Requiem for an Amazon: Farewell Mary Daly

I was sad to read of Mary Daly's passing early in January of this year - it was like a visible spectrum of light had dimmed. Hopefully this was a reflection of my momentary sadness and not a reality. Her wonderful and challenging books are an amazing legacy and a treasure to all those who wish to think for themselves. My brain was never more awake than when engaged in deciphering the pillaged and pirated jewels of radical truth that Mary reclaimed, so that we might understand many things much better.

Her work reclaimed language, plumbing back to its most ancient roots. She exposed lies, attacking them directly and took no prisoners. She reclaimed words like crone, hag, and spinster for our righteous use and coined many wonderful terms that returned power to women. Mary was doing the work that called her, and in reading her words, we accompany her on the voyage.

The dudes are glad she is dead no doubt - as are many in the religious right.I have met many women who were terrified of her view, her expose's, her radical conclusions! But her words live on. Her ideas have subtly changed the face of things. She passed this way in our time and we will never be the same, even if you never read a word she wrote.

Powerful voices make a mark on the fabric of time and space. This is an ancient magic that has been known by metaphysicians since the beginning. Once these powerful utterances are out, it is hard to unsound them - the world, the energy of the universe, is impacted. So it is with Mary Daly. Her voice resounds, awakening the sleepers and calling forth Amazons into the battle for possession of their own minds, bodies and selves. She calls us into battle that we might own the verb to be.

I was afraid of her words when I first came across them as a young college student - they threatened my belief that I had to have my man! Later, after becoming a mother and spouse, I read her words and saw they threatened nothing that was true - but exposed many things that were taken as truth and were founded on lies. Love could not be changed by her writings - only clarified. And so I kept reading.

In 2009 my son bought me all of her books that I did not yet own - mostly from used booksellers(through Amazon.) How wonderful to have such a gracious child, who is not scared of truths gathered by the heart, hand and mind of the preeminent Radical Lesbian Feminist Philospher of our time. His manhood is not threatened by her truths - he can see their source. Freedom is freedom, and all people are oppressed by the sickness of patriarchal structures. These dangerous and self-aggrandizing views/places/belief systems need to be torn down, blown up, pulled apart, dissolved, ignored. Renewal is necessity. Or the planet dies.

Thank you Mary Daly! Keep on dancing!

Books by this wonderful author:

Beyond God the Father
The Church and the Second Sex
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism
Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy
Outercourse:The Be-Dazzling Voyage
Webster's First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language
Quintessence...Realizing the Archaic Future
Amazon Grace: Re-Calling the Courage to Sin Big

You guys just don't get it: for Frank and David

High school was not my favorite time of my life - in fact, it sucked. I was fortunate to have a great boyfriend who went to Duke - I think he saved my sanity and was a great teacher during a very difficult passage. Nobody knew of my suffering - I doubt any of us understood much about how others suffered in general - we were all quite young and self-absorbed. But that was age appropriate to our development at that stage of our growth: teenagers are narcissists by necessity. We are supposed to outgrow it, however.

I did not like the folks I went to high school with very much - although there were a few exceptions. I did not like them because frankly, they did not like me. There was grandiose social posturing and the status quo was the rule of the day. Nothing new or bold or revolutionary was going on at Jordan during the years I attended - just the rich Hope Valley kids making life miserable for the rest of us. It seemed to be their purpose in life to make everyone else feel inferior. Needless to say, I feel NO nostalgia for "the good old days that were not the good old days" to me.

Patriarchy has almost destroyed our planet in the last 60 or so years - the advent of the atom bomb and nuclear power plants really sped things up. The outright rape of the land (and of women and girls,) and the obscenity of male-focused religious practices have made this planet a hell. The rap about "getting back to the principles of the founding fathers" is just more of the same ratcheted up rhetoric that is meaningful only to those with money and (purchased) influence, who possess penises. The children, the future, the good of the planet - these are of no concern to these mindless and consciousless patriarchs. You two guys are not fooling me. I see exactly how little you care for anything beyond the nose on your faces or the impact it might have on how much is in your wallet. It is just like high school. You all may have grown up in years but you have not matured as souls. And I make this judgment based on your words and your behavior. Your lack of caring, of simple human kindness, is purely sad. It is folks like you who will destroy this world, while pointing fingers and blaming everyone who doesn't agree with you. High school all over again.

No, I do not have "penis envy." I feel sorry for you guys. Your lack of compassion has turned you into automatons who are incapable of thinking for yourselves, and do not ever encounter an original thought as consequence. I grieve your lack of conscience. I weep that your potential has been squandered in amassing wealth instead of serving humanity with humility and kindness - and the earth grieves too. Her sons do not love her - they continue to justify the rape and pillage and oppression of her children all over the world.

So understand your words to me are as meaningless as your monumental lack of insight or compassion. You did not give a crap in high school and I am not foolish enough to think you do now - I have always been a catalyst for change and for conversation and for other folks to pop off - it is part of the artist's function in the world. But I stand by my beliefs and I have high expectation of educated people - I really believe they need to care less about their own selves and a whole lot more about others. Especially after turning 50!

No one but you can have an internal revolution and become aware of the heart that beats in your breast. It is you who have to wake up to the reality beyond your greed and your ambition and your rhetoric. The truly big picture might be reflected in the traditional Native American view of the world: they make decisions based on how it will effect the next SEVEN generations - not just for the convenience of their own pocketbooks, power plays or personal agendas.

I hope one day you wake up and smell the coffee. I don't, however, hold out much hope for that. But rest assured that there are many who work quietly behind the scenes and out of the limelight to teach compassion and encourage folks to actually think for themselves. To question authority and the status quo is more necessary than voting. Acts of compassion are much more important than the game of "faux democracy" that currently dominates the ruling parties in our country. And while I am a patriot, I am also a humanitarian. People, caring for their needs, feeding, clothing, empowering them is MUCH more important than the illusion of government. The women have always known this and that is why everyone survives. It is the women who clean up the mess.

Male ego is a fragile thing - and like many women, I have spent years coddling it. But I am done with that. You menfolk need to be challenged to think beyond the tips of your erections. You need to give a crap about others, not just your own sons and daughters. You need to care about THE WORLD. When that is the case, perhaps a true conversation where mutual respect is given and received can take place. Until then, no such possibility exists. And I doubt you want it anyway - you might have to entertain new thoughts. Heaven forbid!