FROM THE LITTLE that we know of the changeover from the last matercentric society to a patriarchal one, we can undoubtedly say that violence and war was involved. The female-centred societies seem not to have had armies, and their art suggests that they did not celebrate heroism in battle or the conquest of other peoples. It was difficult for such societies to resist the invasion of war-like tribes who worshipped a male sky-god, and who were quite happy to gain what they wanted by force. It may be from this time that we have the legends of female warriors like the Amazons, since the women leaders may have attempted resistance. The male warriors would undoubtedly have had the edge, not only because they were ruthless and intent on expansion, but because it was the will of the Great Mother that they win, however insane this seems to us.
We now have a society which threatens us with extinction. Both Russia and America, despite their recent friendship, have enough nuclear missiles trained on each other to wipe out life on this planet. In its recent past, the U.S. has been willing to use nuclear bombs to wage war on its enemy, Japan, which could not retaliate. We have people who if ordered to press a button which destroys us all, will undoubtedly follow orders and do so. We are also seeing nuclear weapons in the hands of more and more countries, some of whom are headed by despotic dictators. There is also the possibility of terrorist groups gaining access to weapons of mass destruction, and using them as levers for political ends. It is a clear pointer that the time for change has arrived, and the misuse of the power of the ego, whether it is an individual one or a national one, has to end.
The use of violence to achieve a particular end is not likely to disappear overnight. The tradition of obedience to strong leaders and a rigidly organised chain of command will likewise be around for some time. In the past, the powerful male leader has often been seen as a god, or at least a semi-divine representative of a deity who is not far removed from being an omnipotent warrior- king himself. In many countries, this still prevails, and the people will often endure dreadful suffering in war because the leader has decreed that the cause is righteous in the eyes of god. There are also many people who still believe that if they go to war for any reason, then god is on their side. We can point to many countries for proof of this. Each side in a conflict can be entirely sure, with no apparent hypocrisy, that truth, justice and god is with them. However peaceable many of the inhabitants are, for example, the leadership of many Middle Eastern countries still thinks in terms of believers and infidels, Arabs and' 'others,' and can justify a holy war on that basis. The West tends to be a little more sophisticated, and speaks of fighting for world peace, and the suppression of tyrants, but there is still the idea that one side is right, and the other side must of course be wrong.
In the West, we pay lip-service to the idea that to invade another country because it is militarily weaker is immoral. Though we still maintain armies, navies and air forces, we claim that they are merely for defence. To a certain extent this is true, but we are also reluctant to wage war at the drop of a hat because of the cost, in terms of both money and human life. The advantages to be gained from conquering other nations has to be very substantial before we are likely to do so. We are far more likely to take them over by economic and cultural methods. Though we are slowly moving from the path of the whip to the path of the crook, attempting to persuade others rather than always bludgeoning them into submission, as yet we have only just begun.
As mankind moves from the path of the god, there would seem to be a danger that peacefully inclined peoples on the path of the Goddess will be overrun by countries which are still firmly patriarchal, and think in terms of war and force. If matercentric countries disarm entirely, in love and trust, will their bloodthirsty neighbours clap their hands with glee, and make immediate invasion plans? Many people today believe that this would happen, and are reluctant to disarm for that reason. They see a standing army and nuclear weapons as a necessary deterrent to aggressors. Looking around at the world, they see many unenlightened countries where despotic rulers are intent on expansion through aggression, and say 'not yet' to disarmament.
It is not sufficient to use 'common sense' when looking at this question. We have to take into consideration that the Will of the Great Mother exerts an influence. When we were changing to a patriarchal society, it was inevitable that the violence of the patriarchal societies would win them supremacy. Now, it is inevitable that the more peaceful societies will succeed in the long run. This may not happen in an obvious way, say from military superiority, but through what appears to be luck or chance, which is one of the aspects of the Great Mother. It defies logic, and seems to be bestowed indiscriminately. Gamblers rely on it simply because it has nothing to do with reason, and one of the ways they develop intuition is by tuning into 'Lady Luck.'
A good example of the apparently chaotic way luck works to fulfil the will of the Great Mother, can be seen in the election of Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative party in Britain. Even a month before the election, she seemed the least likely winner, even to herself. Not only was she relatively inexperienced, she was a woman seeking the leadership of a party which feels women are very good at licking envelopes and supporting male candidates, but not much else. It came as a surprise to all concerned when the Conservatives discovered they now had a female in charge. Whatever we might think of Margaret Thatcher on a personal level, and however Machiavellian we see her as being, there is no doubt that without luck, she would never have achieved her position.
We are saying that the will of the Great Mother ensures the eventual establishment of a peaceful society, for those of us who wish it, however violent the remaining patriarchal people are. But this does not mean that we must throw away all our weapons, disband our armies, and turn our swords into ploughshares tomorrow. For one thing, there will be too much left of the patriarchal ethos within most of us for that to work. If we are still afraid of aggressors, or condemning of them, we have to come to terms with those emotions, because they are symptomatic of a patriarchal outlook. To override fear and anger is foolish. They will merely go underground, into our subconscious mind, and wreak havoc there. We will find that others still attack us, still try to force us, because whatever is inside us expresses itself in the outside world. If we are all connected, then the oppressor is part of our larger consciousness, and our fear or condemnation of him is known to him too. He can do no other than home in on our fear and give us what we were expecting anyway, though to those outside us, we look like innocent victims. If we can see him as expressing that part of us all which still has a heavy investment in violence, then we inevitably wish to help him rather than judge him, even if that help seems to take a relatively violent form. If we do not, we will merely put the problem outside ourselves. We will see him as a baddie, and end up either feeling self-righteously 'peaceful,' or waging yet another war in the name of eventual peace and freedom. In forgiving the oppressor, we forgive ourselves collectively for still having violent and selfish urges, and pave the way for the day when there will be no more war, and we can throw away our weapons.
There can be no question of the Great Mother being on 'our side' in a war, as a male god is. The Great Mother sees no-one as outside her love. If we are to reconnect with Her, we must feel the same way. Not with our intellect, but truly, throughout our whole being. Until we can do this, it is likely that we will need to maintain armies to defend ourselves and others from aggression. But what we must also do, is to pray to the Great Mother for help with the part of us that still sees through such fearful and judgemental eyes. If we do this, we will gain the trust and love which enables us to throw away our defences. We will realise that our supposed vulnerability to attack only comes from fear, and that love is the answer, in all cases.
We now have a society which threatens us with extinction. Both Russia and America, despite their recent friendship, have enough nuclear missiles trained on each other to wipe out life on this planet. In its recent past, the U.S. has been willing to use nuclear bombs to wage war on its enemy, Japan, which could not retaliate. We have people who if ordered to press a button which destroys us all, will undoubtedly follow orders and do so. We are also seeing nuclear weapons in the hands of more and more countries, some of whom are headed by despotic dictators. There is also the possibility of terrorist groups gaining access to weapons of mass destruction, and using them as levers for political ends. It is a clear pointer that the time for change has arrived, and the misuse of the power of the ego, whether it is an individual one or a national one, has to end.
The use of violence to achieve a particular end is not likely to disappear overnight. The tradition of obedience to strong leaders and a rigidly organised chain of command will likewise be around for some time. In the past, the powerful male leader has often been seen as a god, or at least a semi-divine representative of a deity who is not far removed from being an omnipotent warrior- king himself. In many countries, this still prevails, and the people will often endure dreadful suffering in war because the leader has decreed that the cause is righteous in the eyes of god. There are also many people who still believe that if they go to war for any reason, then god is on their side. We can point to many countries for proof of this. Each side in a conflict can be entirely sure, with no apparent hypocrisy, that truth, justice and god is with them. However peaceable many of the inhabitants are, for example, the leadership of many Middle Eastern countries still thinks in terms of believers and infidels, Arabs and' 'others,' and can justify a holy war on that basis. The West tends to be a little more sophisticated, and speaks of fighting for world peace, and the suppression of tyrants, but there is still the idea that one side is right, and the other side must of course be wrong.
In the West, we pay lip-service to the idea that to invade another country because it is militarily weaker is immoral. Though we still maintain armies, navies and air forces, we claim that they are merely for defence. To a certain extent this is true, but we are also reluctant to wage war at the drop of a hat because of the cost, in terms of both money and human life. The advantages to be gained from conquering other nations has to be very substantial before we are likely to do so. We are far more likely to take them over by economic and cultural methods. Though we are slowly moving from the path of the whip to the path of the crook, attempting to persuade others rather than always bludgeoning them into submission, as yet we have only just begun.
As mankind moves from the path of the god, there would seem to be a danger that peacefully inclined peoples on the path of the Goddess will be overrun by countries which are still firmly patriarchal, and think in terms of war and force. If matercentric countries disarm entirely, in love and trust, will their bloodthirsty neighbours clap their hands with glee, and make immediate invasion plans? Many people today believe that this would happen, and are reluctant to disarm for that reason. They see a standing army and nuclear weapons as a necessary deterrent to aggressors. Looking around at the world, they see many unenlightened countries where despotic rulers are intent on expansion through aggression, and say 'not yet' to disarmament.
It is not sufficient to use 'common sense' when looking at this question. We have to take into consideration that the Will of the Great Mother exerts an influence. When we were changing to a patriarchal society, it was inevitable that the violence of the patriarchal societies would win them supremacy. Now, it is inevitable that the more peaceful societies will succeed in the long run. This may not happen in an obvious way, say from military superiority, but through what appears to be luck or chance, which is one of the aspects of the Great Mother. It defies logic, and seems to be bestowed indiscriminately. Gamblers rely on it simply because it has nothing to do with reason, and one of the ways they develop intuition is by tuning into 'Lady Luck.'
A good example of the apparently chaotic way luck works to fulfil the will of the Great Mother, can be seen in the election of Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative party in Britain. Even a month before the election, she seemed the least likely winner, even to herself. Not only was she relatively inexperienced, she was a woman seeking the leadership of a party which feels women are very good at licking envelopes and supporting male candidates, but not much else. It came as a surprise to all concerned when the Conservatives discovered they now had a female in charge. Whatever we might think of Margaret Thatcher on a personal level, and however Machiavellian we see her as being, there is no doubt that without luck, she would never have achieved her position.
We are saying that the will of the Great Mother ensures the eventual establishment of a peaceful society, for those of us who wish it, however violent the remaining patriarchal people are. But this does not mean that we must throw away all our weapons, disband our armies, and turn our swords into ploughshares tomorrow. For one thing, there will be too much left of the patriarchal ethos within most of us for that to work. If we are still afraid of aggressors, or condemning of them, we have to come to terms with those emotions, because they are symptomatic of a patriarchal outlook. To override fear and anger is foolish. They will merely go underground, into our subconscious mind, and wreak havoc there. We will find that others still attack us, still try to force us, because whatever is inside us expresses itself in the outside world. If we are all connected, then the oppressor is part of our larger consciousness, and our fear or condemnation of him is known to him too. He can do no other than home in on our fear and give us what we were expecting anyway, though to those outside us, we look like innocent victims. If we can see him as expressing that part of us all which still has a heavy investment in violence, then we inevitably wish to help him rather than judge him, even if that help seems to take a relatively violent form. If we do not, we will merely put the problem outside ourselves. We will see him as a baddie, and end up either feeling self-righteously 'peaceful,' or waging yet another war in the name of eventual peace and freedom. In forgiving the oppressor, we forgive ourselves collectively for still having violent and selfish urges, and pave the way for the day when there will be no more war, and we can throw away our weapons.
There can be no question of the Great Mother being on 'our side' in a war, as a male god is. The Great Mother sees no-one as outside her love. If we are to reconnect with Her, we must feel the same way. Not with our intellect, but truly, throughout our whole being. Until we can do this, it is likely that we will need to maintain armies to defend ourselves and others from aggression. But what we must also do, is to pray to the Great Mother for help with the part of us that still sees through such fearful and judgemental eyes. If we do this, we will gain the trust and love which enables us to throw away our defences. We will realise that our supposed vulnerability to attack only comes from fear, and that love is the answer, in all cases.
