Mary Daly - Quintessence...Realizing the Archaic Future: A Radical Elemental Feminist Manifesto

ALSO BY

Mary Daly

THE CHURCH AND THE SECOND SEX

BEYOND GOD THE FATHER:
TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY OF WOMENS LIBERATION

GYN/ECOLOGY: THE METAETHICS OF RADICAL FEMINISM

PURE LUST: ELEMENTAL FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY

WEBSTERS FIRST NEW INTERGALACTIC
WICKEDARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

OUTERCOURSE: THE BE-DAZZLING VOYAGE

To

EMILY ERWIN CULPEPPER ,

Gorgon-identified fighter, visionary, dreamer, and schemer;

Be-Lasting, Be-Laughing, Be-Loving Friend

who is in it for the long haul

To my Wondrous Feline Familiar, ILLE G

(which means in Irish Young Beauty), who has followed

in the paw-steps of my Fore-Familiar, WILD CAT ,

guiding this book to completion

And,

as always,

to my parents,

ANNA AND FRANK ,

whose Presence intensifies in the course of Time

by Anonyma

I AM HAPPY to have the opportunity to write this Preface to my Foresister/Firesister Dalys seventh Radical Feminist book. I know that she also is pleased that this work is being reissued in 2048 BE (Biophilic Era). She recognizes the significance of the victory symbolized by this singular Re-Vision of Time and of, well, everything.

This work was originally published in 1998. Writing such a book as Quintessence near the end of the twentieth century was no small feat for Daly, who must sometimes have felt that she was a voice screaming into the void in that terrible time. When standing onstage before her audiences she had frequently yelled out her battle cry: Even if I were the only one, I would still be a Radical Feminist! Although this hypothetical fatebecoming a cognitive minority of onedid not seem a foregone conclusion at that time, Daly glimpsed the misogynist handwriting on the wall. Her project was to erase that handwriting which was intended to erase women. Her method was to keep on creatingfrom a Background perspectiveblasting away the negativity with flashes of light.

Our Archives contain much evidence of the fragmentation of women in the late twentieth centuryby extreme oppression, poverty, burnout, isolation, discouragement on many levels. Many had been assimilated into the role of tokens/gatekeepers, blocking women from access to knowledge and power. How did Daly and other Journeyers keep going?

In Quintessence she explains the process by which she and her Cronies, as she fondly Names them, managed to Leap onward into The Fifth Spiral Galaxy, which is the Realm of Expanding Here/Presence. They soared away... and Out, saving all they could save, and arriving Here.

Recently I tried an experiment. I had been reading Dalys work in our Archives and came to realize how frequently she Conjured her Foresisterswhen she was writing, lecturing, teaching, or just simply Spinning ideas. So when I went home I decided to Invoke her in order to have a conversation about her work and what it was like to live in those times. Of course, I expected that I, in turn, would tell her about my own experiences. Well! As soon as I had clearly formed the thought, she just popped up in front of me. Mary Daly! I exclaimed. Is that you?

Perhaps I jumped in surprise, because Daly was laughing at me. So, what did you expect? she asked. By the way, please just call me Mary. Who are you?

My name is Annie, I said. We were both a bit shocked. I announced in amazement that I could actually see and hear her. We both laughed. So, Here we are! we exclaimed in unison.

We were actually in my study. My visitor blinked and looked around curiously. She stared at her hands and feet to make sure she was really all Here. Impulsively she walked across the room and stuck her head out the window, sniffing the air inquisitively and studying my garden, which was in full bloom.

While this was going on with Mary I decided to heat a kettle of water, stalling for time to give us both a chance to adjust. After a few minutes I invited my stunned guest to sit down and have a cup of tea.

When we were seated, we savored the wonder of this Transtemporal experience. I remarked that the year was 2048 BE (Biophilic Era). Big Brother has been soundly defeated, I proclaimed. He finally shriveled up and died ignominiously of his own inherent rottenness.

We both burst into laughter and congratulated ourselves and all our Foresisters on this victory.

What a relief! said Mary. I look forward to hearing more about it.

I promised to fill her in on the cosmic events of the twenty-first century. I suggested that meanwhile I should tell her something about myself and she agreed to this. Since I am an ardent student of twentieth century Feminist philosophy, I naturally had the advantage of having read Dalys work and knew something about her life, while she knew nothing about me. I began by relating a bit of my own history, which I summarized as follows:

I was born in 2018 BE , which was the very first year in which BE became widely accepted as a replacement for the obsolete AD and CE. BE(Biophilic Era) signifies the end of the necrophilic era, that is, patriarchy. My mother and grandmother, together with many of their Cronies in the Anonyma Network, worked to bring about this Tremendous Transition. They didnt bother to renumber years, partly because this would involve tedious complexity, but especially because they wished to signify their bonding and continuity with all the Foresisters who lived in the age of Big Brother. Moreover, those Foreseeing Foresisters were already participating in the Biophilic Era. They were, to use a rather common expression, ahead of their time.

As a member of the Network, I choose to write under the noble name Anonyma, but my friends just call me Annie. My mother, whose name is Kate, was born in 1980, so she was a young woman during the terrible millennial times. From her earliest years she imbibed understanding of the Womens Movement from her mother, Johanna. My grandmother, Johanna, who was born in 1942, participated wholeheartedly in the Movement. She was twenty-six in 1968 and fought exuberantly through the cresting of Feminisms so-called second wave. Johanna survived the hideous backlash against women in the 1980s and 1990s and lived far into Cronehood. From the time I was a small child she regaled me with stories of A-mazing Amazonian adventures and battles.

I was enthralled with my grandmothers tales and with the twentieth century books by and about women which she first read to me and later gave me to read by myself. My collection of these books is like a treasure trove. When I walk into the room where they are proudly displayed on the shelves I feel their auras and sense their powerful vibrations.

Andon top of thismy grandmas Memory went far back into her own childhood, when she imbibed great stories from her mother, Honora, who was born in 1904. My great-grandmother had related wondrous tales to Johanna about the suffragists. So for me there are auras upon auras of orally (aurally) transmitted memories of strong and courageous women.