (this is why the pederast problems recently have had such and affect. We have this problem in our communities, in our leadership and our schools all the time, but the Church survives by being better than us). The power of gurus in India and most Imams in the Muslim world comes from the same source: respect and acquiescence. This is the power of the feminine, regardless of the often masculine face.
Going further afield, the power of the contemplative is the power of the feminine multiplied many times over. His (or hers, of course) is a life of complete surrender - complete submission - to God. It is from this that he gains all his "powers" which are not powers at all as we understand them, but are powers nonetheless: peace, love, union. And oddly, these powers that are not powers have been seen to be much more powerful than traditional powers of the world. Some saints relate that in opening up to God, they open the community up to God, whether it knows it or not - just as a household based on love offers something to the outside world (and one based on fear another thing). To them, it is a matter of scale: willed acquiescence is greater than forced submission, just as total submission to God is greater than human to human reverence. Thus the paradox of the power of the feminine: the more it avoids power, the more it gets. "The meek shall inherit the earth." None of this should be strange to us. FK
RSS Feed