Trauma and Negotiation

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Dear Sisters and Friends,

Over the last number of years, I have heard many women, either sarcastically or jokingly, referring to the “burned at the stake’ gene that can stop us from reaching higher, claiming more power in any arena including negotiation and leadership.

What exactly are they referring to? What exactly happened?

Here is one poignant retelling from spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth:

“Nobody knows the exact figure because records were not kept but it seems certain that during a 300-year period between 3-5 million women were tortured and killed by the “holy” inquisition an institution founded by the Roman Catholic church to suppress heresy. This surely ranks together with the holocaust as one of the darkest chapters in human history. It was enough for a woman to show a love for animals, walk alone in the fields or woods, or gather medicinal plants to be branded a witch, then tortured and burned at the stake. The sacred feminine was declared demonic and an entire dimension largely disappeared from human experience. Other cultures and religions, such as Judaism, Islam and even Buddhism, also suppressed the female dimension although in a less violent way. Women’s status was reduced to being child bearers and men’s property. Males who denied the feminine even within themselves were now running the world, a world that was totally out of balance. The rest is history, or rather a case history of insanity. (Chapter 5)