Because our Goddesses were all stomped into the ground millenia ago by the war gods,* we're needing to rebuild our religions "from the ground up," so to speak. One thing I'm always interested in are ideas about Goddess ethics. Here are thealogian Carol Christ's 'ethical touchstones':O Nurture life;From Wikipedia, "The Goddess Movement."
O Walk in love and beauty;
O Trust the knowledge that comes through the body;
O Speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering;
O Take only what you need;
O Think about the consequences of your actions for seven generations;
O Approach the taking of life with great restraint;
O Practice great generosity;
O Repair the web.
(Christ 1997:167).
I would add the following:
As a mother loves her child, so must you love others.
As a mother protects her child, so must you protect others.
As a mother heals her child, so must you heal others.
As a mother hopes for her child, so must you hope for others.
As a mother is patient with her child, so must you be patient with others.
What would you add?
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*Think this Goddess was carved armless? Think again: One of the first things early Christians did was knock the arms and heads off ancient pagan statuary. Modern museums of course neaten up the breaks.
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thnx to abenjumeda for the foto
Know that whatever you do, you do to you.
ReplyDeleteTo understand the connection of life, spend time in water.
Love and protect all children as if they were your own. As a woman, every child is your child.
Walk gently on the Earth. You can't be healthy if She isn't.
Indulge the senses.
Create and share art.
Laugh.
Thank you, thank you morgaine. These are so important, and so well phrased, too. I feel silly -- I forgot to add "Laugh" after posting so often on how it's one of the Goddess's number-one rules! And indulge the senses. Of course! "To understand the connection of life, spend time in water" really intrigues me. Would you be willing to say how you came to it?
ReplyDeleteSure. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is float on an air mattress in a pool. My mind wanders and I think about all kinds of things. It occurred to me at one point that the way water interacts with our bodies is the same way the energy of the Universe works - it flows into every space, a movement in one part carries through to the other parts, any move you make causes some of the water to move back toward you. You can't make a splash without getting wet. If you visualize the Source as a vast sea of energy that we are in and connected to, it explains the principles of connectedness, wholeness, karma, etc.
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I think we sometimes don't give ourselves enough credit in the Ethics dept. as I explain in my column in Summer '06 issue of The Beltane Papers on ethics. Just a few days ago, I posted a large excerpt on http://goddess.judithlaura.com/other1.html
ReplyDeletemedusa, I just skipped over the check out your article -- it's outstanding. It reminded me that any list of Goddess "ethical precepts" must, of course, include the Wiccan Rede and The Charge of the Goddess (duh!).
ReplyDeleteWiccan Rede: 'An it harm none, do what ye will."
Charge of the Goddess, "All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals."
And, as you point out, there's the famous Wiccan belief that "what you send, returns three times over."
I also like the list you included in She Lives! The Return of Our Great Mother:
"Seek knowledge.
Revere wisdom.
Be joyful.
Know pleasure.
Love one another.
Protect life."
Great additions. Thanks!