When the masculine took over in the patriarchal age, a deep split was created within the feminine principle.
The dark trasnformative side of woman was rejected and the light nurturing side was overemphasized, and the outcome was a distorted image of womanhood.
This is reflected in various mythologic archetypes and stories. One of them tells the story of Lilith and Eve. Lilith represents the dark aspect of the feminine. She was the first Wife of Adam, and she was also the archetypical Mother as she is the one that gives birth.
Eve represents the light aspect of the feminine. Eve gets created out of Adam’s ribs, and she become the Wife and the Daughter of the patriarch. Lilith gets casted out of paradise, and as a punishment for her strong-willed independence and she is renegated to the realm of demons, where she becomes the feared force of nature that threatens childbirth and the peace of the patriarch’s family.
For Centuries women and mothers have trained themselves to reject their inner Lilith. They have exclusively focused on their nurturing, giving and caring principle, and denied their instinctual, transformative, inspiring, and ecstatic nature.
Both aspects are fundamental elements of the feminine. The “light aspect” is creative, nurturing, loving and caring. When the nurturing side of women gets overused, its essence which is a joyful sharing of love and natural care turns into a duty, a role.
The “dark aspect” is transformative, regenerative, inspiring, ecstatic. When the dark side is rejected and the woman cannot get inspiration and replenish herself through her ecstatic nature, her giving becomes an effort. She becomes overprotective and engulfing. This is the mother who loses herself in others.
These two forces represent the cycle of nature: life and a death, creation and destruction. When the wild, ecstatic, creative and sensuous side of women gets space it naturally turns into love, nourishment and deep sharing. The fulfilled woman is deeply connected and caring with herself, with others around her and with life.