Ohki Siminé Forest
P.O Box 8
Maynard, MA 01754-0008
When I was a child, my mother used to say to me: "Ohki, there is nothing more powerful than a decided woman. Remember this all your life." I've applied this in my own life in times of harsh winds. When I took from within my own determination, my Bow of Authority, I knew it came from the earth. Later on I came across ancient Native teachings which say exactly the same as my mother-that there's nothing more powerful on earth than a circle of decided women, because the Feminine is the universal force through which all creation manifests.
I've seen 2 powerful examples of this in my life; first, the Kahnawake resistance by the Mohawk warriors to the Canadian Army in solidarity with the Mohawk people of Oka. The Clan Mothers walked into the middle of this very tense situation, formed their circle, and began praying and singing as the army entered the rez. The army stopped, turned back and left.
The other example is from where I live now in Chiapas. After the 1994 Zapatista uprising, one of the tactics used by the Mexican government to try to destroy the indigenous Maya resistance was to send government troops to occupy the water holes supplying the communities. The soldiers harassed, molested, and even raped the women fetching their daily water. The women, barefoot, with their babies on their backs, resisted these well-armed troops, literally pushing them away from their communities.
Ancient ways teach that proper balance in the world will happen only when the primary circle of Earth wisdom is held by women and when men enter the women's lodge to learn from them. But for men to enter the Earth Lodge there must be an Earth Lodge held by women. For a woman to enter into the male Sun Lodge as many do today, to make a career for instance, she must have a very strong root to the Earth to avoid the danger of disconnecting from her natural Lodge. This is a common problem in Western culture where connection to the Earth Lodge is almost gone.
Celebrating Men's and Women's Twinness
I saw a French film once on three indigenous tribes in the Amazon. The first tribe shown lived very primitively, adorned with feathers, wearing few clothes, natural and happy. The film showed the circle of women sitting on the ground, eating with the children while the men ate in their own separate circle. The filmmaker asked one of the men: "Who is more important here, men or women?" All the men began laughing. A Chief adorned with feathers came forward and said: " The women are the most important of course, they gave us life, this is quite obvious." He had the most radiant smile. Behind him, the men were giggling so hard they were falling to the ground. This was the silliest question they had ever heard.
The second tribe originated from the same tribe but now had been Christianized. We find them standing in a rectangular communal building, their square houses now surrounding a square plaza. The people were dressed in poor Western clothing, standing in rows, the men on one side and the women on the other in the traditional way. Everyone looked serious and burdened. The filmmaker asked who was more important here, the women or the men, and was told by a man in the front row: "The men and women work very hard in the fields. Life is really hard, so we really need each other."
The third group of Indians had decided to try for better luck by living along the Amazonian highway. No more circles or squares, just lines of shacks. For lack of a communal gathering space, the filmmaker visited a family in their house. The man was dressed in Western clothing, but had some feathers on, giving the impression he was making a tourist show. He invited the film crew to enter, showing the crafts he was selling. In the back was a woman making tortillas. When she looked at the camera, you could see she had been beaten up. When the filmmaker asked his same question to the man, who is more important here, the Indian replied, very sure of himself: "The men of course, we're selling the crafts, making the money. We're the ones who speak Portuguese, without us the women wouldn't be able to survive."
Today we've come a long way in educating the world. I can only recall what I read in a brochure when I visited the Grand Canyon; the first conquistador to arrive at the edge of the Grand Canyon wrote to the King of Spain "I've come across the most hellish, infernal thing you can ever imagine on Earth. As hellish and infernal as the red vagina of a woman open to the sky." Yes, we've come a long way from such distorted thinking about the beauty of Earth and women.
Ohki Siminé Forest
PO Box 8
Maynard, MA 01754-0008
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