Beware the Mother's Curse

[Taomeow]

From "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" :

 

"In ancient Asiatic belief, a mother's curse meant certain death. All death was brought about by the Goddess's word of destruction, as all birth was brought about by her word of creation. By virtue of motherhood, any woman could tap the verbal power of the Goddess. The Markandaya Purana says, 'for all curses there is some remedy; but there is nothing anywhere that can dispel the curse of those who have been cursed by a mother.' Similarly, the biblical Hannah rejoiced when she became a mother, saying, 'My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies' because maternity gave her curses an irresistible power.(...)

 

The Greek word for the effects of a mother's curse was miasma, a kind of spiritual pollution bringing slow but sure destruction. Miasma could pursue members of a clan for many generations.(...)

 

The terrible vehicle of the feminine curse was menstrual blood, still called The Curse. To "damn" has been linked with the Hebrew dam, "blood," specifically mother-blood, the fluid of the womb, anciently thought to create one's very soul -- and destroy it. Dam was also synonymous with "mother" (ma-dam, my mother.) Elder women past menopause were thought to be the most efficient cursers, on the ancient theory that their "wise blood" was retained in their bodies, giving them numinous power to make their words come true.(...)

 

Eastern sages believed that feminine power of the curse must be allayed not so much by opposing it with a patriarchal religion, as by treating women well, so they would not be inclined to use their destructive power. The Laws of Manu said:

Women must be honored and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who desire their own welfare. Where women are honored, there the gods are pleased, but where they are not honored, no sacred rite yields reward. Where the female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers. The houses on which female relations, not being duly honored, pronounce a curse, perish completely, as if destroyed by magic.

 

This advice came from the place northern Aryans called Mutspellheim, the Home of the Mother's Curse, in "the hot lands of the south." According to Scandinavian prophecy of doomsday, the Mutspell would fall upon the violent patriarchal gods who ignored ancient tribal bonds and rules of morality, and instituted cruel warfare. The result of the Mother's Curse would be the death of all gods, their Götterdämmerung or Going-Into-the Shadow; thus it seemed the Mother's word of destruction meant the end of the world.

 

Christian Gnostic writings reveal the same belief in a world-destroying curse from a Great Mother disgusted with the cruel behavior of the gods she created. In her anger, the Goddess would send a great power from the place "where the firmament of woman is situated," the Gnostic equivalent of Mutspellheim. "Then she will drive out the gods of Chaos whom she had created together with the first Father. She will cast them down to the abyss. They will be wiped out by their own injustice."

[suninmyeyes]

I hear you Tao Meow.

This post speaks a lot.

Yesterday I was reading something about how all matter is alive and anger of the earth.

[Birch]

Great post TaoMoew! Another one I'll need to slink away and ponder for several years before I can re-express anything much related to it:-)

 

Do you think this is why TTC refers to 'getting the family right'? and then the 'rest' is 'right'? Of course, I don't know what 'right' means when it comes to people who actually use(d) the TTC to govern, but I'm assuming they understood/understand the role of the mother (any mother).

[zanshin]

On 10/7/2011 at 2:34 PM, Taomeow said:

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by zanshin

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[zanshin]

...

Edited April 19, 2020 by zanshin
Changed my mind

[taooneusa]

..

Edited October 9, 2011 by taooneusa

[witch]

Well, the Koch brothers are still out and about, so maybe it's lost its power over the millenia.

[Mark Foote]

Well, the Koch brothers are still out and about, so maybe it's lost its power over the millenia.

Nice picture, Witch!

 

Did you see the Ken Burns special on prohibition- the prohibition amendment got passed because there was a single-issue part of the electorate, the issue being prohibition, and their 10% vote was sufficient to swing elections. The Republicans now take "no new taxes" as their single issue, and the Koch money and that of other corporate sponsors is put to good use to prevent the filabuster and paralyze the government, in an attempt to crush environmental regulation and women's rights. In the end, prohibition was a huge mistake, and a training ground for the organized crime that has continued ever since in this country. How do we correct this flaw in democracy, or even in a parliamentary system!

 

Thanks for the history, Taomeow; maybe the amygdala stores the early blessings of the mother, and can respond to the curse outside the rational mind. Great post!