I see my role as a scholar announcing that women's feelings of

Hear now the voice of Barbara G. Walker, who speaks with the courage of one who has looked upon the roots of human sorrow and named them: “I see my role as a scholar announcing that women's feelings of unworthiness and insecurity often may be traced to training in a male-oriented religion, and I'm trying to investigate a richer spiritual life for both sexes.” These are not the idle words of theory, but the fire-born declaration of one who dares to unmask the chains woven by centuries of belief. She speaks as a herald, calling us to examine the foundations of our souls, to see where power has masked itself as piety, and to restore the balance of the sacred.

Know this, O seeker: in many lands and many ages, the male-oriented religion has held sway. Its temples rose upon the labor of women, yet its altars bore only the faces of men. Its texts often spoke with thunder of the father and the king, but hushed the voices of the mother and the daughter. And so, countless women, bowing beneath such teachings, came to feel themselves lesser—unworthy, insecure, alien to the divine image that was said to govern the cosmos. Such feelings did not spring from the heavens, but from the soil of human custom, hardened into dogma.

Yet the truth, whispered through time, is that the sacred was never meant to be divided. In the ancient temples of Egypt, goddesses stood beside gods. In the myths of the Greeks, Hera and Demeter held thrones no less divine than Zeus or Apollo. Even among the first peoples of many lands, the Great Mother was honored as the giver of life, the fertile ground of being. It is only in later ages, when patriarchal powers sought dominance, that the feminine divine was diminished, veiled, or erased. Thus, Walker’s mission is not to destroy faith, but to investigate a richer spiritual life—a life where both halves of humanity stand together before the Eternal.

Consider the story of Hypatia of Alexandria, a woman of wisdom in an age when the world shifted between pagan and Christian rule. She taught philosophy, astronomy, and the mysteries of the cosmos. Yet her brilliance threatened the guardians of a male-centered faith, and she was slain by a mob that could not bear her light. Her fate is a dark testament to the danger of silencing the feminine voice, and a reminder of how religion, when bound too tightly to male power, can become an instrument of suppression rather than liberation.

But behold the other side: when women rise to reclaim their place in the spiritual order, the world is renewed. Think of Hildegard of Bingen, who within the walls of a medieval convent sang songs of creation that united heaven and earth, music that still stirs hearts centuries later. She, though constrained by her age, carved a vision of faith that embraced both the fiery strength and the nurturing grace of the divine. Her life is proof that when the feminine voice is honored, religion blossoms with deeper harmony.

What then is the lesson? It is this: no faith, no spirituality is complete when half of humanity is diminished. If women are taught unworthiness, then men too are impoverished, for the spiritual life becomes lopsided, like a bird with only one wing. The divine is not male alone nor female alone, but the union of both, a fullness that embraces all who seek truth. To deny this is to dwell in shadows; to embrace it is to walk into light.

Practical counsel flows forth: examine the teachings you have received. Ask whether they uplift or diminish, whether they bring balance or division. Seek out voices long silenced—prophetesses, poets, healers, mothers of wisdom—and let their words guide you as much as the voices of kings and fathers. Build communities where both sexes are honored, and where the soul is nourished not by hierarchy, but by harmony. In this way, the richer spiritual life Walker speaks of will no longer be a dream, but a living reality.

Therefore, O child of tomorrow, carry this truth: the sacred belongs to all. Let no teaching convince you of unworthiness, let no tradition strip you of dignity. For the Eternal is not the possession of one gender, one class, or one voice—it is the wellspring of all life. Drink deeply, walk boldly, and help weave a world where men and women together rise in reverence, equals before the holy flame.