Sixteen years ago I wrote Kezar, a novel about Light and Dark forces. In it Morgaine, the protagonist, uses feminine power that we have kept hidden for centuries. From the opening:
The Way of Darkness is deeply rooted in our society⏤many of its beliefs part and parcel of our culture. When did the Light and Dark become separate? Was it when we began to spend more time working, making money, and less time simply Being? Is it because thinking has become paramount to feeling, to sensing? Perhaps the world is shutting down. Nothing makes sense any more. Not death, where nothing changes and life, where nothing stays the same.
During my exercise routine this morning (where I seem to be most creative) it occurred to me that it was time to revisit Kezar, do a bit of editing and rewriting, and see where that takes me. (In writing Kezar I had the mentoring help of Jennifer Lee (Frozen, A Wrinkle in Time) and my editor/agent Barbara Bowen. At the time I didn't fully realize how very fortunate I was to have guidance and input from these two creative minds.)
Maybe it is watching the "me too" movement continue to grow, or seeing the women dressed in black at the Golden Globes that is pulling something I sense but can't yet put words to, into my awareness. What I know is that there is a force making itself known that is long overdue. In retrospect, we have been preparing for this time in history all of lives.
“You watch. The time has come,” he said. “Women are gonna take charge of society. And they couldn’t juxtapose a better villain than Trump. He is the patriarch. This is a definitional moment in the culture. It’ll never be the same going forward . . . The anti-patriarchy movement is going to undo ten thousand years of recorded history.” (Steve Bannon, as said to journalist Joshua Green in The New Yorker February 11, 2018.)
I think he's right, it is a defining moment, but it won't be just about women.
It would be remiss of me to write as though only women represent the feminine. I know many wonderful, sensitive, creative men⏤men that I am honored to call my friend/colleague/soulmate. My father was the first man (and love) of my life. Even though he died when I was young, much of who I am and what I stand for are a result of what he taught me. From him I learned that the feminine is our Soul, our intuitive sense. She is soft, clear and powerful. When we are too busy making our way in an aggressive world we can't hear what she whispers.
Perhaps you haven't noticed, but a war is raging between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. Quite simply, we have arrived at that moment in our story where we find Truth⏤Truth that shatters our perceptions and makes us reassess our beliefs. I am waking up to the fact that anything I believe to be true could turn out to be false.
Sometimes it takes a very bright flash of light to reveal a truth that is well hidden. And sometimes it takes an earthquake to bring down beliefs that were cleverly constructed (and reinforced) for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Because we have been drugged by our beliefs and the normalcy bias⏤that today will be just like yesterday, we have normalized darkness. The good news is that the Truth will eventually make it's way to the light. These days I keep my knees flexed and expect to be shaken up, blinded by a revelation.
What's most important for me to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, allows me to find out what is true and reliable. What will stand rather than fall apart?
Who will stand with us, rather than attempt to silence our Voices?