International Womens Day

I have just watched an excellent video on YouTube called The Burning Times. It is a well-measured Canadian documentary which discusses the place of women in the Christian Age. I strongly recommend viewing to all, especially to those of us who align ourselves with the Christian faith. It is in six parts, with part one below:

Age

Feeling a bit old today. Not just because it is post-Christmas and I've been working hard either. Before Christmas, I applied to be part of an emerging artists show. The alarm bells rang then, of course, because I was required to state my date of birth. I was rejected, and I can't help thinking that at least some of that is due to the fact that I am not an emerging artist who would be considered 'young'. Its not the first time, of course that I have been discounted as being too 'old' in my art career, and I'm sure not the last. Being an older female artist is even more of an issue for some, apparently. Its a lot like news anchors, really. Older men in that field are respected for their age and experience, women are considered past their prime. Seems to be a bit similar in the art world.

Oh well, should just hang out with the other crusty old hags who seem to be having very successful art careers. Just remember, you lovely young things, one day, you too will be old. I hope that by then experience (a life fully lived) will count for a bit more than it does now. Probably not.

Lovely Bones Video

I have just included some of my digital work in a video for an upcoming exhibition. Here 'tis.

Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine

So, just finished reading 'the Goddess in the Gospels' by Margaret Starbird which is apparently the basis for Dan Brown's take on Christian History as we saw in 'The Da Vinci Code.' Makes for interesting reading, especially as it follows on (for me) from 'The Dance of the Dissident Daughter' by Sue Monk Kidd. I was brought up in maintstream Christianity to believe in a male God, which has been a constant bug-bear for me. How can half the world's population (i.e. women) be also-rans in a religion that claims to be the salvation of the entire human race?

Can't fault Sue Monk Kidds book at all - it is based on sound research and talks about the way the patriachal church has managed to become the accepted Status Quo. Her book managed to pull me back from the brink of turning away from the church. My only criticism of Starbird's book is that she tends to regard inicidents occuring in America as being universal indicators of the state of the church, which therefore weakens her argument for those of us that live outside the States. Sorry, Margaret, but there it is. Other than that, I have to say, that the idea that Christ and the Magdalene were married and therefore together a truer metaphorical picture of the church makes perfect sense to me. 'Splains alot even. Adds weight to the Biblical declaration that Christ has personal knowledge of everything we experience and therefore understands our throughts, fears and 'temptations'. How can a single, celibate man really do that? So, at the risk of being ex-communicated or burnt at the stake or something, I have to thoroughly recommend both of these books and the ideas they present.

Turns out that the power we have always suspected is lurking in the female psyche actually is; the intuition we've often ignored is a Spiritual prompting and our affinity for Mother Earth is built into our genes. No wonder the patriachal powers that be want to suppress it!