Feminine Balance Could Bring Peace On Earth
Photo By Terrah Baker
Maia Burks, 24, and Diana Rivers, 81, hold up one of the painted banners created by Lydia Ruyle. To design the banners, she travels to countries around the world and researchers their ancient Goddesses, then returns and creates these colorful banners that will be placed around the OMNI Center during the Goddess Festival.
Staff Report
For five years a group of women from NWA have been attempting to bring balance back into the universe with rituals dating back to the dawn of human existence. For thousands of years, they said, human existence has been missing something divine that could end wars, cure social problems and bring peace back to Earth.
“Every institution is missing their wholeness,” Vick Kelley, co-sponsor for the 2013 Goddess Festival, said. “What’s missing is the feminine energy and peace. We do not want to take away masculine traits, we just want to say ‘if you balanced it with this, we would all be better off.’”
Because much of female human history has been pushed out by organized religions and institutions seeking power, financial and social control, women have lost their sense of empowerment, they explained. Through spreading just the word “Goddess” itself — which was banned for hundreds of years — they hope to bring feminine energy back into the society.
“[Our culture] leaves out the divine feminine, and we want to bring her back. It’s about creating a partnership culture,” said Diana Rivers, co-sponsor of the GF.
Maia Burks, is one of the youngest organizers for GF at 24 and said there’s something young people can learn as well — you don’t have to look like a movie star to have worth. This was the lesson she learned when she first attended the festival.
“Before that I was into fashion and getting my hair and nails done. I came here and saw that women are real, they don’t all look like Pamela Anderson and Beyonce, they’re just regular women,” Burks said of her experience. “It made me feel like I had a place and I didn’t have to keep up with what’s on TV and pretend to be something that I wasn’t to be beautiful.”
The first year she attended, it took just one visit and she felt totally welcome, she said. Rivers said men enjoy it for the same reason — she’s seen men become totally relaxed because of the warm energy.
Last year much of the workshops offered at the festival were about human institutions, while this year they run the gammet from Exploring the Gender Spectrum to Writing for the Goddess: Writing From the Heart. The festival will include drum circles, pot lucks and much more.
Visit the Goddess Festival website to learn more about the organization, its mission and the upcoming Festival with 9 full days of events, workshops, rituals and community celebrations beginning Friday until March 24. www.goddessfestival.com/calendar-of-events.
