A few years ago, I wrote a post about the Divine Feminine on our altars and the place for women of color in our circles. Tl;dr: if you love having goddesses of color on your altar and in your daily practice, but not in your circle or you ignore the political and physical realities around those women, that’s racism, cultural appropriation, and misogyny. End of story. I think it might be time to revisit that theme a little bit. If you like powerful Queen of Heaven goddess types on your altar and daily practice, but not in leadership positions, that’s misogyny. End of story.
Before I get too far into this, I will say I think Representative Pelosi should mentor a dedicated junior minority representative (Representative Wilson from Florida comes to mind) or an exceptionally bright freshman representative (NOT OCASIO CORTEZ) for when she’s done doing her good work. Until then, Representative Pelosi needs to become Speaker Pelosi. I’m also going to take a moment to point out that no one is calling for Senator Schumer to be replaced although he really does need to be, and there are viable candidates such as Senators Warren, Booker, and Harris.
Many Pagans claim goddess-centrism as a key tenet of their faith, a trait that sets them apart from other more patriarchal religions. But that doesn’t mean we’re free of patriarchy, just that we are burdened with different trappings. After all, our patriarchy involves a pedestal.
Pagans in America are in love with goddesses who get things done, or hold some position of power. I personally prefer Hecate and Hera, but I’m unusual in that regard. Pagans adore a powerful goddess provided they don’t make us uncomfortable. Devoted wife and mother, original magician, and Queen of Heaven Isis is universally popular; her powerful sister Nephthys is not. Freya, Queen of Heaven, is often in skimpy armor with idealized lady parts; so are the Valkyries. Morrigan statuary is similarly clothed with a similar body type. Kali is another universally popular goddess until we remember that she wears a glorious necklace of skulls and dances on the body of her consort. Proud Hera is straight out. At the end of the day, American Pagans often fall into the same cultural trap as their fellow citizens: we adore Hathor until she becomes Sekhmet.
We can see this in our interpersonal relationships as well as on the national scale. For example, my ex husband thought it was “adorable” that my magickal practice was so “low” compared to his high ceremonial rituals. Until he heard me invite Hera into my practice; he got scared and was hesitant to work me for the rest of our relationship. At the national level, we got a front row seat to the sexism shit show that was the 2016 presidential election. That is a show that hasn’t stopped, regrettably.
I’ll be the first to admit, Nancy Pelosi doesn’t scream Hathor. But, honestly anyone who eats dark chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone every day definitely has some hidden sensuality. Just sayin’. She also doesn’t scream Sekhmet either. Representative Pelosi is 5’4″ barefoot, and I could probably launch her like a shot put into Donald Trumps face. But in case people willfully forgot, she spent 8 hours in 4″ heels filibustering the repeal of DACA. She was the Speaker of the House during the passage of Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Cash for Clunkers, the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, tobacco regulation, the Food Safety Modernization Act, raising minimum wage, and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. She established the Congressional Ethics committee. Oh, and here are some smaller things she did while she was there: tax incentives for clean renewable energy, and raised the vehicle fuel effciency standards, supported research and innovation, a new GI bill, tax reforms that actually benefited the middle class, ended coverage discrimination for people seeking treatment for mental illnesses, made the largest investment in Veterans Health Care.
Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker we need. And Speaker is the position she deserves.
But, some critics say, she’s against impeachment. Well, yes and no. She’s against impeachment now, but Representative Pelosi would be willing to pull that trigger in the future with the right proof. We have to remember that Representative has lived through two impeachments already, one entirely valid (Nixon) and one entirely invalid (Clinton). She was a representative during the Clinton impeachment; and Representative Pelosi’s strength is that she learns. Not only is she the only one who could survive an impeachment, but her i’s would be dotted, her t’s would be crossed and the whole thing would be wrapped in a bow.
But, some critics say, she’s too cautious. Yes, but let’s also consider. How many people have received bombs in the past month? How many people have received credible death or rape threats from the basket of deplorables that law enforcement has a known blind spot for? Representative Pelosi protects her own as best she can. And when she strikes it will be with laser precision.
One last point to consider when thinking about Representative Pelosi as Speaker Pelosi: when this presidency collapses under the weight of treason and collusion, she’ll be right there to step up. And a qualified woman as president is something I dream of.
Pagan and the Pit(bulls) 