There are many female gods recognized and honored by the tribes and Nations. Femaleness was highly valued, both respected and feared, and all social institutions reflected this attitude. Even modern sayings, such as the Cheyenne statement that a people is not conquered until the hearts of the women are on the ground, express the Indians understanding that without the power of woman the people will not live, but with it, they will endure and prosper.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the significance and power of women in society, emphasizing their role in the survival and prosperity of a community.
Paula Gunn Allen's quote reflects on the reverence for the feminine divine across various tribes and nations, illustrating how societal structures have historically honored women. It underscores the belief that women hold a central role in the continuity and strength of a people, asserting that their well-being is directly tied to the community's survival and success. The Cheyenne saying cited indicates that the true measure of a people's strength lies in how they treat and value their women.
In practice
This quote could be used in a women's empowerment seminar to highlight the importance of valuing female contributions.
The hoop dancer dances within what encircles him, demonstrating how the people live in motion within the circling spirals of time and space. They are no more limited than water and sky. At green corn dance time, water and sky come together, in Indian time, to make rain.
Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded Consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind.
The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent is as - it is as if he has killed all mankind.
Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy.
The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.
To work for libertarianism - to oppose the growth of government and aid the liberation of the individual - used to be an idealistic choice taken for purely idealistic reasons. Now it is an act of intelligent and almost desperate self-defense.
I think most people are interested in our origins; once we understand, it might be easier to become the people we'd like to be. Or, better, become the people we think we already are.
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