The Goddess Experiment: 21 Days of Imagery
What would happen if you changed how you “see” God?
Want to find out?
I’m humanist. I believe that there is something divine ‘n mighty about women that should be revered and honoured in every domain of life. And, I believe that there is something divine ‘n mighty about men that should be revered and honoured in every domain of life. It takes all of us to create an awakened world. That said, “active honouring” for women is still out of whack. We are still getting short changed by contemporary culture.
So I am looking to myself to see where it is that I personally do not honour my Feminine, my Shakti, my blood. And it starts with how I “see” God – the answer may be found in the imagery that fills my thoughts when my thoughts are on default. Thanks to eighteen years of Catholic mass and schooling (for which I am mostly grateful, actually,) my brain still defaults to images of a towering white male, literally looking down on me from above. Kind of like Michelangelo’s Big Guy…but more…smiley.
And that’s so…Old Testament. I need the Now Testament!
I know on a cellular level that God is All. Yin + Yang. Shakti + Sheva. Mother + Father. I know she is in the moony candescence of my heart. I know that he is in the arch of my actions. When I refer to God as “He,” I feel weighted. When I name God as “She,” I feel slightly silly.
Good ol’ French Canadian Catholicism has actually done my spirit much good. I cherish my religious roots. I spent much of my childhood pondering being a nun (and a disco dancer – both equally noble pursuits in my eyes.) I converted my doll closet into a Virgin Mary Shrine. I pretended Triscuit crackers were communion wafers. I thought that the true sign of my divinity would be the ability to pray so hard that I sweat blood, (or marry John Travolta.)
My very deep reverence for Christ is fully alive in my contemporary living. As is the practice of Buddhist Tonglen meditation. And the elegance of chaos theory and causal reality, and the odd Pagan ritual beneath a full moon. I quote my astrologer as often as I refer to Scripture. I’ve quilted a Sacred Dramatic paradigm that works for me.
My D-I-Y spirituality inspires and holds me accountable to actualize my potential as a soul and as a citizen. But it’s the questioning of it – not to be confused with doubting – that keeps my heart aflame and my life expanding.
I am asking myself: Is my default imagery of of God serving me? Is that old stodgy dude visual helping me to be all that I can be as a woman, a worshiper of life? So I’m going to see what happens if I put my brain into the Yahweh Rinse Cycle. What will shift or bloom or go bust in my psyche if I very intentionally envision God in female form?
For the next 21 days, including weekends, I’m going to actively re-frame He into She. His Highness into Her Highness. I will look for images that speak to me of God-dess.
Just to see.
And you’re invited to see with me – for yourself, that is. 21 days. I’m looking for stories, images, meditations, prayers, pop tunes – all of it, that celebrate God as Goddess. If you send me cool stuff, I’ll post it as it’s own blog entry. I’ll be reporting on my Goddess Experiment daily, so for Godesses’ sake: Join in!
Om Shanti.
Danielle,
Sacred Dramatic
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August 8th, 2008 at 12:16 am
What a beautiful experiment, Carrie! I’m excited to see where it takes you! The first thing that comes to mind is Kevin Smith’s “Dogma”, with Alanis Morissette as God at the end of the film – a fabulous twist. Many Hindu gods are depicted as women as well, though I know far too little about this magical religion. Good luck with this – looking forward to the postings.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Sheepishly – sorry Danielle! It’s far too early here in the UK and I wasn’t reading properly.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:02 am
This is a wondrous exercise, Danielle. Brava! So if you were to choose from the pantheon of Greek goddesses, who would you be? Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Goddess in Every woman and Gods in Every Man are wonderful books to truly get into this. Also lots of beautiful tarot decks honor the goddess as well as the god in us. One I particularly love and use is called Transformational Tarot by Arnell Ando–gorgeous and inspiring. I’ll be paying attention to this blog in the weeks ahead. I love it. Oh yes, The Motherpeace Deck is another terrific source for goddess images.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Hi Danielle,
I love your honesty, insights, humor and openness. Thank you for sharing yourself.
I have a couple of ideas I would love to share with you – sacred dance to open the feminine and connect with Her through your body. – most especially Bharatanatyam-a sensual and divine experience
I also remember a meditation of visualizing your Hara (abdomen area) holding the universe and slightly spinning, ever turning. Being a woman, as a giver of life, everything comes from this place of infinite creation.
Something that helps me is creating offerings of flowers, incense, and food. This act of selfless giving, beauty, and creating is very feminine for me and takes me out of my head and into my heart for connection and remembering. It’s a balance of visual and physical.
With love, C
August 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Talk about revolutionizing religion!
Will check my goddess books for images. Yoruba (which evolved into Santeria and Voudoun when it moved from Africa to the Americas and blended with Catholicism) is full of goddesses. I have picture in my mind of a Haitian flag/tapestry, sequined and seed-beaded with the image and symbols of the goddess Erzulie. And there are powerful “Great Spirit” woman images in Native culture, too. Last I read some of that was in Paula Gunn Allen’s brilliant bio of…believe it or not…Pocahontas.
The thing that’s interesting about these religions is that they don’t have one person–God or Goddess–hold all the power. The idea of Pantheon is interesting, isn’t it? Rather more democratic. Definitely more dramatic, since these Powers are interacting with one another and with us.
Good food for thought. Thanks.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Danielle,
I love your 21 day Goddess experiment already.
Like you, I believe that true Great Spirit is wider than gender, but that it IS important for the world to see the feminine as divine also.
At the moment, much of the world has only dreamt of God as a man, and yet God is in all of us, and we are all apart of the light that is spirit.
I’ve been on this journey of finding the Goddess inside myself and others for four years, since I joined a women’s circle at age 21. It’s been the most blessed, awakening journey & I am so grateful for it.
Now I run three day Goddess Gatherings – a time for women to experience the Goddess inside themselves: the wise, deeply loving and profound spirit inside. Everything we need is truly inside us!
I also create art and photography that celebrate the Goddess in every woman. Soulful creation honouring the divine in spirits around me is one of the deepest joys in my life… and very much what I feel to be my life work
I would love to share with you some of my own Goddess imagery…
I create prints & artworks to honour and celebrate the unique Goddesses we are, and to nurture and support us wherever we are at on our journey. You can see more at: http://www.goddessleonie.com
I have been photographing women around the globe as part of my Goddess in You photo/book/oracle card project. You can see them here:
http://www.goddessleonie.com/goddess.html
Wishing you deep blessings, awakenings and belly laughter on your journey,
Leonie
http://www.goddessleonie.com
August 10th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
This is beautiful.
I purchased a delightfully weathered concrete Quan Yin statue this week; the first purchase guided by my Style Statement. I can’t resist the urge to join you!
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Part of the Dionysian 'Liturgy'
Blessed be the sun and moon, and the stars; Deuteronomy 4:19
As above, So below. Genesis 49:25
“Chant the spell, flesh to dust”; (Eumenide – poet Aeschylus)
“Unbind the knot (on the cord), that he may live.” (Deuteronomy 4:1)
As I do will, be it undone. (Genesis 26:29)
“I am ashamed, Sir!…
Using him, to launch this new God to the masses.”
(Harris, Stephen L. and Platzner, Gloria. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights, Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. NewYork. 2008. Euripides' Bacchae, p. 825)
The Virgin princess, Selene, is NOT the goddess/saint of Bread; The Mother of Agriculture / the Mother of Grain (Wheat, Barley, Corn), Demeter is.
The first is Demeter, the Goddess.
She is the Earth — or any name you with to call her–
and she sustains humanity with solid food.
Next came the son of the virgin, Dionysus,
bringing the counterpart to bread, wine
and the blessing of life's flowing juices.”
(Harris, Stephen L. and Platzner, Gloria. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights, Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York. 2008. Euripides' Bacchae, p. 825)