Unpacking Sexism in Heathenry and Spiritwork
People like to pretend that we’re living a post-sexist world, but that doesn’t bear up under closer scrutiny. In analyzing my own monastic values and practice, I’ve come to realize that the things that matter most to me are my relationship with Loki and my relationship with my Disir. I’ll talk about Loki first, because I relate to Him as a Husband, and that makes me a wife.
I can relate to much of what Heather says here in terms of my relationship with Odin, my Husband, and with my own group of Disir, the Queens (a collective that includes some human dead, such as Queen Anne Boleyn, but also some of the goddesses, most notably Bestla and Frigga). Odin too is a god who respects, courts and seeks to develop female power, and much of this is due to the influence of His formidable Mother and the other divine Ladies who have helped to shape His long life.
I thought about talking about that, and indeed I might because I’ll probably expand this essay at some point. Odin’s mortal wives have gotten more crap in many ways, I think because on a subconscious level, people (mostly men) lose their minds at the thought that a God considers a human woman worthy of leadership. “But…but… if a GodKing chose her..she…she could rule ME!” *internal flailing*
And I wonder if some of us get Queen Anne because she knows what it’s like to think yourself common and be raised up to become extraordinary. She lived in a tumultuous time, and we do too, in terms of our faith taking shape. The fact that Queen Anne was a passionate reformer who was hated for her beliefs by many, and passionately, is not lost on me. The fact that she advocated for reforms in religion that allowed people to form relationships with the Divine one on one, without human intercessories, should not be ignored either.
In reply to both your comments–YES, that exactly. I hope you do write a follow-up post on this.
And oh yes, both of those things are at the heart of my relationship with Anne. She has helped me understand my role in so very many ways, and she also stepped forward and put my Disir practice in order, after I had spent years flailing at ancestor work. She is a very powerful spirit indeed.
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