Ειμι απο τριων εθνων Σικελικων - και ειμι η θυγατηρ της Γης
If anyone has noticed I've been using a lot of Greek, Arabic, and Italian mixed with English in my journal, well yeah. It all has to do with my Sicilian origin, the three main languages spoken by my ancestors (in historical times, anyway).
When I was about 13 or 14 and felt motivated to learn about my ethnic roots, I read a book with an article about Sicilian history that began with the myth of the primeval Mother Goddess, who was worshiped in the Neolithic culture there, the culture that also left better-known underground Goddess temples in Malta. When the Greeks came along much later and found this old religion in the Mediterranean, they called it chthonic, meaning worship inside the earth. My heart still answers Her call because it beats in this body made of Her earth substance that came from ancestors born from the soil of Sicily, who reproduced and then went back into the soil as it kept growing wheat, grapes, olives, almonds, lemons, sesame to nourish their descendants, and so on... Reading that myth was my first exposure to Neolithic Goddess religion, it resounded in me immediately, and hasn't stopped since. Like in the Gandhi movie, I've traveled so far . . . and all I've done is come back home.
I'm Virgo and ecofeminist, I need the earth element, my religion happens when I touch the soil, take someone's hand, plant a garden, help to heal... Wiliam Carlos Williams said "No ideas but in things." Johanna-Hypatia says no theology but in the warmth of human touch or the cycle of the seasons. I'm done with lofty skygod metaphysics, give me direct heart to heart contact with Mother Earth and Her children, this precious planet and its amazing biosphere. Let me feel your touch on my skin, let your warmth radiate to warm me.
Edit:
"Deeds not creeds."
A UU motto I just learned today while reading Margaret Atwood. I could have said my whole meaning in just 3 words.
When I was about 13 or 14 and felt motivated to learn about my ethnic roots, I read a book with an article about Sicilian history that began with the myth of the primeval Mother Goddess, who was worshiped in the Neolithic culture there, the culture that also left better-known underground Goddess temples in Malta. When the Greeks came along much later and found this old religion in the Mediterranean, they called it chthonic, meaning worship inside the earth. My heart still answers Her call because it beats in this body made of Her earth substance that came from ancestors born from the soil of Sicily, who reproduced and then went back into the soil as it kept growing wheat, grapes, olives, almonds, lemons, sesame to nourish their descendants, and so on... Reading that myth was my first exposure to Neolithic Goddess religion, it resounded in me immediately, and hasn't stopped since. Like in the Gandhi movie, I've traveled so far . . . and all I've done is come back home.
I'm Virgo and ecofeminist, I need the earth element, my religion happens when I touch the soil, take someone's hand, plant a garden, help to heal... Wiliam Carlos Williams said "No ideas but in things." Johanna-Hypatia says no theology but in the warmth of human touch or the cycle of the seasons. I'm done with lofty skygod metaphysics, give me direct heart to heart contact with Mother Earth and Her children, this precious planet and its amazing biosphere. Let me feel your touch on my skin, let your warmth radiate to warm me.
Edit:
"Deeds not creeds."
A UU motto I just learned today while reading Margaret Atwood. I could have said my whole meaning in just 3 words.