What is Matriarchy?
Matriarchy for me, does not mean the opposite of Patriarchy.
However you do need to look, at the other end of Patriarchy though, to get to Matriarchy.
For me Matriarchy is the middle road, it is the meeting point.
Everyone is equal. Everyone has their role to play and it is not based on gender.
Warriors were both male and female. There is no room for dominant behaviour.
It is a way of life that recognizes that we are part of Mother Earth and what we do to the earth we do to ourselves.
Ireland the last Matriarch Society in Europe
Ireland was the last Matriarchy Society in Europe. It is where I grew up and because of that I always felt a huge connection with the earth. If you go to Ireland, you will find that a lot of people when talking about themselves will always let you know, where exactly they come from, this tie with the land is still strong. You will also always hear them talking about the weather, it's a slight obsession we have and o.k it does rain a lot but it goes deeper than that, it is a topic that once again really connects one with their natural environment.
In Ireland you will see a lot of Statues of Mary around the Country, and yes she is recognized as a symbol of Catholicism. But she does in fact symbolize The Mother. When Christianity arrived in Ireland, a lot of the seasonal holidays that were celebrated , were turned into christian holidays with the hope of converting more people . Although they strove to have Jesus as the main symbol for the church, the people of Ireland would not accept that, they were too attached to the Mother , so it was that Mary was adopted as the true Face of the church and driving around Ireland today you can still see that. But of course she was changed into a virgin and no longer seen as the fertile force.
When I talk about the Mother, I am referring to the cycles of nature or triple Goddess ,birth, life and death which ties in with rebirth or Maiden, Mother, Crone. In Ireland, Brigid represents Maiden, Mary represents Mother and Sheela na Gig, the Crone. The matriarchy society in Ireland celebrated the life cycle, as it is connects the land and all living things. The Goddess represents the earth and the divine energy that is created within her and within us all.
What do you think a matriarchal society would look like?
In Matriarchy, there is no religion, it is the connection to the earth, to the seasons that is celebrated. . The divine is within us all and not something that is external. Every living being is sacred and respected, gender does not come into it. We are all seen as equal. We are all our own gods and goddesses and what nature provided for us is celebrated. We find ways to celebrate that which sustains us and gives us life and for some they may perceive them as Gods and Goddess's.
The spiral is seen throughout the world, it is infinite, it embraces awareness and change. It is all around us and seen everywhere in nature. In Ireland the triple spiral represented the Triple Goddess, the life cycle, the every changing, ever present. This is something,that I think is a very important aspect of the Matriarch. It embraces awareness and change, it looks to nature to find balance and to bring balance into the world. Everyone would be in touch with both the masculine and feminine side of themselves. Obviously both of these are different, but those differences would be embraced and celebrated.
As I mentioned earlier, there is no room for dominance in a Matriarchal Society, therefore our view of nature would change. We would be living in a time where we work with the earth, where we respect and honour the earth.
If we look at how the word Matriarch is defined, it states everywhere that it is the female leading and being dominant. But I do not believe that. What we read, what we have been taught, all comes from the time of the patriarch. For me in Ireland, my education was controlled by the church, what was in our libraries was controlled by the church. For many, many years texts where altered or destroyed by the church.I also know that a lot of history or herstory has always been recorded and told mainly by men, not women. That is, in itself hugely out of balance.
Even after writing all of this it is hard for me to imagine what a Matriarchal society would look like. The Patriarchal society is so engrained in us. I know that Matriarchy screams out femininity for some but for me it means balance. The mother, our mother Earth where naturally all things are in balance.
So in answering this huge question, I look a little to my heritage but most importantly I look to myself, to my understanding. I follow my gut when I read or write, because we hold so much wisdom within ourselves, we really don't need to look to others to show us the way. We need to tap into our power and find a way to unleash it.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. And please do look out for posts from the other passengers on the #ecotrain who will be answering this question as well.
1st Image Source:http://www.unicafe.hu/korseta/az-igazi-ferfiassag-titka/
