Earth Day.  As I take stock of the ways in which my household could improve our use of resources both personal and natural I can’t help but take in the symbolic feminine imagery of a “Mother Earth”.  Few relics of the Divine Feminine have survived this modern age, particularly in the main stream culture.  But it is rarely argued that the planet which bears our existence, weathers our destructive impulses, and shelters us even from our own consequences is archetypally feminine.  The symbolism for me is personal.

We have a culturally self destructive relationship with the feminine.  As our “Mother Earth” she is at once revered and ravaged.  A mother one moment, and a whore the next.  This duality frames much of our relationship to the feminine.  There appears to be a haunting impulse among ourselves to destroy that which we can not own or bend to our desire.  We force ourselves upon the Earth and she yields what bounty she has to offer.

But, not even a whore lies down forever.  Repairing the relationship with our planet requires repairing the feminine identity within ourselves.

Painting from Denver Canopy Airport