M.J. Abadie - The Goddess in Every Girl. Develop Your Feminine Power

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com 20827 N.W. Cornell Road, Suite 500 Hillsboro, Oregon 97124-9808 503-531-8700 / 503-531-8773 fax www.beyondword.com This Beyond Words/Simon Pulse edition August 2013 Copyright 2002, 2013 by M. J. Abadie This work was originally published in 2002 by Bindu Books, a division of Inner Traditions International, Ltd. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. SIMON PULSE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abadie, M. J. (Marie-Jeanne), 1933-2006 The goddess in every girl : develop your feminine power / M. J. Abadie. cm. cm.

Includes bibliographical references. 1. Goddess religionMiscellanea. 2. TeenagersReligious life Miscellanea. Title. Title.

BL473.5.A23 2013 204.408352dc23 2012031545 ISBN 978-1-58270-427-2 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-58270-431-9 (hc) ISBN 978-1-4424-8469-6 (eBook) To all the teenage Goddess Girls who want to follow Her way. And to Laura Schlivek, my Goddess-loving editor.

The Goddess Lives! Despite persistent attempts to stamp Her into nonexistence, the Goddess lives in every girl and woman. Just look around you. The ancient Goddess is everywhere, within and without. She is Earth and the Heavens.

We experience Her presence through dreams and creative experiences. She lives in painting and art, literature and drama, poetry and song. Yes, men have tried to banish Her, but they have not succeeded. She has endured. She will always endure. She gives us the power to challenge our societys stereotypical images of girls and women.

Her images reveal our true essencewho we are and who we can become. Just look within your heart look closely and you will find Her there.

T o be a girl today is awesome. For the first time in recorded history, you, as a teenage girl, have the difficult taskand the glorious opportunityof defining for yourself the woman you will one day become. For thousands of years women in our culture have been defined according to their roles in relationship to mennot by who they themselves were as individuals. For example, heres a popular little poem from the 1950s: Mother, daughter, sister, wife; Youll always be known By the men in your life.

The name for this system of basing a womans identity on the men in her life is patriarchy. In a patriarchal system the balance of power between men and women is skewed; menand in our dominant religions, a single male deityhold virtually all the power. As a teen girl youve no doubt already experienced many aspects of our male-dominated, patriarchal culturein school, on the sports field, even at home. Since the feminist movement began in the 1970s, women have gained some groundsome have become senators and corporate heads, and more careers have opened up to women. But the underlying assumption that men have a right to more of the power hasnt really gone away. If a woman ran for president right now, shed only stand an outside chance of winning, simply because she wasnt a man.

See what I mean? The world hasnt always been this way, though. Some thirty thousand years ago the Goddess reigned supreme over all of Earths peoples. In that once-upon-a-time era, people who were genetically similar to those of us living today celebrated the Great Goddess as their all-encompassing deity. There was nothing supernatural about Her. She was simply Nature and All There Isgiver of life, protector, wisdom teacher, and renewer of life through death. The Goddess-worshiping cultures had a female-centered way of lifewomen held prominent positions in these societies, owned property in their own right, and were in charge of social relationships.

Because of their power to give birth, women were associated with the Goddessgiver of all lifeand were accorded the utmost respect. At the same time, there was a good balance of power between men and women. Though these early societies were mother- centered, they were not mother- ruled. Men were considered equally important and given their due. Unlike the patriarchal cultures that have dominated recent history, the Goddess cultures were egalitarian. Now, as teen girls, you stand on the brink of an uncertain tomorrow.

Even though we are making mind-boggling technological progress, our world is in trouble. A lack of respect for the balance of nature, and for an equal balance of power between men and women, has brought us to the brink of disaster. The good news is that you have the power to make changes in this unbalanced system that cheats women and hurts our Earth. Todays girls are approaching a new Golden Age, which they alone can create. And how is this to be achieved? By a return to the Goddess in every girl. Goddess Terminology The Great Goddess: This term is used to indicate the One Goddess who, at the dawn of civilization, was the supreme deity in an essentially feminine Universe that She created. Goddess Terminology The Great Goddess: This term is used to indicate the One Goddess who, at the dawn of civilization, was the supreme deity in an essentially feminine Universe that She created.

Essentially nameless, She was the single progenitor of All There Is. She bestowed gifts such as agriculture, knowledge of herbs for healing, the arts and architecture, fire and its use and preservation, the making of pottery, tools, and jewelry, among many other blessings to humankind. The Goddess: This is a short form of The Great Goddess. The Great Mother: This is the Goddess in her aspect as Mother of all things, as bringer of life and receiver of the dead. She is the maternal aspect of the Great Goddess and is especially known as Mother Earth, or the Earth Mother, and as such She has been given many different names by different cultures. The Goddess is ready to return.

She is waiting for you to open the door that was locked against her centuries ago. The time is now . It is your time. And it wont come again. You must act as if your life depended on itfor in truth, all our lives depend on each and every girl recognizing the Goddess in herself. It doesnt matter who you are, where you live, what you look like, how much you weigh, what your parents do, whether you are rich or poor, popular or notyou have the power of the Goddess within you.

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