I wanted to share the experience Roy, my husband of thirty years, and I had at the Goddess Temple of Orange County Friday night as the temple celebrated their first Green Man Father's Day. The temple for sometime now has been shifting toward welcoming families and on Fourth Sundays had been inviting men to the temple. Like the Green Man, Consort of Goddess, these men are encouraged to emulate feminist ideals or archetypes of protector, supporter, nurturer. These are the men of our future.
During the the evening the men who have helped the temple were honored - the men who built the Sekhmet's 4' pyramid throne, and do all the things at the temple the priestesses don't have the abilities or money to do. As each of the men stepped forward to share a few words, I have to tell you how gratifying it was to hear herstory coming from the lips of men. As I sat in the room and listened to one of the men talk about being a devout Christian in his twenties, then realizing the inconsistencies, to discovering the Divine Mother, then hearing him tell how patriarchy has dealt women and the planet a lousy blow - I had goose bumps and I had to hold back tears.
When I was called up to the mic to give a few comments I couldn't help but say these men, including my dear Roy, are the ones we've been waiting for to help us change the world. These are the men who can give women hope as they become our allies. I added to the list of reasons we appreciate them that we love and appreciate them most when they are encouraging the women in their lives to be the best they can be, to not hide their light under a bushel, to not control their lives, and how gratifying it is to see them working toward an egalitarian partnership with women.
I wished I had t-shirts to hand out to them all with the word Feminist on it because they were truly helping us usher in a Feminist Father's Day, an idea that was circulating around the internet the week preceding Father's Day. An idea whose time has surely come!