It has become apparent to me that, out of necessity, the pendulum of my spirituality had truly swung clear to the feminine side. I have rejected any and all concepts of a male god for so long and completely rejected god-with-a-penis in my struggle to find how I fit into the 5,000 year old culture of patriarchy and female suppression. A while back though I heard the song "Stars" by the Weepies, which sounds at first listen like a lullaby, but which I have come to imagine is a sexy love song sung by Mother Earth to Father Sky every night. It occurred to me that if he is good enough for her, I can probably find something to love about him as well. Since then I have been searching for an image of a male God that doesn't dredge up feelings of servitude, judgement, and oppression.
You may be surprised at who showed up to take on that role. I know I was. I certainly never thought I'd end up in a blazing love affair with the Lord of the Dead. But I began to understand Hades as the most misjudged, underestimated and misaligned character in all of the Greek myths. When you realize that the whole devil image, the dark and evil epitome of all that terrifies us, the horned demon laughing as the souls of the damned burn forever in hell was invented because what scares our human egos the most is the uncertainty and unknown of death, then you can see Hades for who and what he is - The kind, loving torchbearer who precedes, carries and follows us through death. And not just that final death when we "outcarnate" permanently, but all of the little deaths we experience that are so hard, those times when something has to die so that something else can live.
You know that poem "Footprints" where the man realizes at the end of his dream that it was during the hardest, roughest most trying times of his life that he was being carried by his Saviour? To me, that is Hades. He is not the devil that drags us screaming and writhing into those horrible transition times. He is the one that catches us when the ground opens up beneath us and we are plunged into darkness.
I had begun this new understanding of Hades when I opened a book that delves into a myth I had not given much credit to before, in which Hades appears front and center. It was this new love for the god of death, transition and rebirth that provided clarity about this new (to me) story - and which brought me closer to new aspects of goddess I had not seen clearly before.
In another post I'll go into what I found out about Demeter and Persephone and their relationship with Hades. Google it if you want, for some background. Its a great myth, although I have to admit I wasn't that into it when I first read it. One of those "when the student is ready, the teacher will come" moments.
I'm currently enjoying a "staycation" with Deva Sara visiting from Wisconsin. I'll put up some pics of our delicious whirlwind weekend in Seattle and the gorgeous Pittock Mansion we visited in Portland today. Tomorrow we're off to Multnomah Falls and I'm tired so better catch some Deva Z's.
Have the Reddest Day Ever,
In Grace,
Kell
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