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Susan McCaslin on the sacred feminine |
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Issue 14 Summer 2010
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“I try to avoid the kind of essentialism that sees the feminine solely as passive and nurturing and the masculine as active and warrior-like. The qualities culture constructs as masculine and feminine can be found in various blends in each of us. Yet there is a way in which the planet that gave rise to humans (and the other than humans) is our universal mother, origin, source. For me, as a poet, the Muse or power of creative energy and inspiration has always been feminine and very much connected with earth wisdom, the body, the breath. For years I was quite nervous when giving poetry readings, but on one occasion at an art gallery when reading poems that drew their inspiration from the natural world, something shifted. It was as if energy rose up from the ground right through my feet and ascended to the crown of my head. The sense of connection to the planet was quite visceral. Now when I read I can sometimes feel again that earthy grounding. It’s a reversal of the usual notion that inspiration comes from above down. It was like earth’s sap was rising up and circulating through me and out to the audience. Too bad we can’t be in this sacred presence all the time.”
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