A Female World.

Saule wears silken garments,
with a silver crown,
with a silver crown,
made of gilded leaves.

Saule crosses the lake,
brilliant as tinsel,
a crown of gold on her head,
and polished slippers on her feet.

Goddess mother Saule
there above the river,
her shawl, her gilt shawl,
slipping from her shoulders.

--Lithuanian folksongs

What would it be like to live in a world where such feminine power was recognised and loved?

This is a question on which many have pondered through the ages and on which I have spent many hours also in contemplation - not all of them today.

I'd like to be able to say that the world would be a gentler place were this true, but there is a large part of me that wonders if that's true. We can see, through the history and reality of the women that have attempted to attain positions of power within politics that they are in many ways a lot harder than men... but is this because they have to operate in a world that is essentially masculine in its look out. We do describe men that are of the gentler persuasion as being in touch with their feminine side after all, so does it stand to reason that such 'powerful' women must embrace the masculine?

Women in power are described in derogatory terms, even by other women... or perhaps especially by other women.... even ourselves? And yet, in many cultures it is the woman that rules the operation of the familiy. Yes, the man has 'authority' but it is the woman that rules - go figure. Over here, for example, it's far more frequent that I'll see the mother at parent-teacher conferences, than the fathers, and in a country that is very much a masculine/patriarchal one.

But left to a natural state, I wonder how much difference there would be were the true feminine allowed to shine. Nurturing, balanced, and yet protective in the extreme (the cliche of the mother bear), attention paid to the emotions of the people, and not simply the pride and ego pandered to under masculine rule? These are just some of the things that occur to me from the top of my head. It bears more thought, and I have plenty of time for thinking today.