The Fire of the Womb

I recently connected with a sister from Turkey who told a story of her experience of oppression, and that of sisters, mothers and daughters of mothers, and their grandmothers, womyn of all generations, in her land. Womyn there are not allowed to outwardly, publicly, openly channel their divinity, to seek their truth and manifest their dreams of what their unrestrained, wild lives could be. In our Women's Circle, we invoked the goddess as we asked for deep healing of her ancestors. As we know, if we heal our ancestral wounds, we are doing great work in healing ourselves as we presently are.

This sort of oppression is true for those identifying as womyn, women, female, and any other embodiment that is not strictly male, throughout much of our world. It is no secret that womyn, across time and space, are experienced and treated as second-class citizens. We succumb to the power of men, and of the enacted, unnatural "law" of the land, because we must -- with often our lives as the sacrifice if we do not; whether that life be in the physical form or the vital force of the soul (for without that pulse of the soul, what purpose has life?). This sister of mine, she suggested that we perhaps don't see the oppression in our own country quite as much, through her eyes, simply and justifiably because of the contrast from the overt oppression she's suffered alongside the sisters of her native land.

Even with trail-blazing, shift-inciting crusades like the Women's Suffrage Movement a century ago (the likes of which many, many countries have never seen), womyn in our country are still paid around 78% less than men, on average. We know these embarrassing facts. I am noticing myself self-conscious of spelling womyn as so, rather than the culturally-acceptable traditional spelling of "women". I feel that I may not be taken as seriously in this post, or might be seen as "new age", or a feminist, and that I will be dismissed. This is my insecurity and deep-seeded, ancestrally unhealed karmic wounding as a womyn arising: it whispers to me that if I claim myself as something apart (not separate) from men, even in semantics, I will be less seen. And this is a valid insecurity: It is proven by the simple fact that womyn in this country, The United States of America, this country of we the people who every four years find ourselves the electors of the supposed "Leader of the Free World", and the land that so many other lands look to and, because of the historic and gradual building of oppressive systems, must rely heavily on for their own sustainment, are unseen.

And to be quite honest, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing as a citizen of this country, but this embarrassment is not mine. It's for those who are aware of these facts, have the power to enact change, and don't. It's embarrassing that these people do not see, when they've been handed the power to have such a far-reaching scope. It's embarrassing because this country's society at large labels itself as more evolved, more powerful (power-hungry for sure), and assumes itself as the key-holder of the sought-after, elusive answers the world needs. [I will note here that there are many clear-headed folks in the political arena working for deep and meaningful change for our land; it's just unfortunate that there is, created through the government, such polarity and separation ... so still I use the term "society at large".] And because the USA puts itself on this oversized pedestal, it's embarrassing because our citizens are not equal.

I just got off the phone with my wise, resilient, brilliant mama who reminded me of an even deeper truth -- and that as a mother and homeowner, care-taker of a family and puppy, and at times, and for much of her life, a full-time employee of the American workforce, would have been the one to remind me: Womyn are also expected to be all of these, or they're even less seen. A womyn who is simply a home-maker is seen as shallow, or perhaps lazy; a womyn who works full-time and, because of basic busy-ness, perhaps doesn't always maintain a clean home or keep up the *expected* aesthetic appeal of that space is seen as scattered or incompetent; a mother who works full-time and is away from her children during the day or isn't available to pick them up from school because she is at work, carrying her family's needs in her heart, is seen as neglectful. This is basic injustice at its core. And the façade here, is that this country, at its core, cares for its womyn (or even that it needs t coddle us: it needs us so be subservient and less-than so that there can be a more-than, there can be a hierarchy). Our most basic documents outlining the values of our country would lead one to believe that all of our citizens are truly holders of all the same rights. That we are We The People -- and that "people" here denotes us all: all of us under a shiny multi-colored umbrella as one, weathering the storms together, making decisions that are best for us all. That that is what Democracy is. I laugh, but it's not really that funny.

THIS is how womyn will rise up, though: by returning to our womb, the heart of where creation lies. This means, in creating, we returning to our purpose. We stretch what creation means, and we develop innovative ways to embrace the new paradigm, because it is within us. We step outside of the quick, demanding, action-inciting energy of the old paradigm, and we embody the Sacred Feminine. We start small businesses and run them from our homes. We work with our hands. We sew, we paint, we write. There is something to be said that creation is of the yin energy, which is the female embodiment of the Chinese symbol that encompasses the merging of basic duality and symbiosis with all. It is also of the left brain, and of Ida Nadi (the feminine channel of Kundalini energy) and the left (feminine) side of the body. We create Women's Circles and hold each other in sacred space and support for discovering our true calling. We do this while maintaining homes and full-time jobs for companies that insist on paying us less than we deserve but can never understand that this in no way reflects our true worth, despite aggressive attempts to show us otherwise. We are being called to embody deeper and more expansive levels of creation because that is our craft, and it is what we are wired, in all ways, to do -- and its fire, amidst adversity, glows bright.

[A note for my brothers, for you who see the plight of womyn and the deep injustice we have faced and continue to face -- thank you. If you see this injustice and embody your inner warrior with the intention to unite in healing alongside our warrioress, thank you. There is also much to be said for what the soul carries: in my belief, we have been many beings through many lifetimes. That means we hold the karma of all that is gendered and un-gendered. My words here are a statement of womyn in the physical manifestation, and for our sacred womyn ancestors.]