Further to Susan's comments, I also have difficulty with the Earth as
Mother metaphor. Her point is a valid one, but "Earth as Parent"
doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?
One of the problems that I find is that the word "Mother" is so loaded
with emotional baggage that it is very hard to see beyond that.
There is also the problem that human mothers, in the natural
course of events, don't usually outlive their children and
certainly are not expected to look after them in any physical
sense beyond childhood. Children grow up and become independent,
but what happens when Earth's children grow up?
I am probably happier with the idea of the Earth and all living
things upon it as part of one whole - not exactly one organism, but
connected at a very fundamental level. In a literal sense, we are
part of the Earth, the atoms and molecules that make up our bodies
have been part of the Earth, and of other living things.
Sincerely, June Brough.
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Mar 29 10:00:32 MST 1995
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 08:57:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Dancing Hummingbird /aka Joy Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: yet another earth as mother comment
In-Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Well, one could say that men have had plenty of time to demonstrate the
father role with having a Sky God in control of most of our religions and
our culture, that now it is Mom's turn. However, that is not to say that
Earth can not be regarded as both Mother *AND* father. I worship a God
and a Goddess, not just a Goddess, though I am at this point in my lives
giving Her more recognition because she has been so ignored. My God is
Pan, who is Her consort.
And do not think that being "mother" is merely a human thing. When i
think of Earth as Mother, (and which I said before for me, is NOT a
metaphor), all mother's come into view, Mother wolves, mother ducks,
mother lions, mother fish, mother alligators mother spiders, mother
woodpeckers. Es macht's nichts, es ist all egal. In this arena some
fathers help to raise the young, but that is all dependent on whether the
species survival depends on two-parenting or not. Lions certainly do not
fall into this category, but woodpeckers do. Granted that there are some
rare occassions where mother's eat their young, at least so I have heard,
but this is a real exception. Considering that the father's behavior is so
irratic from species to species, it is not surprising that Patriarchal
culture is so weird.
Why do I feel this thread of Mother antagonism on this list? What in the
world is wrong with being a Mother? Since when does saying "I love my
mother" mean that I don't love my father, anyway? For a bunch of
feminists, there is an awful lot of anger toward what mother represents
in people's psyche! Just because I honor the Earth as my Mother does not
mean that I am ignoring the energy and life that comes from the
Father....I also regard the Sun as a male Deity, and his life-giving
warmth and energy is vital for all of us to be alive, just as much as the
Earth's fertile womb was necessary for life to evolve.
Jiminy Crickets!
Joy Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scion in the Church of All Worlds
"The Garrulous Grok Flok"
Thou Art Goddess!
