Holding the tips of frayed ribbons We dance around the maypole, Celebrating yet another spring, Another rebirth Another beginning Another renewal.
May was named after the Roman goddess Maia. Maia was the eldest of the Seven Sisters, the seven nymphs who represented the constellation of the Pleiades. Ruled by Taurus, symbolized by the ram, it makes sense that Maia was the overseer of the growth of plants. You may also hear her named Gaia, ‘mother of the earth.’ She is centered, grounded, and rooted in her energy.
Maia was the mother of Hermes, the messenger of the gods symbolized by his winged sandals. Hermes was, however, the product of an affair that Maia had with Zeus. (You know, the Big Guy. The God of the gods.) I guess, even the gods are sluts. At least the Roman ones were.
We leave parts out that we don’t like. We do it in history books, and we do it to ourselves. We try to pretend those parts don’t exists, like maybe if we ignore them long enough than they will go away.
You’re a whore, the baby’s a bastard, and there is no word for the man.
Thomas Shelby, Peaky Blinders
Maia was a reclusive, her sole purpose in life to be the ‘nursing mother.’ That was her choice, and that became her fate. Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter wanted to live for more in this world, and was shamed for her indiscretion. That was the Puritanical way of the world.
When Dorothy finally makes it to the Emerald City, (after she wakes up from the poppies) she goes through a makeover of sorts. They show it as a shower, a new dress, and a shoe shine but the real makeover was after that. It was mixed into the part of standing her ground when Toto pulled back the curtain. It was in the part where she took on the role of finding her own way back home.
While we , Chani, we who carry the name of concubine – history will call us wives.
Lady Jessica of the Atreides, Dune by Frank Herbert
I’ve been suppressing the feminine parts of me for so long. It’s the programming. I find it interesting that I feel like I am fighting the church even though I never opted in to that community. It was built into the very foundations of our systems. I was taught to know who this god person is, without ever actually knowing what those words meant.
In the pledge of allegiance (which I am pretty sure we are taught out of the womb in this country) we are told to say ‘under god.’ I said it for years like the dutiful little American people-pleaser that I am. It wasn’t until my sophomore high school English class, when I started to wonder.
The girl who sat beside me was Canadian. When we would stand to recite those pre-memorized words every morning, she would just stand there. No hand over her heart. Nothing. A pleasant smile, a respectful stance, but she would never say the words. It struck me as odd, not because she wasn’t complying, but because I was. Why do we do this everyday? It seems like an absolutely unnecessary waste of time.
Ben once said to me that tradition is just stupidity on purpose. I think he’s right. But don’t tell him that! I’ll never hear the end of it.
Mad love, Jenna
