The trojan horse of the Sacred Feminine
Lucrezia and Cristina: two stories, one single trap
“Lucrezia is a sacred Priestess. Her body is the temple of the Goddess, and the source of her power lies in her ability to create life and in the gift of receptivity.
With wisdom, she recognizes her role in sacred alchemy and guides her partner toward the discovery of the divine in nature. Her Yoni is the gateway through which the sacred flows: the path to the authentic road that leads to union with the whole.
Lucrezia, Priestess of the Goddess. Unfortunately, all the other women envy her—but that’s what happens when you’re too, too special.
Her partner uses his strength to protect her: he lays his sword at her service and at the service of the Goddess.”
It’s a beautiful story, isn’t it?
It makes us imagine a woman full of power, dressed in flowing garments caressed by the breeze, her enchantments carried by the wind: a truly magical being.
Like a fairy lady, she glides through the world, barely touching the ground with her feet, while her consort’s strong arm clears her path and shields her from danger. It sounds like a fairytale.
Now let’s try this one:
“Cristina is an Angel of the Hearth. Her body is in service to God, and she glorifies Him by bearing children within the sacred bond of marriage.
With wisdom, she acknowledges her role in the natural order willed by God, and the sweetness of her submission to her husband brings them both closer to the divine and fills them with divine glory.
Cristina, angel of the hearth. Cristina, who can’t remember the last time she had time for herself—or an orgasm.
Her husband’s duty is to protect her: he is the head of the family, for the good of all and in accordance with God’s plan.”
It stirs a completely different feeling, doesn’t it?
Before our eyes, we see a poor medieval maid, under her husband’s control, crushed by a patriarchal culture that sees her value only in her ability to bear children and serve unpaid domestic labor.
We feel both compassion and a tinge of irritation toward Cristina—we want to ask her what she’s waiting for to wake up and recognize the deception that has been imposed on her.
We’d like to give her a friendly kick in the backside to push her, once and for all, away from that damned hearth.
The reality is that Lucrezia and Cristina could very well be the same person.
Two sides of the same coin
Their worldviews and beliefs about balance within a couple aren’t so different after all:
– Both identify their fertility as their primary value in the eyes of the divine;
– Both willingly accept becoming passive and “receptive” in order to align with what they perceive as a law of nature;
– Both believe that only by fulfilling a specific role—defined by their biological sex—can they draw closer to the divine.
The truth is: Lucrezia and Cristina ARE the same person.
They’ve just been duped by two different kinds of rhetoric.
Each probably judges and mocks the other. But if they stripped off the romantic robes of the priestess and the meek garments of the devoted wife—if they let the names of deities and sacred verses fall to the ground—and met each other naked in an empty room,
they would see their reflection in one another’s eyes.
The feminist struggle and its vulnerabilities
We’ve watched with joy the reawakening of the sacred feminine over the past 50 years, and many of us have given—and continue to give—our contribution.
We have proudly joined hands with the feminist movement to shout that our bodies are not property, not vessels of shame, not mere incubators.
We’ve claimed the right to break free from stereotypes designed solely to control us: the right to be women in a thousand different ways.
We’ve reread history and discovered that a different way to organize society is possible.
In doing so, as is natural, we’ve stumbled. Sometimes we’ve gone too far, or we’ve invented new myths out of nothing—or almost nothing—to replace the old ones.
And that’s okay. It’s part of the process.
The Sacred Feminine and spiritual marketing
Like everything in consumer culture, spirituality also has its trends. And it’s not hard to notice that we’re once again importing the latest craze from across the ocean: sacred sexuality in the divine couple, in all its fashionable variations.
By itself, this isn’t a bad thing: trends, though fleeting, allow us to explore topics from a new perspective. And often, once the fluffier aspects fade, what remains is a meaningful, authentic contribution.
Certainly, there’s a lot of important ground to cover and explore when it comes to sacred sexuality.
The trap of the new spirituality
What’s disturbing is seeing how stereotypes and dynamics typical of the worst patriarchal culture are reemerging—after a superficial cosmetic makeover—as something new, fresh, and inspiring.
To keep Cristina in her place, the system needed paternalism from her superiors and the threat of hell.
To keep Lucrezia in line, all it takes is a fairytale: that she is special, that only she can lead man to the divine—through her natural role.
It’s about stroking her vanity and infantilism.
All to keep her from seeing that, deep down inside the glittery packaging, it’s still the same old crap.
Is that really all it takes to deceive us, after all these years of struggle?
Is that all it takes to throw away the efforts and sacrifices of our foremothers?
The Sacred Feminine in light and shadow
The sacred feminine is receptivity and the gift of life,
but it’s also Sekhmet and her insatiable thirst for blood.
It’s Kali, dancing with such fury that she risks destroying the world.
It’s Artemis, tearing Actaeon to pieces with her dogs for daring to look at her with lust.
It’s Amaterasu, who brings civilization to humanity and protects them with her radiant light.
There is a heart of darkness in the sacred feminine movement.
And it has a name we’ve known for thousands of years.
Let’s be careful which paths we’re taking—
because ending up once again chained to the hearth and reduced to wombs with legs is not the future we want for our daughters.
Even if it’s dressed in flowing robes and sprinkled with sacred glitter.
