I have a Sekhmet tattoo on my back.  Who’s Sekhmet?  She is the Egyptian goddess of warfare and battle.  She has a few different names… “(One) Before Whom Evil Trembles”, “Mistress of Dread”, “Lady of Slaughter” and “She Who Mauls”.  There’s a story that tells you all you need to know about her. Her father, Ra, sent her down to earth to deal with some mortals who were plotting against him.  She became consumed by bloodlust and was out of control just killing everyone.  Ra had to get her drunk on wine mixed with blood before she wiped out all of humanity. You did not fuck with Sekhmet.

I also have a Morrigan tattoo. (sensing a theme?)  She was the Irish Goddess of warfare and strife.  Also known as the “Great Queen” or “Phantom Queen”, she was depicted as one goddess or as a trio of sister goddesses She decided who would live and die in battle, often sending a raven to the warrior as a harbinger of death. Her role was to not only to predict a man’s imminent, often bloody demise but to also decide the outcome of battles.  She would do this by morphing into a crow and flying overhead to instill terror into warriors, thus turning the tide of battle.  She was fear personified.

So many other badass goddesses. Hel, Norse goddess of death and the underworld.  Anat, the Canaanite goddess of love and war who once dealt with a man who slighted her. “Anat seized Mot, the divine son,/ With a sickle she cut him,/ with a winnow she winnows him,/ with fire she scorches him,/ with a mill she crushes him,/ she scatters his flesh in the field to be eaten by birds.”  Most of us are familiar with Kali the Hindu Goddess of destruction and battle who, “Drunk on Raktabija’s blood, the Goddess Kali ran across the cosmos killing anyone who dared cross her path. She adorned herself with the heads, limbs, and entrails of her victims.”  These are not gentle benign deities. There is no soft acceptance about them. They will cut a bitch.

So, what’s my point? My point is that what women have become is not what we were.  We’ve had our divine power taken from us. Our goddesses have been defanged and replaced by a calm placid mother. Christian men have created an archetype of womanhood that is something weak they can dominate. WE need to connect with the divine and each other. We need to take our power back. We need to be feared again.

What does that mean? Should you slaughter and wear the skulls of your enemies as a necklace? (eww, clunky and the smell..) I don’t believe in violence anyway.  Let’s start by being vocal and not taking any more shit from men. Someone creeping on you at work? Call them out. Stop being “nice”. This is a war that needs to be fought for every woman and girl. Back up another woman. Yes, your silence is complicity. We all have to be loud and protect each other. #metoo is a start.  Stand in your power. If you feel you have none, stand in a Goddess’s power. Be a fucking badass. Maybe cut a bitch if you have to.