Decades ago, in a New Age seminar, I heard about the Goddess. At the time, although I didn’t know it, I was steeped in patriarchal attitudes about the Feminine. I regarded goddesses as something either mythical or pagan. In my arrogance, I thought I knew better.
As a psychologist I had learned about our dual nature – that we all have a masculine psychic component as well as a feminine; that each of these energies informs us of different qualities. The masculine energy is dynamic, the feminine passive. The masculine is about Doing. Symbolized by Mars, the masculine energy manifests in our lives as drive, ambition, will, accomplishment. Mars energy impels us to go after what we want.
The feminine, on the other hand, is the energy of Being. Symbolized in our lives as either the Moon or Venus – mother or lover. This is patriarchal symbolism. As this system of belief gained ascendance over the past 5000 years, women’s roles were reduced to these two functions. Feminine became associated with the female gender. Men became more “manly” and women more docile. Until the late 19th century anyway.
Women awoke to their dual nature and demanded equality. This was the activation of Lilith – the return of Lilith that began with the Suffragists and carried on through the Women’s Liberation movement. Lilith was the first wife of Adam and according to the Patriarchs who assembled the Bible, Lilith was bad. She demanded equality with Adam. Adam begged God for a better wife, one that would be subservient to his will. So Lilith was banished and, according to patriarchal lore, became the mother of all demons.
In Astrology, she is called Black Moon Lilith and she has played a major role in inspiring women to self-actualize. In the last 150 years, in the western hemisphere at least, women have become almost equal. We still don’t have an ERA, nor do the majority of us earn equal pay, but women have entered every profession. We have integrated our masculine energy, no longer limited to gender roles assigned by men. Currently men are waking up as well, reclaiming their feelings, realizing that they want to experience the rewards of a gentler life, to nurture their children, to mentor them as they grow up. As a result, gender lines are becoming blurred. Our bodies no longer define our identity.
Slowly we are coming back into balance, but we still have to correct the enormous imbalance in our collective psyche. The unmitigated masculine drive in our global society has brought us to the brink of annihilation. We have weapons of total destruction that can be unleashed at the whim of any egotistical head of state. We have pursued happiness in the form of material wealth, leaving a toxic trail in our wake. We have competed with each other and trod upon each other to get to the top, where the wealthy and powerful repress the masses and harvest the fruits of their labor.
Not a pretty picture. These are the consequences of a runaway patriarchy. We have been convinced that this is the only way to live, by exploiting each other and plundering our planet. We can plainly see that our way of life is not sustainable. Our planet is suffering and becoming less hospitable. If we don’t reverse the damage, it will become uninhabitable, but before the extinction of the human race, there will be much suffering. Billions of people will be displaced and try to migrate to safety. Our soil will become arid and barren. We will not be able to grow food. Our water will no longer be potable, our seas will become dead, devoid of all life. We will starve and we will kill each other off in competition for the little that is left to sustain us. Earth will become an oven like Venus. The experiment of humanity will have failed.
These are harsh truths, but this is what we must face. I am astounded that we have been dealt our death certificate, and we carry on in our frenzy, ignoring the facts. If we don’t face these facts, we will not act soon enough to prevent extinction. Fortunately, help has come. In the perfection of the Heavens, we discovered Eris. On July 29, 2005 she was spotted, along with several other dwarf planets hanging out in the Kuiper Belt. With every discovery “out there” comes the awakening of a new faculty or dimension of inner consciousness.
I have written about Eris before and shared her mythology. I came to realize that Eris was not just some unpleasant trouble-maker as described in patriarchal Greek myths. Eris performs a crucial function – she exposes our shadow side, our ego defenses, our false self. We will explore the shadow in depth in the coming months. This is the most important thing we can do right now. This is our spiritual work that will prepare us to make sane, responsible choices for our future. This is the work that reconnects us with our true selves, our whole selves. This is the work of integrity – reclaiming all the discarded parts of self.
On Sunday, Pluto and Eris formed an exact square, one of five that will happen on the following dates: January 26, June 14 (Flag Day), December 10th of 2020 and August 27th and October 8th of 2021. You may want to mark them on your calendar and follow the news. Track the events triggered by the dance between Pluto and Eris. For instance, as the exact square was perfecting, excerpts from John Bolton’s upcoming book were released to the New York Times. The furor may force the Senate to admit witnesses in the impeachment trial.
Pluto is the planet of transformation that destroys what is toxic, corrupt and dysfunctional. He clears the path for regeneration. In Capricorn his influence will be felt in our current social, economic and political structures. We witness his work as our government holds the impeachment trial of our head of state. Pluto has dug up the dirt, now we’re arguing about whether to replace our president. The decisions made in these weeks could destroy or resurrect our Republic.
Eris is a goddess of chaos. We have come to view chaos as a thing of horror, but in truth it is a time of transition when we don’t recognize the bigger pattern. I’ve used this analogy before but it’s worth repeating. A caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly, but there is a period in which it dissolves into a formless, green goo. We are in that green-goo stage. We call it chaos. The wonderful thing about chaos is the potential for anything. It is a very powerful state in which we can make choices, we can envision outcomes, we can exercise our better angels and create something totally new.
And that’s where Eris comes in. She is a warrior goddess. She comes armed with rage at the abuse of children, at the devastation of our Mother Earth, at the inequality between wealth and poverty, at the repression of the feminine energy, at the horrors of war and genocide, at prejudice and hatred, at the exclusion of billions from their rightful place in the family of humanity.
What we fear as loss, is actually release. What we see as death is the making of space for something new. What is needed now is a rebalancing of our dual essence by bringing feminine qualities of consciousness back into our lives. So what are those qualities?
One expression of the feminine energy is unconditional love. The feminine nurtures, sustains, creates space – making room for more possibilities. The feminine is intuitive, feeling, sensing. Her powers of observation are extended into unseen realms. The feminine focuses on experience – not the outcome, but the process of living. She seeks the depths and longs for connection. She is inclusive. The feminine is compassionate, empathic and knows the wisdom of the body. She cherishes nature, solitude, silence, peace, prayer, depth and devotion. She teaches us to receive, which is a talent that fills our lives with magic. She relaxes our struggle, she beckons us to surrender and flow with the Divine Plan. But she is also fierce in her protection of the weakest among us.
I will be on retreat until February 17th. I hope to write about the Full Moon in Leo on February 8th, but I make no promises. I am stepping into the unknown. In the meantime, allow Pluto to clear away what no longer serves you, and listen to Eris as she points out the shadow sides of your personality that you have yet to integrate. Once we face and own our darkness, we discover so much more of our light. This is how we practice the future, by becoming more of who we truly are.
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