The Radical Feminine, Then and Now

Rosh Chodesh Adar begins Monday, Feb. 27. It’s a time of increased joy, good fortune and miracles.

People are challenged now to feel lighthearted and playful. If you take the pulse of our nation, this does not match the energies we’re witnessing. We must keep our eyes on the prize. This means looking for opportunities to be joyful, grateful and hopeful.

Let’s take our cues from the Book of Formation. Adar’s zodiac sign is Pisces; Hebrew letter, kuf; tribe, Naphtali; sense, laughter; and controlling organ, spleen.

Get The AJT Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

The lunar calendar energy is intense. On Feb. 10 we had a full moon and a lunar eclipse that set off eclipse season, which runs until Aug. 21. Look for prominent themes in emotionality and relationships.

The eclipsed lessons are revealed each year as they run a course of five to six months. Following the reflection and illumination of these themed lessons, we move from awareness to action. Our perspective has much to do with our feelings about it.

Last June, a newer, tiny planet, Eris, the planet of discord, joined with Uranus to set off a huge, cosmic explosion of the radical feminine spirit. It represents both Mother Earth and women.

Through March, whether male or female, awareness of our personal beliefs regarding inequality, exploitation and oppression of the feminine energy is magnified.

The eclipsed moon connects us to the miraculous story of Esther, which is featured in Adar. The truth was hidden for a time, then revealed.

Esther changed the rules that had been in place, spoke out and and saved the Jewish people. She serves as a role model who allows for the full expression of beauty and strength, femininity and power, intuition and intelligence.

The zodiac sign of Pisces is represented by two fish swimming in opposite directions. One swims below the murky waters, unclear, turbulent, violent and moving in the low-vibration underworld. The other is guided in the opposite direction, toward the surface, from the highest vibration of joy and hope and in the direction of miracles.

The fish is a symbol of protection from the evil eye. In most varieties of fish, the eyes are located on either side of the head, each capable of a 180-degree field of perception. The blind spot is right behind the tail fin.

The second Piscean fish makes seeing in both directions possible.

Kuf, the Hebrew letter, dips below the line, also suggesting a need for awareness of what’s lurking beneath the surface.

The 12th tribe is Naphtali, Jacob’s sixth son, born from his union with Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaiden. Bilhah produced two sons with Jacob, Dan and Naphtali. Some translations say Naphtali means “sweetness is to me.” Others say it means “to obtain by wrestling,” from a root meaning to twist, be cunning or crooked.

Rachel’s experience seems to be fraught with wrestling. There is a suggested struggle in her rivalry with her sister, Leah, who was given to Jacob as his bride instead of Rachel. Feelings of anger and jealousy toward Leah intensified when fertile Leah bore Jacob four sons. Rachel also wrestled with her resentment toward Hashem about being childless.

These themes of the radical feminine repeat themselves. Women struggle with self-worth regarding child bearing, the private choices and rights of women’s health care, and the pitting of those in the sisterhood, one against the other.

In Western medicine, Adar’s controlling organ of the spleen is a filter for the blood and regulates the metabolism of bodily fluids. In Chinese medicine, the spleen joins with the stomach to digest food, as well as provide stimulus and information.

While alcohol and anxiety both stress the spleen, laughter buffers the ill effects. The sweetness from the wine in Adar is ingested until the distinction between “Blessed is Mordecai” and “Cursed is Haman” becomes blurred.

Meditation focus: Quiet yourself and observe your thoughts about the energy of the feminine.

Breathe in gratitude for the freedoms we have in this country. Exhale pain that exists in the world for women.

Maybe by embracing the archetypal radical feminine, women can honor themselves through a full expression of the divine feminine embodied by Queen Esther.