The central altar at the MotherWorld weekend gathering, which took place at the Glastonbury Goddess Hall 28-29th September 2019. 

The 2020 Vision of MotherWorld

 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 babies. Mothers carry new life in their wombs usually for nine months and give birth to children, who are dependent upon them for many years. Mothers are the primary caregivers in the world who nurture and raise children. They 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 their 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.

This Vision of MotherWorld calls for a sea-change (from Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’) in the ways in which we live upon the Mother Earth, and in how we recreate and develop our societies for the future. It encourages all individuals and communities to recognise and honour Mothers and all Women, 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.

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 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 motherlife-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 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.

Need some inspiration? You can see a list of people who have already registered their commitment here – this is not a full list but includes only those people who have been kind enough to allow us to show their details. There’s also a page giving more information here.

Goddess Temple Priestesses at the Million Women Rise march in London, 2018, representing MotherWorld.