Womanhood and the Divine Feminine
I’ve been thinking a lot about womanhood, motherhood and the Divine Feminine of late. I can’t think about those topics without thinking of my own mother, my grandmothers, and aunts.
Before my mother’s mother passed, she was the glue that held our family together. My mom and her siblings would bring their spouses and children to spend Sundays with Granny. We’d gather at least forty people in her little single-wide trailer to enjoy her Sunday feasts. Granny was an unassuming woman. Rather quiet, very sweet natured. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone. Her only expletive was an occasional, “Ah, foot” or maybe a “Lawsee-me.”
And the love! It radiated from her eyes! When she’d come to visit us, my brother and I would run to the door exclaiming, “Granny’s here!” Her presence elicited such joy in our young hearts.
It wasn’t what she did with us. I don’t remember her ever getting down on the floor playing with us. I don’t recall her ever reading me a book. I don’t even remember any long conversations. I do remember her playing ragtime on our piano and loving how she could make those 88 keys come alive. What brought us such joy? It was simply HER. Her presence was love. We knew she loved us without reservation, without restraint.
When Mothers Are Gone
After Granny became ill with dementia, my mother became the glue that held our immediate family together. We no longer got together with my mother’s siblings. We rarely saw our aunts, uncles, and cousins anymore.
Each mother within the family became the matriarch of her individual clan and had her own gatherings. When my mother was alive, we got together at least monthly for a big birthday dinner, gathering or holiday. Now that Mama is gone, my siblings and I are off in our own worlds, with our own families, forming the glue that holds the next generation together. We rarely get together in a big group anymore. I can’t think of a time we’ve all been together for anything since her funeral.
The Moral Rectitude of Women
There have been things that have occurred in the last five years that I’ve found myself saying, “This never would have happened if Mama was still here.” It wasn’t that she would have demanded things be better or that the right thing be done. It was simply HER PRESENCE that made things right. It was the love that radiated from her eyes. Or even that look that told you, “Now, you better shape up.” No words were necessary. A single expression spoke volumes and set the world right again.
Think of all the families who go their separate ways when mothers are gone. Think of the siblings who once got along who can’t stand to be in the same room now that mother has passed.
Gravity and the Divine Feminine
I heard someone talk about gravity the other day. They said that scientists are yet to really understand what gravity is. We know we need it. Without gravity we’d fly off the earth. It’s what keeps the moon orbiting the earth. It’s what holds solar systems and galaxies and universes together.
This mysterious force is a symbol or type of the Divine Feminine holding humanity together. Without the Divine Feminine we lose the glue that holds families and societies in harmony.
The following quote made me think of the binding power of womanhood and motherhood and why we may be experiencing so much division and friction in our world today:
“From the dawning of time, women have been blessed with a unique moral compass—the ability to distinguish right from wrong. This gift is enhanced in those who make and keep covenants. And it diminishes in those who willfully ignore the commandments of God.
I hasten to add that I do not absolve men in any way from God’s requirement for them also to distinguish between right and wrong. But my dear sisters, your ability to discern truth from error, to be society’s guardians of morality, is crucial in these latter days. And we depend upon you to teach others to do likewise. Let me be very clear about this: if the world loses the moral rectitude of its women, the world will never recover.”
Russell M. Nelson, “Spiritual Treasures,” October 2019
Rectitude: Moral uprightness; righteousness
When I think of my mother, I think of moral uprightness, righteousness. In a word – integrity. I think the same about the other women in my life – my Granny, my Mamaw, my Great Aunt Thadda (who never had children), my Great Aunt Martha, my Aunt Janice, and others. These women had (and have) “moral rectitude.”
The Dangerous Lie Being Told About Women
Many think you can’t have “moral uprightness” and be loving. This is a lie – a very damaging and dangerous one. These women personified both love and moral integrity. They were not wishy-washy women. They stood for truth and uprightness, AND they radiated immense love simultaneously. They modeled that we can be both! In fact, we MUST be both, or we will completely lose the glue that keeps us on this planet. We will self destruct!
Gravity seems like something holding you down, limiting you, cramping your style when you’re a little kid wishing you could fly. But as we grow older, we learn that gravity is our friend. It’s a gift. It is the binding glue of the universe. Divine love is a combination of challenge and support. As women, we must remember this. We must never abandon truth in favor of permissiveness. Permissiveness is not love. It is license to self-destruct. Like my mother and grandmother, we must strike a balance between moral integrity and an immense radiating love that can never be denied.
