I am pleased to see that there are some places where the Divine Feminine is honored and God is not seen merely as unitary and male, much less an Old White Male, with a Son and all. Read the whole thing and rejoice at the wonders of this difference from grim Western patriarchy, where women can't even be ordained priests, for God's sake, much less have their own temples.
Of course, you'll have to check some of your narrow American prejudices at the door in order to grok the glory. For example:
Ignore that she is from a caste, in a system where people are locked into a particular social and economic role and status by birth, and with divine mandate and approval. If that reminds you of Jim Crow or apartheid, you obviously are not understanding.
Ignore that she must be physically perfect. If that reminds you of body fascism, again you are imposing your narrow views on another culture.
Ignore that she will be removed from her family and live alone and separate from age 3 until she hits puberty, with occasional jaunts for festivals and the pleasure of people kowtowing in front of her. Ignore that part of her ascent to deity included being left alone in a dark room all night with the severed heads of animals. This is a privilege, not child abuse.
Ignore that once she is pubescent she ceases to be a goddess and is sent back where she came from, a place she has not lived since she was little more than an infant. If this smells of sex negativity or of fear of female sexuality or some notion that menstrual blood can drive away even divinity by its foulness, consult your multicultural guru and get over your rank misinterpretation of this soulful culture and its ancient and colorful woman-affirming ways.
After all, if people worship the Divine Feminine, isn't peace and equity a natural outcome?
Ignore that in this beautiful culture, not cut off from its roots by dead Enlightenment rationalism or phallic nature-raping science, marrying a former goddess is believed to bring on an early death and so she will very likely remain unmarried in a culture where unmarried women are outcasts without identity or value. If you find this saddening on several levels or refer to the ancestral beliefs of a non-white Third World culture as "superstition", you are a Eurocentric racist.
I bet you aren't even going to vote for Barack (He Whose Middle Name Must Not Be Named) Obama.
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1 comment:
The equivalent male version exists at home. He is called Prince William. Luckily, he did not have to cool his heels for three years waiting to be anointed.
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