Nikki Kamalu and Captain Kala Tanaka of the Polynesian Voyaging Society
Most countries dedicate one day a year to celebrating mothers and women. In the US, this happens in May, so I decided to dedicate this blog to the recognition of women – the mothers of this planet. Women are a portal of humanity. They offer their bodies as a connection between the spiritual and physical worlds, guiding humans into existence. They are the first to welcome all new arrivals to the planet, and they are the first to feed, comfort, and nurture young humans as they begin their journey through this life.
As men began to seek power, they started using women’s greatest strengths against them, eventually turning the exulted spiritual portals into nothing more than functional doorways on someone else’s property. Recorded history has always presented women as being inferior to men. Using a man’s value to measure all of humanity has led us to view more masculine characteristics, such as physical strength, competitiveness, and head-centered thinking as valuable, and more feminine characteristics, such as compassion, caring, and heart-centered action as less valuable if not worthless. As a result, women were kept from decision-making, financial independence, political power, and even sovereignty over their bodies, leading to a world of heavily masculine values and a great energetic imbalance.
This, however, has not always been the case. According to ancient wisdom, the level of consciousness of a society can be measured by how it treats its females. Thousands of years ago, women occupied a very revered place in human society. They were not measured against men; that would have been viewed as a ridiculous concept. Women were the spiritual guides and guardians of humanity. This was natural and normal because they were the portal that connected the two realms. They went through the pain and joy of bringing new life into existence. As such, they knew the value of life and were natural guides and caregivers of humanity. Being a caregiver, unlike in the modern world, was not considered a secondary role. It was a role of veneration. Women were naturally more attuned to the Spirit, and they used this connection to guide all of humanity. Men might have occupied executive positions within communities, but the decisions they executed were all based on the guidance of the women.
The guidance women offered took different forms – they were spiritual leaders, counselors, teachers, expert navigators, etc. The animated movie Moana highlighted the role of women as navigators. The women used their hearts to receive guidance and their hands to plot the direction of the voyages by the stars. They provided men with intuitive guidance on the most appropriate fishing spots and gave nautical directions for long-distance journeys. And the men not only welcomed this guidance, they fully relied on it. Today’s Polynesian boats (like Tanaka’s) carry small male and female figures to help guide the journey. Only the female figures have eyes, though. The males are there to guard, but the females have the eyes to see the way.
Our planet is starting to return to balance, and it is time for women to begin returning to their natural roles of spiritual guardianship. I invite you to honor women not for measuring up to men, but for being powerful life creators. And if you are a woman, allow yourself to begin to awaken and remember. It is time!
