What you say about the Langudedoc is suggestive. I'm aware of the attempts to link the Cathars with the rise of the troubadours and involvement of Eleanor and her daughter with the development of the courtly love tradition. But the fact that the graft didn't *take* suggests that Christianity is at heart a patriarchal set-up. Trying to feminise it ends up emasculating it and it loses its power. It's as silly as trying to "masculinise" a cult of Isis - you'd just end up with a butch and unappealing goddess. (Yes, I'm aware of Durga and Kali and of Minerva and other female goddesses that kick butt but it's the nurturing-mother goddess archetype we need.)
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 6/27/2014 9:01 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: Why try to make Christianity more "feminine"? It is surely a lost cause - even women priests don't have the nerve to call themselves "priestesses" which is an honourable name and calling. Isn't it more promising to *supplement* the Christian faith with a goddess cult with its own rituals? Astarte on Fridays and Christ on Sundays makes one a whole human being. > There is the Languedocian legend of the 'Queen of the South', (Reine du Midi), the title of the countess of Toulosue, the protectrix, identified with the Syrian goddess Anath who in turn is closely linked with Isis and the bird-footed Lilith. Yet another legend is the Meridiana to whom was conveyed the secrets of alchemy to Gerbert d'Auriliac. The name Meridiana is derieved from 'Mary-Diana' thus linking the Magdalene legends in the South of France. Lagudedoc was also home to the Knights Templers in Europe. It's interesting that Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Templers Rule, was devoted to the Magdalene and to the Black Madonna. Bernard commended the knights to the 'obedience of Bethany', the castle of Mary and Martha. Bernard is also noted as the founder of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Notre Dame (Our Lady), i.e., Magdalene. The Templers oath was to 'God and Our Lady', not to the Virgin, but to the Magdalene. The Templers were preoccupied with the idea of the feminine mystery! > Olivia Robertson (who died last November) was high priestess of the Fellowship of Isis, a spiritual organisation devoted to promoting awareness of the feminine aspect of the divine. This trailer is for a documentary (which I've seen and recommend) on her life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1PFYQOn4DI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1PFYQOn4DI
