A CRITICAL POINT FOR WOMEN

Bettye Johnson ©

History…tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me.
The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilence in every page;
The men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all –
It is very tiresome. Jane Austen (1775-1817)

We are at a critical point of evolution of not only the Earth but for humans as well. No longer can we women sit back and allow the men to continue as they have for the past eons. War seems to be their solution for greed, retaliation and conquest. The time is now for women to resurrect the feminine principle. As I understand it, the feminine principle is one of life-giving, nurturing, creativity and an ongoing evolutionary process. Mother Nature is considered the feminine principle. Another name for Earth is Gaia, the feminine.

In looking up the word ‘feminine’ in the New World Dictionary of American Language, I was astounded – yet why should I be – at the definition given. “Feminine: 1) female; of women; girls 2) having qualities regarded as characteristic of women and girls, as gentleness, weakness, delicacy, modesty, etc.” It really is a dichotomy in view of the feminine principle is action in Mother Nature. Nature is not weak nor is she delicate or modest. At times she is not gentle. Man may be able to harness Nature, but no one can tame Her. Now who made up the definition of feminine? Why of course, a man.

Is it any wonder that women have been thought to be powerless? The male history writers gave the few women in history that had power manly attributes. Males write history. This is why now women have to re-empower themselves. We look to Nature. A seed is planted in Her soil and nurtured until it sprouts and becomes.

Praying for peace will not work. All through the past, people have prayed for peace and it did not bring lasting peace. One side usually has been declared the victor with the winner writing the history. People from both sides were praying to the God they believed in. It makes one wonder, is one God more powerful than the other? The Dai Lama did not keep the Chinese out of Tibet. The Jews did not keep Hitler from sending many of them to the ovens. Germany did not win. The Civil War in the United States had brother pitted against brother, Christian against Christian with the South losing. Is God dead? No, it is humans acting out their greed, anger, hatred and fear. God is the observer - both loving and allowing.

Peace as this world knows it is tenuous. There has to be a more effective way for this world to evolve beyond war and strife. There must be a shift from a male dominated world to a world of women and men sharing as partners. It must be a partnership of respect with no suppression of either sex. Women must be given freedom from abuse, enslavement and prejudice. Men must be freed from their prison of being in charge, the breadwinner, along with being abusive. It is time for a change in the way we view our world. Women can impact the world by effectively coming together as a cohesive group and demanding change.

We are living in trying times. Today we are reeling from the shock of September 11, 2002. We have war in Iraq. Throughout history (his-story), there have been wars. For the most part women have had little or no say in the affairs of a country, a continent, or the world. With a few exceptions, men have ruled the world and women along with their children are swept up in the maelstrom of war sending their sons and now their daughters. Some never return home. Is this what motherhood is all about? Are we raising our children to be fodder for a war machine?
Women became dis-empowered five thousand years ago and before. We, the females, have become the largest group of people where there is tremendous bias and prejudice against. Women in Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and most African nations are subjected to genital mutilation. They never know the pleasure of copulation. Women of Muslim countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and even parts of India are enslaved by a belief system and treated no better than a slave. They have no rights.

It is interesting to note that these Muslim women for the most part wear black tents and the black color is known to enhance heat. Since it is very hot in these countries, these tents are like ovens. However, the men wear white, which is cooling.

In India, women were and are being burned on a pyre when the husband dies, because there is no room in the society for a widow. Even today widows go to a place where they can live together and wait until they die. Even though this is changing, there are still instances of a man or even his mother who will kill the wife by pouring boiling oil on her. This is done because the dowry has run out or the mother-in-law does not like her. The Washington Post ran an article regarding an Indian mother who killed her three small daughters and herself by jumping into a well. She did this to escape harassment from her husband and mother-in-law because the fan and television promised as part of the dowry by the young mother’s family had not been provided. There are many barbaric acts against women.

Women are stoned to death for adultery in Muslim societies. We can say that is terrible however Pat Robertson, of the Christian Right, is reported to have said in regard to our space program and the possibility of extraterrestrials that “…the threat is so serious that people who believe in space aliens should be put to death by stoning – according to “God’s word.” This was purportedly said in 1997. It is unfortunate this mentality is alive today.
Women have had little to say in the churches. There has been no female Pope or Dai Lama. In the Protestant churches some headway has been made like that of a snail. However, the sexual practices of priests and churchmen are being uncovered with their molestation of young children.

Even today we have women who work against the freedom of other women. I am speaking specifically of Phyllis Schlafly. In the 1970’s I worked for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment for women. This amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist (feminist) Alice Paul. It had been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in 1972, but failed to be ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the deadline of July 1982. Thirty-five states ratified it. It failed by three states.

Schlafly was one of its outspoken critics stating it was not needed. Here was a woman who claimed to be pro-family. Her stand was that a woman’s place was in the home and women should not take jobs from men. The women on welfare and single mothers did not count. Not only was she a paid speaker and a writer of articles and books, it also, meant she was away from home quite a bit. That is the height of hypocrisy. Today she has a column on Internet and her latest is still bashing women. “Hooray for Hootie! At last we have a real man who can resist the histrionics of the pushy feminists. It’s so refreshing to know that somewhere there is an American man willing to stand his ground…”

It was these feminists nee suffragists who in the 1920’s worked hard to see that women had the right to vote and worked to get an amendment to the Constitution for no sex discrimination. Unfortunately many of our elected femaile government senators and representatives fully realize the sacrifice that women such as Alice Paul gave in order for them to have the vote and the privilege of holding offices.

Women have been subjected to just about every abomination that man can envision. In China it became the practice during the Latter Tang Dynasty (923-936 AD) to bind the feet of young girls beginning around age 3 so that their feet never grew. Big feet were considered alien to feudal virtues. It continued even when it was banned by the Manchuria who established the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In remote mountainous areas, women still had their feet bound even when the New China was founded in 1949. However, the last manufacturer of shoes for these feet closed its doors in the 1990’s.

Even today, in the twenty-first century we really have no freedom to partake in the running of this world. In every country, men are the decision makers. Few women in the past one hundred years have been the head of a government. Indira Gandhi of India was one and Golda Meier another. Queen Elizabeth II is a figurehead. She is not a decision maker for the government. There is a saying that ‘it is a man’s world’. And it has been.

Currently we have a woman running for the presidency and we also have a female as Speaker of the House of Representatives. These are small steps, but we should not expect them to carry the load. After all, they are operating in a man’s environment. We also have women on the picketing lines protesting the contrived war in Iraq and they are to be commended. Now is the time for the women to become vocal as well as visible.

No one can give another self esteem because it must come from the inside. Each woman should realize her worth from within and stop giving her power away. There are many avenues open for a woman to find her own worth and place in the scheme of life. Women can still do this and be a loving mother and wife. I know because I did it. It is up to the individual to take the first step. Ask and it shall be given. Knowledge is the greatest gift one can give to oneself. Knowledge is power. Seek and you will find. Life is a gift. Please treasure your life and you can make a difference.

Bettye Johnson ©

GAINING INDEPENDENCE - Part I

Bettye Johnson ©

How does a woman gain independence? Even in this 21st century, women are collectively still lagging behind in becoming self-sufficient and having the freedom of choice. There are no hard and fast rules because each woman’s life is different and unique. It may not seem unique, however under the crust of mundane daily chores there is a unique being. Just as no one has the same fingerprint, each woman has her own unique capabilities that have been hidden and suppressed.

I have no set ‘how-to’s’ for a woman. It is up to each woman to first have a desire for change. It may not come to her in her youth or even in her twenties or thirties. For some it remains suppressed. Each of us enters into this world with an agenda. Living on Planet Earth is one of the toughest challenges there is not only for women, but for men too. Men are caught up in mind-sets that are hard to throw off just as women are caught up in their programming. Some of the programming is subtle.

I was born at the beginning of the Great Depression in the last century at home because my parents did not have the money for my mother to go to the hospital. Perhaps this is a blessing. My parents were poor and we lived in Dallas, Texas. My mother did not work because ‘a woman’s place was in the home.’ My mother served my father by waiting on him ‘hand and foot.’ Every morning she would bring him the newspaper and a cup of coffee to him while he was still in bed! I grew up under a belief system that woman was put on Earth to serve man.

When I think about what my life could have been if I had never entered the Foreign Service with the U.S. State Department, I shudder to think about it. Leaving Texas at the age of 23 was the smartest move I ever made. This began my fabulous non-academic education.

Shedding the limitations of being a woman in a ‘man’s world’ has been a journey of self-discovery. By this I mean shedding one embedded belief at a time or peeling away a layer of old programming at a time. I have also had experiences with women of backbiting, jealousy and control. I realize now all of this came from their own sense of inadequacy. While working at the embassy in Tokyo, I met and married a career military man. I became a stay-at-home wife and mother. I am grateful for this experience because my husband was away two-thirds of our married life and I was able to bring up our sons the way I wanted and to be able to make decisions on my own.

My husband was an enlisted man and during his first tour of duty in Vietnam, he was given an officer’s commission. This thrust me into a position from being an almost non-entity in the military world into being the wife of an officer. Thus I was able to experience both sides of the coin. After he was promoted to the rank of Captain, we were stationed at a small Naval Air Station outside of Boston, Massachusetts. My husband was a Marine and this joint base trained the naval and marine reserves also known as ‘week-end warriors.’

I joined the Navy-Marine Officers’ Wives Club and was soon elected to fill the position of corresponding secretary. I had been in clubs before and always ended up being the corresponding secretary. I now know why. It gave me the opportunity to create and write newsletters. In this club, the officers held the position for six months. My term was almost up and it was time for new elections.

The evening before the committee met to discuss the slate of new officers to be voted on, the Marine colonel’s wife called and told me that I could not expect to be nominated to run for president of the wives club because my husband was not of a high enough rank. I was astounded because the thought had never occurred to me. In fact, it rankled within me. The Colonel was the highest-ranking Marine officer on the base and the Navy counterpart was a Navy Captain who was in actuality in charge of the entire base. He outranked the Marine Colonel.

The following morning I attended the committee meeting. I was not angry with the Colonel’s wife, because it had never crossed my mind to run for president. I just didn’t like being told I couldn’t. The meeting went well and then the Navy Captain’s wife looked at me and said, “Bettye, we want you to run for President because we think you are the most qualified.” I didn’t dare look at the Colonel’s wife. I swallowed and said that I would consider it and let them know.

Of course I accepted the challenge and the Colonel’s wife attitude changed. During my tenure, I was nominated for Military Wife of the Year for the First Naval District and competing with nation-wide military wives of all branches. It was an honor to even be nominated.

What did I learn? I learned that by not reacting, that I was the winner. This was how I handled a put-down and jealousy from a woman. I have since realized that power is a two-edge sword. Power can be used to control and tyrannize or it can be used to lead. I would urge all women to think about this last statement. Do we lead our children, or do we use tyranny? In organizations and the workforce are we a leader or do we become a tyrant? I observed the Navy Captain’s wife and she was a leader and I honor her for what she imparted to me.

Yes, there was a flush of ‘success’ from this experience, but I was far from realizing my independence as a woman. There was more to come.

A DIALOGUE

Way back in 1983 I began to write letters to God and I received answers. For those of you who read this – if the word God is offensive to you, then substitute whatever word you are comfortable with. We cannot exist without a higher power that operates our bodies. The following is one of the first letters I wrote and the replies.

Dear God:
What am I doing here?
You say to learn…to gain wisdom.
Why do I need wisdom?
Oh, so I can realize who I Am.
Big deal! I am a woman…a wife…a mother.
You say those are only the roles that I have chosen to play?
Ah, You say that I was made in your image so I must be an extension of you.
I…I think I understand. However it seems to be than mankind has made You into our image!
You say that’s correct.
Well, I really don’t think that it is working.
Oh, so you agree.
If I am an extension of You, then why have I been taught that I am only a worm in the dust?
You say that worms and dust are God too. And that it has been mankind that gave us that teaching.
This is all so confusing and hard to understand!
You say I never will understand until I allow my beliefs to change.
Beliefs. Change. Yes, I think I know. Be open-minded. Change the attitude. Allow.
You’re glad I am finally getting the picture!
How can I allow when I hear people are actually praying that God will strike down their enemies?
You’re telling me to still allow?
If I allow, the world will go to pot.
You say so what? What if the world goes to pot? It is all an illusion.
How can you call the world an illusion!? This is reality! People hurt! They feel pain!
Oh. One person doesn’t eat for three days and they call it fasting. They feel cleansed and spiritually high.
Another person hasn’t eaten for three days and they feel deprived, hungry and hurt.
A woman is in labor. She will go into her pain feeling joy because she is bringing forth new life. Another woman will be in labor screaming at her pain. Fearful and hating every moment.
A man is fired from a job and feels worthless.
Another is fired and feels freedom to explore new dimension, new avenues of expression.
What is reality? What is illusion?
You have given me much to contemplate. What?
You say Life is my exercise book and I create every page.
I think I am beginning to understand. Reality is only the perception I give it. What?
Wow! Oh my! You thought I would never get it!
Am I hearing You correctly?
I am free to create nonsense or lies or even tear the pages!
Oh my God! Say that over again!
I MUST LIVE LIFE AS AN EXPRESSION OF YOU! I AM WORTHY!
Thank you.

Be The Change

Having just completing John Perkins book, Shape Shifting, I was left with some mixed impressions. Predominate in this book are his interactions with shamans of tribes in the Amazon in Ecuador. I realize now that he crystallized in my thinking of why these indigenous tribes are being taken over by materialism and the loss of the rainforests.

There are two tribes Perkins visited and these tribes were enemies and have been known to be headhunters. It sounds primitive, yet these tribal people are in tune with nature and have a great reverence for her. In their shape shifting, they can become anything they focus on with intent. It sounds pretty wonderful. However, from my impression it is primarily the men who shape shift and who are the tribal elders. Where are the women? They are in the ‘kitchen’ preparing food and drink for the visitors and the men.

One of the tribal chiefs made a profound statement. The demise of the tribal way of life and the rainforests didn’t happen until after the white man’s religions and medical treatments were introduced. Today religion and the pharmaceutical companies contribute the most to the de-evolution of mankind. It is not my intent to say Perkins’ book isn’t worth reading. I highly recommend it because it gives a great description of shape shifting and that with intent and focus it can be accomplished by anyone.

The tribes in the Amazon are not evolving because even though they have a great understanding of nature, their lives are status quo. They also have enemies and kill them. They are not contributing to healthy change.

There have been many books giving reverence to Tibet, the lamas and the Dalai Lama. What is not noticeable in these attitudes of reverence is that these men do not work for their food. It is the villagers who feed them and predominately these villagers are women. Has there ever been a female Dalai Lama? If a woman becomes a Buddhist, she enters a female monastery and that is the same as the Catholic religion.

There was one interesting piece of information in Perkins’ book where he tells of the evangelist Billy Graham. Graham was heard to say that he would never ride in a car with a woman who wasn’t his wife. Not even his secretary. The implication was that he would be tempted to have a sexual attraction with them. It goes all the way back to Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden - meaning women were the seducers.

I have been asked a number of times, how can we heal the Earth? We can’t until the Earth feminine and the physical feminine (woman) are honored and treated with respect and with equality. In the United States there are women in high government positions, however they strive to emulate the man and therefore demean themselves and women. These women are not shining examples. The shining examples are the ones we rarely hear about. In the present U.S. government, there are no high ranking powerful women who speak out against the war, take a stand for being pro-environment or represent us in Congress except perhaps for Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi. What I am realizing is that for the Earth and the status to evolve into equality, there must be a major shift in awareness.

In the Western world and this goes for the East also, outwardly there appears to be evolution with the advance of technology. However this evolution is in reality de-evolution because it is not contributing to the Earth or women.

Women, by their nature are natural nurturers and now is the time for women to nurture themselves. This does not mean that women should become selfish and ignore or leave their families. I suggest that women stop putting their dreams on a shelf and after awhile the dreams become covered with the dust of time. I suggest that women be the change they want to see. If shamans have a mastery of shape shifting through focus and intent, then we women can develop our focus and intent to fulfill our dreams and we can still have a husband and children or a career.

I can speak from experience because I have had a number of dreams that I put on a shelf and I also allowed someone to almost quench the fire I had within. I have now taken my major dream off of the shelf and dusted it off. I love to write and I have two published books with another soon to be released. I also have a 13 year old granddaughter living with me that I am care-giving together with my single parent son. It really comes down to loving who we are and to know that each of us have value and choices. Happiness is only a choice away.

If we take time for our self and this also includes men, we can be inspirations to our children, our mate and our employer/employees. We cannot live someone else's dream. Sacrifice is a demeaning term. Women were sacrificed during the medieval times by being burned at the stake for being intuitive and healers. I have observed too many women caught up in trivial pursuits such as watching soap operas, gossiping, living in the past by holding on to anger, resentment and never taking responsibility for their lives. This is what I call 'self-sacrifice.'

I cannot change the world. I can only change myself and be the change I want. It is all a choice.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DIVINE FEMININE

For eons the Divine Feminine has been nailed to a cross of prejudice, bias, suppression, mutilation, and murder. Now is the time of the resurrection of the Divine Feminine. It is the age of her resurrection in every woman on this planet. Long has she lain dormant, waiting for the moment to be rebirthed. There have been golden threads – both female and male, who have kept her alive in the form of the goddess in mythology

What were the beginnings of the Divine Feminine? From whence did she come? To understand this, one must realize that we live on the Plane of Polarity or Opposites. This is the nature of this planet and there has always been both female and male. One could not exist without the other just as there would be no electricity without the female and male. We only have to look at a garden hose and see that the female component must be hooked up to the male faucet in order to bring forth water. Each human has both female and male and the spirit inhabiting the human form has chosen to express outwardly as female or male.

We have all wondered or asked at sometime or other why women are so prejudiced against. It isn’t only the culture of the United States; historically and presently it is in almost every culture. Women are the most prejudiced against species – even more so than dark-skin people. If one were to pull a thread, in all likelihood it would go back to a brother hating his sister in one of the original pantheons of gods. Yes, there have been instances where women were a matriarchal society and there are a few isolated societies today such as the Nagovisi of Bougainvillea in the South Pacific, perhaps one in India and again in Peru.

History is a record of the winners or those in power and written by men. The deeds and greatness of women has almost been obliterated from history. We get snippets of their greatness here and there. Few people know of the greatness of Cleopatra. Historically she has been portrayed as a sexual siren that seduced Mark Anthony. The Egyptian queen was a brilliant mathematician, chemist and philosopher. She wrote science books and Arabic texts suggest she met weekly with scientific experts. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a powerful queen and history has attempted to play down her role in the second Crusade when she accompanied her husband with her female knights that she had trained. These knights were women and there were approximately 300 of them. History will say that they did not fight. Perhaps they did and it just wasn’t recorded.

These were two women who used their brains and their greatness still lives. There have been numerous other great women, however history has given them bad press coverage. Almost all female rulers have bad reputations. Lucretia Borgia has been labeled a poisoner and Pope Gregory I or Pope Gregory the Great gave Mary Magdalene the label of prostitute. The Catholic Church made him a saint and for centuries women have been made to feel guilty and tainted by her label. We have had women imprisoned, sold into slavery, burned at the stake as Joan of Arc was and labeled witches. Even today in some areas of India, husbands burn women if the dowry runs out or if the husband dies, the living wife is burned alive. In parts of Africa we have young girls mutilated by having their clitoris removed so she cannot experience sexual orgasm.

These acts are not evolutionary and this is the age of the Resurrection of the Divine Feminine in its emergence from ignorance to brilliance. No longer should a woman be a sex object or kept barefoot, pregnant and in the home. The recent success of The DaVinci Code has triggered an enormous interest throughout the world about Mary Magdalene. So-called scholars have written books attempting to prove that author Dan Brown was in error. The Catholic Church has even entered into the fray. It made me wonder why and since I have done in-depth research for my book Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls, I know why.

Dan Brown’s book went further than Holy Blood, Holy Grail and touched the nerve of the Catholic Church and theologians because they have been promoting a lie and if uncovered, it would destroy their credibility.

Mary Magdalene was not a disciple of Jesus. She was his wife, his trusted friend and a teacher in her own right. She was his equal. She was the mother of their two children Sarah and James. Sarah was born in Egypt after the crucifixion and from there Mary Magdalene took her children to southern France.

The Divine Feminine is being resurrected through Mary Magdalene and she is the icon for the women of today. She was intelligent and she carried the message to Europe. Through her ministry she continued the teachings that she and Jesus attempted to impart in Palestine. Both were going through forms of initiation into a higher degree of gnosis. What is gnosis? It means to know.

Women have the innate ability to know or have intuition. It is a trait that men in power have attempted to stamp out for eons and because a god hated his sister, women were told they were soul-less and labeled with vile names. Mary Magdalene carried this stigma for hundreds of years and yet her greatness has been kept alive.

The Church perpetuated the lie about her because she was the one who carried the message to the world. It was not Peter. If one were to have a first pope, it would be Mary Magdalene. She went to France and began establishing centers for learning. The name church was not used at that time. Peter hated women and worked against her and possibly Paul. The Church was established by men who hated women although some male theologians would disagree. Virtually all records regarding Mary Magdalene and her ministry have been obliterated and those of her children. She represents the Divine Feminine.

Why has a thread of knowledge been kept alive? My theory begins with the First Crusade when the Knights Templar had their beginnings. A small group of knights who went to Palestine discovered something. There were nine in number and it is said they remained for nine years and excavated what was supposedly King Solomon’s Temple. There have been numerous books written speculating they found gold, treasures, and riches. My theory is that they discovered knowledge. I would say that these nine knights became members of an ancient school of wisdom and perhaps were taught esoteric secrets of the magi. In all likelihood they learned the truth about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Perhaps these riches were in the form of scrolls. Why do I say this? After nine years, they formed a group that evolved into the Knights Templar and used this group as a cover outwardly of protecting the roads for the pilgrims to come to Jerusalem. It would be intelligent to use a cover for their beliefs and activities because they would have been persecuted and perhaps put to death.

The Knights Templar brought back to France the knowledge of sacred geometry and they were responsible for the architecture of the great Gothic cathedrals. The Cathedral at Chartres is filled with symbology that only one who has studied ancient symbols would know, and I have studied ancient symbols. Another aspect is that the Knights Templar promoted Mary Magdalene and it would be appropriate to say they were responsible for the proliferation of the statues of the Black Madonna not only in France but also in Italy, Spain and other countries.

There are those who will say the worship of the Black Madonnas belongs to the cult of Isis. From my viewpoint, the origin of the Black Madonna go all the way back to Ninhursag – Mammy, the creator of the human form. It’s like connecting dots where there were large gaps in understanding. Mary Magdalene was the torchbearer and she was black and Ethiopian. The Knights knew this and when you go to the churches in the Languedoc region of France, you will usually find the church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and it has a Black Madonna.

If Mary Magdalene were alive today, I have a sense that her message to women would be

Question all assumptions, values and definitions

Become aware of one’s thoughts and the words spoken.

Question every known system of thought that places limitations on the female.

Trust in one’s own knowingness even when criticized.

Begin developing one’s own intellectual courage and it may mean standing alone.

Having the courage to stretch one’s own concepts.

Having the courage to risk failure.

Moving away from the need for approval.

Giving up stereotypes of a woman’s role.

An open mind unlocks doors to new adventures and greater knowledge. A lack of knowledge keeps a woman subordinate. An open mind also means acknowledging the greatness of some men. Men are not all bad. Most of them have been programmed to think that the female is the weaker sex. It is time for us to gently lead them away from that programming. I have been fortunate in having three sons and in retrospect I did a great job in virtually raising them alone. They are beautiful men and treat women with respect.

What else would Mary Magdalene tell the females of today? I offer something I learned as a student at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, an academy of mind and Gnostic teachings. The words we think and say are what create our lives. Our brains are like computers: garbage in, garbage out – the old GIGO. From Ramtha I learned that the word always is a key word to use and if we want to change our mind about an attitude, concept, need for approval or whatever, we create a new thought beginning with I have always…I have always been intelligent.

I have always been competent.

I have always been brilliant.

I have always been able to speak well.

I have always been loved.

I have always loved myself.

I have always had value.

I have always welcomed new ideas and new thoughts.

I have always been forgiven.

I have always been free of guilt.

I have always had an open mind.

I recommend saying your words until they become a mantra and begin each day with this until the brain accepts it and you no longer have feelings of doubt or guilt. This is an exercise for the males in your family also if they are willing to take the plunge.

The Roman Goddess Minerva and the Greek Goddess Athena have been given the attribute of wisdom. Each is depicted wearing a helmet and has been also been given the title of being a warrior. She is a great representation of the Divine Feminine and her helmet represents the skull that houses the brain. There is a beautiful reproduction of a painting by artist Mihran K. Serailian in Manly P. Hall’s book The Secret Teachings of the Ages. One can go on-line to the Philosophical Research Foundation’s site and click on Books. From there search the paintings until you come to The Opening of the Third Eye. It is worth it and this is my reminder of the power in women that has been kept from them through the ages.

Our brain is the greatest computer every created and we use so little of it. It is written that Jesus said, In my Father’s House are many mansions. During the time of Jesus, he didn’t have the words to say in my brain are many neuronets and each one is a new place I can live from. He was teaching illiterate people who could not read or write and he had to use words they could understand. Mary Magdalene was his partner and wife. She also knew this.

Today the Divine Feminine has been resurrected with Mary Magdalene being the icon and torchbearer. Now is the time for each woman to develop this within and to pass it on to her daughters and/or friends. We do not have to act a certain way or be a certain way. All we have to do is give up the past programming and be ourselves. It is that simple. Simple, yes – but not easy. The first step is to be willing to give up old habits of thinking. It takes patience and determination to change. It takes repetition over and over and over. It is seeking knowledge and applying it to our lives. It is a journey into the unknown where great riches await each of us, and great experiences with gifts that are ours to enjoy. It is a journey of becoming the Divine Feminine. You can become whatever you want to be.

copyright: Bettye Johnson

BE AFFIRMATIVE THINKERS

Bettye Johnson

The elections are over and the Democrats now have control of the U.S. Congress. It is also a time for women to assert their power. We have a woman as Speaker of the House of Representatives – Nancy Pelosi – the first ever in the history of the United States! Changes are coming. We have been instrumental in this change and I honor all women for giving their time and energy.

There are more ‘firsts’. In Washington State there are two women U.S. senators – Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Patty Murray and a woman governor – Chris Gregoire. There could be many more ‘firsts’ such as Calif. U.S. Senator Barbara Box becoming the chairwoman for the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Energy Committee.

This is a threat to the predominant male ego and these are powerful women. I urge each of us to let our representatives know what we want. I for one want a woman to have the decision over her body. I want to encourage stem cell research that can extend and save lives. I want to see an end to the Iraq war that is putting money in the pockets of the oilmen, munitions men and exploiting women. I want women all over the world to be free from enslavement. These are only a few of the changes I am working for.

There is a CARE2 commercial showing women of different ethnic backgrounds walking across a desert and they begin saying “I am powerful” over and over. If every woman would take a walk and repeat these words over and over, we would take back our power.

On the November 2 Larry King Live Show, there were four men and 1 womn on a panel for the program entitled “Beyond Positive Thinking.” Think about the two words ‘positive thinking.’ For eons women have been considered to be negative and men positive. What do you think the words ‘positive thinking’ mean to a woman? Subconsciously it could mean that since she is considered to be a negative gender that she is bad or evil.

JZ Knight was the lone female on the panel and they placed her at the very end. The four men were the creators of the movie/documentary The Secret. Of course, this was not announced on the program. I learned this later. It was obvious that men wanted to out-do Knight, but she gave some fabulous information. When she was asked about positive thinking she replied that she did not subscribe to those two words because of the women/negative vs men/positive. She said she subscribed to the words affirmative thinking. I agree with her.

t is time for we women to shun positive thinking and become affirmative thinkers! Knight said that each of us should say when we first wake up in the morning, “I am Wonderful.” “I am genius.” We can add the words from the CARE2 ad: I am powerful! If all women would use these three phrases throughout the day, we would become what we say we are.

All of the male panelists on the Larry King show have drawn on greater motivators from the past and produced a slick documentary titled The Secret. What they are promoting is not new. It is old thinking done up in a new slick package.

We women must develop our own package of Affirmative Thinking. I Am Wonderful. I Am Genius. I Am Powerful. This should be our mantra. Years ago I learned to make cards and draw what I wanted in my life. Some call this Treasure Mapping. It works. I urge all women to become Treasure Mappers using Affirmative Thinking.

We women cannot change men. They can only change themselves. However, we can become role models for our sons, grandsons, our daughters and granddaughters. We can become a light unto the world. It begins with each one of us. We can share what works for us and what didn’t. I have three beautiful sons who are great men. I am not anti-male. I am only anti-hypocrisy and anti-prejudice. I am also against religions that keep the rights of women suppressed. We are each one unique and loved by the Creator equally. It is time to regain our power.

THE HOLY GRAIL MYSTERY

Bettye Johnson ©

Mystery. It appears that all the world loves a mystery and one of the most intriguing is the mystery of the Holy Grail. According to some records, the earliest writing came from a French poet named Robert de Boron who lived in the 12^th – 13^th centuries and his poem Joseph d”Armathie tells of Joseph bringing the Holy Grail from Palestine after the crucifixion of Jesus. The Holy Grail has been depicted as a magic cauldron; a silver chalice, a dish, bowl, plate or the cup used by Mary Magdalene or Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood of Jesus after a Roman soldier supposedly named Longinus pierced his side with a spear. It has also said that it was the cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Many have portrayed Mary Magdalene carrying the Holy Grail to Europe in the form of her children after the crucifixion.

In the 12^th century, the wonderful tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table emerged and the search for the Holy Grail became their mission. From these stories came the age of the romance stories passed around by bards and troubadours.

There are some writers who say that the myth of the Holy Grail originated from a Celtic myth of Bran the Blessed, which tells the tale of Bran an archetypal British Celtic hero. It is possible that Bran became the basis of the character known as the Arthurian romance Fisher King. Within all myths and legends there is a seed of truth with many of the facts becoming distorted. If you have ever played the ‘Telephone’ or ‘Whisper’ game, then you will understand my meaning.

When one looks at the etymology of the word Grail, it is an adaptation of the Old French word graal meaning cup or flat dish; or it could be from the M.Latin gradalis meaning a dish brought to the table in different courses of a meal. Meandering from this definition, we can go to the Greek word krater whose meaning is mixing wine with water.

The word graal or grail evolved into saint graal or sang real meaning Holy Grail. This, in turn evolved into sang rial meaning royal blood. From this we have a proliferation of books and stories regarding the Merovingian lineage as being the royal blood of Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

I am going to digress for a moment and bring in King David from the Old Testament. It is written that he had 300 wives. If each wife had only one child, then David would have 300 plus children and if each of them had two children, then picture a huge pyramid of a dynasty. There would be deaths, wars, and inter-marriage and considering some did not live to be an adult, it brings the lineage to an extravagant number of descendents. Mary Magdalene and Jesus had two children and if each of these children had children and they inter-married, think of how many descendents they would have and not all would be only the royalty of Europe. The myth of the Holy Grail is found only in the Western world and spawned by Christianity.

What are the attributes of the Holy Grail? It has been written that it is a goal that is distant and an almost impossible or unobtainable goal to achieve. We have only to read the stories of the Knights of the Round Table to get the picture. When I was a little girl, there was a comic strip titled Prince Valiant. It was created in 1937 and this Nordic Arthurian prince traveled the world over and is still in print telling of his heroic deeds and the perils he surmounted. In the beginning he was searching for the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail stories have always portrayed the male as the seeker and usually there is a fair maiden that he rescues from time to time. As with most his-stories, the female is relegated to a lesser role. However, lets examine other attributes. The hero must prove himself worthy and must grow spiritually and mentally. It is said that it is a symbol of God’s grace and available to all and only fully realized by those who seek and prepare themselves spiritually. This includes the females. Now, we are getting to the crux of the issue.

It is time to take the wrappers off of the symbol of the Holy Grail and reveal its true meaning. The wise ones, both female and male, who have gone before us, prepared the way by leaving a trail of symbols whose meanings have become meaningless or distorted on one level. However, there is a code within our brain that resonates with certain symbols and we know they have a deeper meaning. The Holy Grail is one such symbol.

The greatest deterrent to one’s Journey is religion. Religion and spirituality are not the same. Religion has become a form of control and it doesn’t matter which sect one is affiliated with, the message is the same that one must conform to their set of beliefs and rules. One must believe that a god outside of self is the only way to salvation and redemption and usually this includes a belief in the devil or Satan. Anything else is labeled the anti-christ.

The true seeker may dabble in a religion for a time, but becomes dissatisfied and seeks something that will bring inner peace and knowing. There is a longing to know more and this is part of the Journey. Over the ages, women and men have been kept in a proletarian state of mind – or a captive mind. The seeker is seeking to break out of her or his captivity.

Each society has its own set of morals and values and it is up to the individual to examine hers or his and discard those that do not serve Self. Self is the higher aspect of self and it is the seat of our spirituality. We have been taught conformity and there comes a moment when we know we must break away from our past programming. This is all part of the Journey – the Quest.

Buddha has been quoted as saying that it is better to conquer yourself than to fight a battle and Ramtha the Enlightened one has said, go and conquer yourself. There have been many messages left to us such as the inscription of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, Greece from 6 B.C.: Know thyself. Even Plato said know thyself. Shakespeare wrote in his play Hamlet: This above all: to thine own self be true. Sir Francis Bacon left a profound message: Knowledge is power.

The Holy Grail represents the Quest or the Journey that each of us has undertaken when we left the house of our Creator. We hold within us the tools to carry us through life or lifetimes, but the perils we have to battle are those of our fears, emotions and beliefs. We become ensnared in our own fears, judgments, biases, prejudices, and the emotions of jealousy, resentment, anger, and in the hopes of redemption we think there is something or someone outside of our self while not realizing that we must conquer our self in order to know Self.

I can only share knowledge and wisdom I have gained during my own Journey, which has been one of many twists and turns. Sometimes it appeared I was butting up against a stone wall, but by perseverance I went through the wall. Each twist and turn has a gift in the form of wisdom and it is up to each of us to discover the wisdom in our own experiences. The Great Labyrinth in the Cathedral at Chartres, France is a lasting symbol left there by the Knights Templar and it represents the Journey of each individual. This is why so many visitors to the Cathedral resonate to it whether they are Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim. It is a universal symbol.

My quest began at the age of forty when a thought came into my head, by the time you are fifty, your life will be different. At that time I was becoming a disillusioned a WASP Republican housewife. For those of you who do not know what WASP is, it stands for “white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant. “ At age fifty I had a ‘coming-out’ party celebrating my new status of being a divorcee and on my Journey of discovery. I was like a sponge soaking up all the knowledge and experience I could get. I studied Religious Science, Divine Science, Unity, metaphysics, meditation, a multitude modalities of healing, the tarot, astrology, crystals and perhaps other modalities that I do not remember. A well-known and often repeated statement is, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

It was the last week in December of 1982 when my new husband and I attended a weeklong spiritual workshop at Asilomar, California with Dr. Brugh Joy and David Spangler. On the 30^th of December, the evening program was three people who would channel their entities and talk about peace. I was not into channeling and I lay back on the floor thinking how boring. The first two people did their thing and then the third was a petite blond from Tacoma, Washington who left her body and the moment her entity took over and said “Indeed!” I shot up into a sitting position and was mesmerized. I knew that I knew him and that I had heard him before. I also knew he was a Master Teacher. I had never heard of Ramtha the Enlightened One, but I knew this teacher. Later I knew I recognized him from a soul memory.

I did not fully understand this encounter and still caught up in my new relationship and becoming a minister of Divine Science, I now realize I was completing unfinished business and did not reconnect with Ramtha until 1985 when I was invited to see a video of him. I have been a student of Ramtha ever since and my husband and I moved to Washington state in 1986.

Each of us is to connect with a teacher at some point in either in this life or a lifetime to come. Ramtha is not necessarily the teacher for everyone. He so happens to mine. The Ramtha School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Washington is an academy of the mind and also of Gnostic teachings. We are each one a facet of the Creator and it is an individual journey so that the Creator may know itself.

Ramtha has taught that we are here to make known the unknown and that is the quest for the Holy Grail. There is no one path for all because we are each a facet of the Creator and we are each individuals with our own destiny. The Holy Grail is the unique facet of the Creator in you. You are the Mystery.