Some of you might think, What on earth has feminism to do with witchcraft? But I think itīs really quite obvious: to illustrate, what I intent to talk about, Iīd like to quote a pasage from Gloria Steimens Book " Revolution from within - A Book of Self-Esteem", wich is, by the way, a fantastic book and a real mind-opener!
".....I began to think about my experiences as the daughter of a Christian- Jewish marriage - two traditions so opposed that both families had opjected to the wedding at first; yet to me as a child, they seemed very much alike. Both religions excluded me from their words and imagery, and made me feel a little suspect and unclean, as if I had to behave in a very special way in order to be accepted. ....
...... And the impact of that one poster (of Michelangeloīs Sistine Chaple ceiling, but with God as a black woman who was giving life through the touch of her fingertips to a white woman) on Ella made me realize the importance of feeling included in whatever form of worship and spirituality we choose. ....
...... What spoke to me most, however, were the movements that went beyond reforming existing religions and straight to the heart of an immediatly experienced spirituality. They were reminding us that Pagan, a word made to seem negative, really just means " of the country" and originally signified those who believed in the divinity of all living things. By rediscovering prepartriarchal myth and holy places, as well as the still-living pagan beliefs of many indigenous cultures and mystical traditions, spiritual movements were giving us back a universal spirituality - the metademocracy of all living things.
....... in moments of sorrow or joy, many of us are forced to turn to ceremonies that falsly elevate some and demean others, that seperate us from nature, that make us feel ashamed of sacred parts of ourselves. It will take courage, creativity, and community to replace them with inclusive ceremonies that mark life pasages; rituals that externalize universal myths and natureīs symbols of old and contiuing mysteries - and exclude no one. .... All we have to remember is this: Seeing holiness only in others - or only in our group - is the problem. Seeing the sacred in ourselves and in all living things is the solution."
(page 309 to 314)
I think itīs very importent, especially for women, to find other ideas than the existing mainstream religious/spiritual concecepts we need to feel included, but the only religion that stresses that idea is Wicca/Paganism. The female is not inferior to the male, but they are two sides of one coin! We all need female images to give our lives not just the male aspect and so get completly out of balance and Iīm talking of us all: women AND men!
