For some time now there has been an idea floating around dudes who say that the black woman is God, or who call women a Goddess, are emasculated simps pandering for sex. There is also the idea that women who call themselves a Goddess are maneaters; disappearing Delilahs who throw yoni egg-like smoke bombs after snatching a man's soul. Actually, those are just some of the colorful images that I envision when I hear the Goddess mythos. If you ask some folks, this mythos has created more destruction within our family units than the crack era. Why? Well let's examine it.
If God is truly omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent how can you add to that? What is there to know beyond being all-knowing? What power exists beyond all-power? What can be present beyond that which is all-present? The word Goddess implies that there is a knowing, power and presence beyond the all-knowing, all-power and all-present capacity of God. It suggests that there exists a "feminine" domain of all-knowing, all-power and all-presence that a Goddess uniquely inhabits. While you would be hard pressed to find this seemingly contradictive idea reconciled within our classical and indigenous societies, there is a place for it within Greek Mythology, along without many other ideas..., among the Twelve Olympians. For example, this idea of an actual God not being truly omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent is illustrated by Hades being a limited God who rules the underworld, Athena as a limited Goddess who rules wisdom and warfare and the limited God Poseidon ruling the water. Zeus, the so-called king of Gods and ruler of Mount Olympus, is also limited in his power; a monster [Typhon], child of Gaea, was capable of puttin' hands on him. So when I see and hear so-called Gods [or Goddesses] simultaneously claiming omniscience and ignorance, omnipotence and flaws, righteousness and debauchery I know exactly where these contradictions come from.
Mythology is the story of our Social Psychology
When you study the psychodrama within Greek Mythology and struggles between the Twelve Olympians, with titans, monsters and humanity, it becomes clear that their idea of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence is not the same as we taught it within our classical and indigenous societies. Even when the Greeks defined a deity as such, there always existed some Achilles' heel. Even though Greek philosophers saw and studied glimpses of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence from the Khemetians [Egyptians], under their own Grecian power they never evolved the capacity to arrive at our conclusions or conceptualize a Monotheistic view of the world on their own. What this shows is Greek society, and their western society progeny, were not and have not been invested in the same self-knowledge pursuit as our ancestors. Their pursuits have been primarily colonial, imperial and material. Mostly external, segregative and limited in scope. This is why their history, and the history of their western progeny, is traditionally written as a bloody timeline of war, violence and conquests. Study the history of any European society and America. The most significant events that tell the psychodramatic story of that nation are dates of warfare, conquest and destruction. That timeline not only defines the overarching mythos of that nation but it also defines the collective psychology of its people. While there are many great things to learn about Greek Mythology and its society, its illustrations of deity is one of the most dysfunctional mythos we have ever learned. It is important that I briefly expounded upon this because many of us have unknowingly adopted Grecian and other Eurocentric mythos without critically examining them. Without this scrutiny, many of us have just superimposed Five Percent, Khemetic, Moorish, Christian, Hebrew, Muslim, Yoruba and other ideas over the top of Grecian and other Eurocentric principles and values that we fundamentally embrace. Outwardly we may wear the clothes, speak the language, eat the foods and even choose partners that appear to represent the black/brown culture we claim, yet inwardly we are not that person. As a Five Percenter, this is why some of us could make misogynist-toned statements like, "women can't rise above equality" or "a woman don't have a mind" as if we are measuring one another vertically... Sadly, this is also why some Five Percenters have jumped on the Kevin Samuels bandwagon, faithfully "liking" and repurposing his rhetoric as if their knowledge degree in the Student Enrollment now reads, "Who is the Original High Value Man?"
As men and women we are congruent and complimentary, not conflicting and competitive. A woman represents our equality, and equality has two words in it; equal and quality. When you are of equal quality this means that you are "of the same nature [value]." That is not a vertical assessment of a woman's relationship to a man, it is a parallel or even assessment. By nature we are one and our oneness is necessary to create life and the future of humanity. What is greater than that essential bond? Think about the mindset of a woman who believes that she is more or less than that shared essence. Think about the mindset of a man who believes that he is more or less than that shared essence. Consider how a "battle of the sexes" perspective negatively influences our sense of self-worth and shapes the psychodrama in our relationships, families and community.
When women refer to themselves as a Goddess I have always wondered what they actually mean and why their body cast archetype is rarely expressed as Hottentot Venus or women with a Lizzo WHR [waist-hip ratio]. They seem to be based upon Gal Godot... You would also think that a Goddess uniquely does something that a female, woman, grandmother, auntie, mother, wife, daughter, Queen and the Earth cannot do. The word "Goddess" is an honorific title prefixing a woman's quality/characteristic. It is used to represent the deification or divine expression of qualities that females, women, grandmothers, aunties, mothers, wives, daughters, Queens and the Earth already possess. In other words, there is no Goddess in and of herself. It must be a divine expression of some quality or characteristic; such as a Goddess of Wisdom, a Goddess of Motherhood, a Goddess of the Hunt, a Goddess of Death and etc. More often than not, the everyday woman uses the word "Goddess" cosmetically and absent of any real substantive function or qualities, especially on social media. And yes, the same can be said about Gods. Many of us know an ignorant a** dude named Knowledge, a foolish Wise or a criminologist named Power. In both instances some of these lofty titles just sound and look good yet lack any real expression of divine qualities and characteristics.
Within our Five Percent language and worldview there is no word or concept of Goddess. We recognize the divinity of women without the need to Grecianize her. For years there have been some Five Percenters, men and women, who have strived to campaign for its acceptance. Some have even tried to canonize a sarcastic comment that Allah once made when he said a young sister was a Goddess because she was more of a God than the young brothers who were around him. Some folks took that literally. However, this Goddess push among small pockets of people has never gained any real traction within the Five Percent Nation. Those advocates either find themselves on the fringes of the Five Percent quietly keeping these sentiments to themselves or boldly sharing these acultural ideas online.
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A throne on a "dais"; an elevated platform where important people sit |
As Five Percenters we have various words and concepts that divinely express what females, women, grandmothers, aunties, mothers, wives, daughters, Queens and the Earth already are. Historically, yes "his"-storically, some men have misogynistically sought to destroy divine expressions of women. Some women have taken on the same crusade and promote misandry. There are those who are very deliberate and calculated about this and some who are simply blind, deaf and dumb to how divisive these ideas are. Whether deliberate or ignorant, none of these separatist outlooks are in the best interest of our people and the human family as a whole. If someone chooses to call themselves a God or Goddess, my perspective is, "show and prove it." Not to me personally, show and prove it IN, not to, the world. Don't tell us that you are the God this or the Goddess that. Do something with these so-called divine expressions -which does not include posting shallow videos/images/quotes online. If we are who we say that we are, that would truly be a benefit to our families, communities and environment.
Peace,
Saladin
