By Stephen William. He is a UK based Medium and Healer and Author of “Nostradamus His Prophecy Finally Explained.” Available on Kindle now. Having been involved in Mysticism for well over 20 years as a spiritual medium it has occurred to me almost from the beginning that I am in a minority in Mysticism. I am a man. Not only in Spiritual Mediumship, but in most forms of Mysticism the overwhelming number of active practitioners in Mysticism are women. This is unlike conventional religions, where not only are all the founders of the major religions are male, but the present-day ministers of religions are overwhelmingly male also. How did this come about ? A TYPICAL SPIRITUAL MEDIUMSHIP DEVELOPMENT CIRCLE. AS YOU CAN SEE MOST OF THE MEMBERS ARE WOMEN. As mentioned there appears to be no female originators of major religions, however the originators of these religions had mystical experiences and communication to be able to create these religions. So why the separation between ancient mystical practice and modern practice? Why has mysticism been reversed from a mainly male activity or gift in previous ages into a mainly female one in modern times? From my point of view this apparent transition of prominence of men as spiritual communicators to women reflects modern society’s attitude towards men and women in the physical world. In the Old Testament which the Abrahamic religions are based on , only 5 women are recognised as Prophets. Even then, one is not even named! That is in total of 63. A massive imbalance. Beginning with the Creation Story in Genesis ,women are stigmatised, Eve is blamed for the expulsion from the Garden of Eden for example. Yet this story appears to be based on an ancient Sumerian Creation Story as written on various Sumerian Cuneiform tablets that have been excavated by archaeologists . There is even a bronze Sumerian artefact in the British Museum in London which illustrates the Sumerian story , see below; As you can see the picture includes the Serpent and the Tree of Knowledge. It also appears to show the post “ innocent” clothed Adam and Eve sitting on thrones. As there are several versions of this story in Sumerian mythology and they may have inherited the story from an even earlier Asian culture, it is hard to match which version this image represents . However, it has occurred to me looking at the image that Adam and Eve seem to me to be of equal status in the picture. This is at odds with the Biblical version where Eve (women) is punished for her transgression to be always subservient to Adam (men). Perhaps this illustrates that even spiritual stories can be changed to suit a particular cultural norm. Abraham the founder of all the Abrahamic religions , who according to the Old Testament came from the Sumerian city of Ur, would have been aware of at least one version of the Creation Myth. Despite being the great mystic and visionary who appears to be the originator of Monotheism , unfortunately he had behaviour, which by modern sexual equality standards would be questionable. Abraham married his half-sister Sarah , an act which was banned later in the Old Testament and is also illegal in most modern societies . Whether this marriage was completely with her consent , is not clearly recorded . In some less developed societies today , marriage between close relatives still occurs to keep family wealth within that family , but in the wider world it is disapproved of ,not least for medical and genetical reasons. When Sarah could not conceive a son for Abraham, Sarah apparently felt compelled to offer her slave girl Hagar to Abraham to conceive children with, as” compensation”. Sarah of course eventually conceived Isaac ,who is crucial to the story of his life , but he continued to have children by Hagar. As you will notice , women are treated as chattels, i.e. the personal property of their menfolk ,whether father , husband or employer/owner. It was the “way of the world” at that time, but because it has been enshrined in a major religious text, it still affects attitudes towards women today. This is not to be dismissive of Abraham. He was a “man of his time” and in many ways acted accordingly. Also, the story of Abraham and Isaac which outlawed the concept of human sacrifice ,which differentiated what became eventually Judaism from the more savage religions around it in that region of the world is another great achievement of him. That respect of human life over personal gain is still a central tenet of Abrahamic religions today. Yet Abraham also to avoid angering the Pharoah of Egypt allowed the Pharoah to take Sarah into the Royal Harem after allowing the Pharoah to think she was “only” his sister ,not his wife! The Pharoah returned her to him only after apparent “Divine Intervention” made the Pharoah realise Sarah was Abraham’s wife and he angrily banished both from Egypt. Abraham’s seemingly cowardly and ungallant behaviour may have been prompted by the idea he was on a spiritual mission and being executed by the Pharoah would abruptly end that! However, the incident with the Pharoah , only serves to demonstrate that women in spiritual matters in all religions Abrahamic or others, are mainly treated as subordinate beings. They mainly appear in Holy texts as wives , relatives , servants/slaves etc. rarely as mystics ,seers ,prophets or any kind of significant spiritual figure. Women of genuine spiritual ability were denigrated throughout the ages. The Woman of Endor , who in original version of the Old Testament , was described as a spiritual medium who genuinely brought forward the spirit of Samuel for King Saul . In the King James Bible, she is misdescribed as The Witch of Endor. King James who commissioned this version of the Bible despite his interest in religious matters , delighted in torturing and executing suspected “witches” who in reality often were innocent church going folk healers. He also betrayed his wife in a most unbiblical way with both women and men. He was nicknamed in his own lifetime “The Wisest Fool in Christendom.” The Woman of Endor’s original identity, has been restored in the New English Bible and other versions of the Bible ,but this slur against a woman of genuine mystical ability has remained. THE WOMAN OF ENDOR BEING PORTRAYED AS A HAG- LIKE WITCH. THIS IS DESPITE NOTHING IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT MENTIONING HER APPEARANCE OR AGE. HER KINDNESS TO KING SAUL AFTER HE RECEIVED HIS DEVASTATING PROPHECY FROM THE SPIRIT OF SAMUEL IS OFTEN NOT PORTRAYED ALSO. The same kind of slur remained against Mary Magdalene one of Jesus’s most devout followers in the New Testament. In 591CE (AD) , Pope Gregory I in his Easter sermon described Mary Magdalene as a penitent reformed prostitute. This was despite no mention of this in the New Testament! His statement has been explained since as confusion with another Mary or an unnamed “sinful woman”, but considering it was in his Easter sermon, it appears that this was a deliberate slur against her . This was over 500 years after she lived , so what new evidence did he have? There have been rumours over the ages that she may well have been Jesus’s wife (The Wedding at Cana for example has been speculated that it was their wedding ,as it was the groom’s duty to provide the wine in that era for example) and there may have been a fear that a marriage would have “sullied” Jesus’s Divine status. However , it was a crude and derogatory way to do it and only seems to continue the practice of portraying organized religion as “man’s business” and women were only wives or temptresses. Mary Magdalene was of made a saint because mainly of her “repentance” ,however the untrue allegation of her prostitute past was only removed by a Pope in 1969. Therefore, in many people’s minds she remains a former prostitute. So how can Mysticism create more equality in spiritual matters? Firstly ,the modern evidence of Mystical women, especially mediums achieving direct spiritual contact and therefore proving a supernatural dimension to existence and an Afterlife ,demonstrates that ancient women’s involvement in spiritual matters has been minimised or deliberately obscured by the male dominated societies of that time . Women in modern times have become elected National Presidents and Prime Ministers ,Doctors, Scientists , Academics, Business Leaders , Educators etc. Therefore, it now appears illogical that they cannot have a leading role in spiritual matters. Secondly, Mystical women using the argument that other areas of life have now a greater balance of the sexes, should approach their male partners if they have one, and who are not currently involved in mystical practice and ask why do they not join her in her mystical practice. There may be a variety of answers (very often excuses!) given to this, including “I am scared of in meddling with the other Side” , “My friends will laugh at me” , “I have not got the time” etc. However, the very fact you have not come to harm from” ghouls” , that your friends do not laugh at you(well not to your face) and you find the time and it enriches your life on many levels, should persuade them to give it a try. Very often those who do try it ,discover what you have and it enriches their life also. It may bring you even closer together. If you do not have a male partner , perhaps a male relative or friend can be persuaded instead. As conventional organized religion has started to decline everywhere in the developed world, but interest in Mystical practice has increased , it may be easier to persuade male acquaintances than you think. The developed world operates now on evidence-based decision making . This has made what seemed as spooky or even “magical” and therefore unbelievable only few decades ago, seem more logical than pure faith -based religions or philosophies. The fact that a more numerous representation of women in Mysticism makes it seem more modern and inclusive than conventional religions which it appears purely operate on a male dominated basis and through an outdated or dogmatic basis , rather than being fully inclusive of at least 50% of humanity. Conventional religions who despite putting on a brave face on the drift away from them ,may well take note of the attractiveness of modern Mysticism. They may well reflect on there not being any recent proof of the spiritual realm within their own religion. They also may reflect how women appear to be excluded from the main body of events in their ancient texts and also from their modern ministers and preachers. In some progressive denominations of the Abrahamic religions there are now female ministers of religion and even a few bishops. Yet they are still far outnumbered by their male counterparts. Many denominations though still have no women in their active ministry and that is the case in many non-Abrahamic religions as well. The point I am making, is for spirituality still to be a force for good in the world is for it to be in tune with the physical world. Not exactly the same , but in tune with it . That means providing evidence of the Supernatural and an Afterlife as our ancestors had , but also not excluding women from active participation from shaping the practice of spirituality. Mysticism has given a lead in this because of its proof of the spiritual dimension to existence , but further than that allowing all human beings not only women ,but as many men as possible from all cultural backgrounds to participate in shaping the spiritual future of the world. Some conventional religions may respond to this lead ,by continuing with the good charitable and teaching work they already do, but with renewed spiritual inspiration, vigour and diversity. Other may fail to change and eventually could become redundant to human requirements, but spirituality continued to change in times past and now is the time for it to change again to meet new challenges. ©Stephen William International Copyright. If you wish to read my book, it is available on this link at Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098LS5PM7/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MBDF06G549ZKJ6XFKMCJ |
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