With or Against Nature?Honoring the Wise Old Woman

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by Zae Zatoon, Ph.D.

WE LIVE IN AN AGEIST, SEXIST SOCIETY that misrepresents female power and breeds fear of decrepitude. For thousands of years, we have judged women by their value generally as sex objects and promoted the attitude that aging is undesirable "until you consider the alternative."

The degree to which we discredit the feminine and label our elderly as "useless" and "dried up" indicates how far we have come from honoring the Earth, our bodies and all forms of life. At the current rate of human activity, roughly one hundred wildlife species become extinct daily. Land and mineral developers ravage four acres of the world's rain forests every 1.4 seconds. If we are to survive as a species without destroying all earthly life with us, we must revere the interconnectedness of all life and dignify the natural cycles of birth, death and rebirth.

Research shows that, up until about 4,000 years ago, men and women lived in equal partnership rather than domination. People worshipped the Supreme Deity as the Earth in female form giving birth to all life. They honored women for the ability to give and sustain life. Women served as the mothers and co-rulers of civilization.

Recent interpretations of the archeological record indicate that these were extremely peaceful times. There was a marked absence of war. Men and women appreciated all life as having a single, shared source and as being a gift of the Earth, her mysteries, and the cycles of the moon and seasons.

Women and their daughters lived in communal family groups that maintained homes and cared for pre-pubescent children. They originated the arts along with the survival skills of planting, medicine, tool making and the domestication of animals. During their sacred "red time," menstruating women consulted their dreams as oracles and received spiritual wisdom for the clan.

Stone carvings of open-legged female figures graced ancient entryways and emphasized the importance of woman's fertility and protection. Reflecting the inspirational quality of the Divine Feminine within each of us, they reminded all who passed between their legs that the vulva (one word for which in Sanskrit means "wealth") is the literal gateway of life.

In reaching across the threshold of the unknown to bring new souls into the world, women in childbirth epitomized bravery and fearlessness. Some scholars maintain that the first blood on ancient altars was birth and menstrual blood. Demanding rituals inspired men to match the courage of birthing mothers; blood sacrifices merely imitated woman's natural flow.

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