Holy Mother of God

I had a tough time yesterday.  I've been having tough times with Christian Holidays as of late, and yesterday was an all time whopper.

I generally consider myself to be an easy going person, respecting others rights to worship and paths to the Divine as I wish them to respect mine.  But Easter really gets me going.  As a devotee of the Goddess, its the one day that brutally reminds me of the misogynist nature of the patriarchal religion of this country and the western world.  It chaps my hide and makes me grit my teeth.  And then I feel guilty and feel as if I'm no better than them for having such feelings.  So I prayed the Serenity prayer.  I thought I need to find a better way to deal with these feelings.  Let me be peaceful and open and try to let go and let live.  No sooner did I pray those words, the tv program "60 Minutes" airs the below episode:

"Mt. Athos A Visit to the Holy Mountain"

I was intrigued.  For the first time ever, the monks at Mt. Athos allowed tv cameras to film their monastery.  I was falling into the serenity of Mt. Athos and the monks commitment to their faith.  I appreciated the rituals, the dedication, the beauty, and how people can still petition the monastery for admittance, and live the life of a devoted monk.  And then a monk uttered these words (paraphrasing) - he was being asked about women...they (the monks) revere the Mother of God, but women are not allowed on the premises, never have been, never will be..they'll bring their kids and families and then it will become a tourist attraction and the silence will be broken.

My mouth literally hung open,  I was appalled.  No wonder they never wanted cameras there!  Seems to me Mt. Athos=misogyny, which I was interested to learn originates from the Greek (!) word misogunia which means to hate women.  Apparently women are good enough to be the Mother of the God but not good enough to set foot on Mt. Athos!

So there was my answer.  I was saddened but clear.  And now I have clear seeing as to why I walk the path of the Goddess, the Holy Mother of God and Her ways, which open my heart, connect me to Nature and lift me to the Divine.

Blessed Be.