Perhaps you witnessed/participated in the ‘women’s’ protest marches this weekend…
Perhaps some of you wondered why you didn’t fully RESONATE although you passionately share the concerns with the women who were marching…
Perhaps there is another way to refine and express our holy fire…
I feel the energy of protest though absolutely valid is masculine in nature …
so perhaps to crusade for what we stand for rather than crusading against what we are protesting, is key..
Most people (not only our brothers) have never understood the great mystery and power of the feminine.
Instead we have all been taught mostly overt and unbalanced masculine means of expression.
But accessing our power this way comes at a high cost for everyone, especially us as women.
The Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine are a love affair, a union of energies that complement and complete each other.
So much of the struggle and abuse in our world is a result of dishonouring, outdated models of the past mostly embodied by the unenlightened masculine (and feminine to a degree).
For many of us, our emotions are feeling raw and tender and all over the place.
I am so grateful for all the sisters who marched and for all sisters who prayed and meditated.
I honor your choice. May we learn from each other and find ways to listen to each other.
And then whatever storm or darkness, together we will give birth to a new world.
with an unleashing wave of beauty and love,
ps A dear client sent me this note and I thought I’d share it with you:
Hey Shakaya,
I wrote this today on my website and it got a huge response.
You really inspired so much of it and I thought I would share with you so you can see some of the fruit of our work together.
Sending love and so much gratitude your way.
Ashleigh
I want to take a minute to write to my women friends who don’t feel represented by the march that happened on Saturday. I know many (MANY) of you did feel represented by that experience and empowered by it, to those I would say I’m glad for you and grateful whenever you find anything that inspires and moves you. But it has also become clear to me over the last fews day that many (MANY) women do NOT feel represented by the march that happened, by the ideology behind it, by the assumptive misappropriation of the word Women, as though it was representing all women, when it was not. I personally did not respond to the Women’s March. I’m still a woman last time I checked.
AND I’m still a woman who feels deeply the social, economic and racial injustices of our day. I believe that many of the issues brought up by the creators of the Women’s March are extremely important. But, for me, the organizing in that way did not make my feminine heart sing at the beauty and amazing power of women. A march, a protest, is ironically a very masculine energy. (I know many of you won’t relate to my thinking, again, this isn’t for you.) To me, masculine energy is the energy of conquering, forcing, pillaging and plundering if you will. Feminine energy, is the energy of captivating, seducing, enchanting. It’s mysterious, beautiful, spiritual and different but EVERY BIT AS POWERFUL as masculine energy. I believe that we as women are at our most powerful when we are living out of our femininity. But that’s harder to do! Because the world responds more to masculinity. The world responds to vulgar jokes (and hats), sarcastic slogans, to a show of force. But when we attempt to do things according to that paradigm, we’re losing something essential and powerful within ourselves. We’re sacrificing the power of femininity while trying to make a point about how inherently valuable we, as women, are. I’m not, for a single second, dismissing the very valid concerns, pains, and injustices that our generation faces. I’m calling into question the current picture of what it looks like to be a feminist. It feels limiting to me. I’m saying, for anyone else who resonates with this, that there’s another way available to us. It doesn’t mean that we’re less passionate about social issues, that we are less open minded, compassionate or even effective. It means that we choose to stay centered in our own self-sovereignty as women, to stay empowered, dignified, and strong as we address systemic issues.
And that fight begins with ourselves.
It begins in our families. It begins in quiet, clarity. When a woman lives out of her own inherent power, the world unfolds like a carpet in front of her. She doesn’t have to dress like a vagina, or be funny, or rage, or march, or let anyone call her nasty! It’s a different paradigm, one that we’re finding our way back to if you’re on this journey with me. And it might not look like anything you see in the media.
Ultimately, we want a world where women are valued every bit as much men BECAUSE we are different, not because we have found a way to imitate manly displays of power. If you feel unrepresented by the cultural view of what being a “feminist” looks like right now, I just want to offer you these words to say that I see you. I stand with you, even though I didn’t leave my house. And I look eagerly forward to journey further and deeper into our own impossible mystery and strength as women.
pps An article by the wonderful independant journalist Caity Johnstone:
http://www.newslogue.com/debate/299
