Week 13 Reading Part B: Seven Secrets of the Goddess

Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana during exile in forest, manuscript, ca. 1780, Wikicommons

Seven Secrets of the Goddess

• In the beginning both men and women were free
• Prostitutes of women and men existed, but the male prostitutes were often castrated and effeminate
• Over time females became property to a degree in different cultures either through marriage or through community
• Deukis were young girls offered to temples and were often refereed to as sacred prostitutes that could cure some diseases
• The idea of subservient women is observed
• If a women speaks first demons are born
• If a man speaks first then normal humans are born
• There was also a story where a blade gave to the creation of three women and a necklace the birth of three men. The contest was concluded with the men being the greater number in comparison to the women
• Women who avoided conceding power to men were cast out but in this casting out they were seen as more desirable
• Women are protected in Indian epics not because of their own self but because of the honor that they represent to the family
• Spun thread represents duration of life
• The world was often seen in feminine terms
• This idea was then warped into which angels carried people to higher above
• Prophets and Gods were usually in Heaven and gave way to the idea that men were more pure
• Compassion was seen as valuable as knowledge at one point in Hindu histroy