The Goddesses Rage
Every one of us has experienced strong emotions, these emotions are a response to a stimulus, and we often process these emotions appropriately. We can also leave these emotions unprocessed, and experience a slow simmering emotion, one that sits beneath the surface and affects how we perceive our world. One such simmering emotion I often encounter is in those who have incarnated as (identifying) female. They have what can only be described as rage, but not the explosive type, the quiet and in all honesty dangerous type. I don’t often encounter a woman who I feel would use this rage dangerously and outwardly toward others, that’s not why its dangerous. It is dangerous because when our anger is not expressed outwardly in healthy outlets, it turns inwards. This not only has an insipid effect upon how we perceive our world, but a toxic effect upon our health. Chronic pain, illness, reduced immune system response and low self esteem are all intrinsically connected to repressing our emotions, Dr.Gabor Mate has extensive works on this but in particular ‘the healing force within’ (Gabor Mate, 2024) is worth anyones time. Many chronic illnesses, in particular ones that cause longterm and widespread pain such as fibromyalgia is 80% higher in prevalence in women than men (International Association for the Study of Pain 2021). One of the most common causes and perpetuators of chronic pain is repressing our emotions (Dr.John Sarno, 1998). I know that it was a contributor in my own experience of chronic pain and illness. Women are more likely to repress emotions like anger because we are socially conditioned to do (Keck 2019), and Davis (2022) explained why aptly “Women here are told early and often that expressing rage makes them unpleasant, unattractive, unfeminine. An angry man is strong or righteous; an angry woman is a bitch”.
In truth women have ALOT to be angry about; we still have a gender pay gap equaling working for free for 2 months every year (Trades Union Congress, 2023), have disproportionate inequality in health care compared to men which is shockingly and significantly larger for women who are not Caucasian (Allen & Sesti 2019). For multitudes of reasons women still do the lionesses share of household duties and childcare (University of Cambridge, 2022), 83% of domestic abuse victims are women (Womens Aid, 2023) and we are still burdened economically by the ‘pink tax’ (Spencer, 2022). This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the reasons women have to be angry by our enforced circumstances, but honestly, it is anger inducing and my breath work practice is readily used just writing this.
We have identified that repressing our emotions is another unhealthy and expected societal standard put upon women, and that this unfair pressure to behave unnaturally causes us to not express anger appropriately. However we have also identified that women have a plethora of reasons to be angry. So what do we do? Well obviously we change the world! But for now, we work on ourselves, we find healthy outlets for our anger and we release this rage, and we liberate ourselves from the burden of societal standards.
Women have experienced injustices for a really ridiculous length of time, so far back in our history that the story of origin for many of the Goddesses are of suffering, abuse and tyranny. These stories have been upheld by the patriarchy to maximise the hero story of men and diminish the power of women, or serve as a warning against women standing in their power.
Lilith refused to submit to her husband Adam (Lilith was the first wife of Adam in the Garden of Eden story) and wished for a partnership of equality, for this reasonable request she was shunned, cast out of paradise and demonised by the patriarchy, stories of her being a succubus and child murderer still circulate today.
Kali is seen as a dark Goddess of death and destruction, brandishing the severed heads of men. Kali is actually the embodiment of creation and defends the innocent by destroying evil and those who perpetrate it.
Medusa was a devoted priestess to the Goddess Athena, Poseidon raped her on the steps of Athenas temple, enraged by envy Athena banished Medusa and cursed her, which is where the tale of Medusa being a man killer with snakes for hair became folklore.
I have personally worked with these Goddesses, and others on harnessing and utilising my anger, and releasing years of pent up repressed anger. For many women, myself included even accessing our rage (initially) can be complicated. We first have to override our social conditioning and stop gas lighting ourselves, and become much more connected to our bodies and in tune with our emotions (please refer to ‘Your Shadow Work Journey – Where To Start‘ for more guidance in connecting with your self) to effectively connect with our internalised rage.
Some useful ways to release your rage;
- Rage write – write down all the angry feelings inside and then burn them
- Rage scream – find a location where you can really let it out without concern for others.
- High intensity exercise – boxing is great
- Smash things – old crockery etc… obviously do this safely, you are responsible for yours and anyone else’s safety, or hire a ‘rage room’.
The Goddesses Rage package is designed for releasing your unexpressed rage in a healthy way and can be really useful if you are struggling to locate your rage. We utilise the rage held by your female ancestors, call in the Goddess you feel aligned with and honour the power that you wield. If you would like to work with me on releasing your rage please use the contact button.