It’s deeply disturbing to live within in a dominator culture that maintains supremacy by force. It’s horrible, but not surprising since one of the most influential creation myths of our time instructs humans to dominate every creature on earth. Creation stories are powerful. They tell us who we are and where we come from. They give us operating instructions for how to live on Earth. In Genesis, the major creation myth of the Judeo/Christian world, humans are told to fill the earth, dominate it, and rule over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the sky, and the beasts that tread upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28) This story lays a framework of domination and hierarchy, but maybe we are telling it wrong.
Like most Indigenous stories, ancient bible stories were first passed down orally. They dwelled within the heart of the storyteller. The stories were first scribed without vowels, the storyteller breathed life into the words by inserting vowels. The storyteller needed to know the story to read it.
It wasn’t until two millennia after Moses that vowels were cemented into place. During this enormous span of time, we saw a gargantuan shift in paradigms; Earth-centered goddess worshiping cultures turned their attention towards angry and punishing fatherly gods in the sky. It’s entirely possible the guiding stories got contorted as the culture shifted from Earth reverence to dominance.
The Hebrew word usually translated as Dominion is Yiredu. Many believe this word comes from the root radah meaning to rule over, to dominate, or to press like in a wine press. But if we change the vowels and where we place them, we arrive at the alternate root word Yarad that means to lower oneself, to bow in reverence. When we stopped revering the Earth, a reign of domination and supremacy followed. (You can learn more the Hebrew here)
What stories do you tell about this epic time on Earth? Which stories should we trust to guide through the Great Turning of our times? What is our rightful place in the family of life? Are we dominators with the God-given right to subjugate or are we humble devotees in service life? Below are some classes to help us discover our right relationship within our family of life. I hope you can join us.