I had to laugh when, at the annual Mahle Lecture at Hamline University in “St.” Paul this weekend, I heard feminist theologian Carol P. Christ describe the ideal human society as a “matriarchal egalitarianism.”
Really, I had to laugh.
The coven that I'm part of has been going strong for nearly 40 years now. Next fall we'll be 39 (a significant number = 3 x 13). We're a group of friends who share a spiritual life. Most (but not all) of us are women.
This group is the center of my social life, and the center of my spiritual life. We're deeply engaged with one another's lives. I've helped raise our youngest coven kid.
Hence my laughter.
Here in the heart of the American Midwest, I've lived in a matriarchal egalitarianism for decades.
Carol is absolutely right: it's a great way to live.
I'd recommend it to anyone.