By DANIEL GIAMARIO, with thanks to Beau Taylor for her editorial suggestions

Since the early 1970’s I have been an advocate for the feminine principle and a major supporter of the efforts to expose the debacle of patriarchy.  The women’s movement of those early days, the introduction of the asteroid goddesses, and the re-mythologizing of astrology, all inspired my criticisms of sun sign astrology as being a monotheistic and patriarchal relic, as well as a semi-brainwash.

My own convictions have always included the Soul as being polytheistic in essence, yet with the feminine being “First Principle.”  By this, I mean a view of reality that holds the Great Mother as the primal Manifesting Force and Source of Creation.  I explore this terrain in some detail in my second book, Origins of the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm.

In the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm™, these themes are also elucidated in the 7^th and 8^th principles: https://shamanicastrology.com/about

Throughout the years I have tried to be consistent and clear in emphasizing that when one is referring to the archetypal feminine principal, one is not referring to biological women; similarly, the archetypal masculine does not refer to men.  These principles are foundational to the full spectrum of all the gender possibilities available to men and women, and essential for full engagement with the inner sacred marriage process as taught by the Shamanic Astrology Mystery School™.  I remain aligned with an aim to help take us beyond simplistic and limiting views such as “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”

At this point in our culture, most open-minded cultural-creatives – as well as a growing number of mainstream folks – can readily perceive that patriarchy has likely been a seriously harmful wrong-turn for global humanity.  However, over the last four to five years particularly, what seems to be happening is an increasing polarization.  While such a polarization can be felt in pretty much all areas of our lives, this is especially true between men and women.

My recent epiphany

I have only recently come to realize that I have been unintentionally supporting this polarization on several fronts.  I have continuously been supportive of many “Goddess” oriented groups and forums.  Terms like “Divine Feminine” and “Sacred Feminine” are everywhere being bandied about and I have used these terms.  I co-created and, for seven years have co-led, a workshop/travel adventure titled Renaissance of the Sacred Feminine.  Colleagues of mine in SAMS specialize in classes dedicated to teaching about the Venus Synodic cycle.  Although this teaching is intended to be equally about a man’s archetypal, inner feminine side, I am aware that men have not felt particularly welcome in this group and the participants consistently are almost all women.  At the same time, it’s not hard to notice that it’s almost all women that attend the gatherings that Anyaa and I co-lead each year in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Unwittingly, we have all often contributed to the polarization.

I certainly have no problem with groups designed to be exclusively for women (or only for men, for that matter), but it’s not the aim of Shamanic Astrology to create these kinds of separations.

Another phenomenon that has happened five or six times over the last year has really impacted me.  Dear friends and clients of mine, both women and men, have been greatly damaged through fake bots, lawsuits, and web postings that seem to stem from the excesses and fanaticisms on the fringe of the “Me Too” movement.  These victimized individuals are all good people, who have served the awakening of global humanity and who have been caught in a backlash.

I have come to the conclusion that the problem is an increasing polarization between men and women.  My epiphany is this:

First and foremost, men and women are human beings. 

We are all in this together.

Therefore I now choose to no longer participate in or contribute to this now all too visible polarization.

Whilst there are archetypal differences between the masculine and the feminine, the deeper issues are not about men and women.  I find so many women who are consciously or unconsciously supportive and complicit in the support of the patriarchy.  And there are strident and extreme “Me-Too-ers” who have actually made statements something like this: that the way to solve the majority of the problems the Earth now faces is to eliminate 90% of the male population!  My invitation to these individuals is to do their own shadow work and see if they can locate within, their own inner patriarch.

I take full responsibility for whatever I have done to contribute to, or increase, the polarizations I speak of.  One immediate outcome is that Anyaa and I have decided to rename our travel experience program to Renaissance of the Sacred.  Full stop after “Sacred”.

Interestingly, when I went to review our vision statement, no changes were necessary.  See the Vision statement below.  Naming, and the energy that a name carries, are important considerations. Our intention is that this new name will not contribute to any further polarization nor subtly suggest a preference or superiority of women over men.

I feel it is my perennial job to remind us that it’s not about women or men, but rather the “inversion” created by an aberrant patriarchy and a system of patrilinealism that has caused so much damage, even whilst being consciously or unconsciously supported by both sexes.

Furthermore, I hope to reorient the Shamanic Astrology Mystery School™ in this way, with a much more equitable balance between the Masculine and the Feminine, being sensitive to terms and reducing or balancing any use of those such as “Goddess”, “Divine Feminine”, or “Sacred Feminine”.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this. By sharing my recent revelations and my intentions to bring change in this direction, I hope to inspire idea-exchange and a collaborative effort within our wider Shamanic Astrology community.

RENAISSANCE OF THE SACRED:  VISION STATEMENT

We are dedicated to the awareness and preservation of global humanity’s connection to its Feminine, Earth Mother, Mother Goddess and matrilineal roots.  We create together at sacred sites to reanimate these connections and to help re-dream a new world, founded on gylany, the collaboration of Masculine and Feminine as equals, and without hierarchy.  We utilize a group context of Shamanic Astrology and Sacred Earth/Sky ceremony.  We specialize in experiencing ancient megalithic sites and sacred landscape around the world, connecting with local experts in each area.  We have a particular love of the time-frame of the Neolithic golden age, 2000-4500 BC.  We feel it to be possible, even necessary, to reconnect to our ancient DNA and karmic memories of the far longer time in human history, encompassing 200,000 years, when global humanity lived in much greater harmony and peaceful cooperation.  Perhaps we can find out who we are and discover what actually happened!

Copyright January 2020

Photo of Ram Dass – courtesy of CNN.com https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/23/us/baba-ram-dass-death-trnd/index.html

April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019

by Daniel Giamario

Ram Dass (a.k.a Richard Alpert), certainly one of the greatest spiritual teachers and guides of the modern era, passed peacefully in Maui on December 22, 2019 at his third Saturn Return.
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Daniel Giamario, assisted by Levi Banner, conducted a successful Script and Archetype Intensive in Bali from May 10-16.

We had a fun international group from Australia, Latvia, Sweden, the US, and England with the majority of participants in their 20’s and 30’s!

These international events are held in unique locations and include an extra day for experiencing the local sacred sites while learning from local experts. The photos (see this page) include our journey to these sacred sites as we learned about the earliest history and visited the most ancient temples that sourced the Bali religion including a blend of peaceful Buddhism, the goddesses and gods of Hinduism, and the ancestral honoring of China.

The course was so successful that a Sacred Marriage/Relationship intensive is now planned for early January 2019.

Levi Banner, a graduate of the 2017 Associate Program, and one course away from full certification, will again be in the role of assistant teacher/trainee. He is well on his way for certification as a SAMS teacher. A great time was had by all!