Celebrating the Divine Feminine

In the ancient world the Divine Feminine, or				"We have a celebration of our maidens at the full
Goddess, was often portrayed in three aspects:				moon just before spring. Everyone comes to our
maiden, mother, and old woman. We live in a very				pole festival. The girls do a circle dance around the
different world today, but it is worth looking at				pole and interweave ribbon streamers hanging
these three aspects because they are still				from the pole.
important stages in a woman's life -- even though				"All come to dance, feast and watch the bull
they don't encompass all that a modern woman				game. For this occasion our best girl athletes
is. Moving from one stage to another marks a				perform feats on a bull's back. Our bulls are
significant and irreversible natural shift in our				trained to work with our athletes. The bull is a
bodies and our female being.				sign of the masculine principle. The cooperation of
Now you might be thinking, This all sounds like the				girl athlete and bull shows union of the creative
old maxim, "Biology is destiny," and who wants to				powers of female and male. For we see that all
be defined by that anymore? Well, yes, it does				life is created through the union of male and
sound that way - unless you also consider these				female every spring season.
three stages as spiritual shifts in our lives.				"Our daughters carry the potential of the
What might the spiritual nature of each phase of				mysterious power of creation. We see the female
the Goddess have been like?				as the active creative principle which we call
We can imagine something of this from looking at				Goddess. Our maidens are therefore She whom
Minoan civilization, dating from about 3,000 to				we adore. Our girls carry the lineage of our
1400 B.C. The Minoans lived on the island of Crete				society, from mother to daughter.
in the Mediterranean Sea. Abundant archaeological				"Our girls are well-educated. We expect them to
evidence exists for this society's reverence of a				contribute their gifts and learning to our culture.
Goddess. Murals found at Knossos, a town in				They learn the lore of the natural world, rhetoric,
Crete, show plant life in exuberant growth around				music, dance, writing, athletics.
the central image of a female deity. Animals and				"They learn to delight in the body, and from a
humans are depicted as part of this abundance.				very early age they eagerly await their coming
These paintings reveal reverence for the				sexuality. But we don't regard menarche as the
generative powers of Earth.				first time a girl becomes important in her own
What do you think a society with reverence of				right as a woman. We celebrate our daughters'
the Divine Feminine might have looked like?				seed nature, long before their menarche, just as
Let's imagine what a Minoan woman might say				we thank and celebrate the Earth Mother for the
about the Maiden phase of the Divine Feminine.				seed power she gives us to reproduce life.
Let's call her Minah.				"When our girls come into menarche they
"Our young girls hold the potential for our				experience how the power of nature to create
society's future. They come from the spirit world				life now belongs to them."
to grace our society with their potential, talent,				Imagine for yourself a life when all the seasons of
and skills, which blossom with our teachings.				earth and seasons of woman are celebrated -
"Our girls are like earth's spring season, the				throughout the year by all members of your
handiwork of the Goddess. She graciously gives				society. Wouldn't you feel joyous about being
us our maidens for the good of our society, just				female?
as She gives us seeds to germinate and flower.

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Celebrating the Divine Feminine