Introduction to our In-sight blog!
“Your ambitions should not determine your life. You are a human being first, and your goals are merely adjuncts to your basic quest as a person. Life Goal: Consciousness of one’s humanity.” (Deng Ming-Dao TAO, Fulfilment, Pg. 116)
The intent of this blog is to create a safe space to connect with others and share everything and anything related to the Feminine Principle. We wish to create a better understanding of the Feminine Principle as it influences our personal lives, our culture and the world. The one word of our title, Insight, expresses the essence of the Feminine Principle. From that one word one can extrapolate many others which begin to fill in the myriad of spaces contained within the larger concept of Feminine Principle.
The Feminine Principle is BEING writ large and expresses itself through Self-awareness, Introspection, Consciousness, Inner knowing, Gnosis, Self-knowledge, Intuition, Imagery, Wisdom, Self-discovery, Self-Actualization, etc. etc. etc.
We hope you will also eventually share your understanding of the Feminine Principle to further fill out the picture and collectively deepen our knowing of it. Tis a worthy topic that occupies one half of all the energies of the world! Our intent is to teach, collaborate, listen, learn and share openly and respectfully our thoughts and beliefs and reciprocally receive those of others about this expansive topic.
The best experiential explanation I have been able to find for the Feminine Principle is one by Brugh Joy: Suspend judgements, Make no comparisons and delete the need to understand.
Accomplishing this places one in a state of BEING and receptivity which is a primary characteristic of the Feminine Principle. Please note: It will always be important to understand that Feminine Principle does not mean Female gender. It is instead, an energy of the world and of humanity that is part of and accessible to all genders of humanity. This will be an essential tenet of all of our future explorations.
What does Wonder Woman mean as an expression of the feminine principle? Think about the points made in the following article and apply them to your own life.
"USA Today" on June 7, 2017, listed five expressions of power from the movie.
1. How growing up on island of Themyscira with many models of powerful women allowed Diana to believe she can do anything.
2. Poking fun at stereotypes of portrayals of women in other movies--e.g., trying to run in a pencil skirt, how wearing glasses makes her less beautiful.
3. It ignores the patriarchy. Diana bursts into meetings full of men, ignores men who tell her she can't do something, likens a secretarial job to slavery and continually saves her male companions. Growing up the way she did, Diana has to idea what expectations of women are and doesn't care when she finds out. She won't apologize for being a woman. The movie champions her femininity. Her power isn't diminished by caring too much or experiencing her emotions. Instead, her love and kindness strengthen her.
4. When Diana interacts with the ragtag men who form her team, she rebuffs one's effort to hug her and is defined not by her beauty, but by winning a bar fight. The female director, Patty Jenkins, doesn't focus the camera on her body, but on her expressive face or the weapons she uses.
5. In the big climatic battle, she charges alone into "no man's land" despite the onslaught of ammunition aimed at her. The metaphor is striking--a woman moving forward alone in a field while a battalion of men tries to push her back. And she refuses to give up. Steve tells her there is nothing she can do, but she simply does what she believes is right. She saves people and it's so uplifting to see her do it.
recommended resources
Special treat! For anyone interested in experiencing another woman's journey to the Feminine Principle, the DVD by Megan McFeely entitled, “As -She- Is,” is highly recommended for both individual and group viewing! To learn more about it and to order a copy visit www.as-she-is.org.
The Portrait Monuments: Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by Adelaide Johnson, completed in 1921, it took years to finally arrive in the Capitol building.
in the news
Read this editorial by Charles Blow or the "NY Times" called “Checking my male privilege.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/opinion/checking-my-male-privilege.htm