SOUL
A celebration of inner truth and timeless knowing—where intuition, yearning, and purpose rise from within, guiding you toward what feels deeply and undeniably yours.
SOUL
Mary Astell, “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest (In Two Parts).”
53-63
For since GOD has given Women 53as well as Men intelligent Souls, why should they be forbidden to improve them? Since he has not denied us the faculty of Thinking, why shou’d we not (at least in gratitude to him) employ our
... See moreMary Astell argues that women, possessing rational and immortal souls equal to men’s, have a moral and spiritual right to education. Denying women intellectual cultivation, she insists, weakens their judgment, distorts their will, and leaves them vulnerable to folly, manipulation, and shallow pursuits. Astell distinguishes true learning from trivial knowledge, warning that idle entertainment and fashionable reading fill the mind without forming wisdom.
She proposes that women be allowed serious study, especially philosophy and theology, not to claim public authority but to understand their faith, govern their lives wisely, and prepare their souls for heaven. Education, for Astell, refines character, deepens piety, and enables women to live purposefully, serve others charitably, and use time well. True religion and learning, she concludes, do not diminish joy but elevate it, aligning reason, devotion, and happiness into a disciplined yet life-giving whole.
So, in America, with our education system and this capitalist, productivity-oriented culture, I feel like we raise children with a bias toward outer metrics rather than inner metrics.
We don’t really educate children to listen to themselves, and we don’t create spaces that honor their inner experiences. So we’re raised missing a certain sense—and
... See moreThe type of dance I do is more metaphorical, an inner narrative. It’s my body being expressive. I think it does mean something, but I don’t want everyone to have the same story. I want them to feel, in their own bodies, that something important is happening. I want it to make them feel something—and they can create whatever story comes from what
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