The Feminine Divine

While thinking about our Myths project I stumbled in to a rather deep thought. I have the Female Divine Myth and we are focusing on "The White Buffalo Calf Woman". In this myth the Goddess of Life is depicted. This Goddess creates one's cultures and life in a group of people. In this myth the woman visits the Lakota tribe and sets the guidelines that they still follow and creates hope for them by giving them a sign. An attribute of the Goddess of Life in myths in general is that they avoid a life of violence and they tend to live in harmony.

I started thinking about this as most Native American tribes, like the Lakota tribe, follow these two qualities as well as they also live in harmony with nature more than other groups of people do. In doing more research I found that many matriarchal societies, like the Lakota tribe, have these qualities as part of their culture. I could not help but think of the United States as a patriarchal society having many exact opposite features at the root of their culture. The whole history of the Founding Fathers versus the Native Americans suddenly became a matter of much more than land and greed to me. It became a matter of culture and a matter of spirituality.

One aspect of a myth is to better understand one's beginnings and roots. Reading this myth I discovered not only the Lakota tribe's roots but also the roots and culture that are the foundation of everything US students are taught about our history. One of the Lakota tribe leaders, Chief Arvol, was saying a lot of the Myth has to do with the equality and harmony of all humans and to remind us that no one is better and no one is more powerful than others because nature is the real power and the one that truly changes our world.

In hearing this, I couldn't help but think of all the benefits our society would gain, both in and out of the classroom, if we had a sense of true equality like many matriarchal societies do. It would allow for more peace and result in gaining better understanding. In aspect of the classroom, it would open it up to true, honest discussion where students would feel comfortable being themselves and questioning and expressing their ideas without fear of embarrassment. Such a powerful broad idea can relate so intimately to each individual and if taken seriously on that level really could change our prejudiced filled society.

Like the White Buffalo Calk Woman says, Change is Coming when White Buffalo Calves are born. Chief Arvol said over the past years they have started to see one of those be born once a year. Perhaps this speaks to the kind of change that might be made....