The Goddess and inclusivity from Morgaine @ The-Goddess 21 Feb 2008 2:22 pm
I received the following comment on the Pledge signed by the Goddess community:
First, I didn't write the pledge, I signed it. However, had it mentioned a male deity, I might not have even signed it. First, such an inclusion is unnecessary - "all gods are Goddesses and all Goddesses are one Goddess," so Goddess is an inclusive term, unlike "god" which is exclusive of Goddess and always has been since the advent of patriarchy. If we lived in a matriarchy, I might be more sympathetic to adding a "god" but we don't so I'm not. Why you, a Pagan, would see the Goddess as an image that doesn't include you mystifies me. You should know better.
There are some who signed the pledge who are montheastic, believing in one Goddess and only one Goddess. Some are polytheistic, some are both and see no conflict in that because they understand the inclusive nature of the quote above.
I know there are Pagans who believe in duality. I believe this is a patriarchal contamination of the Craft, brought in by people who are nominally Pagan but bring their patriarchal dichotomies with them. It is a lower form of energy that encourages stagnation and irresolvable conflict. At some point, you have to go the original Source, the 0 before the 1 or the 2, and that Source is Goddess - it has to be, or She couldn't have given birth to existence. Even if I believed in duality, and I don't, I still would insist on focus on the Goddess because we've been through 6,000 years of an unnatural social order and it's going to take a lot of Goddess to "balance out" the damage male gods have done to humanity and our Mother Gaia. If all things were equal, and they aren't, there would still be the fact that nothing in Nature is 50-50 - the female is always the first to evolve and remains the more numerous gender.
I do agree that Pagans need to stick together, but for that to happen you are going to need a clearer picture of the Goddess. She does include you.
What about just paying everyone the same and allowing a sliding scale for everyone. As a person of color and a Male Pagan, I don't believe we will get anywhere if we continue to view everyone as separate. And how about including the God in that pledge. Is the God to be ignored? We as pagans need to close the divided and work as a united front.
First, I didn't write the pledge, I signed it. However, had it mentioned a male deity, I might not have even signed it. First, such an inclusion is unnecessary - "all gods are Goddesses and all Goddesses are one Goddess," so Goddess is an inclusive term, unlike "god" which is exclusive of Goddess and always has been since the advent of patriarchy. If we lived in a matriarchy, I might be more sympathetic to adding a "god" but we don't so I'm not. Why you, a Pagan, would see the Goddess as an image that doesn't include you mystifies me. You should know better.
There are some who signed the pledge who are montheastic, believing in one Goddess and only one Goddess. Some are polytheistic, some are both and see no conflict in that because they understand the inclusive nature of the quote above.
I know there are Pagans who believe in duality. I believe this is a patriarchal contamination of the Craft, brought in by people who are nominally Pagan but bring their patriarchal dichotomies with them. It is a lower form of energy that encourages stagnation and irresolvable conflict. At some point, you have to go the original Source, the 0 before the 1 or the 2, and that Source is Goddess - it has to be, or She couldn't have given birth to existence. Even if I believed in duality, and I don't, I still would insist on focus on the Goddess because we've been through 6,000 years of an unnatural social order and it's going to take a lot of Goddess to "balance out" the damage male gods have done to humanity and our Mother Gaia. If all things were equal, and they aren't, there would still be the fact that nothing in Nature is 50-50 - the female is always the first to evolve and remains the more numerous gender.
I do agree that Pagans need to stick together, but for that to happen you are going to need a clearer picture of the Goddess. She does include you.