Goddessing

Newswise: Fascinating research, fascinating findings: Grandmothers help increase the reproductive success of their adult children (female and male).

The research team "consistently found that women gained, on average, two extra grandchildren for every ten years that they lived past their reproductive life. In evolutionary terms this gives a huge benefit as it makes it more likely that women who survive long after stopping reproduction will forward more genes to the next generation. The evidence suggests that the effect is caused by the woman passing her childcare experience on to her offspring. She can also take on some of the responsibilities of childcare, making it more likely that her children will have more children more quickly.”

The researchers theorize that this is probably why humans, unlike other animals, survive so long beyond their reproductive years.

Adds a tremendous dose of sociological reality to the pagan "maiden, mother, crone" trinity, doesn't it?

|

Three fourths of Americans now believe there is no “one true faith” and that a variety of spiritual paths can be equally authentic. ~ Gerald May, M.D. (Contemplative Spiritual Formation: an Introduction)

Now that's an interesting statistic.

It's also an interesting article, though a little heavy on the Christianity perspective after starting so invitingly with a multicultural, transreligious approach.

I especially like the "Three Paths" section, which includes the Hindu system:

• jnana (knowledge or wisdom)


• karma (action or service), and


• bhakti (devotion or worship)

Many Pagans reject the concept of worship, reasoning that if Spirit/Goddess/God dwells within, how can we worship that which is a part of us? This is short-sighted thinking: First, it fails to recognize that She is within AND without, above AND below, which we usually acknowledge in our cosmologies; Second, it fails to follow through on our understanding that we do participate in and/or embody the Divine. If we believe we are divine, why shouldn't we worship that divinity? (Not talking about worshipping our egos here, folks!) Think what a world this would be if we acted as if the divine in all things, including ourselves, mattered. "Our bodies are our temples" is a truism. Don't we worship in Temples?

In any case, reading May's article is a good intro/reminder about the contemplative aspects of spiritual life.

Happy Reading!

|