Luna
- Jan 25, 2019

A Feminist Tale of Creation

Written by Luna Eclypse

All artwork is cited below, please visit the artist's page!

***This tale contains adult and dark themes, it is a tale of catharsis but it may induce triggers with suggestions of abuse and sexual assault***

This creation myth takes a lot of different ancient creation myths and retells them from a modern feminine perspective, giving feminine voice to the age old tales of creation, and allowing women equal access to the mythology of humanity. Rather than a lesser scapegoat, women become the examples of liberation and their sacred path the saving grace of humanity realizing its godhood. We already have tales of the grace of the sun, the masculine path to liberation, now it’s time for the feminine, the lunar path, to awakening...

This is a tale of slavery, a tale of bondage and subservience, a tale of suffering and of violence, of power and freedom, of empowerment, wisdom and transcendence. Humankind was created in the image of the creator, in the image of all that was, empowered to be ruler and divine manifestor of all things. The first human was neither male nor female as dichotomy had yet to be created, humankind just was, simply existed in balance and in harmony with all of creation and therefore could easily call the sacred name of whatever it desired and there the creation would be. Just as the energy of all things breathed the breath of life into the being called human, so too did the being called human breathe the energy of the all into all the creations of the world. In this way human and divine were co-creators and in this way human knew itself to be the child of divinity, this same divinity it's birthright and a simple essence to tap into, the divine essence written into the very microcosmic framework of human.

Everything was peaceful, everything in harmony, human effortlessly flowed with all that was divine as they themselves were divine. From this peace there arose boredom and a chord of dissonance reverberated in the fabric of the all, chaos began to stir and awaken in the energy currents of all. This energy of chaos was not evil or bad, as flawed or biased human constructs had not been formed yet, the energy was the wasted potential of all possibilities and all the missed potential left over from the formulation of creation, and it began to form as dark matter, anchoring the newly created realities that had previously existed in a state of ether into a more physical and solid representation, thus outlining what was with what could be. Chaos was fun and exciting and invigorated creation into new possibilities and new realms from the potential of missed opportunities, and out of this new energy sprang the beginnings of philosophy, awareness, and critical thought. The concept of dichotomy was born with the stark differences between the realities of creation and the missed possibilities of lost ideas.

Human began to contemplate the dichotomy within creation, assigning opposite ends of a spectrum to what was already created, designing a kind of self fulfilling machine that would continue to create itself so human could focus on creating newer and more exciting ideas and constructs rather than just physical reality. Human saw how wonderful this new system was and how much time they now had for new endeavors, and began to contemplate their own inner dichotomy. How much better if they could duplicate themselves and replicate their efforts! How much better if they had a mirror, another part of themselves, for self reflection and growth, as a way to better see and understand themselves, their own divinity and source of all, and all of existence they created! Realizing the potential of this outcome, human excitedly split itself from the source of its own being into two distinct and opposite beings, relinquishing half of its birthright in order to better see and love itself and all things. These beings became man and woman, both still bearing the surname of human. Man received yang energy, energy of the sun and action, his body being larger, harder and muscular and his ego oftentimes matching this dynamic. Woman received yin energy, energy of the moon and receptivity, her body being soft curvy and smaller, her ego reflective in nature. Both man and woman were implanted with a small shard of the other. In this way they were like two matching pieces of a puzzle, extremes designed as magnets to attract and to reflect the glory of the other and therefore the self in each others eyes as mirrors. In this way, human was able to finally experience itself and it fell in love.

Man Woman Human

Its also important to note, that in it's excitement during its split, several pieces of human fell to the ground, pieces that could not bear subjecting itself to one extreme or another, and chaos seeing a prime opportunity for existence outside a clearly and neatly defined spectrum (which would ultimately stagnate all of creation), swiftly scooped up this human material on the wind, as it shaped itself into humans not neatly defined by a dichotomy. Chaos tucked these humans away for a while, disguising them in the world, until the time was right to reintroduce them fully to humanity, to remind humanity of who they truly are and to show yet another wonderful potential that had yet to be explored fully in a world of opposites. These humans kept much of the same characteristics of the original being called human, calling themselves they or them, sometimes displaying both masculine and feminine traits either physically or mentally or both, exploring both sides of the spectrum of constructed dichotomy, eventually in the very distant future creating a three dimensional understanding of the expression of divine human. These humans were saved for the dawning of a later age where they would be called upon to usher the human race into a new and more enlightened era, but for now the concept of dichotomy and seeing the self in the reflection of the opposite other was so new a concept, the male and female became so enamored with each other, creation halted and internal discovery began.

A Rift Appears

At the beginning, the two halves of human basked in each other's countenance and energy, each admiring the other. What a beautiful miracle each was to the other! This beautiful and innocent exploration continued for eons, the man and woman simply enjoying each other's presence and the reflection of self in the other. What they didn't know though was that they were now born of the energy and dissonance of chaos, it was chaos that enabled them to break free and break apart from the predictability of wholeness, and it was chaos that shaped them into the extremes they had become. As much as they wanted to echo the wholeness they had existed in together, they also wanted to express themselves as distinct, unique and separate beings, thus the reflection changed from that of wholeness to that of separateness, each in turn looking to express and separate their differences rather than enjoying their similarities or that which supports each other in balance. Woman became withdrawn, secluding herself in a mysterious inner world of creativity, intuition and sensitivity, shutting all out that didn't dwell in inner harmony, while man began to exert control and power over all in his domain, using his creative energy as a destructive power, creating and destroying that which was created just to see his power exercised over his reality. Man began exerting his power and control over woman in much the same way, and woman, knowing full well her will was the equal and opposite of man's, rebelled and became angry and disillusioned with man, shutting him out of her world further. This infuriated man, because he remembered creating dichotomy in all things in creation and how this produced harmony and that within creation continuing to propagate itself without assistance. Man wanted to see more of himself in the world and set about conquering woman, dominating her so his kind could be furthered in creation. He had forgotten during his conquests that he could create whatever he desired as was his birthright as a divine being. He falsely believed that since he was only half of human that he needed to force the other half of human to create his desires or he couldn't manifest his divine creative power over all that was. He had lost the truth of who he was in his need to conquer, destroy, and recreate and to express his divinity through only these means.

Man Conquers Woman

It was in this energy of chaos, during the first eclipse of the moon, that man chose to approach woman in her sleep while she was most vulnerable and when she couldn't refuse him, shut him out, or fight him. Man decided his best opportunity would be to reunite with woman and fuse temporarily to be whole and fully human and thus replicate himself in the world. In this way he forced his own creative energy and power, his own personal truths and rage onto woman when she was most vulnerable, completely disregarding her own inner universe, denying the potential for mutual discovery of the immense realms of creative power and truth in the inner universe of woman, denying the potential of mutual love and respect and discovery. In this way he chose to force woman into subjugation, imagining himself and the energy of the sun as more important and dominant over the forces of the moon and of woman. Woman awoke in terror, forced into subjugation and servitude of a power designed originally to be equal to hers. Woman awoke to the dissolution of self and the destruction and conquer of her inner universe by that which had been her, that which was also human. Woman cried out in pain, anguish and shame, feeling at her core the betrayal of the other, feeling at her core lesser than man, unequal, and something within her feeling conquered and no longer of her. She felt a poison had been released in her own body and permeated her psyche, causing her to feel awful things about herself and causing her being of light to fracture into a million shards in the darkness. Man silently left and went to sleep, leaving the turmoil within the inner universe of woman to her, leaving her to deal with the emotional and psychological wreckage. He sighed a heavy sigh, feeling a sense of victory since he won and was now master of the other half of human, but he could not shake a sense of unease about the energy now present in creation, the shard of woman within him crying out and making him restless. So this was the beginning and creation of restless sleep and night terrors for humanity, men of the ages blaming their night terrors on women and succubus and night hags, in an unconscious nod to woman's revenge, as a way to again feel dominant over both.

Shadowscape of Inner Torment

Woman was left to herself, feeling eclipsed by man, and sank into a dark inner landscape. She embarked on a dark and terrifying journey of discovery that took eons, attempting to shine light in the darkness, to call the shards of herself back, to heal that which was festering, and to extract the poison from her being that man had subjected her to. She met many terrifying and empowering aspects of herself and realized that the only mirror she really needed was deep within, in the shadowlands. It was here she discovered she herself carried part of the essence of man within her. In the shadowlands where all is dark and mutable, she realized she was already whole, she was already human, and she didn't need man to help her return to her former wholeness. She realized all of creation was still at her fingertips, she realized she still had her divine birthright, she realized she had choice and could create anything she desired with the shard of man that existed within her as the animus. Slowly, woman crept up out of the inner darkness and rearranged her inner universe and her inner landscape in the fashion she desired. No longer did she long for basic exploration for understanding as now she was the creator and shaped her inner world to her desires. When chaos crept in, she would notice it, and could allow it, deny it, or use it to create. Her world was hers and she would never again allow man to rule her.

Snake of Wisdom and Spiritual Awakening

Wings of Freedom

As the first lunar eclipse waned, man fell into a deeper sleep marked by uneasy restlessness and woman, with her newfound wisdom, discovered her true name and birthright as a divine being. Upon uttering this divine name, wings emerged from her back giving her power and dominion over all of creation and allowing her to fly, giving her empowerment to complete that which she determines is her destiny. As her inner universe is shaped, so can she shape the external universe with her will. Woman gained enlightenment and the power that comes from holding the truth of all. She gained the power of creation and of chaos, which has led to the ire and fear of the unenlightened for eons after. Woman remembered her divine birthright as a star amongst stars and refused to allow another to block her light. She took to flight, escaping the slavery of man, and explored her world, enjoying the light of those who refused to take away hers and would instead enjoy her light exactly as it was. She had exorcised the bonds of servitude and ignorance for her freedom as a divine being.

Man in Rage

Man awoke in a daze, and rather than feeling remorse or regret for his actions, he was angered and outraged that what he had conquered, what was his, was now missing. He cried in screams of entitlement to the abyss of creation, his bellows echoing and reverberating throughout the flow of the all. How dare that which was his, that which was chained by his will, reject him and seek its freedom! He no longer looked at woman as human, but as another item in creation that he could bend to his fiery will and possess. He attempted to use his magic to force woman to surrender and return to him, but woman was by this time enlightened, and existed above the realm of force and malignant control, his magic and power could not reach her. Man was now so distraught, wallowing in a pit of his own loathing and hatred of woman for leaving him alone as half a human, half a creative force, that he ripped a part of his own flesh out of his body, reveling in the pain he caused himself, and through all this self inflicted pain, shaped another woman to bring him pleasure. The first woman he shaped this way was perfect in every way, subservient, gratifying towards him, and agreeable with all the harm or anger he would throw into her. This allowed him to feel a sense of catharsis for a time, but eventually caused him boredom and more turmoil as he had neglected to give her a separate ego or will. He realized he was just further causing harm to a part of himself, not harming woman or a recreation of woman at all. He therefore set about killing this part of himself, and thus he committed one of the other grave atrocities, willingly fracturing his own essence out of spite and killing that which was fashioned by him to be divine woman. With this manifestation dead, he took the decaying and neutral matter, and fashioned woman a second time, this time uttering her name. He did give her a separate ego and free will this second time, but constructed her with the memories of his violence, so she would be fearful and subservient to man, thus the new woman was constructed out of imbalance, a creature not of the moon, but of the darkness of the death of the sun. A creature with a separate ego, but one always looking back from the void upon the ego of the sun, a creature needing the validation of the light and ego of the sun to feed the loss of their own, a creature made in the image of man, imbalanced to truly create or experience wholeness without an alchemical change within to spark the luminosity of the moon and stars within the void.

Man with Woman Doll

Lunar Woman Freed, Woman of Man Shackled

It is thus that all women who have weathered the storm of the inner landscape, women who have survived and reclaimed their power and birthright, women who refuse to be lesser or subservient, or slaves of men, women who demand equality for themselves and equality for all, are all children of this first woman of the moon. As each lunar eclipse waxes and wanes, more women are initiated into the mysteries of the lunar woman and brought home as children of the woman of the moon. This is the birthright of all women created as slaves of man - as man uttered the divine name of woman upon their creation, the path to their wholeness and enlightenment and freedom is always there, written in the truth in the void that they are not nothingness and darkness needing light, but rather they have always been stars and need nothing from another being because all is found within.

Lunar Woman Freeing Woman of Man

In this era, chaos has revealed the children of human who are not born of the dichotomy, and through this revelation women are seeking their own inner truth more and more, demanding and reclaiming the equal status that is her birthright. Through the process of the awakening of woman, man is given one last chance to gaze in the mirror and accept the divine reflection of the woman's inner universe, the landscape leading into shadowlands and truth, and if man is wise he learns from this journey, reflecting it back upon himself and discovering his inner shard of woman inside his own abyss that has been ceaselessly crying out for eons. If he discovers this and accepts this, he connects to the pain and brutality woman has had to endure and he comes to the realization that her pain is likewise his, because they are all human and are all the same. It is through this process that man recognizes truth and elevates woman back to her status as equal, admiring her strength and creativity, and seeing her view of creation to be just as valid as his. He sees her inner beauty and revels that he too is connected to creation that is gentle and kind. This is the process of the new awakening of man as the modern era ushered in by chaos brings us all back to our original truth- we are all human, and those who recognize they are human are already at oneness and peace.

Transcended Human

I took the Jewish mythologies of Lilith, first Eve and second Eve, and the Sumerian myths of Enlil/Ellil and Ninlil, and even the descent of Inanna. Except I didn’t promote the suffering of women as in the Sumerian myth, or demonizing or blaming women as in the Hebrew myth. I also brought in relationship psychology and the concepts of yin and yang as relating to the archetypes of the male and female. When I described the wonderful beginning vs the eventual painful separation of man and woman, I was describing actual relationship psychology and the process of exclusively focusing/relying/trusting on self rather than focusing/relying/trusting on the we or us, which usually turns a relationship one sided and toxic, in addition to describing other well known archetypes. Throughout this process, I was also describing horrific things I personally went through that 1 in 4 women in our society suffer through, as we’ve viscerally seen with the me too movement, the excruciating suffering that ensues (in my case PTSD), and the process one must go through to become empowered on the other end of suffering, what one must do to declare freedom and autonomy from the harm that enslaved you. It’s the same process everyone must go through for spiritual awakening regardless of initial suffering. Which is why at the end, everyone who seeks balance, oneness, and redemption, anyone seeking return to truth, is given the ability to transcend and awaken through the example of Woman’s descent, triumph, and victory over inner shadow. And although I do postulate the archetypal paths are different for men and women, the goalposts are different, and they vary depending on where you fall on the spectrum of the perceived dichotomy, the path woman etches for all others is equally valid for the dichotomies of the archetypes of man and woman and all manner of human being in between. Because the underlying truth is piercing through the illusion that we are anything other than human, anything other than a divine star in the vast fabric of galaxies.

This alternative creation myth was inspired by these works of Lilian Broca from the artist's Lilith Series of artworks. The writing was downloaded into me, channeled by Lilith herself through my fingers and into the page, and as I myself am a survivor of the exact sexual assault and the same means of recovery described above, it was quite cathartic to express in print. As an unapologetic feminist, this story and tale of awakening and spiritual enlightenment that makes all beings equal, valid, and respected, is exactly the kind of myth we need now. Enjoy, and may the divine dark lunar mother awaken universal love and respect in you all, for yourselves, and for all other beings.

-Luna

References:

All art by Lilian Broca

http://www.lilianbroca.com/lilith-series

From top:

Lilith and Adam- Creation

The First Couple

Adam Severs the Bond of Equality

Shackled 2

Lilith the Snake and Her Goddess Self

Let us Proclaim Freedom

Adam Harnessing the Wind and Waves