By Samantha N. Mayne
Storytelling is just as powerful as preaching. Pastorally, the capacity to tell myself and others a story that differs from an imposed narrative is essential for survival. Many of us are excluded from the pulpit and invisibilized in the academy. In these spaces, we are forced to accept narratives that actively contribute to our erasure to be pronounced competent. I use storytelling via pastoral en conjunto (together) to highlight the presence of the Divine Feminine in everyday life.
Storytelling with the Divine Feminine can weave together cultural memory, spirituality, and identity from a perspective that de-centers a white supremacist, hetero-patriarchal god. This way of doing pastoral en conjunto can also allow us to do theology in a manner that honors our cultural place within the Christ consciousness- rather than erase it in favor of only one narrative. The braiding of mythologies, theological concepts, and my nepantlera approach to spirituality has resulted in the following excerpt. Las diosas (The Divine Feminine) feature at its center and they do things differently.
Y así fue…
Two thousand years ago, las diosas ( the feminine divine)got together and came before the Great Wisdom of
the Universe.
“Ey,” they said. “We want to make…a womxn.”
“Holaaaa mamas,” came a voice. Las diosas turned to see the most macho of machitos sauntering into Sabiduria’s throne room. Coatlicue’s snakes hissed, and Bast bared her teeth.
It was the male god built on the violation of womxn.
“Don’t mind him,” Sabiduria said, “I let him in, I was reminiscing about that time with Job.”
Side-eyeing the macho machito, they looked at the Maker of the Universe and asked, “Can’t you get rid of him?”
Sabiduria sighed. “Mira, mijas, I wish I could- but he is not even a part of creation, he purely lives in the minds of men, and even they don’t like him.”
“Ugh.” Coyolxauhqui muttered.
“Ey, but he has nice pecs.” Tia Venus whispered.
“I wish I could grind up pecs like that…” Cihuacoatl said wistfully, looking down at her
molcajete.
“The point is-” Artemis butted in, redirecting because she’s helpful like that,“-we want to make a woman.”
“Ah sí?” Sabiduria looked pensive.
“We want to make someone who has the capacity to withstand all that HE-” Inanna waggled her eyebrows at the macho machito, “brings.”
“She will have something from each of us,” Tonantzin interjected. “So that even though HE spreads,” she glared disgustedly at the macho machito, “everywhere he goes, there will be an element of us. It will be as though he comes from us, and that is how we will be his undoing.”
Sabiduria’s eyes glowed with the light of one thousand stars, and galaxies swirled around the throne room, wrapping each of the goddesses in light. “So be it mijas. You have my permission. Go.”
“I love it when Sabiduria does that…” Astarte said to herself, lost in the great expanse of stars swirling around her.
So it was that las diosas got together and forged a baby girl. They made a pact, each swearing that they were committed to raising her, on top of choosing the earthly parents they would give her to. As to where they were going to send her, well, that was a no-brainer.
“The macho machito has occupied Astarte’s, Hera’s, Isis’s, Inanna’s, and Brigid’s territories with his Roman empire.” Coyolxauhqui said. “We must send her there.”
“Are you sure?” Artemis looked concerned. “It seems like Huitzilopochtli’s getting ideas…”
“I will handle Huitzilopochtli.” Coatlicue said firmly.
So to a town called Nazareth in Inanna’s and Astarte’s territory, the baby girl went, and
they called her…Mariam.
Per the pact las diosas had made, Mariam’s childhood was full of goddess schooling. When she was three, Chalchiutlicue taught her the ways of water.
“No Mariam, not like that,” Chalchiutlicue sighed, “Mira, you touch the water, like this.” As she touched the water, it shimmered and danced. “And now you say…” “SHALOM! BE STILL!” the little girl cried out enthusiastically. The water became still as
glass.
“Very good, mama!” Chalchiutlicue nodded. “Okay, now, you walk.” Mariam put her little
baby hands in the goddess’s palms, and slowly, slowly, she put one foot in front of the other, walking on the River Jordan.
“¡Mira! No qué no!” Chalchiutlicue smiled proudly.
“Tlazocamati, Chalchiutlicue.” Mariam said suddenly, hugging the goddess’s legs with her chubby baby arms. Chalchiutlicue’s eyes filled with gratitude spilling over.
“You’re welcome, mama.”
When Mariam turned ten and got her first period, Coyolxauhqui, Artemis, and Diana told her about the sacredness of the moonblood and how virginity meant that she was a sexually sovereign person and that this could absolutely NEVER be lost. They also said not to listen to the idiot men who insisted you had to bleed when you first had sex.
“Anyone who makes you bleed doesn’t deserve to have sex with you, mija.” Diana looked seriously into Mariam’s ten-year-old eyes.
“Okay, Tia.” (Ok, aunt)
“Foreplay is absolutely crucial.” Diana said.
“Okay, Tia.”
Coyolxauhqui laughed as Artemis rushed over to cover Mariam’s ten-year-old ears. “DIANA!”
“What?!”
When Mariam was thirteen, Tia Venus and Tonantzin showed Mariam how to use the creative energy in her womb as something that gave her power. Brigid showed her how to make a protective shield and which plants would talk back to you if you said hello.
“Ohhh, is this how Moses did it?” Mariam’s eyes went wide as the bush she was talking to suddenly began to glow.
Tonantzin elbowed Tia Venus. “Ehh, smart too. She gets it from me.” Brigid smiled. “Sabiduria helped Moses. You have us.”
When Mariam turned fifteen, she found out she was promised to be married. She assembled las diosas and said, “I want to make a baby.”
They were shocked.
“But-” Astarte began.
“I don’t want help. I’m making him myself.” Mariam said stubbornly. “Him?!” Tia Venus was bug-eyed.
“That, she got from you.” Cihuacoatl muttered at Isis.
To be continued…
Sam Mayne (United States)
She received her masters in Pastoral Ministry from the University of Dayton, and is currently enrolled in the Forum for Theological Exploration’s first ever pastoral ministry course. Her main interests are goddess culture, storytelling, and liberation theology. She is passionate about the protection of sacred land sites, and encourages her readers to learn about La Herida Abierta, Mauna Kea, Oak Flat, Line 3, and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Her podcast “El Callejón de Las Diosas” will premiere May 1st, 2022 on Overcast and Spotify.
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