MotherWorld is the society in which Mother Earth, Mothers and the values of mothering and caring for each other and for all Her creatures and Nature – are placed in the centre of our lives and communities.
MotherWorld is the society in which creative, nurturing and life-affirming values, actions, insights and awareness are honoured and encouraged in women, men, children and all genders. It is the society that is grounded in the fact that we all live upon our Mother Earth. She is our Great Mother, the Source and Foundation of all that we are and all that we have. We are Her offspring. We need to take care of our Mother, of each other and of all life.
Human Mothers gift life and love to our babies. Mothers carry new life in our wombs usually for nine months and give birth to children, who are dependent upon us for many years. Mothers are the primary caregivers in the world who nurture and raise children. We do not do this alone, but with the loving support of fathers, the wider family and society. These children are the future of our human species, of our world. If we do not care for and support mothers, that lack of support damages the ability of mothers to unconditionally gift love and care to our children. In turn children go on to become damaged adults, and so the cycles of harm continue. Our families and societies need to honour and take care of all Mothers.
At this time especially we are all experiencing the effects of the Corvid 19 virus pandemic and people are calling for a quick return to ‘normal’. However this is a great opportunity to not return to the patriarchal ‘normal’, but to create a new MotherWorld, with new values, insights and awareness. Throughout the pandemic the important roles of carers of all kinds have been brought to the fore. Without the dedicated gifted work of mothers, fathers, carers, hospital staff, social careworkers, support staff in food supply and transport, all who have placed themselves in harm’s way for the good of others, many more thousands of people would have died from the effects of the virus. For the first time their always vital underpaid, under-valued work is being recognised and honoured. We do not want to return to the old ways of doing things.
This Vision of MotherWorld calls for a sea-change (from Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’) in the ways in which we live upon our Mother Earth, and in how we recreate and develop our societies for the future, especially at this time of opportunity. It encourages all individuals and communities to recognise and honour Mothers, all Women, and all who care for others, our thoughts and feelings, our bodies, our experiences, our voices and our values. This Vision asks that we all open to the Deep Feminine in our personal and collective lives.
The primary values for the new MotherWorld are:
Honouring Mother Earth as a living being. Protecting and taking care of the Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space, and all beings living in Her world. Honouring all forms of mothering, honouring fathers, honouring all carers, and the celebration and nurture of children and young people. Love for each other, kindness, support, respect, care and compassion.
Suggested values for the new Motherworld include:
Honesty, personal integrity, authenticity, relationship, diversity, choice, discernment, inclusion, trust, beauty, emotional expression, listening, hearing, clear boundaries, reflection, soul development, empowerment, shadow-healing, compassion, happiness, the pursuit of wisdom, the encouragement of self-respect, self-responsibility, self-worth, self-confidence, self-discipline, self-reflection and self-love; prayer, ceremony, service, connection, partnership, generosity, sharing wealth, gifting, receiving, humour, creativity, education for all, non-violent methods of resolving conflict, honouring and protecting Mother Nature and all living beings, ethical production of goods and services, the protection of the vulnerable, and valuing the Wisdom of the Elders and of the Ancestors.
MotherWorld is the society where the patriarchal structures and values of dominance, power-over control and coercion, greed, excessive profit, destructive competition, violence, rape, war, slavery, suffering, hunger, poverty and the pollution of Mother Earth and Her atmosphere, are recognized as shadow expressions of humanity, which need to be challenged, deconstructed, transformed and healed. In MotherWorld healing practices for individuals, communities and for the Earth Herself are encouraged and made readily available to all. 236
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In MotherWorld it is recognized that all human beings carry wounds from our patriarchal conditioning – emotional and mental patterns which may be activated as we try to change our world. Within our Glastonbury Goddess Temple community we are particularly aware of our shadow material, which includes envy, jealousy, judgment, competitiveness, undermining, back-biting, blaming, collusion, resentment, naming and shaming, projection of negative emotions, of anger, rage, fear, loneliness, abandonment, lack of self-love, lack of self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, all of which are the result of individual cultural and karmic life experiences.
In MotherWorld one of our first works is to love and support each other in taking responsibility for our repressed and often hostile shadow emotions. These shadows can undermine all our best endeavours to change the way we act in our personal and social relationships, in our lives as Goddess-loving people living in a patriarchal world. They often prevent us from experiencing true empowerment. We have developed skills and techniques of emotional expression, such as really listening to each other and offering reflection and support when needed, so that we may heal these wounds. This personal healing work needs to and can, accelerate at this time with the help of the MotherWorld community, which holds us in compassionate safety as we work to heal our wounds.
The name MotherWorld comes from Barbara Walker’s novel ‘Amazon’, where it describes an ancient fictional matriarchal society living close to the Earth. This Vision is not a return to such a society. It is a groundswell forward movement to a new kind of mother-life-centred community, where all are valued, supported and appreciated, and where we can experiment together with new ideas and forms. MotherWorld evokes a loving world where we recognise that we are all held safely in the Great Mother’s embrace.
The Call of MotherWorld
• We call for the empowerment of women and girls, men and boys.
• We call for the payment by governments and societies of a good living wage to all mothers and to all carers of dependent children, less-able young people and adults, of the elderly, the infirm and the sick.
• We call for peace in our world.
• We call for an end to intimidation and power-over aggression in all forms.
• We call for an end to all violence – violence against women and girls, boys and men, including assault, rape, genital mutilation, circumcision, slavery, people trafficking, torture, murder and war.
• We call for an end to the arms trade and the personal and societal ownership of harmful weapons.
• We call for an end to hunger and starvation, poverty, homelessness and the ownership of the resources of the earth by the few at the expense of the many.
• We call for an end to all human and animal sacrifice for religious, political or social purposes.
• We call for an end to all forms of human and animal cruelty.
• We call for an end to all inequalities based on gender, race, sexual orientation, disability and age.
The Time is Now for these changes to occur.
The MotherWorld Vision was first received in 2012 by Priestess of Avalon, Kathy Jones, and was developed, expanded and refined by the Goddess community of the Glastonbury Goddess Temple. The Vision is continually inspired by the Lady of Avalon, Great Goddess of love, compassion, healing and transformation on the Sacred Isle of Avalon, the Place of Apples. This Vision is also being received by others in different communities and places in the world, and in different forms.
The MotherWorld Vision is inclusive and without borders. It supports all people – women, children, men and all genders everywhere, who are endeavouring to bring Goddess and Feminine values back into our lives and societies, changing our world for the better. The MotherWorld favours diversity of expression, as a Mother loves all of her children with their different characters and expressions. In August 2019 the United Kingdom MotherWorld Political Party was created, and Sue Quatermass was the first MotherWorld candidate to stand in the UK General Election. We hope that there will be more MotherWorld candidates in UK elections and more MotherWorld parties in other countries.
Since 2012 the Vision has been supported by hundreds of people who have signed their commitment to MotherWorld on line and by post. Everyone who agrees with this Vision is invited to make their personal commitment on the Facebook MotherWorld page and to begin to create Motherworld in their own communities.
MotherWorld communities and networks can be formed by any group of people who agree with its values and principles. We ask that all those who make the commitment to MotherWorld, connect with each other and stay connected, creating a worldwide network of love and support for our creative values and actions.
Commitment to the MotherWorld
The following are suggested commitments to be made by all those who wish to co-create the MotherWorld: I commit myself to loving and supporting the vision, the people and the values of MotherWorld as described. My intention is to help bring MotherWorld into being in my thoughts, words and actions in the world. I support the MotherWorld Vision. I commit to taking responsibility for my own emotional and mental wounding and for its healing.
You can register your own commitment to the MotherWorld by sending it to Glastonbury Goddess Temple, 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury BA6 9DU, United Kingdom or by signing online at www.goddesstemple.co.uk or the MotherWorld Facebook page.
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About Kathy Jones
Kathy Jones is a Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of Goddess, Founder, Creative Director & Temple Weaver of Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Goddess Hall & Goddess House. She is Founder of Glastonbury Goddess Conference & Motherworld Initiator. She has lived on the Isle of Avalon in Glastonbury for forty years and loves this sacred land of Goddess. She is a ceremonialist, teacher, writer, wounded healer, initiator, Temple Melissa and sacred dramatist. She is the author of several acclaimed Goddess books, including ‘Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of Goddess’, ‘The Ancient British Goddess’, ‘Soul & Shadow’, and ‘Re-Membering the Nine Morgens’. Kathy offers with other dedicated Priestesses, a 3 Spiral Training to become a Priestess or Priest of Avalon, and other Goddess and Soul Healing trainings. www.kathyjones.co.uk
[Editor’s Note: This piece is included in She Summons: Why… Goddess Feminism, Activism and Spirituality?” Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2021).]
