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Balance
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On the Issue of "Balance"One comment that Dianics have to deal with, especially from within the pagan community, is "If you don't honor the god in addition to the goddess, you are unbalanced." This is my answer:Humans created all formal religions - there is no religion that has been proven to have been handed down directly from the Divine. (If there were, we wouldn't have the variety of religions, and factions within religions, that we have on this earth!) The Great Spirit (Ultimate Deity, Big Cheese) is beyond anything that humans can know and understand. It is beyond gender, it is beyond race, it is beyond everything. In our attempt to grasp some measure of knowledge, we need to reduce the immenseness of the Great Spirit into some form that we can connect with. The first thing we do as part of this narrowing process is to give the Great Spirit gender. As a woman, it is most comfortable and natural for me to think of the Great Spirit as female. If I were to try to know the Great Spirit as male, it would immediately classify me as "other." I would not have a personal connection with the deity, I would be "not the same." I would be denying the sacredness of my womanhood if deity were not also woman. If I were forced to acknowledge god and goddess, I would still have to see myself as incomplete, missing something without a man to "balance" me. As far as "balance" goes, who says that one gender is not "balanced" without the other? The only thing we need each other for is procreation - the rest is gravy! It's tasty gravy, but gravy nonetheless. Name one "masculine" trait that women do not also have. Aggression? Ambition? Power? Nope. Women have these too. Name one "feminine" trait that men do not also have. The ability to nurture? Sensitivity? Creativity? Nope. These are also shared. I believe that once you begin labeling things in an either/or fashion, you begin to EXclude instead of INclude. If you label things as light/dark, masculine/feminine, good/evil, active/passive, or black/white, you make sure that nothing and no one can be whole and complete. I luxuriate in shades of grey. Look at the elements. Can you say that they are good or evil? Of course not; they have both constructive and destructive forces. Rain can fall gently and make our gardens grow. Wind can fill the sails of a boat and cool our brow in the hot sun. Fire can be used to cook our food and provide warmth and light. Earth grows our food, gives us shelter, and supports our life on this planet. By seeing my deity as Goddess, I create a personal relationship with Her. If you can see your deity as the opposite gender and not have any problem with that, more power to you, but don't tell me what I'm supposed to believe. Allow me the courtesy of respecting my choice of religion as I respect yours. Remember, I think you're just as wrong as you think I am. copyright 1999 DNK |