Recently, I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and it was a great read; Dan did not disappoint.
The book’s central premise and source of controversy was that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and they had a child together. The Holy Grail was the living lineage of Jesus’ descendants.
It was a ride and full of surprises. I won’t spoil it.
Anyway, the book leaned more towards the divine feminine and regarded Mary as the mother of the Church of Christ.
As a person who is currently reorienting everything from politics to ethics to faith, I find it fascinating how I’m navigating everything.
I also recently viewed the documentary called Christspiracy, which can be viewed here.
This one was interesting because filmmakers Kip Andersen and Kameron Waters expose unforgiving truths about animal cruelty in the name of religion.
It got a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’d say it’s compelling and worth the time to watch.
I would say Kip is a known activist against harm to animals and eating meat. He documented his convictions in other films.
The central premise and question of the film is:
Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal, and how would Jesus kill an animal?
It was interesting to watch, and, dear reader, I am easily persuaded by ideas, and my mind obsesses and tries to do its best to apply new information as often and as much as I can.
After watching the film, and getting through the most grotesque scene by looking away, I ended with the conviction that I’d like to go vegetarian at first and vegan later.
The film resonated with me emotionally, which provoked me to respond with urgency to change something in my life.
Ease into it, you know?
I wonder where the mindset comes from? After watching the film, I can see how the culture has dominion over animals and weaker beings.
Now, I don’t particularly lean towards a religious side, or at least a Christian side right now.
Here’s how this connects.
I am listening to The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler.
In The Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon talks about the chalice and a symbol for the Holy Grail.
I learned about the chalice and blade concept from the book, so I bought it.
So far I’m learning a lot; the chalice represents partnership and the blade represents domination.
The way I look at it is that the blade is the ultimate way of dominating over animals and slaughtering animals. The chalice is the more vegetarian way of creating harmony and partnership with living beings.
Now this is my interpretation of the chalice and the blade, not necessarily Riane's view of the dominion of animals being the blade or vegetarianism being the chalice.
Riane explores the idea that in early human history we operated in more of a partnership society, worshipping the divine feminine.
The chalice understanding really resonates with me. Whether societies actually lived in partnership with each other is unclear, but I do feel like there is a rise of the chalice again with the wave of women's rights taking the stage in mainstream media.
By consuming these ideas and materials this week, it has fueled my reorientation more and allowed me to think more about how to live in harmony within society and ourselves.
I want to live with the chalice rather than the blade. I want to create partnership rather than dominate over others.