WUNRN
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GENDER,
NATURE & TRANSFORMATION
The
International Journal of Gender, Nature & Transformation
Abstracts
& Table of Contents
Summer-Fall
edition
The
first edition of IJGNT is titled “Healing gender and our world: Engaging the
Sacred Feminine through nature and myth.” Given the many
global crises, impacting all of life, it is a timely publication as the earth
and humanity are both in crisis.
Ancient myths
addressed the separation of heaven and earth as patriarchal ideology began.
Both women and nature were dishonored and abused. Look where this has gotten
us? This journal is intended to heal
this split as Mother Earth is a living force! The women’s movement necessitates
a felt connection with nature. If we
give her our attention, nature will guide us.
Table
of Contents
Changing Myths, Fairy
Tales and Facts:
The Social
Construction of Gender
Sharon Mijares, Costa
Rica
Abstract
The
social construction of gender is rapidly changing. This is obvious in changing
myths and the re-versioning of old fairy tales.
Snow White, Cinderella and other fantasy feminine images have
transformed. The delicate endangered princess is no longer being rescued by a
prince. Instead, the new stories show women stepping forth with deep inner
strength, rescuing princes and whole nations. Misbegotten ideas of feminine
beauty and fear of its loss along with the willingness to destroy others for
the sake of superiority has entrapped women. It perpetuates the hierarchical
behaviors generally associated with patriarchy. This erroneous behavior has
separated many mothers and daughters, and weakened the inherent capacity for
engaging in meaningful relationship. Generations of women have been suppressed
by fear of aging and losing an outer sense of worth. This has pitted women
against women, caused differing agendas from one generation of feminists to the
next and is a predominant theme in older myths, fairy tales, and personal
narratives. The new stories have women uniting for the greater good of all. In
the popular series, The Hunger Games, the heroine, Katniss, is not a princess,
but rather a young woman of the village who has the power to be present with
her depressed mother, sacrifice for her younger sister and to save the
community in which she lives. She is at home with nature and with her own
beliefs. She is free from envy and destructiveness. Such stories are indicators
of a significant social reconstruction of the feminine as these conceptual
images move from the archetypal into ordinary reality--creating sustainable
relationships and a sustainable world.
The Need for the Resurrection of the
Egyptian Feminine Spirit
Aliaa Rafea, Egypt
Abstract
Women
who collectively use violence to terrify the public is a new phenomenon in
Egypt. This kind of behavior is against
known feminine nature in general, and the Egyptian character in particular. Egyptians led one of the most peaceful
Revolutions in 2011. Two years later, they gathered peacefully in unprecedented
numbers (estimated to be from 17 to30 million), asking for the ouster of then
president Mohammad Morsi. In the wake of
this event, violence broke out, and women played a significant role in its
continued aggravation. This paper investigates this phenomenon in the light of
Jungian psychology, assuming that there is a dangerous collective
disassociation of personality for women manifesting such violence. Their
behavior and values fly against the mythologies’ patterns in the Egyptian
heritage; whether we are talking about Ancient Egyptians stories, or Coptic and
Islamic beliefs. This paper is concerned particularly by the changing behavior
of women where their animus and shadow have merged. This spirit can be contagious, influencing
other women as well. Egypt and the world
are in urgent need of collective healing. An examination of the myth of Isis in
her journey to restore wholeness and bring forth new life provides an ancient
metaphor for a new time.
Loneliness dripped from the sky:
Loss of desire in a world without Inanna
Cass Dalglish, United
States
Abstract
The
Sumerian story of the deity Inanna’s journey to the Land of No Return offers
contemporary society a view of what might happen if Mother Earth continues to
be ignored. Inanna’s adventure offers
two significant words for the contemplation of her wisdom – the verbs to desire
and to notice. These words offer us
driving metaphors for the actions heroes of this millennium will need to pursue
to keep the earth from becoming a land of no return. This paper uses the Sumerian cuneiform text
nin-me-sar-ra, written by Enheduanna in 2350 BCE, as a guide to Inanna’s heroic
adventure and offers a poetic approach to the problems of disintegration caused
by the lack of attention to Inanna/Mother Earth.
The Mythology of the Goddess
Ama-terasu: Women's Awakening in Japan
Yumiko Otani, Japan
Abstract
In
ancient times, Japan was called a country of “wa” which means “harmony” and
“unity” in Japanese. The ancient Japanese adored the Goddess
Ama-terasu-ohomikami (Ama-terasu) and respected women who created and nursed
new life as the incarnation of the great power of creation. There was a long
era of peace without wars at that time. As the civilization of power led by men
dominated, the country changed to a society of destruction and chaos, the
female energy of love, or light of life, which Ama-terasu symbolized, was
totally suppressed. This is what the mythology of Iwato-biraki, Opening the
Gate of the Celestial Rock, refers to. This historical myth also reveals a
coded message offering a solution to what has been out of balance. Today, the
sealed gate of the cave has opened and women’s awakening is becoming an immense
wave spreading in Japan.
Healing Ourselves,
Healing Mother Earth
Ann Smith
United States
Abstract
Before
patriarchy ruled women were free to be healers; midwives, pharmacologists using
plants and trees, caregivers, storytellers, gatherers, farmers and protectors
of seeds and trees. The ancient stories
honored the Divine Feminine and Masculine and taught reverence for all
creation. The ancient stories were told
in circle where women, men and children listened and applied the messages of
wisdom to their daily lives. During the
thousands of years of patriarchy, these stories and women’s roles as healers
were forbidden. This is true even today
but the stories live and are being told again in circle where more and more
people are listening and rethinking their relationship to nature as part of
nature. Women are reclaiming their roles
as healers, story tellers and co-creators.
Regular columns:
Gaia Awareness:
Rosa Elena Blanco, Costa Rica
Rosa works
with sustainable living . Her column provides guidance for ways to live in
harmony with nature.
Cindy’s Garden: Cindy Romney Payne, United States
Cindy is a
master gardener. She shares her knowledge of common healthful and nutritious
plants easily grown at home.
Women Creating Change:
(interview with Despina Namwembe of Uganda)
In this
interview Despina shares the many ways she is helping rural women in her
village.
Book Reviews:
Sacred earth: Places
of peace and power.
Martin Gray, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., New York, 2007
Jenny Eda Schipper, U.S.A.
Symbols of the
goddess: Universal signs of the divine female. Clare Gibson, Saraband (Scotland), Ltd. Publisher,
Glasgow, 2004
Elizabeth
Reed, U.S.A.
A force such as the
world has never known: Women creating change. Sharon Mijares, Aliaa Rafea & Nahid Angha.
Toronto, Inanna Publications & Education.
Nobuko Takahashi, Japan
Film Review
The book of Jane, directed & produced by Antero
Alli.
Celeste Gurevich, U.S.A.