Here’s Morgaine’s take on the question (from a comment Morgaine made on an earlier post):
“The Goddess doesn't punish people. If we continue to sicken and abuse her, she will eliminate the source of the abuse in her attempt to heal herself. If that means getting rid of us, so be it. She's done it before - we'll be back, and maybe we'll learn this time. Any living organism will function this way and She is a living organism.Using my “healthy-mother rule” (treat others the way a healthy mother treats her child), I’d agree with Morgaine. A healthy mother teaches rather than punishes.
“Also, the three-fold law is in play. Whatever you send out comes back on you. We punish ourselves, so she doesn't have to. We're about to reap what we’ve sown.”
What about Kali and the like, you ask?
As I’ve pointed out before, I think violent goddesses are inventions of the patriarchy. Through history there’s been a “slimy slide” from powerful, life-affirming goddesses, to war-like, violent, or wet-noodle goddesses like Kali and the Virgin Mary (see The Gods Take Over, Part II, Sept. 21, 2005).
What do you think?
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thnx to madmum for the foto of the stocks
Destroyer Goddesses are necessary in context - you have to clear a field before you can plow, cut down trees before you can build. The evil, murderous representations are a projection of men's fear of woman's power; the impotent, harmless images a projection of their wishes that women have no power.
ReplyDeleteI think Kali is an extremely powerful and important goddess. I know that I have called on her for assistance and she has responded very quickly and ferociously. She is definitely not for the faint of heart.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Morgaine that "murderous projections are a projection of men's fear of woman's power".
Goddesses like Kali and the like are necessary because Nature possesses both light and dark...
The Goddess has the potential for all things because She is all things. Storms and floods are not "acts" but elements of her body. If you think about it, rain is almost the equivalent of menstruation. Water evaporates, builds up in the atmosphere, reaches a saturation point then falls again, in the process cleansing and nourishing growing things. A woman doesn't "act" to menstruate - its the normal function of a healthy body. And when stressed, or sick, or poisoned the body reacts by bleeding less, or bleeding too much.
ReplyDeleteKali is of course an important manifestation of the Goddess - it's not her power that I'm attributing to men's projections, it's the interpretation. They make a value judgement that Kali is bad or evil because they fear women's power, instead of simply seeing her as an awesome, intense, and vital force.
"….murderous projections are a projection of men's fear of woman's power".
ReplyDeleteI think, too, that they stem from men’s fear of women’s anger – anger resulting from men's mistreatment of women.