The Story of Woman by Tamara Albanna

 

Art by Arlene Bailey

Boudicca was never a figure I knew intimately.

I have heard her name. I learned that she is known for her bravery and sacrifice. I also know that even though her story is an older one—it lives on today in women all over the world.

I felt her fierceness deeply very recently, when the Taliban swept through Afghanistan once more, and we saw the images of people, mostly men, trying to flee.

I then saw images of Afghani women, heavily armed and vowing to protect their country.

I was reminded of homeland, Iraq, where there were similar scenes of women fighting against Daesh, to push them out of their country.

Men come to rape, pillage, and destroy.

Then they flee.

Women hold the earth, hold their children, and fight.

Women sacrifice, pay the ultimate price, to fight and protect what is theirs.

Boudicca took her life in honor, rather than succumb to the hands of the aggressor.

Women in Syria and Iraq committed suicide, rather than fall into the hands of Daesh and a fate worse than death.

How can this be seen as anything other than the ultimate power, the ultimate show of autonomy?

We die on our own terms, we die with honor, we die fighting.

We are not the victims the media likes to show. Far from it.

By telling the story of Boudicca, we are telling the story of women today. The women who carry her spirit. Of justice, autonomy, and liberation.

We tell Her story; we tell the story of Woman.

Excerpt from the upcoming anthology, In Defiance of Oppression -The Legacy of Boudicca.

Tamara Albanna has always been connected to the Goddess, even when she didn’t realize it. As a Doula and Childbirth Educator, she witnessed divinity first hand through other women. Now as a writer, artist, Reiki healer and Tarot reader, she hopes to help others overcome their difficult pasts while healing with the Divine Mother. She has published two books on Inanna—Inanna's Ascent: Reclaiming Female Power (co-edited with Trista Hendren and Pat Daly) and My Name is Inanna; two books on Wilendorf—Willendorf's Legacy: The Sacred Body (co-edited with Trista Hendren and Pat Daly) and My Name is Goddess of Willendorf—as well as three poetry chapbooks, As I Lay By the Tigris and Weep, Rosewater, and Kismet. Tamara currently resides in Europe with her family. She can be found at https://tamara-albanna.com