Virgin...... One begins by going back to one's dictionary and thesaurus to plumb the hidden meanings of a word which in common parlance has come a long way from its origins.In common usage, "virgin" is used to describe someone who is without carnal knowledge, someone who hasn't "been there before" and is therefore in full possession of her (or his) innocence. One thinks of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of a multitude of virgin Catholic saints and of virgin goddesses like Hestia, Artemis and Athena. One thinks too of the vestal virgins of ancient Rome who were consecrated to the goddess Vesta (another name for Hestia, Lady of the Hearth) and who were the only (and very powerful) female priesthood in all the vast Roman hierarchy. Then there are creatures like the Komodo dragon which are capable of parthenogenesis (reproduction without the aid of another member of their species) and may therefore be described as virgin.
In the beginning, the term virgin meant something else entirely, and the word connoted completeness, authenticity and fullness, someone who existed in the full truth of their being and their place in the great scheme of things - surely, oh surely, that is what we are journeying toward.
It's all about light. Somewhere in this lifetime (or another one further along), is a place to stand, a place where we shall, in the words of the late Florida Scott-Maxwell, claim the myriad events in our lives and make ourselves our own, becoming fully ourselves and truly fierce with reality, alight like beacons and blazing like the sun on a fine summer evening. I'm looking forward to it and I'm certainly not in a hurry to get there, but sometimes I wonder just how many lifetimes that is going to involve.
Written for the shining mamas at Mama Says Om (and greetings to Lil).
(Sorry for the republishing - blogger dropped a word or two and bits of punctuation yesterday when I published this one. In the general scheme of things that is not problematic, but this time, things just didn't flow properly until the bumps and potholes were repaired.)
3 comments:
Greetings to you dear Cate!
Well then I would proudly wear the t-shirt "born-again virgin"! :-)
I may just have to link to this Cate...if that's ok with you?!
Peace in,
Lil
Lil my dear, I want one of those shirts too, and it is a bit of a chuckle at my age. Of course, you may link, and I would be vastly tickled if you did!
I like the idea of one of those T-shirts!
I once read a description of pattern as light bounded by darkness. I don't like to think of our lives as darkness, but perhaps they gives structure to the light that would otherwise be too bright for us to see.
And I reckon I have a LOT of lives to go!
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