This is such a controversial word to even say out loud – Patriarchy. People, men in particular, feel very attacked at the mention of the word.
How many of you think that when feminists talk about the Patriarchy they are pointing at men? It’s true. Most people who say the word patriarchy are actually saying men. But they misunderstand.
It is true that men are the main benefactors of the belief system we call the Patriarchy. But trust me when I tell you that plenty of women have thrived in and promoted the paradigm that masculine energy dominates.
The Amazon Warriors, for example, were dominant in masculine energy as a culture. But also every Queen who has ever ruled over a kingdom or country is a Patriarchal ruler. The Hierarchy of Worthiness – of Kings and Gods – is a Patriarchal construct.
We must stop seeing the Patriarchy as male. It is not a gender. It’s an energy. Masculine energy. The Yang to the Yin. The Sun to the Moon. This energy resides in all things – man and woman included. Feminine energy also resides in all things – man and woman both. We are supposed to live in balance with these energies – the Yin and the Yang in harmony.
Nature does. When left alone, nature is harmony.
But man left the garden and was separated from nature. Masculine energy became dominant and humans grew unbalanced. Feminine energy, or the Matriarchy, was domesticated and silenced.
Earliest humans venerated the nurturing feminine. The oldest idols found by archeology are of the sacred female figurine – plump and round with large breasts. They knew that the female brought life into the world and that procreation meant the survival of the species. Animals know this instinctually too! The Matriarchy was equally vital to harmony and survival along side the protection of the Patriarchy.
Men are built to be protectors – to be dominant in masculine energy. Women are built to be creators and sustain life in the womb with a dominant feminine energy. But together man and woman once lived in harmony within themselves, with each other, and with nature. There was a balance in energy. Both man and woman gathered the food and provided for the needs of their offspring. This was the time of paradise on Earth.
As humans began to create weapons for hunting and protection, we became settled communities with crops and domesticated animals. We OWNED things. We had more things to protect; crops, animals, houses, and water sources. Protection became more vital to survival than the creation and nurturing of life. Masculine energy began to overshadow the Feminine. This took thousands of years, of course.
And so began the belief system that says the masculine is more valuable than the feminine. The dawn of the Patriarchy arrived. The Matriarchy, once vital, was silenced and domesticated along with the farm animals.
The Amazon Warriors were females that thrived under the Patriarchy. These were women who fit all the traits of the masculine energy. Every Queen who has ruled over a kingdom has done so as part of the Patriarchy. A Queen is not a Matriarch – she is a woman Patriarch. The Patriarchy is not just men. Men are just generally more abundant in masculine energy than they are in feminine energy. Men have been taught to hide and ignore their feminine voice or be seen as weak. This is definitely not always the case and patriarchy is certainly not a choice only men make.
The Patriarchy is a cultural paradigm that gives absolute control and power to masculine energy while subduing and silencing the feminine. It is not about man vs woman, but about our ingrained cultural belief in the dominance of masculine traits and the belief in the weakness of feminine traits. Patriarchy is nothing more and nothing less than a belief which has created an imbalance in humanity, a disconnect from nature, and has led to the destruction of the earth. Men, too, have been harmed greatly by the Patriarchal mindset.
The Patriarchy is not a science or bound to the laws of physics. It is a belief that has festered for thousands of years. But not everywhere. Not in societies that remained tribal and connected to the earth. Not in societies who never left the garden. And so we know that Patriarchy is a belief that can transform and rebalance with nature and the feminine.
I want to talk more about this in the weeks to come because I think it is time we start looking deeper at what we mean when we talk about the rise of the feminine versus the patriarchy. It’s not about women wanting to control men – or at least it shouldn’t be. It’s about healing the feminine voice and allowing the matriarchy a seat at the table once again. It’s about humans regaining harmony so that we can heal the world of it’s dis-ease caused by the imbalance. Men and women both suffer the imbalance. It’s important we see that.
Next week let’s break down the difference between masculine energy and feminine energy. This is information that might give you an “a-ha” moment. I hope so!
chooseloveministry.org 