My love of mythology, history and education led me to finding out that different cultures around the world had always different versions of their interpretation for this cyclical movement. Inanna, Ishtar, IxChel—these were all entities that were worshiped well before patriarchy took on the world like a virus. Each of these Goddesses are particular to their own local geographic region, but they hold the same essence: They are the goddesses of love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, combat, justice, and political power. This was the way ancient civilizations found to interpret these powerful forces of nature and which all relate to the sacred Feminine. The more comfortable I have become with understanding what this Goddess really means in a rational manner, through physics, mythology, history, cosmology—and looking at it from a strictly educational perspective—the easier it has become to embrace its essence in a spiritual way.
In 2017, for my 37th birthday, I decided to go to Iroquoi Ink here at the Ohsweken First Nations Reserve, and get a full chest tattoo of the Mayan Goddess IxChel. IxChel was the Mayan Goddess who holds a similar mythology to that of Inanna. I have become comfortable with displaying Her proudly on my chest despite being an educator in a conservative Catholic system. I have also since began to reclaim my Indigeneity, and although I can no longer associate myself with any particular tribe or land as I was severed from it three generations ago, I can proudly say that I am a woman who understands the power of the moon, and of cyclical time, and of relationships, all of which are so vital to life and to the care all Indigenous cultures have shown to the Earth.
I plan on reviving this knowledge as much as I can in a renewed way, while I continuing to study sciences, creating new mythology through the knowledge I have of nature and philosophy. I am no longer willing to live in a world where we continue to glorify Sons and worship the Father figure only. As a devoted and strong Daughter of this incredibly life giving planet, the land guides me and I have taken on as my life mission and commitment to elevate and hold the figure of the Mother, as a Creator of equal status of power.
An excerpt from Inanna's Ascent.
Carolina Miranda, OCT, M.Ed. is an Educator certified by the Ontario College of Teachers, and she holds a Masters of Education from Nipissing University. She is one of the main organizers of the Waterloo Region Women's March, in Ontario, Canada as well as the creator and co-founder of Feminine Harbor. She immigrated to Canada from Brazil in 2003 and has since developed strong ties with the Waterloo Region. In 2004 she became one of the very first ensemble actors for the internationally acclaimed theatre company The MT Space, directed then by Lebanese-Canadian director Majdi Bou-Matar. She is a writer, and some of her most recent essays and poetry can be found in the Anthology of Social Justice and Intersectional Feminisms, organized by Dr. Katrina Sark, and which has officially launched on International Women's Day 2018 in Victoria, BC. Most importantly, however, she is a single mother of two incredible little girls who inspire her daily to become not only a better person but to leave behind a better world. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are not just aspects of her job, but how she authentically experiences the world through her relationships and family ties.
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