Dear Liz
Malleus Malleficarum was written for persons such as you. Lucky you're
nowhere near 16C Dominicans, who were savagely suspicious of women having
fun.
Though re monotheism: not to argue with your point that the
Judaeic/Christian/Muslim God might have a lot to do with that dichotomising
mindset: but an awful lot of Western culture stems from the very much
unmonotheistic Roman and Hellenistic cultures, and the underbelly of earlier
pagan rituals still persist in many parts of Europe. People put out milk
for the brownies routinely when my father was a child.
Best
A
On 16/2/05 10:19 AM, "Liz Kirby" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> This afternoon I spent some time by a peat bog pool in the winter sun,
> travelling through the water to another place entirely..... this is part of
> how I find strength and meaning. Plus as a heathen working in a shamanic
> tradition I have such a fucking great time! (Dancing all night, drinking
> lots of cider, performing beautiful rituals and working with the capacities
> of the mind and spirit in various trance states, making my own drum and
> learning to use it, spending time with a lot of lunatic people who I love
> very much and share a deep politics and spirituality with .....)
>
> I have begun to wonder if monotheism isn't at the root of a lot of the
> dichotomising mindset of Western culture. In all of our knowledge it is
> treated as a self evidently good thing. I question that perspective. A
> pantheistic perspective is tolerant of other gods and interested to learn. A
> monotheistic one seems interested mainly in obliterating other ways of
> seeing.....
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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