“Of
this line of strong women have I descended”.
These words came to me one day and with them I accessed a well
of power previously unknown to me.
One
of the most important insights I gained from my research into the
buried treasure of Old Europe was the realization that the women who
built, designed and performed ritual to the Goddess in these temples,
the ones who lived and loved in these villages, respected themselves
and honored their rounded female bodies. These women are my ancestresses.
Reclaiming
these women gave me an understanding of the support that can be drawn
from knowing ones forebears and considering oneself part of a continuous
line. As women we are often encouraged to reject
our mothers thereby disconnecting us from our descent; disappearing
our own female lines. In my
search in my own lineage, I found strong women and hidden Goddess
traditions abundantly everywhere.
In the people of my immediate Grandmothers I found two women
who had thrived in the face of great hardship; raising a brood of
children while charting their own personal journeys.
Within my Catholic Grandmother’s tradition, I discovered a
treasure box of thinly disguised Goddess rituals that I am now reclaiming
as my own.
