gretchen hughes writes:
>
> I've been listening for some time now to the ongoing dialouge on
> the ECOFEM list serve. Recently several people have been discussing the
> relationship between spirituality and ecofeminism. I'm writing a paper
> on that very issue, or more broadly, "Is the Personal Political: The Role
> of Spirituality Within Ecofeminism." I would like to quote some of the
> responses in my paper if that is okay. If you don't want to be quoted,
> please say so.
I am a little concerned here about the ethics of this approach. I, for one,
would like to be specifically asked permission to be quoted, and not quoted,
*UNLESS* I give that permission. The way this request has been framed, it
seems to assume that silence means consent. Is this not an old problem that
women have struggled against for centuries? Indeed does it not answer your
second question, below, of the inextricable links, in all fora, even
feminist ones, between the personal and the political?
> Also, I would like to pose this question for response. Do
> the personal and the political intermingle in your own lives, and how or
> how not. Rather than philisophical answers, I would love to hear some of
> your own experiences from either side of the spectrum.
So to answer your question, briefly, yes, in every way, in every walk of
life! Whether it is my problem, or my solution, I am not sure....
Miriam Solomon | "There is knowing with the teeth
Science and Technology Studies | as well as knowing with the tongue
University of Wollongong | and knowing with the fingertips
Wollongong | as well as knowing with words and
NSW 2522 | with all the fine flickering
Australia | hungers of the brain."
Marge Piercy
Fax: +61-42-213452
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Feb 23 14:19:48 MST 1995
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 13:19:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Dancing Hummingbird /aka Joy Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: More on Ecofeminism and Spirituality
To: gretchen hughes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
In-Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
well, for myself it was my interest in women's rights, and then
environmental issues, that led me in the path of my spiritual path.
being a Neo-Pagan to me by it's very nature is a political act, because I
am saying "no" the current paradigm right down to core of my spirit. And
actually it was my very feeling of being "connected" to the spirit of the
Earth since I as very young that led me to realize that whenever anyone,
whether human or not is oppressed then the spirit cannot be fully free.
SOme people separate their spirituality from their political activities.
My spirituality is what gives me the courage and the will to act on
issues. When I
see a redwood grove being clearcut, something inside of me is torn,
because I feel the desecration in my heart. When I see my sisters being
subjected to discrimination or cliterectomies, or whatever, because I am
connected to them in spirit, I suffer as well. My spirituality tells me
that everything is connected, and when the Earth and her children suffer
from atrocities, I am affected as well, even if it is a half a globe
away. We are all part of the same living planet, we are all cells
within her body.
When I practice my rituals, it is a time of healing between myself and
the other beings and the Earth herself, when I act to prevent injustice,
it is sacred work for me. Even recycling and growing my organic garden
is sacred work for me. I can't separate the two.
Indegenous culture is much like this as well. They do not separate the
sacred from the secular. The current paradigm says that we are spiritual
when we go to Church. I say that we are spiritual at all times, it is a
matter of being aware of it.
I'd like to offer everyone an opportunity to read "Who on Earth is the
Goddess?" It kindof sums up how i feel about it. Let me know and I will
send it to you (it's 27 k).
Joy Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scion in the Church of All Worlds
"The Garrulous Grok Flok"
Thou Art Goddess!
